Take me back...

TO BLACKSBURG!

You guessed it: another weekend recap! We had a blast and its always nice to "get away" for the weekend. However, I wished I had packed a little better for the weather. You think I would have learned by now...

All packed up- love my Vera Bradley weekender!

We arrived at Ty and Gabby's place in time for dinner Friday night! We celebrated Tim's thesis defense with some Due South BBQ! It was DELICIOUS!

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The mac and cheese was divine. I am a pretty harsh critic of it so that's saying a lot. All I have to say is YUM and I will be returning on my next trip to Blacksburg!

Saturday morning Gabby and I gave ourselves manis and pedis! (with my new Julep polishes)

Then Saturday afternoon we met up with my parents and sister for the Spring Game. We also did a little shopping at the bookstore!

I got this shirt!

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Saturday night Tim and I hung out with one of my besties Brittany and her boyfriend Alexander! I've missed her soooo much but now she will be a lot closer in the fall :)

Sunday afternoon we went to the Homeplace with Ty and Gabby. It was a beautiful day for it. The Homeplace is a southern cooking, family style restaurant and is a must go for any Hokie! It's situated right in the Catawba Valley and was the perfect background for some pictures!

Me and Gabby wearing matching bubble necklaces (again)

This is what happens when Tim gets a hold of my camera!

The Newlyweds!

Gabby capturing a candid moment :)

Ty and Gabby!

Brothers

 Was your weekend full of family, friends, eating and activities or more laid back?

Be sure to come back tomorrow for Mood Board Tuesday AND enter Carissa's Etsy GIVEAWAY!

Cheesecake, Cruises, and Coffee Beans

Well, this week sure has been an interesting one. Where do I start?? Well, I'm gonna do a Hi Five for Friday (too bad I don't have instagram...working on getting that smartphone though-still would love your opinions on which one I should get AND why)

Before I get started, I am going to say what EVERYONE else has already said. Ready? Google is getting rid of Google reader and then probably GFC to follow. So, what does this mean for you? That you should follow me on Bloglovin'. I have actually been using it for a while. I love organizing the blogs I read into categories, but the number of unreads can be very overwhelming sometimes.

• My friend Olivia came to Richmond along with her mom and 2 other friends. One of which was a best friend from high school who I haven't seen in years :) (love you doublemint twin). We went to the Cheesecake Factory..YUM I got the Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake (are you drooling yet?) to split with Tim.

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• I was featured AGAIN over at Coffee Beans and Bobby Pins! She showed off the mood board I made for Sara. So thankful for you ladies.

• I got to chat with Veronica again...I just love that girl (in a non-creepy girl crush way haha) and we are "planning" a couple's cruise for next summer! Who knows, we might actually get to MEET like in real life!

(promise I will post about our honeymoon soon)

• I got some new stuff from Old Navy last weekend. It has been so nice to have some new outfits to put together this week. Maybe I will take a picture of one for you?

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• It's starting to feel like SPRING! But then it's gonna be cold again on Sunday. Oh well, I'll take my few days of no jackets, scarves, etc. Aren't you loving all of this daylight?

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I hope you have a fabulous weekend celebrating St. Patrick's Day!

Linking up @

 

The Newlywed Game

Because I promised Veronica.....

and because I would love you to learn more about me, my hubby and our newlywed life! Here we go:

(isn't this picture hilarious?)

Samantha's answers in blue
Tim's answers in green

1.  Who does the laundry in your home, you or your spouse? Any good stories?
Both of us. Not really, I guess just that when he does the laundry I always have to remind him not to dry my bras haha!
We both do the laundry and we each fold our own things since she doesn't like the way I fold.

2.  If your spouse had to eat at one restaurant for the rest of their lives, what would he or she pick?
Oooh thats a hard one...he really loves Boudreaux's which is a cajun restaurant in Blacksburg!
She would pick a Mexican restaurant.

3.  Are you or your spouse better at cooking? Any good stories?

Definitely ME! Tim can cook but I think he pretends to be clueless so I won't make him ;)
My wife is a better cook and she usually does all of the cooking.

4.  Which one of you is more concerned about their "fashion"?

Me again...although I do think my hubby has pretty good style. He usually listens to my advice!
She is more concerned about fashion. It seems like she gets new clothes every week.

5.  Ideally, if you don't have them already, when does you spouse want to have children?

Ideally I think he would say in about 5 years.
5-7 years.

6.  Who planned dates when you were dating? And what was one of your favorites?

This was a pretty equal duty. I always tried to make him plan but I came up with some good ideas myself! I think one of my favorite dates with Tim was when we went to Sinkland Farms pumpkin patch! We went on a slow day and it felt like we owned the place it was so empty. We walked around, got our pumpkins and I took pictures. Then we headed back to the little gift shop and got pumpkin chocolate ice cream! It was a pretty simple, inexpensive date but a great time to talk and take in the beautiful sunset!
She made me plan them. There are a lot of good ones. When we went to Indianapolis. We went out to eat at Hard Rock and went to the Pacers game.

7.  What's been the toughest part of being a newlywed?

I would say the hardest thing is putting his needs first all of the time. I am still learning to be more selfless.
You're not just taking care of yourself anymore.

8.  Who is the best with the finances?
Tim for sure...he knows all of the bills we have to pay, when to pay them and how much money we are saving!
Me. Duh...

9.  Who is the strict one?

Tim is...but its definitely a good thing. He tells me no when I need to hear it (like when I am at Target and want to buy everything in the store!)
Probably me.

10.  What will you plan to do for your first anniversary? Or if you've already celebrated your first anniversary, what did you do?

Well we probably won't be able to go on vacation since we have so many weddings this summer but hopefully we can go to a fancy restaurant in Richmond and maybe take a day/weekend trip!
When we go to Denise's wedding, we're gonna stay at an Inn for a long weekend. (I was going to say that but I didn't think it was official yet)

Did you make it all the way through?? Congrats!

And just because I like when other bloggers do this, I bring to you:

Highs and Lows of the week!

Highs:

• Tim got a job offer!!
• Got to chat with Veronica and Sara!
• Planning my trip to visit Denise

Lows:

• The icky cold weather (tired of it...want SPRING)
• having to leave our parents...we visited them last weekend
• chores piling up and me being to lazy to do them

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!

Facts of Me

Since the people that have responded to the survey seem to like my random posts I am going to continue them...you're welcome! I found this link-up @ I Wore Yoga Pants to Work! Whitney is an amazing blogger and I love that she is so quirky and not afraid to embarrass herself. So here we go...I am going to tell all (and hopefully you'll stick around)

p.s. if you haven't taken the survey PLEASE go {here} I promise its short and sweet! I just want to get to know you better :)

• I am a Ranch snob. I only like Hidden Valley and I might as well eat a salad dry if I don't have it. (see me and my old roomie even have a picture with it!)

• I used to be a sumo-wrestler! Haha jk :P

• I love cuddling! Cuddling's my favorite! (especially with this chica)

• I consider this little guy as one of my best friends!!

• I am soooo enjoying married life with this guy ;) 

• I can't sleep with socks on EVER!
• I will crave and eat ice cream even if its 10 degrees outside
• I have to put my hair up to eat!
• I graduated in the top 10 of my high school class.
• I am a worrywart. I double/triple check that the stove is off at night and that the door is locked. Can't help it.
• I love my Mac and I will probably cry when it quits on me (hopefully no time soon) :( I've had it for about 4 1/2 years.
• I've never broken or fractured a bone!

I think I ran out of things after doing the liebster award random facts...but did you learn anything new about me?? Or just enjoy the embarrassing wrestling picture??

Will have lots of new posts coming really soon! Stick around :) Happy almost Friday! Is it supposed to snow where you are?

Days 5 & 6

Day 5: A special treat

I got a special treat at work yesterday. We had an all day client meeting so we took her to lunch and then stopped by Carytown Cupcakes. I got the oreo peanut butter one. I cannot even describe to you how good  it was. It has a whole oreo and spoon of peanut butter in the center.

Day 6: The Christmas Tree

I've had some requests to post our apartment decorations but it seems like they are showing up one at a time. So, here is the tree. We have multiple VT ornaments on it. I love sitting on the sofa cuddled up with the hubby while the tree lights up the room.

Looking forward to:

1. Our birthday/anniversary trip to Williamsburg this weekend!
2. Tomorrow is FRIDAY!
3. The Christmas cards I ordered to arrive!

Need to:

1. Catch up with friends
2. Clean the apartment
3. Get back to cooking real meals for dinner

Also, my Daddy's birthday is tomorrow so: Happy Birthday Daddy! Love you!

XO Samantha

Weekend Recap

Well I had one awesome weekend! Our last few weekends have been pretty laid back with not a whole lot going on. This weekend was the opposite!

Ty and Gabby got here on Friday at about 6:30. I planned to have bruschetta (recipe from Whitney) ready to eat as an appetizer. It was a little late, but it worked because they sat and talked while I finished making dinner.

Dinner was Chicken Carbonara. I varied this recipe quite a bit and it was delicious. I used fettucini instead of spaghetti. I didn't put in eggs (seemed suspicious that you didn't actually cook them?). I heated up the cream, added butter and italian blend of cheese. I used turkey bacon instead and left out the peas and white wine. I like to just wing it in the kitchen, obviously!

Dessert was Snickerdoodle Blondies. I didn't change this recipe a bit and it turned out wonderfully. It also made the apartment smell AMAZING! We all tried to leave room for them. Instead we just ended up overstuffed.

My picture

Their pretty picture

Then we just talked and relaxed on the couch. The next morning Gabby and I went and got manicures! This was a real treat :) I got mine done in Essie Get Cozy! 

That's not my hand but it shows the color really well! (and this color is on my wish list now)

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After that we got Starbucks! I got a Caramel Apple Spice! "It's like Christmas in a cup"- Ryan Reynolds on The Proposal! But seriously you have to try it!

Showing off our nails! and Christmas cups

 We met back up with the boys and had leftover pasta for lunch. We headed to Hollywood Cemetery for a nice fall drive/walk and some history. We have been quite a few times now so we probably won't go back for a while. I do love getting up the hill where it overlooks the river. So beautiful this time of year! The sky was SO blue!

We still had some time to kill before dinner so we went to Brown's Island and Belle Isle. Me and the hubby had never been across the bridge to Belle Isle before. It was sooo cool! Also there was a wedding going on there outside! (way to cold for that) On the trail we saw this old abandoned Hydro Plant. Had to check it out a little bit closer! And there was a guy attempting to be spiderman. See that hole on the back wall at the top right? Well he climbed up there! Crazy :o 

Walking across the bridge apparently got our attention too! BAHAHA! 

We went to Station 2 for dinner again! We love that place. I got a grilled cheese...burger! YUM!

We went shopping on Sunday and I got this...

We ate at Panera for lunch! MAC AND CHEESE! I can't get anything else! I need to learn to make it :) 

They headed back to Blacksburg :( And I hung up my new gift that Gabby made me! 

YAY for pretty fall decorations!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend as well!

Ty and Gabby: Come back again soon!

XO Samantha