Queen + Adam Lambert

Wednesday, July 25th Queen + Adam Lambert performed at the Izod Center. My mom won a pair of tickets for my brother and me. She also scored an employee floor ticket at the box office right before the show! Needless to say, the night was already off to a great start! Christopher and I have been a fan of Adam Lambert's for a while now and were very excited to see him step in for the legendary Freddie Mercury. This show exceeded all of my expectations and is easily one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Adam Lambert seamless fit right in and gave a performance that Queen fans could love. The show incorporated video clips of Freddie Mercury performing. It was a great way to remember him and for me it was the first time seeing him on stage (even if it was just a video clip). One of my other favorite parts of the show was the drumming dual between Roger Taylor and his son Rufus Taylor. Some of the songs that were performed during the concert were: Radio Ga Ga, Another One Bites The Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Love Of My Life, Fat Bottomed Girls, 

Under Pressure

Bohemian Rhapsody

We Will Rock You

We Are The Champions!

They announced that they are working on a new album to be released later this year!

NJ Balloon Festival

Up, Up, and Away!

This past weekend the QuickChek NJ Festival of Ballooning took launch! My  family and I got up early and drove up to the Solberg Airport, Readington, NJ. It was a ten dollar fee parking fee and then we made our way to the entrance of the festival. The general admission adult tickets are $30 each the day of but when bought early it can be as low as $17 each.

I would just like to note that you are not permitted to bring coolers. bottles, or food into the festival. I understand this, however, I wish I would have been able to bring my water into the festival. Once we entered the festival we made our way through the path lined with tents and their vendors setting up. We found a spot on the grass, laid out the blanket, and got our cameras and iPhones ready.



Before I knew it the outstretched green space in front of me had hot air balloons taking form. The incredible balloons took flight and flew right over head. When we were finished capturing the balloons, and playing under the colorful hot air balloon sky we walked through the festival indulging in every free sample that came our way (there was A LOT).  There were amusement park rides for the kids and later in the day there were concerts. If you go all day or just for part of it, like we did, you are sure to have a great time! Check out www.balloonfestival.com for more information and to try to attend next summer!

Random Act of Kindness #3

My 3rd Act of Kindness were these quirky bookmarks! One of my favorite parts of reading when I was a kid was the awesome bookmark that I carried with me to mark my page. I thought that if my kids had fun bookmarks they would be more inspired to read. All you need is some left over scrapbooking paper, scissors or a page trimmer, tape, a circle punch (if you have it) and pipe cleaners. First, you cut the papers into rectangles, I chose to have them all the same width, but thats just me. Then cut a long "U" shape in the middle. This is where the page would slide into the bookmark. As you can see a slipped a card into that slot to show the slit. Next you will need to pick out matching eyes and cut out 2 large circles, and 2 small circles for each bookmark. If you want to add pipe cleaners to the top of the bookmark, simple poke a hold in the top and pull the pipe cleaner through and fasten. 

After you make these super fun bookmarks you can drop them off at a local school, a day camp, give them to friends with kids, or bring them to your local library!

"The more you read the more things you know. The more that you learn the more places you'll go."

- Dr. Seuss 

Inquiring Minds

If you were stranded on an desert island, what 3 things would you bring?

Christopher,17, NJ 

a satellite phone, a water bottle with a purifying filter, and a solar powered charger for the phone. 

Kristen, 19, NJ

A fishing pole, a hat, and a flare gun

Sarah, 21, NJ

Sunscreen, Water Bottle w/ a purifying filter, and Jennifer Lawrence. 

Kaitlyn, 21, RI

Bananas, Toliet paper, and bubble wrap ( it's entertainment for hours)

Ryan, 21, MI

Machette, a pot, and matches

Kelly, 21, NJ

My Dad, my brother's dog, and a supply of penne ala vodka

Lynley, 22, NY

My 'Life is Good' Water Bottle, Knife Kit, and Wine

Katie, 22, NJ

A water jog, a big floppy hat, and an axe

Darren, 23, NJ

Food, Water, Shelter

Brian, 25, NJ

Boat, Knife, Guitar

Thanks For Reading This Weeks Inquiring Minds!

Comment Below With Your Answer!

I Pledge Allegiance to Travel!

One of my favorite things to do is travel! It doesn't matter if its exploring a local town or traveling to another state. I love to see what our world has to offer, especially when I'm experiencing it with good company. I've decided that in my lifetime I want to go to all 50 states. I brought this up around the dinner table and we started to compile a list of states that we have gone to (for the record we only count states that we got out of the car and got something to eat in). I wanted to make a more definite list online some how of each of our travels because I knew the scrap paper we wrote it on was going to get lost or tossed eventually. I did a little searching and came across VisitedStatesMap.com where I was able to check the boxes for the states I've visited, and an image of the US with colored in states representing my travels came up on the screen. I saved the image and did the same process for Brian, Darren, Haley, and Christopher. If states are highlighted in yellow that means that person has lived in that particular state. 

Sarah's States Traveled: #11

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida.  

Brian's States Traveled: #12

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and Florida.  

Christopher's States Traveled: #10

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,  Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, and Florida. 

 Darren's States Traveled: #13

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire,New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Missouri and Florida.  

Haley's States Traveled: #13

Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, California, New Mexico, and Nevada.

A year from now, I hopefully will be posting this again but with even more color! I hope to have a post comparing the countries we have traveled. I hope this post inspires you to to chart your travels!

"We Travel Not To Escape Life, But For Life To Not Escape Us!"

DIY Workout Top

Are you like me and have a ton of tee-shirts just laying around? Whether they are from races, tournaments, schools, teams, or freebies, they are multiplying! They most likely don't fit you or just wish they were different. You want to wear them because they have special meaning to you but you just can't get yourself to wear it other than to sleep or around the house. I took a free college tee that I have but is to big for me and turned it into a workout top that fits me just right! Its very simple and doesn't require any sewing (just a few hand stitches). Follow the steps below! HAPPY DIYing!

Step 1:

Gather Your Supplies! I chose my gray Centenary College t-shirt (I didn't attend but I love college tees), Fabric Scissors, Fabric Cutter (optional), gray thread (to match the shirt), a needle, and pins. 

Step 2:

Cut off both sleeves on an angle. Cut close to the collar of the shirt and down to wear the bottom of the sleeve was.  To make sure both sides are cut evenly fold the shirt in half and use the one cut side as a template for the other. I used the fabric cutter to do so but fabric scissors would work just as well.

Step 3:

Take the fabric scissors and cut along the bottom of the back collar to detach it from the back of the shirt.
Step 4:

Make two cuts on the back of the shirt, creating three vertical columns. These cuts start at the top of the shirt and go to about a half an inch above the bottom of the sleeve. 

Step 5:

Now take each of the three columns and turn them into three strips each. Pictured is the right column turned into three of its on columns.

Step 6:

Take the first three strips of fabric and braid them. Take a bin through the end of the braid to keep it from unraveling and pin it to the back collar. Repeat two more times. Hand sew each braid into the back collar. (final product pictured below)

Random Act of Kindness #2

The 2nd Random Act of Kindness that I did on my birthday this year was "For You" envelopes. My family has a big coupon book, that I'm assuming we bought at school fundraiser. I flipped through the pages and found the coupons for establishments that are close proximity to my house but are also places that my family doesn't frequent very often or at all. I cut out coupons for Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, and Quick Check. I put each establishments coupons in their own envelope, sealed it, and wrote "For You" on the front. I also, included a card that I made up explaining that this is a Random Act of Kindness, I hope it put a smile on their face, and that I encourage them to do their own act of kindness. When I drove to each establishment I put the envelope under a windshield wiper of a car in that parking lot. I figured, if I drove to that particular business, that the likelihood of the recipient appreciating the act and utilizing the coupons would be extremely high! When I went to Dunkin Donuts, there was a lady parked but had her car running and her window down. I decided to go up to her and hand her the envelope. She was shocked that someone came up to her but she was very grateful and told me that I made her day, oh! and she wished me a Happy Birthday! 

This is a very simple and inexpensive way to give back. Not everyone receives coupons or at least not to the places they frequent. I like to think that the recipients were able to treat themselves because of my act of kindness and hopefully they to will turn around and do the same for someone else one day. 

Life is too short not to help one another!

Take a break at Breakwater Beach!

Monday, two of my brothers and I traveled a little ways south to Seaside, NJ for some much needed family fun. The weekend crowd was gone, the sun was shining, and we wanted to make a Splash! According to my little brother there was a good report card promotion ending on the last day of June, so we made it just in time! By showing your grades you would get in free with one paying adult. Its weird to think that Darren and I are the "adults" in this scenario when we are all siblings. Anyway, it only cost us $63 for all of us to have a fun filled day in the water park. 

We went in the kid area (above) and had a blast squirting everyone with water and dumping buckets of waters of those passing by... and they loved doing it to us! We went on tube rides that were singles and doubles, the lazy river called our name, more than once! We raced down a pumping slide on mats (I never won). We soaked up the sun and felt like we were away on vacation. I plan on going back again this summer and I hope you want to go too! I found a great deal on Groupon for Breakwater Beach, but unfortunately the time has run out on the offer. The Local section of Groupon has a deal for Jenkinson's right now, and may have a breakwater beach one again! Keep your eyes peeled, I know I will!