Let Go

I'm super grateful for my friend Rachel, and the other day she pinned this image that I immediately connected with. I'm sure it's no surprise that I've been a little stressed out lately with the house being on the market, but I'm realizing this week that I need to really and truly just let go... and trust that God is guiding Dan and I in the right direction.

We officially have an offer on the house (!!!), and we've begun the potentially super stressful negotiating process. Honestly, it got to me a bit this morning, and I sent Dan an email listing all the things that were driving me crazy and making me anxious. Aaaaand then I realized later how big of a waste of time and energy that was. To his credit, my awesome hubby got online as soon as he saw my message so he could check in with me and see if I needed to talk (I know, he's the best), but really, what I needed was to take a deep breath, say a little prayer, and calm myself. It will all work out. Maybe not exactly how I had it planned in my head. But definitely exactly how it should.

I'm a visual person, so I'll be printing this image to put up at my desk in hopes of it sticking in my head!

Links

Pave link bracelets have been taking my precious blogosphere by storm in the last year or so, and surprise, surprise, I really wanted to get my hands on one. But, uh, I didn't really have $72 for a bracelet. I've seen knockoffs for less, but still at $50 or more, which is still way out of the budget.

And then the ever-awesome Target struck again, coming out with a perfect knockoff of the knockoffs for a measly $20, and I was sold.

So let's play a little game, shall we? It's called Find the Knockoff! For real though, can you tell which one is from Target?

Yeah. Me either!

Spoiler alert - it's #3, and you can buy it online or find it in store right HERE. I snagged mine yesterday at the location by work and am extra excited to wear it to a good friend's wedding tomorrow night.

Happy Friday! May your weekend be as unforgettable as I'm planning on mine being.

Thanksgiving for the Win

Wow. The long Thanksgiving weekend could not have been any more fantastic for me, and I hope that you are able to say the same!

After (accidentally) waking me up at the crack of dawn (literally) on Thursday, the hubs went out to get the newspapers for me so I could sleep a little more and wake up to a fresh stack of Black Friday ads - #whataguy. I brought them with to South Bend for Thanksgiving dinner and chatted it up with one of Dan's cousins most of the afternoon while going through everything and making my list. Now I know a lot of people had major issues with stores opening so early this year, and truth be told I was kinda bummed myself simply because shopping in the middle of the night with Dan and my sister while we blast Christmas music and wait for McDonald's breakfast to start is one of my favorite yearly traditions. I figure if other people don't want to shop on Thanksgiving/Black Friday then they don't have to... but earlier hours or not, I absolutely love it, and this year was no exception. We actually started a bit earlier than we originally planned by stopping by Best Buy in South Bend to try and get the hubs a doorbuster laptop for work. I was SHOCKED at how calm, orderly and nice the people were out there! We were in and out in no time, got exactly what we needed, didn't wait in ridiculous lines and most importantly - didn't practically get trampled heading into the store. Chicago area Best Buy's could really learn something from their counterparts in Indiana if you ask me.

When we got back to Chicago we picked up my sister, mom and aunt, bundled up and headed to Target at 8pm and then the outlet mall at 9. Outside of an obnoxious and overly peppy Kate Spade Outlet employee, the mall was a success and we were home around 1am for bed. Manda and I got in a power nap and headed back out the door a little after 5am starting with Sephora's $10 doorbusters (worth it EVERY year). After 2 malls and breakfast Dan met us out for some manly stores and Old Navy (worst line of the whole day, as usual). By 1pm I was about 97% DONE with all of my Christmas shopping, and I thought the day couldn't get any better until we got to Home Depot and I spied an adorable little 5ft REAL Christmas tree for a whopping $17... and then Dan said "yeah go ahead, let's try it" AND I GOT MY FIRST REAL CHRISTMAS TREE in about a decade!!! I was genuinely glowing and smiling so much that the guy who trimmed it up for me congratulated me on my tree (and probably thought I was crazy, but I'm ok with that). It's the cutest little thing you ever did see and I cannot wait to put lights on it tonight so we can hang up our favorite ornaments!

Friday night proved to be just as exciting as the rest of the day since I had dinner plans with a college friend I haven't seen in ages. He showed up with my favorite Starbucks drink in hand and we spent the next 3 hours storytelling, reminiscing and eating burgers until Dan and some of our friends showed up and the fun continued well into the night. It honestly could not have been a better evening.

After all of that I'm sure it's no surprise that I slept most of Saturday away, but thankfully I managed to get myself out of bed in time to spend the evening with our nieces and FIL. Sunday included some much overdue house cleaning, a stager coming by for a consultation thanks to our realtors and grocery shopping that resulted in us stocking up our deep freezer with enough meat for half the winter.

Needless to say, I am exhausted this morning even thinking about heading to work, but looking forward to the next few weeks leading up to Christmas and New Years! Happy Monday all.

Words of Wisdom

I had what can only be described as a complete and total meltdown last night, and poor Dan was stuck not knowing WHAT to do with me besides trying to calm me down enough that I wouldn't make myself sick from crying. I guess sometimes you just need a good cry, and last night was one of those times for me. I was emotionally and physically exhausted, and my body and my brain had just had enough. This also came after we polished off a big homemade apple dessert without bothering to eat dinner, so I imagine the sugar rush - and then impending crash - didn't do a whole lot to help me out.

I've been overwhelmed in general lately, and I suppose it finally took it's toll on me. I'm in one of those places where I'm realizing just how many big decisions come with being a real full-fledged adult, and it's freaking me out. I realize that about 85% of this stress comes from just THINKING about selling our house, and when I get this overwhelmed, I tend to crash and burn before I pick up the pieces, push forward and find the positive in everything that's going on. I could barely convince myself to do a load of laundry for the past couple of weeks, much less write a blog post, cook something decent for dinner or drag myself to the gym. I realized last night in my fit of tears that I need those things - I am hardwired to create, to write, to organize, to DO. Without those outlets, I am not myself, and I am in turn a big giant mess.

And so begins my latest endeavor - finding a little quote (probably on Pinterest) as inspirational words of wisdom for the week. I'm a visual person, so while having something moving written in a pretty font is simple, it is powerful for me. I've joked before about getting the word "blessed" tattooed on my wrist as a constant reminder to myself, and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it a lot again lately.

Happy Monday friends. Here's what I'm working hard to remember this week -

Confetti

via

Today is the big 3-1 people! I am officially a "30-something" and no longer plain old "30". I feel old, which is kind of a new feeling for me since for whatever reason 30 didn't feel that way. I have really high hopes and really great feelings for the coming year, and I can't wait to see what lies ahead for Dan and I.

We're going out to a favorite restaurant with a bunch of friends tonight, and I am already salivating just thinking about all of the delicious food I plan to consume. I think at some point I may also send the boy to the store for a big bag of tissue paper confetti so I can attempt my own version of the photo above because I love it THAT much.

Happy birthday to me!

Little Things: Front Porch Storage

When I posted our front porch makeover reveal, it drove me crazy when I realized how see-through the frosted panels were on our storage cabinet where we keep all of our board games and a bin full of shoes.

While everything is nice and contained, it still looked messy to me because of those panels. So, I found a fun roll of wrapping paper at my mecca (Target) and sweet talked the hubs into helping me measure it all out using the largest straight-edge we could find (I really need to buy a yardstick). After cutting 2 even pieces we just used little squares of double-sided tape to secure the paper to the insides of the doors. I've already had to add a couple new pieces after a humid day, but I'm hoping overall this holds up. I of course did this little project well past my bedtime a few nights ago, so I wasn't about to get out the good camera for a new picture. Instagram to the rescue!

For $4 and less than 20 minutes, I'd say this is one of the simplest projects we've ever done with so much impact. High fives for easy upgrades!

Blessings in Disguise

This past weekend when I was moping around bummed that I wasn't packing for Mexico, my good friend Amy who lives in Seattle was packing for Chicago. I of course didn't know that because I am the WORST friend ever when it comes to keeping in touch (For real - how do I get over the fact that I hate talking on the phone?? Who's got tips for me?), but the good news is that Amy is awesome and she sent me a text when she got here saying that we should get together and catch up. I haven't seen Amy since my wedding, and haven't met either of her little ones, so you can imagine how much I freaked out about her being in town. We promptly made dinner plans for last night, and I was actually a little nervous to pick her up to come over thinking it was going to be weird because we haven't really talked and now I'm married and now she has two kids and now we both have careers... you know, adult stuff. Gone are the days of us babysitting for approximately 15 kids between us and taking group trips with them to the pool. No more shopping for the heck of it on a Wednesday and then wearing our cute new outfit to the bars that evening. Forget about swooning over cute guys that we see while we're out - we're both (happily) taken! Things are different now.

But I was so so wrong for thinking for even a second that anything would be awkward. It was perfect. I loved every second of catching up and it was like we'd never been apart. Amy is a natural-born mother and it was so incredible to see her doting on the kids. And her daughter?!? Dear God that child is amazing. Not an ounce of shy in her and a total chatterbox... so basically, me as a child only with a mess of blonde curls I'm super jealous of. She was giggling with me before we even got to our house, and was totally smitten with Dan within minutes. At one point towards the end of the evening I came downstairs from the bathroom and she stood up on a chair, held up her arms and said "Kelly!! Cuddle with me!!!" MELT. MY. HEART. Seriously. I almost cried.

So besides gushing about Amy and her amazing little family, the point of this post is to serve as a reminder - mostly to myself since I have a real hard time looking on the bright side sometimes - look for the positive. Remember the little things. Realize that if I were actually in Mexico this week I would have missed the chance to see one of my oldest friends that is only in town every couple of years.

I never thought I would say this, but I am SO glad I'm not laying on a beach right now. There is nowhere else I would have rather been for dinner last night than at home with Dan, Amy, Aoife and Collin.

The Little Things

Way back when I first started this blog, I used to randomly do posts I titled "The Little Things", which were essentially just a mental dump of things I'd seen or found around the web that I found interesting or inspiring throughout the week. I've had a few "ooh I need to remember that!" moments this week, so here's to bringing this little series back!

Here's what's been catching my eye this week -

- This quick read from Daily Perricone on foods that are great for your skin. I knew about most of these, but it's always a good reminder to re-read the list. And, I've never been a fan of blueberries but am loving them in smoothies lately, so it's nice to see them on the good list!

- My new favorite blog: Thug Kitchen. Cracks me up. Basically, someone takes pretty food pictures, overlays a bunch of really obscene (but true) text over them, and then posts a recipe to go along with it. I kind of think my boss would love it, and I'm totally hooked. Warning: not suitable for those who are opposed to a LOT of profanity.

- Huffington Post's plea to bring the holidays down a notch. I don't even have kids yet and seeing some of the stuff other moms do for their kids on Pinterest already makes me feel insecure about living up to the expectations of going all out for every. little. holiday. This post is a great reminder that it isn't all about goodie bags and perfectly decorated cupcakes all the time.

- This quote has really hit home for me this week as I've thought about where I am overall with my life and where I'd like to be. Something I've always known I wanted to do but was kind of too afraid to try was being on the board for a non-profit. Well, thanks to a great friend that's involved with an awesome organization, I am now the newest advisory board member for a foundation that is committed to finding a cure for cancer - a cause that's very near and dear to me. More on this later, but for now, it's all about taking chances for me!

Time to start making plans for the weekend! I'm heading to dinner with one of my absolute favorite guys (hi Jamie!) on Friday night, going to an art show with a bunch of work friends after that, and spending Easter Sunday with the hubs and his family. I cannot wait for inevitable goofing around with our nieces and lots of ham and mashed potatoes :).

The Little Things

I had big plans to wear my brand new blush pink jeans today for work... and then I woke up to rain and was so exhausted I didn't want to put any effort into looking cute. What is it about rainy days that make it SO much harder to get out of bed? My trusty Hunter boots saved the day.

Dan was home Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday night this week, which meant dinners at home and lots of hanging out and catching up instead of playing around online. I'm sure I missed some fun things on my favorite sites and blogs, but I would so much rather spend my time with him, and I'm loving his "not as busy" season, which I know only lasts a very short time.

Here's a few little things I did see this week that I loved -

Hipster Branding, spotted by Alaina.

Painted-back bookshelves. Hoping I can tackle this project this weekend!

Minimilist Lego ads. So awesome.

My sister and I laughed for a long time at someecards late last night. I love sleepovers with her.

Anyone have fun plans for the weekend? I'm looking forward to lots of time with friends!

The Little Things

I've realized that on Fridays it's often the little things from the week that stick out in my head. Things I'm thankful for, things I remember, things I'd like to do over the weekend, things that made the week a little better. Here's my little things from this week -

- This article from Mashable about the Top 10 Most Followed Brands on Pinterest, found through a "Cool Reads" email at work. Also check out the Top 10 Most Followed Pinterest USERS. My Pinterest feed is thanking me for all of the new goodies I'm seeing thanks to following several of the boards from these articles.

- I have several new blogs to read, thanks to all of the fun Chicago Bloggers I met at The Everygirl kickoff get together on Wednesday! Favorites include Taylor's Curly in the City and Jen's Darling Notes.

- Speaking of Pinterest, according to my boards my colored pants obsession is clearly not going anywhere anytime soon. I plan on doing whatever it takes to find some mint green (and maybe blush pink) jeans this weekend.

- A mama colleague of mine saw my note on facebook asking for empty baby food jars so I can DIY a smaller version of the popular Anthropologie chalkboard spice jars. She brought 6 adorable little jars in for me this week that I can't wait to paint - maybe even as soon as tonight.

- I may get bold and DIY another project this weekend, in the form of Say Yes to Hoboken's super simple DIY gold toe flats. It helps that I've already been eyeing the exact pair of purple flats at Target that she used for this project, and I think I already have gold spray paint leftover from when I was a gold digger for Halloween a few years ago (thanks for that Kayne).

What are your plans for the weekend?