Let's play catch-up.

I've been busy. Let me tell ya...

Weddings. 

Amusement parks. 

Working on that tan. ha.

It's a rough life.

:)

Tomorrow, we're going to Maine for one last summer hurrah!

Sean is trying to convince me that just because I'm going back to work on Tuesday it doesn't mean summer is over.

Listen, if I'm back at work... let's just bundle up and call it winter. 

It's going to be here soon enough.

Anyway...

Apollo will be traveling with us to Maine.

3.5 hours.

Longer if there's traffic.

We haven't told her yet.

Hopefully all goes well.

:)

Twenty-six in 26.

In honor of my upcoming birthday [one month from today] I thought I should take the time to set some goals for me to accomplish in my 26th year of life.

This is not to be confused with my 101 in 1001 which is still on going... but I don't intend to have any overlapping goals. See that? Busy, busy.

So, Erin over at Living in Yellow thought up this goal idea:

And even though the link-up is technically over... it's never too late to add to your life. Amirite?

So here we go:

Twenty-six things I'll do in my 26th year of life.

1. Travel to [at least] two places that are new to both of us. [the husband and myself]

2. Meet my favorite little new man [this may require a trip to CA].
remember his baby shower?
and his mom?

3. Keep the tradition of sending out holiday cards.

4. Finish school and get my masters.

5. Go to Boston and pretend to be tourists.

6. Take a sewing class.

7. Buy a really nice & expensive pair of jeans.

8. Go to a concert (of my choice).

9. Go for a walk in our town.

10. See a movie in the theater downtown. (opposed to where we normally go).

11. Get a new passport with my married name.

12. Make scrapbooks of our first & second year of marriage.

13. Cook our very own Thanksgiving dinner.

14. Convince Sean to allow Apollo to dress up for Halloween.

[she wants too, I swear]

15. Cut back to one soda drink a day. Including fountain drinks [I always tell myself those don't technically count since they're mostly water. Guess what? They count]

16. Figure out an organizational method for the madness that is my clothes closet.

17. Bring our wedding china to our house and actually have something to display in it.

18. Find new lampshades for the living room.

19. Do a complete "keep"/"donate"/"trash" cleaning of all our things.

20. Wake up to watch the sun rise [it doesn't count if I'm driving to work].

21. Buy the Justin Bieber CD. Oh, yeah.

22. Complete 1 DIY project a month and blog about it.

23. Invest in a watch. Preferably this one:


via.

24. Decorate our bedroom walls.

25. See a Broadway show. In NYC. :)

26. Be an awesome wife, every single day.

:)

Yeah, I'm probably most serious about that last one....

Electricity costs what?

Sean and I had a rude awakening. I'm telling you...

The other day, my gmail account alerted me that I had a new email. I clicked right over wondering what sale I was being offered through Groupon or what house was recently put on the market through Trulia. Well, imagine my surprise when it was National Grid. Ew. With our electric bill. Ew. And guess what?

It was $230.
Two hundred and thirty dollars. 

Excuse me?

We live in a small place. Okay, maybe not small?... 1200 sq. ft.

But it's an apartment, and by my standards it's small.
I mean, it's not a house.

Sure it has high ceilings, and large windows (that DON'T open) and doors with character (read: large gaps at the bottom), but it's an apartment. Puh-lease.

Worth $230 in electricity, hardly.

For $230 I expect to living large and comfortably... with the AC freezing me out the door. Seriously.

Then I'm reminded [by everyone I complained to over the course of the next few days] that it's a loft apartment with high ceilings, large windows (that DON'T open) and doors with character (read: large gaps at the bottom).

Who knew that translated into paying a ridiculous amount for electricity.

I certainly did not.

So what did I do? Well...

1. I ran around the house like a maniac and unplugged everything: cell phone chargers, lap top chargers, the tablet, the keurig, lamps. Seriously. Everything besides the alarm clock and the TV. And believe me, I would have unplugged those too if they weren't such a hassle to plug back in. Apparently this saves $4 a month.

2. I upped the AC. Oh, it's 90 degrees in Massachusetts?... Believe me, I now know this as sweat is literally pouring down my face. 78 when we're home, 80 when we're not (ew, National Grid recommends 85 when you're not home... but I just CANNOT do that to Apollo). Apparently this saves $16.50 a month.

3. I changed the water temperature on the washing machine to COLD. It only takes... oh, twice as long to do a wash... Apparently this saves $9 a month.

4. I cleaned the dryer vents. Apparently this saves $3 a month.

5. I also pulled down the shades and changed the temps for both the fridge and freezer since they were above the "suggested" level of coldness. I'm not sure how much this will save... but it must be something??

I know that adds up to a savings of like $30 for next month. Believe me, we're cutting out other areas of comfort as well (who needs lights?... not us).

Oh, and yes we're currently in the market for under the door draft blockers. I'm pretty sure we're paying to keep the entire hallway cool. Awesome.

I'll keep you posted. 

A Baby Girl.

My cousin, Lindsey, is having a baby girl. 

She's due in just six weeks! So, it was definitely time to celebrate with a shower!

When I was shopping for a gift I fell in love with all the frills, sparkles and tutus. Especially, the tutus. Because I really wanted one for myself, but am fully aware that it's probably not the norm for a person my age to walk around in a tutu, I KNEW my little baby second cousin (is that relationship correct?) needed one.

In addition to an outfit, that I secretly wanted for myself, I made & packed up some onesie cupcakes:

 and along with my mom gifted a diaper tricycle.

So adorable!

Oh, Apollo. Part two.

Hey, it's me... Apollo!

You see, I'm not necessarily supposed to be in this cabinet. But my parent aren't the brightest and didn't realize I was sneaking in here (for quite some time) and helping myself to my food. I tore open the bag and it was like heaven on earth in there next to the mixer. Until I got caught and they put child-proof locks on those doors. Now they keep my food above the stove. They think they're tricky but I'm just trying to figure it out...

I've been super busy since we last chatted. I wake up around 5AM. I'm still an excellent alarm clock... if I do say so myself. Usually my mom feeds me but sometimes she shakes my dad and asks multiple times "can you feed her?". I love when my dad feeds me because he always gives me A LOT. After I eat I play on top of my sleeping parents for two hours or so until they wake up. Eventually, daddy leaves for work and my mama and I start our routine. I don't know where this woman used to go so early in the morning but she must love me so much because now she stays with me. My favorite days are Tuesdays when she comes back from some place with an awful lot of bags and food. It's the best, I play inside of them and bring them all over the house. Around 11, I get to eat a little bit more and then I take my nap... until about 5PM. That's when I eat again AND my dad gets home. It's the best. They make themselves dinner and I'm always ready and willing to help. Usually during dinner time I'm banished to the bedroom (apparently I'm still not allowed on the table... and can't "control" myself as my mom says). But after... I help with the dishes, and then take a nap until 10. That's when it's my time to shine. Right when my parents lay down in bed... ahh it's the best to run around. I have the whole place to myself. It's free reign!

My mama and I have been hydrating ourselves, A LOT. Since it's summer and all, we've been making sure we drink a lot of water. I love when my water is ice cold from the fridge and I prefer Poland Springs. My parents were only giving me tap water for weeks and I refused to drink it. Can you believe it took my mama seeing me sneak drinks from her own glass to realize what I've been wanting this whole time?! Now she knows, and it's the best! I still drink out of her glass when she's not looking.

My mama's been doing a lot of paper work for something she calls "grad school". I like to stick right by her, for moral support, of course. I also like to keep a part of my body right on top of her computer so I know if she's moving... I have FOMO (fear of missing out) and I like to stick with my crowd.

Oh, that's during playtime, usually my parents squeeze that time in a couple times a day. I have a love/hate relationship with that feather on a string thing. I like to grab it, and growl... and sometimes I forget I'm a kitten and act like a puppy. It just makes me so angry! I play tug-of-war, it's the best and I swear one day I will rip that thing to shreds!

That's one of my favorite places to be. It's the purr-fect amount of comfort, plus I can see the TV and I love watching TV.

Seriously.

:)

Enjoy your Sunday. 

I'm already busy napping.

Niagara Falls, part two.

The second day we were in Niagara Falls started with a trip to Starbucks.

We had a busy day of the Maid of the Mist, Ripley's Believe it or not!, the wax museum, dinner at Canyon Creek, and a night at the Skylon Tower.

It was perfect.

:)

I'd recommend staying on the first floor of the boat that takes you INTO the falls. Legit.

I thought I was going to drown... a little.

Most people rushed to the top and to the front of the boat... but we stayed very close to the entrance and not only were we the first to get off at the end, but we could see everything.

I'd show a picture of me but I don't think my face had a smile at this point.

But his did :)

After we walked towards Clifton Hill... it's definitely a hill.

There's tons to do, inexpensive things or expensive things.

Lots of food choices, too.

If you bring yourself to Dairy Queen, it's different than it is here.

:)

Not bad, but different.

At the wax museum, Sean posed with Michael among others, and I had a chat with Oprah.

We were exhausted so we went back to the hotel to nap and get ready for our night.

And we finished the night 775 feet above ground. 

:)

Recommended. Definitely.

Niagara Falls.

A few weeks ago, Sean and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. 

We celebrated that day, of course, but also the following weekend when we drove to Niagara Falls in Ontario. It was quite the ride (about 8 hours) and when we got to the border we were harassed, literally, made to get out of our car and they tore it apart. There are still pieces that we haven't put back together because we're not sure where they even came from!

Once that was done, we checked into our hotel: The Tower which I would very much recommend. We were on the 29th floor. 

Here are some pictures from our first day:

We ate at Margaritaville.

Saw a crazy man successfully walk on a tight rope from the Skylon Tower to a hotel.

Walked a lot.

Saw the Falls (pretty hard to miss!) and acquainted ourselves with the area.

And saw the Friday night fireworks show over the Falls.

Very impressive.