My MOH K got married in September, so her shower was last July (yes almost a year ago, hush.)  The shower was held at her now mother-in-law’s house, and it was gorgeous!  The spread of food was amazing…

The decor was creative:

(We each wrote down advice to make K a bouquet!)

The gifts were plentiful:

And I got to put my bow-hat making skills to good use:

My friend (and bridesmaid) M’s shower was held this March.  I had never been on the planning end of a shower before, and Jesus was it stressful… and expensive.  But at the end it was so worth it!  This was also the first shower I’d been a part of where it was completely a surprise – and she sure was surprised.  It was great!

The favors were these intricately designed cookies in the shape of wedding cakes.  Each cake was different!  We also played bridal shower bingo as M opened up pressies… and if anyone wants the template, I should be able to find it somewhere to send you!  Just email me

And just as with K’s shower, I got to make the bow hat again!  I love how it turned out.  A lot of people think that showers get boring – but if you’re the one creating a bow masterpiece, it flies by! 

The bridesmaids all came together to put on a great shower for M.  She got tons of gifts, and I think she had a great time.  

Have you ever planned a bridal shower?  Tell me it was stressful for you, too?!

To start off, let’s recap the month of May in true accounting style – by the numbers.  (PS can you believe it’s June?  Holy Crap.)

1 – One new camera!  Check out this amazing gift that the hubster surprised me with.  I cried!  I can’t wait to use it on our honeymoon!

1 – Also a new iphone!  I’ve been loving using apps like instagram (see pic above!) and beating Robert at Words with Friends

2 – New blog friends who I finally got to meet for lunch last week!  Chrissey and Stephanie and I had a great lunch at Marathon Grill in Philadelphia.  It was surreal meeting people I met on the internet, but we had so much to chat about.

3 – Flavors of frozen yogurt I had at the new Yapple Yogurt down the street from our apartment!  It opened two weeks ago, and Robert and I went to welcome in summer over Memorial Day Weekend.  I tried white chocolate, peanut butter, and birthday cake – they were all so good!

4 – Number of books I read in May!  This includes Bossypants by Tina Fey (amazing, had me laughing on the train, and loving all of the Pennsylvania references!  she also included a great message for women – not just women comedians.  Girl power!)  I also read The Love Season by Elin Hilderbrand.  This book was good, but I threw it on the couch at the end because I was disappointed by the ending. Finally, I read Firefly Lane and True Colors by Kristin Hannah.  I am now officially addicted to her books!  The first had me bawling on the train, and the second was so deeply real.  Kristen Hannah really paints you into the story, both in the plot and in the setting.  You find yourself so invested in the characters!  I loved both books and can’t wait to read more of her work in June!

7 – Inches I chopped off of my hair right after the wedding!  I couldn’t wait to get my Post Wedding Chop, and scheduled my appointment for the first day that the salons were open after the wedding.  Take a look:

             Before………………………………………………………After!

8 – Number of yoga classes I attended at Dana Hot Yoga this month.  I really enjoyed the chance to fulfill my groupon, but by the end of it, I was ready for a little break.  But I truly feel like I am a better “yogi” now… except:

1 – Number of times I FACEPLANTED while attempting crow pose.  OUCH.  My nose was bruised for days!

13th – My 25th birthday!  Robert and I celebrated with an amazing dinner of calamari, basil mojitos, and amazing bacon burgers at 20 Manning.  The burger was great, but not the best burger I ever had!  (Although I might have kept comparing their food to 20 Manning’s sister restaurant, Audrey Claire.  The mussels at AC are in the top 5 of favorite meals ever!)  We finished the night with drinks at Table 31 on the Thursday prior.  Although I work right above Table 31, I’d never been there.  We sat outside, and I swear it felt like we were in Miami!  The celebration continued at my BFF Kirsten’s house, where she and her husband bbq’ed for our friend Georgia, Bob’s friend Pat, Robert, and me.  We drank strawberry wine from Heritage Vineyards, ate a giant cookie cake, and just chatted.  It was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday! 

31 – Days of being a wife!  I never thought that being married would feel very different.  We’d  been living together for almost 3 years by the time we got married, but it has been amazing.  I feel more connected to Robert, and I’m just giddy with love.  (Ok I’ll stop making you puke now.)

80,000 – Degrees that it’s been outside.  OMG it is so hot and humid, and it was only May.  I’ve never wanted rain so badly before in my life.  Anything to break the heat!

What were you up to in May?!  I can’t believe my favorite month is over

(not my picture, but my wawa!)

Besides Wawa, another Philadelphia staple is a Tastykake.  I’ve never really been the biggest fan of the sugary treats, but look – a craving is a craving.  I sprinted into Wawa and came out with this:

Ahh sweet sugary relief… Wawa + Tastykake = 24 hours of cupcake!

In other news, I took my third yoga class at Dana Hot Yoga yesterday.  My second class last week was ehh – the teacher was too quick (so many chatarungas without stopping!)  But last night I took Jeff’s class, and he was slow and deliberate and made sure to explain and demonstrate the poses.  (Often times at Dana it’s too crowded for the instructor to also do the yoga.  Strangely enough I enjoy it when it’s crowded – it’s cozy and I love seeing 45 other people who are taking steps for their health.) 

Last week I spent a lot of time in child’s pose, but this week I went to class with the intention of spending a lot of time upside down, and I succeeded!  I attempted to go into crow and headstand (and failed) but I was still upside down.  It was a great way to clear my head… as silly as it sounds, I imagined all my crazy thoughts falling out of my ears and I left clear headed and not stressed.  During the whole class I felt strong, instead of rushed and flustered from not being able to keep up with the moves.  It was a good class.

I also found another friend  from both SJU and the firm where I used to work… blog, meet Julia! 

Ok so that’s a really old, bad picture… but you get the idea.  I love that I run into so many friends at the yoga studio.  And I love that we all have time to go to yoga on a weeknight now that we’re not working Busy Season anymore

Does anyone have advice for getting into crow or headstand?  I think I’m strong enough, I just think I have the wrong positioning!

And I conquered both this weekend.  I’d mentioned how I bought a ton of yoga classes at Dana Hot Yoga, and I was too chicken to use them.  One of the deals expires on 3/24, so considering I leave everything to the last minute, it only seemed right that I start using them with 11 days left! (Oh sarcasm.)

I suited up and headed to Dana Hot Yoga to kick some ass.  As I was checking in, I ran into a good friend of mine from SJU and Big 4, Brianne!  Blog, meet Bri!

(Clearly this was NOT at yoga!)

Anyway, it was great catching up with Brianne before we started practicing.  Her last day at our old firm is tomorrow and I couldn’t be happier for her. 

The yoga class was great, and so was the studio.  A little cramped, but it was cozy, and it felt like I was in a ski lodge. It was hot, but I was close to the back door so whenever I leaned back I got a lovely little breeze.  Hot yoga cheating?  Maybe.  But it felt awesome, and I walked out of yoga class in a happy little daze.  I can’t wait to use up the rest of my classes… and then maybe go back for more.

Afterwards, I was craving tofu with no where to get it.  I took a leap and decided to make it myself!  I have heard amazing things about Gliding Calm’s tofu, so I gave it a shot.  I think I overcooked it a smidge, but I paired it with brown rice, tomatoes, carrots, and a fried egg and topped it with hot sauce…. a perfect after-yoga dinner. 

Sorry I hardly have any pictures for this post, but believe me when I tell you that I’m so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone!

The bachelorette was a surprise for Kirsten, who thought that only our SJU girls (me, Kir, Georgia, and Mariola) were coming down with her sister for a girls weekend on the beach.  Kir’s sister, Ashley, and I coordinated efforts to get her out of the house and sufficiently surprised.  This is what greeted Kirsten when she pulled up to the house!

Ashley and I designed these cutie shirts to commemorate the occassion…

After Kir got home, we headed out to the beach to get some sun.  We couldn’t resist asking some cute lifeguards to take our picture

After a relaxing afternoon, it was time to get dolled up for dinner.  Here is the SJU crew, ready to celebrate!

We headed to the Rockin Chair for dinner, where I had an unbelievable meal of Crab Risotto and a Caesar Salad.  So good!

After dinner, we (drunkenly) headed home to change into our Bachelorette Shirts.  They look good, right?

And we headed out.  From here, I’ll let the pictures do the talking… but make sure you play the song of the evening in the background to really set the scene.  This song seemed to be on in every bar we were in, and now whenever I hear it, I think of the fun we had!

At the end of the night, we crawled back to the house, and devoured a special cake made by my dear friend Mariola.  The cake isn’t quite blog-appropriate, but damn, it hit the spot after a girls night out!

Looking back on all of the fun we had gets me so excited for Saturday.  I can’t wait to share all the fun with you all

I am lucky enough to still be close friends with most of my girlfriends from high school.  And while I didn’t follow any of my friends to college, a good number of them went to school together, and made very close friends there too, who have now become my friends.  A lot of us have moved away, but we still come back to see each other as often as possible.  Even if we go a long time without seeing each other, I know for certain that there will be one weekend a year where I get to see all my girls… Bitches Weekend.

Bitches Weekend started in 2007, and has been a yearly tradition of drinking, eating taco dip, making each other breakfast, and sunbathing.  (Sometimes too much sunbathing). 

(the first bitches weekend, circa 2007)

The same crew comes back year after year, and it’s such a routine for us now that we all know who we’re driving with (Leslie), what time we leave on Friday (after a half day of work), who brings what (Les and I always get the alcohol!), and what bed we sleep in (back bedroom, next to Leslie.)  Perfect.

I didn’t think anything could get much better.  But, you see, I’m the first one of my friends to be getting married, and apparently they wanted to do something special for my last Bitches Weekend as a single gal.  And special doesn’t even begin to cover it.

It didn’t start much different than any other bitches weekend.  We had been planning to go out in Atlantic City on Saturday, so we’d been talking for weeks about all the cute dresses we were going to wear.  This didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

On Friday night when Linds and Lili arrived, they went grocery shopping.  This didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

On Saturday when some of the girls and I took a walk, and the rest of the girls went home to get ready for Church, that didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

When we walked back to the house, and the back gate was locked, I just thought “hmm so much for wiping off the sand, I’ll just use the front door.”  That didn’t seem out of the ordinary.  (Damn I’m naive.)

It wasn’t until I walked through the front door to see this (well, plus all my gorgeous friends), that anything was out of the ordinary.

And then I cried.  And then I was presented with a tiara. 

And Bitches Bubbly, and yummy snacks.

And beautiful necklaces that my beautiful friend Whitney made just for us.  And this amazing pint glass, that couldn’t have been more perfect.  (Yes, I still drink out of this at least once a week!)

We got ready…

and headed to AC.  The girls had put together a very detailed and amazing scavenger hunt that we started on in the car, and we reconvened at Carmines for dinner.

The rest of the night was a blur.  We drank girly drinks and I just soaked up the love that I felt from all of my friends.  There are no words to express how I felt that night, and how I feel when I think about that night.  It was such a sweet (and perfectly executed!) surprise, and I just can’t thank all of the girls for the most perfect Bitches Weekend Bachelorette Party a girl could ask for.

What was the sweetest thing that your friends have done for you?

(blog, meet Josh.  Josh, welcome to the blog.)

And besides, where else could I spend 4th of July experiencing the sunset over Manhattan?

The next day was spent in a place where every 4th of July should be observed…

Ahhhh sweet relaxation… and tons of people – just like everywhere else in NYC.  But seriously, you can’t beat 4th of July on the beach.  (Gosh I wish I were on the beach right now!)  Later that afternoon we met up with Robert’s best friend (and best man!) and his girlfriend to play some beach bocce.  We got demolished.  Luckily there’s no photographic evidence haha!

And in case the  weekend hadn’t been perfect enough, we finished up the celebration with fireworks on the beach.  I have always loved  fireworks, and my Dad and I always make a point of going to see them whenever there’s a fireworks show.  I couldn’t let dad down, even from 100 miles away, so when the sun went down we headed towards the water.  Now this whole time, everyone has been talking about the fireworks on the beach, and since I grew up in a town with rules (there are no rules in NYC), I assumed that the city floated a barge loaded with fireworks out into the ocean.  Oh – how I was wrong!

We got a seat close to the beach wall, and waited for the fireworks to start.

Imagine my surprise when the fireworks started being walked in – right in front of us!  (Man, I’m such a goody-goody!)  And there were so many… there must have been 3 or 4 vans of fireworks, which resulted in dueling fireworks shows.  And we were maybe 20 feet away?  Sure there were times when the sparks might have come a little close, but I have never seen such an amazing fireworks show.  If only Daddy had come to Rockaway with us – I know he would have loved it!

It doesn’t get much better than that, folks.  It was such an amazing, relaxing weekend… I’m so grateful that I was able to spend my 4th of July at the beach, surrounded by friends and fireworks!

Do you remember what you did for 4th of July?

Last year I met a friend of mine for lunch on my birthday.  We hadn’t known each other very long, and I’ve never much liked being the center of attention, so I hadn’t exactly been walking around announcing “tomorrow is my birthday!” to everyone I met.  When I met my friend for lunch, I whispered to her: “I have a secret… today is my birthday!” 

This year, the same friend wouldn’t let me forget that last year I ambushed her with my little surprise.   She and another one of my best friends from work started out Birthday Week last Monday at Mexican Post.  For those of you not well acquainted with Philadelphia – this restaurant does Mexican food RIGHT.  And when a girl has a craving for chips and salsa, there’s no better place to go.  Add a mango margarita, and some silly gossip,and you’ve got yourself a fantastic girls night.  I am so grateful to have these girls in my life… I honestly don’t know how I’d get through the work day without them!

Tuesday continued the festivities with a firm-sponsored Happy Hour after training.  Can I just mention how wonderful it was to have training during birthday week?  What a nice change of pace!  It was good to know that I’d definitely get out of work before 7:30 on my birthday

Thursday, May 13, was my actual birthday.  I turned the big 2-4, and celebrated with my family and fiancée at my new favorite place – Lourdas in Bryn Mawr.  Lourdas is the smallest little hole in the wall by the Bryn Mawr train station, and their food is to die for. 

(see how tiny and cute?! source.)

My parents were so generous – they brought me flowers, paid for our delicious gyros (and Melitzanosalata, an eggplant and pepper dip.  I could have licked the bowl of this stuff… so good!  And their hummus was incredible – even Robert was eating it.  That’s a huge compliment!)

The ‘rents also contributed to the “Cassie Wants a Garmin” fund, and my brother finished it off.  That night, I went straight home and ordered my new best friend… which arrived today!  So excited to take her for a whirl   hehe

Now Friday…. Friday was amazing.  Whenever we have training, it’s more or less understood that we get a half day on Friday.  But this time was different.  On this Friday, we only stayed until 10:45.  I took the 11:15 home, and read my book the whole way.  And got home and read my book in my pj’s until I finished it.  And grabbed another book and headed to my nearest outdoor dining establishment and did this:

With this charming dining companion:

Ok so maybe I just liked to pretend I was eating with that handsome fellow.  I want a puppy so badly!  But I consoled myself by doing more of this in Suburban Square after my lunch:

Reading in the sunshine by a fountain in my favorite shopping center?  Happy Birthday to me.  I took a break from my reading to do a little bit of shopping and get a mani/pedi at my favorite salon, and then Robert and I headed out to watch the Flyers make history.  (Unfortunately.  Rangers fans, remember?)  Things might have gotten a little silly after a few Yuenglings and a rockin’ DJ…

Clearly I needed sleep after that exhausting day   But not too much sleep – there was fun to be had on Saturday too!  Robert and I had promised each other bikes as an anniversary gift, and Saturday was the first time we’d had a chance to go shopping.  We ended up at Target, and took Robert’s little civic.  We assumed (yes I know what assuming does…) that the bikes would be sold in a box to be assembled at home, and we’d have NO PROBLEMS fitting the bikes in the car.  Epic fail.  Target was oh-so-kind enough to let you wheel their bikes to the register and buy them pre-assembled.  “Sweet,” we thought, “we’ll just pop the front wheel off and fit them in the back seat.”  Epic fail v2.0.  The brakes were on too tight to release the wheel, and we didn’t have the proper tools.  Luckily I saw this in the distance: 

We rode our bikes to Lowe’s, and after buying a $2 piece of 8ft molding, loaded our bikes into the Lowes rent-a-truck, and drove home. I don’t know what we’d have done without that beast of a truck! 

(Or lovely bikes in their new home. They are Schwinn Gateway Hybrid Bikes)

We got home just in time to get dolled up and meet some friends  out for dinner and drinks in the city.  Robert was a doll and organized all of my friends to celebrate my birthday.  I missed a few good friends, but I got to see a lot of my closest friends.  It meant so much to me that they came into the city just for me!

There were many Magic Hat #9’s, a great burger, and a lot of dancing – I couldn’t have asked for more!  I truly have the best friends in the world, and they helped make this the best birthday in a long time!  I hope my 24th year is just as good as my 24th birthday!