Summertime...and the livin's easy

I hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend. As I mentioned, I was with B's family at their shore house in Brigantine Beach (right outside Atlantic City).

Some of the family playing paddleball on the beach

Even though I'm currently only hostessing at a restaurant part-time, it was still really nice to get away for a few days. I'm so accustomed to relaxing during the summers--getting a lot of beach and pool days--and so far this summer I've done very little of that. So it was fantastic to relax for a few days.

I don't get the chance to see all of B's family very often. He lives 2 hours away from me and when I visit, we usually plan activities and only sometimes spend quality time with his family. He has 2 older sisters, both married, 1 with 2 kids. But only 1 of them lives close to B, so I get to see them fairly often, but hardly ever get to see the other. B, on the other hand, spends a lot of time with my family. He tends to come visit me more than I visit him and my family tends to get together often for lunch and dinner. So he gets to see my brother & grandparents pretty often. (Both of us currently live with our parents, so we get to see each others parents every time we visit). Anyhoo, the point of mentioning all of this was to get across the point that I had such a great weekend in the sun & spending quality time with my future in-laws :)

Today, I endured some serious dress shopping for the engagement party with my friend AL. She's not afraid to speak her mind & therefore makes a great shopping buddy. Needless to say, about 4 hours later, I came out with 2 bras, 1 bathing suit & 4 shirts...but no dress :( The search continues...

In other news, today I received the Versatile Blogger award!!!!

The rules for this award are: Thank the person who gave you the award; Share 7 things about you; Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs; and Let your nominees know about the award.

So here it goes. Firstly, thank you so much Nicole from That's Life! Go check her out! She's also engaged & posts about wedding planning...she also posts awesome recipes!

7 things about myself:

1. When I was a kid, I watched Grease literally every night, if you don't believe me, just ask my parents.

2. Ever since I watch an episode of What Not To Wear during which I learned that horizontal stripes make you look wider, I have never tried on a horizontal-striped article of clothing.

Wow, this is harder than I thought...

3. Since high school, I drink soda only a handful times per year. I only drink water, no powder flavor added in.

4. I sincerely enjoy washing dishes, I find it soothing & it eases my stress.

5. I always wanted to be a marine biologist & move to Hawaii...until I reach mid-high school & almost failed biology.

6. I absolutely despise Crocs, I'm sorry if I've offended any of you.

7. I wear flowers in my hair & I'm proud of it :)

Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs:

1. Rachel from Pura Vida! She rambles about her travels all over the world.

2. Irresistible♥Icing...blogging about bridal things.

3. Nicole from An East Coast Wedding, blogging about her fabulous married life

4. A Bride in Boots who had a winter wedding & will serve as some inspiration for me ;)

5. Beer Budget Bride's Musings...love reading about your wedding planning.

6. A Wedding Story, a very cute blog with fantastic style.

7. Jacin from She Said Yes...also planning a wedding!

8. Life of Leetid...because I love her hotties of the month!

9. Untypically Jia from Color Me Untypical cuz my inner child really could use another Pepsi.

10. A Beautiful Mess: Project Alicia...fabulous recipes!

11. Alycia from Crowley Party...such an adorable blog.

12. Sarah from Eat Well. Love Much. Laugh Often, who blogs about her fabulous life. Oh, and there are some pretty awesome recipes on here too.

13. Gwen from Gwen in Love, blogging about love, marriage & sex.

14. Melissa from Love, Marriage, and (Someday) a Baby Carriage!, life after the wedding, something to look forward to :)

15. Natalie from Wanderlove (and roses), blogging about her fabulous life.

Let your nominees know about the award:

DONE!

You like me?!?!?!

Wow! I received my first award today & I am so grateful. I am so new to blogging and it's so nice to feel appreciated and to know that people actually read my crazy ramblings. Thank you to all of my readers & for all of your support.

I received The Fabulous Sugar Baby Doll Award from JoJo . I'm new to this whole award thing, so bear with me & please tell me if I do something wrong. The rules of this award are to thank the person who gave you the award, share ten things about yourself, pass this award onto ten bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fantastic and finally contact the bloggers to let them know you've picked them for an award.

Whew, I think I can handle that. First of all, thank you so much JoJo! You're blog is inspirational. I love reading about your adventures as a newlywed. I hope when I am finally a newlywed that my adventures are as fabulous as yours! If you aren't reading her blog yet, go check her out!

Ok, ten things about myself. I'll try to keep them as interesting as possible.

1. I'm freakishly obsessed with vampire movies, books & tv shows. I watch 90% of them all :)

2. My favorite sandwich is pb & cheese, sometimes with bananas. Don't knock it til you try it.

3. I have a soft spot for free stuff, I sign up for everything & if I'm dissatisfied with a product, I contact the company & cross my fingers for freebies.

4. I used to know almost every line from Pirates of the Caribbean 1.

5. Related to the last one, I'm pretty much obsessed with all things Johnny Depp.

6. My worst shopping addiction is music...although I've gotten better in recent years, limiting myself to one new album per month. (sometimes 2 if I've been good that months).

7. I hate when my friends call me a hippie; you don't know what a true hippie is til you've been to VT.

8. I secretly wish to be a MILF when I have kids.

9. I can watch America's Funniest Videos for hours, even though I know exactly what will happen, every time.

10. & finally, I have a terrible addiction to Facebook. I absolutely hate it & everything it stands for & yet I'm on it at least 10 times per day.

Now, since I'm new to blogging, pretty much every blog I read is a recent discovery, so I gladly hand this award off to...

JessRaquel from JessRaquel "Mo Shiorghra", also an engaged woman blogging about wedding planning. Check her out!

Sarah from I want Wedding Champagne, wedding planning & trying to stick to a budget. Something I've found very difficult so far...

Chelsea from If It Makes You Happy. Her blog shares lines from the book, "14,000 things to be happy about" by Barbara Ann Kipfer. Her blog always puts a smile on my face.

Kate from The Book Buff. I love reading your book reviews, such great opinions!

Sarah Elizabeth, from Nashville, TN, also planning a wedding with great style taste!

Jennifer from Nifer Musings, from Boston, blogging about life in a fabulous way.

Unfortunately, I'm so new to blogging that I don't have enough blogs that I read on a regular basis to hand this award out. Please don't hate me for cheating. I will read more blogs & I'm sure I will find more blogs that I love!