Date night...

Saturday night was declared as date night.

We try to have date night at least once a month.

Just the two of us.

Dinner and spending quality time together.

We decided to check out a newer sushi restaurant: Yama

As many of you know I have an obsession with sushi....and crave it constantly!

Yama was fantastic. The menu even breaks down the cooked vs uncooked sushi rolls which I loved! We orderd 5 rolls... yes... 5.

God, they were so good.

We ordered so much sushi that they brought it out in a BOAT!

We ate ALL 5 rolls. Please forgive us and our big apetites (we didnt eat lunch!).

Side note:.... while at dinner Eliza called me 5 times.... this is when I realized, " I better call her back...I bet she got engaged!" I was right...!

On our way home we stopped at Dean and Deluca and picked up a delectible dessert: Chocolate Dome (cookie crust, choclate ganache and some other cholocate ridiculousness that I cant remember). Our plan was to take it home and eat it and relax in our sushi, chocolate coma.

We got sidetracked. Friends were making smores at their house and that idea sounded too good to turn up so we made our way over to their house and enjoyed a lovely fall night making smores outside in the fireplace!

Date night was a great success but we never ate the chocolate dome...!

MY SISTER GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!

MY SISTER GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!

Big weekend in the Bass family.

My parents somehow were able to "keep the secret" from me....even though I had many suspicions all the way up until when my sister called to tell me Rich had proposed.

Short story....Rich asked my parents for permission. He also asked my parents to meet him and his parents in Greensboro at our family jeweler's approximately one month ago with the diamond that my grandfather left for my sister (he left each of us one). They all met for the first time and helped him pick out the gorgeous setting. They got along really well and had lunch together. All without Eliza knowing....which is a big feat!

Gorgeous Ring!

The proposal. Rich flew up to DC to see Eliza this past weekend. He has told her that he wanted to take her out to a nice dinner because he is getting ready to move up there and money would be tight and nice dinner's would be few and far between. Before they went out to dinner he presented her with a book that he put together with a song he had written for her. Rich is a musician (plays dueling pianos as a hobby etc). After he presented her with the book he proposed to her. They both went out to nice dinner in DC and celebrated! Rich fooled Eliza because she thought he was going to do it on our Cruise in 3 weeks that we were all going on. Great job Rich on pulling on over the most suspicious bride to be :) Welcome to the family!

We are so excited for Rich and Eliza. It seems so surreal. My little sister is engaged?! I was in total shock at first. I can't tell you how many times I said, "my little sister is engaged, oh wow!". Not that I didn't think this would ever happen but she is my little sister after all. Rich will gain a sister, I will gain a brother....neither of which we have either had before! Its a good thing we all get along really well :).

They are planning for an end of September early October wedding in 2009. Details will definitely follow. I will be the MATRON of Honor....Does that make me old? or Matronly? I sure hope not.

2009 is going to be filled with some AMAZING life changes....I can feel it already!

Mazel Tov to my sis and Rich on their new status: Fiance'!

Fall is definitely here and so are babies!

Last weekend I took Friday off and drove with my sister to D.C. to stay with her and to visit. We had a great time. After we made the 6 hour drive back we stopped by her apartment....

Talk about the ritz living in D.C. She pays quite a little penny for condo at The Post on Massachusets Ave, but its gorgeous. A beautiful rooftop pool and view of the city, very nice garage with her own parking spot, a state of the art gym and a continental breakfast every morning. Talk about NICE...but you pay the price!

Since she works for Red Bull, just about everywhere we go is "one of her accounts". We decided to make a trip to Annapolis for the big Boat Show that was taking place. We ate dinner at Puser's and walked around Annapolis.

It was gorgeous and reminded me so much of Charleston with all of the little shops and cute houses. What a great place! We actually spent the night at a hotel in Annapolis and walk up bright and early to head back to get a work out in before our days adventures went down. We went to Taste of Georgetown and enjoyed some Falafel from one of her clients. We also visited the Harbor which was beautiful especially since the weather could not have been perfect. Just cool enough to sit outside without wearing a jacket.

We also did a little shopping while we were in Georgetown and scored some great things at H & M and Anthropologie. I bought my sis a new snazy winter jacket and I know she was very excited about that seeing how cold DC gets in the winter. We had a great weekend spending time together just the two of us. I can't remember the last time it was JUST US.... sisters! Saturday night Eliza dropped me off to meet up with Andrea at Neiman Marcus...(her now former employer, since she gave her notice the day after I left, yippe!). We went to a dinner party with some of her co-workers and had a fantastic time dining with them at their beautiful home and eating a yummy Italian meal!

Sunday Andrea and I did NOTHING.... which is what we love to do. We got up and she made me homemade oatmeal which was delicious. . We watched T.V., football, made cookies, scones, bought mum's for her front porch and did more of nothing. It was perfect in every way. I had the best weekend with two of my bestest's and I was so glad that I made the trip to visit them all in D.C. My flight was late so I didn't end up getting back to Charlotte till midnight. My dad was out of town so I decided to spend the night with my mom. We had a sleepover which reminded me of the old days when I used to live at home.....I love my mommy.

Even though last week everyday was something like this... Wake up 50 degrees, Lunch time 80 degrees, go to bed 65 degrees.... we have officially entered fall. The cool crisp weather has arrived ALL DAY LONG and I am loving it...but it makes me want to stay in bed ha!

ps. lots of babies have been born in the past two weeks.

Isabella "Ella" McGinnis daugther of Jeff and Naomi McGinnis

Ella Grace (double name) Brady -daughter of Lauren and Shawn Brady born this Friday!

So many exciting birth's to celebrate with wonderful friends...and many more to come!!!!!

Apples and Honey

We love this time of year.
It starts to cool down, the leaves are changing colors as they slowly fall off the trees.
I especially love that I dont have to run the air conditioning or the heat....

and the Jewish Holidays are in full swing.

Last week we celebrated Rosh Hashanah (The Jewish New Year).
We enjoyed a lovely family & friends dinner and attended services on Tuesday to welcome in the new year as we prepare for Yom Kippur (Day of Attonement that follows 10 days after Rosh Hashanah).

We also enjoyed apples and honey for a sweet new year.
I baked a fantastic Apple Coffe Cake to share with the family.
My parents invited a few of our friends to join us for dinner Erev Rosh Hashanah so we had quite a crowd! We were so glad that Tania, Hal, Pamela and Josh could all join us for a lovely dinner.


My sister and Rich come in for Yom Kippur on Wednesday of this week to join us and I am looking forward to seeing them!

L'shana Tova to ALL!

Twenty nine and still a kid!

Friday was Philip's 29th birthday.
His birthday request was to go to the Zuma Fun Center with our parents and friends.

The Zuma Fun Center has putt putt golf, go karts, water bumper boats and a batting cage. Philip talked about Friday night ALL week he was so excited. Unfortunately the weather didn't hold up and we were forced to change our plans. I could tell after a really stressful past few weeks at work the last thing Philip wanted to do was go out to some "stuff" dinner and go home. He wanted to cut loose. SO I proposed a new option. Sports Connection: Bowling, Arcade, Laser Tag.....I figured this would be a close 2nd to the Zuma Fun Center.

Everyone had a blast. We brought a cake, sang happy birthday and the guys played as many arcade games as possible in the 3 hours we were there. Everyone bowled....some better than others! A special thank you to our parents, Tania, Hal, Pamela, Josh, Matt, Christian, Sam and Jeff for coming out to celebrate with Philip. He had enough fun to get him through another year...his final year as a 20 year old!

If a birthday was not exciting enough...Saturday was Philip's 10 year Providence High School Reunion.

We made our way down to Whisky River uptown "lookin pretty snazzy". Most of Philip's friends that I knew from high school couldn't make it so I went knowing no one. Philip had a great time catching up with all of his old friends. I couldn't imagine attending that reunion single. Not that being single is bad, but just about everyone there was married. Not sure about the atmosphere for a reunion (dark and loud) but everyone enjoyed the get together and they are already talking about a 15 year reunion!

Sunday we caught up on grocery shopping (We had not gone in 3 weeks!), hit up the gym and did chores around the house that were VERY overdue! I even hung up some fall/Halloween decorations....but you will have to wait for photos!

On to a great week filled with Rosh Hashanah Celebrations ... L'shana Tova... May you have a sweet and healthy new year!

Girl time

My pottery class has turned out to be a great outlet for me. Probably not great for my back but perfect for my mind and my desire to be creative!

The first week was a disaster. I couldnt center a pot if my life depended on it. I think I had some bad energy surrounding me. Luckily I was able to get rid of it in time for the 2nd week of class. I have yet to make a weekday/weekend visit outside of my class time on Wednesdays from 7-9 but I am sure enjoying every minute I am there. I hope to get there this weekend since it's the first weekend I will be home since I started this class 4 weeks ago!

I am currently in the process of making Hanukkah gifts for our parents. Fingers crossed they will come out well and I can actually give them as gifts. Effort only goes so far :)

Philip doesn't love the fact that I come back with dried up clay over just about my entire body and then attempt to sit on our bed. Yeah, I get why that is gross but all I want to do is crash. It's dry!? Come on....

This week I also attended an event at Polished which is a Nail and Wine bar here in Charlotte. If you live in Charlotte or ever come you should check this place out for a mani or pedi. I loved the atmosphere and spending time with the Young Women of Hadassah. I met a few new girls which was also very exciting and we decided after we got our nails done to go over to Big Daddy "The Burger Bar". I had never been and boy was I missing out. I got the Frenchie....6 ox Burger, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Brie, Granny Smith Apples and a side chopped salad. YUM oh YUM!

Two great evenings in one week.....and its only going to get better!

Philips birthday is today.

HAPPY 29th HONEY!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!

We are supposed to go to the Zuma Fun center with friends and our parents but the weather isnt looking ideal for that. Philip's high school reunion is also this weekend....10 years!

I can guarantee that I will have some great stories to share come Sunday!

So much going on, so little time!

excuses....excuses I know.

Why have I neglected my blog so much lately!?

I guess I have so much going on that I cant get on here to write!

I think it is also because my back as been bothering me so much lately I will do anything possible not to sit at my desk any longer than I already do for work.

I am still busy and my back is still killing me but some really fun things have been going on so its time to update.

Last weekend....

NextDOR Shabbat Potluck at the Temple. I coordinated this event and we had about 40 people attend in their 20's and 30's which was a great turn out. I was in one heck of a funny mood. Not sure what got into me but I think it had something to do with this silk wrap dress that I was wearing. I bought the thing in Vegas a few weeks back and you can wrap it about 100 different ways. It definitely heightened the evening for me. Call me crazy!

Saturday morning we got up at 6 AM and headed to Raleigh for a jam packed Saturday.

I threw Lauren (Palmer) Brady and Cassie (Kincaid) Hall two of my friends dating all the way back to high school a double baby shower. Both ladies are pregnant and due 3 1/2 weeks apart. Cassie is having a boy and Lauren is having a girl so it made for a fun shower! Emily opened her home up to all of us and cooked up a storm. I decorated, sent out invites and put together the "games". We played baby "Price is Right" and a Celebrity Baby game. Everyone raved about the non-traditional games and said they were the best they had ever played at a shower. :) Me so happy. After the shower we planned on heaving over to Waraji my favorite sushi restaurant ever but it was closed for Saturday Lunch. DEVESTATION crossed my face like you have never seen before.

Nicole and Dave's wedding was at 3 pm so we headed over to St. Francis for the Wedding. Note...during the wedding NC State went into overtime against ECU. Philip definitely was checking the scores the entire ceremony in a state of panic (Sorry, Nicole!). The wedding was gorgeous and everything went off without a hitch! We headed over the the Royal for the reception and enjoyed seeing many of my old friends from Global Knowledge. The groomsmen were HILARIOUS. The dancing that went down at this wedding was like nothing I had ever seen before.....

After a long day we retreated to Lauren and Shawn's house. We have never stayed with them so we were excited to see their place, check out their GIGANTIC GORGEOUS GARDEN and see Baby Brady's nursery. Everything was perfect. We had such a great time with both of them.

Sunday morning the plan was to meet all of my girlfriends from College and their signficant other's at Irregardless Cafe. Philip ended up being the ONLY guy with 6 girls. Poor guy. It was great to catch up with everyone and we all enjoyed such a delicious breakfast!

What a weekend!?!? I am still trying to catch up on the lost sleep....

On another note... I need to get my fat butt back into the gym 5 days a week. I have been slacking to 3-4 days a week and that is NOT ACCEPTABLE. All of my pants are snug again. UGH.......

Snuggle up to this...

Months ago we were at Sam's Club shopping around for some bulk items and decided it was time to get some new detergent. We are very picky about the way detergent smells admittedly and we decided that Snuggle was the best smelling. We bought the concentrated kind...took it home and have been using it for every load of laundry over the past two months.

Recently I started to question the ability of our washing machine to actually WASH clothes....I would smell this weird smell on my work out clothes, nothing seemed really clean.
We even considered buying one of those Eco-Friendly Front Loading super duper kind but cringed every time we looked at the price tags. I was about to throw my washer out the window.

Just this weekend Philip made another trip to Costco and decided it was time we switched to powder detergent since that is what we grew up on. He brought home this massive box of Gain powder. For some unknown reason he decided to check out the Snuggle liquid container details to realize that it was NOT DETERGENT it was fabric softener!!!!!! How did we not realize this all these months!?!?! We had been cleaning our clothes with fabric softener and not detergent. GROSS...

Seriously. we had yet another Amelia Badelia moment....

So the past two months of odd smelling clothes that didnt seem clean.... all makes sense.
Sorry guys... If I happened to smell around you and you were too nice to say something.
I can promise that has been put to an end once and for all!

GROSSSSSS!
ps I apologized to the washing machine for doubting her abilities!

The light at the end of the tunnel....

August and September have been overwhelmingly busy for the Schreibman's. I thought we were prepared coming into these months but I found my self completely exhausted after this weekend....with still two more whirlwind weekends left before we get a nice break...

We got to celebrate Lisa and Ben's engagement with them on Friday night at 131 Main (our favorite Charlotte restaurant) Philip's parents and Ben's parents joined us and it was great to celebrate them and honor them during this exciting time. Ben and Lisa were in town for Ben's 10 year high school reunion at Myers Park...Philip's is in two weeks!


I spent a lot of the weekend prepping for next weekend. Shabbat Potluck at the Temple Friday night, wake up at the crack of dawn...drive to Raleigh: Double Baby shower that I am throwing for Lauren and Cassie and then Nicole and Dave's wedding ALL in the same day. Lots of preparing....PLUS Philip's 29th birthday is the following weekend along with his 10 year high school reunion.

I don't want to spill any of the shower surprises but its going to be super cute and so are their gifts (that I have spent the past few months gathering things for).

I ran a lot of errands looking for Fall/Halloween stuff.... much to my dismay I only came home with a basket that says Harvest on it. We never made it to the Farmer's Market on time so I didn't get the mum's I was looking for. Saturday we hit up the Barbeque and Blues Festival uptown which was a very HOT experience. Our good friend Josh was out there with his brother Jeff who owns Smokin J's BBQ (riblover.com). There were many different booths to sample BBQ from however we were loyal to Jeff's yummy ribs and BBQ. Hundred's of people came out for the event and I enjoyed people watching as always...but damn it was HOT.

The Miller High Life..

Talk about a lot of people uptown!

Courtney and Josh were also in town this weekend for the Panther's game on Sunday so Saturday night we got together for Taco Night at our house and hanging out like old times. By the end of the night we concluded that they really need to move here sooner than later so we can pick up these chill evenings where we laid off when we left Raleigh. We always have the best time with them... doing nothing. Who doesn't love that!?

I got back into the gym this weekend.....I had not been to the gym on a weekend in two weeks because of all of the travels and I started feeling disgusting. Yes, I am slightly obsessed with my 3-5 day a week gym routine and with this new medicine I am on I can see the pounds packing back on much to my dismay. I am trying to fight this. I am turning a new leaf this week. Back to portion control, back to focus. My back has been bothering me again (pretty badly) so I am going to work on strengthening it, sleeping only on my back and working out religiously. You heard it first.....I always have to write things down to commit to them so here it is.

Sunday my parents and family friend's Ryan and Michelle came over with their new 3 mo. old baby Kiley. She is precious and she slept almost the entire time they were here from 5-8 pm... She is an angel baby. We had a great time with them and were glad that came to visit us from Concord after not seeing them since Michelle got pregnant - WOW~! As always seeing babies makes my desire to be a mother that much stronger....

Shutterfly Shared Picture Detail

After everyone left we gave Bella the walk she deserved all weekend but had not had time for. Philip and I looked at each other and headed to bed at 9 PM - totally exhausted....

I am revving up for this coming whirl wind weekend. I can't wait for it because I am going to get to see so many people in one trip! Global Knowledge friends, and LOTS of college friends.... weeeeeee here I come....I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Slacker!

Where have I been!? Goodness....

Let me back track...
LABOR DAY WEEKEND...

Philip and I had a nice and relaxing time.

Lake Norman boat time with Jason and the crew...

Our Cousin Paige came up from USC and spent the night with us...

Brunch with the Kaplan Clan at Le Peep.... and Lots of pool time...

The past week was filled with much drama.

My trip to the Bahamas was in limbo due to the impending Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike.

All week we were checking the weather constantly.

Finally Thursday the bosses made the call to postpoine the Bahamas to next year and move our trip to VIVA LAS VEGAS....

Initially I was not thrilled. Vegas? Gambling? - I wanted ocean, sand, tropical.

BUT....this was an award's trip. I wasn't paying a dime...and shoot... I might just like it.

I had never been to Vegas... GASP!

As the accomodations information started rolling in I began to get really excited.

Bellagio for 3 nights - King bed ALL TO ME

Spa Treatments

Lots of shopping

Gorgeous large pools

The show "O"!

I was in heaven.

Off I went early Friday morning to Las Vegas... popping my Vegas Cherry once and for all.

The flight was gorgeous. Very clear skies so we could see the Grand Canyon and all of the mountanious regions. Until we landed I didn't realize how close the strip was to the airport!

I met up with the crew that flew in from the office: Dave, JP, Matthew, Kendal, Katie and Aaron and off we went in a limo to the Bellagio to begin our trip!

I was in slight awe... tall buildings, gorgeous architecture, casino's EVERYWHERE. My room was one of the nicest rooms I have stayed in and the hotel service was fantastic. The Bellagio is where it is at.

Our second night there we spotted Michael Phelps in the Armani store (they closed the store down just for him) so he could get fitted for a custom suit. The parazzi stalker that I am got this photo of him before I got shoved out of the way.

The second night we were there we went to see "O". We wanted to go see BELIEVE the new Criss Angel show but it didnt start till next weekend...bummer because I know TWO PEOPLE in that show! "O" was OMAZING. I have never seen a production anything like it. 1.5 million gallons of water. INSANE. I can't even begin to explain what it was like...

Katie and I hit up the pool and the casino's. The first day I sat it out to watch everyone gamble and learned how to play blackjack. I was scared to blow my $400 that I was given by my company to gamble with. The budget conscious side of me was saying, "hold on to it and just take it home". The other side was saying make more money and go to the spa....

So that is what I did. I started gambling a little here and there. Lots some won some. Never had any luck at the Bellagio. Casino Royale and the Palms were where I made my money.

I brought money home... I actually made a decent amount of money so I was quite pleased. I didnt bring home my $400 BUT... I would've had I not gone to the spa.

The last night I hit it big at The Palms. I won $400!....but proceeded to lose $100 when we got back to the Bellagio...grrr. All in all I was quite proud of myself for my first time in Vegas.

The spa....was more than a spa. It was everything I could've ever wanted and needed.

The facilites were spectacular, gorgeous tiling everywhere! So relaxing. I couldnt partake in the spa, steam room or whirlpool bc of some medicine I am on but I still dipped my feet in before my massage. I decided to do it up right and go for the 70 minute Deep Coconut Surrender Massage: This concentrated deeper massage focuses on the back, neck and shoulders, using firm pressure, heated stones, and hot towels, while coconut milk is drizzled along the spine and back of the legs. Heated Indulgence.

THE BEST massage I have ever had... and if you know me you know I have had TONS OF Massages because of my back problems. 70 minutes is the PERFECT amount of time and I left the spa feeling completely renewed.

We had some great food on our trip: Noodles at the Bellagio, Cantonella in the Venetian and Nobu at Hard Rock. My coworker Katie (the only other girl on the trip) and I spent a lot of time together at the gorgeous pools. The guys mostly gambled ALL day and ALL night or watched football at the Sports Book. Not my idea of a vacation....

I enjoyed Vegas. Would I go back? Not anytime soon and DEFINITELY NOT ON MY OWN DIME.... RIP OFF CITY!

After a hellish day of delayed flights, stuffy airports and bumpy planes I made it home around 1 AM Monday night. Home sweet home. I missed Philip and Bella.