BFF Trip

My friend Laura took me on a little weekend trip with her this Fall. We went to Seven Springs and spent a girls weekend together. Seven Springs is a well known ski resort in our area and for th eoff season they come up with really creative and fun events. It was great! We stayed in the hotel at Seven Springs and enjoyed the Fall Festival they had there. Here we are at the mini golf course in the hotel...

This was our view from the room patio...It was pouring all weekend and we had the sewer drain outside of our window so we pretended that it was our own personal waterfall!!! Lemonade out of lemons, right?!?!

Here is a shot of the grounds...

A little selfie action...

Working out selfie....thank goodness we did this a little and walked around a lot because food was included all weekend and we ATE! Seriously yummo!!

We took a long hike in the woods and down trails around the property and saw how really beautiful nature can be...

Many ponds with swans...white...

and black...they were all so elegant as they just glided around in the lake! Serenity and peace!!

And on our last day these little babies came popping out of the storm drain...more lemonade!! I love kittens!! They were so cute to watch!!! There were more hiding inside...

What a great weekend with an even greater friend! I love you lots Laura!!! Thank you for taking me on this weekend of fun, bonding and friendship!

Where do you like to hang with the girlfriends?
Any special activities?
Do you ski? water? snow?
Cats or dogs or both?

Have a fantastic week ya'll!!!!!

KC Trip and New Fall Hair

Happy Fall Ya'll!!! I got new Fall hair!!! I ditched the blonde and went with some new Fall colors!! I kinda LOVE my hairstylist!!! I kind of just let my hairstylist do whatever she wants and I LOVE what she did!!

I recently got to travel for work! It is a rare thing for me and I was so excited to go! I went to two different sites - Shawnee and Hawthorne. Shawnee, Kansas and Hawthorne, Missouri and it was awesome!!!!

We stayed in a hotel at Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. This place was amazing!! Right outside of our hotel was about 100 stores (and GOOD stores) within a ten block radius!!! It was a shopping and dining mecca!!!! We wanted authentic BBQ and we had so many recommendations but overall, the majority recommended Jack Stack BBQ so off we went!

Before eating, we HAD to pose in front of the restaurant with this bull!!! The food was AMAZING! I highly recommend this place! I got the Jacks Best which was one Crown Prime Beef Rib, Pork
Baby Back Ribs, and Beef Burnt Ends. AAAAAAAAMAZING!

Here is a shot of my lovely hotel room at the Hampton Inn Suites! The hotel was beautiful and clean! Loved it here! I had a huge, cozy bed with about 10 pillows and huge flat screen TV in both the sitting area and bedroom! Love this hotel!

   
I will leave you with a little photo out of the plane window....heading home!

Hope I get to return someday! I have NEVER tasted BBQ that good!!

Anyone else never had REAL BBQ?
Favorite type of BBQ?
Love traveling for work?

Have a great week ya'll.

         

Variety Halloween Party

Every year my company sponsors a Halloween party for a children's charity called Variety.  This year was no exception. The theme this year was Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin Patch...

As you will see each year just keeps getting better and better...

Here are previous years posts that I was able to find...
2013

2014

And here is this years pictures and post!!! It was truly awesome this year! We decorate the entire cafeteria at work each year! Here are pictures of the tables and windows in the cafeteria..

 

This is a giant inflatable Grimm Reaper with his horse carriage that was added this year next to the DJ booth (yes, you read right...the DJ booth!)

A close up of the window clings...our companies print shop made all of these clings...

A local university in our area (University of Pittsburg) donated these murals to us free of charge. There were about eight in total. They were huge murals that the students from an Intro to Art class painted. They are all AMAZING!

Soooo super cute!!!

Another mural and the windows with the cobwebs...I helped add those :-)

One of our employees made these centerpieces for every table! Amazing right?!?!

And our Science Making Sense Team made this huge (all wooden) dog house for the kids to walk through!!! It was awesome!

Here is the graveyard I worked on at the entrance to the event...

Another new inflatable to greet the children and their families on their way in!!!

This is the picture room! Every kid comes in here with their family and gets a group photo to take home as a keepsake! This is my favorite part of the event and the families love it! Three more of the donated murals appear here as a backdrop...

Super adorable...right? There is another of those donated murals hanging up in the middle of the photo below...

A little hallway shot....

Another mural at the entrance...I wanted to make sure to get a shot of them all as they were so cute and it was so thoughtful for them to donate these to us after all of their hard work!

The hallway on the way to the picture room! Not a square inch of the building goes un-decorated!!!

Here is a panoramic shot of the entire cafeteria!

This is a shot of me and my friend from work! I am on the left of the picture (dressed as Charlie Brown from the movie. He could not figure out where to put the eye holes - HA HA) and Kathy is pigpen. It's hard to tell but she dirtied up her sheet - LOL!!! We were greeters for the event!

And these cookies were made by Parkhurst (Eat and Park Company) for us for the party! Seriously, how could you eat this?! Adorable right?!?

It was such a great day! 

Due to confidentiality issues I am not allowed to show the kids....but, I assure you....our cafeteria was FILLED with smiles all day from the kids and their families...and all of us volunteers as well! What an awesome day that I am privileged to volunteer for every year! I swear it makes me so happy and fills my heart with joy!


Whats your favorite charity? 

What are you for Halloween this year?
What is your favorite candy?

Happy Halloween!!!!!

What a Weekend!

Wowsa! It was a jam backed and event-filled weekend for me and my family! Mom and Dad went to Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh on Thursday night to see Carol Burnett! My siblings and I bought them the tickets for their birthday this year.  They sent us all a text with this picture saying thank you!Are they not the world's most adorable parents?!?!

I spent Saturday at the BF's house cleaning up the yard, splitting firewood and playing with a BIG bonfire! If you know me at all, you know there is no where I would rather be on a beautiful day than outside working in the yard! Since I do not yet have a yard, I play in his! HA! 

BTW: It was 80 degrees and beautiful here in Pittsburgh on Saturday...I hope everyone had beautiful weather like we did!!!

Saturday night was pumpkin carving!!! My favorite thing to do at Halloween! The BF not as excited but he was definitely into it as soon as we got started! His is the bat on the left and the other two are mine!

I got a text on Saturday that my sweet niece fell and fractured her tibia...she also torn her ACL and a bunch of other tendons and ligaments!Poor thing! They sent me this picture...I immediately wanted to puke! Poor thing has got to be in pain!! UGH!

And then this picture came....my nephew had a homecoming dance and he sent her this picture of him and his date while she was in the hospital with my niece. Are they not the cutest?! I think the girls dresses get shorter and tighter every year! LOL! The fact that I even think that says that I am getting old, hugh?!   LOL!

And now for the DIY section of my blog...LOL!!!

Sunday morning was spent fixing my tub faucet. I could not turn it off anymore...that is a serious problem! It was a workout to be able to shut the water off!! So I googled "what is wrong if you can not turn off your tub water". I followed the online video HERE and replaced the cartridge in the faucet and it works now! It turns off so easily and does not drip at all!

Then I went back over to the BF's house.  His garbage disposal stopped working a few weeks ago and he has not had time to have someone come look at it. So, I googled "how to fix a garbage disposal" and walked through the steps in THIS video and it worked! I actually fixed his garbage disposal! The hardest part was finding the breaker to turn off the disposal. Anyone can fix things!! I am kinda amazed at myself lately!!!  I am happy to say...he is too! HA!

Finally...this is how the weekend ended...me and my kitties cuddled in bed! I am one blessed girl...breath right and all! HA!   

I hope everyone has an amazing week!!  Please pray for fast healing for my niece if you have a second...thanks!!! 

Anyone else give up most of their bed to their fur babies?
How was your weekend?
Anyone else love DIY projects?
Pumpkin carving your thing?

Happy Monday!

Great Race and Dads Birthday

So excited for this post!!! As I mentioned in my last post...my family was in town! Yippee!! We are very close and this was over the top exciting for me! As if that was not enough...it was also The Great Race weekend and my fathers birthday!!! 

Every year my family runs in The Great Race in Pittsburgh. It is always in the fall and it is always such a great time! The race is a 10K through the streets of the city. It is so fun to get to run the streets of the city and  so many people participate. I don't care what anyone says...Pittsburgh is the friendliest city ever and I will not leave ever!!! Except to go live on a beach in Aruba of course! HA - Love my city and my people!!!

My mother runs with us every year. She is now 74 and she has actually placed in the top three every year for the past few years. We tease her about it all the time but I think it is awesome for myself and my nieces and nephews to see how healthy and fit she is!!! Sadly, she decided to watch and not run this year :-(  She said she needed a break...

So, this year it was my two sisters, my brother and myself.  Here are my sisters and I at the start...looking fresh right?!?! HA!
 

And all four of us at the start...

Me and my older sister...she did not really think I would post this in my blog....HA HA!

This is a view of the crowd at the start that were waiting behind us...

And the view of the crowd in front of us!! The excitement was awesome...

Our obligatory picture at the top of the hill near the end. We are about a mile away from the finish at this point.

After the race, we all changed and went to the Crafty Jackalope near my home to watch the Steelers game and celebrate my fathers 74th birthday. If you are in the Bridgeville area and have never been there you need to try it! I promise you will thank me! AMAZING food and amazing prices! Sooo yummy! This is all the grand kids gathered around my Dad and the cake while singing! He is such an amazing Grandfather and Father!!!

And a shot of the other side of the table! (L to R: My brother, sister, brother in law and other sister) I have to say....my sister LOVES her bumblebee jersey and I am personally not a fan at all.  I think they look horrible on the players! Well, these are officially retired and the team will not wear them anymore. I am so happy about this! Not sure why she likes it?!?!

It was a great day and the Steelers won which made it an even better day!!!! It was sad to see my Mom not want to run however, I am so glad that everyone still makes it to Pittsburgh comes together for the race day! I would be really sad if this tradition ever goes away!!!

I wish you all a day filled with everything you need! 

XOXO

Anyone have any race day rituals or traditions?

Anyone else not a fan of the bumblebees?

Neighborhood Hike

 My family was in town a few weekends ago. Anytime I get to spend with them is a awesome time. There are no other people I would rather spend time with than my family!  We decided to spend Saturday doing something healthy so we went out to walk around my neighborhood and ended up finding a "secret" path and hiking in the woods around my condo.It was an adventure and I now have a shortcut to the park! This is my sister coming down the hill into the revine...

 Here they are going down the hill into the giant valley… 

And here are my sister and niece coming up the hill out of the giant valley. I never knew you could walk through here - this is awesome! I would have never investigated where this path went had they not been with me... 

Leave it to my family to be adventurous and find the secret shortcut!! Such a fun family walk!

Hope everyone has an adventurous day!!!          

Kinky Boots September 2016

Still catching up with old posts! LOL! I was so excited when I received an offer to purchase tickets for the musical Kinky Boots! I decided to treat myself this year and become a season ticket holder for the Pittsburgh Musicals! I received a package of seven shows and had the option to add Kinky Boots for the eighth! All of the shows are in downtown Pittsburgh: half of the shows are at Heinz Hall and half are at Benedum Center. Kinky Boots was at the Benedum. The Benedum is a theater in Pittsburgh it's absolutely gorgeous!  The show was written by Cyndi Lauper and I love her but bias aside...the show was fantastic! Also, my seats this year ROCK!!! I am in a front row and I have MASSIVE leg room!

 Below is the obligatory selfie of my  friend Laura and I at the theater. I really wish I had gotten a picture of our dinner but we ate it too quick!! We shared fresh springs rolls and panang curry shrimp at Nikki's Thai Kitchen on Penn Avenue and it was amazing too! Love that fresh wrap dipped in the peanut sause...HEAVEN!  Anyone else addicted to Thai? If you are ever in Pittsburgh, I highly recommend Nikki's!!!

 This is a view of the stage from my seats this year… Love my front row seat!  Seriously! 

After the show I went home and got to snuggle with this little sweetie. For some reason, Nermal has these days where he just wants to be all over me and the next day he will follow me around biting me!!! HA!  Look at his paws wrapped around my arm… Is there anything cuter? 

Do you like Thai food? What is your favorite dish?

I hope everyone has an amazing day!