Valentines Day Weekend

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day weekend! We kicked things off around here on Friday as soon as I got out of work.

I came home to a beautiful rose and two sweet cards. I gave Tim his lottery bouquet and some candy with a card. Then we took off to head out for our Valentines dinner!

We ended up going to Marchetti's in Cranston, RI which I had never heard of but I'm so thankful that Tim suggested it because it was amazing! We waited for an hour and a half which was a bit of a long wait and learned that reservations are 100% the way to go if you want to have dinner within an hour of entering the restaurant!

Once we sat down we were given bread with oil for dipping and a huge garden salad. We placed our orders and quickly filled up on bread and salad while we waited. I chose a penne vodka dish and Tim chose Chicken Siciliano. Both of us loved our dishes and loved that we had extra to take home as leftovers! The prices were very reasonable as well and I would highly recommend Marchetti's as a great place to visit if you are in the area!

On Saturday Tim had to work so I spent the majority of the day running errands and getting things done. I spent some time at the mall and Kohls picking up items we will need when we move out of here in May. Then I got ready because once Tim got out of work we planned on heading to the casino.

Sweater: Kohls/ Tanktop: Lauren Conrad via Kohls/
Jeans: American Eagle/ Necklace: Aeropostale

We met up with Tim's former roommate and few of their friends and spent some time in Shrine the club in Foxwoods casino. I am not a huge fan of clubbing, never have been but I did actually have a good time. I thoroughly enjoy people watching! We walked around a little bit after leaving the club, had dinner in the food court and walked through the new indoor outlets. I desperately want to go back to the outlets during the day and do some serious shopping!

On Valentines Day (Sunday) we spent a glorious morning sleeping in! Once we finally woke up and got going it was lunch time so we headed out to grab coffee and then made our way to the Mews Tavern (the spot of our first date and a place we frequent!).

We both had french onion soup and then I ate part of a pink panther calzone, and Tim ate a few slices of a chicken parm pizza. Another meal with leftovers!
After lunch we visited Tim's parents for a few minutes before heading home to relax before he had to work.

Lucky for me I also have today (Presidents Day) off from work so it was a nice three day weekend over here! I enjoyed every second of Valentines Day weekend and hope you did too!

A Last Minute Valentines Day Gift!

Happy (Almost) Valentines Day!

I just thought I would share this project I completed for Tim's Valentines Day Present! I actually saw it on a Youtube video and thought it was super cute. Tim and I had decided to not do gifts for Valentines Day but I still wanted to get something small for him. 

All it took to make this was a mason jar, Easter basket grass, skewers, pink construction paper, and $20 in scratch tickets. I just taped the back of the scratch tickets to the skewers and then stuff the skewers into the jar. 

Tim said that he liked it too- so it's boyfriend approved! Quick, easy and thoughtful! 

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful valentines day!

Making Room For Tim: Part 3

Welcome to the final installment of Making Room For Tim! We've officially been living together for a week and a half and so far so good! I'm not used to taking care of anyone other then myself so it's different to have extra laundry, things moved when I get home, and piles of dirt on the floor *ahem* (that was for you Tim if you are reading this!) but I'm enjoying having my best friend around every day. I like knowing that we come home to the same place every day and love having extra time with him that we didn't have when we lived apart. 

So, last we left off I had moved a large portion of his stuff into my room, but there were still a few things to move. Once I got the huge boxes Tim brought over unpacked and unloaded a car-load of items this is what my room looked like:

On Sunday we had a few last minute things to get from his room. Here's what his room was looking like on Sunday 1/31:

 Blue didn't want him to leave!

Empty!

Last looks at his former home as we drove away!

I picked up some containers and coffee scoops from Walmart for his coffee.

Made some room in the linen closet for his Eagles blankets...

Gave him some room in the shower....

Made room for his toothbrush...

And displayed some of his sports stuff!

It's official- we're living together :)

Winter Stroll and Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand

Happy Monday ya'll

This past week I read two books by Elin Hilderbrand both set in a different season then the majority of her novels. Both were based in winter right around Christmas time and I do have to say that they were my least favorite of all the books I've read by Elin. The problem that I had with these books was there were so many narrators and so many storylines going on all at once. I would get excited about one storyline and then it would switch to a different character and a totally different story. I was able to keep everything straight but I easily got frustrated because I just wanted to know what was happening with one character at a time.

I really enjoyed the love triangle Ava was in and found her story entertaining from beginning to end. I also really enjoyed Margaret the mother but got frustrated with Mitzi throughout both novels. I did enjoy Winter Street more then Winter Stroll. If the story had ended with Winter Street it probably would've been enough.

What books have you been reading lately?

I don't have any books on my to-read list but I think I will continue on my Elin Hilderbrand kick. I also have preordered books from Kristin Cavallieri and Emily Maynard so I can't wait until those are released!

Making Room For Tim: Part 2

Last week was crazy trying to get everything packed and moved from Tim's house to my house. He did a ton of sorting of his belongings and managed to get rid of quite a bit of clothing! He sent me a couple pictures of his packing process.

When I came home last Thursday afternoon I found these boxes ready to be unpacked. You'll see the true size of the bigger box a little further down the post. These boxes took me quite awhile to unpack but it was nice to see some progress!

By the end of Thursday night we had quite a bit completed!

I also showed how truly big the box Tim had packed his clothes in was by sitting inside it. Photo courtesy of Tim's snapchat.

On Friday we took a break from moving. Tim won his softball league- I have never seen him not win a softball season! :)

On Saturday I took a whole car load of Tim's items to my house. Here's what his room was looking like on Saturday morning before finishing packing my car.

Not much left there! We had a bit of finishing up to do on Sunday but the majority of Tim's stuff was either already at my house or in the car. We only had a few things left to transport including his tv and  mattress (which will be going into storage until we move out)

A car full of stuff! The bag behind me is actually a bag of donations, I was very proud of how much Tim donated!


Part three, the final edition is coming soon! :)

Recent Reads: January 2016 Edition

Oh My Goodness. You would not believe how many books I have read in the last few months. I honestly didn't think I had read too many books lately, but then I checked out my kindle. Crazy!

I'm going to do mini reviews on each one for you so you can get an idea of each book.

The Total Money Makeover- Dave Ramsey
I have heard a lot about Dave Ramsey and thought it would be a good idea to read this since I am trying to focus on saving and want to buy a house in the near future. I found his tips to be extremely valuable and realistic. Reading the stories of others who have successfully completed Dave Ramsey's plan made me hopeful that I will get to the point of being debt free. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in financial wellness.

A Summer Affair- Elin Hilderbrand
This novel was excellent! I loved reading about the affair between Claire and Lockhart. Both of their characters were ones who were so sad in their day to day life that they needed the affair with one another to be happy. I was fascinated with Claire's career as a glass-blower, I found it to be an extremely interesting detail that Elin included. I would recommend this book if you like easy, summer reads.

Beautiful Day- Elin Hilderbrand
I think this book was one of my favorites by Elin that I've read so far. The novel focused around the wedding Jenna is planning based on her late mothers wishes. I thought the idea of a notebook running your wedding to be interesting, but was even more enthralled with the drama the two families had throughout the wedding weekend. It was definitely a page turner!

The Blue Bistro- Elin Hilderbrand
Yes, another Elin Hildebrand book... Adrienne was an awesome main character to follow throughout the novel. The love story between her and Thatcher was exciting, I also enjoyed reading about her day to day experiences as she worked in a restaurant. I do have to say that the ending was pretty surprising, so enjoy the twists and turns Elin supplies in this novel if you do decided to pick it up.

Troublemaker- Leah Remini
I found this book SO interesting that I read it in only one day! Leah Remini's book is primarily a memoir about her time in Scientology and Hollywood. I thought her stories about Tom Cruise were extremely interesting and I enjoyed her memoir from beginning to end. She shared so much about her experience and if you are someone who has ever wondered about the inner workings of Scientology you should check it out!

Shopaholic To The Rescue- Sophie Kinsella
This was NOT my favorite book by Sophie Kinsella. I thought Becky's adventure in this book just continually dragged and although there were some humorous parts, I don't know that I will continue reading more books about Becky. The series seems to have flatlined and there's no bringing it back to life!

See Me- Nicholas Sparks 
I loved the newest Nicholas Sparks book! The love story was subtle compared to other elements but it was just as wonderful as all his previous novels. Pick it up if you love a good Nicholas Sparks book!

I read a bunch of other books but they were not fresh on my mind, so I am going to skip over them for reviews but I will try to do better in the future with reviewing books right away!

Have you read any good books lately?