Bahama Mama!

 A couple of weeks ago, my mom, dad, Andy and I ventured to Freeport on Grand Bahama Island for a tropical getaway. We rented a penthouse condo unit right on the ocean with a HUMUNGOUS outdoor deck overlooking the beach. We spent most of our time loungin' at the pool, swimming in the ocean, guzzling frozen drinks from the pool bar, reading books and just spending time together as a family. It was a much needed trip in the sun and sand!

Our Home Away from Home

Mom & Dad chillin in the pool

 

 

 

First Night Out with my new Lilly purse

View from the rooftop deck

Deck

 

 

Pooltime Fun

Loving the view

Downtown Port Lucaya for dinner & drinks

Port Lucaya Fun

Frozen Drinks at the poolside bar

More poolside bar fun

Beach Day!

All we did for 7 days...

Bahamian Independence Day Celebrations

Winning Night at the Casino

McDonald's

Best Family Ever

On our way to play with the Dolphins

Dolphins!

Ship from the first 2 Pirates of the Caribbean movies

Playing with birds at the Dolphins Sanctuary

More fun at Port Lucaya

Happy 4th of July!

This year was fairly low-key in terms of 4th of July celebrations. On Saturday, Andy and I went out to Hamilton, Virginia for the day/night to celebrate with Andy's sister Robyn, their family and what was literally their entire neighborhood. There was delicious food, great drinks, and fun company. The kids had a great time running around, parading, and swimming in the pool. We met some new people, got to spend some nice time with the family, and enjoyed the fireworks display after the sun went down. It was a nice relaxing way to spend the 4th!

Mini-cupcake flags I made for the 4th

Aren't they adorable?!

 I brought a batch of these mini-cupcakes to Andy's mom, my girlfriends for a weekend wine night and to the BBQ at the Wade's on Saturday. They were a hit! They were delicious and turned out even cuter than I had planned! It's as easy as mixing your own favorite cupcake batter flavor (I did chocolate fudge for one flag, and vanilla for the second flag) and baking as many needed to fill a serving tray. I used a mini-cupcake tin for the ones above, but it would work the same as if you used the large. I iced them in standard white icing and then adorned them with blueberries and strawberries (halved) to make the stripes. Pretty easy and pretty darn cute!

Kids parade at the Wade's BBQ

Lauren marching in the kiddie parade

Lauryn & Ashlyn marching

Andy and Mason

Ashlyn on her scooter

Enjoying the parade

After enjoying food and other things :)

Fun on the 4th with nieces and nephews!

Happy 4th of July!

Wedding Season

Wedding Season has officially begun! In the span of 1 week, I attended 2 bridal showers and 1 wedding, while Andy attended another wedding (that I missed due to one of the showers). Yowza!

From June-October, Andy and I have 6 weddings to attend, not including the many showers and bachelorette parties that accompany the girls side :) We are very excited to be celebrating all of the fabulous friends and loved ones that were there to help us celebrate our wedding almost one year ago!

On June 18th, we showered one of my best friends and 3-year roommate at Virginia Tech, Jenny. I was so honored to have Jenny stand next to me as a bridesmaid at my wedding, and I am blessed to be returning the favor for her upcoming wedding this October. We had a beautiful shower for her at her condominium complex's clubhouse. There was delicious food, yummy mimosas and sangria, and fabulous gifts!

All the girls showering Jenny

My gift- a wine basket to share at special *first year of marriage* events

Later that evening, Andy and I got (re)dolled up and headed to the Ritz-Carlton in Tyson's Corner, Virginia to celebrate the wedding of another wonderful college roommate, Nina. We had a great time mingling with other Hokie friends, getting down on the dance floor, and awing over the GORGEOUS bride! It was a beautiful reception for a beautiful couple and we were so happy to be a part of it!

Andy & I enjoying the festivities

VT Hokie Girls

Side view of the GORGEOUS bride

Julie & I, another VT roomie

A great time had at table 14!

The following Saturday, July 25th, I made the trip up to a park in Maryland to shower another fabulous Hokie bride-to-be, another former VT roomie, Julie. Julie and I lived together for 2 amazing years in Blacksburg. Her and her fiance, Steve, are getting married in August in Maryland and this was a great preview of the FUN that her wedding weekend will be!

Julie's *Royal Wedding* inspired shower headpieces

Beautiful Julie with her cake

Jenny & I enjoyed the shower fun

Former 235 Hokie roommates and Hokie brides!

Andy and I are truly looking forward to all of the wonderful wedding festivities we are honored to be invited to in the upcoming months! 'Tis the season! :)

30 Before 30 Update

It's been over 6 months since I've updated my list of 30 things I'd like to accomplish by age 30, and with the recent passing of my 27th birthday (and a mere 3 years to complete my list!), here goes:

1. Get married! Goal complete! Andy and I officially became 'The Saulitis' on July 31, 2010. It was the most perfect wedding day a girl could have possibly dreamed of!
2. Climb Old Rag mountain
3. Coach a high school sports team, preferably girls soccer or girls volleyball. Complete! I am excited to begin my new journey as an assistant volleyball coach at a local high school this summer and fall!
4. Go camping for a weekend
5. Rent an RV and travel to a Virginia Tech football game
6. Go to Europe for the second time
7. Swim with dolphins
8. Drive across the United States
9. Cut my hair short even though it terrifies me. Done & done! I chopped off about 6-7 inches of my beautiful long, blonde hair in early October. It was cut a little shorter than I had anticipated, but it's growing back surely if not slowly :)
10. Go to Australia and see the koala bears
11. Eat Sushi for the first time. Complete! I went out to celebrate my best friend Lindsay's 27th birthday at a local sushi restaurant and had my first sushi rolls!
12. Get a dog (or two!) that is me and Andy's pet and not our parents' (although we love you Nittany & Riley!)
13. Watch my friends fall as happily in love as I am and attend their weddings: In progress. Andy and I are attending a combined 6 weddings this summer/fall! I am so excited for all of our great friends beginning their forever's and am anxiously anticipating the rest to follow soon!
14. Watch all of the movies currently in my Netflix queue
15. Learn to cook well, not just make dinner
16. Visit Mikaela in Maine and eat a real Maine lobster
17. Go to an NFL Super Bowl 
18. Go to a National Championship Game in college football
19. Run an official 5k. I completed my first official 5K in May 2011 at my alma mater, Annandale High School. I finished the 3.2 miles in 27:32. Not too shabby for my first official race!
20. Learn how to not kill plants
21. Send a photo Christmas card. Done. Andy and I sent our first photo Christmas greeting this past winter, including pictures from our wedding and honeymoon.
22. Buy a townhouse or single-family home
23. Save enough money to keep our condo and rent it
24. Buy a new car 
25. Go on a winery tour bus with my best friends
26. Get involved with the Girls On The Run program at the elementary school I work at
27. Give a toast at a special event
28. Continue to take trips with my amazing parents. Still going strong :) My parents, Andy and myself will be traveling to the Bahamas in a short week and a half for our annual family vacay getaway!
29. Host a formal family dinner at my home
30. Begin the journey of becoming a mom

So far, so good. Hopefully I'll knock a few more off my list during the summer months! :)

Memorial Day Weekend: Dewey Beach Edition

Over the Memorial Day weekend, my friends and I have made Dewey Beach our annual trip. Andy typically takes a trip that weekend with his group of guy friends as well, so it's a good time for us to hang out with our friends separately for a few days.

I absolutely love my friends. Our core group of friends has been together since middle school- some of us even going the whole way back to elementary school! Whenever we get the chance to get away and pretend we're still young, we do :) Dewey Beach is the perfect place for it! We have rented the same house for two years in a row, right on the beach and a short block away from the bars. We had a great time!

The Ladies on Day #1

Most of the crew hanging out

Best Friends

Some of my favorite boys

Starboard

Soakin' up some rays

Pre-night out

Last Night in Dewey- Until next year!

A Look Back at my 27th Birthday

It was over a month ago, but I wanted to share a little bit about my 27th birthday celebration!

This year, my friends and I decided to try something new. We reserved a table at Bobby McKey's, a dueling piano bar located at the National Harbor in Washington DC. It was amazing! So many of my best friends came out to enjoy a night of drinks, songs, and good company! I absolutely love, love, love music and singing along- so this was the perfect night!

Pregaming at my parents house

My favorite ladies in the world

The Saulitis' are getting old

My beautiful bridesmaids and best friends

A great 27th!

On my actual birthday, Andy took me out to dinner to one of our favorite restaurants. I got some great gifts like my new kindle and some BEAUTIFUL new Lilly Pulitzer dresses to wear to the 987492834 wedding events we have coming up this summer! It was a wonderful celebration and I am reminded year in and year out how lucky I am to have these amazing people in my life!

Onto 28.... :)

Summertime, And the Livin's Easy

It's official. Summer vacation is here!

Today was my last day of school (ie. last 2 1/2 hours). The kiddies were bursting at the seams with excitement... almost as much as I was :) My partner in crime, Cathy and I, spent the entire afternoon packing boxes, cleaning, sorting, piling, moving furniture all for the cause of checking out for the summer.

Last Friday, we were fortunate enough to find out that we are moving classrooms! Now, I am still teaching kindergarten next year, but one of our fellow K teachers is retiring after this year and her classroom just happens to be almost double the size of mine. SO, we are moooooving on up! It was amazing to hear the words "you have seniority and therefore get the bigger classroom next year".

Woo hoo! Although, it did mean a little extra work for Cathy and I to prep for the summer. But, we kept reminding ourselves it would ALL be worth it in the end! We are so excited to be moving into a new classroom with a fresh start next fall!

I had a wonderful class this year. Truly loved my students. They were wonderful to teach and it's years like these that make me feel lucky and loved (because some years, you just pray for survival in the world of teaching!) But this year was awesome! I am definitely going to miss these kids a lot, and I can only hope I have as great a class next year.... but at least I'll have a little extra room to teach in next fall :)

Cheers to the kick-off of summer!