Love and marriage

Over Columbus Day weekend, two  of my favorite people in the world finally got hitched! Ben and Sarah have been together since high school, and I think I can speak for all of our mutual friends when I say that we’ve all been anticipating the actual ceremony since they got engaged three years ago. I had a GREAT time. The pictures can speak for themselves.

My attempt to take pictures of the bridal party

Morgan and I showed up in the same dress…she’s lucky she’s awesome. 🙂

 

Amy, Alysha, and me! And Darren being a jerk and ruining a good picture with bunny ears.

 

His and hers gnome cake toppers

 

My attempt to take pictures of the bridal party

Morgan and I showed up in the same dress…she’s lucky she’s awesome. 🙂

Amy, Alysha, and me! And Darren being a jerk and ruining a good picture with bunny ears.

His and hers gnome cake toppers

 

 

I’m going back to the start

So I’m back from a great weekend! My wonderful friend Tina was on the East Coast this weekend, so Sarah, Meghan, and I all met up with her in Worcester! We spent some time hanging out on the Holy Cross campus and reminiscing about our HC days.

There have been so many changes on campus in the year since we graduated! HC got rid of a set of rickety old stairs that my friends and I dubbed “the creepy stairs” and replaced them with a classy cement (I think) staircase complete with benches. The Hogan quad also got a major upgrade.

Say what you will, but Holy Cross has probably the most beautiful campus I’ve ever seen.

 I didn’t really take too many pictures of the campus after graduation, so I aggressively Instagrammed the hell out of everything I saw.  I just love showing off my alma mater!

Afterwords, we got Vietnamese! I had pho for the first time, and now I’m obsessed. Luckily for me,  Wallingford recently got a Vietnamese restaurant!

Finally,  only a few days after our visit, Father Brooks, the President Emeritus of the College, passed away. Father Brooks was instrumental in shaping Holy Cross into the school it is today.  He led the way in integrating the school when many other voices were against him, and played a huge part in the school going coed.  Journalist Diane Brady even wrote Fraternity about several black men Father Brooks personally recruited and mentored at Holy Cross, including Clarence Thomas,  Stanley Grayson, Ted Wells, Ed Jones, and Eddie Jenkins. The book is a great read even if you’re not a Holy Cross alum, because Brady showed the school for what it was back in the day, warts and all.

Without Father Brooks,  many of my classmates definitely would not have had the experience we had at Holy Cross.  I never had the pleasure of meeting or taking a class with Father Brooks, but he played a huge role in developing Holy Cross into the amazing Jesuit liberal arts college it is today.

Black bean & mango quinoa salad

NOM!

I made an amazing quinoa salad this weekend thanks to Eclectic Recipes!

• 2 cups quinoa
• 4 cups water
• 1 mango, diced
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped fine
• the juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Cook quinoa according to package directions with water. Add all other ingredients to a large bowl. When quinoa is cooked, add to large bowl and stir to combine. Let set for about 15 minutes before serving so that the flavors can combine.

I did make a couple changes to the recipe as written. I cooked the quinoa with chicken stock,used some roasted red peppers instead of fresh pepper, and mixed some red and white quinoa together.  I also added a couple cloves of garlic to the chicken stock because I am obsessed with garlic.

All in all, the end result was BANGIN’. Even my mom liked it and she hates quinoa.  I’ve had leftovers for lunch for the past two days and I’m still not tired of it.

back to the real world

So vacation is over and I’m back to the office!

All in all, last week was a much needed break. I got to spend some time with my friends from home, which was awesome because I’m usually too tired/cranky to hang out after work.

On the Saturday before Memorial Day my friend Alysha had a meat party at her house. We cooked all types of meat over an open flame and enjoyed some brews.  Nothing beats good friends and a warm fire.

This past weekend I went camping FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME on Cape Cod with some of my friends from Holy Cross/the HCGTMB.  I’ve decided that I’m not much of a wilderness/camping kind of girl, but I had a great time hanging out with some wonderful people that I hadn’t seen in awhile.  I met up with my friends Lindsey and Meghan in Harvard, Mass, and then we drove up to BC to pick up our friend Brian.

Johan Santana got the first no hitter in Mets history, after 50 years and over 8,000 games! Unfortunately for me, I was camping with no TV access, and surrounded by Red Sox fans who didn’t understand how exciting this was for a poor old Mets fan like me. I’m so happy that Johan was the one who finally got it! He’s a true class act and an awesome Met.

Unfortunately, we got hit by a huge rain storm on Saturday. We made the best of it by going candle pin bowling.  I was a little disappointed that we didn’t encounter the Cape Cod Bear (the black bear that swam across the Cape Cod canal and has been wandering around the Cape ever since), but all in all, I had fun.

I also got a bit of reading and pool time in last week

Now, back to reality…

Lazy Sunday

I love reading outside on sunny days. All I need is a good book (Bossypants by Tina Fey, in case you’re wondering) and an iced coffee (Dunkin’ Donuts French vanilla, at least today).

Dog days

I love when my dog is freshly groomed. He looks like a puppy again.

I am an Instagram Addict

Reunited and it feels so good!

So I’m finally able to drink out of a straw again! This means that I can finally use my beloved iced coffee tumbler! I like coffee, but I prefer iced coffee. I make some every morning and bring it in to work, so I was really suffering after I got my wisdom teeth out.

I love these baby bananas!!

Zucchini muffins!

I made zucchini muffins on Sunday! Unfortunately, I didn’t have fresh dill like the recipe called for and used (too much) dried rosemary. They still look good though!