A bitter blogger

Tonight while reading my followed blogs on bloglovin it occurred to me that I have a complaint. No, it does not have anything to do with Miley Cyrus's performance at the VMA's however I would like to say you'd NEVER see T. Swift behaving like that. Class not trash. I digress.

No my compliant is more of  being envious of those who DURING THE DAY to have time blog, tweet, facebook, instragram, and all other social media outlets. I work 40-50 hours a week, without a lunch break and normally don't realize what time it is until my day is almost over. Rarely am I able to do much of any 'real life' socializing let along social. Yes, I facebook occasionally but only when I am postponing work (aren't we all a little guilty of that)- other then that I'm stressing over my project, a co workers training, another's stress level. This is my life Monday thru Friday. I am so jealous of those of you who can blog about their weekend on Monday morning unless I write Sunday or Monday night- it just doesn't happen. So dear friends, those of you who have time to enjoy the pleasures of blogging from your couch on Monday morning or at your desk Monday morning- enjoy.

My weekend was not terribly exciting except------ I put a down payment on my new (used) saddle!!! I really cannot speak any higher for my trainers where I ride. Not only does one of them allow me to rider her horse she also is selling me her saddle. It is a little more then I wanted to spend but it's a good brand and honestly saddles don't wear out- especially the well made ones. Other then that I rode, napped, and wrote an extremely large check.

Tomorrow Chris's family comes in from Alaska then off to Mariners game, dinners, and Taylor Swift. I don't know who is more excited for Swifty, me or Chris's 14 year old brother- probably me. 

Taylor Swift Thursday

Say what you will about Taylor Swift.
I know many that think her dating life is ridiculous or that she is fake but with so many "artist" not writing their own songs, I think its refreshing that she writes her own songs and has since she was a wee kid. While some might not be able to relate to her songs at their current age- we did at one point. Her songs are catchy, fun and often times truthful of your teenage and early 20 years. I've been lucky enough to see her twice in concert and tonight we bought tickets for her RED tour which is in NINE days!!!!! Rolling Stones called her one of the best shows of the summer and I believe that. I've been a fan of hers since her first country album and while I wouldn't call her country now I believe she is growing as an artist and singer.
Haters going to hate.

Let's fast forward.

"You need to be careful what you're good at you'll be doing it for the rest of your life"

So this quote, dear friends, was on Pretty Little Liars tonight, however I kept replaying it in my mind and holds a lot of truth. Simmer on that for a bit.

For the 1840328208 time- work is just a constant blur of days of chaos, training newbies, and counting down till the weekend. We have a few exciting things coming up though that I'm looking forward too. 

Next week, Chris's family (or well his mom and 14 year old brother) from Alaska comes for a week. They normally visit us during the week of Thanksgiving when its miserable and rainy here so this is their first time visiting us in the summer. I also love that everything impresses them- I guess that's what you get when you live in the middle of Alaska. We have already spent a good amount of time deciding where to take them and what activities to do. His brother is going to his first baseball and concert so I know he'll have a blast.

Only a little less then then a month till I'm back East! I'm excited that not only am I am going home to my beloved Connecticut but I also get to stop by Pennsylvania to visit my grandparents. I've never been much of a city person and I'm convinced its due to the summers spent in Pennsylvania. They live in a small small town in central PA, about an hour outside of Harrisburg- my best summers were spent there living around farms, fairs and delicious (fatty) foods. 

These little highlights get me through these ridiculously long days, weeks and months at work. 3 more days till Saturday. 

Lessons to be learned.

Oh the dumb things I do sometimes.
Tonight after work (well, to be truthful, we left a little early) to grab some drinks with the girls. The best part of where I work are the people I work with. We drank margaritas and laughed and laughed- an awesome way to start Friday night.
Wellllllll after I got home I decided to pay off my portion of our Disney trip and somehow my account was double charged which caused my account to go negative. Thank god for my savings account but its going to take 7-10 days for the money to be replaced. WTF. Lesson learned; don't try paying bills after drinking.

On a more somber note. This past week one of our long term clients passed away. He was only 18. As much as hate to say it I take my health, my family and friends health and our wonderful lives for granted. Because we on the business side of the medical field, we see profits and numbers but often times do not see the wonderful and strong families we help everyday by being in business. We enable medically intense children to be at home with their families and to live the most normal life as possible. When meeting some of the families at hospitals and at home I'm not sure if I could go thru what they go thru everyday. Having a medically intense child is unimaginable to me and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy- it completely changes you and your family's life forever. The respect I have for those families is endless. So lesson #2 this weekend is take a moment every day to learn to be grateful for the life you have- you never know when it could change.

Ponies and Engagement Rings

I’m writing this update extremely late- normally I blog Sunday night and post first thing Monday morning but this weekend was busy and Monday was even worst. However that doesn't mean I'm not going to link up with my favorite post of the week!

I know I’ve said multiple times but work is so freakin crazy.

We had to let go of an employee who wasn’t working out, which in the long run is great for our office but in the interim means more work for me. More training. More doing things said old employee used to do. And instead of the universe understanding that I’m beyond busy- it instead gives me more work to do from outside forces. Thank you universe- you’re a pal.

I digress.

This weekend was a blast though. Filled with ponies and engagement ring shopping!!! Yup, you read that right folks!

Chris and I are actively planning our Disney vacation like we were bitten by the house of mouse bug- I’m talking reservations for breakfasts, dinners, attending holiday parades, and matching outfits, ok that last part was a little exaggerated but we are Disneying ourselves out.  With that being said I have mentioned in the past that DisneyWorld engagement would be glorious- especially around Christmas, my favorite holiday.

WELL Chris and I have been engagement ring shopping for a few months now but yesterday was the most serious we've been. I'm talking trying on rings, sizing and spending over an hour tackling the world of engagement rings. And what a large, expensive and fantastic world it is.

For those of you who know me, you probably aren’t surprised to know that I’ve tried on approximately 30+ rings- all sizes, shapes, designs. Also it’s probably not a surprise that I want to be involved in my ring selection. It’s not that I don’t trust Chris but I know how incredibly picky I am and would at least like to give him a shot of me liking the ring- brutal but the truth. To be completely honest though Chris was so involved with the ring shopping I was shocked and pleasantly surprised- he was the one asking me to try on different rings and seeing what I liked and I appreciated his input. 

I'm not trying to get ahead of myself because if come December and I'm reading this and I was wrong- I'll be deleting this post ASAP... However as of now things are looking on the up and up!

On top of ring shopping I also took Chris to his first horse show!

I took him to the Grand Prix event which if you're not into horses or even know what you're looking at, is interesting. Horse and rider jump high and as fast as possible and if you win you get 25,000, a win win if you ask me. My barn was there showing as well so it was nice to see Finley pony and watch some professional riders. 

Even Monday was filled with a little trinket- Chris brought me some Godiva chocolate. They were even hand delivered at work :) Whatta guy <3

Disney castle at Christmas!
The ring I picked- well maybe.
Monday surprise-how cute are those truffles
JUMP BIG

We're going to DISNEYWORLD

I never blog on the weekend buttttttttttt
Big News.......
Chris and I booked our trip to DisneyWorld!!!!

Trip is booked for the first few weeks in December! We'll be there for a full week and I'm sure it will be jammed packed with amazing food, rides and just plain amazingness. I have been in full blown disney planning mode for days now and I don't think it will stop till I step foot into the Magic Kingdom.  My Pittsburgh family goes every year so me and my aunt has been texting for restaurant ideas- she even has a facebook page which has been a great help because this vacation is overwhelming and its three months out.

I've been to DisneyWORLD and DisneyLAND as a kid however DisneyWORLD is always better- Chris has been to DisneyLAND but has no idea how much better DisneyWORLD is and ofcourse he's going with me- what a lucky guy!

San Diego or Bust

This weekends update is actually a Wednesday thru Sunday update. While I was technically 'working' Wednesday thru Friday my company flew me and the West Region's leadership to San Diego for a work conference. It was my first meeting and was also really helpful. It was set up in workshop style so we were able to pick and choose our classes. However I quickly learned that 85% of the time we spent drinking, socializing and snapchatting. My type of work. 

Let's recap.

I got in Wednesday and started drinking on the plane- it continued till I left on Saturday (thank you open bar) If you haven't been to San Diego it's fabulous. I'm VERY biased to the East Coast- however San Diego is amazing. Maybe it's because I lived here as a kid or maybe because it truely is an amazing city- either way I highly recommend it. Beautiful weather, great food and bars- what's NOT to love?? Anyways, back to Wednesday, we had dinner at Sally's Seafood which has amazing sushi! When Chris and I came here last year we discovered this gem- and while it was expensive- this meal can be expensed (thanks work!)

I wish I took pictures but because we all decided to put cell phones rule for the night- t no photographic evidence of such deliciousness exist. But hey it was a nice chance for all of us to catch up. We made our way to a bar named Searsucker- it was a rustic bar with a great atompshere. It was a great chance for all of the offices to mingle. It's even owned by Top Chef contestant Brian Malarkey-

1. blue skies from the plane.
2. In flight entertainment- Alaskan Ale
3. view from Hotel.
4. Shamless selfie on my way to training

Thrusday- up early. Gym (whoo), and workshop! Then more drinking. Starts at 5 with a cocktail party on the pool deck and onto dinner. Again back to the Gaslamp district- The strip club steak house. I'll be honest I didn't pick it- nor would I recommend it. You literally order your steak and, get this- cook it yourself. Ummmm? I do that at home. Why am I cooking my own steak? I digress because again it was open bar. So my annoyance quickly passed.  We moved onto bowling- now to be honest I couldn't tell you the name or where the place is but I do remember having a great time! I also remember getting into the hotel, downing water and going to bed. Yup.

1. Girls at dinner
2. Caitlin- getting her grill on
3. Bowling
4. Greg grilling my steak

Friday (6am) Oh.My.God

Breakfast in silence with 150 other people. We all could barely function but did have some great stories (like my boss loosing this shoes at the bowling alley or someone going to the wrong hotel). We keep in classy San Diego.

Workshops. The end of the workshop was the best part- we actually met some of our clients who live in SOCAL- I was in tears at how touched I was at some of the families. It really brought us back to why we do what we do. 

Most of attendees left after our conference but I stayed another night and was in need  of some serious alone time. I've vacationed by myself before and LOVE IT. I came back to my hotel and took a much needed nap then headed off to

Spike Africa for a peaceful dinner alone. I know what you're thinking- you had dinner alone??? And yes, I did. I love it- you talk to people from all over and I love it. I got the swordfish and it was cooked to perfection. Along with 2-4 more drinks ofcourse. Then it's back to the hotel for a bath, tea, 20/20(I love murder mysteries) and relaxing. Oh and fireworks! The Yankee's were in town so I could see the stadium from my hotel room.

1. Drinks on drinks
2. Alaskan Hilbut
3. Swordfishy

Saturday. Woke up and walked to Cafe 222- a quant little breakfast place in SD. It was featured on The Food Network and always has unique but delicious food- such as peanut butter and banana French toast, or blueberry cornbread waffles. Delish. Continued on shopping in the Gaslamp district with adorable boutiques. I love boutiques- I know they may cost more but you always get unique things and that, my friends, is always worth it.I was able to visit the following boutiques and pick up a few items Bubbles, Dolcetti,Eden. My favorite was Dolcetti however it was also the most expensive. Go figure.

And last but certainly not least I got a TATTOO!?!?! Well I actually already have one- it's a sand dollar and I love it but my next one was a horseshoe. For some it might mean good luck but for me it represents my love of horses and riding. As most of you know I just recently rediscovered my passion for riding and since San Diego was where it started I thought it only fitting to get it there. It turned out surprisingly good for how small it was AND it didn't hurt- plus all around!

My last meal was at The Hopping Pig- an English pub if you will so ofcourse I got the candied pork belly (sorry veggie fans). I met a couple of really nice people there where we chatted about food, the amazing race and overall life. Flew out a few hours later. Exhausted.

Sunday was the typical- laundry, grocery shopping and napping. However a well needed day to day to relax. 

1. Horeshoe tattoo (YAY!)
2. Menu Cafe 222
3. Delish Blueberry and Cornbread waffle
3. Last meal @ The Hopping Pig
4. Saturday self

Hope all of you have a great weekend- this week is going to be a rocky one but only 5 days till Friday!!