Like the new look?!?!

So my friend friend Dara re-designed my blog for me! What does everyone think???

I am completely in love with the new logo she created for me and she did it without any direction (I was supposed to give her examples of things I liked and totally forgot so she did it on her own)! I’d love to hear feedback and if anyone has suggestions.

In the meantime, check out Dara’s blog. She updates it frequently with other designs she does for friends and for fun. I’m so lucky to have such a talented friend because lord knows I would have never been able to do this on my own.

Thanks again Dara!

Sucker for a Deal

There’s nothing in this world that can beat a great weekend with family and your oldest, closest friends.  Although there are hundreds of things I love about being back up in Jersey, the best part is being so close to my parents and my best friends.  This Columbus Day weekend I spent time with my best part of Jersey.

On the Friday night I met up in NYC with four of my best girlfriends, Erin, Kerri, Leigh and Sally (Alex you were missed!).  We spent the evening seeing both Leigh and Kerri’s new apartments and catching up on old and new stories while drinking wine. I think the most amazing thing I can say about my friends is that although we all are very different and have changed so much over the past 15 years or so of our friendships, we are still able to come back together and fall into the comfort of our friendship. We’ve all gone through a lot with each other and have found a way to let our relationships grow and change along with us. We can spend hours telling old stories and laughing at the stupid things we did in high school and then immediately jump into the stupid things we did with each other last month. We don’t rely on the friendships we used to have. We look back on the memories and are thankful for the new ones we’ve created with each other. However, for as close as we all are to each other now geographically, our crazy lives get in the way and we don’t all get together as often as we should. Good thing we made a pact to get together once a month!

Love my girls!

After a great night with my girlfriends, I went back my parent’s house for the night. I had not been home since before I started my new job and I really missed my dog Abbey…Just kidding…I wanted to go to my favorite restaurant one last time before it closed for the season as well. Just kidding again! Of course it was because I missed my mommy and daddy and what’s the point of living 45 minutes from home if I can’t go see them whenever I want?!  We went to dinner at the Dover Grill where I ate wayyyy to many cheese fries, but it was well worth it. They are only open from March 15 – October 15 so it was imperative that I got in one last bacon cheese hot dog and crinkle fries with cheese. Yes, I know you are judging me right now, but until you have experienced it, don’t knock it. It is well worth all of the calories! But, it is probably a good thing that I live a good 45 minutes away from there! After my delicious dinner, we came back home, visited with my favorite neighbors then got a good night’s sleep.

Now, I’m sure you have all heard of Groupon. Well, my dad Larry is who they invented it for! If it’s on Groupon, there is a 75% chance he’ll either buy it or send it to me telling me I should buy it. If it’s a deal for food, the chances are 100% that he will buy it. One day I’m at work and I get a call from Lar asking me if I’ve ever been to see the Bodies Exhibit. I said no, wondering where this conversation was going and then, there it was.  Of course Lar continues with, “Well, I was on Groupon today,” ahh there it is “and they have a great deal for the Bodies Exhibit. I was thinking you, mom and I could go, you in?” I said yes of course, I mean dad was paying, so it was a no brainer. So that Sunday seemed like the perfect opportunity. The weather was beautiful and it was one of the first weekends we were all available. We took the Path in from Hoboken, walked down to South Street Seaport, and enjoyed the exhibit. It was really fascinating and since I actually took the time to read the signs, I learned quite a bit. Did you know that every drop of your blood passes through your heart every minute? Betcha didn’t!!! After the exhibit we grabbed lunch on the pier, did some people watching and headed back to Hoboken. The only thing that would have made the day better would have been if my little brother could have joined us. Zachary, are you done with Austin yet…NYC is calling your name! Anyways, I started to feel a little under the weather on Friday evening and by Sunday afternoon I felt like I had hit a wall. I kissed my mommy and daddy goodbye and crawled into bed for the next day and a half. Thank god for long weekends! The next day my best friend Carrie took me to the doctor; another positive of having my sister so close. Only she would drive 2 hours with me round trip to take me to the doctor while I was hacking my brains out and snotting all over the place on her day off. Thankfully the doc gave me some meds and now, almost a week later; I’m finally starting to feel better. Or maybe it’s not the drugs, maybe it’s the good friends and family I have around me. Nahh as much as I love them, I’m pretty sure it’s the drugs!

Bad Blogger

I, Samantha, have been a very bad blogger. I could tell you it’s because I’ve been really busy at work, or because I’ve been sick for the past week, but at the end of the day, those are just excuses.  So I won’t tell you all of those things (even though they are true), and instead I will just tell you that I vow to be a better blogger and to no longer allow my work or my dying body to get in the way of my devoted readers. I feel comfortable saying that I have devoted readers only because I have received numerous threats over the past two weeks, I won’t mention any names….cough, Heather…cough, cough, Becca….for not updating my blog regularly.

Any ways, I know that I promised a recap of my trip down to Virginia.  I can’t lie; I was a little bit nervous about going down. My first trip back to Virginia since moving was in February and it did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. Part of it was that I didn’t go with the greatest attitude and was not in the greatest emotional place at the time, probably not the best recipe for a successful trip. I spent a good portion of the two days in tears and vowed on my drive back to Jersey that I would never go back again. Once back in Jersey, I regained my composure and decided that when the time was right, id give it another shot.  Grace’s first birthday seemed like the ideal time for me to make my return. So, I took a deep breath and decided that hey, at least it can’t be worse than last time!

Thankfully I was right. I had a great trip from start to finish. I had a wonderful time staying at my friend Becca and Ryan’s house. They recently moved in together and it was really great to see the “home” that they have made for each other. Becca and I spent tons of time catching up and just enjoying each other’s company.  We spent Saturday afternoon with my best guy friend Zack. We had lunch and saw his incredible apartment.  After running errands in the afternoon and relaxing a bit we went back to Zack’s and had drinks with lots of old friends. It was the perfect venue to catch up with people before enjoying the night out.

Sunday was my long day. I started out by grabbing brunch with two of my old co-workers, one of which just had a beautiful baby girl. It was so great to see them both and to hear how wonderfully they are doing.

Christine and her beautiful daughter Kaitlyn

I left from brunch quickly and jetted down to Leesburg to meet up with Heather to help her set-up for Grace’s first birthday party. Heather did such an amazing job getting everything together for the party. The theme was “Curious Grace’s Birthday” and let me say, she sure knows how to take advantage of a theme. Everything went together perfectly and you could tell she spared no expensive for her little girls first party. I must say, after seeing the pictures, my own mother felt as though she was quite the underachiever for my first birthday.

Momma and her birthday girl

She finally let me hold her...for a few seconds at least!

Grace enjoying her treats.

My best friend Carrie made a cake that I brought down for Grace. Isn't she talented?!

I immediately left from the party and went to Rockville, MD for dinner with my cousin Derek and his fiancé Catherine. Derek and I keep switching geographic locations. While I was in the DC Metro area, he lived in NYC. When I moved up to Hoboken/NYC, he and Catherine moved to the DC Metro area. Apparently we are doing our best to not live near each other. But, when I was in VA he was always so good at visiting me while he was in the area so I want to try and do the same and visit him whenever I can. Catherine’s birthday was on Monday so we went out to dinner to celebrate. It was so great to see them and I feel really lucky to have so much time to get to know Catherine. She and Derek are perfect for each other and I’m so excited for her to join our crazy family next July. I hope she’s ready for all of us!!!

Aren't they so cute?!

All in all it was a wonderful weekend. I finally saw friends that I had not seen in almost a year and tried to squeeze in as much as possible in 48 hours.  Next time however, I think I need at least 72 hours. Although I was exhausted, the trip was a success, especially because there were no tears!  No tears = a successful weekend!  Now…I think it’s time for my VA friends to make their way up to Hoboken/NYC.  I promise we don’t bite… that hard ;)

I've been bad

I know I've been bad and not only have not posted this week but also did not do an I Spy. As annoying as it may be, my job has gotten in the way of me being a productive blogger this week. Damn the Man. I promise to be back with an I Spy on Monday. I feel at this point as it's almost the end of the week, that ship has sailed to post for last week. I'm also planning on doing a recap of my weekend in Virginia, but we'll see where life takes me!


On a side note I'd like to share an observation. I have decided that if I had a dollar for every Yamaka (cap Jewish men wear) or pregnant woman I saw I would be a VERY rich woman. Like so rich I might be able to retire...NOW. I suppose I understand the Yamaka's as Jersey/NYC are very Jewish areas, HOWEVER is there something in the water, why is everyone pregnant?! Between the bus, my walk to work and walking around Hoboken I swear I see about 20 pregant women a day. I understand that it's necessary for the continuation of man kind, but it still semi freaks me out that they are everywhere! I've recently heard of a few people from college that are expecting, and it leaves me thankful that I am not one of them, nor are any of my friends...that I know of. Don't get me wrong, babies are great, I just drove down to VA to visit the cutest one ever, but it does not mean that I'm ready for one.


Anyway, that's my 2 cents for today!