Samuel Nyal

Congratulations to my friends Nikki and Kevin who just welcomed their second baby and first son, Samuel Nyal. Sam was born at 4:24 pm today weighing 8lbs 4oz and is 21 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing great. Their little family is growing quickly and is SO adorable.

technology woes

i have the worst luck with technology. last week, my iPod started on fire and this week my computer decided it wanted to follow suit and stopped working. {i can't even begin to explain the problems i have with computers.} i brought it in to best buy, by the geek squad can't figure out the problem. they have to send it to their main geek headquarters for further testing.

so... i'm without a computer for at least two more weeks. maybe four. this is going to be brutal. {i have no iPod and now no computer, which means no music.}

i may be a little short on blogging since i don't have a computer available. let's hope i get it back soon.

my birthday

this past friday i celebrated my 25th birthday. i am officially a quarter century old. my friends and i are putting off the celebration for a bit as we're all busy with moving, graduation and bachelorette parties and lots of other summer activities. but at this point, i really don't care to celebrate. i'm actually a bit upset that i've hit 25. nothing good happens after this one except my car insure went down 30 bucks, yippie.

i've decided that i'm done celebrating birthdays. i think i'm just going to stay 25 for a good 5 or 10 years.

{image via weheartit}

points.

to the barista {baristo?} at common grounds for knowing me so well that i now get the occasionally enjoy the employee perk of free coffee. 5 points. {because everything involving coffee deserves lots of points}

to everyone at work who celebrated a birthday this week by bringing in delicious cake. 2 points.

to spiced vanilla chais. you are the one thing that got me through this week. 3 points.

to the cast of greendale community theatre's production of hairspray. you were all phenomenal. i was amazed. 5 points.

to my uncle david for talking cars with me before i bought one. i'm so completely clueless about them, i'm incredibly thankful for your help. 3 points.

{image via flickr}

Chasing Gracie

A few days ago, I got to spend a great night with my friends' adorable 1 year old daughter, Grace. I spent most of the night chasing her back and forth on the couch, listening to her musical abilities, reading a Dr. Seuss book about feet {at least a half dozen times} and wearing a silly combination of bunny ears and 2008 New Years glasses.

I really don't know how my 8-month-pregnant friend keeps up with her. Thank god for helpful husbands, huh? I had so much fun hanging out with Grace. I can't wait for her parents to spend another night out so I can chase her around again. Actually, I'm trying to talk them into it. With another baby on the way, they need to get out as much as they can while they can.

What a sweet little girl. She even tried to help me put my camera away.

But then she decided it was more fun to run away with my lens cap. Silly.

flaming disaster

the craziest thing happened the other night. i was asleep, it was about 4am, when i saw a flash of light in my bedroom. half-awake, i gazed around my room and saw that on the table at the foot of my bed, my iPod was a little ball of flames.

in my sleepy state, lacking all logic, i put out the flames. unfortunately, while doing so, i burned a hole in my comforter and got burn blisters on my fingers. {i had to smother my hand with neosporin and cover it with gauze pads before attempting to go back to sleep.} isn't that crazy, though? who ever heard of an iPod that transforms into a fire ball?

i'm really upset about all of this though. {and my hand hurts.} i'm just glad i was at home when this occurred. what would have happened if i was in the other room or out of town when this happened? i wouldn't have had a home anymore.

i think apple should at least replace my iPod, but i doubt that is part of their customer service policy.

Big. Fat. Hit.

The Greendale Community Theatre closed their regional premiere of Broadway's Hairspray with a toe-tapping, hips-wiggling, heart-jumping bang. I went to their final showing on Saturday night and it was absolutely amazing. {But, I may be slightly biased as my cousin Laura starred as Penny Pingleton and she was utterly hilarious.}

The choreography was intricate and executed perfectly, the songs were strong and fabulous and the acting was incredible. It honestly was so great. I was especially impressed by how well they used the stage for the different scenes. I knew it would be used well as soon as the cast walked on stage holding flattened houses on boards above their heads during the opening number 'Good Morning Baltimore.'

A few other numbers that I especially enjoyed, were: 'The Nicest Kids in Town,' 'You're Timeless to Me' and 'You Can't Stop the Beat.' {They had so much emotion and energy for every song, especially the last one! I even was about to dance out of my seat.}

Though all were great, my favorite song, by far, was 'I Can Hear the Bells.' Brittany Radocha as Tracy Turnblad was amazing throughout, but the execution of that song was perfectly hilarious. Link Larken and the cast froze in comical poses to the beat, the company boys drew bells from behind their backs and Penny Pingleton wandered the stage, confused. My stomach hurt I was laughing so hard.

This is the second show I've seen at GCT- the first being the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, another hilarious show- but this was so much better than I could have ever expected. Bravo.

Director Brian Bzdawka and everyone else involved in the production did a great job! I can't wait to see what they'll do next.

{poster via GTC}

Off to another wedding

I'm off to another wedding today! My friends from college, Lindsey and Dan, are getting married this afternoon. Let's hope the rain holds out, though I've heard it's good luck to rain on your wedding day.

I just got a few pictures from the photographer of my other friend's wedding and I really like how a few turned out, so I thought I'd share.

{all photos via}

coffee with inspiration

it's a very rare occurrence that a coffee cup lead the conversation. but that's exactly what happened on my most recent trip to caribou coffee. my cup, tattooed with words of inspiration, had my attention and thoughts. starbucks red cup holiday campaign, i thought, was and always will be one of the best non-marketing marketing campaigns, but this comes pretty close, in my mind. caribou coffee asks, what do you stay awake for?

i must have spent at least twenty minutes reading my cup and pondering the words marked over my {absolutely delicious} turtle mocha. it was an added perk to my caffeine intake.

a few favorites of mine:

• be the first to enter and the last to leave the dance floor
• dare to adventure
• step 1: rake leaves step 2: jump
• have a favorite charity
• learn to say thank you in ten languages
• you'll only be your current age once

i definitely recommend stopping by a caribou coffee and checking purchasing a little inspiration. {see, amazing marketing.}

Stressful wedding fashion

Ever notice how women always stress over weddings? You know why? It's all about the dress.

My friend got married last weekend in a beautiful {but stressful wedding for all involved}. But as a bridesmaid, I didn't have to worry about what I was going to wear. I have another wedding to go to next weekend that I have no idea what I'm going to wear. I'm not a dress girl so I don't have options in the closet and my recent shopping trips have resulted in nothing wearable. See what I'm talking about when I say stress?

I wish I could just call up a stylist like a Hollywood starlet. Life would be so much easier.

{images via nytimes}