My Week in Pictures XXX

I can't believe it's been over a month since I shared a Week in Pictures post! Since I am trying to get back into the swing of things, here is a mini update on my life this past week. We got back from our honeymoon last Sunday so it was a bit of a whirlwind!

After a full night of sleep, we woke up on Monday to start our busy day! It was John's last day off of work so we wanted to make the most of it. First stop was bringing Tommy and Joey the gifts we bought them in Mexico! We got Tommy handmade Cars toys, Mater and Lightening McQueen and a blue blanket you can sort of see at the bottom of the photo!

Later that day, we went to pick up Dexter who had spent the week at John's parents. He seemed eager to get home and back to his normal routines {just like me!}.

My parents convinced me to get up bright and early on Tuesday to join them on a day trip to Lancaster. It was such a great time spent with them AND we got delicious whoopie pies!

I finally got in a run on Wednesday! My first run in 3 weeks and it actually felt good!

I did a lot of house work this week and Dexter just followed me around, overseeing the work being done...

We got to the gym Wednesday night for a much needed workout.

Friday was John's birthday along with the release day of Taylor Swift's new album! John had work during the day so I kept myself busy until he got home. First thing that morning I headed over to Target early to pick up my copy of Lover!

When I got back, I headed back out for a 5 mile run in beautiful weather! I was nervous to run past 8 am but the weather made is much better than anticipated.

I was eager to go to the DMV and officially change my last name! We laughed at the fact that my pictures look pretty much the same but my skin tone changed drastically as one was taken during winter months and the other was in the summer, after I've been in the sun.

John chose sushi for his birthday dinner! We ordered a ton and it came out on a wooden boat!

Next up was bowling! We both need to improve our game haha.

On Saturday, we celebrated his birthday with his family. We all went mini golfing. I won! I am never that good! Afterwards we had dinner at P.F. Chang's and then cake back at his parents'.

Even after a late night, I managed to get up early and run a fantastic 7 mile run!

I came back and made pancakes for John and I. Our typical Sunday breakfast routine is what we like to call "Pancake Sunday" so it felt nice to get back to our routine! I tried chocolate protein powder in some of the pancakes which was good!

We snuck in some Dexter snuggles after breakfast. He's missed us!

The rest of the day was spent at our nephew, Joey's, baptism. It was a wonderful day!

Question of the Day: What is something fun you did this past week? 

Friday Favorites

After a 3 week hiatus {my longest ever so far in my blogging lifetime}, I’m back!! For those of you who didn’t know, I got married on August 9th and then went to Mexico for my honeymoon. We got back this past Sunday and I’ve been spending this past week adjusting back to my normal routine and attempting to prepare for the school year. I have some blog posts in the works to recap my honeymoon and once all my wedding photos are back, I’ll post a handful of them!

Today is John’s birthday so my weekend will be spent celebrating him! To ease myself back into the blogging world, I’m sharing some things I’ve been loving the past couple weeks.

1. Wedding Photo Sneak Peek
Less than a week after the wedding my photographer posted about 40 pictures on their Facebook page as a sneak peek. Let me just say, I am OBSESSED! They are all amazing and making me even more excited for the rest of the pictures that we will be receiving in a few more weeks. The best part about all of this is that we found our photographer, JM Photography, while perusing The Knot and were drawn in by the amazing pictures for such a reasonable price. After much research, we went with him but as we got closer to the wedding day, I began to worry that our photos would not be as amazing since we didn't pay an arm and a leg. Boy was I wrong!

2. Jergen's Natural Glow
I naturally tan really well but leading up to the wedding, I avoided the sun at all costs to prevent awkward tan lines. This meant early morning runs and strapless tops if I would be outside for a long time, like when we went to his parents pool. A few days before the wedding I was a bit annoyed that I wasn't as tan as I usually was due to my sun avoidance, so I picked up this Jergen's lotion while at Walmart one day. I only used it a handful of times up until the actual morning of the wedding and I was amazed with the glow it gave me! This would be great to use during the winter to give your skin a bit of a glow when it hasn't seen the sun in days.

3. Achievement
I've probably talked about this app before on here, but Achievement is one of those "set it and forget it" apps that gives you points for your activity. After downloading the app and create an account {use my referral link!}, you will be prompted to connect different activity/health apps you have on your phone. I have Apple Health, Garmin, MyFitnessPal, Twitter {health-related tweets give you points!}, and more! From there, Achievement does the work of collecting your data and converting it into points. Once you earn 10,000 points, you get a $10 gift card reward! It takes a good amount of time to earn that many points, about a couple months, but that's no big deal because it's not crazy you have to do. Sometimes there will even be little health articles you can read or surveys you can take to earn more points!

Question of the Day: What is something you've been loving this week?

Friday Favorites

I’m cranking out this post a little later than usual but that’s because life has been WILD around here! We are officially one week out from the wedding and the stress is real, guys! I’ve been cool as a cucumber up until these past couple weeks. We’re talking stress migraines and all. It’ll all pay off soon, though! To help distract myself, I’m taking the time to share some things I’ve been loving this week.

Bath and Body Works Paraffin Hand Lotion

My hands have been a bit dry all week so I went digging through my bed side table to find a hand lotion. I dug this one up that I got free at Bath and Body Works awhile back {yay coupons!}. I’ve kept it in my bag all week so I could apply it while I’m out running errands and it’s making such a difference! The paraffin really leaves my hands feeling super smooth. You can’t beat it for $4!

Check out that camera!

iPhone XR

I caved a few weeks ago and finally splurged on a new phone. I went with one of the newest models, the XR. So far I’m loving it! I didn’t think I’d like the lack of a home button but I quickly got over that. My favorite features are the facial recognition and the awesome camera! I’ve been having a blast trying out the portrait mode. 

Chick Fil A Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I’ve always had an obsession with these cookies but this week one of them came to the rescue after some wedding stress. I had been craving one all week and finally gave in yesterday while out running errands. Man, oh man did I forget how delicious these cookies are!! It was the perfect mix of gooey chocolate and yummy oatmeal. I enjoyed every bite and it’s safe to say it put me in a much better mood. 

Question of the Day: What is something you’ve been loving this week?

2019 Goals: July Update

The end of July pretty much signifies the end of summer being near but I’m not terribly upset about it because that means my wedding is closer! As of today, my wedding is 9 days away! We have pretty much everything together so now I’m just attempting to relax until the day gets here. In other news, the end of the month also means I need to post an update about my 2019 goals. Read on to see how they’re going!

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

July was a great month for working out and eating healthy for me! I was part of a weight loss challenge at my gym {I pretty much did it for the free workout classes and personal training. I did not expect to lose much weight} so I pushed myself to get myself to workout classes and personal training sessions. My trainer helped me figure out my nutrition and for the past month I have been focusing on tracking calories instead of Weight Watcher points. It has definitely changed up my eating game which has been nice.

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I taught arts and crafts at a camp this summer and tried my best to come up with crafts that used recycled items. We used toilet paper tubes to make firework paintings, I encouraged kids to use scraps of construction paper left over from other crafts, and saved any plastic containers I had {cottage cheese tubs, yogurt cups, etc.} for supply storage and water cups.

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

This was pretty easy this past month because the place I worked had terrible cell service, so even on my breaks I wasn't really playing with my phone. 

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

Thanks to my trainer, I switched up my eating habits which means new foods! I've been loving cooking sweet potatoes and chicken for the week. I know that isn't a new recipe but it's something new to me recently. John and I discovered the simplicity of making burrito bowls in our Instant Pot and it has been life changing! All we do is throw uncooked rice, a can of corn, can of black beans, and some salsa in there, cook it up, and TA-DA! Dinner! We usually make burrito bowls with this or put it on tortillas. We tried it once with chicken but both agreed it was better without it.

Goal 5: Give Back

This is a goal that didn't get as much attention the past few months. I am currently brainstorming things I can do!

Goal 6: Save Money

I'll have to admit, we haven't done the best with saving money this past month with all the wedding purchases we've been making. We are pretty exciting, though, that we stayed under budget for our wedding! That counts, right?!

Question of the Day: How are your 2019 goals coming along? Have you completed anything on your 19 in 2019 list, if you made one?

Friday Favorites

It’s a happy, happy Friday for many reasons! For one, today is my last day at my summer job. It was a long and crazy 5 weeks so I am thankful to be done and get some quiet time away from kids for a bit. Second, we are TWO weeks away from my wedding. And third, it’s my bachelorette party weekend! My girls have an awesome weekend planned for me that kicks off tomorrow afternoon. We are starting the day off at Board & Brush, where we will each be making our own wooden decoration of some sort. From there, we are getting a late lunch/early dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. After that, just my girls and I are heading off to my house to start the festivities that will then lead us into Philly. I honestly can’t wait! I hope you all have a fun weekend planned as well! Before I kicked off this fabulous Friday, here are some things I’ve been loving this week.

Eco Tools Body Buff
I randomly found this while going through some old college stuff. I have absolutely no clue where it came from but it was still in the original package so I figured why not give it a shot. I’m not 100% exactly how I’m supposed to use it but I personally used it as a loofah/sponge with my Dove body wash. Man oh man does it do wonders to the dry patches on my elbows and legs. Just one use gave me smooth skin that lasts. I used the actual buff side and not the softer side and it wasn’t too rough at all.

MyQ Smart Garage Hub
This was one of our Amazon Prime Day impulse purchases. It’s pretty much a little sensor that goes on our garage door opener and actual door to allow us to open and close it using an app. The best part, and the major selling point for us, is that you can check the app to see if it’s open or closed so we never have to randomly think during the day “did I close the garage door?!” because yes, we did that haha.

Nuun Vitamins
I’ve always loved Nuun Vitamins but they’ve been extra helpful lately. I’ve been drinking a cold bottle of Vitamins each morning on my way to work. It’s kept me from catching any sickness going around at my work during such a busy time for me. I also wait to eat my breakfast until I get to work so it helps hold me over on the drive there as well.

Question of the Day: What is something you’re loving this week?

My Week in Pictures XXIX

Happy Monday, everybody! I hope everyone has been able to keep cool these past few days if you've had the kind of heat Jersey has had. As I've said before, life has been busy lately with the wedding just 18 days away. This past week was full of a lot of wedding prep and needless to say, I'm starting this Monday on a sleepy note. To keep you in the loop, here is my week in pictures!


We started off the week with a bang and picked up our marriage license after we both got done work!

Afterwards we met up with John's best friend, Dean, and his girlfriend for burgers and milkshakes.

Tuesday morning started with an early morning run. It was actually pretty decent out!

I got some Joey snuggles after work on Wednesday.

On Thursday I opted to run my 3 miles on the treadmill. Luckily Elf was playing in the Edge Cinema which kept me distracted.

When I got home, I sat on the couch and put my feet up for the first time in awhile. It might've been a bad idea, though, because then I didn't want to get up...

Friday's field trip was to the movies to see Toy Story 4. Super cute movie!

After work I went to the gym and tried out the stair climber. What a good workout!

John left super early on Saturday morning for his bachelor party so I hit the ground running with wedding errands.

This was my look for the day since it was so darn hot out!

After being out most of the day with my mom, sister, and nephews, we relaxed with some sushi for dinner.

I ended up sleeping over at my sister's Saturday night since her husband was at John's bachelor party, too. Breakfast consisted of half a breakfast sandwich and a cookie that Ashley baked while I went home to feed Dexter.

Some more Joey snuggles and lots of play time with Tommy!

We baked rainbow cupcakes Saturday night and Tommy iced them Sunday morning.

We did a couple crafts together. This one was where Tommy colored on a coffee filter with markers and then sprayed it with water so the colors spread out. They were the wings of the butterfly we made.

The end result of all our cupcakes!

Question of the Day: What did you do fun this past weekend?

Friday Favorites

We are officially 3 weeks out til the wedding and I only have 1 week of work left so you could say I’m pretty excited over here! It was a long week but the weekend is finally here! John is going to Atlantic City for his bachelor party so I’m spending the weekend with my sister doing some wedding related stuff and pretty much just relaxing. My bachelorette party is next week and I’m getting pretty pumped for that! Before I head into work and start this wonderful work day, I’m sharing some things that I’ve been digging this week.

This Instagram Post
A week or so ago, JamieVaron posted this totally true text post on Instagram. I immediately shared it on my story because I felt like it was something everybody needed to read. I struggle in the summer, especially this summer in particular, with allowing myself to just enjoy life around me. I spend so much time criticizing myself and tryptophan stop myself from enjoying the joys of summer, such as ice cream. Ever since I read this, I’ve been remembering it each time I try to keep myself from just living.

Travel Utensil Set
I honestly have no clue where I got this set, but I’m fairly certain it was from the Success Rice table at a race expo awhile back. It’s a pretty cool traveling utensil set that has a fork, spoon, and knife all in one small set that comes apart  for you to use. I’ve been keeping it in my lunchbox for work the last week or so and it’s been awesome! The utensils are all a decent size and clean up nicely. I love the little cover that keeps it all together in my bag!

Caramel Corn
While down the shore for 4th of July weekend I insisted on getting a tub of caramel corn from Pop’s on the boardwalk. I’m not sure what made me want it, but it was exactly what I was craving! I opted to get it in a tub, knowing I wouldn’t finish it for awhile. Well it’s been close to 2 weeks and I’m still snacking on it. Surprisingly it’s been staying pretty fresh in the tub so I hope it continues that until I finish it!

Question of the Day: What are you loving this week?

The Benefits of Running Early

As most of you know, we are pretty much in the hottest part of the summer. My part of New Jersey is supposed to be hitting the high 90’s by the end of this week and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. One thing I can do to avoid experiencing these high temps is by completing my run before work as opposed to after. This means I’m up and out the door before 6 am but I am completely okay with that because there a some great benefits of it. Today I’m sharing my personal benefits of getting a run done early in the morning.

I’d much rather run when it’s 77 than when it’s 95!

Lower Temperatures
It tends to be a lot cooler in the morning which makes for a much better run. If you happen to get out of the door before the sun comes up (wear your reflective gear and bring a light!), that’s even better because then you don’t have the harsh sun beating on you.

Sprinklers!
I’m not sure if this is every neighborhood, but the sprinklers tend to be going early in the morning around me. This gives me the opportunity to run through them when I start to get a bit toasty.

Peace and Quiet
Not many people are out and able before 6 am so that makes for a relatively quiet run. Those are the runs I enjoy the most because I can focus more on my thoughts than paying attention to all the people around me. I tend to run without headphones in the morning for two reasons. One, I like the quiet and the occasional bird chirping and two, for safety reasons. I like to be able to be hear my surroundings just in case.

It’s Done With!
This is by far the greatest part of an early morning run. I’m usually not too awake when I start my run, so once I figure out what’s going on, I’m already feeling good! It’s so nice to realize later in the day that I can go right home and relax after work because my run is already done with for the day. Some days I even forget and it’s a nice surprise later on!

My Week in Pictures XXIX

Hi, everyone! I can't believe Monday is already here! We had a busy weekend which made it feel like it flew by. We got a lot of wedding related tasks done and I'm going into this week feeling a little bit more relaxed than I have been. Last week was equally as busy as the weekend so keep scrolling to see what I was up to in picture and short caption form :)


My week started with a sweet whale craft at work.

On Tuesday I got a little visitor for lunch!

That afternoon we did a sand art craft in arts & crafts. The kids LOVED it but boy was it a mess!

Tuesday was Dress Like a Cow Day at Chick Fil A so my parents and I participated! We clearly went crazy with the costumes haha.

Wednesday we went on a field trip to the Funplex for work! It was a mix of a water park and an amusement park. Super cool!

I was excited to find this old prom photo in the original prom frame with cleaning on Thursday :)

Ashley invited us to some Sunset Festival on Friday night. I had fun playing with Tommy and he was definitely exhausted by the end of the evening.

Somehow John and I were awake enough after that to go get drinks with his friend from work and her boyfriend. A coconut mojito hit the spot!

Saturday morning started bright and early with our usual work out class and a blueberry protein shake!

We went and explored a potential first look location after that.

After hours of running wedding related items, we went for some all you can eat sushi.

I somehow convinced John to go shopping at the outlets near our house. He got some new bathing suits for the honeymoon along with some nice polos for work. I found a nice tank top and shorts at Old Navy to also pack for the honeymoon.

We kept ourselves super busy on Sunday and this picture of Dexter pretty much sums up how we both felt by the end of the day...

Question of the Day: What is something fun you did this past week/weekend?