St. Patty's Day

I thought I would reminisce a little about Ireland on this St. Patrick's Day.  Hopefully one day in the near future I will be living in Ireland teaching adorable little Irish children how to speak.  And listening to their adorable accents wishing I had one.  Enough of that for now, I still have undergrad and grad school to get through.

So here's a letter:

Dear Ireland,

From the moment I saw you, I was captivated by your beauty.

Every where I looked, something new and amazing was to behold.

Your architecture and quaint buildings had my heart from the moment I laid eyes on them.

And your boutiques and farmers markets- don't even get me started! 

You have the friendliest of people and the greatest accents my ears have ever heard.

I think I could stare into the countryside for ages and never become bored.

You are so thoughtful- reminding me where to look so I don't run into incoming traffic. 

Ireland, you are my dream english speaking country.

Living in Ireland and having a vacation home in Firenze sounds like a dream. A dream I want to make a reality. 

So Happy St. Patrick's Day Ireland! Here's to the day when I will celebrate with you!

SB12

Spring Break 2012.

A lot more low key than my previous two spring breaks (one spent in California the other in Ireland and London) but fun just the same.

I spent time in Gainesville with the family, Jupiter and Hobe Sound with my other family, back to Gainesville for a day then to The Happiest Place on Earth (aka Disney for all you non Disney fanatics) then Gainesville for another day.  It really was great.  It seemed much longer than 10 days, in a good way.  It was the perfect break from school.

Here's some pictures from my SB. They're all from Disney except one. Sometimes I just kind of forget to take pictures.
PS- I saw a kind of celebrity. It was exciting for me.  No judging when you find out who it was.

Banana's from Hobe Sound

Rainbow in Magic Kingdom

Got to love the People Mover.

And my mom's reflective jacket 

Wishes do come true!

Don't judge.

I have a confession. 

I am obsessed with teen mom.

And in this grainy photo, you will see Jo, Kailyn's baby daddy and her son Isaac. 

Yes I saw them and I freaked out.

But he's sort of a jerk and didn't seem very friendly so I just stalked from afar. 

There they are again!  Too bad you can't really see Isaac because he's a pretty cute baby. 

Animal Kingdom!

Trying to find some silly hats

So there you have it. SB12.

Wonder where next year will take me. 

Princesses

Last Sunday, I accomplished two items of my bucket list: running a half marathon and being 

Cinderella.  I have always LOVED Disney and have always thought it would be so much fun to be Cinderella in the park.  Although I was not exactly Cinderella, I dressed up as her to run through Disney, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot.

 And let me tell you, it was so much fun.

 I don't know how running 13.1 miles is fun, but this was.  

I ran in the Disney Princess Half Marathon with over 20,000 other people!  That's a crazy amount.  The majority were dressed up in costumes as princess, princes, Disney characters, or just wearing tutu's and tiaras.  The best part was that I trained for it with my best friend.  Although we lost each other within the first minute or so, it was fun to train with her and then spend the night before together.

I honestly think everyone should run in this.  It was an incredible experience and it was never boring because, let's be real, is Disney ever boring?  There were tons of photo opps along the way and easily over 1,000 volunteers handing out water, cheering us on, and holding signs.  High school bands woke up at an ungodly hour to play for us as we ran by.  And then the families of all the princesses running were there to encourage and cheer for us.

Next year is the 5th annual Disney Princess and I will definitely be running in it.  It was such an amazing experience. 

Feb. 29

Seriously, this is the coolest day ever.

It's an extra special day that happens just one time every four years.

I wish I was either born on a leap day or I want to have a baby on a leap day one year.

Just think, you'd have a little convo that would go something like this.

Let's just ignore the fact that I am making up a conversation between two fake people, mkay? 

Oh, when's your birthday?

February 29.

Wait, what?  There's only 28 days in February.

Nope, I was born on a leap year.

Shut up! No way! That's so cool!  Wait, then when do you celebrate your birthday?

I get to choose. So I can either decide to have it February 28 or March 1.  And then of course, on my real birthday, it's even more amazing because it's my actual birthday.

Wouldn't that be so fun?!? And I would hope you'd get even more presents when your birthday would fall on February 29 since that's you actual day of birth. 

Not many people get to chose when they celebrate their birthday.  Maybe in my next life, I will beborn on February 29. 

So I am going to celebrate today by watching Leap Year. 

And thinking about how I wish I was in Ireland right now because I was this time last year. Sigh

Love

Life is full of love. 

And Valentine's Day is the day we get to tell and show people love because apparently every other day isn't enough.

When I have a valentine one day, I want every day to be valentine's day. 

Here's some valentine's day fun.

I went to Publix a few days ago and the first words out of my mouth were, "Holy Valentine's Day."

Then I thought how fun it would be to run through them and let them all fly all over the store.  But I like Publix a lot so I decided I wouldn't do that so I wouldn't be kicked 

out.  Instead, I just looked for the most ridiculous of balloons. 

I spy a large bear with a heart for the body...

My lovely grandma sent my a valentine's day card with a treat inside. 

She is truly so sweet, loving, and caring. 

She never fails on sending holiday cards.

Then my most special valentine gave me the lovely gifts below.  My sweet mother.  She is the best.

I called her up to gush over my presents and I said, "I don't ever need a valentine because I have you!"

So sweet, right?  

To which she replied," Oh yes you do, one day."

Thanks mom.  

Anyways, thanks to her generosity, I was able to give all seven of my sweet roommates cheesy valentines that said things like

Fashion First Valentine!

You're my #1 Fashionista Valentine!

and

Shine and Be Mine Valentine.

Seriously, they are so cute though.  And I was even nice enough to share my valentine's day peppermint patties.  They are my favorite candy ever.  Not just peppermint patties, but the valentine's day ones specifically because they are heart shaped and pink on the inside. 

And I can't wait to make and use all the yummy food related things!

And how might I be spending this finest of evenings?

Oh just baking about 8 boxes of brownies. Not because I am sad that I am single (I am perfectly happy being single for the time being) but because I have about 50 middle schoolers who I promised I would bring brownies to tomorrow- my sweet wyldlife kids.

Now that's love. And a whole lot of brownies. 

Happy Heart Day Valentines! 

So good and so healthy

Although I already eat pretty healthy, despite my sweet tooth, I have been trying to eat really healthy lately.  It just makes you feel so good and it tastes so much better then non-healthy food.  I have also been trying to eat less meat and more beans and veggies. So this is how I have come to have a love affair with this lovely little salad.

I stumbled upon this blog. Not really sure how I found it considering it's a pregnancy blog but anyhow, I did and I am so happy because now I have this delicious salad to eat.  And I just checked her blog now and she has had an adorable little baby!

Well back to the salad.  It's a tuscan white bean salad and you know me, if anything has the word tuscan in it, I will try it because it reminds me of Italy!

So here's what you need for the salad:
White beans
Cucumber
Tomato
Basil
Croutons

Optional:
Kalamata Olives
Red Onion
Feta Cheese
Avocado
Corn


For the dressing:
Red Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

So here's how you do it:
Drain and rinse those beans
Cut up your veggies
Put into a bowl
Make your dressing and pour it on top
Add some basil- fresh is always best

Mix it all together
Add croutons
And eat!

So good.

Let me know what you think!

2 Weeks

Pictures from the past two weeks thanks to my phone.
And instagram. Which I love! So come follow me: carolineeconner :)

Drew and Ellie Concert

Seriously, they are the cutest.

So much love in this picture 

Not a fan of me in this picture but we met them!

15K run for Cancer with my mom and best friend! 

So excited to run a half marathon with Beth in just two weeks!

Yes I have weird eyes in this picture.

Other than that

Cheese Burger in Paradise!  From Margaritaville.  

Ate here before...

The Jimmy Buffett Concert!

Happy 50th Birthday Daddio! 

Crazy Jimmy fans.

It's a land shark.  

And ta-da!  My Kindle case I made with the help from my loving sister.

And I LOVE this case. 

I managed to squeeze 4 types of fabric, lace, and a cute button on it.

It's so precious. 

Now I am off to study phonetics, read some on my kindle, and go to leadership where a wonderful younglife committee member is nice enough to feed us.  

Happy Sunday lovelies.