Philly!

Ashish's good friend from Pharmacy School got married this past weekend in Lancaster, PA. We decided to take advantage of the opportunity to see a new city together and go up a few days early and tour Philadelphia.

 Disclaimer: None of the pictures of me are good, it was 106 degrees when we stepped off the plane. The temperatures only dropped into the 90s at 11:00 at night. I thought the south had awful humidity, Georgia's humidity is like a cool breeze compared to Philadelphia.

Our first stop was the Liberty Bell

And on our stroll we ran into this...

I wanted to start a "Do's and Don'ts of Philly" blog after seeing this. I'm not sure who told her that this dress looked good but they clearly lied to her.

As we were leaving the rental car parking lot, we asked the attendant where to eat and he suggested this place.

Jim's Steaks

I have to say, I wasn't impressed. I went to Philly thinking that I would have the most delicious cheese steak, unfortunately, I got let down. Maybe I'm not cut out for restaurants that have cooks that yell out your order, all the beverages are either sold in a can, carton, or bottle, or you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the seating area. We will chalk this one up to experience.

 Side note: The last time that I was in the Northeast I was in the 9th grade. We visited Washington DC on an orchestra trip. I didn't realize that Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware, and Atlantic City were all within  1.5 hours of each other. Guess that's why I taught reading instead of geography. Ha.

Our hotel was in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. We were trying to stay somewhere central to all of the stops on our agenda. Our first stop, Cherry Hill Mall. No, we didn't come all the way to New Jersey to visit a mall, we had to get a baby shower gift. We met Ashish's cousin, Mihir, and his wife, Dhara, at a great steakhouse in Marlton.  Have you ever eaten at a restaurant solely because of the atmosphere? Come on, I know I'm not the only one. Well, this was not one of them. The atmosphere was fantastic-3 bars, 4 firepits, and open kitchen, palm trees (yes, palm trees in New Jersey); the food was just as good, if not better than the atmosphere. It was great to see Mihir and Dhara, they are expecting their first child next month so we had lots to talk about.

Friday, Atlantic City! I am not really a gambler, I know that no one really likes to lose their money but I really don't like to lose. After $5 down, I am ready to wrap it up and head home. I've never been to Vegas but I picture that it is a lot like Atlantic City-minus the ocean.

We gambled, ate, gambled, shopped (there is an outlet in Atlantic City. Best.thing.ever.), gambled, ate, and gambled some more. We had a great time and only walked away with a loss of $50-not too bad in my opinion.

 

Wedding Extravaganza! I took tons of pictures at Sut and Angie's wedding but didn't get a single picture of Ashish and I. Both the Cambodian wedding and the American wedding were beautiful.

Khmer weddings usually begin with the groom and his family heading over to the bride’s home bearing gifts to the family as dowry. Here the friends and families are introduced, wedding rings are exchanged, and three traditional songs are used during the presentation of the dowry (Neay Pream He Kaun Kamlas—Arrival of the Groom, Chambak Rouy—Presenting the Dowry, and Pak Paeuk Pisa Sla—Inviting the Elders to Chew Betel Nut). A tea ceremony follows for Cambodians of Chinese descent, then breakfast for everyone.

Ashish with his part of the "gifts."

Ashish and Cheech

Presenting the gifts to Angie's parents

Ya gotta love a sleeping baby at a wedding

I hit the mother in law jackpot with Ashish's mom and from the looks of it, Angie got pretty lucky too!

The bride and her daddy

Ashish and Sut

By Sunday, it was time to go home. We missed Jordan terribly and frankly, I need to get a part time job to pay for the expense of all the tolls and expensive parking decks on this trip!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I'm LOVING the fact that we got to take a mini vacation, just Ashish and I, and now we are back home. We missed Jordan like crazy but the time away was long overdue!

Ashish's friend, Sut, got married in a city outside of Philly so we made a vacation out of our stay!



I'm LOVING these Crocs Flip Flops. Crocs have come a long way since the beginning. I swore that I would never buy a pair for myself. They look chunky and clunky, definitely not for me. Well, while be were waiting on our plane back to Atlanta, I browsed through the store in the airport and came across these (see below), they were like HEAVEN and not so chunky and clunky!

I'm LOVING a kid that loves to clean! We bought this vaccuum at a garage sale for $3, it was the best $3 we've ever spent, he loves to clean with it.

I'm LOVING this "Dancing Queen," he is the one in the red, back, and white checkered shirt! Notice that he keeps dancing, even when the music stops. Ha-he is his mama's baby!

And as always, I'm LOVING this guy...

Link up with Jaime and tell us what you're LOVING today!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

So, I totally missed last Wednesday's entry. I check Blogger several times a day, I read several other WILW entries and never thought to write my own. I think mommy brain got the best of me (at least that is the excuse that I am going to use). Ha. I was reminded of how blessed I am over the weekend. A friend reminded me to slow down and enjoy the small things. This week's WILW is brought to you by the idea of basking in the small things!

I am LOVING this family picture. I was really good at getting family pictures taken up until Jordan turned 2. Growing up, we didn't have a lot of family pictures. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of pictures of my brother and I, my mom and my dad, but there weren't a lot of pictures of all of us together. When I had Jordan, I said that I would make a point of getting a family picture at every exciting place that we went. I digress, as I often do. This family picture was taken my Lizzie Lemoine Photography, she is amazing.

Look how excited Jordan is!

I'm LOVING the summertime! We took Jordan to a splash park for the first time, he LOVED it!

I'm LOVING, time with friends. With the hustle and bustle of life, marriage, parenthood, and careers, we often forget to make time for friends. We met some good friends (who also have a child that is 2), at the Splash Park for some fun! Note: there was another couple there but I didn't get a picture of them :(

Oops, I cut Ashley's head off. Ha.

I'm LOVING...little friendships.

And as always, I'm LOVING  these two...

 Don't forget to link up with Jamie to tell us what you are LOVING this week! Happy Wednesday!

New Addiction

I missed 3 hours of sleep lastnight. I had my night planned out, I was going to come home (I went out with some girlfriends), put J to bed, and then crawl into my bed. I wasn't going to turn on my TV or my computer. Something always happens to me late at night; once J and Ashish go to to bed, I get a burst of energy. It's like my mind can't turn off. I'm not sure if it's the quiet of my house or that I just really have that much to think about. I used to read at night but reading would only keep me awake.For Lent, we gave up TV in our bedroom and I must say, I think we all slept better. Recently, I started using the burst of energy and the quiet of my house, as my quiet time with God. I used to have quiet time in the morning. I would wake up before Ashish and J and I would just spend time with God...usually just basking in his glory. Sometimes I don't say anything-I know that God can hear my unspoken prayers; other times I lay it all out. I pray for exactly what I want or what I feel like I need. I digress, lastnight, after my quiet time, I decided to get out my computer. I was just going to catch up on some of the blogs that I follow, hoping it would tire my mind. WRONG. I checked my e-mail and I FINALLY received my Pinterest invitation. If you haven't hear of or explored Pintrest, you should. It's the best thing ever! Instead of tiring me, Pinterest woke me up. There is so much to see, so much to do, so many things to oh and ah over. For anyone that is the least bit creative, you will love it.

I love quotations-inspirational, funny, thought provoking. I thought I'd share some of the quotations that I came across in the wee hours of the morning.

-Only God can turn a MESS into a message, a TEST into a testimony, a TRIAL into a triumph, and a VICTIM into a victory.

-I love you with all of my butt, I'd say heart, but my butt is bigger.

-What if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday. LOVE LOVE LOVE this.

-I love it when someones laugh is funnier than the joke.



Happy Pinning!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Independence Day Edition!

I came across this idea while reading one of the blogs that I follow. Every Wednesday she tells us what she is loving that week. I love the idea, check out her blog. I come across so many ideas and concepts that I would love to share with people. What better way to do it than in my blog! So, here is what I am loving this Wednesday.

I'm Loving that my 3rd of July ran smoothly. We invited some of our closest family members and friends. Before we knew it, there were 52 people in our house.We had a blast. My dad rented a moonwalk and snow cone maker for the kids. We had so much food it was ridiculous. What a great time we had!

My brother, his fiance, me, and Ashish (my husband)



I'm Loving...my parents. I couldn't have pulled this party off without them (and Ashish). They always go above and beyond to help me. I thank God everyday for my parents and my in-laws.

I'm Loving...this sweet boy.

Shooting "waga" guns!

I'm Loving...friends.

I'm Loving...these three people. My friend, Keisha, had a baby girl on June 8th. Ms. Kennedy graced us with her presence at my party.

And, always, I am Loving this guy!

Happy Wednesday everyone!