Happy Halloweenie!!!

Well, Friday is back, and it also happens to be Halloween. I'm at Em's with the kids but Kev should be home soon, so off I will go to start the night's festivities. Sophia is going as a skunk, and a very cute one at that. We are having our friends, Dan & Samantha, over with their son, Trevor, who is one month older than Sophia. I bought a special Lia Sophia sign to stick in my yard to advertise to all the mommies bringing around their kids for trick-or-treating. I may sneak a business card or two into their little treat bags as well, always on the hunt for more money making opportunities (ha ha). As far as the week went, BUSY is the only word that sums it all-and the weekend is not going to let up either. Tomorrow, Me, Ant, Sophia, Em, Kev, Mia, & Bubba are off to Connecticut to see....drum roll please...THE WIGGLES!!! Yayy! Me & Em are practically wiggles groupies from watching them alllll the time, lol, so we are very very excited. As soon as we get home, I have to jet over to my friend, Eva's, to participate in a vendor "open house" night where I have already set up a Lia Sophia table. Hopefully I can rack in some business there. Then, on Sunday, I am doing a show at Aunt Nancy's and off to Outback to bar tend at 5. Whew! Just seeing it in words makes my head spin. I won't even go into how busy my week has been, I'm sure you can only imagine. But please do not mistake this for bitching or complaining, I am extremely grateful to be busy. Money is good, I'm doing what I love surrounded by people that I love even more. Burnt out-maybe, but, unhappy-definitely not! I am blessed....and I can sleep when I am dead. lol. Tuesday I get a day off from babysitting due to election day, but I will prob be catching up on my cleaning and laundry. The madness never ends!!! However, Em agreed to split up our week where she would alternate bringing the kids to my place and me coming here. That is a huge help, it will allow me to be home to get things done during the day that have been neglected as of late (ahem...laundry).

Last weekend was alot of fun, our Friday night dinner was a success and the food turned out great (thanks to my awesome hubby who cooked and cleaned for the occasion). Then on Saturday, I ran some errands until Ant got home and we headed over to my parent's for dinner. Seeing everyone was nice...not something I get to do often anymore. My new niece, Taylor, is a peanut and sooo beautiful. I love holding a brand new baby again...made me reminisce of Sophia as a newborn. I def miss those days....maybe one day soon I will have some good news for everyone (no that is not a pregnancy announcement). Sunday was just a day to relax...made breakfast for Ant & I(bacon and eggs), and we went out & bought Sophia some new fall/winter clothes from Kohl's as well as new sneakers for the hub. Then he headed off to his parent's house with Sophia to watch the Jets and I had a few hours alone until I had to work. Of course I watched "Atonement" again, for the 100th time, and then headed off to make some more bacon (not the kind we ate for breakfast,lol) .

I must share with everyone, before I go, my favorite TV show. Private Practice has got to be the most addicting, emotional, tear-jerking show ever. Every week I am left choked up and blubbering like a baby. Definitely watch it!! It is on every Wednesday night at 9 on ABC and full episodes are available to watch online.

Well that is all that I have for now...I hope everyone has a fabulously, spooky Halloween! And no teepeeing the neighborhood! xoxoxox

TGIF!!!

Ahhh...the end of another week and boy am I glad to know that tomorrow is Saturday, and I have zero plans! Never have I been a person who would be happy about nothing to do, but life has been busy, therefore, the opportunity to do nothing is quite rare! Tonight we are having Ant's parents, his cousin, her hubby, and their kids over for dinner. We try and get together at a different person's home once a month and tonight it is our turn to host. We'll be making a big tossed salad, our re-creation of Outback's "Alice Spring's Chicken", and some garlic mashed potatoes. I have plenty of leftover wine from our wedding, so some Bud for my father-in-law and we'll be set! As busy as things have become, we always try to schedule in family and friend time. It is definitely something that I have learned I need in my life. Balance is absolutely essential for me to function, I have to have my alone time, social time with others, time with just my hubby, and time alone with my hubby & daughter. Otherwise I feel like I am lacking something and I get grouchy. Grouchy is never fun.

On another note...this week I did very well financially so I caved and bought the Ugg boots that I have been lusting over. Anyone who knows me, knows that I worship my Uggs and basically live in them through fall & winter. I have two pairs that I received as a gift for my 21st bday and neither one has shown a bit of wear & tear. Of course they need a good cleaning but they have no strings or stitches sticking out and the soles are like new. And they keep my feet nice & toasty all day long. I do not care who says they are "UGG-ly", haha, or out of style...I love them and I will not be giving them up anytime soon. So, as of right now, my new black, crochet Uggs are on their way...come to mama!

On Sunday, I had gotten a free night off from work due to a faulty fire alarm issue, and Ant had gone to his parents to get Sophia after our night in Atlantic City. So I took advantage of the few hours alone, and watched one of the greatest movies ever made, "Atonement". It was on HBO on Demand, so if you have HBO I strongly suggest watching it. If not, it is a surefire bet at the video store! I can't tell you too much without ruining it, but it is full of twisted, tragic love and deceit. The cinematography is amazing and the scenes are so beautiful your heart will ache. Keira Knightly and James McAvoy make the most extraordinary on-screen couple and they carry the movie the whole way through. The rest of the cast is good, but those two make the movie come alive. I love finding good movies, especially ones this good. Atonement has definitely earned a mark on my 'favorite movies of all time' list. (Saving Private Ryan, Baz Lurhmann's Romeo & Juliet, Marie Antoinette, Atonement, Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3, All Harry Potter movies, Amelie) There is nothing like snuggling in and escaping into a different world for a few hours. Maybe after our guests leave later, I will be able to coax Anthony into watching Atonement too.

I hope everyone had a great week and has an even better weekend! xoxox

Zoos, Fondue, Poker, and Camping in the Car....

Monday is here and so another workweek has begun! Temperatures have begun to seriously drop here in NY and I was greeted this morning by frost on the ground as well as on my car. I actually had to sit and let my car warm up this morning. Since we just bought the Edge, we haven't had a chance to get an automatic starter installed and I think its due time. Those things are worth every penny spent, there is no price on climbing into a toasty, defrosted car in the morning instead of feeling as if you just stepped into a freezer...brr! Last week was a good week. Ant and I both had off on Monday, Columbus Day, so we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and jetted down to the Bronx Zoo with Sophia. Neither of us have been there before, gasp!, so we were both excited to check it out. It really is a nice zoo, you definitely forget about the fact that your in the middle of NYC (except for the little pathway past the Congo Gorilla Forest where Naseem's Grocery and Juan's Cuchifritos peek through the fence). Sophia and I even took our first camel ride together! All in all, as much as we love being with our friends & family, it was sooo nice just to spend some exclusive time together with our daughter. The remainder of the week flew by...work work work. Ant's birthday was Saturday so we spent Friday night with his parents for dinner and cake. And being the spontaneous couple that we are...we decided to head down to Atlantic City for Ant's birthday night, just the two of us. His parents love the alone time with Sophia, so she spent the night with them and off we went. Due to our lack of planning, we didn't have a chance to book a hotel room and being it was a Saturday, all of the decent hotels were running around $400 a night. Well, we figured we just bought a nice & roomy SUV, why not take advantage and camp out in it for the night? (here is the part where my Mother is going to say, "you did WHAT!?!") So, we threw in some nice, heavy blankets and a few pillows and hit the road. We got there around 4 ish and the weather was amazing. We found The Showboat parking lot and got ready to hit the boardwalk. We had dinner reservations for the Melting Pot at 9 so we figured we would walk down towards Midtown and gamble at Caesar's until it was time. I had some beginner's luck at the Roulette table and one of my number's hit on the first go, $100 richer!!! After swiping our player's card, the dealer saw it was Ant's bday and gave us two free glasses of champagne. We decided to take the bubbly on the go and enjoy it while strolling the boardwalk. It was so romantic, the waves were rolling in, the fall breeze was blowing, and the sun was setting. Just as much as we appreciated our time on Monday with Sophia, we always love the alone time as well. As our dinner reservations drew near, we continued on to the restaurant (with my new champagne glasses nestled in my purse, lol) figuring we would have a few cocktails at the bar. This was our first time at the Melting Pot and I have always wanted to eat there so I was very excited, and what a time it was! It is definitely the PERFECT "date" restaurant to get cozy with your loved one! After a few amazing martinis and the most amazing cheese fondue ever, we were escorted to our table for dinner. Our table was this snug little corner, very closet-ish if you can imagine that, where we sat side by side with the burner for the fondue pot in the center of us, perfect for snuggling up. It was so much fun, too! After choosing what cooking style and entree platter you would like, they bring everything out "unprepared" and you cook it yourself by letting it sit in the steaming hot broth. It almost reminded me of cooking hot dogs over a campfire, only a LOT more sophisticated, lol. But the best part by far was dessert. We chose the yin & yang fondue which is essentialy just half dark, half white chocolate, accompanied by assorted fruits, cheesecake, pound cake, marshmallows, and brownies to dip in it. You can't even imagine how decadent and romantic this is, an absolute must for couples. We will be paying this restaurant a regular visit for when we are in AC. After dinner, I made my grand poker debut with my poker obsessed husband. Usually I walk around bored out of my mind while he spends hours playing, so it was time to get in the game. I figured I had the basics down so we signed up for a 2-4 Limit table and each bought in for $100. I was very nervous but kept my cool. It was very overwhelming at first, everyone plays so fast! But I refused to be beat, and we kept at it. After a few hours, and a few great hands, we were shocked to learn that it was almost 3 am! Time flies by at a poker table and now I see why he takes so damn long! I had fun, though, and maybe I'll try it again sometime. We even doubled up on our money! We agreed that we were exhausted at this point and decided to get some sleep, off to the trunk we went! It wasn't that bad, I was a little scared but we had chosen a well secured (at least we hoped) parking lot and I was so tired that I didn't care. Its not something that I will actually plan to do again, but in an emergency situation I know that my car makes a functional hotel room! lol. I did manage to steal the all of the blankets and I had a very cold hubby in the a.m. We woke around 8, went into the casino to pee, made a quick $150 off of blackjack, and hit the road. All in all, we left with money in our pockets and some very funny memories to look back on. Then last night, the fire alarm kept going off at The Outback so I even got a night off from work, which I certainly did not complain about. And here it is, Monday morning again! I always look forward to Mondays though, its "Hills" night after all!!! Me and a few of my closest girlfriends are extremely obsessed with the show so we made a little girl's night out of it every week. Some good vino and a few snacks, we are happy ladies when Mondays roll around! I hope everyone had a great week...hopefully this week will be just as fun & eventful as last!!! xoxoxox

Jewelry for Natalee Marie

So this week I have decided to give back. I went to school with a young, married couple who have a 2 year old son, Dominick, and a 4 month old daughter, Natalee Marie. When Natalee was a young infant, she was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma, which is cancer in both of her eyes. I've been following her story via MySpace and have been praying for this beautiful baby to get better. I saw that alot of local buisnesses were doing what they could to help raise money for the family to help with her medical bills (some of her injections cost around $900 and are not covered by insurance). I was contemplating sending them a small donation when a lightbulb went off, I could do a book party through lia sophia and donate what my paycheck would be! So I am donating 20% off my total sales to them and am keeping a small amount for shipping costs and gas money for when I deliver people's orders to them. I started collecting orders on Tuesday and will continue to do so until Thursday the 30th. If anyone is interested they may order by directly contacting me @ (845)800-8001 or atmegentile@hotmail.com and may place orders through my website http://www.liasophia.com/megangentile -cash,checks,MC,Visa, And Discover are all accepted. When you enter the site, just click on 'Our Jewelry' to view the catalogs and enter my name in the hostess box to order. If anyone would like to order that does not live around here, I will gladly ship your items to you at no extra cost. It feels really good to do something for another, especially when that other is only 4 months old. I appreciate everyone's help and will keep you updated on how my fundraiser turns out! For more info on this precious little girl, please visit her blog at http://bighearts4lilhands.blogspot.com
xoxoxMegan

She works hard for the money!!!

Its 2:22 pm, Mia & Sophia are napping, Bubba is scurrying around the house in his walker...Dora the Explorer is on the TV. Welcome to a typical weekday for me! I am very fortunate to be able to call this one of my "jobs"!!! Don't get me wrong...spending an average of 40 hours a day with an 11 month old, 18 month old, and 2 yr old along with 2 very active labs can leave a person RUNNING to starbucks at the end of the day (and I do!) but I consider myself pretty blessed to be getting paid to do this. It also gives my sister a little "peace of mind" to know her kids are with someone that she knows and trusts and they are loved by me as if they were my own children. Plus I love the relationships that the 3 kids are building together-this alone is priceless. Sophia loves getting ready in the morning to go see her cousins..."Meezer" & "Bubby". When I pull up to Em's house I am always greeted at the window by a mound of blonde hair peeking out shouting, "Mi-Mi...Mi-Mi!!!" Could the start of one's work day be any more delightful? I love this job!
....which brings me to my other part-time job...bartending. Six hours of hustling, bustling, socializing, multi-tasking at turbo-speed, and walking away with a whole load of cash! Its an easy job that you have to work super hard at, if that makes any sense. The only problem is the fact that I am getting home around 11:30 ish which sux when you have a child that wakes up at 6:30 no matter what time mommy goes to bed, lol. Other than that I only bartend 3 nights a week and the extra money is a wonderful luxury to have in such a rotten economy.
And finally, I have my most favorite job of all (next to being a mom, of course)...selling lia sophia jewelry!! Never have I ever...1. felt so confident and self-assured(thanks to my amazing support system of women in my division) 2. made ridiculously easy money 3. exercised my love for all things fashion by creatively showing gorgeous jewelry and 4. had all the freedom and tax benefits of owning my own buisness. Not to mention we are always given the opportunity to earn amazing incentives and free jewelry, a free yearly trip to somewhere exotic (this year it's the Grand Caymen Islands cruise) and have meetings, rally's and a summer conference where we can all get together to share our tips and tricks, socialize, and win amazing raffle prizes. I know it all sounds too good to be true but it really is this amazing! I love it all so much that I would eventually like this to be my actual career, maybe even in the corporate aspect. I am constantly looking to share this opportunity with people and I ALWAYS pay for the start-up kit so if anyone is looking for an easy, fun way to make some moolah...let me know! Even if you live far away...you can take advantage of what lia sophia has to offer.
Now before this post starts to sound like a lia sophia infommerical or something...I must be on the run. So, that is what this girl does to make a living. It sounds like a lot, and it is lol, but don't get me wrong cuz I love every single second of it all!!! Til next time...(its now 3:27-I'm officially on coutdown to starbucks time, haha) xoxox

My introduction to the world of Blogging!!!

Okkkk, so with all the fab people in my life and their fab blogs that I so faithfully read-I have decided to jump on the Blog Train myself! I've always enjoyed the act of journaling and jotting down your thoughts, a very therapeutic past time, so I guess this is just another way for me to do that-an outlet for me to rant & rave, share & learn, and to just get it all out to a somewhat neutral source other than an overpriced therapist. Now mind you-an avid reader am I but an english major I'm not...so if my grammer or choice of vocabulary isn't exactly up to par...forgive me please!!! lol. Right now I am at a very wonderful place in my life-newly married, working 3 jobs that I love and am super happy with (bartending, babysitting my sister's children, lia sophia jewelry advisor), and I am surrounded by friends and family that are extremely special to me. Most of all I am a mother to a beautiful 18 month old daughter, named Sophia, who completes me in so many ways and teaches me more than I could ever learn about life from anywhere else. I enjoy drinking wine, eating good food, any form of arts & entertainment, traveling, and most of all-SHOPPING!!! So I guess I am your typical girly-girl minus the prissy, high maintenance of it all. I am sure my personality and true soul will surely be shaped out with every blog post in the future so I won't go on and on about my likes/dislikes. So here it is everyone! I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy reading all of yours!!! xoxoxox