I'm alive, I swear.

I just have been going full-gas for a... I can't even remember how many weeks... a long time. I promise I'll start posting once I get a minute to come up for air!

five years flew by

*Insert standard apology for being absent from blogging, I'm a busy girl*

I can't believe today Michael and I are celebrating our 5 year anniversary! Dating that is. Five years is a long time when you think about it, but to me it just seems like yesterday that Michael and I were "honeymoon" daters. I guess that's a good thing because for some five years can seem like forever. For us, it's flown by... and we're certainly enjoying the ride!

I've mentioned it before, but JIC, Michael and I met in Daytona Beach, FL the spring of 2006. I went down with my girlfriends for Spring Break and Michael was there for the Supercross race at the Daytona Speedway. I had no idea what Supercross really was or that there was such a race going on. But that night, when the girls and I were getting our drink on Michael and his friends just so happened to be at Razzles getting there drink on too... Michael's friend tried hitting on one my friends, offered to buy us all drinks, introduced us to his friends and TA-DA! That's how Michael and I met *insert sparkler affects and floating hearts*. It's been a fairy-tale ever since!

So tonight in celebration, and just because we'll use any excuse to try out a new restaurant, we've got reservations to try out Jackson's Bistro. We have yet to dine "waterfront" or in this part of Tampa so we're pretty excited about our miniature adventure out tonight. Love when I can get dolled up these days because the older I get the nights I actually get dressed up with makeup and hair done seem far and few between.

I'll let you know how it goes! Hopefully pictures to come!

Hope everyone is enjoying the Springtime!

All things Amazon

I just wanted to write about my new internet obsession, amazon.com. Holy moly. I'm not going to lie, I used to think there was a "stigma" or something about this website and I brushed it off always. But one of my great friends Sheena has been Amazon-Obsessed since I've known her and she finally rubbed off on me. Literally, after one day shopping on it I was hooked and paid the $79 Prime membership. It is SO worth it. Free 2-Day shipping and HUGE savings on some items!

My first purchase was a mousepad and desk calender (both Steelers) for my desk at work. But that was so amateur! LOL My LAST purchase was a blender, rice cooker, a set of 3 JA Henkel knives, a knife holder, a set of 3 cutting boards, and 12" electric skillet for our the motocross team's semi. Now the real question is how much did I pay for it all... Less than $120! Couldn't believe it! Of course I bought bottom of the barrel electric appliances but even still, there is no way I would have got those things at Target or Wal-Mart for less than $200.

So bottom line, I highly recommend Amazon now to peeps and especially the Prime membership if you're a frequent online shopper. I literally go to Amazon now to price things out for almost everything. Just last week I ordered some baby food for my girlfriend's son which is hard for her to find in grocery stores and it was way cheaper than what she had been paying.

Check it out!

Hello, Again

So, I know it's been a while since my last post. Man things have been hectic! As some of you may know, I starting working a few hours a week for a realty company in town. I really love my job. It's less than a 10 minute drive which is awesome! Mainly administrative things but I also get to learn the ins and outs of the real estate business which is super cool. As a kid, I used to go to the library and check out the house plan books. I was obsessed with floor plans! Yeah, I had a few weird kid tendencies. My dad encouraged it though because for a while he thought he had a future architect in his hands haha. So ne how - I love walking through all the homes we list. Lots are actually in the neighborhood we're living in now.

Since Superbowl Sunday... which was such a depressing day... we've had company staying with us. Our best friends Chad, Ellie and their 10 month old Tate. They're temporarily staying with us until their BADA$$ house is finished being built, probably mid April. They are going to be living just down the street. Tate keeps us all on our toes and I've enjoyed playing with him so much hence my lack of blogging. But I promise I'll keep it going again.

Michael's back riding and his racing debut is this Saturday. EEEEKKK. Not gonna lie, my nerves are in high gear. If any of you want to watch you can always catch the races Sunday on SPEED! I'll be flying to San Diego tomorrow night for the race which is Saturday night. Best believe Delta will be serving me quite a few red wines to help keep the anxiety down. Our next stop after San Diego is Atlanta. We'll be racing in the Georgia Dome on Saturday, February 26th! Tickets are still on sale if you want to catch some good racing, just go to www.supercrossonline.com

In other news, congratulations to our good friends Ann & Troy would had their baby boy Ty yesterday! SOO happy for them. Hopefully Monday or Tuesday next week Michael and I are going to go visit Mom and Baby :-)

And not so happy news, please keep a fellow supercross rider Kyle Chisolm in your thoughts and prayers. He had a bad crash last Saturday in Houston and has sustained serious injuries and is still being hospitalized in ICU. Although we are not close with Kyle and his girlfriend Britney, the racing community is very small so whenever a rider is down it always hits very close to home. I never like to see anyone get hurt, I know what Britney is going through right now and my heart hurts for her. We hope Kyle heals up quickly!

What I'm lovin'

♥ My Steelers will be playing in the Superbowl on Sunday!!!!!

♥ Michael's wrist is healing up well and he's back on the bike.

♥ My BF Ellie will return to Florida Sunday. I'll have my buddy back.

♥ GF Raspberry Biscotti Cheescake and Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Frida's Cafe & Bakery... my new Tampa obsession. Shout-out to my girl Evie for introducing me to the sweet goodness.

♥ Flip flops in February

♥ My husband, who starts cooking breakfast and turns the kettle on for my tea all before I even get out of bed.

♥ New episodes of Vampire Diaries!

♥ Elton John's "Rocket Man: Number Ones" CD

♥ Taking walks in my quiet, peaceful neighborhood.

Dye Job

I've had the itch to color my hair for oooh... 3 years maybe? Once we got engaged I stopped coloring my hair so it would be it's natural color and healthy for the wedding but now that we're married I'm ready to go back to damaged hair. Yeah, think so.

Since watching the new season of Idol, I've kind of become obsessed with Jennifer Lopez and her fabulous hair. I'm pretty much wanting her hair color. What do you guys think? And don't worry, you're opinions won't hurt my feelings. It's pretty much 10-1 with the 1 being me, the only person pro-dying my hair.

It's Complicated

If you haven't watched the move "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep, please go right now and watch it. It's such a great movie. There's a scene where Meryl Streep and Steve Martin smoke some pot, get really high, and have me in hysterics on the couch! I've never smoked before, but the scene makes me so curious because they are just so damn funny! But it'll never happen. Just to clarify! LOL I've seen the movie a few times now, but on Friday night I watched a rerun of it on HBO or something and ever since then I can't get the house and the food in the movie out of my head. To. Die. For.

These are a few pictures of the kitchen Meryl Streep has:

I absolutely love everything about this kitchen.

Michael could never get me out of the kitchen if I could have all this.

This is the family room off of the kitchen.

Everything about these pictures scream ME.

Because I LOVE to cook my dream is to one day have a kitchen like that. I personally think the heart of the home is the kitchen... and because of my addiction/love of food... think a lot of happiness stems from the kitchen too. Once we have kids, dinner at the kitchen table as a family will be a must. No sitting on the couch with TV trays. Nope. That won't fly in Mama Byrne's house. It's okay for right now, because Michael loves it... but once their are chitlins running around it won't happen anymore.

Speaking of food... Oh Em Gee. The FOOD in the movie! I can't tell what half of it is. But everything looks absolutely delish. The sweets, fresh bread, salads... YUMMO! Oh, and how about every single last thing in her crazy amazing bakery!

I will be making two things for sure from the movie. Croque Monsieur, which is the French ham and cheese goodness she made for Steve Martin for dinner, and the layered chocolate cake she made for dinner when Alec Baldwin stands her up but she eats with Steve Martin because they have the "munchies." Just need to find the perfect recipes first and it's a done deal. And maybe one day, I'll try and recreate the entire table spread of food she has when the whole family eats together.

Ok, it's 8:00, dinner is only half cooked... and now I'm starving!

Cyas!