Sorry I've been MIA the past couple of days. I've been sick (not with swine flu) for a couple of days and stayed home from work yesterday. I've feeling better but still not 100%. Hoping to sweat out the sickness during our P90X Plyo lunch session today.

And for all you Lily fans...TOMORROW there is a LILY PULITZER boutique at RueLaLa!! The sale starts at 11am so to get the good stuff make sure you go online then. If you aren't already a member and want to be just leave me a comment with your email address and I will send you an invite. Happy Shopping!!!

Menu Monday

The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy. Hubby and I have been traveling a lot on the weekends and will probably be gone again this weekend. We desperately need to go to the grocery store. Here's what I think our menu will look like this week -

Monday - work dinner at The Source
Tuesday - grilled chicken salad
Wednesday - tilapia, potatoes, and salad
Thursday - hot dogs and salad
Friday - going back to my parents house so probably eat at one of my favorites - Yocco's, Brass Rail, or Paddock Pizza
Saturday - dinner at my parents country club

Devestating News!

I am sooo sad. The woman that has been doing my manicures, pedicures, and bikini waxes for almost four years has moved! I called today to make an appointment with her for the works and found out she doesn't work there anymore. Thankfully I know the owner and she is going to do my services today but she's pregnant so she won't be able to do them for very long. I need to find a new bikini wax place before next month. I live in Rockville, MD but work in Arlington, VA. I've read great reviews on Ibiza Day Spa on Pennsylvania Ave. and my friend recommended Jacques Dessange in Friendship Heights. Anyone have any recommendations?

Favorite Thing #147 - Butterfly Flowers

I've found a new favorite Bath and Body Works scent (sorry Favorite Thing #47). My colleague Monica introduced me to Bath and Body Works Butterfly Flowers. She said it was the perfect, light, romantic scent for spring/summer. So I had a free signature scent product coupon and decided to pick up some body wash. And she was right! It is an amazing scent. I definitely recommend you try it. Key Fragrance Notes: French Mimosa Petals, Asian Syringa Flower, Luscious Tangerine, Tenufolia Orchid. What's your favorite scent?

In other good Bath and Body Works news I discovered that another favorite scent Fresh Bamboo (by Slatin & Co.) is available as a wallflower. Well I snatched those right up. My friend Shannon and I literally bought all that they had. And the wallflowers and refills are now on sale for $6 each.

Ryan O Photography

I thought since everyone raved about my wedding pictures (thank you) I should blog about how the photographer. Ryan O. Photography is amazing! I couldn't have ask for a better for photographer. I found him online and signed a contract and everything without even meeting him. I was planning a wedding out of town so this was the easiest thing to do - his pictures were amazing, the price was excellent (we got everything we wanted). And well you saw the results...my instincts were right. In fact my friend Shannon hired him as her wedding photographer for her upcoming June wedding. When we do eventually have kids I'm going to hopefully have him take our pregnancy, baby, and family portraits. So if you are in the Allentown, Philly, Poconos area definitely contact him for your photography needs.

Savings Help

So after all of your fabulous suggestions hubby and I are going to bite the bullet and get a Dyson vacuum cleaner. We are getting one pictured above. Since I hate paying full price, I am trying to figure how I can save money. We decided to get it from Lowes because we have $300 in gift cards there. I was also hoping that maybe one of you can point me in the direction of a coupon to Lowes - 10%, 20% off?? If you have a coupon and you are willing to share it with me, please send me an email - christinasfavoritethings@gmail.com. THANKS!

UPDATE - Thanks to J'Adore These Stores for the suggestion about the coupon in the change of address packets at the post office. Hubby went to the post office today and got one and now we have a 10% off coupon. :) As soon as the Wachovia Rewards gift card for Lowes gets here we will be purchasing our new Dyson. I can't wait.

Anniversary Recap

Hubby and I had a great 2nd anniversary. The "official" celebration was Saturday. We started out at the driving range and then headed to Baltimore for dinner at Roys. Roys is a Hawaiian fusion restaurant that we ate at on our honeymoon. It's soooo good. And when we found out there was one in Baltimore we decided that as long as we lived here we would try and go there every anniversary. After dinner we walked around the Inner Harbor and picked up some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. Today's our actual anniversary and hubby surprised me with breakfast before work (he worked from home today so he had time), flowers, and then a yummy dinner -grilled shrimp salad, bread, and wine. It was soooo yummy. For dessert we decided to take advantage of free cone day at Ben and Jerrys. We really had a great anniversary. Here are a few pictures from Saturday.

Great Shopping Trip

This weekend I had the pleasure of joining one of my dear friends, Shannon, on her honeymoon shopping spree. I'm proud of myself because all I got was a free perfume sample from Victoria's Secret, free shower gel from Bath and Body Works, and a couple Wallflower refills (which we needed, were on sale, and I had a buy one get one free coupon). My friend however got some amazing things that I had to share with you -

J.Crew Solid Twist Bandeau Bikini
(she got hers in navy)

GAP Cropped Pleated Sleeve Jacket



GAP A-Line Pintuck Dress

J.Crew Seersucker Bikini


New York & Co. Maxi Dress
(looks much better on my friend)


Banana Republic Silk Ruched Dress
(she got hers in a slate gray color but its not available online)

Happy Anniversary

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary to my hubby. I can't believe we have been married two years already. I wish I could relive our wedding all over again!

yes that is my hubby on his head!

Cleaning out my closet...again!

Continuing my attempts to simplify my life I've done another clean out of the closet. Seriously I have WAY too many clothes (in addition to what I am selling, I've donated about four bags of stuff to my friend's church clothing drive). My new shopping mantra is buy pieces that are classic and can be worn multiple seasons. So click here for more of my ebay listings. I priced the items VERY low so you are getting a great deal. There is a mix of J.Crew and Banana Republic stuff along with some other random brands.

Menu Monday

This week is going to be a boring, hodgepodge of food because hubby and I once again will be out of town starting Friday.

Monday - Hot dogs, salad, and the rest of our cheesecake from the weekend
Tuesday - Hubby's cooking something for our anniversary (I'm hoping some grilled chicken and salad - hint hint)
Wednesday - Tilapia Packets - didn't get made last week as planned
Thursday - Grilled Cheese and Soup
Friday - Heading out of town!

The next couple of week's are going to be boring because we are out of town a lot. Hopefully middle of May I will be back to trying out new recipes.

Favorite Thing #146 - Chanel Sunglasses

I LOVE these sunglasses and they definitely are a top favorite thing when the sun is shining. I've had these Chanel sunglasses for four years now. I'm very protective of them and would be devastated if I lost them. They are the perfect shape for me (at least I think so) and fit my style. They are very Jackie O inspired and I love the simplicity of them. I take very good care of them - my case is always with me. And I have a back up pair of sunglasses for when I'm hanging out on the beach or at the pool. I had a hard time finding these online but they are available here for $139. Here's a picture of me with my sunglasses on from our trip to Barbados last year.





I am still a dedicated reader of Favorite Thing #46 - My Wardrobe Today. Allie has amazing style and I love seeing what she wears. She recently had an ADORABLE baby girl named Emerson. If you haven't already checked out her blog, you definitely should!

Gift Idea Friday - Tastebook

I must thank Erin @ Prep-E Girl for introducing me to this amazing gift idea. Tastebook is a website where you can create your own customized cookbook. Almost the entire thing is customized - you pick the cover, title, and dedication page. Then you choose recipes from their very large database or you can add your own recipe. You can even upload pictures! It's the perfect gift.

My friends and I gave this as a gift to our friend Shannon for her bridal shower. We filled it with all of our favorite recipes and then bought her additional "pages" that she can use in the future. What's great is the additional pages is that she can do everything online and the pages are shipped to her and easily add to the cookbook. Right now they are running a Mother's Day special - Free Shipping on any Tastebook priced $34.95 or higher (placed before April 21). Just enter code MOMSDAY.

In my shopping cart...

I'm not shopping for the rest of the month but I definitely have some full online shopping carts. Here are a few things that I am lusting after -

Old Navy Ruffle Chiffon Top (Old Navy)

Cotton Wrap Blouse (Banana Republic)

Twist Strap Dress (J.Crew)

Short Sleeve Stretch Broadcloth Shirt (J.Crew)

Crystal Chain Necklace (J.Crew)

Maxi Sundress (Nordstroms)

Workout - Weight Loss Update

Well it's been about two weeks since my new workout regime started. I'm going to try and do weekly updates about my progress but things are starting to get really busy. Starting out wasn't easy because work was really busy so it was hard to keep track of my food and avoid temptation - My co-workers ordered pizza one day and we have had at least two days where the boss has brought in different cakes and pies for the office but I didn't give in.

Here are my results/takeaways from the past two weeks -

Miles Run/Walk - 22

Weight - 125 (2 lbs. lost) I forgot to weigh myself when I started so I'm just going with what I was weighing in at before I started (127) as my starting weight.

Food - In the beginning I wasn't getting enough water. You are supposed to drink 64 oz of water each day. I thought I drank a lot of water but I wasn't. I've gotten into more of a habitat and find myself drinking more and meeting my goal (sometimes even going over). Some days my food/drink intake is high in sugar (especially on the days when I have a non-fat chai latte) so I'm working on that as well.

Workouts - I can use 8 lb. weights all the time now (except for Jillian Michaels - start out w/ 8 lb. then go down to 5 lb.) I'm starting to see definition in my arms (thanks to the past two months) but still not enough. I've done a couple of "two a day" workouts and it feels so good to push myself. Since the weather is getting warmer hubby and I try and run at least twice a week in the morning before work. My runs have not been as good as I would have liked.

Clothing - One great motivator is my clothes fitting and this past week one shirt that was WAY too tight on me last year fits great now and I put on a pair of white pants that were really tight last year and they fit fabulous this year! Still a few pairs of jeans that really don't fit well so I just need to keep pushing myself.

Mood - I feel great. I finally feel like working out and watching what I eat is really paying off. A colleague told me yesterday that I'm looking skinny and that just made my day. :)

Need Help - I want to start drinking recovery drinks on my "two a day" days...any recommendations?

Another great giveaway from Misadventures of a Newlywed

She's giving away a super cute monogrammed beach towel. Click here to enter.

Favorite Thing #145 - Blackberry Curve

I couldn't live without this favorite thing - Blackberry Curve. I got this about a year and a half ago and it's made life so much simpler. I used to have a cell phone and Treo (for my work emails) and then when hubby and I decided to go on the same wireless plan (we switched to AT&T because they have a better selection of phones) we both got blackberries and WE LOVE THEM. I get my work and personal email, text messages, my calendar (with reminders), address book and Facebook messages all on the same device. It pretty much contains my life and fits easily into any purse I know. If I ever lose this device (knock on wood) I'm screwed. Our contract is up at the end of the year and I have my eye on the Blackberry Bold. My colleague just got one and it's very similar to the Curve but more up-to-date.



I still love and definitely recommend reading Favorite Thing #45 - In An Instant. It was a really great book telling the amazing story of Lee and Bob Woodruff. For those of you that aren't familiar with it, Bob Woodruff was co-anchor of ABC's World News Tonight and was covering a story in Iraq. While he was ridding in a military tank, an improvised explosive device (IED) went off and he and his cameraman were hit. As a result of this accident Bob suffered a traumatic brain injury. I had the opportunity to meet them both and at a dinner last dinner. They were very nice and down to earth, esspeically Lee since I decided to introduce myself in the line at the ladies room.

Menu Monday (a day late)

I meant to post this yesterday but didn't have a chance. Brown Eyed Girl and Misadventures of a Newlywed have inspired me to start posting what's on the menu for the week for hubby and I.

Here's this week's menu -

Monday - Hot dogs and broccoli
Tuesday - Poppyseed Chicken (I will post this recipe later in the week)
Wednesday - Phillies v Nationals game so we are eating at the ballpark
Thursday - Tilapia Packets (Again I will post the recipe later this week or next)
Friday - Beer Can Chicken (Chili Lime Rub) w/ Rosemary Gratin Potatoes (new recipe so if they are good I will definitely post the recipe
Saturday - Anniversary Dinner at Roy's in Baltimore
Sunday - TBD

photo from ESPN

Longtime Phillies Announcer Harry Kalas Has Died

Team president says Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas is dead at age 73.

Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas was taken to a hospital Monday after passing out in the broadcast booth before Monday's game against the Washington Nationals, team president David Montgomery said.

The 73-year-old Kalas, known for his distinctive "Outta here!" call on home runs, was found by the Phillies director of broadcasting at about 12:30 p.m., Montgomery said.

Kalas joined the Phillies in 1971. Before that, he was an original member of the Houston Astros' broadcast team from 1965-70.

In 2002, he received the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for his contributions to the game.

This is so sad!!

Easter Weekend Recap

Again another busy weekend. We headed to Uniontown, PA to spend the weekend with hubby's cousin Marc and his wife Keri. We went to dinner at a great restaurant Titlow Tavern and had an amazing meal. After that we went back to their place and played Scene It. So much fun! The next day the boys went golfing and we went to the spa I used to work at when I was in college. We both got facials and massages. AMAZING and just what we needed. We were all exhausted so we just stayed in that night and ordered in. Keri and I got sucked into a Lifetime movie called Tribute (it starred Jason Lewis - the hot guy from Sex and the City). On Sunday, hubby and I went for a run and then breakfast with the cousins at Bob Evans before we headed home. Here are some pictures from the weekend -

After dinner we stopped at Wal-Mart and Keri and I goofed off -

When we got home on Sunday, we had to get ready for our mini Easter celebration. We had our friends Shannon, David, and Lisa over to decorate eggs and dinner. I made a roast with carrots and mashed potatoes...so yummy. Here are some more pictures -

Getting ready to dye eggs

Lisa brought over the project she did with her Sunday school kids. Coloring Jesus bracelets.

Lisa's finished Jesus bracelet

Making gravy...

Hubby cutting the roast.