Goodbye Summer...Hello Babies!

I noticed I haven't blogged in forever.  I mean really...I only posted once in July.  My excuse?  I'm enjoying my summer, but now that's quickly coming to an end.  In six days, I'll be returning back to school.  I've been preparing myself for this since the last day of school on June 11th.  While I love setting up my bulletin boards, rearranging my desks, opening up packages of fresh pencils and paper...I really love summer.  I love sleeping in until 11 am, walking my dog 3x a day, going on vacations/mini-getaways/date-nights with my husband, pinning things on Pinterest that I may never use, and aimlessly wandering around stores such as Target and Staples.  It's amazing.

But as summer comes to an end, I think about all the wonderful things I have to look forward to this fall.  Not only will I be starting my fifth year of teaching, but also my third semester of graduate school.  I am only getting closer to the end of my Master's degree!  But the most wonderful thing I have to look forward to - my sister is going to become a mom!  My nieces will be here by the end of the month, if not sooner!  :)

So as many of you know...my sister, Kiersten, and brother-in-law, Andrew are having twin girls.  We had her baby shower at my parent's house back in June and I've been waiting anxiously to blog about it.  My extremely talented cousin, Nina, took all of these wonderful photographs that day, so I wanted to share everything from the cake to the cookies to my sister's super trendy outfit that matched the party perfectly.

THE CAKE

Made by Cakes and Candies by Maryellen

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Photography by Nina Sartorelli

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

 

THE FAVORS

Made by YellowCake with Sugar

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(she's my sister-in-law!) 

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Photography by Nina Sartorelli

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

THE DECOR

Set of 3 - Nautical Pictures

Nautical Decor Shop

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Photography by Nina Sartorelli

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

Invitations

I DO INVITATIONS by Michelle

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Photography by Nina Sartorelli

Banner

Sutton & Co.

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Photography by Nina Sartorelli

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

THE SHOWER

Just a few pictures...

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

 

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

 FAMILY

 The Mathieus

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

 The Anderssons

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

Cousins

(Nina, the photographer, is pictured on the left!)

Photography by Linda Sartorelli

Friends

THE PARENTS-TO-BE

Kiersten and Andrew

Photography by Nina Sartorelli

 

What a fantastic day for the Tomson family!

Hello SUMMER!

Happy summer!  Despite the heat wave and daily rain...I have been thoroughly enjoying myself.  So what have I been doing in no particular order?  Let me explain in way too much detail.

Kiersten's baby shower - I'll post about this later once all the pictures are edited by my cousin.  Here's a sneak peek though!  We had such a blast and it was so good to see friends and family celebrate my sister and her twin girls.

Graduate school - I finished one of my summer classes!  I still have two weeks to go with my other class.  After that?  I am taking a short, but necessary hiatus from grad school until September 3rd.  Four down...eight to go...

Visiting friends - I went to Washington DC for the night to visit some of my sorority sisters and had an absolute blast.  We went to Lauriol Plaza and indulged in some very yummy tacos.  I haven't seen them since December.  Way.too.long.

Working out - Jason and I have been trying to make an effort to work out more together.  It's been a little difficult not having a gym.  I'm still looking into joining one, just haven't found the right fit yet.  In the meantime, we'll keep ourselves content with work outs we find online (thank you Pinterest!) and DVDs that I can do in the basement.  We did this one last night.  Try it!  I was sweating...a lot.

I have a 5K coming up next Thursday (July 4th).  A bunch of my friends are making it an event and we're all doing it together.  I'm not thrilled with my time right now since I had to take time off from running though due to my...

BURN! - I got a mix of a second/third degree burn my first weekend of summer.  I was participating in a charity scavenger hunt in Philadelphia and received a lovely pipe burn on the inside of my calf from a motorcycle.  I'm on day 12 and the pain has finally subsided.  The doctor says I'll have a lovely scar and the "pink" won't go away for another year.  Awesome.

Smiling...post burn!

Reading - I love reading.  I also never get the chance to read anything by choice during the school year.  Instead I'm reading essays, articles for class, e-mails, more essays...it's exhausting.  So when summer comes around?  You can find me behind a book.  I just recently finished World War Z.  I thought it was good...but not my favorite book in the entire world.  I am also a huge science fiction fan and an even bigger zombie fan, and still - not my favorite.  I also have a feeling that it has nothing to do with the movie.  I'll still see the movie and can guarantee I won't be disappointed...Brad Pitt and zombies?  Love it. 

Being a stay.at.home.wife.and.dog.mom - and loving every minute of it.  I'm caught up on laundry, the house is clean, dinner is cooked...sometimes, I get to spend hours browsing Home Goods and TJ Maxx, and I am very well rested.  Plus I get to hang out with my little Tyger every day.  Yes, I will brag and rub it in while I can.  Life is good.

Hope you are enjoying your summer so far!

Busy Bee

Let's catch up.  We've been busy over here!

#1.  Home Sweet Home!  We moved into our new house over a week ago!  I can't believe it's already been that long.  Time is flying by... but everything is coming along so well.  Jason installed the stair runner this weekend.  It looks great and he did it all by himself.  Such a handyman.  So why did we install a stair runner?  Well, I like to wear socks and I found it rather slippery going up and down the stairs, especially when I carry the laundry.  But let's be real.  The real reason we installed it?  So our dog can safely move between floors without slipping.  Yes...our dog.

Some bigger projects that we are looking forward to this summer?  We plan on installing a fence this month.  Then hopefully by the end of the summer, we'll work on our wall in the kitchen.  We want to install a window/bar/countertop thing-y.  Not sure what to call it, but all I know is that it will be fabulous.
 
#2.  Date Night!  Jason and I had our first date night since the move on Friday.  We needed a night to just sit, enjoy a meal, and catch up.  We went to La Tolteca - a little Mexican restaurant (for sure, a Small Wonder).  I absolutely love Mexican cuisine and was in the mood since we are approaching Cinco de Mayo this weekend.  Our experience was great.  From the moment we walked in, we were immediately impressed with the decor.  All of the walls and the booths has hand painted murals.  The lighting was dim and set the tone for our evening.  We were also in love with the food.  Jason had burritos and I have a taco salad.  I'm a sucker for the tortilla bowl.  And the drinks were delicious - we went with frozen strawberry margaritas.  The location is also super convenient to home...we can walk there!  We're looking forward to going back this summer...or this week...either one.

#3.  Broad Street Run... This Sunday was the Broad Street Run.  I was so looking forward to running 10 miles down the center of Philadelphia at 8:30 am on a Sunday.  Honestly...I was.  I love training for races - it gets me motivated to actually go outside and do something instead of just watching Lifetime movies.  So when I realized about 3-4 weeks ago that I wouldn't be able to?  I was devastated.  I sprained my ankle back in the November which landed me on crutches for awhile.  A few months passed and I still didn't feel right.  I would find people asking me if I hurt myself because they would notice me limping after running, long walks, or even standing for awhile.  Regardless...I didn't let it heal long enough.  And in the end?  I couldn't run Broad Street.

So while I'm on a short but necessary hiatus from running, my husband is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  He did run Broad Street.  AND he finished 10 miles in 68 minutes.  Impressed?  You should be!  I'll brag for him.  His pace was 6:49 per mile, which is just amazing.  My man can run...and he can run fast.  I love him dearly and couldn't be more proud of him.  I'm sad we couldn't do it together this year, but I'm looking forward to our next race together. 

#4.  The Tomson Twins.  I saved the best for last.  My sister and brother-in-law are having twins!  AND last week, they found out that they are having twin girls.  My heart is literally bursting with excitement.  I was secretly hoping the whole time that she was having same sex twins, but specifically girls.  I see the relationship I have with my sister.  It's something I can't describe or put into words, but it truly is special.  I'm so happy that the Tomson girls will always have each other.  I can't wait for September to get here so I can meet these little babies!