Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Had to illustrate one of my very favorite quotes from one of my very favorite influences on his birthday.

Doesn't he have the best quotes ever?

Happy Friday! :) xo

Birthday Girl! & Weekend Shenanigans

Today....is a special day.

It is somebody's 21st birthday!!

Noooo, not Koda. You are only about 10 in doggy years! Too young for alcohol.

There, there.

Baby Sister is 21!!! It is about time.

The family celebrated early on Friday with some pizza, ice cream cake, and a few presents. We are going on a trip to Vegas at the end of March, so that is her main "birthday celebration," but the grandparents wanted to come wish her a happy birthday.

It wouldn't be a Bock family celebration without awkward family photos

How cute is Poppy in his sweater?!

and shenanigans like my grandmother and I accidentally lighting the ice cream cake on fire.

Coop was at a show in Upstate NY Friday, so I was excited to venture over to Philly Saturday and spend some time with him after my Saturday morning double session of BodyCombat & BodyPump and then lunch at Chipotle with Allie and Oscar.

Remember? The Chipotle addicts.

Coop suggested we go to try some local places we haven't been yet, and I happily obliged. We walked to the nearby Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant to try out some apps and beer.

Fried Mac & Cheese and Fried Pickles. Ohhh my goodness. The "frickles" weren't quite as jaw-dropping as our favorite ones in NYC, but they were still so, so good. So not on the Tone It Up plan...but everything in moderation!!

We each had a Flying Fish Grand Cru, and then I went with the Dogfish Head Stout and Coop had the Sixpoint Signal Rauchbier. Good thing I took a taste of Weyerbacher Tango before ordering a full glass...as a huge WB Imperial Pumpkin Ale lover, I thought I would no doubt love their Belgian Dark Ale. Uh....not so much. Neither one of us could even finish the sample. Fail! Luckily the beer we ended up choosing was great.

Our waitress was wonderful, too. We will definitely be returning...especially since their "Coming Up" list of brews-to-come on tap was pretty stellar.

We were craving some red wine, and they were out of the Malbec we wanted, so we hit up a wine & fondue place nearby. The two wines we tried were amazing...but the service was totally awful. Sorry, Beneluxx. We won't be back. Even though the drink list was pretty amazing!

Sunday was the ultimate lounge day. T-shirts, yoga pants, warm and fuzzy socks.

We're cool, I know.

Who's Pete Sake?

We were all about TV (Chopped, TripleD, etc.) and movies (Moneyball...had some funny parts, was pretty intriguing, but also had some slow parts).

Coop left for the gym, and since I didn't feel like paying $15 bucks to go running, I stayed behind and watched The Lion King and Aladdin while doing a little at-home workout full of planks, squats, core work, pushups, pull ups from his bedroom's rafters, and belting out Disney lyrics. I pretty much looked super cool.

Sushi take-out from Uzu (right next to Philadelphia B&R!) accompanied the new episode of The Walking Dead. 

We shared Miso soup, a house salad with ginger dressing, a Cali roll, a Mexican roll (grilled chicken, avocado, and a spicy sauce), a Boston roll (lettuce and shrimp), a King Kani (spicy crab)....but the show-stealer was definitely this guy:

The Mellow Yellow....yellowtail, mango, and cream cheese. Oh. My gosh.

I had made a little goody bag of snacks for Coop because he was supposed to be in New York this week at a hotel as he trains for his new job, but he actually ended up not having to go there this week and is just going to the regular office in PA. So....we dug into that little bag of goodness for dessert. The bag is full of Clif ZBars (Iced Oatmeal Cookie!!), Love Grown Cocoa Goodness granola, Larabars, Goldfish, and other snacks (....and a little bottle of Jack Daniel's). Multiple Hershey's Kisses and Hugs and a shared Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar were consumed post-dinner.

And YAY for Coop's first day on the new job today! I know he will be a rockstar.

Lots of freelance and fun new projects, new recipes, and other fun things on the way. March will be an absolutely amazing month...lots of get togethers with friends, little Allie will be able to come play with us due to her FINALLY being 21, Coop has some good shows lined up, St. Patty's Day (I got a new shirt to wear this year....LOVE it, maybe even more than my typical Paddy's Pub shirt), we're seeing Justice in Philly on the 20th (YES.), and then....Vegas! Cannot wait to recap all of the awesome things we have coming up. And hopefully I will have some more illustration and design projects that I will be able to share with you soon.

Until then....have a great week! xoxo

• Question: I just bought chia seeds and nutritional yeast....I have a few recipes lined up that I want to try, but do any of my healthy-living bloggers have some great ideas? I made Brittany's Chia Pudding with Rolled Oats on Saturday morning post-workout and I am totally obsessed with it!! Topped with Love Grown granola....perfect. I will post more about it in the future, I am sure.

Chia Pudding with Love Grown granola!

Wackadoodle.

That is exactly how things have been around here lately...crazy work, gym, yoga studio, illustration commissions, family get-togethers and minor crisises, shows in the city, trying new recipes....I've been all over the place! This post will pretty much mimic that.

You are right, Miss J. I will try.

(ANTM fans out there?)

Little photo recap of my past week:

Birthday Pup!!! No party hats were to be found, so I bought his collar a ribbon. That'll do.

Kissing his birthday bat.

^...those still exist? And Poppy's 84th birthday (with birthday ice creammmm)

Get it, Office fans? Three Hole Punch Jim and Black Cat Pam:

(Source)

I made us Dunder Mifflin ID tags to make it a little more authentic....aaand so that people didn't just think I was a bad version of a black cat. C'mon, I am a little more creative than THAT.

(Pre-Pam Halpert....and that's the date that Halloween episode aired.)

It's FRIDAY again, and you know what that means!!!

The Friday Five

1.) What I'm Reading:

Still the same ol'  LARGE PRINT from last week. I remember the days when it would just take me a couple days to read a book...now it takes weeks! I just juggle so many things at this point that reading has taken a bit of a backseat for me lately. But don't get me wrong...still love it!

2.) What I'm Listening To:

(Source)

The new Coldplay album that was just released...Alt Nation on SiriusXM has been doing a fab job of playing many songs from the CD and I think I am going to buy it on iTunes later tonight. I'm diggin'. The new Black Keys album sounds like it will be awesome as well.

3.) What I'm Watching:

Been waiting for this for a loooong time. And was as impressed as I could've hoped. Same amazing humor and animation laced with current icons like Twilight, Jersey Shore, MGMT, and Skrillex? Perfect storm. That Mike Judge...he's pure fabulousity.

(Source)

Um...Chopped??? Where have I been? OBSESSED! For some reason I had not seen this show before, but had heard of it. Now I have been watching marathons and DVRing old and new eps this past week. Love!!! Also Restaurant: Impossible. 

Really into food shows lately. 

4.) What I'm Eating:

Comin' at ya: Black Bean soup recipe that I made for lunch earlier this week. I wish I had taken pictures, but I will definitely be recreating this soon.

Wawa turkey and veggie hoagie today...heavy on the veg. And their slammin' chicken noodle soup. The noodles are so doughy and delish. Get ready for a recycled pic...

Bam.

Oh...and these freakin' peanut butter filled pretzels. Addicting.

^who gets to wear Lululemon jackets to work? Me. Half because I'm the only female and I don't always have to look like a fashion plate, whew, and half 'cuz my boys keep it ARCTIC up in here.

5.) What I'm Pinning:

Some swoonworthy shtuff I am lusting over:

Vitamix! Nikon1! And that workspace! Oh my!

And in addition to holiday decorating ideas, I've been brainstorming ideas for DIY Christmas gifts. I'm going home with Coop for Christmas this year and meeting most of his family for the first time, and I do not plan on going empty handed! Plus, I love all-things-festive. It'll be fun to create a mixture of homemade and baked little gifts, and decorate them to make them very "me."

(All sources and links can be found via my Pinterest.)

On tap for this weekend:

• My first Zumba experience tonight. Eek!
• A two hour mash-up of BodyCombat and BodyPump tomorrow morning. My thighs are hurting just typing that!!!
• A night in Philly for one of Coop's shows and possibly another Halloween party after if we can make it.
• Make more Black Bean Soup and post the recipe....omigosh I'm in love.
• Catch up on Breaking Bad, How to Make It in America, and a new episode of Dexter on Sunday!

Have a good one!

xoxoxo

Happy birthday to youuu!

To my partner in crime...

Hangin' out with a griffin

Lil' Easter egg action

My fellow beach bunny....

Chillaxin' in South Beach

Gettin' Legendary in Avalon

The one who isn't afraid to fist pump with me...

Standard night out with Coop and Sam....

Or just be goofy with me....

Rawr!!!

Late night ice cream cake...decorated in pure Bock fashion

To the one with matching shoes....

(And fellow beer drinker)

Playmate of my pup....

Wrasslin'

I will go to the park now, thank you!

My travel buddy...

We're in Miami, betch!

Helloooo, palm treeees

Oh...and did I mention he is an amazingly talented drummer, too? (...swoon)

Photo by Joe Spause

And the life of the party....

via John D. Wattenbarger Photography

I am a lucky girl.

Happy 29th birthday, Babe!!!

Lion & Ocelot :)