Over the Hill at 26

Monday is possibly the worst day to have a birthday - especially when you have

a big girl job.

Not only is Monday a sucky day for a birthday, but 26 is like the most

annoying/useless birthday. So really the two deserved each other.

Thankfully I have a husband and friends who take over

the planning of sucky days for me.

The day began with work :D

Thankfully I work with some pretty awesome people

who understand my love of Giraffes and the color yellow. 

When I arrived at work I was showered with lavish yellow, giraffey gifts.

My friends know me well...

After work I drove home, got fancy, and Ricky drove

us to Flemings. Ricky even paid for valet - SHMANCY!

The hostess led us to a cute little table that 

was decorated for my special occasion.

Even though it was a Monday and I had work the next morning, I decided 

to drink the night away - it was my birthday for goodness sakes.

I started the evening off with a French 75 and told the 

server to keep them coming - you only turn 26 once!

I vowed that 26 would be a new and different year, so I started off

the year by ordering an appetizer completely out of 

my comfort zone - the Pan Crisp Pork Belly.

Made with creamy goat cheese grits and
dark cherry and sweet onion chutney

Even though the pork was a little fatty, I really enjoyed this dish. 

I may not order it again at Flemings, but I am

glad I tried it and I would totally try it again somewhere else.

Ricky stayed in his comfort zone and ordered the french onion soup - which of course

was fantastic.

For my entree I ordered the Small Plate of the Certified Angus Beef Hangar

Steak.

I will order this EVERY time I go back to Flemings. 

It was small but filling, and it came with a tasty slaw side.

Ricky and I ordered a side of onion rings to share.

These onion rings came straight from heaven themselves.

They where the perfect balance between crispy and soft, the 

breading was to die for, and the dip was mouth watering. 

I would highly suggest trying these if you go to 

Flemings, but I warn you, it will ruin all other 

onion rings for you...

Ricky ordered the 12 oz Filet for dinner and it was awesome, even though 

the plate decor was lacking.

Don't judge this book by its cover!

For desert we wanted to try something a little different.

Flemings is known for its

Lava Cake that you have to reserve ahead of time (which 

we have tried before)

but this time we wanted to try the desert with the 

melted chocolate, the toasted marshmallow, and the 

crispy graham cracker.

Dassss Right! We ordered the deconstructed Smores (which are no longer

on the menu).

I was feeling so adventurous that I even told the server to bring

out a good wine to pair this desert with.

He brought out a delectable white ice wine that paired beautifully

with the desert.

After devouring the desert, the server brought the check along with 

a $25 giftcard and a homemade box of chocolates.

Dress - Francesca's , Shoes & Purse - Prada

After dinner we headed home to call it a night....

It was a Monday ya know!

Thankfully my birthday did not end there! That weekend 

I visited Tampa with a few friends :)

The Great Trip Part III - Day 2 in NYC

Thursday morning Ricky and I woke up early and decided to walk around the city before I needed to meet Daniella for my first Soul Cycle class at noon. 

My goal was to try to be healthy on this trip, so we went in search of healthy breakfast. My healthy breakfast was in the form of a green smoothie. Ricky's healthy breakfast was in the form of a hotdog... 

Oh, this face is terrible...

After washing our breakfast down with iced coffee (it was 50 degrees!), we set out for Central Park.

In need of a selfie stick

After walking around Central park for about an hour, it was time for me

to meet up with Daniella for Soul Cycle!

This was the best spinning class I have ever taken! The instructor

was motivating, the music was kickin, and the spinners were dancing while

peddling! I had so much fun working out! Who would have thought that would be 

possible? Thanks Daniella for introducing me to Soul Cycle. Hopefully

one will pop up in Orlando!

After getting my butt kicked in spin class, Ricky and I decided it would be best to walk home for a shower! 

But on the way, I made a few stops!

I couldn't help myself!

After grabbing a bite to eat from the street carts, we decided

to take our meals and picnic on the stairs of the Library.

After lunch, we headed back to the apartment for a quick shower and a teensy bit

of rest before heading out towards China Town and Little Italy.

The plan was to walk through Little Italy and then when we

arrived in China town we would look for a 

spot for dinner.

The only problem with that plan was that China Town smelled HORRIBLE.

We walked through it as quickly as we could - there was no WAY we were going

to eat dinner here.

For dinner we ended up at a restaurant in Little Italy called Amici's. 

The service was great and the noodles were homemade!

I had the Chicken Rollatine Valdostana and Ricky had the

Homemade Lasagna. 

After dinner, we stopped by a cart for gelato and headed back to the

apartment for some much needed rest.

The Great Trip Part I – Orlando to Binghamton

After work on Friday, May 15^th my hubby and I set out for New York. We decided to drive through the night on Friday and make a few stops on Saturday before arriving in Binghamton NY.  By Saturday morning we were making our first stop in West Virginia.

What is so special about WV? I used to live there! My family and I had our roots set in WV for three long years before we decided to move to Orlando. This was my first time back in over 15 years. We drove by my old house, my old schools, and my old church! It was a wonderful trip down memory lane and it was amazing being able to share part of where I came from with my husband.

My old house!!!

My old church!!

My old school!

After spending a few minutes taking in the beauty that is West Virginia, we set out again. We had planned to visit Gettysburg, but we made a quick decision to skip it and head up to Niagra Falls. Because we had all left our passports at home we were unable to go over to Canada (who totally has the better view!). 

Since we wanted a better view of the falls we decided to do the Maiden of the Mist boat ride. It was like $20 a ticket and WELL WORTH IT.

There were a ton of people at the falls but we barely had to wait more than 5 minutes to get on the boat. We were given a rain coat and were told to tie it tight! I had no idea that we would get so wet from the mist! It was one of the most amazing experiences of the whole trip. Next time I will be bringing my waterproof camera!

View from the boat

After our fun at Niagra, we were back on the road and headed for Binghamton! The moment we got close enough, Ricky called his favorite pizza place and ordered us personal pizzas to be picked up.

The place is called Brozzetti's Pizza and I have been hearing how amazing and life changing it is for YEARS from my husband and his brother and anyone else who has ever lived in Binghamton. So it would be an understatement to say that this place was over hyped.

The first night I had just plain cheese pizza. How else can you judge a pizza place? If they can make a killer cheese pizza, then they are winners in my book.

The cheese pizza was veryyyyy good, great even, but I was I guess slightly disapointed for some reason. With all of the hype from my husband and his family, I guess I expected the pizza to be made of gold or something lol. It was damn good pizza, but I don’t think I would call it a “Life changing pie”.

The second time I got Brozzetti’s, I was much more impressed. I ordered the buffalo chicken pizza, and it was pretty damn close to life changing.

Other than Brozzetti’s, Ricky had other MUSTS on the restaurant list for Binghamton.

We went to Lupo’s and ordered a Chicken Spiedie (if you haven’t heard of them, you musttttt look them up and order the marinade).

We went to Cortese and I had some of the BEST french onion soup I have ever had in my LIFE, along with some of the best service I have ever had :D.

We also met up for brunch at the Park Diner, where I won at life with an order of coffee and a mimosa!

Believe it or not, eating was not the ONLY thing we did in Binghamton. Ricky has a lot of extended family in that area so I did a lot of meeting and greeting!

Ricky gave me the grand tour of the town, which is known for their Parlor Homes. I was able to see my hubby’s old house, along with the old mountain home (Beaver Meadows) 

that his grandparents own.

Us at Beaver Meadows 

Trying and failing to skip rocks!

I had so much fun seeing all of the sights and learning the history of the houses and the land from Ricky’s Grandfather (who lives in one of the oldest homes in Binghamton).

Fun Fact: Most of the homes in Binghamton do not have air conditioning. Being from Florida, I was blown away by this concept. How many states don’t have air conditioners? Apparently, A LOT of the North East.

Hello Fresh

A few weeks ago my friend gave me a coupon code for a free

trial box from Hello Fresh.

Hello Fresh is a company that will send you a box

every week with fresh food and recipes for creating

amazing dishes!!

I got a choice of the kind of box I wanted: Vegetarian or Classic (meat eater).

I chose Classic - cause I love me some meat ;)

After choosing the kind of box I wanted, I was allowed to choose three meals out of 

five choices, that I wanted to be delivered to my house.

Once I had chosen my meals, all I had to do was wait patiently for it to be

delivered to my front door!

Thursday I was notified that my package had arrived!

I rushed to my apartment front office and picked up a very large box!

I could not get home fast enough to open my 

present. 

Once inside the door, I ripped the box open.

What's in the box?

Three different types of meat!

Three bags of fresh ingredients!

The first dish I created was the Wasabi Glazed Steak. 

Along with the fresh ingredients, the box came with a 

packet of information and recipes that go along with each meal.

Once the hubby and I had decided on what we wanted to eat, 

I got cookinnnnn!

Beeeeef Babyyyyy!

I cooked the steak to a medium perfection.

Soba Noodles

I added the Soba noodles to boiling water, 

and let them simmer for about 10 minutes.

Red pepper, chives, carrot, and garlic

I chop chop chopped all the veggies :)

I added soy sauce and other spices to the 

steak. I LOVE THE SOY SAUCE

FISHIES!

and it turned into thissssss. Yummmmm!

Once I mixed it all together, it looked like this.

I spooned it into bowls for the hubby and me, and we tried our creation.

Verdict: IT WAS FANTASTIC!

Even the hubby liked it, and he is one picky SOB.

And the best part? WE HAD LEFTOVERS! 

So yes, the box mayyyy be a little pricey, but if you are trying to figure out

how much you would be spending per meal with this, you need to factor in

that you may be able to get more than one meal for two people out of 

each recipe. We got four meals out of this one. 

I haven't cooked the other two meals yet, but you can bet there will be a post about it 

soon!

So far, I am a big fan of the Hello Fresh Box. 

I'd suggest giving it a try if you want to try new things, 

and you don't care for grocery shopping.