Always.

Once upon a time, I was proud to say that I was perfectly normal, thank you very much. That is until around the time of my 8th birthday, when my mom gave me a hardback book with a dark-haired, bespectacled boy on the front, flying on a broom. I remember being called for dinner that night and not wanting to put the book down. Only 17 pages in and I was hooked. At that time, I had no idea that this book could change my life forever.

I had no idea I'd be waiting in line for the release of the 5th book in a Borders in the mall at midnight at age 11.

I had no idea that I'd go to 5 midnight movie premieres with thousands of people who felt the same way about it as I did.  

I had no idea that I'd gather materials for 3 months so that I could dress up as my favorite character.

I had no idea that I'd try my hardest to avoid every type of spoiler in anticipation for the release of the 7th movie(successful, btw!).

I had no idea that it would give me unlimited topics to talk about with new friends who I discovered liked it too.

I had no idea that I'd ever admire an author as much as JK Rowling.

I had no idea that I would be able to open one of these books and instantly feel better, no matter what kind of mood I was in.

I had no idea I'd memorize almost every line of 7 books and 8 movies.

I had no idea that a boy with a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes would change the face of my childhood.

I had no idea that these books always be a part of me...Always.

XO - Monny

Halloween Came Early

Annnd we're back with Part II of the weekend recap!

After the Light the Night walk on Saturday night, Kris and I headed over to Peggy's coworker's house with Greg and his girlfriend Katie for a Halloween party.

*sidenote: In the 5 years we've  been together, I've never "celebrated" Halloween with Kris so I got really excited and had to find the perfect couples costume. When I found it in my aunt's basement, everyone was appalled to discover that Kristopher had never seen The Wizard of Oz. Can't be the Tin Man if you've never seen it so I borrowed the DVD from my cousin. And we watched it. And he liked it. BOOM NOW WE'RE READY.*

While I was changing into my costume, Kris tried his on and imagine my disappointment when one size didn't fit all. Luckily, he had a grey shirt he could turn inside out and I pinned his heart on and made him wear the boner hat funnel.

                                                                                                         

The house had the creepiest decorations and the food and drinks were the bomb dot com. I was feeling goooood after all two of my Angry Orchards, which resulted in some awesome dance moves and lots of giggling with Peggy.

We all had tons of fun and our "first" Halloween party was a blast!

I can't wait to see all of your costumes this week!
XO - Monny

P.S. - Thanks to Margaret for the advice on turning black pumps into ruby slippers!

P.S. - Even more exciting than ruby slippers is the fact that Allie and friends are hosting a Target or Starbucks giveaway on their blogs! Just tap your heels together 3 times and say "There's no place like Target."

Someday is Today

I'm back, bitchez!

The cold I caught last week turned into a sinus infection so I basically didn't leave my bed from Sunday to Friday (except for school). I still feel like crap, but I'm here now and I'm ready to tell you about Saturday! 

A few months ago, I wrote this post about how my Aunt Terry has Ph+CML (Chronic Myeloid Leukemia) and how our family participates in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Annual Light the Night Walk. I begged asked for help and I was blown away by the amount of support I received from my friends and fellow bloggers. I surpassed my goal by $35 and our team also beat our goal of $1000!

Here are some pictures memories from last night's walk!

Thank you all for your support of my aunt and this awesome cause. With your help, we can find a cure, not someday, but today.

XO -Monny

The Weekend Stole My Health

Hey bliggity bloggers!

I totally would've written a weekend recap yesterday, but I was too busy trying to breathe without coughing. That's right, people. My sister was nice enough to give me a wonderful gift this weekend - her cold. I'm not gonna lie, it was actually my own fault that I caught the Plague. I should probably write my name on my toothbrush so I don't end up using a contaminated one.

Flashback to Friday

I went to class and took the train home with Kristo, but not before watching police write a citation for a dude who's been asking for money on the corner since school started. Funny thing - he was sitting on the ground a block away today, doing the same thing, but without the wheel chair.

When I got home, I found a package from Miss Ashten which actually made me "eeep" out loud. Sarah picked me up for our girl date at Panera, then we went shopping, and back to her house to watch My Fair Lady because I've never seen it. It was just as good as I expected and Audrey Hepburn was flawless.

Saturday morning I clocked in bright and early and worked until 3, at which point I rushed to get the bus THAT CAME 20 MINUTES LATE. Way to go SEPTA. Thankfully, I had Kaylee to keep me company via Google+ hangout! I went home and watched Halloweentown High or showered (I'll let you think on that), then Kristo and I went over Amy's house to watch The Wizard of Oz because he's been living under a rock never seen it before. Boyf liked it and it was nice to watch one of my favorite movies for the first time in forever.

On Sunday, I woke up feeling a little under the weather. After singing at church, our music director and her husband (who are like second parents to me) took me out to breakfast at an adorable coffee shop where we drank tea and coffee out of these awesome mugs.

As the day went on, I started to feel more and more craptastic. And I was forced to accept the fact that I was actually sick. BLEH.

I woke up yesterday morning and felt like I got hit by a mack truck so there's that. I took Dayquil *gag* when I got to school and napped for 2 hours. Took a stat test, emailed my essay to my ASL professor, went home, ate and slept.

Now I'm trying to clear my head for a group assignment that I have to do later, but the stuffiness is making that hard. MORE MEDS!

Hope you all have a great day and manage to avoid this nasty bug that's going around!
XO - Monny

Bro Behind the Blog

Good morning!

Can you believe it’s already Thursday? This week has been hug yourself in a white jacket crazy a whirlwind for me. I took the GRE yesterday morning. Sitting in the same chair for 4 straight hours made me want to die a little, but I did a decent job. I’m going to retake the test in November, because my quantitative reasoning score isn’t where I need it to be for grad school. LE SIGH.

Anywhoodles, today is the 3^rd Thursday of the month which means a link-up for the Boys Behind the Blog series. Since Kristo got his own post on Tuesday, I decided not to interview him. How would you like to get to know my little brother? You’d like that? Good. I didn’t want to have to whoop any azzes for saying no.

I interrogated interviewed Christian, or Bud as we call him, as he was nomming on some chicken noodle soup (chicken noodle soup, chicken noodle soup with a soda on the side…). Here are his answers.

Describe yourself in 5 words.

     Crafty

     Musically-inclined (It’s hyphenated, right?)

     Good-looking

     Athletic

     Smart (Sis is protesting this one)

What is your biggest fear?

My biggest fear would have to be being on a bridge that’s about to collapse. (Damn this is so morbid.)

What is your favorite candy?

           Reese’s Cups – not Reesee’s

What is the best Halloween costume you’ve ever worn?

          Jeff Gordon when I was 6. (Aw crap, I meant to find a picture of this. He was                               adorable, I swear.)

Who is your favorite football team?

          The Eagles

Isn't my little bro awesome? Duh. Know what else is awesome? His band, Home Again, is on Bandcamp where you can download their stuff FO FREE. Check it owwwwt. They're also on Facebook.

Have an awesome day!
XO - Monny

Seasons of Love

Hello my loveys!

After bawling my eyes out at last week's Glee with Sara last night, I decided that I need to write a nice post about something that makes me very happy today - "my person" - my boyfriend Kris (boyf, Kristobal, Kristo).

This guy has been through everything with me for the last 5 and a half years and I've learned a lot about relationships since we first started dating. Without further ado, I present

THINGS MY RELATIONSHIP HAS TAUGHT ME

Some people like other teams.
It's weird and it makes no sense, but it happens. Kris was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, but he loves the San Antonio Spurs, the Cincinnati Bengals, the UNC Tarheels, and the Detroit Tigers. He's never even been to any of those places. Whatevs. I'll probably never understand, but I now have a soft place in my heart for his teams when mine are sucking, which happens a lot. For an example of the weirdness that is Kris's love for the Tigers, you can watch this video of a news interview of my Philly boy wearing a Detroit jersey while in Boston for the playoff game this past Sunday. He's the one wearing the goofy sunglasses at 1:19

ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

It's okay to be ugly(sometimes).
Kris doesn't care what I look like. He doesn't care how big small my boobs are or if I wear makeup or not. He says I look nice whether I'm wearing yoga pants or a cocktail dress. He still loves me when I'm crying, even if it makes me look like Farrah from Teen Mom (which it does).

Compromise is key.
I want the lava cake for dessert. I will always want the lava cake for dessert, but I can't always have the lava cake for dessert because I compromise. Sometimes, I have to let Kris order a limoncello cheesecake because that's what a relationship is about.  

He's got my back.
It's awesome having a person who has your back no matter what. It's also awesome that he'll agree with me even if he has no idea what I'm talking about. He's got my back for everything.

Beer is better.
I honestly never thought I'd say this because I used to hate beer. Boyf and his expensive tastebuds have introduced me to a world I probably would have left unexplored. I'm a fan now. I'm not saying I hate all the other alcohol, but beer is the only adult beverage that doesn't give me a hangover so yeah, I'll keep drinking.

Last, but not least.

I'd love to know what you've learned from your relationships!
XO - Monny

RIP Cory Monteith

Welcome to Monday

Hello everybody!

I'm so not in the mood for a weekend recap or a weekly wishes post today. My weekend was great, just not worthy of it's own post and I'm too involved with the busy-ness of this upcoming week to even think about goals for myself.

Last week, my weekly wishes were to

1. Get myself organized - I found 2 awesome apps to help me get organized. I downloaded the Wunderlist app and the Business Calendar from the Google Play store. I really love the Business calendar because I can color code my classes, work, and church schedules while setting my non-existent social life to my favorite color. Wunderlist is also pretty cool with its abilities to add separate lists for every aspect of your life and the ability to mark priority tasks. These two have a been a life-saver this week so I'm glad I found them.

2. Review for the GREs - Well I read all about the test and started the practice questions and didn't do too horribly, but I didn't get very far in yet so we'll see how that goes.

3. Clean my room - DONE. Did it last night before bed. It wasn't even that much of a mess. It was more like my hampers, closet, and bureau had exploded. It's all good now.

4. Find inspiration - This is a really easy goal if you just look around you or find the beautiful parts of the internet. I'm most proud of achieving this goal last week, which brings me to the real point of today's post.

Everyone hates Mondays, but this should help make this Monday at least a little more bearable. I'm sharing my inspiration (reblogged from Tumblr) with you. Enjoy!

Hope your Monday is fantastical!             
XO - Monny

Gratitude: week 9

Happy Friday!

I love that it's Friday, but I just can't seem to get my shiz together. Like how I'm wearing one Gryffindor sock and one purple leopard print sock. And had to reheat my tea water...twice. I'm also finishing my gratitude post FROM WEDNESDAY. Jeez Monica. Here we go.

I'm grateful for warm sweaters when it's freezing (see also: a rainy 60 degrees) outside.I'm grateful that I'm only working 3-8 tonight so I CAN DO STUFF.I'm also grateful that my midterm math grade is an A. This has never happened before. I'm navigating uncharted territory.

Now onto the photographical Instagram portion of this post.

ONE: I'm grateful for manicures that stand the test of manual labor. If you ever get the chance, use Healthy Hoof high-gloss protectant. Yes, it's for horses. Yes, I put it on my fingers. Yes, it's a miracle worker.

TWO: I'm grateful that I got to spend 17 years of my life knowing this woman. My godmother had the biggest heart out of anyone I've ever known. She would help anyone in need and she taught me the meaning of the word "laughter." I miss her every day, but I'm grateful that she instilled all her kindness and love in her kids who are the best friends I could ever ask for.

THREE: I'm grateful that I can cook a damn good meal without burning the house down working too hard.

FOUR: I'm grateful for rainy days that I can watch from the inside.

FIVE: I'm grateful for Fall, even though I hate the cold.

SIX: I'm grateful that my boyfriend attempted to smile when I shoved a camera in his face.

SEVEN:...and that he's accomplishing everything that he wants to before graduating.

EIGHT: I'm grateful that I got my assignment done without stressing too much and that I got to bed at a reasonable time on Wednesday night.

What are you grateful this week?

XO - Monny

Do I Really Want to Relive This?

It's Humpday once again, my lovelies!

Today I'm posting about the one-time Feelin' 22 21 Linkup that's hosted by a bunch of awesome ladies like Juliette, Allie, Adriana, Brittany, and Sami. Since I've already written about that night in the post about the worst advice I've ever received, I'll just put a quick recap of my night and let you tell me how it went.

Background Info: 
Headed to the Jersey shore at the ass crack of dawn the morning after going to the bar for the first time.
Still had stuff to pack.
No real food in my stomach for hours.
I weighed 100 lbs.
Hit the bar around 11 and drank:
1 chocolate covered pretzel shot
1 chocolate cake shot
1 pineapple mojito
1 mango mojito
1 more chocolate covered pretzel shot
1 liquid marijuana shot
1 more liquid marijuana shot
1 sip of water

Barfed:
-in the bathroom of the bar before I left
-in a bucket in the car on the ride home
-in the toilet at home
-on the toilet at home
-in a trash can next to my bed

Now I'm not good at math or anything, but that seems like a bad equation.
XO - Monny

Weekly Wishes

It's dreary outside and it's supposed to thunderstorm all night. Apparently the world is sad that it's Monday too.

I know you're all excited to read about my super exciting weekend,but I have to let you down because I didn't do anything fun. I worked Friday and Saturday, and did homework and crossed off stuff from my to-do list yesterday. I have so many "do's" lately that I feel like I'm drowning in work. This rbings me to my post topic for today.

I'm linking up with Melyssa from The Nectar Collective for Weekly Wishes. I almost typed out my to-do list as a post today, but I think this is more productive.

1. Organize my to-do lists. I feel like I'll be less stressed if all of my to-do's are written out in front of me instead of having tasks split between my phone a a hot pink Post-It stuck to my desk. I'm also on a hunt for the perfect task organizer app for Android so if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

2. Review for the GREs. This is scary. I'm taking the test next Wednesday at 8 am and I'm not prepared. I kept putting off studying for the test over the summer and now that school is in full swing, it's almost impossible to open the damn review book. I'll be needing some good prayers/vibes  on Wednesday.

3. Clean my room. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it's really hard to find the time to clean my disaster zone bedroom. It's also difficult to be productive in a messy room so I'm stuck in a vicious cycle. When I finally get my room clean, it's like a weight has been lifted off me and I get the best sleep so that needs to happen asap.

4. Find inspiration. I've been feeling kind of negative towards humanity and the hot mess that our country is lately so this week I'm on the lookout for quotes, pictures, and people who inspire me.

What wishes do you have this week?
XO - Monny

Friday?

Happy Friday, y'all (I still feel weird saying that)!

I had all intentions of drinking a beer and writing today's blog post before bed last night, but after the beer, I laid my head down to rest my eyes for a minute and woke up NINE HOURS LATER. So, here we are finally getting that post done.

Except, I have no idea what to write. Aw crud. Okay, new plan - write whatever comes into my head. Annnd GO!

Should I bullet it? Yeah sounds good.

• The new Snapchat update looks like a kindergarten classroom.
• I made my Earl Grey perfectly today.
• I can't believe I have an A in math. It is seriously a miracle. But really.
• Really not looking forward to 7 hours of manual labor today.
• How does Whitney fit all that into her purse?
• I bet Kris is jealous of my whistling skills.
• I should probably answer the questions Meg sent for my blog spotlight. 
• I should also probably apply to graduate like now.
• I'm so happy I'm making blog friends!
• especially ones who help me fundraise. 
• And I'm happy that it's only a little awkward asking people for their numbers.
• I may or may not have used this line last night.

Linking up with Whitney for #backthatazzupFriday

I think that's about it. Have a fantabulous weekend, everyone! XO - Monny

I Never Will Play the Wild Rover No More

Finally I'm free! Except not really, but that's okay. I handed in my rough draft for my article critique this morning at 12:30 on Tuesday and got out of class 40 minutes early.  When I got to my audiology class, I found out that I got the highest score on our last exam. WHOOP! I rewarded myself with a Blue Moon after class. OKAY now that all of that important information is out of the way, it's time to get to my weekend recap post.

I have no idea what I did on Friday, but I remember drinking an Angry Orchard.

SATURDAY: I woke up at the ass crack of dawn to shower and pack my bags for the Celtic Classic in Bethlehem, PA aka the largest celtic festival in North America. Any other time, I would've been screaming, but I was so excited for this weekend it didn't even matter. After a road rage filled trip to Dunkin Donuts (bitches be trippin') we hit the highway and got to our hotel an hour later where we were greeted by eleventy billion bikes from the Shamrocks bike gang.

When we got into the room we looked around until we realized that the shower was in the living room, which was also our bedroom...and kitchen. I repeat: THE SHOWER WAS IN THE LIVING ROOM. Don't believe me? Here's proof.

Next, we left the hotel to head into town for the opening parade. I've never seen more men in kilts (see also manly skirts) or bagpipes before. It. was. awesome.

After the parade we went to get some food hallelujah! We sat and listened to some Irish band play while stuffing out faces with pulled pork sliders and Irish nachos.

The rest of the day was spent drinking Magner's Cider (my fave) and eating some more.We saw two Irish comedians, Irish dancers and watched Barleyjuice aka the best Irish rock band I've ever heard perform.

Right before we left, we grabbed some strudel to take back to the hotel, where I proceeded to eat it like this.

On Sunday, we woke up and grabbed breakfast at the hotel before heading out to church and then back to the festival for shopping before heading home. Mom bought me a little booklet full of Irish wedding traditions because I already picked my wedding date want to get married on Saint Patrick's Day.

It was the best weekend I've had in a while and I was sad to leave Bethlehem to go home and write a paper.

Now for a photo dump of the rest of the weekend pics.
XO - Monny