New Orleans... The Big Easy!

Mr. Handsome and I just got back from a wonderful vacation in New Orleans, LA. For the second Memorial Day in a row, we flew down to the Big Easy to watch close friends of ours get hitched!

We visited two awesome breweries (NOLA & Courtyard), stuffed our faces with po'boys and oysters and participated in another second line parade. The oysters we ate were literally the size of my hand. The SIZE of my HAND! I must have eaten 30 in one sitting.

FUN and FRIVOLITY was had by all! Especially when a jazz band in a bar made Mr. Handsome and I dance in front of the entire establishment. (Yes, we brought down the house).

CHEERS & Who Dat!?

We're Engaged!!... #NickaryLove

For the last few weeks, I haven't slept. I've been so excited and jumpy that my average nightly shut eye totaled about 3-4 hours a night. The reason?... Mr. Handsome shared the news a couple weeks ago that he had purchased a ring and was plotting fun ways to present it to me soon. AHHH!!

So naturally, every time Mr. Handsome knelt down to tie his shoe my heart starting racing. Not knowing when, where and how he was going to pop the question was driving me bonkers! But this past Friday over the course of the day, he worked some creative magic around our apartment planning a surprise after-work proposal!

When I arrived home, there was a little ribbon tied around the front door handle. (That was my first clue). When I opened the door, there were ribbons draping everywhere through our kitchen and living room suspending pictures and memories from our six years together. He had also put colorful roses in mason jars all over the apartment.

I was getting choked up as I walked through the "Nickary Museum," reading everything he had written about the fun times we've spent together. There were little cardboard arrows on the floor leading me towards the balcony. When I peaked outside, he was standing there next to a table fully decorated for a romantic, surprise happy hour. I opened the door and started jumping up and down as he dropped to his knee and proposed. It has been such a great weekend celebrating with our family and friends!

Happy Date-A-Versary! #Nickary

Me and Mr. Handsome celebrated our 6 year Date-A-Versary yesterday! I can't believe it's been 6 years since we started dating. Time flies like a freaking bird, readers. Like a BIRD!

We celebrated by going to a beer festival in the nearby town of Shirlington. There were 30+ craft breweries there offering samples of their tasty spring seasonals. We ended up spending over 4 hours walking around, drinking brewskies, playing w/ cute puppies, talking to random festival attendees, etc.

We were going to go to dinner at a fancy new restaurant called Water & Wall. However, after 4 hours of drinking we accidentally took a nap and missed our reservation. WHOOPS! We decided Papa John's pizza and colorful Bakeshop macarons were a good substitute.

Happy Date-A-Versary!

Las Vegas, NV + Charlottesville, VA

It has been QUITE a busy week for yours truly! I spent Monday through Thursday in Las Vegas for an exciting little work conference. Working in the alcoholic beverage industry + Las Vegas = one fun PARTY! We ate, we drank, we panelled, we gambled and we businessed.

By Thursday night, I was utterly exhausted. I got to see Sammy Hager perform live, ate at the restaurants of Giada DeLaurentis and Buddy V (The NJ Cake Boss), strolled through almost every Vegas hotel and watched the gondola singers row along the river through the Venetian.

But when I got home Thursday night, the week wasn't over! Early on Friday, Brother Leister and I drove down to Charlottesville, VA so I could run the Charlottesville Half-Marathon Saturday morning. We stayed with our buddies Antonio and Hannah, who graciously showed us around the city.

We ate 28 inch pizzas, played law school charades with UVA law students, drank the Nicaraguan specialty Flor de Cana, visited two different breweries (Champion and Three Notch'd)... OH, and I woke up at 5:30am to run a half-marathon. AND kicked it's hilly, windy butt.

And now, I'm going to eat my Cadbury Egg and have a lovely Easter Sunday. May the Bunny treat you well today!

Do not FEAR, Spring is HERE!

It's spring time, loyal readers! It has finally arrived. Yesterday was the first official day of spring, and with it came 30 degree weather and a morning full of snow flurries. But did that stop me from having a delightful day? NO, SIR!

Since the owner of my company is Irish, St. Patrick's Day is an official company holiday. However, I have an important meeting every Tuesday afternoon, so I took yesterday off instead. I pledged to myself that I would take advantage of my free Friday and make it a legitimate staycation that I could be proud of.

I maintain a list of local restaurants that I want to try. It mostly consists of friend and co-worker recommendations and raves from Tom Sietsema's reviews. Yesterday I managed to cross off THREE of the restaurants on my list!

I had breakfast at South Block Cafe, a local juice and smoothie bar recommended by one of our neighbors. I ordered the Super Green smoothie, (pineapple juice, spinach, kale, bananas & mangoes), and the breakfast burrito, (whole wheat tortilla, potatoes, avocado, egg whites & salsa). The Super Green smoothie was alright, (could have used some more sweetener) and so was the breakfast burrito, (could have used some ketchup), but I wasn't incredibly overwhelmed. Next time I'm going to order the Caveman Bowl, (acai blend, dates, coconut, banana & granola), and the King Kong smoothie, (chocolate, bananas, cashew milk, dates, peanut butter & protein powder).

Breakfast kept me full for several hours! When I was finally hungry again, I ordered a Shack Burger from Shake Shack. (No cheese fries! Had I been more hungry, I would have DEFinitely ordered cheese fries). The burger was very tasty. Now I know what all the hype is about. And next time, I'm definitely ordering cheese fries.

Dinner took place at Pupatella Pizza, a local joint in Arlington, VA that serves up authentic Neapolitan pizza pies. The restaurant wasn't very organized, (their ordering/seating/delivery system is a hoopla of insanity), but the pizzas were very good. The pizzas were clearly made with fresh, high-quality ingredients and were pleasantly flavorful. YUM!

To me, spring and summer mean finally getting outside, trying new things and having fun adventures and new experiences. I am proud to say that the first day of spring was a success! 

Fruit & Vegetable Cleanse!

One of my New Years resolutions for 2015 was to complete a 3-day fruit and vegetable cleanse. For 3 full days I would eat nothing but fruits, vegetables... and nuts, (for a lil kick of protein and fat). On Tuesday morning I woke up early, ready to embrace the day and start my exciting new food experiment!

Unfortunately I was REALLY hungry when I woke up Tuesday morning, so I decided fruits and vegetables wouldn't cut it. I decided to have cereal and yogurt for breakfast instead. BUT - I did have an orange for a mid-morning snack. For lunch, I had sweet potatoes, an avocado and broccoli. But broccoli sucks when eaten plain, so I dipped it in a dab of hummus. I had almonds & grapes for an afternoon snack, but was still hungry like 30 minutes later so I ate my Thai leftovers from the night before - tofu and white rice in garlic sauce.

Wednesday and Thursday, I did a LITTLE bit better. I ate mostly fruits, vegetables & nuts, but also helped myself to some pretzels and chocolate covered cherries. Oh, and a few granola bars... and M&Ms... and popcorn.

What have I learned from my little food experiment the last 3 days? I've learned that cleanses are stupid. Unless you're sick and dying and being ordered by a doctor, you shouldn't do a cleanse. You should eat healthy most of the time, but treat yourself too. Everything in moderation, friends! Eat what you want, and what makes you feel healthy and energized. If anything, all the fiber from my cleanse has left me feeling overly full and bloated. No more cleanses for THIS pretty lady!

NOW - If I'm not mistaken, yesterday was National Wine Drinking Day. Because of my cleanse, I missed that oh-so-holy of holidays. ERGO- Pass the Pinot!

February 14th - Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, loyal readers! I hope you all got to celebrate the day with loved ones and eat lots of chocolate, drink tons of wine, wear bright red and do corny fun things. If that's not your style, I hope you got to celebrate the way YOU wanted to. (Wear black, binge on Ben & Jerry's, adopt a pet, make baked goods for friends, watch horror films, burn the clothing of ex-boyfriends, whatever!)

Mr. Handsome didn't get home from a business trip until late afternoon so we celebrated the holiday with a romantic night in and a delicious homemade dinner. There were beautiful flowers, homemade decorations, salmon, couscous, and Pinot Noir. We finished the night by watching "Chef" on Netflix. It's a GREAT movie that I highly recommend.

Happy Valentine's Day to all! Much love to you :)