Weekend Craze

Happy Friday! 

This week has flown by! I can't believe it is already Friday afternoon. Work has been really busy with our event coming up. I am really excited for the event. It will be a great night, I can't wait to try all the amazing food and wine we have coming. 

Tonight we are going to a benefit for a friends sister at a church near the house. Last night I made oatmeal cookies to bring to the benefit as they were asking for donations for dessert. I got to use my mixer for the first time! It was great being able to just turn the mixer on and adding ingredients so easily! The picture below is of the mixer while I was making the cookies. Cookies turned out great, I usually am not a huge fan of my own cookies but there is something about my oatmeal cookies that makes me crave them. Next week I am making oatmeal, chocolate chip and pumpkin cookies! I am pretty excited :) 

Last night Bob ate the last brownie that his mom gave us, it was huge and I told him that I wanted some of it but he ate the whole thing. I even told him a second and third time to save me some but he thought I was joking. (Who jokes about wanting a brownie? NOT ME!) He felt guilty after he ate the whole thing and found out I wasn't kidding about wanting some that he went to the store, bought brownie mix, and made me brownies. They were delicious! What a good guy he is.. I think i'll keep him ;) 

This weekend I am watching three kids Saturday-Sunday while the parents are out of town. I am looking forward to it. Right now I am debating taking them to my company picnic. There will be about 400 people at the picnic and with 3 kids it might get kinda crazy especially since Bob has to work and won't be able to come help out. Decisions... decisions... decisions! 

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! 

Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake.

My 23rd birthday was last Wednesday but Bob had to work late so I didn't get to celebrate with him until last night. I was excited to spend some time with just him since we don't get to do that often!

Bob had the day off so he sent me a picture of my wrapped present and I couldn't figure out what it was and it drove me nuts all afternoon. When I got home I realized that he had tricked me, the picture he sent was of a box we had in the office not of my present. I opened my present and it was a..... KitchenAid Artisan Mixer!! :) I am super excited to use it! I have plans to make cookies with it later this week.

Right after opening the present

My mixer <3 

We went to Rizzo's for dinner which is a nice Italian restaurant not far from the house. We both got chicken parmesan and I enjoyed a nice glass of white wine.We are usually with family or friends when we go out so it was nice to go out, just the two of us. Once we got home we watched TV and relaxed before enjoying some Cassata cake from Panaro's. Panaro's is this great Italian restaurant that is open for lunch M-F on Delaware. After that we of course watch Monday Night Football. I fell asleep before the end of the game so I missed the touchdown/interception debacle but this morning when I watched it, it was clear that the ref's made a HUGE mistake! I couldn't believe it!

This morning on my drive to work I got in a hit and run accident.. I got hit, he ran! Thankfully I am okay and my car just has some scrapes on the bumper but I was SO MAD!! What kind of person hits someone then drives away? A coward that's who! I didn't file a report because my insurance is already expensive and I won't be getting the scratches fixed so I didn't think I should. While that wasn't the start to the morning I wanted I am staying positive that the rest of my day will go smoothly.

Anyone else ever get in a hit and run accident? What did you do?

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday! :)

I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch

Now that I have a big girl job and actually making (some) money I have been on a bit of a shopping spree. I really needed some nice new work clothes because what I had just wouldn't cut it. I was lucky enough to get 50% off at Banana Republic one weekend and picked up some great work clothes. I bought some staple items like; black pants, grey sweater, striped sweater, black/grey skirt, and a white blouse.

These will go with anything and won't go out of style anytime soon. I know a lot of people think it is silly to buy expensive clothes and I agree depending on what it is. If I want a shirt that will only be in style for one season I won't pay a lot for it. I will buy it for as cheap as I can because I don't need it to last forever. Staple items that I will wear year after year I am willing to spend the money to get a higher quality product.

My next goal is to buy some accessories to go with my new(ish) wardrobe. First on my list is a watch like this one (below) from Style&Co found at Macy's. I have a white swatch which I love but it doesn't go with my work outfits so this is a great alternative for only $30. Also on the list are earrings that aren't off the sale rack at Claire's and maybe a bracelet or two. My work wardrobe for winter is pretty scarce I will have to get some more sweaters and pants as the cold weather sticks around more. Luckily on Fridays we can wear jeans and sneakers so that has been helpful with my limited work wardrobe.

Just a short update on my life. Hope everyone has enjoyed September so far.

How about you, what do you like to splurge on? 

“You can go other places, all right - you can live on the other side of the world, but you can't ever leave home”

I can't believe it has been almost 3 months since I last blogged. SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED! If you don't want to hear all about my homecoming and are just interested in my job skip a few paragraphs! ;) 

I finished all my classes, finished my thesis, finished exams, defended my thesis and passed which concluded my college career! WHEW. On top of all that I went on a trip to Munich to see my brothers, said goodbye to all of my friend,s and came back to the States. There is so much to write about with all those but this post is going to focus on my return to the States. 

I left Germany on July 21st to head to NYC where I met Bob at the airport. He flew in 5 hours prior to my arrival and waited for me with his brother. Once we made it back into the city with 2- 55lb bags, backpack, 30lb suitcase, and a large duffel bag in tow we ordered some food and all fell asleep around 8 o'clock that night. (Hey, I had a long travel day!) 

The next morning Bob and I headed out for our surprise trip to.... Atlantic City! The bus trip was quick and we made it down there around 11:30 a.m. The trip was great, we enjoyed the casino's and the scenery and just spent time relaxing. Monday we took the bus up to Manahawkin which is the town outside of Long Beach Island, NJ where my family was staying for the week. My family thought we were coming back later that night but we came up early and had my cousin pick us up to surprise them. My mom and dad were really surprised to see me, but SO happy! The rest of the week was filled with family fun. I will write a separate post with pictures another time. 

Once I came back to Buffalo I had a few days to regroup before having an interview for a Special Events Associate position at Heritage Centers Foundation. I didn't really post about this job before because I didn't want to jinx it. My interview was Tuesday, July 30th and I had the impression that it went well but it was between me and another candidate. I was confident in my interviews but you never know how the other candidate did. I was told a decision would be made within a day or two and I should hear as soon as they made the decision. Needless to say I was nervous and freaking out for those two days. Thursday at 4:30 my phone rang and I knew it was them. I braced myself for the worst while I hoped for the best. I answered the phone and the tone of the woman's voice made it sound as though they were turning me down and my heart sank but the next thing I knew I was being offered the job and I thought I was going to cry. I took down all the information about the offer package and asked if I could get an email with the information and get back to them the next day. They had no problem with that. 

I called Bob right away in tears, I was so happy! After filling him in about the offer package, I called my mom & dad. I was so stinking excited! It was the first and only job I interviewed for. It was the only company I talked to! I had applied to a few other positions, not expecting much to come of them. Obviously this job coming through was a dream come true. 

I accepted the position, took my pre-employment drug test and started right away. The first day was a lot of filling out paperwork and being shown around and meeting people. The second day we had a gift gathering party to prepare for. I ended up leaving work early to run some errands and then heading to the party. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of our board members. 

I have been at the job for a month now and I couldn't be happier. The foundation has a great staff that I really love working with and the company is amazing. If you know me, you know I love to help others which is exactly what I get to do in my job. As Special Events Associate I assist in the planning of our events and I am working on our social media. After a year or so in the position I will be promoted to the Special Events Coordinator. My co-worker who used to be the coordinator will be moving to a new position as the Development Coordinator. 

Heritage Centers assists people with developmental disabilities it is a GREAT organization. Growing up we had two group homes around the corner from our house and it turns out they are both run by Heritage Centers. Our consumers work in our building so I have a daily reminder of why I do my job. It's very rewarding. 

Our first event is coming up in about a month. It is called Corks & Forks. We have about 25 restaurants and 25 wineries come in and do sample sized of their signature items. We have a silent & live auction and a band. I am so excited to experience this event. There is also a raffle for a trip to Rome. Tickets are $25 a piece. For more information here is a link to the website, where you can buy tickets for the event or the raffle http://www.heritagecenters.org/foundation.php?id=9&cid=156 

We are also doing a contest on facebook to win a pair of ticket to the event. We draw a winner every Friday. To enter that click here http://heritagecenters.pgtb.me/zZWQrT You must LIKE our page then fill out the form which is just your name, email, and phone number for us to contact the winner. 

If you do not want to enter please go on and like our facebook page anyway. 

Okay well I think that is PLENTY for now. I will try to write again soon!