Boozeless Baby Showers and Back To Blogging

Hello my chickadees! Did you miss me?

I took a mini vacation from blogging on Friday to work on my clickable image-mapped blog header which I had to Google for about 3 hours to get the answer I wanted. Too bad, I didn't wait another day because then I could've used Sarah's Saturday Sessions tutorial and saved myself a lot of F-bombing anguish. For real though, go check it out because she makes it easy peasy to understand.

Anywho, this post is probably gonna jump around a little bit because I have a lot of random things to talk about. First up, I started reading the book Sarah got me for my birthday. Do yourself a favor and pick up Bossypants by Tina Fey. It will actually make you laugh out loud while you're reading. I'm less than halfway through and I already have a list of people I'm going to lend it to. I even laughed reading the dedication at the beginning.

Next up, I had an awesome sleepover with my aunts, cousins, sister, and mom on Saturday night, except for the part where the Pillsbury Crescent roll can dropped on my foot and dented my toe.

We had margaritas and brownies and watched The Watch with Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. We all hated the movie, I don't even know why we finished it. It was that bad. Probably why it was free on demand. We had a great night and a great morning, but then it was the part we'd all been dreading. It was time to get ready for the baby shower. I knew that it's going to be a girl so I wore blue. Nice.

I hate baby showers. I've never liked baby showers. Everything about them bothers me - the pastels, the annoying games, the fake oohing and ahhing as the mom-to-be opens presents I don't give a fig a bout. It's boring and I'd rather be shoving my face full of buffalo chicken dip and alcohol.

Here is my shower favor. - a booboo bunny. I kinda can't wait to stub my toe and use this.

In all honesty, it turned out better than I thought it would be, but it's still not my favorite kind of party to go to. At least I looked cute.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who hates showers.

XO - Monny

P.S. - I was right about failing at the August Blogging Challenge. Dammit.

Never Again

Day 15: Today's Prompt Is: Somewhere new you visited in your town.

A few weeks ago, I went out to lunch with my mom at this little cafe she kept saying she wanted to take me to. She had been there for breakfast before and said it was cute and cheap. Well walking into the place, "cute" isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe it. If anything, it was dusty, outdated and dumpy.

When I looked at the menu, nothing really popped out at me, but I wanted to eat something substantial so I ordered something I thought would be a safe bet -- meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Not so much.

When we were waiting for our food, the waitress (who was kind of an old hag) brought us rolls. They were really doughy and while some were overbaked, the others were undercooked. They didn't taste like anything except flour. Gross.

After choking down some "rolls" our food finally came. I was expecting meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but what I got looked like an alcholic's damaged liver.

 I took one tiny bite and I was D-O-N-E done. I gagged. I thought I could at least be able to eat the mashed potatoes aka my favorite food in the whole world. Nope wrong there too. The texture felt like someone had put rubber cement in them. They were sticky. MASHED POTATOES ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY.

Needless to say I didn't touch my plate after that and my $4.50 lunch was worse than I expected for that price. We went for frozen yogurt to fill mah belly.

Let me know about your restaurant horror stories!

Lieby Lieby

I've been nominated for two, count'em TWO Liebster awards! I'd like to thank Kelli and Lorelai for being so sweet and nominating me.

There are too many sets of rules floating around for me to follow any of them so I'll just do what's easiest. The Rules:

1. Answer the 11 questions the person who tagged nominated you asks
2. Tag Nominate 11 other small blogs
3. Create 11 questions they will answer
4. Let them know you tagged nominated them

...and I'm adding the 11 facts from Lorelai's rules.

Eleven Random Facts about Me

1. Last year When I was younger, I punched a kid. 
2. I get itchy when I'm tired. Like I scratch my torso before I go to bed and when I wake up.
3. My big toes stick up like hitchhiker's thumbs.
4. I like to sing people's names when they don't hear me say it the first time.
5. Some textures and consistencies of certain foods make me gag.
6. When I get super stressed out with school, I get really bad panic attacks where I black out.
7. I stopped using shampoo in the beginning of July and I love my hair now. No-poo for the win!
8. I like characters in Harry Potter more than some of my own family members.
9. I made a promise to myself yesterday that my future home will not have carpeted stairs.
10. I don't drive. I can't afford it and to be honest, it scares the crap out of me. After being a passenger in an accident 6 years ago, I still tense up when I other vehicles driving towards the car I'm in.
11. I can't stand it when people tell me they don't like to read. I just don't get it.

Now for the interview (I'm using Kelli's because she nominated me first).

1. If you could live anyplace in the world (or not) where would you live? I'd love to spend some time in Spain, Rome, and Ireland for a little while.
2. What is your dream job? Audiologist! Hopefully I get to realize that dream after applying to grad schools this semester.
3. Why did you start blogging? I needed a new hobby and I loved reading other people's blogs.
4. Where did your blog name come from?It came from me drinking tea too fast to enjoy it and then looking down into the empty teacup
5. What is your favorite cold weather activity? Snuggling up in a blanket with a cup of tea and reading a book.
6. If someone gave you $1000 what would you splurge on? (You can’t pay bills with this money) New clothes or Lasik Surgery if I'm brave enough.
7. What is one beauty staple you can’t live without? Eyeliner
8. What is your favorite blogging tool? PicMonkey
9. Do you read the book or wait for the movie? Read the book always.
10. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Hmm, when school starts, I'll be a morning person, but in the summer I'ma major night owl.
11. Coke or Pepsi? Not a fan of soda, but Pepsi

 Blog Nominees! Oops! It's 2 am so I'm gonna say please use the questions I answered :)

Margaret
Jessy
Heidi
Kailagh
Emily

PA Meet Blogland, Blogland Meet PA

Day 13: Today's Prompt is:Introduce us to the state you came from

My state is kinda awesome if you're a history buff. It's even awesome if you're not. Someone once told me Pennsylvania has four seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Construction. I laughed. The sad part is that it's kinda true. We do experience all four seasons, except this year which is weird because Spring didn't happen. Also Philly cheesesteaks and soft pretzels and Tastycakes.

So anyway, before this turns into a Philly appreciation post, I'll get back to history. History happened in PA. Like the BIRTH OF OUR NATION. That shiz happened in my city. Go Philly. Also, although I don't live in the city anymore, I still spend half of my time there for school. My hometown is also historical. Like Ben Franklin harnessed electricity THREE BLOCKS FROM MY HOUSE historical. People say on foggy nights, you can still see him walking in the field with his kite.  The Battle of Gettysburg AKA the BLOODIEST BATTLE AND TURNING POINT IN THE CIVIL WAR happened like 3 hours southwest of here. Boom!

I've visited all of these places so here is a photo dump!

liberty bell, duh // home of the 1st Continental Congress (Carpenter's Hall) // Betsy Ross's house

360 degree piece of the Battle of Gettysburg painted as it was happening

So my state is pretty awesomesauce. Yous should come visit.

XO - Monny

Hot Bloggers and Best Friends

Hey all, I've been slacking in the blogging department for the last few couple days so it's time to get back on track. I'm behind on the August Blogging Challenge so I'll abbreviate this post and give you a two-fer.

Day 11: Today's prompt is: Your 5 Favorite Blogs (a.k.a. blog crushes!)

Lord, I crush on everyone in Blogland. How can I pick just 5? Alright first, I love all the ladies on my sidebar. I click over to their blogs all the time. Go check'em out! 

Here are the five blogs I can't go a day without reading.

1. Erin at Two Thirds Hazel makes you feel like you're one of her friends just by reading her blog. She's so down to earth and her tweets make me laugh out loud all the time.
2. Erin's best friend Whitney blogs over at I Wore Yoga Pants to Work and this chick seems like so much fun to drink with. She probably has Fireball and Miller Light running in her veins and that's fine by me. Also, every Friday, you can #backthatazzup with her.
3. Adriana at Dog Hair is an Accessory is also hilarious (see a theme here?) She has a ton of awesome tutorials that helped me out when I started getting serious about this blog.
4. Sarah at Venus Trapped in Mars is like "ESPN for girls." Get your education on. Also, check out her Saturday Sessions. THEY'RE GOLD.
5. Shane at Whispering Sweet Nothings is adorable and I love that she understands the "not being able to gain weight" thing that I also deal with. And she writes a lot of lists! 

Day 12: Today's prompt is: What 5 words would your best friend use to describe you?

I asked 5 of my best friends to get some variety for this post. (And because I need some reassurance that people actually like me sometimes)

The most in-depth response I got was from my gingery cousin Greg so his gets the spotlight.

1. Compassionate - you're always considering others' feelings in situations 
2. Scholarly - you take school very seriously and are amazing at it (shut up, you are) 
3. Tenacious - you're so strong in your beliefs and what you want 
4. Spunky - you're very spirited when it comes to blogging and books 
5. Delightful - there's nobody else quite like you, definitely a pleasure to know

Peggy said I am musical, caring, giving, fun, and loving.

I had to drag an answer out of the boyfriend, go figure. He said beautiful, nerdy, smart, sarcastic, and loving.

Sarah said intelligent, supportive, thoughtful, goofy and fun. I'm hoping she means the good kind of goofy though.

Last but not least Amy said beautiful, smart, fashion-forward, silly, and (absolutely) lovely.

AW YOU GUYS MAKE ME BLUSH. I love them.



XO - Monny

When in Doubt, Pinky Out

After 28 posts, I finally get around to talking about tea. Haha.

Day 10: Today's prompt is: Summer Cooking

Okay so today's post is summer cooking. I refuse to cook anything in the summer, mostly because it's too damn hot to stand and cook for however long it takes to cook things. I will, however drop everything like a hot potato to make some delicious tea. And I don't wanna hear any of that "making tea isn't really cooking" nonsense. It involves measurements, ingredients, and turning on a stove - it's cooking.

This shiz is easy peasy so if you don't know to make a decent cup of tea yet, get ready to learn.

You'll need your most beloved cup/mug/tumbler, some tea (le duh), and sugar (the weird looking chunks are German rock sugar).

Step One: Fill half of tea strainer with tea that you wanna drankkk. I drink earl grey creme, which is a black tea so I put in 1 tsp per 8oz of water. Yeah, unfortunately you have to use a little bit of math skills. (ignore this step if you're using a tea bag)

Step Two: Pop your tea strainer or teabag into empty cup/mug/tumbler. I mean empty - no water, no milk, no sugar.

Step Three: Pour hot water over strainer/teabag. Let that sucker steep for a good three minutes. If you're like me, stick your nose all up in it and take a deep whiff. Mmmm tea.

Step Four: Take out strainer/teabag and doctor it up to your liking. Add sugar, milk, honey, lemon, or nothing at all. Put your pinky out and take a sip, then applaud yourself for making such a bangin' cup of tea.

Step Five: Sit down on the couch or in bed and turn on some trashy tv, or not-so-trashy in this particular case(Hello, Celtic Woman on PBS).

Step Six: Sip your tea, drink your tea, love your tea.

Step Seven: Be a tiny bit sad when you realize it's gone.

 Hope you enjoy!

XO - Monny

Grapes and Giggles

Day 9: Today's prompt is: Talk about something fun you did this summer

 

I've done so many fun things this summer it was hard to pick just one. I celebrated my 22nd birthday, I went to a Phillies-Mets game in NYC, and I hung out with Sarah at the world's cutest diner.

Last week, mom and I we went to 2 wine tastings with my gingery cousins. The original plan was to go to Crossings Winery this week and one next week but we had some extra time so we hit them both up. As you can guess, this did not end well for my lightweight self. I died. I went to bed at 10 pm. But it was fun giggling and being goofy with my cousins for the afternoon and night. The pictures can pretty much show this better than I can word it, but I get weirder when I drink. Enjoy!

Someone please tell me I'm not the only lightweight in Blogland.

XO - Monny

Frozen Bullsh*t

Day 8: Today's prompt is: Beat the heat and share a snow related memory

I'm not really a snow person. This probably has to do with the fact that every time I went into the snow as a kid, my sister and brother would gang up on me and I'd end up with frozen tears and a shirt full of that godforsaken white stuff. I'm such a sissy. This is usually what I looked like during winter.

My favorite memory of snow was my freshman year of college. Amy and I wanted to go to Walmart because we were out of queso and chips. We missed the last shuttle so we walked uphill all the way to the student lot and then had to dig out her car when we got there. We had an awesome time and stopped to take pictures on the way up.

 Do you hate the snow as much as I do?

XO - Monny

Why is Nicholas Cage on the Air Duct?

Guys, I'm on my 7th post of the NEB Network August Blogging Challenge!!! By the time I'm finished this post I'll have blogged for a week straight. What what? Yeah I'm pretty sure a pig just flew by my window.

AHEM, anyway here is today's yesterday's blog post.

Day 7: Today's Prompt Is: What is your favorite summer destination?

My favorite summer destination isn't really a getaway destination. Since I already wrote about the shore, I picked my favorite restaurant that I only get time to go to in the summer. It's an old-fashioned diner/soda fountain called The Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ. I just went here with Sarah after singing at church on Sunday so I have tons of photos to share.

 Their menu is like a newspaper and the dessert menu is like a TV Guide. They have like 5234 different grilled cheeses, omelets and pancakes. We split a "Hot Pot" buffalo chicken dip because duh, buffalo chicken dip. And I got a bangin' omelet with bacon and swiss cheese.

Sarah and I stuffed ourselves until we had food babies, which we promptly named Irvin (hers)and Matilda (mine). We decided that they were going to grow up and get married and we'd be in-laws!

As I was taking in the decor of the restaurant, I looked up at the air duct. What I didn't expect was to see Nicholas Cage's creepy ass face staring back at me. WHATTT?

I love the main street that The Pop Shop is on. It has a ton of other restaurants and cute boutiques. Sarah and I went into a consignment called Frügal, which apparently, we like because we both left with something. I bought a scarf that originally sold at Nordstrom for $6.99. WHOOP, I love a bargain. Sarah got a cute teacher skirt.

That's it! My favorite summer destination.

XO - Monny

Life's a Beach

Happy Tuesday, Blogland!
The best part about today is that Monday is over(and PLL is on tonight, duh)!

Day 6: Today's prompt is: Everyone has a favorite beach...describe yours and why you like it so much.

I love any and all beaches, so this post should be easy peasy. If I had to pick one beach, I'd say the beach in Sea Isle City, NJ. I love how the sand is soft and clean and the walk from the boardwalk to the ocean isn't far at all. I like the fact that the locals don't act like jerks to you because you're not one of them.

I really love that there aren't any dead jellyfish or seaweed flopping around the water that make me think I'm swimming in a Shark Week special...or a Syfy special for that matter. (Sharknado? Really though?)

The best part about the beaches in Sea Isle is that no one goes on after sunset. Seriously. I love running around the beach like a madwoman when no one's around to witness it. I can chase seagulls and cartwheel in the sand til the cows come home. Oh, and it's nice for long romantic walks. How cliche, right?

If I ever made it to this beach, I'm sure it would be my new favorite.

What is your favorite beach like?

XO - Monny

"I Shouldn'ta Told Yeh That!"

Day 5: Today's prompt is: 10 Things you shouldn't know about me, but I'm going to tell you!

This is not my favorite prompt, but I'm being a good blogger(but not really because this shiz should've been posted last night). Here are 10 things I don't tell just anyone. Once again, 10 awesome points for whoever gets the title reference.

1. I don't shave my legs on a normal basis because I'm lazy. At least I know Meg and Juliette won't judge me.

2. I still sleep with a stuffed monkey that Kristo bought me 5 years ago. His name is Nanners. Try not to judge.

3.I also wear a nightguard to sleep so I don't grind my teeth and/or bite my tongue off.

4. I recently broke up with one of my "best friends" - a girl I've been friends with for 12 years because she always expected me to be there for her through all her petty drama and life "problems," which I was. However, she refused to even send a text to acknowledge the fact that my grandmom died.  

5. I have certain people who I only talk to every once in a while just to stay on their good side.

6. An easy way to kill me is to feed me watermelon. Throat swelling yeah.

7. The first time I got drunk was when I was 19. My bff Amy and I watched (500) Days of Summer and drank vodka and juice in our dorm room. It ended with us giggling loudly and yelling at my computer screen.

8. My sister and I still fist-fight at the mature ages of 22 and 20. It's easier to settle arguments by beating the crap out of each other. No one's been seriously injured...yet.

9. I hate to say it, but I often find myself judging people for what they wear and how they act in church. I'm sorry, but booty shorts are not appropriate. Never will be.

10. It is impossible for me to keep my room clean for more than one day. I've tried and failed more times than I can count.

Hopefully this list doesn't make you run for the hills. I'm not that bad, I swear!

Thanks for reading!
XO - Monny

Desperate Times Call for Shaved Llamas

Day 4: Today's Prompt Is: Favorite Summer Traditions/Activities.

 

My favorite summer activity is waking up early while it's still cool out and sitting on the back patio with my tea and Kindle. It's such a relaxing way to start off my day. This year, however, no one(including myself) has felt like cleaning off our table and chairs. So I sleep in and by the time I make tea, I hate myself because it's so hot out.

I think I'll make that my goal this week. With Blogland as my witness, I will get my shiz together and drink tea outside!

Sorry for the lame post. Geez, let me find a picture to make up for it.

And if the shaved llama didn't tickle your fancy, there's always this video of Kristin Chenoweth singing about Anthony Weiner's weiner.


XO - Monny