Sister, sister!

I feel so lucky that my sister is not just my sister...she's my best friend too! She's the one girl (besides our Mom) that has seen me through every single stage in my life. When you grow up with someone you have a special bond- they've seen everything you've seen, they've had all of the same experiences, they've been with you, side-by-side through it all. Lauren just gets me. So when she surprised me this weekend with a beautiful sister tattoo on her arm paying tribute to favorite part of our childhood, I was blown away. It was the best surprise, and the meaning behind the tattoo is so, so special to us. We already have matching sister tattoos on our thighs, and I have her name on my forearm, but this one takes the cake for my favorite tattoo of hers. It's just so pretty.

"Sisters by chance, friends by choice." Love you Lauren, Laurman, Auntie Lolo. You're the best.

a Tucson adventure

Last week my family and I (minus Hank, he was on a business trip in Chicago), headed down to Tucson to celebrate my cousin Ryan's graduation from University of Arizona. It was so nice to head down to their neck of the woods for once. Aunt Pat is my Mom's sister and she and her husband, my Uncle Bob, have four boys. Before we even lived in Arizona we would come out to Tucson to visit them from NJ, and I have so many great memories of when we were all so young- visiting Old Tucson, Mt. Lemmon, desert adventures, and lots of laughs. Whenever we all get together I can't help but think about how neat it would be to have four boys. Originally I wanted a girl at some point, but whenever I'm with my cousins I feel like I could be the mama to a bunch of boys just like my Aunt and be so happy.

So anyway, Ryan (the third oldest) graduated UofA so they had a party at my Aunt and Uncle's. Their home is so beautiful and it's always such a treat to enjoy a cool(er) desert night. The night was full of Mexican food, way too much cake, some badminton on their sports court, lots of longing glances at the crystal clear pool, and some trampoline jumping. It was a great night.

Sarah, Henry and I drove down together, and on the way down we of course made the hours fly by with so much girltalk as Henry snoozed away. On the way home it was no different...until I looked down at my odometer and realized that my gas light was on. And had been on.  We were on the long, desolate stretch between Tucson and Florence, about 35 miles between each point. I checked my "range" and it let me know that I had 5 lovely miles left until we ran out of gas. In the middle of nowhere. With little to no cell reception. In 90+ degree heat. And a baby in the car. My worst nightmare. BUT luckily my parents, sister and Abe were in front of us, so my iPhone managed to grab a signal and let them know what was up. I fully anticipated running out of gas...but guess what? My fabulous, wonderful, super car got us all the way to the gas station. We may have been running on fumes, but we got there!

So lesson learned- check your gas levels before engaging in intense girltalk sessions.

All in all though it was a wonderful day and I'm so happy we got to celebrate with Ryan. Unfortunately (and REALLY regretfully) I only used my phone's camera that evening, but these are still good representations of our night, however embarrassingly bad the photo quality...

I sure love my family.

Britney & Nicki Minaj

(all Britney photos from the show last night)

So last night Hank and I got to "cash in" our birthday present from my sister and see Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj. I've always been the biggest Britney fan, and I absolutely love her. She's been a huge part of my workout, party, and overall life soundtrack for as long as I can remember. I adore her (and yes I realize I am saying I adore a popstar. I do). I'm totally Team Britney, no matter what craziness she's gotten into over the years. And Nicki? I LOVE Nicki and listen to Pink Friday a few times a week. So it was beyond amazing to see both ladies in one night. Nicki played most of my favorite songs, and Britney played a lot of her new songs (which I love too), but also some oldies as well. She also looked amazing, sounded great, and we had the best time dancing around the entire show.

I also have to say how much I love that Hank is always willing to do fun things like this- all three of us had such a fabulous time and I woke up this morning with the hugest smile on my face. Thanks again to Lauren for the best birthday present ever! Love you sister!




a quick dinner, pre-concert!