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)

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!

Lets Go To The Boardwalk!

Casino Pier, Seaside Boardwalk!

Sometimes you have to venture outside of your norm and have some fun! Living only minutes away from Jenkinson's Boardwalk, Point Pleasant Beach, it is quite rare that I would venture a longer distance to go the Seaside Boardwalk, but I'm sure glad I did!

       

The Musik Express has by far the most enthusiastic employees and you can't help but have a blast!

The Surf Shack reminds me of one of my favorite scenes in Grease! It is fun and unexpected!

         

 Like most boardwalks the rides can be expensive and crowded. I suggest going on Mondays & Wednesdays because those are Wristband Days! It is also during the week so it is A LOT less crowded!

Movies on the Beach!

School's Out for Summer! Want to do something with friends and family that is fun and FREE!? I do! Jenkinson's is holding movies on the beach every friday night! Come to Jenkinson's Pavilion Beach, starting THIS FRIDAY at nightfall (about 9pm) with a blanket and good company to watch a great movie! The movie schedule goes as follows:

June 27th - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (PG)

July 4th - Independence Day Fireworks (no movie)

July 11th - Frozen (PG)

July 18th - Despicable Me 2 (PG)

July 25th - Iron Man 3 (PG-13)

August 1st - Smurfs 2 (PG)

August 8th - Lego Movie (PG)

August 15th - Pitch Perfect (PG-13)

August 22nd - Planes (PG)

August 29th - Monsters University (G)

Father's Day!

Sunday, June 15th was a day dedicated to awesome dad's everywhere! Many dad's opened cards that most likely had a tie or bow-tie on it and unwrapped gifts that came from their favorite hardware store. My Dad, feel under this category for sure! But, I also wanted to surprise my Dad with something special...

Many of you are probably familiar with the Milton Bradley, two-player game, Guess Who?

This red and blue guessing game has been in the game closet of my house, since I can remember. In recent years, Guess Who? has been collecting dust and frankly we don't find it to be challenging anymore... well that's how we felt before I decided it was time for an upgrade!

 I replaced the cards with picture of my brothers and me! There are Halloween costume pictures, beach pics, and candids! We made it a rule that you can't ask if the card you have is Sarah, Darren, Brian, or Christopher. These cards make the game more advanced by having more in the picture then the original game. There have also been really unique questions like, "Are you squinting to the right like Clint Eastwood?"

This remake of an older board game was fairly simple. For details on how I did it, comment below!

Strawberry Harvest Festival

Family Fun & Fresh Strawberries!

The Strawberry Harvest Festival at Alstede Farms was an amazing experience and you can experience it too! The festival will be happening for one last weekend, June 21st and 22nd.  Pick your own strawberries! Explore their beautiful farm and all that it has to offer! Indulge in their fresh strawberry desserts! I recommend the chocolate cake with fresh strawberries! I got to check strawberry picking off my summer bucket list!

Children will have fun feeding and seeing the animals. My cousin, Callie even got to ride a horse! We saw the ducks, peacock, chickens, pigs and other four legged friends!

Rowan had fun picking the fresh strawberries and playing on the big hay stack!

  

Take a Trip to Alstede Farms!

http://alstedefarms.com/family-fun-nj/strawberry-harvest-festival/

Making a Difference On a Rainy Day

This weather has been utterly unpredictable. I awoke this morning and peered out my window to see a foggy Bay Head before me. I got up and brushed my teeth to only be drawn back to the window due to the loud pounding noise I heard outside. Within an instant the weather went from gloomy to down pouring. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time mother nature has demonstrated her moods this week.

 I don't know about you but when dark clouds roll in I roll back under my covers and a Netflix marathon ensues. I do venture out of bed every once and a while (usually for chocolate). However, this week of weather unpredictability and a source of motivation within me has caused me to clean my room!? I know it is shocking and no one is more shocked about this than my parents. But its true, I have been actively cleaning and organizing which lead to a discovery that has inspired today's post. Yes, all I have done is talked about the weather but I assure you it gets better. I discovered.....broken headphones...A LOT of broken headphones!

This might seem silly, and you may wonder why I didn't just throw them away. But headphones, like many things can be RECYLCED. In the grand scheme of things 5 sets of broken headphones in a landfill might not seem like a big deal to you but I want to leave this earth better than I found it. I want to get in the habit of RECYCLING or DONATING to charities instead of simply tossing something away...and I hope you join me!

Thinksound is a headphone manufacturer that has set up a Recylce Program with Universal Recycling Technologies to help keep more valuable resources out of landfills. How it works is you will fill our a recylcing form, mail it with the broken headphones (any brand) to their offices in New Hampshire. Thinksound will take care of the recycling of the headphones and you will be rewarded for recycling with a coupon to purchase Thinksound headphones! For the form, mailing information and any questions you may have visit http://www.thinksound.com/recycle.php

I am going to recycle my headphones, are you!?

All About Color Me Rad!

 Color Me RAD!!! I have participated in a handful of 5ks but never like this! This is a complete Fun Run from start to finish! This event brought together about 2,000 people with the common goal of giving back, getting colorful, and having some fun! There wasn't one person that wasn't grinning from ear to ear at this event! Teams, were instructed to wear all or mostly white, and pick up your race swag prior to the race. OR if you are me and totally forget to pick up the packet you can wait on line and pick it up at the registration tent! Inside our swag bag is your (1) Race Bib (2) Official Color Me Rad t-shirt (3) Awesome Color Me Rad Sunglasses!

Once you put on your race bib, you make your way to the starting line at the appropriate time. Due to the high number of participants you are assigned a time when you are allowed to Run/Walk/Skip the race. My Mom and I were in the 9:10 am race wave. As you can see all the people in front of us are waiting for their race wave to begin. When its time, there is a count down, and the man standing above everyone blows a cloud of color on the participants! Of course, when I got to the front the leaf blower that the man was using to make the cloud of color got jammed and we began without the epic cloud of pink. Just my luck!

As we ran around the PNC Arts Center complex we ran through these color check points! They were spaced out throughout the course and they had these color check points in so many different colors! It was awesome because you can see them as you went through the course and it was motivation to keep going because you wanted to be color bombed! Inside these checkpoints were Color Me Rad volunteers ready to bomb you with color as you went through! The last leg of the race there are volunteers that hand you color bomb packs that you get to use to bomb other people! I made sure to color bomb my mom as we crossed the finish line!

You might have noticed my RADiculous Jersey Strong cowboy hat! WOW and the Jersey Strong Foundation had a tent setup and were giving away some rad swag. With every registration to Color Me Rad a donation was made to the Jersey Strong Foundation. This public charity has a mission to connect us to people and communities throughout New Jersey. The Jersey Strong Foundation provides funding and resources to people, families, and communities in New Jersey who are healing from hardship, and were hit by Hurricane Sandy.

Here is my Before & After of Color Me Rad! Oh, and my Color Me Rad tip for future RADiculicous Participants is to use the clear zip lock that the Color Me Rad sunglasses come in to cover your iPhone while you race! I was able to take all the photos above with my iPhone 5c while in the zip lock!

And last but not least, Enjoy the after Party!

                                        

Summer 2014 Bucket List

Hey, Everyone! I thought I'd share my Summer Buck List!

What's on your Summer Bucket List?

Perfect First Day Of Summer

   Waking to the scent of salt water air and feeling the warmth of the sun through my window I knew that today was going to be the perfect first day of summer!Cars began to line my street and beach goers walked and biked the few blocks to the unguarded Bay Head beaches. I wasn't going to let this beautiful day escape me, so I too got ready to have the sand between my toes.
     I put on my favorite bikini and applied SPF 30 suntan lotion. You may think that is excessive but my fair Irish skin can be mistaken for that of a lobster without proper protection! After I gathered my things I met up with one of my favorite people and we laid at our favorite spot on a Bay Head Beach. There we soaked up the sun, gossiped, and watched the surfers. We dipped our toes into the water and walked for awhile in search of sea glass. 
     The skies are clear and its a beautiful 80 degrees but our stomachs did the talking and we had to leave the beach for some much need nourishment. We ventured to the only logical place to go, Jersey Mike's Subs. This stop was exactly what we needed! The service was fast, and friendly. The food was reasonably priced and utterly delicious! I always feel at home when I am there and I love the 'Jersey' atmosphere. 
     After lunch we traveled 15 minutes north to the picturesque Spring Lake. The traffic was a little heavy in Point Beach even though it was the early afternoon. Once we arrived in Spring Lake we spent some family time with our grandmother and then decided to go to our guilty pleasure eatery for dinner, The Circus!
     For those of you that don't know, The Circus, was established in the 1950's and is a drive-in restaurant. You can dine under the big red and white striped tent or stay in your car for curb side service. We indulged in fan favorites and I ordered my favorite drink, a Pink Elephant! (Don't worry, its just pink lemonade!) 
     After dinner, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather by going on an evening stroll. We walked to the Spring Lake boardwalk and with every step towards the South End Pavilion we felt the cool ocean breeze. We walked around the gorgeous lake and looking into the shop windows on Third Avenue. We even ventured over railroad tracks to fulfill our sweet tooth at Hoffman's Ice Cream. I rarely attend the Spring Lake Heights Hoffman's but I couldn't resist the bright yellow awning if I tried.
     We walked back to our grandmother's house as the sun was going down and together we enjoyed our last moment of the perfect first day of summer.

How did you spend your first day of summer?