Guess Who's Back

I haven't blogged in a really long time. I just took a trip to NYC to visit two of my dearest friends/roommates/sorority sisters from college. Here are a few of my favorite pictures I took.

This guy's head got in the way!!

Anyway... J.Crew Flagship store

Woolworth Building

Ellis Island

This is my FAVE pic of all the ones I took.

I just got this printed poster size so I could frame it.

This one as well... framing!

Anyways... my trip was SOOOOOO much fun!! It reminded me out how much I love city life.

Thursday night when I arrived W and I went to a Mexican restaurant near Times Square, it was really good. Next we walked around Times Square. It is so bright! And so many people!

Then we met M at Serendipity III. I got some peanut butter frozen hot chocolate.

Friday (my birthday!!!) W and I went out a bus tour of downtown. That is where most of the pictures came from. We saw so much! It was nice not to have to walk all over the city and see everything. Our tour guide was a hoot. She gave all of her personal touches to each site.

For lunch we went to Num Pang for some Cambodian sandwiches. Beef brisket sandwich... TDF!! And some watermelon juice.

We then when on a harbor tour around Manhattan. We saw everything from the boat. It was really neat! We got as close as you could to the Statue of Liberty right now. Lady Liberty is a beautiful lady. This tour guide wasn't as good. We heard all about his dislike for NY elite/rich. Besides that, really cool to see everything by boat.

For dinner we went to Cien Fuegos for rum punch and Cuban food. The punch was served in antique punch sets and full of a TON of booze. Yum!! The food... crispy avocados and beef emapanadas also TDF!

We then went to Lillie's W and M's favorite NY establishment. Company and the drinks were amazing... couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

Saturday we walked around Central Park. Everything was so green! Such perfect weather to take a stroll in the park. After that, W and I went shopping (more like window shopping) on 5th Ave. and in Soho.

Lunch we went to Tacombi... they serve tacos out of a VW bus. And the tacos were amazing!! And believe it or not... more watermelon juice!

For dinner we went to Bleecker St. Pizza... supposedly the best pizza in NY. And I'd have to say it as pretty good. I could eat all the food I had every, single day.

Saturday evening we went on a "dive bar" car crawl. It was quite interesting. PKNY first, The Library, Double Down Saloon (birthplace of "Ass Juice"), tried to go to McSorley's, and went to a British Pub. And of course ended the night at Lillie's

Sunday was brunch at Harlem Public. I got the sandwich... peanut butter, honey, banana, cream cheese, raspberry preserves on thick bread. So good!!!

Then to the airport I went. It was sad to leave! I had so much fun, ate sooooo much good food. Thanks to W and M for their wonderful hospitality!!

Palmolive Fresh Infusions

I received 3 bottles of Palmolive's new Fresh Infusions dish soap from Influenster to try out.

Picture from here

So far I have just used the Ginger White Tea scented soap. It smells so good!! A lot different than your typical detergenty smelling dish soap. I hand wash a lot of my dishes because my dish washer sucks and my hands have not dried out from using this dish soap. HUGE plus!

A friend tried the Lemon Thyme scent and also loved it. 

You can check out Palmolive's website here. And the Influenster review page here.

If you want to try it out for yourself, look for it in your local Walmart.

Don't forget to try it out!!


**I received this dish soap complimentary of Influenster

Christmas Post Partum

The day after Christmas has arrived. Most of us are still in food comas from yesterday and doing some Christmas cleanup because the sugar plums were too busy dancing yesterday. I am definitely ready for a long winters nap after the past couple of days.

Christmas festivities recap:

Christmas Eve we went over to my grandparents for an hors d'ouerves party. It was nice to see some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins I haven't seen in awhile. Tons, TONS, of food. Cucumber sandwiches, ham salad sandwiches, little rye breads, egg rolls, cocktail weenies, pigs in a blanket, pepper jelly and crackers, and the list goes on!
Gathering around my grandparents living room, listening to Christmas music, catching up with family... A great Christmas Eve.
My sister and I had to finish up our elf work Monday night. Finishing wrapping presents, making Christmas morning breakfast ahead of time, setting the table.

Santa (yes, I still get Santa presents at 23) was very good to me! You know you're getting becoming a grown when you get a new wireless router (super fancy one) and are excited about it.

My aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandparents came over for Christmas dinner. Beef tenderloin, bernaise sauce, asparagus, salad, twice baked potatoes. It was a feast! My belly is still hurting. Not to mention the egg nog Creme brûlée my mom made... Soooo good!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Here are a few pictures my dad took:

Spritz

I was invited to my General Manager/Vice President's cookie exchange tomorrow evening. Of course, I had to make my mom's world famous spritz cookies!

I forgot to take pictures while making them. It is best to use a cookie press. I got an electric Cuisinart one at JC Penney for $20. They are the best things in the world. They come with a whole bunch of little shapes you can use. I used little flower ones that look like poinsettias.
Target has some manual ones. Macy's does also.

Here is the recipe:

6 ounces of SOFT cream cheese (use Kraft Philly) 

1 lb of Land of Lakes margarine SOFT

2 cups of sugar

2 egg yolks

2 teas vanilla

5 cups flour 

2 teas salt

Cream the margarine and cream cheese, add sugar and mix well til fluffy, add egg yolks and vanilla, mix well, add salt to flour and mix into the cream cheese mixture.

Fill the cookie gun and GO!

Bake at 375 for approx 10 min. 

Don't forget the colored sugar sprinkles, Red and green

This recipe makes about 14 dozen cookies... a little more.

You MUST use Philadelphia cream cheese and Land of Lakes margarine. Otherwise, these cookies will not turn out. No skimping allowed!!!

Enjoy!!!

gif(t)s

I have a secret obsession with gifs. I have a whole bunch of them saved on my phone to use when emojis just can't deliver. They're the gif(t)s that just keep giving

Here are some of my faves:

say whaaaa?

just be quiet

I wish I could have this one animated above my desk everyday

lemme alone

srsly?

Don't mess with NeNe

hollaaaaaa

I think this is my fav of all time

Gifs are the perfect addition to any text message, blog post, or email. Don't be surprised if I start sending them to you on the reg.

Christmas Time

I have been totally MIA lately.
Work has been busy... it seems like I have late meetings almost every night lately. 

I've decided to get a head start on my New Year's resolutions. Blogging happens to be on that list! A little closer to 2013 I'm going to devote a post just to my resolutions.


I did decorate my apartment for Christmas the week after Thanksgiving and plan to leave it up until the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Here are some of my instagrams:

I did an ornament exchange with a group of my friends. We did it secret santa style and it turned out to be so much fun! Here is the ornament I got from my friend Amanda.

Until next time...

Rock the Vote

Sorority recruitment taught me to avoid five things in conversation... boys, booze, bucks, bible, and Bush/Barack. These 5 B's, as we called them, can definitely carry into professional and everyday life.

I don't really like to talk about politics. I tend to keep to myself on these kinds of topics. But I think it is important to remind everyone to VOTE!!

Picture thanks to the lovely Maryland Pink and Green!
Check out her blog and facebook page :)

A guy at work was telling me last week that whoever his wife votes for he chooses the opposite so they can sit at home and watch tv (non-election related) instead. His theory is that his vote for the opposite candidate would cancel out his wife's vote. I asked what happened if he agreed with his wife and wanted to vote for the same person... he said it would never happen because he doesn't want to go to the polls.

This angered me a little.

Why would you not exercise your right to vote?! People of our past fought for all Americans to be able to make that choice. Men, women, property owners, non-property owners, any race, anyone over the age of 18, any religion. Throughout the United States' history, people fought for what they believed in and helped us all be able to choose what we want. That is the beauty of our country.

We need to be informed on the issues going on in our states. Who is running for local representation, congress, which proposals are being voted on... it all matters. Not just the presidential ballot is important... it all comes down to the bigger picture.

There is a great website that can help get you information on all the things that will need to be voted on in your district. If you type in your zip code on Project Vote Smart, you can see all the details on upcoming elections in your area. This website isn't just for general elections, but also primaries. You can look at all the candidates running, what is on specific ballots -- all valuable information to help get your informed about the election. 

Everyone should go check it out before tomorrow's big election!

No matter who you vote for, make sure you vote! Remember, your vote counts!

Vote!