mellow yellow

i have a thing for birds. specifically yellow birds:)

 whenever i'm having a bad day, a yellow bird seems to pop into my life to remind me not to be so silly...

take a deep breath...

don't sweat the small stuff..

god would not give it to you if you could not handle it!

thanks to my momma, i have little yellow birds in special places throughout my apartment..

also, thanks to my momma for teaching me to find the positive in everything. 

after all, we would never know how really beautiful a sunny day is if we never knew a stormy one..

"it's for my blog!"

as mentioned in a previous post, i had a chance this weekend to hang out with ma girlfrands! it was so great to see them & catch up.  but it was more than that! it was also a little reminder for me to not take them for granted :)

 

kristen-me-sara-courtney

life gets busy. things come up. people grow apart. people grow closer. 

i'm so lucky and so thankful that i have some great girls in my life to make life's challenges a little less hard. not to mention, how therapeutic is it to sit and talk nonsense for hours while sippin on a cocktail or 2? (or a bottle of bacardi mojito? hehe)

boyfriends/fiances/husbands are amazing in many ways, but, let's be serious! no guy wants to talk about real housewives episodes/ that new favorite nail polish/ should i get bangs?/omg did you see her outfit?/and all things wedding/diamond/jewelery related =)

seeing my friends on friday got me to thinking that we really wait far too long to plan visits! in reality, we are all within an hour and a half of each other, so these get togethers should seriously be more frequent!

with that said, i've decided to make a new years resolution (just one month too late! but still very important!) to plan a date with my girlfriends every month! 

(pretty soon, someone might be having les bebes & then it will really be hard to see each other!)

thank you courtney (& fred!) for entertaining us and sharing your champagne!  

thank you kristen for making me laugh & always flattering me!

thank you sara for the trip down memory lane to our days at the phoenix:)

and thanks to all the guys for putting up with our nonsense!

and a special thanks to this guy for making me feel like i am the most amazing girl in the world<3

love him!

OBSESSION: celebrity engagement rings!!

i'm a big time jewelery girl..i love it all. 

diamonds. gem stones. pearls. watches. white gold. rose gold. platinum. estate pieces. ..i love it all!

lately i have been obsessed with celebrity engagement rings.  

 nicole richie, round with a halo...love it!

 ashley simpson, princess cut with halo and micro pave band. gorg!

 beyone's very small & subtle 13 carat emerald.  ahh!

eva longoria parker's emerald cut with baguette and diamond band

 gwyneth  paltrow's pink emerald cut split shank with micro pave band & halo

 love my girl jennifer hudson! round diamond spit shank with pave halo 

 jessica simpson's set from ex hubby nick lachey (did i mention i met nick??) pear diamonds, pretty but not my thang!

 khloe kardashian - 9 carat radiant cut wowza!

natalie portman- eco friendly! antique stone, made with recycled platinum

 

kate middleton - princess diana's sapphire ring. i could die!
 
 
 carrie underwood (one of my fave celebs) - 5 carat yellow diamond

 

and last but not least,my girl, giuliana rancic. 4 carat cushion cut! i don't know what i like more: the ring or bill rancic;)

ahhh, (heavy sigh) i could drool over these all day long!

have a great saturday=)

all images courtesy of google images:)

..more like cityLOATHE!

ok, not city loathe, but kinda feeling a snow loathe!  don't get me wrong. i love the beautiful white scenery, the quiet after a snow fall, and the smell (yes, snow has a smell)! 

a few of the photos i snapped last night on our walk to main street
 

but living in a city that is not snow friendly sure makes me hate all things winter & snow related!  we're going on day 3 of being snowed in, and the cabin fever is setting in.  this morning i watched out my front window as TEN cars were stuck on the hill.  

two more cars were to the left but i couldn't fit it all in one picture!
 

as i sit here typing, the snow has started to come down once again.  the weather people are predicting another inch before the end of the day.  UHHHHHHHH!

...in other news: it's friday!!! yayy!  i am beyond excited that friday is here for one small reason.  

actually, it's a huge reason!  i get to see my college friends tonight! i love these girls!

here we are back in november, the last time we were together!

 happy friday=)

time to get serious!

last weekend i (and a 30,000 other people) signed up for the Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run..and i couldn't be more excited! the run was sold out in 5 days!! this is the 1st of a few running oriented goals i have for the new year.  i've been training on the treadmill since the real feel has been in the teens.  i have to admit that i HATE running on the treadmill...can't wait for it to warm up outside so i can hit the trail!

 i also love running on the kelly drive loop..here are a few photos i snapped on one of my loop runs this past fall..

well, i'm off to enjoy my sunday=)

FRIDAY!!

i'm so ready to enjoy a 3 day weekend...starting with a little 3 mile run....

Happy Friday!!

snow day = winter blues

working in a school district absolutely has its perks! the snow started around 7 last night and didn't stop until about 4am this morning, leaving us with a nice sloppy coat of the white stuff.  i welcomed a wake up call at 5:20 this morning inviting me to turn off the alarm and snuggle up for a few more hours of sleep.


i don't feel guilty about staying in my pj's for as long as possible today and spending the majority of my time planted on the sofa (that's what snow days are for, right?) but all this down time has definitely brought out the winter blues & i've been day dreaming about my summer days..

 kicked off the last day of school/first night of summer with some great friends & family at a phills game

 enjoyed the 1st vacation of summer 2010 by spending a week in avalon, nj

(love going from the beach right to happy hour)

 spent a week in july in st. maarten for a wedding

 ...followed by an august wedding for one of my favorite couples from college.

(this is my favorite photo of all of the girls)

wrapped it all up with a weekend get-a-way to north jersey & new york.

what's better than spending a saturday in september on the beautiful beach?

i miss you summer 2010.. really looking forward to what summer 2011 has to offer.  only 5 1/2 months to go. .

well hello there!

where to begin? i thought it would be fun to start out 2011 with some blogging! bear with me as i get this all figured out :)