Life's Little Moments!

Lately I haven't had much going on that requires my big fancy camera or a total recap post.  However, fall has brought a lot of little happy moments over the past week that I think deserve some recognition too!  If you follow me on instagram (@robinavocado) you might have seen some of these!

1 & 2- A few touches of fall bring a ridiculous amount of happiness.  We are always looking for a happy median in decorating, since we want the house to feel loved and homey, but we also don't want to spend a crazy amount of money since we'll only be here for a year.  I think our strategically placed fall pieces give it just the right amount of fall-ness :)
3- Starting my job means balancing glasses!  I definitely snagged a tray from the restaurant so I can practice balancing and serving drinks at the same time.  If I needed motivation to work out I definitely got it!  Those suckers are heavy.

4- Mama Avocado came to town for a few days, so we drove into Pittsburgh in search of the best gluten-free pizza we could find.  We ended up at a place called Mandy's Pizza and it was the most glorious thing in the history of ever.  That is a thick FLUFFY crust gluten-free spinach and ricotta cheese pizza.  Heaven, heaven, heaven.
5- Every so often Hunker delivers a little somethin' somethin'.  It doesn't have much, but if you wait long enough you might just get a night when the sky is on fire.  This picture doesn't do justice to the hot pink and fire red we saw driving into Greensburg that night!
6- Mama and I went to mexican.  We ordered the smallest size mango margs.  This was it. Bam.

Happy Friday!

Endless Summer!

I firmly believe in the great Lilly Pulitzer's frame of mind that it's always summer somewhere.

It's no secret that I'm a summer girl, and even though I love fall, it takes a lot for me to say goodbye to summer!

So when my favorite company, Marley Lilly, sent me their new monogrammed bathing suit bandeau top to review I jumped at the chance to extend summer just a little bit!

I love that the back is a tie, so it's guaranteed that it will fit.  I'm such a tiny person that a lot of bathing suits don't stay up (especially since I don't really have anything working for me up front...if you know what I mean ;)). 

This fit perfectly, and the monogram is just the icing on the cake!

I can't wait to pair it with all of my colorful bottoms when it finally gets warm again!

 Yes, I am already looking forward to next summer!

This design of bandeau bathing suit top will be available at the beginning of the new year, so

what better reason to start planning a tropical winter getaway? ;)

*I was sent this bathing suit top in exchange for my post/pictures.  I received no further compensation. 
** Photo credit to Mama Acevedo :)

Girl Behind The Blog: VLOG!

Just be happy I'm not making you watch the first two takes of this vlog!

I've wanted to join the Ashley's Girl Behind the Blog link-up for a long time, but this is the first time I've gotten my act together in time!

Here goes. :)

Lookin' Gooooood.

Okay, so being honest here- I don't really care about the Emmys.  There are about 3 TV shows I watch besides all the reality shows I'm addicted to, so I really never know what's going on or who anyone is.  However, I LOVE me some Neil Patrick Harris, and watching beautiful people wear beautiful clothes is always fun.

Some of the looks I was loving last night:

Kaley Cuoco

Not crazy about the sheer part, but the silhouette and color are to die for, and the earrings and hair look perfect.

Julie Bowen

  Some people were hating on this dress, and it does look a little weird here, but I thought she looked gorgeous. Plus she's hilarious and her hair is exactly how I want my hair for my wedding. 

So it's a win for me!

Anna Gun

See? Anna Gun.  Literally no idea who she is.  I do, however, know that this dress is amazing and I really can't stop looking at it.

*Note: right as I was typing this she won for Breaking Bad. Yay! Now I know who she is.

Last but not least, my girl

Sophia

all photos from 

Does she have any flaws?

No.

After the red carpet I pretty much fell asleep until Carrie came on.  Talk about another human being with no flaws!  

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Thus, my only Emmy excitement came to an end.  Until Shemar Moore graced my screen.  To think, I almost missed my husband!

Where there any looks you were loving? Or hating?

P.s. This is my 300th post.  How crazy is that?!

Late Letters!

I didn't think I'd be able to get out a post today, but my midterm took all of 15 minutes, so I think I can knock one out!  It's been awhile since I wrote some letters...

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Dear Nutrition in the Life Cycle Midterm: Wow.  I thought you were going to be way harder than you were! Thank you for only talking 15 minutes and only having a few calculations.  This math phobic girl is very grateful for that.  I'll be coasting all day on that 94, thank you very much! Also, thank you webcam proctor for not being creepy.  Dear Nutrition & Dietetics: I think I really like you!  It's weird that I actually get into studying and don't dread making millions of meal plans!  Now if I could just make one for myself... Dear Bethenny: I love you.  I have always loved you, and I'm not surprised I love your talk show.   You make my 11ams infinitely better. :)  

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Dear Spiders: GTFO of my house! *ahem* After the laundry spider incident I thought we were going to be okay.  Then yesterday there were TWO of the huge "hunting" spiders in the "dining room" area! I covered them in cups and waited for Dom's brave friend to come take care of them.  Then, I called the landlady and might have asked her to call back ASAP because "I want to die."  It worked, exterminator coming Monday! Dear Friday: Being a distance student and working at a restaurant means weekends don't really mean anything, but grilling and movies tonight still keeps it exciting, and I'm very glad you're here!


hi

(^^^Dom's contribution to this post ;))

5-4-3-2-1 Now you know too much about me.

I'm totally stealing the prompts for this post from Erin over at Two Thirds Hazel, but she specifically said if our brains weren't working and we needed a post idea to snag away.  So I did just that!

Five things I'll be doing over the next week
1. I have my first Nutrition Through the Life Cycle midterm tomorrow, so today I'll be studying my little heart out!  If you're pregnant, overweight, need a slightly low carb diet and need a meal plan I am the girl for you.  It's proctored online...which means I literally am video chatting with a proctor who is watching me through a webcam the whole time.  Sorta kinda awkward.
2. Going to the GI doc (not to be confused with G.I. Joe) to see what's wrong with me and if I have this Fructose Malabsorption thing that fits a little too perfectly into my life.
3. Frolic around Pittsburgh with Mama Avocado :)
4. Celebrate Dom's worst week of med school being over on Monday!
5. But I can't party too hard, since I have my first day of work on Tuesday!

Four things I need to purchase
1. Curtains for our bedroom.  Once pennies got tight we literally stopped decorating mid-room.  Now that we have a little income coming in I think it's probably okay to stop flashing the neighbors every night.
2. Plane ticket to Florida.
3. A teacup Chihuahua.

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I don't think I will ever win this argument, but Dom did say one of them was almost cute, so you never know!
4. Something big huge and sparkly, a brand new car, anything amazing to bribe the lady Dom has to petition to in order to get a transfer to Bradenton.  It's apparently "almost" impossible, but knowing Dom, he doesn't take no for an answer!
5. A puffer vest and some awesome sweaters.  If I'm going to live through fall and winter I need to look fabulous.

Three shows I can't wait to come back into my life
1. REVENGE!  Slowly but surely I've gotten everyone obsessed with it.  It's just so amazing.  The people, the clothes, the Hamptons.  It just doesn't get more beautiful.

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2. Duck Dynasty.  Thankfully the season starts early so I already have Uncle Si back in my life.  Please tell me you all saw John Luke in last night's episode!  This season hasn't been quite as amazing as the last few, but last night certainly made up for it!
3. The X Factor.  Maybe we'll get another pet and name him after our favorite contestant again this year.  #MissYouTateTheHedgeHog

Two reasons I'm excited for fall
1. Candles!  I always have them burning.  You are all out enjoying your Pumpkin Spice Latte's and us allergic-to-coffee people have to sit at home and cry.  Or, burn our pumpkin spice candles and get over it. ;)
2. Clothes!  Sweaters, scarves, boots, oh my!  I had about 2 weeks in Florida when it went to the mid-60s and we went all out with our fall clothes.  It just wasn't enough!

One thing that is currently bothering me
I would say the amount of spiders in Southwest PA, but I really don't want to end this post talking about spiders, so I'm going to go with my second biggest bother.  The Universe.  Trying to keep Erin and I away from each other.  I have very few weekends when I have plans, and those are always the weekends Erin has free!  I don't think the universe thinks it can handle the amazingness of the two of us together so it's trying to keep us apart.  But don't worry, it will happen.  It will be awesome. 

Only Photos: My Favorite Moments :)

From Hawaii to NY #SopranoWedding!

Maybe one day I'll get my act together and have a weekend post on a Monday...

But last week the recap came on Wednesday, so I'm improving!

This weekend Dom and I made a very quick trip to his hometown to celebrate the wedding of two of his very close family friends!

I didn't blog then, but in January of 2012 I spent 2 weeks in Hawaii with Dom's family, Ashlee, her whole family, and Corey and his whole family.  It was an insane vacation getting so many loud Italian families together!

But what we all knew that Ashlee didn't?

Corey was going to propose!

So while they were "taking a walk" before dinner, everyone was gathering an setting up a surprise engagement party for when they got back!

 (And yes, all 3 mothers were looking through telephoto lenses to make sure they were walking back together...or that would have been awkward ;))

The wild and crazy group!

 Being able to celebrate the engagement made it even more special to be able to celebrate their wedding day!

Dom and I flew out of Pittsburgh Saturday morning and got to his house around 2pm.  That gave us just enough time for Dom to get some work done and his mama and I to go get our make-up done :)

 The ceremony was at a beautiful church in Glens Falls.  Sorry for the bad quality iphone pics, I was too excited to stop moving!

So blurry but I had to use it! That's Dom's brother Anthony, who was a groomsman, and his girlfriend Lauren who just happens to be Ashlee's best friend and former college roommate! :)

The cocktail hour was at a country club, and the decorations were incredible!

There was not a dry eye in the house during the first dance, father daughter dance, and the amazing speeches by Ashlee's 2 sisters and Corey's 2 brothers.

 The speech Corey's brothers gave was the funniest best man speech I've ever heard.  In involved a lot of back and forth between the two, basically along the lines of...

"Remember, now you're the man of the house..."

"...until Ashlee comes home from work."

"Now, what ever you say goes..."

"...right out the window!"

You get the idea :) 

It was so fun to see the happiness between everyone and then dance the night away to a great band!

 And get some blackmail in the photo booth, of course. ;)

Then we were up at 6 the next morning to fly back!  

It was a quick 18 hours in NY, but we had a blast! 

Home, Country, Wine, and Friends!

I know it's wayyy late to do a weekend post on a Wednesday, but I enjoyed my last extended weekend at home before I start work next week!  My long weekend included everything I love, seeing my family, friends, country music, and wine!

Friday night my parents and I went to see Songs For A New World, a show that I love and apparently no one in my family but me has seen it!  I've been listening to my favorite song from it, Stars and the Moon a lot, so it was so random when my dad mentioned it was playing at a tiny theater downtown.  We walked in and ran into my brother and his girlfriend!  The show was great, and seeing it in a tiny theater made it even more personal.

On Saturday, my friend Briana and I went to see Rascal Flatts in concert!  Even though I always say Zac Brown Band is my favorite, Rascal Flatts are so much a part of me that I think they will always take the cake!  This was my seventh time seeing them, and I know it won't be the last.  They put on an amazing show, and always sing their old songs (which are their best, IMHO) that bring us right back to high school.  It was an amazing night, and totally worth the 2+ hour drive to and from!

 {Beer and 'Merica}

Sunday was really special, because I got to have lunch with 2 of my best friends, and their HUSBAND and FIANCE.  How weird is that?  We went to Chili's, where we went all the time in high school to talk about our crushes, but now we were having serious conversations about mortgages, wedding planning, and babies! So crazy how life changes!  Don't worry, the ice cream portion of a chocolate molten cake was my date. ;)

{Blurry :( but Married // Enaged // Hungry}

Monday continued the amazingness with a visit to my old job, and wine tasting around Cayuga Lake!

We went to three tastings and met some hilarious characters who kept us laughing the whole time.  Our last one was the "Nautie" winery, and it had tons of nautical things in their shop, and I wanted to buy everything!  We all got "I got nauti on Cayuga Lake" stickers, which should be awkward when you're with your parents...but after about 18 wine samples we didn't mind! ;)

Tuesday it was back to Hunker for another week with my cow friends! Happy Hump Day :)