Much Needed Time Away

so for the last 24 hours or so, i keep asking myself....

why did i come back? why do i have to be poor and need a job so that i can't stay here? (although i could potentially get a job there so i could stay there.)

i don't know. i mean it's okay to be home and stuff, around people i know, but meh. i still kind of want to move on to something new.

i have been definitely thinking about things a lot. i suppose that will be another story, when i am ready.

so....today's blog...is gonna be one super long happy fun time picture album! ron and i had a great time over the 4 day weekend. i have to say, i think i know which one of us can't live without the internet though. #youfail #iwin #challengecomplete #loveyoulotsanyway

 so anyway, here are a whole bunch of pictures from the weekend.....and maybe some food at the end!

super fancy wegmans just outside of dc

somewhere in virginia ♥

random foliage (from near the hotel and jockeys ridge) and date night....we definitely made it a point to dress up and be all fancy....just because we can. also note the top right....can you believe i am wearing heels? there was an imbalance in the world that day....(and i always remember why sneakers are so much better, but i made it a couple hours to look nice, anyway.) #10-11-12bestdayever

that morning, we went to stack em high, pretty sure my (our?) all time favorite breakfast place, and the only place you can find them is in kill devil hills, and kitty hawk north carolina. it's almost like a build your own breakfast- you get a tray, load it with fruit, muffins, chocolate milk, juice, etc (whatever you want) and then order your hot foods (pancakes, waffles, french toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, etc) at the end. then they bring it out to you. all the while, you can read the quotes on the walls, ceilings, doors, windows.....spectacular!

for dinner we went to millers seafood and steak on route 12 (which is right on the ocean). it was not by any means as fancy as we made it look by dressing up so much, as we got weird looks and were questioned when we got there. they were pretty good for a first visit. decent price for seafood and stuff. can i also say, that i am absolutely in love with hush puppies slathered in butter?

huge mini golf course....we spent a day going to random thrift shops and playing mini golf. yes, i also did sports. i am not very good at anything like that at all. i may have thrown the club a couple times. luckily there weren't any people around when i did.

last morning in the outer banks we visited jockeys ridge park. for those of you who don't know, it is a stretch of sand dunes in the outer banks, so basically we went to play in a 4 square mile sandbox and took a bunch of pictures.

i really like this picture ☺

dune mushroom! (yes, it was growing out of the sand)

 what am i doing here? no idea.

i am really glad the weather turned out so nice. we had a little rain when we went out for dinner, but that was about it. all the while, i hear it was in the 30's-40's back at home. i will take 70-'s-80's any day of the year.

finally made it to the ocean as well. we found a neat bottle in one of the thrift stores and filled it with sand and shells from the beach.

from here, we headed to virginia beach. we were going to camp out in the car, but lucked out and found a hotel right on the ocean front for only $50. ocean view and everything. it was seriously awesome to go to sleep and wake up to the sound of the sea.

 

yes, we totally had pigeons on our balcony, and yes, i tried to let them come into the room. i opened the door and waited, but then something outside scared them off.

so yeah. we walked around virginia beach the night before and following morning and decided that we need to come back (this was our first time there, i don't remember if i mentioned that or not). we usually drive through, and have stopped to visit the cheesecake factory a few times (this was actually the first cheesecake factory we ever went to ever), but never really stayed for more than an hour or two, or actually made it to the beach.

it was pretty awesome. the boardwalk was great, there were people walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, etc. all hours of the day. who wouldn't want to do that, being right on the ocean? i would actually make jogging or something a routine if i could wake up to that every day. (i know, what am i saying? me? exercise? right!) there were a ton of little shops and restaurants, there was even a mini carnival/fun park that was open with rides and stuff. we drove by a huge mall that was about 10 minutes out from the actual beach. aquarium. art museum. indoor go karts. amusement park. holy crap. i feel like i would need at least two weeks to check everything out. and a lot of money. oh god, would i need money. i could always just wait outside the gates and stare people down as they walk in and out, and ask them what it's like. #sadlifeofbeingpoor #whyamistillhashtagging?

for dinner we went to this barbecue place called jakes smokehouse bbq. it was pretty awesome, and relatively inexpensive as well. i can't say any of the staff seemed happy, but the food and speed of service was good. did i mention i ate more hush puppies? the next morning we walked to another local place called belvedere's, which was right on the boardwalk overlooking the ocean. super tiny diner, like they only seat 27 people. we sat together in the booth so we could both look outside. they were really awesome, super cheap, delicious breakfast. i guess people wait in line for hours during peak season. as much as i liked it, i almost thing busy season would be kind of scary there. it was pretty quiet for our visit, but there were still drunk people around being dumb. i'm pretty sure some guy passed out on the beach, and his friends were trying to fix him.

so anyway....i did promise you food.

yes, that's a lot of cheese. i was feeling somewhat ambitious, but at the same time lazy, so i looked up a recipe for crock pot macaroni and cheese. then added chicken and bacon.

oh my goodness yes. the noodles got a little over done, but it still tasted like mac and cheese. with chicken and bacon. you can find the recipe here, which i found via pinterest (no surprise there). i subbed the sour cream with greek yogurt, used small shells, mild cheddar and colby jack cheese, chopped the chicken up tiny, and the bacon was cooked separate and added after (thanks to ron). i thought it was pretty good, the chicken and bacon made it better. comfort food at it's finest. AND it is totally going to last a week or something between the two of us because it made a ton of food.

i have to start getting ready for my donut party as well. that is coming up in a couple of sundays. i am going to make/get plain donuts, and have everyone bring toppings, to make your own donuts! maybe i will give out a little prize for the most creative donut, and some other stuff. that might be fun, AND motivation for people to come hang out with me. or you can just come hang out with me because you want to. i can be cool. i am planning on having some warm spiced cider as well! who doesn't like apple cider, either warm or cold? it's delicious.

donuts are not that hard to make, either. i mean, i haven't tried deep frying them yet, but i have a donut pan to bake them. i will never compare to my all time favorite donut place though. they are a local place at my home away from home.

hell. yes. seriously, if you are ever near the area, or visit the area, you have to give these guys the time of day. they make the donuts to order. seriously, like you order them, they take them while they are still warm from the fryer....ice them with one of 6 or more flavors, add whatever toppings you desire, put them in a box, and you put them in your face. i do not know of any other places that do this, and that is why they are the best ever, aside from being in the outer banks. they're even still good the next day, and the day after that (we brought some home one year.....still awesome after a 13 hour drive).

alright, i will stop my donut rant, and get on with this already. i hope you enjoyed my picture blog this week. i will try to have something for you on sunday, and seriously get back on this sunday/wednesday posting ritual. thank you for reading! ☺

Anniversary Weekend Starts Now

just a quick little post.

like i said, i am about to ditch the internet for four days. yes, thats right. FOUR WHOLE DAYS. no social interaction, just my husband and i enjoying each other's company on our mini vacation.

i am super excited.

i havent been on a vacation in a while, and am in serious need of one. i'm pretty sure we both are. we are going back to the outer banks, of course. like i said, home away from home. i am printing the directions now, because as soon as i get in the car, airplane mode, so noone can contact me, and i can't contact anyone. i mean, i can, but that would defeat the whole no internet thing.

anyway, i made this awesome apple bread this morning too. we are going to eat it on the way. ♥

yeah, i didn't get an after picture, but i will take some fancy pictures when we cut into it.

i got it from pinterest also, it is an apple streusel bread. it smells super yummy.

i also did this little picture, and tested my air brush again with real, non edible paint....

of course, it's just the background that is the air brush, but it came out pretty cool. stole a whole bunch of ideas from pinterest and made it my own. ♥ i gave it to him early since it would be a pain to bring it down there and back.

anyway, i will leave it at that for now. we are out the door, and i will talk to you in a few days!!
 

oh, here is a picture of satch stealing ron's banana the other morning. happy weekend, all!! ♥☻♥

Late Again...My Bad

so yeah. i know i have been slacktacular lately, trying to get back into the habit after not posting anything for like 2 months. so here we are. missed wednesday. missed sunday, although it's only monday so im not too far off. i might end up posting thursday instead of wednesday this week as well, since i am working a double. gotta make that money. (edit: yeah, i didn't finish monday either. so here we are on tuesday.)

here...

look at the pretty colors on the trees behind the restaurant last week. the one reason i don't mind fall in new york, because everything is so colorful and bright. ♥

so....what has happened since last week? well, i've worked a lot, of course. nothing new there. made some more applesauce, so the apartment smelled like delicious cinnamony goodness. trying to get everything ready for this weekend's getaway. can't wait.

<----- so this.....can you believe this? that is my hand. being girly. wat.

this is actually why i wasn't able to get online last night after work. i had heather make me all fancy for this coming weekend. i can't stop looking at them. they're all glittery and sparkly, and there are BIRDS. cute little love birds. yay!

i love shiny things. strangely enough, i almost want to start doing this on a regular basis. i keep looking at them, i am extremely conscious of them being painted right now, because its been since like 1998 since i last painted my nails with anything. true story.

not to mention pinterest has so many ideas and cool things. oh, the internet is a mystical, magical place. i can't stress that enough.

what will i do without it for an entire weekend? (more on that later.)

so on to my hair bows....

i actually made a bunch of bows for cheerleaders on monday!! here, check em out...

pretty neat, huh? i had to make 13 of them for ron's niece's cheerleading team. i spent a couple hours yesterday putting them together. have i ever mentioned that doing granny crafts and stuff is kind of relaxing? minus the fact that i had to go buy more ribbon, but it was fun. i like doing this sort of stuff, and wish i had time to do more. i used 1-1/2" ribbon, and "painted" the paw prints on with this little tube of tulip brand fabric paint. 

as for the other hair bows, i make gaming bows out of the abundance of lanyards that i get from work! i usually get one or two from each lanyard, so quantities are limited. if you are interested, please email me, as i would love to share the love of games!the sooner, the better, since as i said, quantities will be limited!! (i only have so many lanyards!)

these are a few lanyards that i have, and some of the bows i have made so far. i will sell them for $5.00 each, plus $1.50 for shipping (if applicable). i have a paypal account, and will send an invoice. or if you live near me, i can do cash. i can put them on an alligator clip, or a hair tie (since i have extras from the cheer bows). they are typically about 3-4 inches wide, and 2-3" tall (each varies on the lanyard size). i have the colored rhinestones for the center which vary. i also have a limited number of xbox pins and pieces from these day one lanyards (i have ryse, dead rising, and maybe a forza? i have to check on that one. for each one of those that i have, the lanyard has the round xbox emblem like in the picture below).

the xbox emblem, dead rising chainsaw, and ryse shield pins

these are not complete, but wanted to show them anyway.

these are a few of the lanyards i have not cut up yet (call of duty, playstation, bethesda, battlefield, titanfall and xbox), i also have grand theft auto v, more call of duty, more xbox (i believe i have halo in there somehwere), elder scrolls skyrim, and nintendo dsi. i can post pictures of them as well, these were just the first few that i grabbed. 

the watch dogs is a corker bow (i am going to add more plain black and white corkers to it to make them bigger). most of them are basic, and the one call of duty one is called a pinwheel, i think? i don't know. that's what i'm calling it for now. 

i would be happy to make any other kinds that are not game related upon request! heather got me into this, she makes tons of them too. this is just something on the side i would like to do, like my cakes. tell your friends! yay! any bit helps, i won't lie, i could use the extra funds as well, since we just had to repair one of our vehicles recently, too, and because between two jobs i still can't get 40 hours sometimes (yes that's right. assistant managers can't even get the 40 hours they're supposed to have, or even the 32 they're really supposed to have. booooo.)

so again, email me here and submit your request!! the holidays are coming!! let your inner gamer show with one of these one or two of a kind lanyard hair bows! ♥☺♥

please keep in mind as well that i do still work two jobs, so if i don't respond or send them out within a day or two, that may be why. thank you!

this weekend will probably be an exception, and a delay as well.

remember how i said i would get back to that? well, it is our two year anniversary this weekend. we got married on 10-11-12. yep. awesome, because that isn't gonna happen again for a long ass time. (the 10-11-12, anyway, not until like 2112 in a hundred years or so.) 

yes. so we are spending the weekend in our favorite home away from home and going to the outer banks. we are actually staying on roanoke island, though instead of right on the banks, so it will be a nice visit. and yes, we have decided no internet, no texting, no phone calls, nothing. just each other's company. i am excited. it has been a long time. ♥

alright, well blogger is kind of pissing me off with these pictures tonight. i have a lot to do to get ready, and have a super long day tomorrow. i will try to post thursday before i leave, i won't post this sunday since we will be gone, so you probably won't hear from me until tuesday. at least that's what i'm aiming for. maybe wednesday so i can just stay on track.

thanks for reading, and hope to hear from anyone for some awesome gaming bows! ☺☺☺