Millstone and Annapolis: Caitlin's Bachelorette

Hi Friends! To start I just want to say how grateful I am to all of you who have reached out to me when I re-joined the blogosphere. Your welcome back greetings warmed my heart so much! Today I am sharing how my dear friend, Caitlin's bachelorette party went. It was hands down one of the best adventure days I've had this Summer.

We started the morning off with some Yoga, Cider Tasting, and Brunch at Millstone American Farmhouse Cidery! We really couldn't have gotten any more millennial than what we did in that two hour visit to Monkton, MD. When we first arrived I was awestruck by the beauty of the cidery -- also totally just learned that word! When we entered the yoga studio the environment was so peaceful that I knew I was going to enjoy this experience.

On a side note, I'm not the most experienced with yoga. And when I say I'm not... my favorite part of yoga is the last ten minutes when you get to "breathe and reflect" and I get to "close my eyes and take a nap." Anyways the space that was created can only be described as somewhere that truly embodied zen. The yoga studio was three floors up and you were really one with nature. There were no windows in the space, which really allowed you to hear and connect with the outside world.

I imagine that room can get quite hot during the summer months -- but boy did we luck out! Yoga was so comfortable and I enjoyed breaking in my new yoga mat. I think one of my new semester resolutions is to practice more mindfulness and strengthen my hips... because they are WEAK!  

After the yoga class ended (and my baby nap was over) we rejoined in the main cider tasting room and tried five different ciders. My favorite was the Rhuberry, which you can find here! I was extremely pleased to hear about their commitment to a sustainable craft and how they used no preservatives! I would definitely recommend going for a tasting if you are in the MD area!

After cider tasting came the brunch, which really tied the entire excursion so perfectly together. Between the brie cheese with raspberry jam to the bacon with the brown sugar glaze this meal was divine. I literally tried everything on the table (except the pate- sorry not a fan)! Still dreaming about this brunch!

Thank you Millstone for a wonderful start to celebrating Caitlin's bachelorette! I definitely hope to visit again soon! After we finished up at Millstone, we all headed to Annapolis to get ready for the evening's festivities. Once we were all dressed, we made our way into downtown Annapolis to accidently stumble upon a gorgeous festival! There were so many vendors with so many things to browse and look at!

Our luck kept going with the weather for that evening! It was a perfectly cool evening on the water and we spent a lot of time just walking around the docks of Annapolis. For dinner we went to McGarvey's! On their menu they served Half & Half (Maryland Crab and Cream of Crab Soup) and  I fell in love with the combination. I'm a little disappointed that it took me 24 years of my life to pair the two, but I'm happy to know that there is still so much I can learn about MD culture. Another highlight from dinner was that a gentlemen paid for our drinks (now before you start freaking out mom, he did not talk to us at all).

After dinner, we all walked off our seafood filled bellies by the waterfront and took cute photos! Caitlin did not wear her sash, but so many people recognized that we were a bridal party and we were getting asked right and left about the details!

We ended the night with ice-cream from Storm Bros! I ordered a scoop of the caramel truffle and it was so delicious. There is just something so wonderful about homemade ice-cream! We got so lucky that all of our plans worked out for Caitlin's bachelorette day! Still can't believe she is getting married in less then a month, but I am so excited to stand by her side as she promises forever to someone!

Cheers Cait! Also... is it just me or do all bridesmaids become your best friends! Love this group!

Friends!

One of the best things about life is who you share it with. I am beyond grateful that God has just endlessly blessed me with some of the greatest friends on the planet! To start, I'm really excited to say that this past year has been friend filled. I got to watch two of my friends get married (Bobby & Hannah), I visited my friend Matt (top picture-- the guy on the right) in VA, I hosted the annual July reunion, and went to a baby shower for Liz (top picture -- the couple on the left). There are so many exciting things happening in my friend group and I'm just really feeling grateful that I am still able to connect with my college friends a few times a year. 

Another exciting Summer happening was planning and hosting a bridal shower for my best friend from High School. Caitlin and I have been close friends since we were freshmen in High School and I cannot wait to stand by her in September as she says I do. Her shower was absolutely divine -- we hosted a bridal brunch, which included a pancake bar, donut holes, mini quiches, and lots of fruit!

No friend update post would be complete without featuring my bff, L. Lindsey and I have been so busy this summer and have been able to keep up our monthly tradition of weekending at one of our houses. We completed a Whole30 together and there is no better accountability partner than L. We also continued our legacy as sunshine twins by enjoying as much time as possible outdoors.

To end this friend post I wanted to feature my oldest and dearest friend, Amanda! I'm so grateful that I have seen her multiple times this past year (it is hard when you live 3.5+ hours away and you're both in graduate school and working full time). Amanda is loving married life and is actually on her 2nd honeymoon right now in Disney! I'm looking forward to her getting back and J and I are hoping to plan a fun filled camping weekend with her hubby this Fall. 

Y'all friendship literally fills my cup up. I wish I could spend hours writing about each of the memories I made this past year, but for now little updates will have to do!

Give Thanks

So, now that November is underway I am going to work hard to appreciate this thankful month and try my best not to skip to December the giving month! So, I've decided to make a list of people who I am truly grateful for and do something nice for them during the month of November. My goal is to surprise them with a phone call, letter, or little treat to remind them that I truly appreciate them in my life.

 So, every day for the next month I have chosen 30 people to focus on! I thought it would be hard to choose 30 people to focus on... like do I even know 30 people? But, I realized that the hardest part was choosing only 30 people. So, as my calendar started to fill up with names... I started lumping people in to categories... like "RAs" or "Buddies."To help hold me accountable, I printed off two calendars (one for my office and one for my apartment). I also wrote notes on how I could appreciate these people the most. (I.E. some people may like a phone call or others might like a letter).

I try to be grateful for everyone, every day but sometimes life happens and I forget to call home as often as I should! Hopefully, this November I can bring joy to everyone in small ways!

The Good Old Days

"you are surrounding all my surroundings, 

sounding down the mountain range of my left-side brain,

you are surrounding all my surroundings,

twisting the kaleidoscope behind both of my eyes"

        ~ Holding On To You- twenty one pilots

So, before I begin writing this post I wanted to give you all a brief warning that this post is about a specific group of people. A group of people that made my college experience so memorable. A group of people who I could literally drive around on the back roads of Mount St. Mary's forever and never want the night to end. 

(James, Ben, Zach, and Matt)

On our last night together, my good friend James toasted to us all saying "I wish we knew that we were in the good old days when they were actually happening." And those words could not be truer. After graduating college, I felt so many feelings and one of those was a combination of sadness and regret... regret for not soaking up every minute I spent with these people. Regret for not learning all of the words to 'Migraine' (but, I know James likes my version better). Regret for preferring Bud Light in a bottle, over a can (but, not really -- sorry Bob). But, even with all of those feelings I know that I made the greatest friends and I am so incredibly lucky for every moment I got to spend with all of them. They all taught me so many things and I don't think my college experience would have been the same if they were not apart of it.  

I mean really if they weren't apart of this experience-- I doubt I would have cried my eyes out the day after graduation and moped around the house about how I'm not returning to the Mount. They all brought so much to the friend group and even if one of them wasn't there things would have been so different! How could we have gone without Bobby's knack for attracting creepy old men at Otts who wanted to talk to him about God knows what? How could we have gone without Matt's "party light," which set the mood for every occasion? Would college have been the same if Joel was not there? What if Ben had never discovered that cute little quarry in Frederick with the turtles?

Ben, Alex V., Bobby

 Any way that I reflect on college... I always come back to the same conclusion: these guys made the experience. All of our late nights in Steele's room or playing Mario Smash (not sure if that is the right terminology) in Annex. And how could we forget all of the College Nights at Otts?! We were always the group on the dance floor and if the DJ gave in to our request to play Usher's "Yeah," then the night was deemed a success!

Ben, Bob, and Joel 

Every time we all got together we ended up playing the best games (DRAGON) or having the best conversations. I think one of my favorite memories was when we were all in Kevin's room and talked about what we would miss the most and what we would change about our college experiences... it's funny because in that moment we all said we would miss each other the most and now that we all have graduated that has truly resonated. We even have a giant group text that someone texts at least once a day. It's nice checking in with everyone. I think my post-graduate resolution is to check in or call everyone at least once month. I also need to collect everyone's addresses!

Matt, I wish I met you sooner!

Joel, Ryan, Ben, Kevin, and Me

When I think back to some of my favorite moments... Is it weird to say that some/ if not most of them were spent in a car with these guys? There were so many moments where we were just driving around and I wished those moments would last forever. There are three car trips that are particularly memorable:

First, {Junior Year}: James, Ben, Estela, Afton and I were driving to Lincoln Diner during Winter RA training and we were listening to the song "Screen" by 21 Pilots and Ben would be singing "i'm standing in front of you" in this voice and we were all laughing and singing along.

Second, one afternoon, we were in Joel's truck and were driving around the mountains. I think it was Ben, Bobby,  James and I with him. Anyways, there this huge rainstorm approaching and I had to run into the building to use the restroom and Ben needed to get something from his car and we were completely drenched. But, before the storm hit we were in this peaceful beautiful place. The windows were down and everyone was smiling ear to ear. I would give anything to go back to that day.

Third, on our way back from Ben's graduation party: Caroline (greatest DJ ever), James, Jess, Matt and I were in the car with the windows down. I think this might have been the last true night drive I spent with these guys. We had "Car Radio" by 21 Pilots playing and everything got real. This is our life. These are my people. And very soon we will be graduating and parting ways.

Matt, Me, Ben, & Kevin

Another huge aspect of all of our friendships was Residence Life! Although Bobby and Joel were not RAs/DAs they lived with James and were basically a part of the Res Life family. If someone would have told me that by becoming an RA, I would have made the greatest friends I ever would have had I probably would tell everyone to become an RA or friends with RAs. We are honest and caring. Although we do have the "RA Tattoo" and we are not found at the raging parties, we always had the greatest time. Looking back I remember this party we had... which may seem bizarre for college students to do, anyways we had a halloween party WITHOUT alcohol and we had a BLAST. Looking back on it now, I kind of giggle to myself how silly we were. But, I would much rather have become friends with people over sober conversations rather than drunken forgotten stupors.

I really got close with the Res Life group my Junior Year (2nd Year as an RA). I was on staff with Ben and Afton my sophomore year, but I think I really started to get close with the whole group during Summer training of my junior year. I don't even remember how it happened, it was kind of "semi-automatic." I learned so much about these guys over the past two years. Like Ben would do anything for you and loves cars (cough Mercedes) & starbucks. Matt, is a phenomenal cook and loves guacamole. Bobby, is pretty much great at everything hands on. He is an expert watchmaker and would do anything for the burrito bar. Afton, works hard at everything she does! One day she will be this great homemaker and maybe even our kids will play together. Kevin, will most likely be President or a Senator one day and whenever we were all hanging out you can bet he would call Liz at least once (perfect fiance award)! Joel, has the best laugh and is a great dancer... he pairs really well with Hannah, who was new to the RA staff this year. Hannah, is a wonderful dancer and makes me laugh so much! Cristephanie, who always tripped me up with the name change and could always be found on the dance floor at Otts was great to go out with! Jess, was a great contribution to this group. We had Sports Psych together and she taught me so much and was always a pleasure to hang around. Zach, is/was probably the most athletic guy in our friend group (Division I athlete and all). I can't tell you how many conversations and or topics that Zach and I saw eye to eye on! And last, but certainly not least-- James, he would give you the clothes off his back... and he will probably be this famous author one day (equivalent to Stephen King) and will change the way people view life. He has taught me so much about life and myself and I don't know what I would do without him (literally I couldn't have gotten done all of those appreciation committee stuff without him)! He values loyalty and handwork and is one of the greatest people I have ever met. 

Ben, Me, James, Bobby, Jess, Joel, Kevin, & Zach

As I said previously, on the last night we all got together we toasted to each other. We each gave a toast on what we have learned or what impacted us. I toasted to having the greatest friends-- who are as caring as they are giving/smart. They value loyalty and who remain true to themselves. People expressed how they don't want to leave... and how they didn't want to say goodbye to everything we had here. Matt said that he wish he had met us sooner... and to that all I have to say is that I couldn't agree more! And finally James said that he "wish we knew that we were in the good old days when they were actually happening.." And with that tears rolled down all of our faces, and I knew that even though this was goodbye... it would not be permanent. Because with friendships like these you don't just say goodbye after you shared so many 5:00PM dinners together or late night chats. So, even if I don't see them every day for a delicious Patriot meal, or I don't go to Starbucks with Ben regularly, or drive in James' Jetta... even if someone stole my car radio and now I just sit in silence... I know this: I made some of the greatest friends and as we all grow up and move different places, none of us will be able to forget the "good old days" we shared and hopefully the even better reunions to come.

15 Moments In Life I'd Go Back To

Since graduation is getting so close, I keep spending so much of my time reflecting on life and the experiences that I have had! One things for sure, I have been so incredibly blessed with the life I have been given. God is good and I'm grateful to him for sending people into my life, that I don't always deserve. 

Today, I'm blogging about 15 Moments in Life I would go back to. It's kind of like a TBT post for my High School and College life. I loved writing this post and I hope you all enjoy it :) The events are all in order and some are specific and some are general!

All of the retreats I went on in High School! I'm so thankful that I went to a Catholic High School that promoted development of a student's faith and self! Every retreat I led or went on were truly inspirational and helped me connect with so many people.

When Juneau was a baby! I crave the days when we got her and she would cuddle up in my arms and sleep for hours! / I totally miss that navy blue scarf. It has been missing since my Freshmen Year of College and it was my favorite scarf. Hopefully, I'll find it when I move to PA in May!

All of the parties! Since I lived a little over a half hour from the majority of my friends when people would come over they would usually carpool and bring a whole group of people! I loved this and really enjoyed all of the mini-parties we had. TGIF Frozen Mozzarella sticks were always a huge hit!

The XBSS Retreat in Connecticut! My High School sent 10 student representatives and me and a couple close friends were chosen to go. At the retreat we met a bunch of students like us from different High Schools and it was amazing. Such a great trip and I have so many fond memories. 

 Graduating from High School. The day itself was kind of long and exhausting, but knowing that I had achieved something great was a wonderful feeling. I loved High School and it was nice concluding my four years with a bunch of friends surrounding me. 

 My first year of college, I held an event 'Dodgeball for Cameroon' which was a fundraiser for a sister school my organization, EJS (Educators for Justice Society) had. We ended up raising over two hundred dollars (can't really remember) had 6 different teams and everyone had a ball. Strangely, when I look back at this picture, half of those people were strangers that I later became great friends with! It's weird how things like that work in life and I hope it keeps happening. 

 Habitat for Humanity. I had never gone on a week long service trip before and it was probably one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I got to help out on a huge project that would impact someone's life forever. I met a lot of cool people and also got to explore Downtown Wilmington, where one of my favorite shows One Tree Hill was filmed. Talk about a great Spring Break!

 My friend Caitlin and I drove up to Philadelphia after our Freshmen year to see our favorite singer, Ingrid Michelson perform. I think we paid $20 for the tickets and she performed at the Electric Factory. Back then, not many people knew of Ingrid songs so it feels weird hearing her on the radio and seeing posts from people saying they love her so much! I'm so glad her career has taken off. She was truly monumental singer my Freshmen year of college... just ask my old roommate, Hannah (I would listen to her on repeat for hours and hours and hours- haha sorry!)

 Growing up we always took beach vacations and in High School we would always go to Duck, NC with a bunch of family friends. These were probably some of my favorite trips growing up and I always loved spending the week with some of my favorite girl friends and getting sun!

I also went to Maine, with Chad's family a few times! I love Maine. I love the crisp air, the green trees, the Life is Good stores that are everywhere, the mom and pop Lobster Roll stands, and the cute little towns. I haven't been to Maine in over two years and I'm really craving some time there! Hopefully one day I can take my kiddos there so they can fall in love with the state too. 

 Duke TIP played an influential role in my college summer experiences. After my Sophomore and Junior years I went down to Texas and worked on the residential side of the program. I met some of the greatest people, gained a significant amount of weight, and had so many unique experiences. Everything is bigger in Texas and I loved traveling around the state and seeing different things and tasting a ton of different food. I wish I could work for TIP this year, but alas big girl job comes first. However, I can always start recruiting some new residential counselors who would fit the TIP program perfectly! Hopefully, TIP won't be out of my future forever!

 So, chick-fil-a is my favorite fast food restaurant! My sophomore year of college, my friend Alex told me about the First 100 Challenge that a new Chick-Fil-A offers... and we did it! We went down to the Rockville, MD location and camped out for 24 hours in the parking lot while it rained. Our tent wasn't very waterproof, but we made due by the charity of other people who thought to bring tarps and we had a blast. We also were fed chicka for 24 hours straight, which was too good to be true!

Meeting this man! I have dated a bunch of different guys... but, Josh is by far the kindest and smartest person I know. He is genuinely sweet and we have been able to do so many fun things while we have been together. He even reads this blog on his own! I feel like when you date a blogger, you have to know that you will most likely (a) have to read and proofread posts (b) take tons of photos (c) listen to updates on the blog world, etc. But, Josh has taken to it well and cares about Radiating Sunshine.

Salzburg... and Europe in general! I loved going to Europe over the summer and if I could go back and relive those moments I totally would. I want to share those experiences with Josh, friends, and family. I really miss gelato and the fresh food. I miss the architecture and the beautiful weather. So, yeah I would definitely go back to Europe and would so do it again. 

 All of the adventures I've had with these too (Jamaica, Beach, & Camping Weekend). When I was going through my photos, I kept stumbling upon Amanda and DJ and all of the fun places we have been. Josh and I have reflected about this past year and we both agree Camping Weekend (even though we could barely light a fire because of the green wood) was by far one of our favorite weekends. We hiked, we ate food, we played rummy. Ahh what's not to love!

So, there you have it! 15 moments in life that I would totally go back to if I could... but, luckily for me I know that thanks to all of the beautiful and wonderful people in my life I know I will be able to have even better moments in the future. Happy Thursday :)

Playing Catch Up: Dominican Republic

So, I have a few excuses for why I haven't blogged since the middle of February... most of them revolved around school work, but instead of blogging about that I'm going to blog about something a little more fun... Spring Break!! I blogged a couple months back about my friend Alex and I planning a vacation to the Dominican Republic for Spring Break and I'm here to report that it was one of the best vacations we have been on to date! 

Dominican Republic is an absolutely beautiful country! The resort we stayed at Confresi Lifestyle Holidays Resort was gorgeous. We had a rough time getting there because our original flight got delayed causing us to miss our connecting flight. So, although we started our vacation by standing in a really long customer service line for United Airlines, we made the best of it.

 And obviously, it really wasn't hard for us to make the best of it! Look at how beautiful this resort is! I love vacation. I love sweet drinks, good books, and the sunshine warming me up! As far as I'm concerned 'Where We Belong' by Emily Griffin, a pina colada, and a great view is my type of vacation!

The view from our gorgeous balcony! 

 It took Alex and I almost the whole vacation until we got into the ocean. We are both-- tan all day and maybe occasionally swim a little type of people. So, I guess that explains why we didn't get in the ocean. Plus, there were a bunch of little markets on the oceanside beach and they tried to sell you things and we both are suckers at saying no so, we both just avoided the situation. But, we did walk on the beach every morning.

 I'm really glad I went away with Alex! She is such a nice and thoughtful traveler so, even despite all of our struggles getting to DR-- she was a great companion! Not to mention, she loves to dance like me so we had a ball every night at the night club and at the parties at the resort.

Just your casual palm tree leaf... the size of my body!

This was probably one of the best vacations to date! We relaxed, laughed till we cried, took videos of really embarrassing things, and basically had the perfect college Spring Break. We made a lot of friends down in DR and I'm really thankful that technology allows us all to connect and stay connected. 

 Alex and I also got dressed up every night. We were big advocates for getting pretty even if we were just going to dinner and then to the pool bar to meet up with friends! We took a selfie every night before we left... and on the last night when I was looking through the pictures I realized that I totally wore the same dress twice. Now, ordinarily I'm not one of those girls who freaks out about repeating an outfit--- but, I packed so many dresses and I was so mad that (a) I totally didn't notice [beer goggles are real] and (b) I didn't get to wear everything I packed!

Because United really messed up our flight and vacation plans, they ended up bumping us to first class on the way home... and let me just say it was luxurious. When we first got the call to the desk, we thought they had messed up again. But, boy were we in for surprise. They had complimentary drinks-- so we tried bloody mary's (I was not the biggest fan). They also gave us warm towels, a full-course dinner, and free movies. Although we were sad to leave the DR and friends goodbye, at least we ended the trip "flying first class up in the sky" (Cue Fergie's Glamorous video). 

It was a perfect Spring Break! I did miss Josh a lot, but this was my last vacation of college and before I start working and going to graduate school, so I'm glad I had a girl's vacation to celebrate. I'm sure Josh and I will have tons of vacation plans in the future, but I know that Alex is going to be one busy bee and will be traveling the world, so it was our last hurrah!