Adopt-A-Family for Christmas

One of our favorite holiday traditions is the Adopt-A-Family program through the Salvation Army. JJ and I are incredibly blessed and we use this program as a way to bless others. The most touching things about these families is the simplicity of their requests. They are aren't asking for anything extravagant, just a few things to make their holidays a little brighter.

This year we found another Adopt-A-Family program through Operation Homefront. I can't think of families that are more deserving of some extra love around the holidays than our military families. Most of the families have a mom or dad who is currently deployed. This is such a small way to acknowledge the sacrifices these families make for us every day.

Please consider adopting a family or a child for Christmas through these great organizations! There are so many people out there that would be so grateful for your love and attention.

A Few of My Favorite Things

If Oprah gets to do it, so can I! Although, I regret to inform you, dear reader, I will not be handing these out like she does. I just thought I would share a few of my favorite things to help anyone who was struggling to come up with gift ideas or just to entertain anyone who was bored at work :)

philosophy- They have so many great products, I love them all. But to be more specific, my favorites are: Hope in a Jar face lotion (One of Oprah's favorites too), Purity face wash, and Bubbly, a champagne scented body wash.

Under Armor Cold Gear Fitted Pants- Perfect for yoga or running outside when its chilly! Aaaand they're also good for lounging around the house or running errands.

The Game of Things- Hilarious party game where you get to guess people's responses to questions like..."Things you do when no one is looking", "Things you shouldn't say to your in-laws", or "Things you would title a children's book". Regardless of whether everyone in the group knows each other really well or just met, you will have a blast hearing the answers that people come up with.

Mossimo Pocket T-Shirts from Target- Super comfy, casual and flattering. Lots of different colors and they are nice and long for those of us with longer upper bodies.

Daisy by Marc Jacobs- I'm not normally a perfume fan, but this is light enough so it doesn't suffocate everyone in the room with you.

Toms shoes- Yes, its a little bit hippie, but these shoes are so comfy to walk around in. Its my cooler weather alternative to Rainbows flip flops...they go with everything and your feet won't hurt when you wear them. And as a bonus, when you buy a pair they donate a pair to kids in need. How cool is that?

Landsend Tote Bags- Pick your color, customize it with you name or initials and use it all the time. They are cheap enough to justify having multiples...I have one for my yoga stuff, one with a zipper that I use as a carry-on bag, and one that I use for class.

Personalized Stationery at MJPaperie.com- I love hand written notes and I love being able to choose the colors and designs for my note cards. This is my favorite new online paper store, they have a great selection and the girls who own it are just about the sweetest people in the world!

Hunter Rain Boots with Cable Cuff Welly Socks- My first pair of rain boots! Never really needed them before living in NC. I love all the color options and the cute socks you can mix and match with the boots. And if you (like me) struggle to get your calves in normal boots, try the "Huntress" boots, they have a little extra room in the leg so you don't cut off your circulation.

Chanel Mascara and Foundation- Ever since I had my make up done for our wedding, I have been hooked. Yes its a bit expensive, but you don't have to buy all of their products just the good basic items. They are worth the investment!

Tory Burch "Reva" Ballet Flats- Cute, comfy and dressy all in one. I get complements every time I wear them. Expensive yes, but they last for years and really dress up a pair of jeans without having to wear heels, something I try to avoid at all costs.

Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy Pillow Spray- The Lavender Vanilla scent is wonderful to help you relax and fall asleep. I have been using it ever since college.

Long Sleeve Faux Wrap Tee from VS- Perfect with a cami underneath, unless you are trying to show off your goods...its up to you really. Flattering and comfy, lots of color choices and pretty cheap.

Books by Jen Lancaster- Laugh out loud funny accounts of her own life. She doesn't hold back.

Books by Celia Rivenbark- Hilariously entertaining accounts of living in and loving the South. Must read if you are a transplant, like myself.

Hamilton Beach Stay or Go Slow Cooker at Target- I never knew the awesomeness of the slow cooker until this year, but now we use it at least once a week. This one is great to take with you for potlucks or bringing meals to friends. The lid latches securely so it won't spill in the car!

Bliss Wines- Yes, they finally dedicated a winery to my family. Its about time! Reasonably priced, my favorites are the Cab and the Chardonnay.

Skidless Yoga Towel- Keeps you from sliding all over your mat during a massive sweat session also known as, hot yoga. Mine is purple!

Martha Stewart's Everyday Food: Great Food Fast Cookbook- The recipes are organized by season, so its easy to cook using ingredients that are in season and make meals that fit the weather. Some of the recipes are a little out there, but its good to try new things, right?

Asics Gel Cumulus Running Shoes- So comfy, love them for distance running or just in the gym. Really I love all of their Gel shoes, but these are the best in my humble opinion.

Twining's Tea- My favorites are Irish Breakfast, Lady Grey, and Pure White

Burt's Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm- Not a fan of their minty stuff, but I love the pomegranate!

OK that was ridiculously fun to do! If anyone else has a list of their favorites, please share! I might have to do this again some time...

Thankful!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving week it was at the Jansen house this year! We were blessed with visits from JJ's Aunt and Uncle from Atlanta the weekend before and his parents the week leading up to Thanksgiving. Always nice to see family around the holidays! Their visits overlapped just long enough for everyone to be able to go to the game on Sunday.

While JJ's parents were here we went to Mimosa Grill in uptown. JJ met the executive chef a while ago and he had been encouraging us to come down and visit him at the restaurant. Oh. My. Goodness. The food was amazing! From the appetizers all the way to dessert, it was delicious. So many good flavors and very reasonably priced for what you get. If anyone in Charlotte has a date night coming up I would HIGHLY recommend trying it out. You won't be disappointed.

Thanksgiving morning Allison (who was nice enough to come down from Winston-Salem with Annie, Barney's favorite bulldog friend) and I did the 5 mile Turkey Trot. It was cold and a little rainy, but we both really enjoyed it. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and cooking while JJ was at practice. I have to admit, I cheated this year and bought the Turkey from Fresh Market already cooked. All I had to do was re-heat it. And we split up the sides between all our guests, so it was a wonderful stress-free day for everyone.

Side note, I was able to witness Allison's successful attempt at making vegetarian gravy. And I have to admit it tasted pretty darn good. Not that I am switching over to the dark side any time soon. Nope, can't do without Big Daddy's Burger Bar. Not only did Al standout with her meatless plate of food, she stood out as the only USC alumn in a room full of Notre Dame kids (minus me, but I still kind of count because I married into the cult). Needless to say, some bets were wagered on the upcoming game...ND picked a good year to beat SC! JJ will be cashing in his free fro-yo next time Allison is in town.

After dinner, we finished the night off by playing a few rounds of The Game of Things. My favorite game ever. If you like Apples to Apples, you will love this game. Pretty much any time we have a large group of people over we end up playing this game, it never fails in providing lots of entertainment and humor. What a good night!

So in summary...Thanksgiving=Good food, good friends and lots of fun

JJ Plans Date Night

My wonderful husband surprised me this week by planning our Monday date night. I love going to NBA games (mostly just the Suns, but I am learning to love the Bobcats) so JJ got us tickets to the Bobcats/Spurs game. The Spurs are huge rivals for the Suns and it is nearly impossible to get tickets to those games, so JJ was shocked he could get such good seats at the last minute.

Turns out it was a good night to go to the game. Sadly, not because the Bobcats won (they lost in the final minutes) but because of who was at the game. Michael Jordan is the majority owner of the team so he is at most games, but surprisingly hard to find. About half way through the first quarter everyone in the arena spotted him after he argued a call with one of the refs...so much for keeping a low profile.

In addition to an MJ spotting, there were two other seemingly famous folks at the game. A few people were trying to take pictures with them so that drew attention. We were sitting a few rows behind them so we couldn't see who they were at first, and to make things more difficult they were both wearing sunglasses (a clear sign of true celebrity...wearing sunglasses inside...at night). Good thing JJ has such good eyesight. He ID'd the guy as St. Louis' own, Nelly. We had to google him to figure out who the girl was. Luckily the gossip websites were up-to-date and informed us that Nelly and Ashanti were attending that night's Bobcats game...but just as friends. The fact that they didn't actually talk to each other the whole night and were on their phones most of the game would confirm that statement. Good for them. Everyone needs more friends. Even the princess of R&B.

Not the best shot, TMZ won't be buying my pics anytime soon

I have to admit, I felt a little out of touch with celeb-reality because I had to google Ashanti to figure out what songs she sings. That's the only reason know she is referred to as the princess of R&B. Still cool to see them.

Way to go JJ, successful date night!

The Month of October...

...in pictures

The whole month was kind of a blur and I'm sad I didn't have time to a better job documenting. We had people in and out of town, a bye week, concerts and comedy shows...and a Panthers win! Woo hoo!

My sister was in town for the bye weekend and so was Chelsea Handler! JJ and I watch Chelsea Lately most nights while going to bed, so we were pretty excited to see her live. Heather McDonald opened for her, and she was hilarious. I think I might add her book to my list of things to read. Great seats thanks to a good friend and his many connections!

Chelsea Chelsea, Bang Bang

Mid October my whole family was out to visit and see a game. We got to celebrate my dad's birthday, carve pumpkins, take Barney for long walks and just enjoy each other's company. I hadn't seen my parents since May (but my sister is out here all the time so I get my share of family time, haha). I was quite impressed with my dad's freehanded Panther pumpkin. All the trick or treaters commented on it!

Our beautiful Jack-o-lantern creations

Carrie Underwood was in town (with Billy Currington and Sons of Silvia) on the 30th. The guys were out of town for an away game, so a few wives on the team (and a few daughters) made it a Girls Night Out downtown. We had AMAZING seats (again, thanks to a well connected friend) and the concert was incredible. If you ever have the chance to see her perform, take it!

Carrie at her Play On tour

Halloween was fun! We celebrated in two parts. Our good friends had their annual party on Friday night at the Breakfast Club, an 80's themed club downtown. This was the first year that I hadn't made my own costume, but I still thought we were pretty creative (it was no Dwight and Angela, but still good). Then on the 31st I was home for the first half of the night passing out candy to all the precious little trick-or-treaters. When JJ got home we joined our neighbors on their hayride around the neighborhood. It was so much fun. We rode around and stopped every few blocks to let the kids out to go door to door and the adults stayed on the trailer and talked. My kind of party.

Is it obvious how much we like beer?

Well I think that covers all of the major highlights from October. Hopefully I will be better in November about staying up to date...wouldn't want to disappoint the fam.

Boys Will Be Boys

To balance out the estrogen overflow from the previous weekend, we invited some of JJ's college teammates and his dad out for the game this weekend.

Entertaining boys is waaaaaay different than entertaining girls. With my girlfriends in town, I took a lot of time trying to figure out cute restaurants to try and trendy bars to enjoy. I bought a few new conversation starter games (the Girls Night Out Box of Questions, obviously), sparkling wine, several different kinds of snacks, etc. You know, to set the right mood for lots of laughs and good conversations.

With the boys, I opened up a bag of tortilla chips and a package of guacamole, turned the TV on to ESPN, and sat back.......and did my best to ignore the additional scratching and burping.

Maybe I am over-simplifying things a little, but not really. Guys don't really need much as long as there is a football game on. (I lost count of how many college/NFL games we ended up watching)

Between games, we did go out to eat at Big Daddy's, 131 Main, Phat Burrito, and Mac's Speedshop. I had forgotten how good the BBQ is at Mac's, I will definitely be taking my dad there when my family comes out to visit in October.

It was fun to see these guys again and I really enjoyed their company at the game. Good company makes sitting through a loss in the wind and rain much more bearable.

Day of Fun

Date night/day this week was an interesting experience. Unlike the last two weeks, I hadn't planned everything out so we were just winging it.

The day started out with me taking two Valiums...no it was wasn't because I was stressed or worried about spending an entire day with JJ, it was because I was panicking about my scheduled MRI. Not so much a fan of loud enclosed spaces for prolonged periods of time, call me crazy! (Update: Everything came back clear, but I thought I re-injured my shoulder when Barney pulled me down a flight of stairs chasing after another dog). So after coming out of the Valium haze, JJ took me to brunch at Terrace Cafe (my new favorite brunch place). I love brunch, it has to be one of the best things ever invented.

Next, JJ and I decided to visit the mall and pull the trigger on a purchases we had been debating over for about a month. We succumbed to peer pressure (the good kind) and bought an iPad. It is pretty awesome. For the longest time, I thought it was silly to have if you had a laptop, but I think its fun and I'm glad we got it. Now JJ and I won't be fighting over the Mac laptop either. Also, in an effort to entice fall to come faster, I bought a pair of Uggs. I usually buy the knock-of Target brand, so I will be interested to see if I can even tell a difference. I justified it because they weren't the standard ones, they have a split down the side fastened by a big button. Super cute.

We spent the rest of the day playing with our new toy, enjoying Thai take-out and watching all the season premiers on TV. Not a bad date day for not having anything planned!

Hurricane Theta

The effects of Hurricane Theta were felt starting Thursday afternoon, but it didn't make full landfall until Friday when the slowpoke of the group finally arrived. I know you must be enjoying the Weather Channel metaphor, but I can't take credit. That was all Robin.

Four of my favorite sorority sisters came to visit to catch up on girl talk and watch a football game, a nice balance if you ask me. Mackenzie, Robin, Emily, Leigh and I have started a semi-annual reunion schedule since we all graduated from TCU. So far we have been able to plan reunions around bachelorette parties, weddings, and TCU bowl games. This reunion was somewhat random, but it had been about 9 months since we were all together in Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl.

After the whole crowd arrived on Friday night, we went out to dinner at Good Food on Montford, a swanky neighborhood tapas-inspired restaurant. JJ was living the life, sitting at a table surrounded by 5 beautiful women. After dinner, JJ was kind enough to drop us off downtown so we could re-live our bar hopping days of college. (This was a bit of a stretch for some of us, who are usually in bed by 11, but worth it for the fun factor). We started at Ri Ra, an Irish pub, where we were the youngest by 20 years. We took advantage of the many beers on tap, and then headed out to find the cool kids. JJ and I aren't really up on the Charlotte bar scene (or any bar scene for that matter) so I told the girls we were just going to have to wing it. We followed the crowds until we came across Connolly's on 5th, another Irish pub. Based on the outdoor patio, the music they were playing, and the fact that every person going in or out looked like they walked straight out of a j. crew catalog we new we had found the right place. No creepers here (well I guess there were a few, but that is just a given at any bar)! We ended the night at BlackFinn, where the creepers were out in full force. Don't worry, I enlisted the help of 2 big guys, who looked totally out of place and kept rolling their eyes at the weird guys that kept circling my friends. We found out they were from Iowa. Obviously they were good people if they come from God's Country.

Most of Saturday was spent recovering from Friday and watching college football, but we did make it to Terrace Cafe for brunch and a few of us took Barney for a walk on the nature trail behind our house. That night we popped a bottle of champagne and played a few rounds of the Game of Things (best game ever, if you don't own it go out and get it before your next group gathering). Emily took this opportunity to ask us all to be her bridesmaids, which was quite exciting!! This will be my first time in that role and I will be happy to return the favor after she did such a great job for my wedding. Emily also shared with us the bridesmaid dresses she had selected for us...Robin came out modeling a hideous tight red quinceanera looking dress with reflective sequins all over. It took us about 2.5 seconds before we all realized this was a joke. Nice try Emily, we all know you have better taste then that! To celebrate (as if we weren't "celebrating" all weekend) we went to dinner at The Wine Shop at Foxcroft and the ended the night with fro-yo at Yoforia and a drink at Selwyn Avenue Pub.

Sunday was game day! We had breakfast at Eddie's Place (where the waiters always recognize JJ, haha) and then headed to the stadium. It was terribly hot and our seats were on the sunny side. After about 2 minutes I gave up and took the grls over to the shade side and sweet talked the usher into letting us sit there until the real ticket holders showed up. Luckily they never did, so the game was much more bearable...minus the loss. After the game we went to Red Rocks for dinner and then came home and played Apples to Apples.

Everyone else left on Monday morning, so Leigh and I had the rest of the day to enjoy SouthPark Mall (she was going through Nordstrom's withdrawals living in Omaha) and getting pedicures. The perfect way to end a girly weekend.

It makes me so happy to have these girls in my life, and it is always so much fun to catch up on their (totally exciting and successful) lives. Can't wait for our next trip! Is it too early to start planning our Vegas trip for Emily's Bachelorette??? No? I didn't think so either :)

** Also, next time ladies we need to do a better job of taking pictures!

Mary Poppins

This week we took date night in the opposite direction of the last one. Last week we enjoyed hiking in the great outdoors, this week we enjoyed an NYC-style dinner and a show in uptown Charlotte.

The Broadway show, Mary Poppins, has been in town for a few weeks and I kept hearing great things about it so I talked JJ into going with me. I know musicals aren't his first (or second, or third, or...) choice for entertainment, but I guess he knows how much I love them and he decided to humor me for the night. (This is also a benefit of being the planner, getting to decide on the activity.)

Knowing that we would be downtown for the show, we decided to finally use the gift card to Fleming's we had sitting around. The difficulty is the gift card was for $50 and sadly that isn't even enough for one person to have a whole meal. Luckily, I found out about their happy hour specials (6 different appetizers for $6 each) and burger (around $12 each) specials at the bar. We had an appetizer, two burgers, dessert, and two drinks for right around $50. Probably going to do that for date night again soon.

Loved dinner. Loved the show. Date night #2 = a huge success :)

Lake Norman

In an attempt to get out of our regular "dinner at the same old restaurants and/or a movie" routine JJ and I are getting creative. Once a week we are going to have a fun date to look forward to and we are going to take turns planing the excursions. Although, let's be honest, I will probably end up planning most of them because I tend to like to control things. :)

Last week, we (read: I) did some research on hiking around Charlotte and discovered Lake Norman State Park just up I-77. I found a trail that went right along the lack shore, and as a bonus, it was dog friendly! We packed up the car and started out on our big adventure. Sadly, even with all the research I did, I failed to take note of exactly how far up on I-77 it was. About an hour later we finally reached the park and found the trail head.

Like I said, the trail was right along the lake shore, so we thought this would be the perfect way to reintroduce Barney to the water. He refused to swim in our pool in Phoenix and panicked every time we tried to teach him. I really thought he would do much better if he was able to walk in instead of having to be carried/figure out the pool steps. Well, that didn't work. He refused to go anywhere near the water and even managed to slip out of the leash and try to run away.

The hike was a little over an hour and Barney was exhausted so we hopped back in the car and hit up the Subway in downtown Troutman, NC for lunch. A true metropolitan area if I've ever seen one.

Pre-Season

Our pre-season schedule was full of visitors! This really came as no surprise to us because as soon as the games start people just seem to appear. It is a good excuse to come out and see us I guess :)

My sister who works as a traveling consultant for her sorority was in town for our two home games and Labor Day weekend (which also happened to be her birthday weekend). She was working in Chapel Hill, so it was just a 2 hour drive to spend her weekends with us here in Charlotte. As much as I would love to give you my own account of her visits, it would be far easier and less time consuming for me to point you in the direction of her blog. So if you want to read about our adventures in Charlotte and Lexington check it out.

The other big development during the pre-season was starting classes to become a certified financial planner! Because of our NFL lifestyle and the lack of certainty for where we will be living in the near future, JJ and I decided the best option for me would be to take online classes through the College for Financial Planning. I have 5 classes to finish before I am eligible for the national exam. Hopefully, I can get this all the classes finished up in about a year and see where it takes me. I am hoping to find an internship or part time job while I'm taking classes, but even if it doesn't turn into a job right away, the information will be incredibly useful in our own lives and planning.

It is weird getting back into school mode and I have spent several afternoons at Starbucks because I have to get away from all the distractions at the house to really concentrate. So far I am really enjoying it, and speaking of class, I should probably get some studying done before our date night tonight...

Training Camp

My life is divided up into seasons, just like the weather. As opposed to fall/winter/summer/spring, my life can be categorized as pre-season/in-season/off-season.

As soon as we finished all of our summer vacations (part of the "off-season), we hit the ground running right into training camp and pre-season. I'm not a huge fan of training camp. JJ moves into the dorms for 3 weeks and Barney and I are left to entertain ourselves in Charlotte. My weeks were filled with yoga, the YMCA, way too much reality tv, girls nights out, and a few mini road trips.

My first rip was to see my cousin and her family who were vacationing right outside of Asheville. I drove out to meet them for brunch at the Morning Glory Cafe in Black Mountain. (the huevos rancheros were awesome!) I got to meet her daughter Samantha for the first time and catch up on what had been going on in our lives since the last time we hung out in Orlando.


My next trip was to Winston-Salem to see Allison and meet her new puppy Annie. Barney and Annie immediately became the best of friends. The had so much fun playing except for the part where Annie would bite Barney and then run and hide under the couch where he couldn't get her. He acted annoyed, but I think he really liked it. We also went to Mellow Mushroom for dinner and then out to a wine bar to celebrate one of their last nights of freedom before school started up again for all the Wake Law kids.

I also made two trips down to Spartanburg to visit JJ at camp. They had one night off so we got to go to dinner and a movie. The other trip was for the Family Night BBQ and rookie karaoke show. Quite entertaining. My favorite was the rendition of Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" complete with dance moves and harmonizing.

The three weeks did go by pretty quickly but I'm still glad its over.

Baby Shower

The main reason for our trip to Green Bay was to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby Crosby! I really wanted to throw a baby shower for Molly and Mason and was so happy that it all worked out!

Seeing as how this was my first time to hostess a baby shower, I really wanted it to turn out well. I decided to make it a couples shower so Mason could be involved, and I thought it would make it more interesting. We had drinks and dessert and played a few games. I was really proud of the games I came up with because they seemed like fun ways to keep both men and women entertained.

For the first game, we blindfolded Mason and made him try to identify 4 different types of baby food. I tried to be nice, by picking reasonable flavors, but they were still pretty terrible tasting according to Mason. He was 3 of 4, the only one he missed was Mac and Cheese.

As a reward for playing along with the first game, the second game involved trying to drink an entire beer out of a baby bottle. Mason had to compete against his brother, Rees, and JJ. The bottle lasted about 30 seconds before the boys took the tops off and just chugged the beers. So funny to watch!

For decorations, I tried to figure out something that I could put together ahead of time that would pack easily. I came up with what is probably the most creative thing I have ever come up with. If you can't tell, I am quite proud of myself. I had some help from Carla coming up with the logistics and the execution.

I bought a bunch of onesies, bibs, socks, burp clothes, and sleepers in fun colors and then took clothes line and wooden clothes pins and hung everything up around the room. That way, the decorations doubled as part of the gift! Look how resourceful I am!!




The shower was a success if I do say so myself, and I can't wait to meet the little one soon!

Wisconsin

In the final days before training camp, we took a trip up to Wisconsin to visit the Crosbys and enjoy some much needed cooler weather. It was a great excuse to visit our friends and spend time with them before the baby is born.

We all went up to Door County with the dogs to explore for a day. Wine tasting at Stone's Throw Winery was a great way to start off our little road trip. Next, we took the dogs to Whitefish Dunes State Park and played in Lake Michigan for the rest of the afternoon. It was so much fun to watch the dogs play in the water.


Mason was able to set up a round of golf for the guys at Whistling Straits. The course was in amazing shape two weeks before the PGA Championship. I have never seen a course like it. Molly and I walked the front 9 with the guys and then headed off to explore the town of Kohler, home of The American Club and the Kohler Design Center. Both the resort and the design center were fantastic. If you are ever in Wisconsin, Kohler is worth a trip. After the boys finished the back 9, we went to lunch at a great restaurant, Field to Fork, in Sheboygan.



We had such a wonderful time exploring Wisconsin and spending time hanging out around the house with the Crosbys. We are just so excited for the new addition to the family to get here!

East Coast Adventures: Rockport, MA

The last part of our East Coast Adventure was Rockport, MA on Cape Ann. Its only about 40 minutes outside of Boston and it is absolutely beautiful. The water was so blue, and the town was super cute. We spent time at the beach (the water was a bit cold but felt great), kayaking, walking around Bearskin Neck and just enjoying this relaxing little beach town.




My favorite part of the trip was the ridiculous amounts of seafood we ate. Picking out our own lobster that was cought that morning for lunch at Roy Moore's Lobster Co. We also had great meals at the Gloucester House Restaurant and My Place by the Sea, where we got to watch the sunset light up the rocks and the water. We are really looking forward to going back, if for no other reason than the seafood :)

East Coast Adventures: Boston

Next, we took the train up to Boston. If you ever have the opportunity to take this train ride, please do (and sit on the side of the train nearest to the coast)! The scenery was amazing, especially for two kids from the southwest who have never seen this part of the country.

Ahhhhhhh Boston. One of my new favorite cities. There are so many things to love about it and so many reasons to come back. We stayed at a Courtyard in Copley Square for free (thanks to my Marriott points!) and loved the location. We were close to shopping and tons of restaurants on Newbury Street, one of the cutest streets in America. We spent every night wandering up and down the street exploring restaurants, people watching, and window shopping (ok, well it was just me doing the window shopping).

Because I had actually done my research for this trip, I booked us on a Duck Boat trip (the number 1 rated activity according to TripAdvisor) for the first night. We had a lot of fun, and saw all of the sites and in my opinion, it was better than the Philly tour.

Trinity Church from the Duck Boat
On the Charles River

The next day, JJ and I walked/drank our way through the Freedom Trail. It wasn't our fault that it was like 95 degrees outside and Boston has pubs on every corner, we were just taking advantage of our surroundings. I now have a much stronger appreciation for Sam Adams and his beer. One of the stops on the trail was the Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in America, so we had to stop in for lunch (and a beer).

Union Oyster House. JJ barely fit...its like a booth for ants

Because food was a big part of the fun in Boston, and I can't remember exactly what order and on what days we ate at the restaurants, here is a list of the places we loved in Boston:

Legal Seafood- Even though its a chain, all the guide books said it was a must. The food was good and we had a great view of downtown.

Atlantic Fish Co- Fantastic food and atmosphere! A little pricey, but worth it. Make reservations! We somehow got lucky and even though there was a 2 hour wait, we were seated within 10 minutes.

Piattinni Wine Cafe- Super cute cafe! We only had tea after dinner, but the dessert case looked delicious.

L'Aroma Cafe- Great for breakfast and tea, we ate here both mornings.

East Coast Adventures: Philly

For part 2 of our trip we took the train up to Philly. Neither of us had ever taken the train before, so that was an adventure all in itself. I really enjoyed the ride and the scenery, and it was far less stressful than flying (and way cheaper!).

Like I have said before, the Jansen side of the family gigantic. They are in almost every major (and many minor) city in the country, so we stayed with Rick's cousin Kevin and his family across the river in New Jersey. We got to see where JJ's dad grew up and see what small town America looks like up north.

I will admit that I dropped the ball on researching what to do in Philadelphia. We were only there for a short time, so I didn't know how much time we would have to explore. Despite my lack of travel preparation (totally out of character), we ended up doing a Duck Boat tour. Duck Boats are vehicles that are combination cars and boats so you see all the landmarks downtown, and then you hop into the Delaware River to see the skyline from the water. It is a really cool concept and we really enjoyed seeing all the sites. Unfortunately, one of the boats had an accident the day after we did the tour and as far as I know, they are no longer operating. Timing is everything.

Independence Hall
All of the How I Met Your Mother fans understand why this picture was important

One of JJ's agents also lives in Philly, so we joined him, his wife and their two boys for a Phillies game. The fans were awesome and I had so much fun. Being a Diamondbacks fan, I had forgotten what a difference a full stadium makes. The game just felt way more exciting. And to top it all off, the Phillies were playing the Braves and JJ's friend Eric Hinske hit the game winning home run for Atlanta. So other than the devastated Phillies fans, it was an awesome night. We also got to enjoy Philly's famous stadium food, Chickie's and Pete's Crab Fries and cheese steaks. Yum :)

Phillies game

East Coast Adventures: DC

July was an absolute whirlwind of travel all up and down the East Coast. We explored amazing cities, spent time with friends and family, went to baseball games, and finally took advantage of living on the East Coast.

First Stop, Washington, DC! There are thousands of reasons to visit DC, (like the White House, the Capitol, countless museums, historic sites, monuments...the list goes on and on) but my main reson for coming was to see Robin and meet her new boyfriend Dan. (Side note: Dan passed all my tests and has been officially welcomed into the circle of trust. And another bonus, now that I have met him I can comment on all of his facebook posts with feeling like a super creep!)

Back to our travels...we stayed downtown at the Renaissance, right by the Chinatown Metro stop (great location for seeing all the sights). Our first day was spent getting the official Robin and Dan tour of the city. We saw all the big stuff and then decided to cool off for a bit in the American History Museum. The coolest thing was saw was the original Star-Spangled banner. It was waaaay bigger than i thought it would be. That night we had a fabulous dinner at PS7 near our hotel.

We eventually got closer, but this was our first view of the Capitol

The Washington Monument

On the 4th of July we hopped on the metro and headed to the Nationals game. Both JJ and I love baseball (JJ much more than me, but I love going to the games), and one of our goals is to see a game in every major league stadium. We are currently at 4 of like 30? Baby steps...

Nationals Park, check!

So glad I was with Robin when she got to meet her favorite from the President's Race

After the game, we bought a picnic dinner and drinks and sat out on the Mall to watch the fireworks. I would post some pictures, but it was so hot and we were all sweaty and none of the pictures are remotely flattering. Despite the sweltering heat, it was an awesome experience to celebrate the 4th in our nation's capital.

Before we got on the train to Philadelphia the next day, we spent some time at the Air and Space Museum. It was pretty cool, but I don't think I appreciated it nearly as much as my dad or dad-in-law would have!

It was a great trip, but not enough time to experience it all. Robin and I are already planning on me coming out again to get beyond a lot of the typical touristy stuff and get to see all of the things she has discovered as a local. I hope she's ready for another visit :)

Happy Anniversary to Us!

On Saturday, JJ and I celebrated 1 year of wedded bliss (Get it? I love puns.). We decided to try out our version of a stay-cation. We got a puppy sitter for Barney and went to the Ballantyne Hotel, which is about 20 minutes away from our house.

Our room was on the 4th floor, overlooking the 18th hole

It was fabulous. We slept in late, ordered room service, and spent the majority of our time sitting by the pool drinking pina coladas. It was just like our honeymoon on the beaches of Jamaica...minus the beaches. But still enjoyable :)

Perfect way to spend the day when it is 97 degrees and HUMID!

JJ also had a little surprise for me and got us tickets to the Rascal Flatts concert at Verizon Amphitheatre. It was a bit warm out, but it cooled off as the sun went down. We had great seats and had so much fun. The first (and only) concert we went to together was Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift up in Green Bay with the Crosbys and the Nelsons, so it was fun to go to another one. They are so fun in concert and it is crazy how many amazing songs they have.

Chris Young

The newly engaged Kellie Pickler

Rascal Flatts

Neither of us can believe it had been a year since our wedding. I think the thing we miss the most is having everyone we love in the same place at the same time. We are truly blessed to have so many people loving and supporting us. Now we just need to come up with an excuse to plan another party weekend that gets everyone out to visit us...maybe a two year anniversary party???

Blonde Moment

I got my hair highlighted yesterday with a new guy that I really like. He went a little bit blonder than I would have wanted, but I still like it and afterall it is summer so I think I can get away with it.

Aparently, it is too much blonde for me to handle based on what I did this morning.

Tomorrow is our one year anniversary and I was trying to do something nice for my dear husband. I wanted to make him pancakes to surprise him when he got home from his workout. So I got the pancake mix (which is in a plastic bag) out and set in on the stove top. I grabbed the tea pot and filled it with water, set it on a burner, turned it up to high, and headed upstairs to grab some laundry. When I got back downstairs I saw smoke coming from the stove top.

It seems I had turned on the wrong burner and had heated up the bag of pancake mix instead of the tea pot. So I turn off the burner and try to grab the bag of pancake mix. Too bad all of the plastic on the bottom of the bag had already melted off and I was left with a mountain of dry pancake mix on a hot burner.

Keep in mind, the entire thing is still smoking and I am just waiting for the smoke alarms to go off. I had to find some kitchen tools to scrape the burning mound off of the hot stove and into the garbage without melting the garbage bag. So I dug through all of our cabinets and drawers to find something and finally managed to scrape most of it into a glass bowl. I had to let the burner cool down completely before I began the joyous process of scraping melted plastic off.

So much for a sweet surprise. At least everything was (for the most part) back to normal by the time JJ got home so I was able to save face a little.

I swear, I am usually pretty good in the kitchen. I blame it on the highligts.

Hotlanta

For Father's Day weekend, JJ and I put Barney in the car and headed down to visit JJ's aunt and uncle in ATL. JJ is done with OTAs (organized team activities) for the summer, so now his workout schedule is flexible and we are free to travel a little bit. We will for sure take advantage of that.

We went down on Saturday and spent the afternoon at the pool. It has been ridiculously hot in the south so far this summer, combine that with the humidity, and a trip to the pool was necessary.

One of our goals is to visit as many major league ballparks as possible, so we thought we would take advantage of our trip to Atlanta and go to a Braves game. One of JJ's friends plays for the Braves so it was a bonus to get to see him play! It was also an awesome surprise that he was able to hook us up with tickets on such short notice. We had great seats right behind home plate about 25 rows up, in the family section. I won't lie, I had fun checking out what all the baseball wives were wearing and seeing what they were like. They game itself was really good and it ended with a walk off home run, which I had never seen before.

Enjoying Turner Field

Tickets courtesy of this guy. Thanks Eric!

On Sunday, we went downtown to the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coke. It was a fun way to spend a hot day. The aquarium was impressive, you wouldn't expect something like that in the middle of Atlanta. My favorite was the otters, they were so cute while they were playing. We also had fun tasting all of the different Coke brands from all over the world. We don't drink soda really ever, so we were both on sugar overload after the first few tastes.

After we finished downtown, we drove around (a.k.a. got lost in) Buckhead for a bit before stumbling on the Buckhead Diner. Not your typical diner; they had fabulous gourmet food in a fun atmosphere. I would love to go back for dinner one day.

We finished the weekend off with a Father's Day BBQ back at the house. We had a great time and can't wait to go back!

Pawleys Island

Another event that I failed to blog about in a timely matter...our trip to Pawleys Island, SC.

JJ was invited to participate in a charity golf tournament (benefiting AMI Kids-Georgetown) near Myrtle Beach. For us it was a no brainer. Beautiful location, helping out a great cause, golf and an excuse to go away for the weekend! Sold.

We were very excited about our upcoming trip and mentioned it to JJ's parent when we were visiting in Phoenix. I was explaining that JJ was invited to play in a celebrity golf tournament that next weekend and his mom got really excited. We explained that one "celebrity" would join each four-some for the tournament. Here is how the rest of the conversation went:

Carla: "Oooh! How fun! Who will the celebrity be?"

Me: "Well...JJ is one of the celebrities."

Carla: "Oh...I thought it was going to be like...a Jonas brother."

I couldn't help but laugh, but I think the funniest part was that her "go-to" celebrity was a Jonas brother. Not sure which one, but you know, one of the three. We are definitely using the term "celebrity" pretty loosely, but that is the term used for most of the appearances JJ does.

Anyway, back to our weekend at the beach. We stayed in the condos at True Blue golf course and the tournament was at the sister course, Caledonia. Both course are listed as one of the Top 100 Public Courses in America. They were both beautiful courses, and JJ thought Caledonia was one of the best he has ever played on. My favorite part was the clubhouse, it is a beautiful old plantation that screams "Welcome to the South!"

JJ made some connections the night before the tournament and was placed on a team with some phenomenal golfers. Besides being great golfers, they were just really good guys and so fun to get to know! Another bonus, JJ's team finished tied for 1st.

Look at that swing!

Another bonus, getting to meet Hall of Famer, Tony Dorsett

We were lucky enough to get some recommendations from the locals for places to eat and ended up having dinner at Bistro 217 and then headed over to the famous Frank's Outback for dessert. We had great food at both places, but next time we go back I want to eat dinner at Frank's, their atmosphere is just so fun and they have a beautiful patio.

Sunday we headed to the store, bought a paddle ball set, two beach towels and some sunscreen and hit the beach. I loved how un-touristy it was. We would love to go back someday for a longer period of time. It would be a great place to rent a beach house for a week if you want to avoid the crowds of Myrtle Beach. And now we have friends there!

Playing Catch Up!

Oops! I guess its been a while since I last wrote anything. Where to begin...?

The last thing I wrote about was NASCAR, and I'm sure it was what everyone was dying to read about. What I forgot to mention was the week before the race JJ and a few other teammates got to participate in the Pit Crew Challenge. All the guys had different jobs (JJ was pre-assigned the role of Gas Man...ironic, no?) and they had to compete against other "crews" made up of people from all the local news stations. It was really fun to watch and see what the real pit crews do, and I got to sit in one of the cars. After I spent about 5 minutes wedging myself in through the window (no doors on these cars), working my way around the steering wheel I started to panic wondering how on earth I was going to get myself out, if it was that difficult to get in. That's about the time that Tyler came over and showed me how to remove the steering wheel. that would have been good to know before I started.

Memorial Day weekend we had house guests, the newly engaged Katie and Brian. They were in town for a wedding, and we got to play during their down time. It worked out perfectly! Barney was not happy when they left though. He and Brian developed quite a special bond, and Barney decided that just JJ and I were no longer good enough. Glad we got to celebrate their engagement with a night out in Charlotte. We went to Mama Ricotta's for dinner (a-ma-zing), Strike City for bowling and then Blackfin for drinks. Katie also got me hooked on a new drink, sweet tea vodka with water and lemon. Nothing screams "I live in the South!" like sweet tea vodka. Thank you Firefly for this delicious invention.

One of the wives on the team had an 80's themed birthday party so JJ and I had an excuse to get all dressed up. It brought back great memories of living in the Theta House, scrambling to put together a great outfit the day of the event. I will say this, it was SHOCKINGLY easy to put together an 80s outfit browsing the racks at Target. I really could have made 10 outfits! I guess fashion is cyclical. The party was complete with an 80s ipod playlist, a magician, and TAB soda. We had so much fun. The best part was seeing all the outfits, I was quite impressed with the creativity of our friends.

I think that is all for now. I am going through my camera trying to remember what has been going on for the last month. I will come up with more tomorrow.