Wednesday, February 28, 2018

We're Engaged!!

This post is a little delayed but WE'RE ENGAGED!!!



Last Tuesday after work Tim and I went to dinner at the restaurant where we had our first date. After having a nice dinner he drove me around for awhile and I was so sure he was going to propose. When he finally drove us back to the apartment I was a little disappointed because I was so sure.

Once I got out of the car and turned around Tim was getting down on one knee with a ring box in his hand! 


In my opinion it's the most beautiful ring in the world and I am obsessed with it! It's been very distracting this whole past week :)


We are so excited to plan our wedding and I can't wait to share everything with you here on the blog!

Monday, February 26, 2018

Staycation 2018: Babysitting Tilly and Valentines Day

Hey everyone! I'm back again today with another Staycation post! We got to babysit one of our favorite babies (well I guess toddler? But really why are we rushing them growing up....she is still one of our babies!) We had never babysat for Tilly before so I was a little nervous she might freak out when mom and dad left her with us. Needless to say she barely noticed!


All the girls love Uncle Tim it's really hard to compete! They all think he's so funny and I'm just second place compared to him but that's okay I think he's pretty great too :)



Tilly is obsessed with books which is adorable! She doesn't even need you to read to her she just wants to flip the pages, lift the flaps, kiss any mirrors and then move on to the next book! The one she's holding in the picture above is a Thanksgiving book which we read approximately 3000 times.


This girl also loves to eat! Any time you are eating she needs to be eating too. I feel the same way Tilly :)


She served up some delicious meals out of her food truck..


and cooked in her kitchen...along with playing with every other toy available! We spent so much time playing with her cash register and princess castle it was so much fun spending time with her!

And of course it was great to see Rachel, Ant and Ally that day as well- but I didn't take any pictures of them :)

On Valentines Day we had a low-key day around the apartment. I headed off to a hair appointment mid-afternoon while Tim got started cooking dinner. I had no idea what he was making besides steak but came home to a delicious smelling apartment. He had prepped everything and was just waiting to start our meal.


Nothing is more handsome then this guy cooking! *sigh*


We had a delicious meal of filet mignon (seriously the most tender steak I've ever eaten) with homemade garlic butter on top. Our sides were roasted red potatoes and broccoli au grautin which were both amazing. Seriously, this guy can cook!


I loved having a low key valentines day at home with this handsome guy it was perfect! 


Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Staycation 2018: Date Nights

Oh it's so hard to be back at work after having such a lovely staycation last week!

I have quite a bit of vacation time banked at work so I try to take off at least two full weeks a year (along with other random days throughout the year) in order to not lose time. Since we just went to Disney back in September and are trying to save money and be responsible adults we opted to just take a staycation! 

Tim's job is seasonal so he has a few months off each winter which is nice for both of us since when I can take time off he's already home and waiting for me! 

I thought I'd share a couple of date nights we had while I was off since we had a great time and they are definitely places to visit if you come to Rhode Island!


One of our date nights was at Dave and Busters. This is a bar and a huge arcade that is geared towards both adults and kids. Early on in our relationship (almost three years ago!) we went there and had a blast but were both still in the nervous stage so we probably spent more time worrying about embarrassing ourselves then we did actually playing the games. Tim actually commented on how it would be more fun this time because he didn't have to worry about me thinking he was a nerdy gamer.



We started with dinner which was pretty good. We ordered tater tots as an appetizer which ended up showing up at the same time as our dinner (a burger for Tim and mac and cheese for me) so the manager came over and apologized and offered us unlimited blue light games (games that don't give out tickets). We weren't even planning on complaining about this they just went above and beyond which was great! We also were given our appetizer for free which was an amazing added bonus.

After we finished eating we headed into the arcade to play a ton of games.


There are traditional games there such as skeeball, basketball, racing games, etc... There are also virtual reality games and casino-like games. I love playing the Deal or No Deal game even though I never win at it. We played a Walking Dead game which was fun and then a Jurassic Park game which was amazing! It was such a fun night roaming around the arcade and the best part is we spent only $25 on a game pass and had hours of fun! (The free blue light games definitely helped with that)

I still had the card with our tickets from the last time we went to Dave and Busters years ago so now we have a ton of tickets waiting to be spent in the gift shop. We decided to hold off getting any of the gimmicky items and will just keep saving for a bigger priced item in the future.

Our second date night took place in South Kingstown at a pizza restaurant.


We had heard great things about Pasquales and from the moment we walked in it did not disappoint! The restaurant had a great Italian feel and we chose to sit at the bar where we could watch the wood fire pizzas be cooked right in front of us. Above is the wood fire which cooked pizza in just a few minutes.


While Tim opted for the Arturo pizza I of course went for the Alla Vodka.


Tim ordered a Whaler's Rise which is a beer from a local brewery that we have visited a few times.




We enjoyed hanging out together and watching everyones food get cooked right in front of us. Soon it was time to eat!


I opted to have no prosciutto on my pasta since I'm not a huge meat person and prefer to just eat all the pasta I can. The vodka sauce was amazing and I would've been happy to eat it out of a jar with a spoon. I commented to Tim that I wanted a jar to take home and eat.


Tim couldn't say enough good things about his pizza. In fact, he asked if I would judge him for licking the plate. I didn't have any of it but I can tell you that it was a thin crust and looked delicious! He also said that he would never eat any other meal out again if we could go there once a week and eat a pizza.

If you are ever in RI definitely head down to South Kingstown for a great meal at Pasquales-it's totally worth it!

Monday, February 19, 2018

February Grove Collaborative Unboxing

This was my second month receiving an order from Grove Collaborative and it was great to get my order in! I received a ton of really cool things in this order so I thought I would share them with you guys.


This was a big order for me but I found a ton of great things on the website so I had to get them!


Since I'm currently doing a VIP trial I received my first VIP gift which was this lip balm from the Grove brand.  I have yet to try this so I will let you know my thoughts once I use it. It's pretty cool to get a free gift so I'm willing to try it.


Currently Grove has this mint set up for grabs which is amazing! It includes Mrs Meyers multi surface spray, dish soap and hand soap. It also comes with two light blue microfiber cloths. I am loving this scent from Mrs. Meyers and have already set up my cart for next month with more of these dish soaps and sprays. This is a limited time scent so get it while you can!


I keep baking soda open in my fridge in order to keep smells to a minimum. This is a cheap solution for keeping your fridge smelling great.


Method Antibac Bathroom Cleaner is one of my tried and true favorites. I am using another product right now but once I'm done with it I will be moving on to this.


The next product I order is the Method Glass Cleaner. I've never tried this but will be using it once I'm done with the Windex I'm currently using.


Yes.....I ordered extra Mrs. Meyers Mint Dishsoap and Multisurface Spray! I'm telling you these smell great and I am loving them. They are limited edition so if you are interested, grab them now!

If you would like to order from Grove Collaborative click here and you will get $10 to use towards anything you want!

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This post contains referral links. I do receive a small bonus to my Grove Collaborative account if you do sign up through this link but it is at no cost to you. I greatly appreciate you supporting my blog through referrals like this!

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Staycation 2018 : Visiting Mystic Aquarium

On Monday we took a day trip to Mystic, CT to visit the aquarium with one of our favorite families! It was a chilly day which made the outdoor parts of our adventure short-lived but as someone who loves visiting any sort of animals I was thrilled to walk around and see what we could.


So come along with me as I photograph our day at Mystic Aquarium. I think you'll be inspired to visit too!



We met up with this little girl in the parking lot and she was beyond excited to visit the "fishies home" with us.


She took Tim by the hand and quickly led him inside.


One of my favorite exhibits is when you first walk inside the aquarium and is the beluga whales. There are two whales in the exhibit and they are super friendly. They will come right up to the glass and interact with you which is so much fun.


Emma is pretty enthralled by them but we got cold quickly so we headed inside to the main section of the aquarium to see what other sea creatures we could find.


I loved testing out my new camera by taking pictures inside the exhibit. I think I managed to take a few good ones too!


This little girl seemed to enjoy her second trip to the aquarium. It won't be long before she is running around with her big sister.


Such a cutie.




After spending quite a bit of time checking out all the indoor exhibits we headed back outside to see the beluga whales again.



Emma was so excited every time one swam by. Her excitement was so contagious and it was nice to have the area all to ourselves so she could run back and forth and enjoy the exhibit.



Once we had finished looking at the belugas we headed past the seals and over to the penguins.






At this point it was super cold and hailing so we didn't stay outside too long. The penguins weren't really swimming around or doing much, mostly just standing in a group so we didn't have too much excitement at this exhibit. 


Say cheese!


Thanks to this family for inviting us to spend the day with them at the aquarium!


We had a great time and it was so nice to spend time with some of our favorite people :)


Parker was pretty exhausted by the end of the trip but we headed to Friendly's for a delicious meal after the aquarium anyways.

We had such a great time and highly recommend Mystic Aquarium if you are in the area. They are redoing several of their exhibits right now but it is a great place to spend a few hours if you are an animal lover like me!