Can I Quote You On That?

I have lots of favorite quotes. I can't ever seem to remember them exactly when they would be most useful, but I love collecting them!

Here are three some of my favorites!

"God, grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change, the COURAGE to change the things I can, and the WISDOM to know the difference"

"Yesterday is history. Tommmorow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present."

"Love the Lord your God, and love one another. Love one another as he loves. Love with strength and purpose and passion and no matter what comes against you. Don't weaken. Stand against the darkness, and love. That's the way back into Eden. That's the way back into life." - Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

"If you have to justify something, it's probably not worth it..."

"Don't make someone a priority when you are only their option!"

"Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So, love the ones that treat you right; forget the ones who don't. Believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. No one promised it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it."

"It's not the good times that make friendships, it's how you recover from the bad." - PJ on MY BOYS

"To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did."

What is your favorite quote?

Andrea :)

Chicago + Pumpkin Alfredo Ravioli

This Weekend, I had two extra days of fun!!  It was awesome to have the Thursday and Friday off from work!!  I was also able to check a couple more items off my 30 before 30 list.  It's down to the wire now so I was glad to get those two done.  I have one more I am attempting to complete before the 24th!  Now, back to my long weekend of fun!

On Thursday, Chris and I headed out to Chicago around noon.  When we arrived, we were starving so we grabbed some airport pizza before heading downtown to meet up with my friends Tarra and Evan!  We had so much fun with them while we were there!  That night, Chris and I headed to The Second City for an awesome improv show!  We loved it!!

On Friday, we toured around the Money Museum (for FREE!!) and then met up with Evan and Tarra for brunch. 

 

 

We made our own money!  Such a fun spot!

We made a pit stop at the bean!

After brunch, we found a little gem of a cupcake place - Sugar Bliss!  I was so pumped they had mini cupcakes!

Finally, we made our way out to Wrigley Field.  It was such a fun experience.  The stadium is so old, but in a really great way.  They have ramps leading up to your seats instead of escalators and that area is really consumed by the all things Wrigley.  It was cool to see the ivy walls in person, too!

After the game, we had a delicious dinner at City Winery in the West Loop area of Chicago.  We had great company and amazing food!  Definitely recommend trying it out!

On Saturday, we went on an architecture tour during the peak of the day and even though the sun wasn't really out, I still managed to get burnt on my shoulders.  

We also went up to the Sky Ledge at Willis Tower.  I didn't think I would be scared, but when it was my turn to step out there, I was SO nervous.  It was a really unique experience!

We headed back to NYC that evening, but not without getting some Garrett's popcorn at the airport!  I even managed to accidentally get the Chicago mix - cheddar and caramel.  Yummy!

On Sunday, I made pumpkin alfredo ravioli which completed one of the items on my 30 before 30 list!  Thanks to Kaitlyn at Wifessionals for the recipe - you can find it here.  We had some yogurt for desert while I did some laundry that afternoon. And even managed to make it to the evening service at Calvary which we both enjoyed.

I have a HUGE week (and a half) ahead of me with our National 7-on-7 Tournament and National Lineman Challenge coming up so wish me luck with both of those massive events out in Cleveland!  Here's hoping they both go off without a hitch!

Hope you had an amazing weekend!!

Andrea :)

Book #10 - Before Ever After

Before Ever After was sent to me via a book swap with Ashlee over at A Step in the Right Direction. I was so excited to participate in that swap...and I'm so glad I did because this was an awesome book!  I really liked it!  I had a little trouble getting into it, but once I got past the first couple of chapters...I was totally hooked!!  I could not put it down! 

The story is told mostly from Shelly's point of view.  Her husband, Max, was tragically killed around their 5th wedding anniversary.  Max's grandson finds Shelly a few months after his passing to alert her to some interesting information about Max.  This news finds Shelly reminiscing about the very beginning of her courtship with Max which happens to have occurred on one of Max's famous off the beaten path tours.  The stories Shelly recounts from cities all over Europe are fantastic and really draw you into the book.  It was especially fun to read for a travel fanatic and history buff like myself.  I loved reading the stories about ancient times in each city.  And of course, the love story was wonderful as well.

I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys romance, history, and/or mystery.  It has a little bit of all three mixed in there.  It's also a very quick read!  Let me know your thoughts if you have a chance to check it out!

Andrea :)

Happy 4th of July!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful day celebrating our great country's independence!

I'm on my way to Chicago with Christopher to check another item off my 30 before 30 list.  I'm getting down to the wire. Only 20 more days to go before the big 3-0!!

Enjoy your day!!

Andrea :)

Cinderella

A couple weeks ago my friend, Mary, and I went to see Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella for our annual birthday show!  Mary's birthday is actually today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!! - but we both have a lot going on this July so we broke out our party shoes a little early this year!!

We had a great time catching up and watching the fabulous show!  The costumes were amazing and the story lines were really funny!  I wasn't entirely sure what to expect going into it.  I mean, I knew the story of Cinderella, but I wasn't sure how it would be portrayed on stage.  I was very impressed!  There was a tad bit of difference in the story line from what I remember of the animated version I watched growing up, but overall it remained the same.  And seriously, it was funny.  Like laugh out loud funny.  Songs were great, dances and dresses were fun, and the characters were believable! We really enjoyed it!! 

Mary was the first friend I made when I moved to New York City back in the summer of 2007.  We didn't know one another when we celebrated our birthdays that year, but we became fast friends that fall!  This is our 5th birthday show together now - Lion King (2008), The Little Mermaid (2009), South Pacific (2010), *visited Paris where Mary was living in 2011*, War Horse (2012), and now Cinderella (2013).  WOW!!  We have made some wonderful memories over the years for sure!!  What a blessing to have such a great friend and so many exciting times to look back on over the years!!

Andrea :)

Street Smarts

I always loved school, but to be honest I don't really use a great deal of the things I learned in my classes there.  Outside of school can be a dangerous, but beneficial place to learn.  I'll share a few of my street smarts with you today...

 

 

1 - Always carry an umbrella.  If it rains, you're covered - literally.  And if your luck is like mine and you bring it, the rain won't come!

2 - Treat other people the way you would like to be treated.  It's just common courtesy!  And I really can't comprehend how all people don't comply with this one!

3 - If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.  Sometimes holding your tongue is the best thing to do...even though it can be VERY difficult!

4 - Learn the names of the people around you and be genuinely interested in them.  It can make a huge difference!

Andrea :)

O's Game + Washington DC

This Weekend, I marked an item off my 30 before 30 list and had a lot of fun in the process!!  We spent the weekend in the Washington DC area with friends!  SO fun!

On Friday, I ended up on the longest bus ride ever when some crazy rain and threats of flooding delayed me arriving to the DC area by about two hours.  Boo for that...but it all worked out well even though we barely made it in time for the happy hour at the British Embassy.

 
We spent the evening socializing with friends over dinner at Capital City Brewing Company and a quick stop for froyo afterward!  YUM!

 
On Saturday, Chris and I drove out to York, Pennsylvania, to visit one of his college roommates, Josh, and his cute little family!  We had a fun time being entertained by Josh's two little ones and even got to have lunch at Chick-fil-A!  Unfortunately, I failed to get a picture...and I was super bummed as I realized it about 10 minutes after we got on the road back.

That night we went to Camden Yards to watch the O's and the Yankees.  Turned out to be a pretty lopsided game, but it was fun to be at the ball park!

 
On Sunday, we slept in a little and then went for brunch at Miss Shirley's in Annapolis - SO GOOD!!  There was a bit of a wait when we arrived so we looked around a little beforehand.  They had the cutest birds all over the place!

After brunch, we ventured out to Georgetown for a little cupcake fun before we left town.  We started out at Baked and Wired.  I tried the Strawberry there as that flavor has become my favorite these days.  I thought it was good, but my cake was a bit dry.  The icing was perfect and just the right amount.  These cupcakes were huge, too!  I did try a bite of my friend's chocolate one and it was much more moist.  Overall, I enjoyed it!

Next we ventured to the crazy popular Georgetown Cupcakes.  We stood in line for about 30 minutes which isn't terrible, but definitely more than I would prefer to wait!  I decided to try two different types here because I wanted to compare the strawberry, but I also wanted to try something different - carrot cake!  Both were tasty!  These were much smaller than the ones at Baked and Wired, but more than made up for the size with the mound of icing on top.  The cake of both was super moist and very good, but I had to scrape off nearly all the icing because it was just too much!  I loved the cute little fondant toppers on them, too.

After I got my cupcake fix, we ventured down to the river and hung out there for a bit.  Then we headed back into DC to grab dinner before we left for NYC on the bus.  The ride back was equally as dreadful, but I'm glad we went on the adventure!  It was a lot of fun!!
 

With our lovely hostess and fun tour guides - Noli and Rachel!

  

How was your weekend?

Andrea :)