Dear 16 Year Old Mal:

Every week Lena from Mom 2 Memphis and Ruby does a Tuesday 10 link up. This week it is a list of 10 things you would say to your 16 year old self. I thought this would be pretty fun since I was kind of an idiot at 16. I'm hoping I don't pass it on to Aubs but I think the odds are against me.


This is me at 16. Do you like my red eye and Old Navy performance fleece?


10 Things I Would Say My 16 Year Old Self:

1. Break up with your boyfriend, he is a jackass and will cheat on you with your cousin in a few months.

2. Save some of your money! You have a great job for a 16 year old and you will appreciate that extra cash when you get to college.

3. Spend more time on your school work. You might as well start this wonderful habit now because it will pay off in the future.

4. Don't take life so seriously- you're only 16. You'll have your whole adulthood to do that.

5. Your brown eyes are beautiful- stop putting those stupid colored contacts in.

6. Get your driver's license. You will regret it when a student driver car is picking you up at your dorm room(true story).

7. Spend more time with your girlfriends instead of your boyfriend.

8. Be nicer to your peers.

9. Eat healthier. Diet coke for breakfast and nachos and Snapple for lunch isn't a balanced diet.

10. Life isn't always easy but as you get older you learn to deal with it better.


Head on over to Mom 2 Memphis and Ruby and check out everyone else's list or better yet, make your own and link up.




*Don't forget to stop back by tomorrow- I have a pretty amazing post planned.

Friday Flashback: New Year's Eve 2008/2009

I wanted to post some old New Year's Eve pictures and these were the ones I was able to find. I was actually looking for the ones from 2006 because that was my best New Years Eve to date but I could only find them on Shutterfly and the resolution sucked. That year we were in New York City and went to a party at Roseland Ballroom until 4 in the morning. 2008 was fun too though. We got a group of friend's together and rented a stretch hummer and went to The Hardrock Casino. My New Years since then haven't been too exciting. This year we will probably hang with a few friends and play games and have some drinks.

Do you have any big plans for New Year's Eve?

Feeling Christmassy

Aubs and Ruby last Christmas


1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Wraps!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I like white but we have a pre-lit tree that we got for free that has colored lights- so colored it is. For the house we use white on the actual house and colored wrapped around the palm trees.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No, but I want to.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Should be doing it now but I have to clean the floors first so I'm putting it off.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
My mother in-laws lobster tails and fried flounder.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
My brother and I waking up when it was still dark and sneaking downstairs to shake all of our presents.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I was about 7 and I think my older brother told me after I had my own suspicions.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
When I was younger we always got one on Christmas Eve, usually pajamas.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
With memento ornaments we have gathered over the years plus a few fillers.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
It's not an issue because I live in Florida. I grew up in North Eastern Pennsylvania and back then I liked a white Christmas.

12. Can you ice skate?
I used to work in an ice skating rink in high school and spent a lot of time skating on slow nights. I haven't skated in years but back then I could do crossovers, skate backwards and spin. Now, who knows.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Childhood- American Doll accessories that my Nana used to wrap in beautiful towers.
Adulthood- Diamond earrings that my husband bought be a few years ago.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Hanging with family and making sure my daughter is having a good time.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Cookies! All kinds

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Baking Christmas cookies and watching Christmas movies.

17. What tops your tree?
A star

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
I like giving when I come up with a really great gift idea.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?
Yum! Starburst are the ultimate.

20. Favorite Christmas show?
Elf, It's a Wonderful Life and Home Alone

21. Saddest Christmas Song?
I'll be Home for Christmas

22. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Traditional- O Holy Night
Fun- Waitress's "Christmas Wrapping"

What Happens in Vegas....

.... will probably end up on my blog

We booked a trip to Las Vegas this weekend and I am so beyond excited. We leave in exactly 28 days. We have been there once before back when we first were married. We had a good time but I was feeling well and I think at that point in our lives we didn't appreciate things as much as we do now.

I would love to know if anyone has suggestions of what we should do while we are there. We have a rough plan laid out but we're willing to shift things around if we find out about something that is a must see. We're staying at Planet Hollywood and we have a strip view- woo hoo. It's right across from the Bellagio so hopefully we will be able to see the fountains from our room.

Here are some pictures from our last trip. They are kind of crappy because I didn't have an SLR camera back then. I promise to take much better pictures this time.

Friday Flashback: Halloween

Last Halloween Aubs was a little strawberry
The costume was huge but it didn't matter because she wasn't even crawling
I actually put it on her this morning for a Halloween play date at the park
It just barely fit but it worked out better than her elaborate fish costume

I actually wanted to post some vintage Halloween photos from when I was little
but unfortunately they are all in Pennsylvania
These will just have to do
They are super cute though





This year will be the first year she is able to go trick or treating
I probably wouldn't even take her if it weren't for her older cousins
Those boys will definitely show her the ropes
We will probably go to a few houses and then head back to Nanny's to help give out candy
It will give her a little taste of Halloween's to come

Lil' Pumpkin

In honor of heading off to the pumpkin patch this weekend,
I thought that I would share a few pictures of Aubs with the pumpkins last year
I didn't take her to a real pumpkin patch, just the church down the street
She couldn't walk yet so I just plopped her down and took pictures
I think that this year she will enjoy herself much more
It will be harder for this Mama to take pictures though









When we got home I set up a little photo shoot in the yard
This wasn't her Halloween costume
I found it at Babies R Us for $3 and thought it would be cute for photos
I was right






I am hoping to make this pumpkin patch thing a fall tradition
I don't really remember going when I was little
but I grew up in the Poconos so all you had to do was look out the window to get into the fall mood
Does your family have any Autumn tradition?

Friday Flashback: Hilton Head

Every year my family usually goes to Hilton Head, South Carolina
This year we're skipping it because my parents bought a boat
I'd much rather the boat all the time than the one week trip

We were there this time last year
Aubrey was just about 7 months and couldn't even crawl yet
She was such a little chunk
I thought I'd share some of my favorites from that trip

Sibs

2 Day Old Aubrey


Lately I've been thinking a lot about having more kids. It definitely has been something that I have always wanted but making the actual decision to start trying is a little scary. I guess it's like all things in life. When we set out to do things that seem so foreign and it can be frightening. I guess we just have to take the risk and hope for the best. It was like that with Aubrey too. I was amazingly excited when I found out that I was pregnant but I was also scared of changes that were happening in my life.

What seemed so scary then is now my wonderful everyday life. It has been a lot different from what my life use to be and some days are harder than others but I feel like we made the right decision to have our first child. Right is understatement, amazing decision would be more like it. I am sure I'm bound to feel the same when we set out for our next one but I still need a little bit of time. It will be soon just not right now. It is just me being scared of the unknown. Aubs needs a sib and when the time is right we will know.

Friday Flashback

I should have posted this last Friday but with all the excitement of my weekend away, I ran out of time. This photo was taken 10 years ago on my 18th birthday. Those were my two best friends at the time, Erica & Alexis. I'm in the middle.




Oh to be 18! The world was at my fingertips. I had just started my senior year of high school. Everyone was sending out their college applications and gathering up those last minute recommendation letters. It was an exciting time, full of possibilities and big dreams. Strangely enough, this picture was also taken four days before the planes struck the twin towers. Which cast a bit of an eerie glow on our bright futures. At the time I lived 90 minutes south of the city in a huge commuter area so I had a ton of friends who's parents worked in the city {including both of hub's parents} but that is another story for another day.

Ten years later am I where I dreamed I'd be? Yes and no. My home life is more than I ever hoped for. I am married to an amazing man who I have known forever. We compliment each other perfectly. If you had told me when that picture was taken that I would marry Joey, I would had laughed at you. We weren't even close to dating. We also have a beautiful and smart daughter and are hoping for more soon. On top of all that, our dog is ridiculous and we have a great home.

On the personal front- I still need some work. I need to be more confident and trust myself more. I still don't feel totally comfortable in my own skin but I'm hoping to get there by 30. I also never graduated from college although I spent almost enough time there to earn my masters. I couldn't and still can't figure out what I really want to do. I bounced from major to major... art...business...education...et cetera. I can say that I am very well rounded because of it though. All in all my life is pretty great but there is definitely room for improvement. Life would be pretty boring if there wasn't.

Friday Flashback

This was taken in the summer of 2002
We were at Joe's mom's apartment in Queens
Aren't we special?



If you look closely you can see that I am holding a Zima-
I bet my 18 year old self thought she was a real bad ass



I'm linking up with Jen at 525,600 mintues.

Flashback

These days it seems like time is flying by me. The complete opposite can be said for the time when this picture was taken. The first couple of weeks that Aubrey was here it felt as though time stood still. Everything was so new and so completely different from anything else I had ever experienced. Times like that show you how strong and capable you are as a person. It's those times that you just do what your instincts tell you without a thought. I was very sleep deprived and nursing constantly because my milk decided not to come in for 7 days. Although it was hard, I'm happy that time seemed frozen then. It let me soak up every second of my brand new baby girl.