Miami & NY all in the same weekend for The Bests Bachelorette Party!

So I have been quite the jetsetter here recently! Last weekend I was in Miami for my best friends bachelorette party! We had an amazing time...lots of beach time, wine, dancing and overall just kinda relaxing. The weekend was a success!

Beautiful blue water...it was so warm too! We walked down the beach that day and stumbled upon a nudist colony! Good times! One of those moments where you don't quite know what to say or where to look for that matter!

All the lovely ladies before our evening out! We ate amazing food when we were there! I had the best guacamole of my entire life. I tried remaking it when I got home but it just didn't taste the same!

The bride, her MOH and bridesmaid! A lovely group of girls if I do say so myself! The weekend was a blast...the only downside...which wasn't even really a downside except that we were exhausted and stupidly tired at this point...all of our flights got delayed. We ended up in JFK hanging out for about 2 hours longer than we were supposed to and finally getting home around 2 am. All in all I think it was a memorable end to a weekend we'll never forget!

Welcome to the hotel california...and Chicago!

A few weeks ago my friend Mel and I decided to travel to the windy city to visit old friends and listen to good music...quite a ways to travel but sometimes you just need to take a mini-vacay! We left Saturday morning and got back Sunday night and I think we absorbed as much of Chicago as possible in that little time!

We spent our 36 hour vacation walking around the city streets, eating amazing food and drinking wine. My old roomate Heather lives out there now and she was an awesome tour guide. Some of the highlights were eating Oprah's favorite cinnamon roll (that was swimming in so much frosting our hands stayed sticky for a solid hour), cupcake pancakes, italian tapas...funny how everything is about food!

Riding the biggest ferris wheel I have ever been on, traveling on every kind of public transportation know to man, the walk home from soldier field!

And last but not least the amazing music! We saw Keith Urban, The Dixie Chicks and The Eagles! I have grown up on The Eagles and they were beyond amazing...to actual listen to Hotel California live was amazing! The stadium was so big that once night fell all the cameras going on looked like flickering stars! It was unreal!

And I can't forget the amazing hotdogs and beer that we ate while we were there! Already planning a way to get back!

This makes me smile...

Hey JenJen, do you know this one?! Its a quarter after one!

I'm walking down the sidewalk with Gavin and Blake (My identical twin 5 year old nephews) and they look at me and say "Hey JenJen, Do you know this one?" The proceed to start singing..."Its a quarter after 1, I'm all alone and batman needs you now" I can't help but laugh and look stunned at the same time because it hits me that they are old enough to remember whats playing the radio! That's one of my favorite memories from a few weeks ago! Jenn and Adam came into town and spent the weekend with us with Gavin, Blake and Maggie!

We colored, watched transformers, went to the science museum, a baseball game and got to indulge in pizza, hot dogs and cotton candy! I can't remember the last time I had any of those things...having the kids around was an excuse to indulge and act like a kid again too!

I wish we all lived closer so there could be more weekends like this. More runs with Jenn, laughing with family, peek-a-boo with Maggie, serious superhero conversation with Gavin and Blake! We love them and miss them all the time!

One of my favorites...

This was a good autumn day, sand between your toes, sun setting over the sound & my two loves

Mother Ocean and Sea Turtles

This past Wednesday...well yesterday for that matter...was the annual spring sea turtle release! I have been a volunteer at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital since the fall of 2003! I can't believe its been 7 years!

Despite the rain and lightening the day was awesome! We released 15 turtles! Healthy, happy, ready to go! It was awesome!

Please check out there website! Its an awesome organization! http://www.seaturtlehospital.org/

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend was spent in Morehead City, NC relaxing with family and friends! It was a much needed mini-vacation for me. I feel like school ended and I just went straight into summer research without missing a beat. So this past weekend I didn't take any work home with me, I started reading a new book on the beach (one of my all time favorite thigs to do) and just relaxed!

This weekend made me realize...scratch that...it further reminded me how much I miss the coast. I never thought I would truly miss a place as much as I have missed the ocean until I moved from it! Being in Durham is going to be a good thing though! We're going to leave this place better than when we came and I can live with that.

This past weekend was the first time I have taken Josh out to Shackleford Banks! We had a great time. There are a bunch of wild ponies that run around on the island and Josh went with me while I tried to sneak up on them and take pictures!

All in all the weekend was filled with cold beer, warm sand, good company and a lot of grilling out. To me life does not get much better! We got to see from old high school friends of mine, which was amazing to say the least. I love how years can pass but some things just don't change. We all live so far apart now but its comforting knowing you just fall back into a nice groove with people even though time just keeps on passing you by! I also got to see my cousins...and when I saw that I know some people visual one or two people around the same age as you are that don't have a ton in common but are polite and find things to talk about. Well this is definition does not apply to my cousins! They are amazing and constantly dance on the line between being humorous or offensive, there is never a dull moment with any of them and I miss them so much!

Now the countdown begins to July 4th weekend when we get to go back for my birthday! I have to mention that I loved seeing my mom! We got sarongs together one night and the picture below is of us in them at the beach! I miss her already!