Almost a month from my last post. This summer flown by! I can't believe it's already mid-August. I must say I have not really stuck to my fitness summer as much as I would have liked too. Although, I'm not giving up hope, but rather making an effort to carry my resolution into the fall. The summer has been very hetic and crazy. I have taken some long weekend trip to Columbus and Chicago and have been hitting up the pool on the weekend for a little R&R.But on the productive side of hitting up the pool, I have gotten to read every month's issue of my favorite magazines: In Style, Martha Stewart Living, and Shape. To keep up on my reading, I prefer reading magazine's in the summer and books in the winter. Not sure why that is yet. I think it's because where I do my reading is completely dependent on what I read. If it's sitting my the poolside in the sun, magazine's are an easy read. If I'm' sitting inside curled up on the couch sitting by the fire, I much prefer to read a good mystery book or something girly (depending on my mood).

So Erin is married and Tina is engaged. So fun and I'm excited for both. Erin's wedding was beautiful and I'm so excited for Tina's. Another fun year to look forward too. Jessi is also home from Spain (finally, it feels like forever) and it will be great to be able to hang out with her more. We did dinner last week and are planning to have a few more crazy summer nights before the summer ends. Flip Cup tournament will be coming up in less then three weeks. Mark your calendar, Brendan O'Neils on August 3rd. Game time begins at 1:00. The more, the merrier. Check it out at www.geocities.com/m2f2g2/flipcup2003.html. Get pumped. I'm just excited for hopefully a pink shirt this year! Well I better jump in the shower, I smell like pool. I have set a goal to try and keep up with this whole blogging thing a little more to keep friends and family posted. I am also trying to put together a list of 'Got to Have' items.I have found some great products this summer and want to share them. I love hearing reviews from real people on products that actually work and that you can afford. What can I say, I'm a product junkie. Stay tuned.

As always, it seems like forever since I have updated my blog.Ussually summer is a time to kick back and relax, but I have to admit I have been feeling kind of stressed lately. I think I have a lot going on personally and professionals. It's definitely time to re-group and enjoy a day or two at the pool. I have off work tomorrow and fully plan to utilize my day off my relaxing, reading some magazines, laying out, and still hitting up Jonny Malloy's for Thursday Happy Hour. A day for me! I was so glad to see my friend Jamie on Saturday, that is made my weekend. I have not seen her for three months and was so excited to catch up. We always have a blast together. We went to Viva Barcelona in Westlake and had wine and appetizers. Last time we went there, we got pretty crazy, so this time we tried to keep it a little more under control.

This weekend, is Erin's bachlorette party. I am so pumped, a girls only night out. That's always fun and I think we planning to do Howl at the Moon and West 6th bars. One last weekend for her to party it up before she is married. I know I'm at that age where so many of my friends are married or getting married, but it still seems so weird. There are already a few kiddies on the way. Sunday, we plan to take my dad out for father's day, but I'm not sure where. Any new suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Well sad to say, it's almost 10:00 and I'm exhausted. I know I have tomorrow, but I want to get a good night sleep so I go everything I want tomorrow. Off to go read and watch TV and then hit the sheets. I'll be sure to post pics from the bachlorette party. Night.

One season ends and another begins. The pool opens next weekend and I am so excited! I hope next weekend is like it was this past weekend. It was so nice just having that extra vacation day on Monday and the weather could not have been better. Saturday I went running outside and helped my parents clean up the yard and get ready for summer. That night we went to the Velvet Dog and hung out on the patio. It was perfect out and we had a good time. Sunday, Mike and I put a sealant on his deck. It doesn't look like it would be too difficult until we started doing it. It was just more tedious then anything and the little poles on the perimeter of the deck were the most difficult because there are like 300 of them and four sides on each. However, it looks good and doesn't need to be done for another two years, I think/hope. We went over Mike's friend's house that night but little to say I was exhausted by about 12:30 and had to sneak out early to get some zzzz's. I had off work on Monday and went for a long bike ride in the metroparks in the late morning and then had a family cooked in the afternoon. I love the smell of cooking out on the grill.

Now that summer is officially here it's time to think about how I will spend this summer. With the new years resolutions kicking off in January, I like to have some mid-year goals and expectations. So far this year, I have already meet my new years resolution of replacing coffee with tea (at least during the week) and taking a vacation to somewhere I have never been. I still have a few more for the year yet, but I have some time. This will be my third year of doing my 'Something Summers'. The summer of 2004 was my 'Living Large' summer. I got a new job, new car, new house, and went on several large shopping spree's, in cities other then Cleveland, that I'm think I'm still paying for. Last summer was the 'Pool' summer. I think I went to the pool at least 3 times a week and enjoyed every minute of it. I caught up on reading some good magazines and great books. This summer has been declared as the 'Diet and Exercise' summer. I mean, I still plan to hit up the pool as often as I can since that is for sure one of my favorite summer activities (if you can call it an activity). I want add variety in my workout schedule this summer to include new, or at least different, activities/sports. Mike got me a new tennis racket for birthday and we have played with a few times and I got a new bike last summer that I plan to use more. Rollerblading and running will continue to be in the routine as well as maybe some new sports depending on what I have access to. I would love to do hiking/rock climbing or surfing, if I have the opportunities. I also want need to work on doing more muscle conditioning. I need abs like Jessica Alba. Ok, probably not likely, but at least a goal to aim for. Even if I get half way there, I think I would be in good shape. The main goal for the summer would be to eat healthier, build more muscle to improve strength and endurance, and get into a solid workout routine. I was doing so well for a while, but when it's cold, dark, and snowing out it's hard to get motivated. Now that's it's summer, there is no excuses. Guess I need to stock up on some fitness magazines (I can read those at the pool). "A large volume of adventures may be grasped within this little span of life, by him who interests his heart in everything". -Laurence Sterne

Well since on my last post, my brother so kindly reminder me that I need to update my blog, I decided what better time then on a rainy Saturday. Last weekend was my birthday and usually I am really not a big fan of birthdays, since after the age of 21 they just signify that your getting older. However, this year my birthday was on a Sunday so I got to enjoy an entire weekend of birthday celebration. On Friday, my friend at work invited Mike and I over for a little birthday party/Cinco de Mayo party. We ordered Mexican, made margarita's, and watched the Cavs game. It was so much fun, plus the Cavs won! Oh, and we also had cake and barbie decorations. Just like when I was little. Saturday, Mike surprised me with dinner at Ponte Vecchio. For those of you who have not heard of it, don't worry, I hadn't either. It's on W. 25th and set back on a side street that heads towards the West bank of the flats. It's on the end of a street and has glass windows all around that look out onto the city. It's really beautiful and the food is amazing. I would highly recommend it to everyone. After, we went to the Bier Market down the street and I had an awesome raspberry beer with Dortmonder. Also delicious. Sunday, we finished off the weekend by seeing MI3. Quite predictable, but I still enjoyed it. Then we came home and Mike had gotten my dessert from Heinens. You can never have enough dessert. Monday, I celebrated with family by going to dinner at a Chinese buffet. It has been so long since I had Chinese, that I almost forgot how much I like it.

This week was another busy one which has me planning for the steps of my life. Every now and then I tend to re-group and determine what exactly I'm going to next. I have a few ideas, but I think I'm going to wait until after the summer before pursuing any of these options. We are only lucky enough to have few months of beautiful, warm weather in Cleveland that I like to enjoy it but catching up on reading, going to the pool, and baking in the sun. Once September comes, I will see where I am and go from there. Going back to school has crossed my mind a few times. Furthering my education in any way I can is what I aspire to do. Even volunteering or learning a new skill would help me move in the direction that I hope to. Doing as much as I can and learning more about myself and others has always been important to me. As for now, I'm lucky to be where I am at and have such wonderful and supportive friends and family. Kelly and Jessi, I'll miss you this summer. Hopefully, there will be River girl roads trips. I love you guys, have fun!

Another great weekend! Maybe it's because the weather is getting nicer. I love Spring! I actually love all the seasons, but Spring always brings a breath of fresh air and perfect to have after winter has hit. Tina and I did Happy Hour this week on Friday (instead of the usual Thursday), the day of the Indians home opener. I think it was that much more fun because of it. Although I feel that a lot of the dirty old men try to hit up the game with their high school or college buddies and pretend like they are still there, hitting on girls around that age. Overall, Tina and I had a great time together and a lot of people were out. I remembered the potential Cleveland has, especially in the Spring and Summer. We started out at the Boneyard, where one of the urinal pipes exploded in the boys bathroom and people on the ground level were getting dripped on with a combination of sewer water and urine. Totally gross. Little to say, we ended up leaving there and going to Harry Buffalo. After a few drinks we headed to Flannery's where we got some food and had a few more drinks. Mike picked us up and me and him had a night cap at Dive Bar after dropping off Tina.

I think on Saturday I had a stomach from the food we ate and maybe all the drinks. That night I headed to BG with one of my friends from junior high and high school. It was my friend Kelly's birthday and my other friend who is also at BG will be graduating in next month, so we thought it was the perfect reason for a party. We got there around 7:00 and met them both at this Italian restaurant on Main Street that I love. Too bad it wasn't there when I was:-( Following we went to a few other bars and ended up having a blast! It was so fun to be at BG and partying in up with my girls. Not too many crazy stories, at least that I can remember. We went to Panera for lunch before we left on Sunday and got back to Cleveland around 2:30. The rest of the day I did some cleaning and took a few naps. I was exhausted.

It feels like a Thursday today and I keep thinking tomorrow is Friday. Not good because it's only Wednesday. However, I did find out that they might be having another mission trip to Appalachia in August through 707. So I am pumped and hoping I can get some time off and get my bro to go with me. I'm waiting for some additional information before finding out for sure. Well off to watch One Tree Hill and LOST.Night.

My ipod crashed. Last weekend I was so upset when I plugged my ipod into my car and all my playlists and music had been erased. Not really sure what happened, but after trying to troubleshoot it for two hours while my brother instructed me what to do, I realized she was gone. Later I found out that she was still alive and I just needed to restore her and load back in all my music. I'm still in the process of doing that. Hopefully this week she will be fully functioning. I didn't realize how much I loved her until I thought she was gone. Really puts life in perspective:-) After being upset about it for a few hours, I did realize that if this was the worst thing that happened to me lately, I was really pretty lucky!

This past week at work was busy as always, so I'm glad I fun weekend to look forward to. Tina and I hit up our weekly Thursday hour happy Harry Buffalo in Lakewood. Now that's it's getting warmer out, we are definitely making it a Thursday tradition. It gives you a nice break in the week. Friday was Mike's birthday so we went to Pickwick and Frolic. We got there around 5:15 and had some drinks at the bar before our 6:00 dinner reservation. Then we went to the 7:30 comedy show to see Dom Irrera. He was really good and we ended up getting preferred seats up in the balcony. We have been there before for a few shows, but never knew there were even balcony seats. They were probabaly the best seats, dimly lit with a private candlelight booth. Even the headliner was really good. After we grabbed a drink at Velvet Dog and then headed home.

Saturday my friend and roomate from college had her bridal shower. It was at an adorable lodge in Avon. It was great see her and my other friends. The food was good and it was nice Spring day. I can't wait until Summer. That night Mike and I went to awards ceremony and silent action at Magnificat. One of his family friends was getting an alumnae award. There was open bar and dinner catered by Sammy's. The place looked great and we had a really great time. We ended up staying till around 11:00. Today I have been doing some spring cleaning, washed my car, and went for a run outside. My mom and I are going to make dinner here shortly to take over by brother's and break in his new kitchen table. I'm anxious to see if anything has changed or been decorated since the last time I was there. I'll let you know. Afterwards I'm looking forward to watching 'Memoirs of a Geisha', which I am so excited to see. I can't wait. What a great weekend!

It seems like forever since I have gotten a chance to sit down and write. The past two weeks have been pretty busy. Last weekend I got a chase to hang out with my BG girls since they were home for their Spring Break. Kelly and I went to lunch and to see a movie, which is one of my favorite things to do on a cold and cloudy Saturday afternoon. That night my best friend Tina and I hit up Crazy Rita's for some Margarita's. It was my first time there and it was absolutely wonderful! They have tons of fun margarita's and great food. We went out at 6:00 with all intensions to be home early and ending up getting home at 2:30. We tried walking back to Tina's after having a night cap at Pacer's, but realized it was a pretty far walk for two intoxicated white girls at 2:30 a.m. It was a blast and so nice to do something different. Sunday was reserved for laying around and then going to Starbucks with Jessi.

Last week was a pretty typical week of week with exception with a million things gone wrong. I guess those weeks are bound to happen now and then. My brother and I were also planning to do a mission trip to Appalachia this summer to help bring joy and hope to children in orphanages, but found out the trip is already filled. I've been in touch with another girl at the church that may round you another group to go. It's something I have always wanted to do and will be a little bummed if it does not work out this summer. However, I will be sure to be well-prepared and turn in my application earlier next year. Who knew it filled up so quickly.

Unfortunately, on St. Patty's Day I had to work. Total bummer. I didn't want use a vacation day on it though. It was actually a good day to catch up on all my work since there were a number of people that took off. After work we did have a few cocktails with people and just hung out. So it was nice, but nothing too wild and crazy. Saturday was a day of running errands and doing the usual weekend stuff. Jessi and I meet at Starbucks again (it seems be a weekend routine) but I love just hanging out and being able to catch up with each other and talk girl talk. On Sunday I slept in, watched movies, and did a little shoe shopping. That night my mom made an awesome Italian dinner of gnocchi's and eggplant Parmesan. Yum.

This week should be a good one. Mike and I are hitting up a few films showing at the Cleveland Film Festival. We went last year and saw 'Millions' and a couple others. My love of movies combined with free popcorn and pop made the experience very enjoyable. I'm excited to be going again this year. We are seeing 'Enchanted April' on Wednesday and 'Donneybrook' on Thursday. This weekend is still TBD. Well back to another day of work then Tuesday kickboxing at Fitworks with Tina. I totally need it!