My Weekend Trip To Saratoga Springs

Me at Braeburn Tavern

Sometimes you have to leave the husband home and drive 2 and a half hours for a friend's Bachelorette weekend! After all the extra hours I've put in at work I needed to kick back, drink fruity drinks out mason jars, get stuck in an inflatable tube, and make some new friends. 

Cheesy sounding, I know, but it's the honest truth. 

The destination picked was Saratoga Springs in upstate New York. I thought it was going to Lake George, but I'm mildly terrified of swimming in a lake so I was kinda happy about the final choice. Saratoga is best known for the horse races but even off season there is a lot of fun things to do! There were shops, wineries, breweries, restaurants, and the architecture of all the buildings is beautiful. It has all the New England prettiness without the 4 hour drive. 

Friday Favorites!

If you didn't know, I have a slight obsession with flamingos...My mom does too. When I finally move out my tiny apartment I will be that lawn with the plastic flamingos! Luckily Canva - which I use for most of my blog graphics had this little cutie! Perfect for today!

I can't until 3pm so I can get the hell out of here! I'm on my way up to Saratoga Springs in Upstate New York! I live downstate outside of New York City. It's about a 2 and a half hour drive and I'm super excited!

I do have a quick list of Friday Favorites from the week! Here it goes!

Thursday Thoughts: Ipsy, Disney, Magnolia Table, & The Ultimate Time Hop

Okay, the weekend needs to hurry up! 

~ This weekend I'm going to a bachelorette party mini getaway in upstate New York and there will be wine...oh yes there will be. Wine, fancy dinners, gossip, local town shopping, pool party, and a peek into the nightlife of somewhere new. After the craziness I've had at work these past few weeks I'm so excited to wind down for a 2 days. ~ 

~ Evidently a million things have changed at Walt Disney World since I went in 2002 and I'm not talking about them adding the Frozen ride. I now understand why people still use travel agents. It's quite stressful to set up the fast pass & reservations 30 days in advance. ~ 

~ Also Disney related - There is something called Disney Bounding where you dress up in normal clothes that make you look a version of a Disney character. I think I might have to do this...I'm obsessed with Nightmare Before Christmas. If I can do Sally easily I'm so in! ~ 

True Story: A Honeymoon, A Funeral, A Tesla, & Who The "F" Are They?

My favorite picture of my grandfather...Baby me eating his shoulder.

June 14th...Seriously, how did we get here? 

It seems like yesterday I was leaving for my honeymoon to the Dominican Republic and finding out my husband & I's luggage didn't exactly make the trip along with us. Oh yeah...not fun. Thankfully we were staying at an all in-clusive resort and we had a lot of cash with us. Let's just say I'm glad the gift shop sold maxi dresses and I was able to buy the a swimsuit.

This however was not yesterday. It was three years ago. When we returned after the most awkward honeymoon experience I found out my grandfather had passed away the day we left. I was lucky enough to see him a few weeks before and got to tell him I loved him. Of course it saddened me that my grandfather had died, but truly I felt like he was finally at peace. 

The next day after we came home we had to rush up to Connecticut for the funeral because luckily my family was able to wait for me to hold the services. But this is where things got even weirder. 

Craig noticed a Tesla in the church parking lot and asked me, "Who in your family drives a Tesla?" I had no idea and thought maybe it was my uncle's rental car. Why not drive a Tesla to your father's funeral service I thought. Or possibly there were two funerals happening at the same time. 

Ironically Craig and I accidentally went to a wrong cocktail at a wedding venue once. It happens, I swear it does.  lol. 

Movie Night: Lady Bird & Other Coming of Age Movies

Lady Bird 

All I can say is Wow. This is a great movie and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

It's been a long while since I've seen a movie that spoke to me so clearly and tugged at memories I hadn't revisited in years. 

For me, this was a coming of age movie I wish 17 year old me could see, but thankfully I'm 32 year old me and I just want to write Greta Gerwig letter after letter say Thank You for making this movie over and over again. I can't relate to every part of it, but fuck, 90% of it I stopped what I was doing and remembered what it was like being a senior in high school in 2003. Even watching Laurie Metcalf struggle as a mother to support her family made me call up my mom and thank her for everything she's done to help me be where I am today.

P.S. This movie is not about Lady Bird Johnson. =P

Lady Bird is available on Amazon Prime Video. I want to watch it again to see what I missed. I remember trying out for the school play, I remember the first bad boy and the lies that followed, I remember going to Catholic school as a kid, and I remember talking over and over to my best friend about everything under the sun.

Writing A Novel Hurdle #3 - Finding The Time To Write

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday or Hurry Up and get here Tuesday so Monday can be over!

I've been thoroughly enjoying this little series I've started "Writing a Novel Hurdles". In no way am I trying to re-invent the wheel or even become a copycat because there are much more qualified published authors who give amazing advice to help you on your journey. My intentions are to share with you the tips and missteps I'm learning as I go along listening to our people's tried and true formulas. 

Writing A Novel Hurdle #3:

Finding the Time to Write...

Stolen Moments Sunday

I have absolutely no clue what type of flower this is but I just fell in love with it. My husband laughed because the flower was growing in a trail part of the zoo we went to today where there were tons of animals yet I was taking pictures of the flowers for  my blogpost header! lol. 

The weekend was crazy busy from my friend's bridal shower to my god-daughter's dance recital to a date day adventure to the zoo. 

Did it all go off without a hitch?  

Nope. Florists close mad early on Saturdays?!?!

Did I win Bridal Shower Gift Bingo?  

Uh-huh! I won an adorable Pineapple tumbler.

Did I realize I was Taking Photos of the Wrong Kid on stage at the Dance Recital?

Most definitely...I think I need a better glasses prescription for distance

Friday Favorites!

This week got overpowered by work. I didn't leave my office until 7pm most nights. I'm really hoping it starts to calm down, but in marketing/advertising my extra job load is unpredictable. It's keeping me busy and not snacking (On par to lose that 5 pounds for my June goal), but I'm exhausted. I'll have to get my groove back!

This week is jam packed with a double event on Saturday. My life runs like this constantly. I'll say yes to something in March then find out 2-3 more things are happening on the same day in May. At least it's all happy things this weekend. =)

Thursday Thoughts: Movies + TV Shows + Books!

Well I blinked Monday morning and now it's Thursday morning. This week went by super fast. Work has been crazy, but it's kind of a good thing because I find myself snacking less at my desk. lol.

I'm a big Book + Movie + TV person. I always have been. I've been very caught up with work and missed a few things I really wanted to see. I can't wait for a few things to finally come out! 

A Wrinkle In Time

I completely missed seeing this in the theater and I had no idea it got released on DVD this week. The marketing campaign for this movie was insane but then it just came and went so fast. I know there were mixed reviews but I still can't wait to see it. I'll watch anything Mindy Kaling and Reese Witherspoon do. Oh and we mustn't forget Chris Pine. He's my of my favorite Hollywood "Chris". 

I never read the book while I was in school so I'm going in fresh and new! I might check it out On Demand first before I buy it!

Writing a Novel Hurdle #2: Four Ways to Self - Edit Your Writing

This part of the writing a novel process will be my ultimate downfall. I'm sure of it.

Over the past 3 months I've read over my entire novel 10 times at least. I've never been a big fan of editing, but I'm stuck on this one. I have to do it before I send it out to a professional content editor and it's hard to know when to stop.

 I'll admit I did a lot editing as I went along. I would write a scene and then read it over. This works for some people, others it doesn't. Maybe it's making these read-throughs harder because I feel like I did it already? I'm not sure, but this is definitely hard part of the process for me. 

 I need to do it regardless of what I think I've done already. 

Monday Diet Check: 5 Healthy Food Swaps!

Goals don't accomplish themselves. Sometimes, they take lots of hard work and doing what you don't want to do. But the good outweighs the bad and the end result will be amazing. So I'm told.

I promised myself this June I will lose and keep off 5 pounds. From my last Health Check post 2 weeks ago - Find it Here - I have a lot riding on getting my health in check. I honestly feel like I've lost/gained/lost/gained the same 15 pounds for years and it's steadily worsened. I have to do this. There is no turning back.

I already have learned something about myself right off the bat. Telling me to eat healthy isn't enough. I'm much better at Eat This Not That mentality. I'm doing very well with finding out exactly what products to eat and not to eat. The not to eat's are super easy but the good to eat is a struggle on it's own. It's a process and I've nailed down some great go-to's already.

New York City Book Con 2018 Recap!

I came, I saw, I conquered Book Con 2018! Woohoo! 

This weekend Saturday and Sunday I went to Book Con 2018 at the NYC Javit's Center. I have to start out by saying once you've gone to a New York City Comic Con almost every other convention is a walk in the park. I went into this weekend with absolutely no expectations because I've never been and it was so much fun and rewarding that I can't wait to go again next year.