Chocolate Lovers Unite.

It is no secret to the fat kid inside me (and the chubby trolls that reside on my ass, thighs, & stomach) that I am a lover of chocolate in all its varieties. 

Men. Candy. Fondue. 

Really the list can go on. 

So would it be a surprise to any of you, that on our date day Sunday morning, I begged Big Man to take me to Hershey to go shopping and oh so subtly convinced him to take me to Chocolate World?!?

No? 

You guys know me too well. 

It's OK if you licked your computer screen. 

I won't judge you. 

Oh Look, There's A Gigantic Pig..

Is one of the many interesting things that you hear while walking around a local fairgrounds...

Besides taking in the sights of the fair, I would like to admit that I'm an avid people watcher and eavesdropper, and I am not ashamed to admit. Fairs, carnivals, etc. are prime real estate for taking in some of the more eccentric folks of your area. 

Big Man and I hit up the fair last weekend as well as this past Friday to take in the sights and food. If you know anything about my husband, you know that he is a human garbage disposal and the fair tickles every taste bud of his. All of my organic, vegatarian, chemical free loving friends please shield your eyes and look away at this moment, because I am about to rape your vision with horrible goodness....

How do you go to a fair and not eat?!?!

Ummm...I know I can't. 

Please believe there were no calorie counting those days. 

I must say though, I did try to walk off some of those calories by walking the fair multiple times....

We might not be Southern, but we can go country just like the rest of ya'll! : )

Thank you fair, you were fun. 

And Fall Bucket List....One down, BOOM! 

The One With A Cat Shanty

The faboosh J from An Unstyled Life tagged me in a fun little questionnaire and since it's been a while since I did one of these....why not?

In between questions I also want to show you all some of the more 'eclectic' views of my neighborhood, and oh my...the things you find when you take your dog for a walk. 

Moving along to answer time...

J asks...

1. If you could have any career, what would it be?

I, along with about a thousand other bloggers would love to be able to get paid to blog. In a dream world, I would make my living writing blog posts about my ordinary life and sponsors and companies would come out of the wood work wanting to pay me for being awesome. Sadly, I possess no special skills that will make this dream any closer to becoming true....thougghhhhh...if each of you gave me $1...... :) 

All kidding aside, yes I would love to get paid to do that but it's far fetched and this one also goes hand in hand with a million bloggers but I would like to become a photographer. I have a passion for it but I still need TONS more practice and a business mind set before I go off on that endeavor.

2. What's your idea of a perfect weekend?

Depends on the circumstances. Sometimes I like being smelly and lounging around in my pj's all weekend, while others, I like to be out on some silly adventure. My perfect weekend would be good food, beautiful weather, and fun times. Those are the ingredients to a perfect weekend.

We have a real life hoarder in our 'hood. You could have sworn nobody lived here but as we walked on by the side of the house you could see inside and WTF? I wish I would have gotten a better picture because this does not do it justice. Note...the sink and toilet amongst other things on the roof.

3. What is your favorite holiday, and why?

If you are a long time reader and don't know the answer to this question then I will honestly smack you in the face. It's CHRISTMAS of course. What is there not to like about it??? I love the baking, the commercials, decorating, the tree, family time, parties, I just love it all. :) 

While on this subject...I completely judge new blogs by their love of Christmas. If I am just checking out your blog, I always back track to December and see if you festively celebrate as much as I do. I have no time for bah humbugs in my life and if you don't love Christmas, it's unlikely we could be good friends. And I'm not counting out Hanukkah or Kwanzaa....celebrate your holiday to the fullest peeps. :)  

4. What is your favorite thing about the town you live in?

Ummm besides all the weirdos that live here (i.e. this post)....well it would have to be that it is fairly quiet and very kid friendly. Though there might be some strange here and there, there is always kids running around having fun and families out walking their dogs and such. It's nice.

I couldn't hold it back any longer, I wanted to wait till the end of the post but really.....It's a effin' CAT SHANTY!! Who does this? Who sets up a shanty like this for stray cats and just thinks nothing of it. And these cats are assholes...not nice Sheldon lovin' kitties, but teardrop underneath their eye, I'm gonna hiss and shank you kitties.

5. What did you want to be when you grew up?

Growing up I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher (in some ways I still do) but I also told my mom that I would be a teacher by day and a stripper by night. True story. Even as I child I loved getting my mom going. Luckily, that never played out and I didn't have to dance for dollars. I can drop it though, so don't get it twisted. :) 

6. Who was your junior high crush? 

I kid named J.J. but then he went off to juvey, we dated briefly in high school, and from what I hear he became quite the loser. Glad that didn't pan out.

7. What actress would play you if your life was made into a movie?

Zooey Deschanel

I have the biggest girl crush on her and on my super awkward days I like to think that because we have blue eyes and dark hair, that we look alike. This is verrrryyy untrue, but let my PMS self think that dammit. 

This is what I'm assuming was a house that caught on fire and was gutted but not completely. Very creepy and take notice to the stairway of death...yikes.

8. Where is the one place you must visit before you die?

I would like to say Europe because I think that would be awesome but let's keep this US bound ans say Cali. I've already been to Hawaii and Florida and I would probably only go to Texas if I was meeting blogger friends. I think you should show me around Texas, J!!

9. Toilet Paper: over or under...plead your case.

Over. 

Because it's the RIGHT way. 

Period. 

10. What's better, a quiet night in or a wild night out? 

Both are fun but lately it has been more of the night in scene. Why go out and booze, when I have a bar in my basement?

11. What is the one thing you cannot go a day without?

I hate that this is my answer but it is the truth....cigarettes. Just typing it makes me want to go out and smoke one. I'm verrryyy much trying to give up this bad habit before our cruise but let me tell you...it's not easy man.

I had to type in what was actually written on these signs since you couldn't really see it when I uploaded it but ....yeah....strange, no? Mind you this was sitting in an alley and then the next day it was gone. Who does this???

And now it's time for me to ask you some questions....

1. What kind of camera do you have?

2. What would be your last meal if you were on Death Row?

3. What's your favorite band?

4. Rock, Paper. Scissor? and Why?

5. What kind of car do you drive?

6. Big House, Crappy Neighbors...Tiny House, Fab Neighbors?

7. Do you play any instruments? 

8. Favorite musical movie?

9. NSync or Backstreet Boys?

10. Fall or Spring? Why?

11. Cat Shantys? Why?

I know a bunch of other girls already did this so I'll leave this open to whoever wants grabs on it. 

Happy Hump Day.

Quads

An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a quad, quad bike, three-wheeler, or four-wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control. As the name implies, it is designed to handle a wider variety of terrain than most other vehicles.

- Wikipedia

These are memories from youth. 

via

When I lived in Florida there were many things I missed about home, but one that stood out on an almost daily basis was the lack of mountains and the loss of one of my favorite pastimes. 

Now, I know you can go out riding in Florida, but I will go out on a limb and say that it is nothing compared to riding in the mountains of your respective state....and Pennsylvania....has some damn good trails. This may be a foreign language to some gals who aren't down for getting dirty and have no interest in 'boy things'. But I'm here to tell you that this is not just a man activity. 

That or I'm not the prim lady that you all thought I might be.

(ha...yeah right) 

I absolutely hands down love going out riding and this weekend when the weather was beautiful and people came from all over to ride on the Burma (a local mountain/trails), a pang of jealousy came over me as I relieved some of my glory days. I never owned my own quad but living up here you know someone who had one and I was lucky enough to date some. 

There were plenty of spring/summer/and fall weekends that you would find me on the back of a four wheeler in my ripped up jeans, torn up tee, mud strewn boots, and safety first of course... helmet. 

I loved it. 

The muddier I got, the happier I was. 

And now I miss it. 

Luckily for me, Big Man has a penis and loves all things with wheels, motors, and that go vroom so it is not a struggle to get him on board with getting one. He actually was the one that came to me with idea at first. Yes, we are saving money this year and do have alot of things on the agenda, but a possible joint Christmas gift....

I hope. 

This is one of things I don't want to give up and living in this area, is something that I would like my future kids to enjoy just as much their mama does. 

Our Weekend In Pictures...

It was a busy weekend so instead of being a chatty Cathy, I'll let the pictures do the talking on this fine Monday morning...

Friday Night: 

Bingo with my sister M...

Nope we didn't win but we did enjoy our Kahlua White Russians that we smuggled in...mmm!!

Saturday Morning: 

Big Man and I headed down to Allentown to get a little more of our Christmas shopping done. We are pretty much done except for a couple gift cards here and there but that is about all. There is a little glimpse of our wrapping paper too. So pretty, I loves it. 

Saturday Night: 

This is the car line into Christmas Village. 

If you think this is bad, you should have seen it when we left. It was ridiculous. The line went on for miles in both directions. 

This is Christmas Village and what gets people obviously excited where we live. 

It's like the Griswolds on crack : ) 

But seriously, it was very pretty and was lots of fun to share with Big Man, my sisters, nephew, niece, and BIL. Hot chocolate, for everyone! :)

Sunday Afternoon: 

My Dad's side of the family has an annual Christmas party and Sunday was the day for it. 

Spaghetti plus lots of Italian side dishes....yes and please! 

Plus, it was fun to see this side of the family that we rarely get to see. :) 

Your turn....

What did you do this weekend?!?!

Todays Post Brought To You By The Letter B...

December is a busy month, as in all of me and Big Man's weekends are filled throughout the holiday. 

Today begins the weekend of events and this is what is on our horizon tonight...

Oh yes....

My sister M was invited by a couple girls from work (we work together) to go to bingo tonight and not wanting to roll there by herself, she invited me to go. I, being the awesome sister I am agreed to go but really she didn't have to ask me twice. 

I've been going to bingo since I've been little with my Nan, Mom, Aunts, and Sister T (hello girls...we need to do this after the holidays!!!) and was even able to get Big Man to go when we first moved to Pennsylvania. That was a sight to be seen, click here, if you want to check that post out. 

Since we are going with coworkers and one coworker in particular is a pain in the ass, we plan to smuggle some booze into the bingo hall via ice tea containers...haha. People may consider this an old lady game and I wouldn't tell you, you're wrong, but this little lady is in it to win it (the jackpot please..) and might possibly be a little wine drunk doing it.  :) 

While the ladies are off getting their bingo on, Big Man and my BIL Dang we'll be at home with the baby and will be teaching tiny E the art of making Boilo.

What is Boilo you may ask?!?

via

In the Coal Region of Pennsylvania where I live, this alcoholic beverage is a must have and is at practically every holiday party I attend during the season. 

Boilo ( pronounced boy-low) in it's true state has oranges, pears, apples, cloves, and a bunch of other fruits and such and was originally made with moonshine. Talk about, knocking you on your ass but many people also used Everclear, grain alcohol. Due to it's high alcohol content, I'm pretty sure it is illegal in some places and I am sure they do not sell it in Pennsylvania at all. 

They're are many recipes out there and each family and person makes it differently but we enjoy the...

 Apple Pie Boilo 

Think my apple cider on steroids out there looking for a fight and whooping your apple ciders ass. 

Like I said, everyone does it differently and the via the picture above also has a different recipe but here is how we usually do ours....

Add 1 quart of apple cider (or 1 qt of apple juice with a half cup of brown sugar),
 2 cinnamon sticks
 1 teaspoon  ground cloves
 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg together
 Boil for 10 minutes.

Noted: You can use a crock pot or do it on the stove top

Remove from heat.
 After 10 minutes add a half bottle of 4 Queens Blended Whiskey
(this is not really sold much outside our area I don't think, but def. use this)
 Cover with a lid and let sit until it it cools to room temp then bottle it and refrigerate.

This is at it's best when served warm....so heat it up in the microwave before taking your shot. : )

Ahhhh....I can't wait to get this yummy goodness in my belly....the boys better not mess this up ; ) lol

***
Rest of Weekend Plans:

Christmas Village with both my sisters, my niece and nephew, and BIL...so excited!
An Italian Holiday Dinner with my Dad's side of the family....spaghetti, get in my belly. :)

So if I'm absent this weekend from the blogs, you'll know why....I'll get pictures though, don't you worry.

Have a great weekend loves. : ) 

Tom Clark-1...Lil' Woman-0

You might ask who Tom Clark is, and in short he is our local new station meteorologists. 

He is also known to be quite a bullshitter.

If he says it's going to be sunny then it usually rains, and if he predicts rain, it's usually a flood. For the most part, this household doesn't take him or many meteorologists seriously. Being a meteorologists is pretty much having a job where you get paid whether your wrong or not, sounds like a sweet deal to me. 

Anywho,

 It looks like Tommy Boy along with The Weather Channel and pretty much every other news outlet hit the nail on the head with this one, because this is what we're looking at on this fine Saturday afternoon in October in the Keystone State...

Yeah, that's what is happening and from the looks and sounds of it, it is showing no signs of slowing down or stopping until very late tonight or early tomorrow morning. 

I stressed on Twitter, that I was not ready for this and that I was really not all that excited because 

a.) It's OCTOBER 

b.) I HATTTTEEEEE DRIVING IN THE SNOW!

But I take it back now because I'm actually enjoying our impromptu 'snow day'. 

It's a Saturday so I don't have any plans or need to drive today and the only thing on our agenda is hot chocolate, snuggles, and if I can coerce Big Man, possibly some Christmas movies. 

Are you in the snow zone?

How do you feel about it? 

: )

...A Plus One

We're adding another member to our family and before you get your blogs in a bunch, it is not me....

MY SISTER IS PREGNANT WITH HER SECOND BABY!!!

We actually found out the night we went to the haunted houses but I wanted to wait to announce it on here until after we were positively sure and I was lucky enough to accompany my sissy to her first ultrasound appointment.

Holy excitingballs!!!!

I am super supped because when my sister was pregnant with my nephew/godson G, I was living in Florida and missed out on not only all of her appointments but experiencing it with her and being there when he was born. 

There will be none of that this time around...Welcome Super Auntie to the scene!

I'm so happy and excited to be able to go through this with her, even if I was a little freaked by that biiiiiggg probe they stick up your hoo-ha. I can't imagine what I'm going to be like in the delivery room with her and if I ever get preggers myself, God bless me. 

Everything is looking good with the babes...

She's measuring at 6 weeks 6 days and the babes heart rate is a strong 150. 

This was the first time I've ever been to any baby related appointment and it completely melted my heart to hear the heartbeat and see the joy on my sister's face as she looked at her new bundle of joy. 

I can't wait to go to another appointment with her and we're hoping we can make it work that I will be able to go to the gender reveal when the time comes.....*squeal*!!!

On a  related but not really note, take a look at my sister's doctors shoes...

(tilt your head to the right and squint)

The most awesome TOMS I've ever seen...how cute are they embellished with skulls.

Besides the sweet ass shoes, the doctor/err midwife was dressed so cute and stylishly with her TOMS, dark denim jeans, dark orange/pumpkin color cardi and Chanel necklace. I totally stalked and took a picture of her for some stylish inspiration. 

After the appointment my sister and I headed to Wally World so I could put some toys on layaway for the kiddies and we couldn't resist dressing ourselves in some gobble gobble gear...

We're stupid but really, does anyone really go to Wally World for classiness?!? 

After the fun-tivities of WW, we headed to see some handsome little astronaut walk with his class in a little parade for Halloween at his school...

To infinity and beyond.

Some good quality time with my sister was much needed and tonight I will be heading down to my Dads to see my brother, who is home for the winter, to celebrate and get down how we get down, with some booze and shots galore. I never knew how much I would enjoy drinking with my family until I grew up a bit. I don't wanna brag but they're kinda the coolest people you'll ever know. 

The rest of our weekend is looking pretty lazy considering we are expecting 6-10 inches where I live. I don't know about you but I am not ready for this snow at all. First, it isn't even Halloween yet...Second, I HATE DRIVING IN THE SNOW. So I will not be in the least disappointed if we don't get what they predict. 

How your weekend looking?

Any snow?

Anything fun?

We Are...

Today my brother and sister are coming over to the Little Home to watch the Penn State vs. Auburn game.

I'm more a STEELERS fan but for college teams, I'll support my sisters alma mater and partake in the game day excitement with her. The picture above is from last year when I went to an actual game with them.

If your looking for me today, I'll be down in the basement/bar because that is where Big Man hijacked our TV to. 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend, just happy this rain finally stopped : ) 

Sometimes Old Is Better...Other Times It's Not

This weekend was pretty chill for Big Man and I.

We partook in a little bazaar this weekend in our town. I thought it was going to be like other block parties I've gone to but this was a pretty bunk bazaar. With what they lacked in entertainment they made up for with good bleenies (or so I hear), food, and bingo. 

On Saturday though after a little debacle about what to do, Big Man and I hit up one of my favorite spots Country Junction and then decided to walk around this cute quaint town. 

We always pass through the town on our way to Country Junction but never really stopped to take in all the sights. On Saturday we did and I was in awe of all the old buildings and cute little shops they had. 

Because I'm a nice gal, I'll taking you on a little virtual tour of this cute, historic town called Jim Thorpe.....

In the center of the downtown is this amazing train station where you can actually take train rides. It was bustling on Saturday with families and children all ready to hop aboard and take a ride on one of these guys...

They have open air seating (on left) and regular cars (on right) that you can choose to ride one. Big Man and I were going to go but we decided to come back on another day and chose to just walk around and take in the sights. 

After we got done looking at the trains, if you turned completely around you would run into this sweet, shaded courtyard...

 They had food vendors and tables to sit at to unwind from walking around and even from those seats you could hear the live music that was playing up the street. 

The down was full of old buildings that seemed to be kept in great shape or either refurbished very well...

It was nice actually seeing buildings in there original state and not plastered with siding and other new architectural  features. 

Besides the actual buildings themselves, they housed a bunch of little shops, restaurants, and inns...

This awesome hotel/inn that was obviously called The Inn reminded me of the buildings that you would see in the French Quarter in New Orleans. They had a beautiful restaurant and pub that I will def. be visiting on my next trip up there. 

Street lined with different shops

 I absolutely adored this shop that we went into. 

I was trying to be sly with taking pictures hence the crappy quality but this was the ultimate girly girl store. If was whites, light cremes, pinks, and pastel with the softest lighting and chandeliers everywhere. If I ever had my own girl cave....I would def. style it after this store!

Big Man enjoying the scenery after he said he felt claustrophobic in the girly store  : ) 

Besides the stores they had a few of little restaurants and cafes that had outdoor seating. This had to be my favorite outdoor setup...

How freakin' cute is that to have an old ironing board as table with some stools pulled up....love it!

Here is some more of the sights we got to see...

An Opera House

Another cute gift shop 

An

An hippie head shop called Horizons.

It was an great day to get out and walk around and this little town was the thing for a lazy Saturday afternoon. If you ever get the chance, def. check out this town

It's called Jim Thorpe

And if shopping isn't you or your families thing they also have biking trails, Segway tours, and white water rafting. Little town with lots to do. : ) 

After our day out, we came home and just relaxed. 

Ok, we didn't relax....more so Big Man did while I did the dishes, straightened up, did wash, and cleaned out my closet...

I'm trying to lose weight for this wedding and in general and yesterday I was in a mood to just get rid of things. After a meltdown yesterday, I decided to start becoming more focused on  my eating and exercising and make a serious attempt at losing weight. 

In the state of mind I was in... I decided to go through and aggressively get rid of clothes that I 

a.) haven't worn in the last 1-5 years

b.) didn't fit...mama put some weight on or

c.) wasn't my style anymore

I had clothes way back from high school that I was still clinging onto and for what reason I don't know why. So yesterday I went through everything and got rid of about 40% of my wardrobe. It doesn't look like much but this garbage bag full of clothes will be making a new home at my sister's and if she doesn't like them than maybe at the Salvation Army. 

I feel much better about the clothes I decided to keep and when I get to my goal weight I plan on taking myself on a little shopping spree....hopefully that's a motivator.

How was your weekend?

Do anything fun?!?

Weekend Recap...

This weekend was a great 4 day weekend filled with lots of sun and even more fun for me and Big Man. I checked the forecast religiously during the week and was disappointed when I saw a few thunderstorms, but luckily the crappy weather held out and we had bright and sunny skies all weekend.

So what did I do on this lovely 80 degree weekend you ask....

Friday, May 27th

Lounged and relaxed on my back deck catching up on The Help and hanging out with Big Man. It was such a chill night, I love it.

Saturday, May 28th 

Woke up bright and early to meet up with Laura to get my engagement pictures taken. If you want to see them again, you can go here. Like I said before....I freakin' love them

Sunday, May 29th 

Relaxed around the house and did a little straightening up. Mama Dukes came up later that night and we had a sleepover. She's so cute...she loved sleeping up and catching up with her baby (i.e. me! :) )

Monday, May 30th (Memorial Day)

It was a fun Memorial Day with the fam but I'll let the pictures do the talking...

 Mia watched the parade from our front porch.

I was surprised that she was actually calm throughout the whole parade but it be honest it was quite a bunk parade. I did feel bad for the students in the band though. The elementary/middle school caught on fire that morning and the students couldn't get their instruments or uniforms. The only thing they had were the drums and shaker thingies.

This beautiful girl enjoyed the day outside chilling in the shade with all of us. Seriously, how can you not adore this face?

Besides this being her first Memorial Day, this was her first time 'swimming' and in her little bikini. I know I'm biased because she's my niece but she is such a doll. I love her in her little ruffled bikini with that big belly and roly poly legs hanging out.

 Don't worry the booze isn't his...lol..he had a fun time swimming with Aunt LW and even more time cooing ever his baby cousin.

 These two goons enjoyed the pool while sipping on their beers....geez, they live such a hard life don't they?

Mia also was enjoyed herself some adult beverages...haha....just kidding.

Being the one to take the pictures means I really didn't get any of myself....but that's ok...no one needs to see this Little Woman in a bikini yet. :) 

P.S. Can you believe tomorrow is already June...where has this year gone?!