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Never mind the fact that Jeff will be turning 28 tomorrow, we channeled our not so inner children and planned an excellent birthday party for my big kid.

Can you say Go-Karting?

It was pretty sweet, we had a great turn out of friends and classmates. Thanks everyone for coming! I spent 3 hours the night before satisfying my baking obsession. I made 3 dozen cupcakes, 3 different kinds and frostings all from scratch. I was quite pleased with the turn out and even more happy with the rave reviews I got the next day.

Banana, Grasshopper mint and Peanut Butter Cup

Jeff scored some sweet treats of his own, he became the lucky owner of his very own Justin Beiber "barbie" doll and wall poster! Oh boy was he excited. Giggled like a school girl he did. Our party guests were also treated to a little grab bag full of only the best dollar store race cars of their own, bouncy balls, playdough, wheel yo-yos, and plenty of sweets.

Cupcakes and goodie bags

It was a very fun day and the competition was pretty fierce out there on the track. There was some trash talk of course, friendly wagers and of course a fair share of spin outs and close calls. I guess I liked the feel of the wind in my hair a little too much and received a warning that I would get thrown out if I drove recklessly again after smashing into the wall and having to be pulled out. Whooops!

We found ourselves out to dinner with our party goers to Sliders for some famous wings. They treated the birthday boy and his cupcake making lady, thanks for dinner friends! And a Happy Almost Birthday Jeff!

Chop Job

After returning home from Florida it only took me one time of blow drying my hair in the apartment and finishing with still having wet hair and sweat beads on my nose and forehead before I realized something had to go. My hair. Loved it, but I am definitely not missing it!

Kind of crappy pics but its all I have so far.

Florida part 2: Keys Please

KEY WEST! Heeeeyyyooooooooo!

We were stoked to do a little campin', a little beachin', some cruisin' and good eatin' down in Key West. Neither of us had been there before but our weekend there definitely won't be our last. We got down to the keys a bit late after our Everglades detour with my mom, Ant and Angie and Brandon and set up our tent in the dark (it was hilarious I'm sure) and hit the town for a little drive-by. Duval street is the main night-life street in Key West and pretty much a bar crawl but awesome at the same time. Lot's of people, shopping, music, etc.

Day one we got up and got going early, rented bikes and rode around for a bit until our couples massage I booked for us down there for our anniversary. It was my first massage and I loved it. Thinking back, I am glad I booked it for our first day because it wouldn't have been quite as enjoyable with the sunburn I left with! Yikes.

We spent the rest of the weekend, cruising around, shopping, snorkeling and laying on the beach. It was heaven on earth.

Florida Vaca part 1

I know I can speak for the both of us when I say we were really looking forward to Florida for a few reasons, to be reunited after a month spent apart, to see and play with all my family for a few days, to attend an awesome wedding bash and a weekend in the keys to celebrate our one year anniversary. After a rough start (Jeff missing his flight and taking almost another full 24 hours to get there) I will say that it definitely didn't disappoint!

We all arrived to Em and Mitch's house to a yummy pizza dinner after a long day of travel. It took about 10 minutes from the time we got out of the car until the kids were in the pool, some still fully dressed.

The wedding was a party alright. It was fun spending the day getting all dressed up with my mom and sisters and while it reminded me of our wedding day just a year ago I must say I was all too happy to not be the bride this time around. My sister looked absolutely stunning and the wedding itself took place on a patio overlooking the beach, it was an awesome view. After a very late night the night before and a long wedding day we retired to our hotel room only to receive a pleading phone call from my poor mom and after we spent the last portion of the night putting to bed and babysitting the boys in my family who frequented the open bar one (twenty) too many times. Oops. Once again it made me appreciate the word of wisdom and the fact that I live in CT and only had to deal with that once every wedding. hehe Anyway, the wedding was beautiful, we are so happy and excited for Em and Mitch and Anthony of course. Mitchell is a wonderful man and loves my sister and Anthony very much we are very excited to have him in our family for good.

Year One

Jeff being the great husband he is made our first anniversary unforgettable, even though we were apart on the actual day :( I was asked out to dinner by one of my good friends and when she was supposed to pick my up instead her cute little family stopped by and delivered a personal pizza and wrapped present. I immediately knew to get on ichat where of course, Jeff was waiting patiently. We had dinner together (Jeff had the same kind of personal pizza) and then we opened presents! Jeff got me an awesome pair of the new nike free run shoes that I have been secretly eyeing for some time now. I was stoked! (He had already previously given me a gift card to a salon which I used to get a mani/pedi before Florida) I revealed to him that I had booked us a couples massage in Key West, something Jeff has been wanting to do together since our honeymoon. We were both very happy and excited. Modern technology sure makes things easy.. He told me he had one more surprise and told me to go look in the kitchen, after some searching and his directions of "Hot" and "Cold" I found a wrapped piece of our wedding cake he had my mom bring with her the previous week and hide in our freezer. We ended our anniversary date with a taste of our banana and chocolate wedding cake that was surprisingly not too terrible.

I sure love that husband of mine and know just how lucky I am to have him. He fills in all my cracks and is strong where I am weak. He never fails to remember our special days and make them memorable. He always supports me and is the first to praise something I've done. He loves to surprise me and take care of me/our home, cars, etc. He is kind and respectful and a total goofball and I couldn't love him more. I am so thankful to have spent the last year with him and look forward to every year and adventure to come.

ichat dates are awesome.
We are happy, we are in love.


All my spoils and my love!

Our first anniversary

Happy Anniversary Jeffrey. I love you.

How we got to be together and why I am the luckiest wife ever. More on that later...

coming soon: why I never blogged about our big day (2 days)

Stay tuned for plenty more gag-reflux inducing posts about LOVE

Visit from my mama

At exactly the halfway mark of the longest month of my life (Jeff being in Utah) my mom came out to spend the week with me. It was the best kind of "hump day" treat. We drove all around town, or towns, as in Hamden, North Haven and New Haven. My favorite was trying to explain the roads and listen to her to try keep track of where we were and how we got there. We shopped, visited, went to the orchards, had movie nights, spent a glorious day at the park reading and having a picnic and spent all day Sunday teaching(mom) and learning(cass) how to use my new pressure cooker, a gift from my mother. It was a perfect and much needed week and I was so happy to see her and be able to show her our life out here in New England.

The week in pictures, in no particular order...

Never been worn Aldo shoes I bought at the good will for $7 Steal!
Mom's cute new shirt!
East Rock Park
Mom eating her first meatball sub and Canoli
10 bottles of pork all done
10 bottles of chicken "going in"
My sweet new toy
Thanks for coming mom! It was a great week, love you!

*only 6 more days until Florida and 7 til I get my man back!