Wiley in Heels

I thought I would share this picture of Wiley because it's so darn funny.
He is constantly pawing everything... and last night he kept putting his paws on my friend, Katherine's, shoes. I helped him in them and he loved it! He happily stood in them until I didn't feel like holding him in there anymore.

Lunch with Kevin

One of my favorite things to do is meet with Kevin for lunch during the week. When he's home (and his schedule permits) we are able to meet once a week... if not more, for lunch. He goes out of his way to squeeze in a little extra time with me during the day and I love it.  A typical lunch date consists of him picking up sandwiches from our favorite place, then swinging by my office to pick me up and driving to the local marine base to get a little outdoor time at a picnic table.
Our dog, Wiley, is the latest addition to the lunch date... once we're done with our lunch we usually spend the rest of my lunch break playing with him and his favorite thing... a tennis ball. It's the best cure to break up a regular old work day. I can't wait for him to get home so we can start it up again.

Here's a picture I took of him the on our last lunch date before he left... (he didn't know I was taking this picture - I'm sure he'll be thrilled when he sees this).

ROYAL WEDDING

O-M-G

I can't wait for the Royal Wedding. A lot of people are getting annoyed by the amount of coverage this is getting. I'm not. I've read almost every article. Looked at almost every picture.

Plus, Prince William is a helicopter pilot! Just like Kevin! Which makes me.... Kate Middleton? I'll take it.

TGIF

Happy weekend everyone! I'm a little jealous that as I type this it is 5:00 pm on the east coast and officially the weekend... I have 3 more hours to go :( ... Oh well, I'll get there soon enough.

For the first time in literally months Kevin and I do not have any plans for this weekend which I'm actually really excited about. I'm also pretty excited that the forecast shows rain for this weekend. I never thought that I would hope for that but the weather is always perfect here you feel guilty not going outside and sometimes it's nice to be lazy and have an excuse to just lounge around.

Whatever you all do... hope you have fun... see ya Monday!

Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had such a great weekend... engagement pictures Saturday morning, The Centennial of Naval Aviation during the day on Saturday (and it was approximately 80 degrees here!), took Wiley to the dog beach on Sunday.... and then Kevin and I celebrated Valentine's Day last night because he has a big flight tonight.

He surprised me and took me to a gorgeous and really romantic restaurant called Prado in Balboa Park.

If anyone is planning a trip to San Diego in the future... you seriously have to try this place. The food was incredible and the entire experience was just.... lovely. I really can't say enough good things about it. While we were there I said that it looked like it would be an amazing place to have a wedding... so I was not completely surprised when I went on the website today and discovered that they have lots of weddings there.

picture above found here

Super Bowl!

Kevin and I are headed to Dallas this weekend for the Super Bowl! Yee haw!
We went last year and had a blast... so I'm super excited for this year.
And even though Dallas is having a bit of an ice situation right now I'm still super pumped about it. I'm hoping we get as cliche as possible... have a big steak, see some bull riding, go two-stepping... you get the idea. We're only going to be there for approximately 2 days (one of which will be at the big game) so this may not happen... but a girl can dream.
Anyway, check out some of my dad's articles for the big game. Yes, that's my handsome father below.

Men in Uniform

This Halloween my nephew, Brady, dressed up as Kevin! 

I bought it for him at the Nex on base because it was a) adorable, b) looked like it would keep him nice and warm, and c) I knew it would be veryyy comfortable (Kevin would wear his flight suit all day, everyday if he could... and often does).

I had to share this with all of you because it is seriously the cutest thing ever.

I'll start with a pic of my pilot... 

Pic of Kevin with his training helo back in Pensacola

Brady pulling his wagon which he should have been sitting in

I spy a piece of chocolate in Brady's hand

Trick-or-Treating King

my sister, Elizabeth, Brady, Derek

I think it's also important that you know my bro-in-law, Derek, made a call sign for him to use for the day - Viper.

So, so cute. I love my boys in uniform.

A Kissing Blog

"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves." -- Albert Einstein

This blog is so much fun! It has really great pictures and quotes.

Halloween

I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween... hate the adult costumes. LOVE the treats.
I have finally branched out from a strict wedding blog regimen and I'm now enjoying the food blog scene... perhaps this was due to moving in with my man and trying to become a semi-domestic goddess.
Whatever.
Anyway, here are some really great Halloween recipes I found that I would like to attempt:

Try these Butterfinger Owl Pops - made with candy corn! (Candy corn grosses me out normally - but this actually looks phenomenal)

As a pumpkin fanatic... I started drooling when I saw how delicious these pumpkin frosted cookies looked. They aren't decorated for Halloween but they are pumpkin, which equals Fall... which brings us right back around to Halloween. So there ya go! I would have advised on the more Halloween themed treat featured on this blog, Skeleton Cupcakes, but it is intense and intimidating - so I picked the cookies.

I typically find candy apples a difficult thing to eat... but I would be willing to give these ones a try.

Check out these cookie lollies in the shape of ghosts and cats! This was actually found on the blog, Pink Little Cake which is featuring the 28 Days of Sweet Halloween ideas which you should check out if you want some more recipes (warning: some of them are for advanced bakers... which I am clearly not since I went for the cookie on a stick idea)

Now these are something I would actually make (code for they look really easy).

BUT what Halloween would be complete without a little Ghosts "Goodles" in the Graveyard (also referenced here)... this is a Halloween tradition in my house which I'm hoping my mom will make for us while she's here this weekend!

I am going to attempt one too... Wish me luck!

My Going Away Party

I thought I would share with you some pictures from my Going Away Party. It was actually the night that there were 2 tornadoes in New York... I guess I really know how to go out with a bang.
My lovely friend, Stef Kramer, threw it for me at our fav place The Penny Farthing - and it was no surprise we finished up the evening at The Back Fence. It was incredible how many people showed up to say goodbye - truly heartwarming.
So... without further ado...
Me and my sister:

Me and my brother - the flash was BRIGHT - and please notice Stef in the background

The 3 of us...

Kellyann, Jacqueline & me

Kellyann, Michael, Jacqueline, me & Sean

I had to put this one up too... these are the goofs I used to work with
(Scotland, Bob, PJ, Brendan, Manny (not a co-worker but may as well have been) and Sam)

Tory and John

This past weekend I was in a my friend, Tory's wedding in my hometown of Huntington, NY. Tory and John currently live in St. Louis but came back to Long Island to throw their beautiful wedding. Some highlights from the wedding: Tory's beautiful dress, the lovely flowers, the Hurricane that never happened, and the best maid of honor speech I've ever heard (way to go Kelly!). Enjoy the pictures!

The Today Show Wedding

I used to watch the Today Show Wedding with my mom every summer... religiously. Unfortunately, having a job has put an end to this summer ritual so I haven't been able to keep up with it. However, I recently read an article about the couple that was chosen and thought I would share.
They are a couple from Missouri who have been separated for years because of the groom being in the Air Force and on tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Viewers get to choose everything about their big day - rings, wedding dress, tux, reception site, bridesmaid dresses, cake and honeymoon destination. Right now you can vote for the wedding dress/tux. I think I love them all!

Date Night!

On Saturday night Kevin arranged for an incredible date night in Coronado. He is seriously the best.
On a side note, I don't think I can stress enough to you how beautiful Coronado is... ahh... I would love to live there.
Anyway, we took a water taxi from downtown and it dropped us off right next to the restaurant we ate at. I think I could get used to that mode of transportation on a regular basis.

The views at our restaurant were amazing and we were able to watch the sunset against the city... (pictures below are from our table at dinner)

And then if the night couldn't get any more romantic a fireworks display started!

It was so much fun!!!! I can't wait to go back!

San Diego!

I'm back from my first trip to California and I have SO much to write about. We took a ton of pictures so I don't think squeezing the whole trip into one entry would do it justice.
I'll start with Friday - my first whole day there.
Kevin is staying right downtown in San Diego so we took a short drive over the bridge to Coronado. It couldn't be more beautiful over there. We ate lunch outside at the Hotel del Coronado. It was a gorgeous day out and the views were unbelievable! A little added bonus was that while we ate outside we watched all of the different Navy aircrafts fly overhead as they were going into land at the Navy base on the island. It was awesome to get to see the helicopter that Kevin will be flying in action.

Later that night we took a walk over to the gas-lamp district and ate at a Mexican Restaurant called La Fiesta. It was fun to sit outside and enjoy the famous Mexican food in downtown San Diego.

San Diego Beaches

I'm taking my first trip to San Diego this weekend! I'm so excited!!! I can't wait to try out the beaches in California.
Any other recommendations for fun things to do while I'm there???

p.s. These pictures are from the 4th of July in Pensacola. We had taken a longgg walk on the beach - how romantic?! haha :)

Kevin's Stay in NYC

Kevin flew back to Pensacola last night for his last few days there before he packs up and heads cross country to San Diego on Thursday.
After he left, I started to think about our week in NYC together and realized that we saw so many friends and family... and dined at some pretty great spots. I threw together a post so you could check out and try out whichever you feel like.

On Tuesday, Kevin surprised me and bought us tickets for the Broadway show, Promises, Promises. He picked them up at the Southstreet Seaport ticket booth after meeting me for lunch (isn't he the best?!).  It was SO good... Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth were incredible. Afterward, we went to the best pizza place Arturo's - which is only a few blocks from my apartment. The pizza there is seriously out of this world.

Wednesday night we met up with two of my greatest friends of ALL time (and 2 of my bridesmaids)- Leandra and Giavanna. We grabbed a bite to eat at Grey Dog in the West Village and then went for some dessert at Rocco's.  That is a typical night for Leandra, Giavanna, and me... so it was so much fun to include Kevin.

Thursday night we went to the German restaurant, Lederhosen, for a drink with some of my coworkers... this place is great for groups of people. Perhaps the best part was that we all drank our beer from a glass boot. After Lederhosen, Kevin and I made our way over to Peep. This place has reeealllyyy good Thai food.  Everyime Kevin comes to NYC he tries to squeaze in a little bit of Pad Thai because he isn't able to find it in Pensacola.

Friday night we met up with Kevin's brother John, his girlfriend Laura, and two cousins Drew and Brian. We went to an Australian restaurant called Eight Mile Creek.  They had great food and a beautiful little garden in the back where we sat to eat. We followed the dinner up with an old favorite... The Back Fence.  I could literally go to this bar every night and not have a problem with it.

Saturday night I had several friends from college visit NYC. We all met up at the National Underground where my dear friend Vanessa's boyfriend was playing.  He is seriously so talented! We then celebrated Kat's birthday at Double Crown.

Sunday morning we decided to go out to brunch at Bubby's down in Tribeca.  This place is SO good. There was a little bit of a wait which we really didn't mind... we grabbed a seat at the bar and I enjoyed a Bloody Mary while Kevin had a Dark and Stormy.

Well that's all I got for you. As you can see we dined out A LOT. I'll be packing my lunch all week and running everyday to make up for it! :) ... it was so worth it though.

Helo

Since I let everyone know that San Diego will be Kevin's next stop yesterday... I thought it only made sense to let you know what Kevin will actually be doing while he's there. So here's a brief description (in Kevin's own words) of this new contraption he'll be flying:

The helicopter I'll be flying is the SH-60F/H Seahawk. It can accomplish many missions such as search and rescue anti surface/submarine warfare HVBSS(inserting people on foreign boats) anti drug/piracy and vertical replenishment. I'll primarily be flying off aircraft carriers.

That's pretty bad ass.

4th of July

I know what you must be thinking... two posts in one day?! What's going on??

Well as it just so happens the past couple of days have been huge on the relationship front for me and Kevin and I just haven't gotten the chance to share so I'm playing catch up.

The 4th of July has always played a huge role in our relationship. The first time Kevin and I ever met was the summer going into our senior year of college at a 4th of July party in Red Bank, NJ. I guess you could say that this was where the innitial attraction occurred. Two summers later (at the same party) it was where we fell in love (awwww!).  Just one year later we spent this 4th of July engaged in Pensacola, Fl. It's kind of crazy to think that at this time next summer we will only be about 3 weeks before our 'big day'... and most likely spending it in San Diego, CA.

Which brings me to my other big piece of news... for those who have not heard already, Kevin will be stationed in San Diego next! We couldn't be more exited to see what this next year brings for us!

Kevin Gets His Wings!

On Wednesday night I flew down to Pensacola, Fl... for Kevin's winging!

It was such an awesome experience.  The Navy really did a fantastic job of making the entire experience special for the winger and their family. Here is a very brief overview of what exactly happened:

Thursday:  We went on a tour of the Naval Air Station that Kevin has been training out of called Whiting Field.  It was so cool to have Kevin show us where he has been spending all of his time for the past 6 months.  We were able to check out the classrooms, the really cool equipment (night vision goggles!), the helicopters he trained on, and (my personal fav) the flight simulators! After touring around we attended the
"Soft Wing Patch" ceremony.  This was where the guys (and gals!) received the wings they wear on their everyday attire - their flight suit!
Here are a few pictures from that day:

Friday: The day began with a Catholic mass for those students who wanted to attend.  This was followed by all of the students attending a "Blessing of the Wings". It was such a nice ceremony - and Kevin will surely make fun of me for this - but I got a little choked up. 
Afterward, there was the official winging ceremony.  This was the event where Kevin actually got his wings. I had the honor of actually pinning them on... which was not an easy task! Those things are pretty hard to pin on - especially on stage in front of a ton of people! It was so great though - and those gold wings looked incredible on Kevin's uniform. There was an after party later which was so much fun.
Overall the experience was wonderful.  I am so incredibly proud of Kevin and all of his accomplishments and just happy I was able to share in his big day!
Here is one more picture of us with my mom... I'm hoping to have more soon.