Whine and Wine Weekend

I usually prefer to use my weekends for a lot of time on the couch, on my butt...but I filled this weekend with lots of fun stuff and kind of loved it!

On Friday night, I met up with Brian's mom, aunt, and some of his other extended family members for a Vera Bradley and Longaberger Bingo to support his cousin's high school tennis team. I have pretty much decided that I LOVE bingo, and we had such a fun time! I even got to call BINGO...but then, sadly, lost in the call-off. I entered in a raffle for a super cute bag AND a 45-minute flight over HarCo, and didn't win that either. In the final game of the night (for everyone's favorite prize--cash money) I was one number away from winning the 50/50! Dumb N34! (Yes, this is the whine part of my weekend.)

But, despite my bad luck, I didn't walk away totally empty-handed. I won a pair of earrings when they drew my name for one of the door prizes! It was a really fun night! :)

Saturday, I worked really hard to finish up A LOT of homework so I could spend the night with some of my favorite ladies. We hung out at Kristi and Jo's apartment, chatting and eating (way too many) cupcakes. I'm glad I got to see Amber before she jetted off to Paris...so jealous! Em was greatly missed (and needs honeymoon advice, so run over there and help her out!) My contribution to the hang-out was macaroni and cheese from Noodles and Co., which was delicious!

On Sunday, I met up with my friend Amanda for a little celebration for her birthday at Boordy Vineyards. It was so much fun! The event was called "Stew...In Our Juices," and $12 got us a lovely wine glass (to take home!), wine tasting, live music, and four different kinds of stews!

The Chicken Pot Pie and Beef Stews were soooo yummy! I have not always been a huge fan of wine, but it was fun to try all of the different kinds and I even left with a bottle! Tango Peach. :) Boordy has different events every Sunday...it was such a fun atmosphere and I can't wait to go back! There is an outdoor concert series over the summer with dance lessons that I should obviously make Bri take me to!

Now there's only two more days until the next weekend...with a forecast of 80 and sunny! So excited!

One Year Blogoversary!

Today, March 29th, 2010, marks one whole year of blogging for me here at Dreams Take Flight!

 

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Going back to my first post is a little bit embarrassing, and it took me a while to get into the 'swing of things' with blogging...but it has been so much fun! I can't believe how this year has flown, and I have loved having this little place to relive and document all of the happy moments from the past 365 days. Even more so, I have loved getting to know each of you, reading your stories, being inspired by your creativity, and getting your feedback. I appreciate it more than you know!

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My blog has gone through a lot of changes in the past year as I have tried to find my niche, juggle my responsibilities, and make my little corner of the Internet something I am proud of. My goal for the next year is to be more open, share more inspiration, and show more of ME!

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Thank you all for sticking around. :)

Wishful Wednesday: Handbags

Wishful Wednesday over at Kelsey's blog today is all about purses!

 I wish...I could afford these handbags without putting a dent in my wallet!

The me of a couple of years ago didn't think twice about spending upwards of $300 on a purse. Now that I'm older (and at least a teeeeny bit wiser), I buy purses that I love and am perfectly content with that don't cost me an arm and a leg (plus, I don't stress about them when they get dirty!) The lovely teal satchel I'm currently using was a $20 find from Target. So, for this Wishful Wednesday, I got to escape from homework for a bit and do some online shopping and dreaming. :)

Given some money specifically for spending on a new purse, these beautiful bags might fit the bill!

Coach Maggie

$348 @ Coach

 Coach Madison Embossed Exotic Carryall

$598 @ Coach

Tory Burch 'Bombe' Glazed Leather Tote

$450 @ Nordstrom

Tory Burch 'Amanda' Pebbled Leather Shopper

$465 @ Nordstrom

Michael Kors Astor Braided Calfskin Satchel

$450 @ Bloomingdale's

What bag would you buy if money was no object? Head over to The Seattle Smith's to play along!

Spring has Sprung!

Brian was home for 10 glorious days for Spring Break (and now he is gone and the weather is gross and dreary, but that's besides the point), and these are some of the highlights!

*I rode on a 4-wheeler for the first time ever! (Brian and I are kind of like City Mouse and Country Mouse...it was only a matter of time before he got me on one.) Brian also taught me how to drive in preparation for our overnight camping ATV tour in Tahoe this summer.

*I spotted a sure sign of Spring! (Sniffley allergies will follow, but I don't even care!)

*We went hiking on the railroad tracks and had a picnic at Susquehanna State Park on the first truly nice day of the year!

*We cleaned out Brian's room. It was QUITE the task, and involved throwing out a lot of junk!  But now he will have a space to actually live in when he's home this summer, and will have a much easier time packing up to move to Arizona, and then Georgia.

*We drove up to Philly to pick my sister up from college for the weekend, but not before exploring around the city and enjoying the gorgeous 70-degree weather, walking through LOVE Park...

...climbing up the 72 Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art...

 

...and, obviously, eating cheesesteaks at Chickie's and Pete's (love!)

*We played a lot of basketball in my driveway (PIG, HORSE, DONKEY, ELEPHANT...) and hung out with my cousin, Zoë.

 *We rode our bikes down to Adkinson Dam in Harford Glen, where apparently delinquent kids go and slide down the dam. Which just seems totally nuts to me! We stayed out of the water. :)

*Brian's car got towed! We went to visit a couple of his friends at one of their townhouses about half an hour away from where we live. When we went to leave, we got to where his car was parked and it was gone! We both were thinking, "Great, the car got stolen." But his more levelheaded friend suggested that it had probably been towed for not having a permit for the complex, which turned out to be the case. $220 (cash) and a sketchy transaction with a tow truck driver later, we had his car back and totally felt taken advantage of.  Oh well.

*We waited in an extremely long line (that was at least fast moving!) to enjoy free Rita's on March 20th, the first official day of Spring!

The Strawberry Margarita ice was delicious!

As was the Mango...

I definitely did not just admit that we went around town and hit up two different Rita's for free ice. That's just dishonest. (I had such a stomachache after that, and would probably be happy to refrain from enjoying any Rita's for a while...)

All in all, a very successful and definitely relaxing Spring Break! Now I'm off to find some much-needed rain boots. Spring announced its arrival this past week with gorgeous, sunny days, but I knew it just couldn't last!

Tweet Tweet

While I was sitting here, unwinding from the weekend and watching the Harry Potter movie marathon on ABC Family, I decided to set up a Twitter account for this little ol' blog.

I have a Twitter for my 'real life,' but it has kind of lost its appeal...maybe a new one will be the fix! It will probably be just another way I can blab mindlessly about what is going on in my life, but I think it would also be neat to connect with all of you! I read every post in my Reader, but I don't always have the time to comment. I'm hoping this can be another way to say hi. :)

You can find me @LaurTakesFlight or www.twitter.com/LaurTakesFlight.

Spring Break 2009: Part II (Sarasota and a Helicopter Ride!)

Continuing on my brain vacation/last year's Spring Break recap...

After the space shuttle launch, Brian and I drove across the state of Florida to Sarasota and spent the last half of our vacation on the beach! Sarasota was the first place I have seen SUCH blue water. It was absolutely beautiful! It is such a cute little town with some great shopping and cute restaurants too, which was obviously a bonus!

My idea of a perfect vacation involves a lot of laying out in the sunshine, and we certainly did plenty of that. For lunch one day, we broke out Brian's trusty grill and made hot dogs right by the water.

One morning, we got up before the sun to look for sand dollars. Even though we didn't find any, it was really cool to be on the beach and watch the sun come up with no one around!

We had a couple of amazing dinners on the water, including one at The Sandbar...

...and watched some of the most breathtaking sunsets!

Brian calls this picture the "Buzzer Beater," because he snapped it just before the sun dipped below the horizon. Such a clever boy, that one.

This trip was really the first time Brian and I were able to spend an extended period of time together, 24/7...long periods of time in the car, unable to escape from one another (haha, just kidding...kind of). Anyway, I could not have loved it more! It was a short trip, but I really feel like it is one of the times we grew together the most in the past two years.

On the drive home, we decided to stop in Orlando and take a sightseeing helicopter ride over all of the amusement parks! Obviously I love airplanes, but this love extends to pretty much any type of aviation, so I could not have been more excited!

It was a quick ride, but it was really cool to see all of the Orlando sights from up above.

Plus, I look pretty good decked out in flying gear, right? :)

Such a great vacation, and it makes me smile to remember it. I can't wait for the next one!

Paula Deen's French Toast Casserole

Paula Deen knows how to make an amazing meal with lots of butter, that's for sure. This breakfast casserole is totally worth the calories, though! Brian requests I make it almost every time he's home, and, being the nice girlfriend that I am, I even sometimes oblige. :)

One of the reasons this is so wonderful is that you prepare it the night before. So for just a little bit of effort, you can lazily wake up, throw it in the oven, and have an amazing breakfast while still hanging out in pajamas. Just a warning, this French Toast Casserole has a consistency a lot like bread pudding. So if you don't like a little "goosh," for lack of a better word, you may not like it. It does help to let it sit and cool for 20 minutes before you dig in...if you can wait that long!

Ingredients

• 1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Dash salt
• Praline Topping, recipe follows
• Maple syrup

Directions

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. 

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole.

Prayer Request

This past Sunday, my college roommate and sorority sister, Rachel, lost her husband. He died while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan, and gave his life for the protection of our country. As heartbroken as I feel for her, the best thing we can do is pray for her and their baby girl. Please hold those you care about a little closer, love a little harder, and keep Cpl. Porto's family in your thoughts and prayers.

Spring Break 2009: Part I (Daytona and Space Shuttle Launch!)

So, my Spring Break this year is kind of (really) dumb. I'm currently attending two schools: a university for my Master's and a community college for my undergraduate prerequisites (so much cheaper!). Silly me didn't think to check, and it turns out my two Spring Breaks are on different weeks! So instead of a week off, I have two weeks with 3 classes each instead of 6. A bit of a "break," but not really what I was looking for. Plus, Brian is home for 10 days starting today(!!!), and I still have to go to class all next week! So dumb!

Anyway, since we are not jetsetting off to some exotic locale, I decided to use the next couple of days to reminisce about our Spring Break trip last year (since it was just barely pre-blog, I seriously need a vacation, even if it's only in my brain...I'm not crazy, I swear....and I want to have it documented somewhere). :)

Brian and I packed up my car, settled in for a loooong ride, and road tripped down to Florida on our first big vacation together. We planned to drive through the night and into Daytona Beach to see the sunrise, spend the day there, and then drive across the state to the Gulf side to spend the rest of the week in Sarasota.

The ride was actually not bad at all. We took turns driving, sang karaoke, played the license plate game, stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel (a road-trip necessity), and set up a bed in the back seat for when one of us got tired.

During one of my naps, Brian happened to hear on the radio that there was a space shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral the next day (the day we would be arriving in Florida, and visible only half an hour south of Daytona). He made a couple of phone calls, unbeknownst to me, and figured out that we could make it there to see the launch and still be on schedule with the rest of our plans. When I woke up, he told me about it...and I was absolutely STOKED! What a crazy coincidence, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

We drove through the night, made it into Daytona while it was still dark, and stopped at a 24-hour grocery store to get some supplies. You can actually drive on the beach there, so we took my truck there and set up for the sunrise!

 It was probably one of the first times I've willingly been up before the sun. :)

Brian brought a portable grill, and one of my favorite parts of the whole trip was cooking eggs for breakfast on the beach while the sun came up.

We spent the morning on the beach, enjoying the sunshine and warm weather! It was so cool once it got to be later in the day, because the beach filled up with cars driving up and down the coast, with their music turned up and their windows down. It looked like something out of a movie! We left about midday, and of course, we couldn't go to Daytona without stopping by Daytona International Speedway (obviously, the home of the Daytona 500) for Brian.

It took us less than an hour to drive down to Titusville and find Space View Park, where you can watch the space shuttle launches at Cape Canaveral!

We had some time to walk around and see some of the monuments (like Neil Armstrong's hand prints!) before we picked up a pizza, staked out a spot, and waited patiently for the launch!

It felt like forever, but finally launch time came and there was a bright light across the water. After a couple of seconds, the light started to rise and the space shuttle Discovery was flying across the sky!

It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen! As we kept watching, we could see the rocket boosters fall off before the shuttle became a tiny dot and disappeared. We later read that it was one of the most beautiful launches in recent memory, with the clear sky and reflection of the colors of the sunset in the rocket's smoke trail...it was definitely a memorable sight! Excuse our rough appearances after spending almost two days in the car. :)

We tried to get out of Titusville as quickly as possible after the launch, but ended up getting stuck in crazy amounts of shuttle launch traffic (like the two hours of sitting and not moving kind of traffic). The whole experience was definitely worth the hassle, though! So, again, we drove into the night before arriving at our hotel in Sarasota just before 2 a.m., exhausted but excited for the rest of our vacation!

Surprise!

Saturday is the 22nd birthday of one of my very best friends and my little in Phi Mu.

Us on her 21st :)

She is off to Florida with her boyfriend for Spring Break in a couple of days (...jealous!), so she didn't have any definitive birthday plans. Because Kristi is so wonderful, we didn't want to let her birthday pass without doing something special for her. Emmie was fabulous and organized (and told her a couple white lies), got us all on the same page, and we rallied together to pull off a little surprise birthday party for her.

When Kristi got back from class on Tuesday night, we all jumped out from our hiding places and definitely succeeded in surprising her (and scaring her too, I think). I wish I had gotten a picture of her walking in, but I was too busy laughing; I think Amber did and I can't wait to see it. :) We enjoyed a delicious dinner of Italian food and Arbor Mist, sang "Happy Birthday," and ate Funfetti cake.

It was a really fun night (the kind I am always missing from college...it makes me smile that we can still have them), and I'm glad I got to celebrate my little's birthday with her. :)

Inaugural Ball

Although this weekend didn't turn out exactly as planned, it was still a lot of fun and, surprisingly, relaxing (which is not usually the case when I'm doing 6-8 hours total of driving to go up to visit Brian and running around for two days straight). We had plans for me to go up to New York for the weekend when Brian unexpectedly had a Saturday morning inspection. We decided I would still come visit (read: I pouted) and we would make the best of the time he was free. I crossed my fingers that his inspection wouldn't go too long.

On Friday night, we went to the MI and Chemical Corps Inaugural Ball. This smaller formal event was only for two branches, including Brian's, so there were probably only about 100 people there. It started with a cocktail hour and mingling. Brian took my picture with these cool airplanes;  just ignore my awkward wine hand. :)

After cocktail hour, there was a receiving line and we met some of the important people at the ball. One was the speaker, "Spider" Marks, a former MI officer who is now a Fox News correspondent (and has done much more cool things in his Army career, but that was what stuck out to me! Plus, I assume you have to be a pretty cool guy to earn the nickname of "Spider.")

We sat down for dinner and Brian got to chat with some people who are doing the job he will be doing in a couple of months. It was good for him to hear what his day-to-day life will be like and ask some of the questions he had about his branch and the opportunities it offers.

We listened to a couple of speeches before a delicious dinner, the presentation of some awards, and dessert! Shortly after the formal part of the ball ended, we had to get Brian back to his room to do some serious cleaning! I headed back to the hotel, relaxed, read, and even did some homework.

Saturday morning, Brian called me and let me know they had passed their inspection, and he would be free by 12:30! We got to spend the rest of the weekend together, and decided to just take it easy. We did homework, lounged around, and even got to venture out for a date night on Saturday.  So, even though there was an unexpected hitch in the plans, we still had a really good weekend.

Just between you and me, as much as I loooove getting dressed up, I am kind of excited that the next time I have to worry about dresses and stress about curling my hair is...Brian's graduation!