Sweetness from the Weekend

He's going to be such an awesome father someday.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

How was your weekend? Mine was great from a workout standpoint - I went to a kickboxing class on Saturday morning that appropriately kicked my butt, and a Zumba class Sunday that was so SO much fun. Seriously. I never thought I'd be cracking up at the same time as getting a phenomenal workout, but there I was with 30 or so other women laughing hysterically while trying to learn how to shake our butts as well as the instructor. I chatted with one girl in the locker room after class and she put it perfectly - "Hey, laughing while working out? I'll take it. Extra calories burned!" If it's not already clear, I am LOVING my new gym membership, and I'm excited to continue to learn about different classes and exercises that will help me get in shape.

We also did lots of errand running and a little shopping this weekend. I got a couple workout tanks and compression capris from Old Navy and Gap, both of whom have all their activewear on super sale right now. And, I ordered the gym bag I was wishing for! Dan actually found the smaller one I was thinking about at Target, and after we packed it all up with my gym shoes, a change of clothes and a sweatshirt, we confirmed that it's just a little too small so I went ahead and ordered the larger one. It looks like it'll be a good week or more before I have it, but I'm already excited about it.

And, as illustrated above, we squeezed in some time with our adorable nieces Saturday evening. It's so crazy to me that in just a matter of a couple of weeks between visits the girls change so much as they continue to grow. Mayah has gone from being shy and taking hours to warm up to us to hyper and goofy when we walk in the door over the last few months. Kadence practically tackled me with a hug and a huge "Auntie Kelly!!!!" when I walked in the door (melt my heart), and has morphed into an independent little girl with a huge personality. And then there's Neyome, who everyone says looks just like Dan as a baby and is becoming more and more smiley every time we see her. I've been telling her lately that if my babies look anything like her (which they very well might because she really does look JUST like Dan), then I'll be happy because that means my babies will be absolutely adorable.

Happy Monday friends! And, Go IRISH!

If I had a Million Dollars: Work It Out

As mentioned in my little 2013 goals list, I joined a gym! So naturally, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time online in the last few days browsing around for the perfect gym bag and all kinds of other workout accessories that I may "need". I already have lots of fun and cute workout clothing, thanks to my generally casual style and times in the past where I've sworn I was going to get in shape and bought a bunch of gear to get ready for exercise that inevitably never happened, so I'm pretty much all set in the clothing category. But my very first workout yesterday quickly taught me that I need to get organized and have one place that I can keep all my stuff so I don't look like a bag lady running to and from the gym, and so I don't leave my glasses in my locker when I leave and have to go back for them like I did right away last night... oops.

So, here's a few things I'm hoping to snag over the next several months as I turn working out into a part of my routine -

Victoria's Secret Sport Headbands ($12.50) - I kind of sort of sweat like a man (no "glistening" here folks), and these have that snazzy body-wicking technology that's supposed to make sweating a little more bearable.

Jawbone UP Band ($129.99) - This is obviously way in the future and not a "need" at all, but my boss got one for Christmas so I looked it up and I'm intrigued. It tracks your sleep and your movement, works with your iPhone to add in things like meals and your mood, and then takes all of that information to help you maintain a better you. It even has an alarm that can track your sleep cycles and wake you up during the ideal timeframe so you feel refreshed. Very cool.

Contigo Addison Water Bottle ($16.24) - I got this water bottle for Dan for Christmas, and I'm a little jealous I didn't get myself one too. It has a pop-up straw spout which is perfect for someone like me who manages to spill almost every time a drink doesn't involve a straw. A 3-pack of these water bottles is currently on sale at Costco for $15, so I'm hoping to grab them this weekend.

Baggu Small Zipper Bags ($8 for 3-pack) - The different sizes here would be perfect for all the little things I need to corral in my bag. One for face wash, deodorant and moisturizer, one for my glasses, and the smallest for my jewelry that I don't want to wear while working out. And, they're nylon, so any toiletry spills would be contained and easily cleaned up.

Inspire for Women Yurbuds ($29.99) - I've always had an issue with headphones not staying in my apparently small ears, and while I did find a pair about a year ago that I love and stay in better than the standard shape, that unfortunately was not the case once I was moving at a more rapid pace last night. These are supposedly perfect for women and working out, and the nylon cord helps them to not tangle.

Gaiam Everything Fits Gym Bag ($48) - The one actual necessity on this list - the perfect gym bag! This bag gets rave reviews across the board, and my favorite feature is the separate mesh pocket for your smelly gym shoes. I haven't gone ahead and purchased this yet because I'm not totally sold that I need something quite this size considering I am obviously very new to this whole working out thing, but the same brand also offers a smaller and simpler designed Metro gym bag for $20 that I'll go for if I decide against the larger one. Either way, I'm excited to get my hands on one of these bags soon!

Better Late Than Never

I realized that I never posted an image of our 2012 Christmas card here, and although the holidays are over, it's a good 5-second recap of our year that I still thought would be fun to share. And, it's just about the only picture we have where Louie happens to look as happy-go-lucky as he actually is instead of looking angry like he usually does in photos, so that's fun too!

(you can click on the image to read it larger if you'd like)

I went back and forth for weeks about the design on the card (shocker, I know), and stressed myself out over not having a professional photo of us for it. In the end, I loved that we got a picture in our house, with Louie, looking (mostly) normal at our Ugly Christmas Sweater party. It's much more "us" than any professional photo would ever be, and I'll save complicated photo shoots like that for things like babies and major anniversaries :). While I originally just had a cute little holiday greeting on the side, I threw together the quick year in review on a whim late the night before I HAD to print these, and I'm so glad I decided to go this route instead. I don't ever want to send people super long letters that go on and on about everything we've done in the past year, but I figured some quick tidbits were fun and I absolutely love the little "headlines" we came up with for it. 

So, a happy belated holidays from Dan, Louie and I! I'm excited to see what our 2013 recap may look like 12 months from now...

2013. Let's Do This.

Happy New Year! 

I'm back at work after nearly a week and a half off for the holidays, and believe it or not, I'm happy to be back. Christmas was mediocre this year, and I took a massive fall down the stairs (my second in about a week) before New Years and spent a couple days in a lot of pain, so I'm kind of ready to just get back to my "normal" and have high hopes for 2013. I'm not a usual resolutions person, but this year I'm going to give it a shot because there's some things I'm excited about and some things that I need to stick with for the sake of my health. Below, my goals for the upcoming year. Yay!

NO caffeine - Seriously. I barely drink caffeine as it is because it's always kind of had a negative effect on me, but I can't seem to get myself to stop drinking iced tea and unfortunately even the tiny bit of caffeine in that really gets to me. I spent the evening last night curled up in bed with stomach pains and couldn't fall asleep until 2am thanks to ONE glass of iced tea with brunch. So not worth it. I found a decaf chai concentrate at the grocery store over break, and with lactose-free milk it's probably not the healthiest thing in the world, but it's a delicious substitute and at least it doesn't make me sick!

Very very VERY little alcohol - My body is extremely sensitive in general, and in the last several months just a couple of glasses of wine at a girl's night sends me into a full-on hangover the next day. It's kind of pitiful and again, not worth it. I know better than to say I'm never going to drink anything (we have 3 exciting weddings for great friends and family coming up later this year), but since I'm well past the whole getting wasted on the weekends with my friends phase anyways, there's no reason not to cut down on it even a little further - especially knowing that if I do drink it will make me feel like garbage anyways.

Work it (out, that is) - One of the major highlights of my break? I joined a gym! A kinda fancy-pants one I might add, and I am pumped about it. Bridget and Aris (among a ton of other people I know) are members, so I have built-in workout buddies ready to go. It's convenient, really nice, totally community-feeling (unlike places like Bally's where everyone looks like a body builder and I feel super out of place), AND they have a rock climbing wall. Unfortunately I officially joined about 20 minutes after my not-so-graceful fall down the stairs, so I have yet to actually be able to utilize my new membership, but I feel back to about 90% today so I'm planning to get there before the weekend.

Create routine - Joining a gym is a big part of this for me, along with other things like setting out clothes for the next day before going to bed, eating breakfast at home (or grabbing something to take with to work), bringing my lunch instead of eating out, meal planning for dinners and going to bed around the same time each evening. While it's not my favorite thing about myself, I don't do well with spontaneity - especially during the week when there's lots going on - so starting to make routines and actually sticking with them will really go a long way for me. I'll obviously have to find a balance here as things will inevitably come up and plans will change, but overall I'm just hoping to structure my days a little better - which will hopefully lead to more productivity and energy!

Budget - The amount of money that we spend on food in the form of going out instead of cooking at home or bringing our lunches to work is more than a little ridiculous, and we're making a major effort to turn a lot of that into savings instead this year. Then there's this little shopping habit of mine that certainly doesn't help either. Dan has all of our budgeting set up on mint.com and has worked really hard to help me understand how it all works, so we're starting the new year with a new budget and big plans for saving as much as we can. 

Keep in touch - I absolutely positively SUCK at keeping in touch with people out of town. It's one of my greatest downfalls, and I plan to make a serious effort at changing that this year. I kind of despise chatting on the phone (except for with my brother for some reason), and while skype is sometimes fun I also find it really awkward. I'm decent about emailing, but we all know that's not the same as actual contact with someone. I have amazing friends out of state (hi Ames!!) with kids (!!!) that I've barely even seen pictures of because I am that bad at keeping tabs on what's going on in people's lives. Not cool.

I'm sure I'll add to this list as the year goes on, but I think for now it's a good way to start the new year. Here's to making lots of new memories in 2013!

Best. Husband. Ever.

I've been raving about the hubs a whole lot lately, and for good reason. Last night, he stayed up extra late helping me re-style the mantle so I could enter a contest that I likely have no actual chance of winning. If that's not love, I don't really know what is.

Isn't it pretty?

I figured that a photo of the mantle would look much better without a TV as the focal point, so I grabbed a couple pieces of foamcore and we got to work poking holes through it with a screwdriver and sticking white twinkle lights through each one. For how pretty the front of this looks, the back is a total mess of chevron duct tape and wires. Awesome. The original plan was to then cover the board in a thin white fabric, but we both agreed that we liked it good enough without. 

The other star of the display is my lovely owl statue from West Elm that's probably a little big for the space, but he's just so darned classic and wintery looking I had to have him up there. I will likely return the urn thing that my little rosemary tree from Trader Joe's is sitting in, but thanks to me waiting til just days before Christmas it was on super sale and may end up sticking around. And see that fun gold bow wrapped around it? Dan made that for me. See? I told you he was the best.

Now here's where you come in. The contest goes until New Years Eve and here's the best part - the winner will be solely determined by Facebook votes. So even though there's awesome bloggers on there with mantles that honestly blow mine out of the water, if I still manage to get the most votes, I win!!! And the prize is amazing. As in, a vintage brass square trunk that would literally take my living room to an entirely new level. So, pretty pretty please with a cherry on top click on over to Facebook and vote for me! You do have to 'like' Emily Henderson to do so, but she's pretty awesome and doesn't post often, and you can 'unlike' right after voting if you want. 

CLICK HERE TO VOTE! Just find my name in the entries and vote for me!

Happy Holidays friends. I hope you enjoy lots and lots of time with family and friends - which is exactly what I'm planning on myself. :)

If I had a Million Dollars: Christmas Wish List... #2

Dear Sneaky Jesus,
Here's some more ideas. Yay!

(Otherwise known as me online window shopping. Again.)

Fab Ikat Pillow $30  |  Hedgehog Measuring Cups $36  |  San Francisco Matches $5

Flying Pig Jewelry Bowl $9.95  |  Essie Beyond Cozy $8  |  Hello Pullover $35

Nick & Nora Jungle Jim Footie Pajamas (this is not a joke) $24.99

Mini Hot Air Popper $19.98  |  Minnetonka Kilty Suede Moc $41.95

Jonathan Adler My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living $34.95  |  Sweets Pedestal $24.95

My one in six billion

It's been kind of a rough couple of weeks for me. One of my oldest friends passed away from breast cancer (that had spread to her brain) and I road-tripped down to southern Illinois with my mom and Manda for the services. We stayed in a super charming hotel in her tiny little town, and I soaked in the 2 days of girl time with them and my friends Maria and Leslie who were also there for the services. The few days leading up to Eva's passing were tough knowing that she was suffering, but seeing this incredible outpouring of love and support from THOUSANDS of people, many of whom had never even met her was something I can't even explain. I can only hope that I am able to make even a fraction of the impact that Eva made on people.

Back at work last week I watched more than 20 people get laid off thanks to a huge account loss in recent months. There's really no way to describe the feeling of sitting at your desk for 2 hours watching people lose their jobs just a few feet from you (I sit right by several VP offices). Of course, there's also the fear the entire time it's happening that you'll be next, so needless to say my anxiety got the best of me for a couple days there. One of my very best friends was let go, and I'm already bummed being at my desk without her a few cubes away. We worked together at my last job as well, and I followed her here almost 5 years ago now!

So, I'm kind of ready for 2012 to end. I'm hoping 2013 will bring a fresh start for myself and many of my friends who are aching for the same thing. I'm not looking to leave my job or make drastic changes or anything, but I am ready for some major positivity and less stressing out.

Thankfully, I have Dan, who has been absolutely incredible through everything. I could ramble on about how amazing he is, but instead I'll let Pinterest do the talking for me, in the form of this adorable little print I found recently -

Happy Monday friends. Hang in there - one week til Christmas!

If I had a Million Dollars: Christmas Wish List

We decided this year to try out a Secret Santa with the hubby's siblings and significant others, seeing as there's nine of us now and nobody is exactly rolling in money enough to buy gifts for everyone. Dan cleverly renamed our Secret Santa to "Sneaky Jesus", which I found absolutely hysterical for one reason or another. I like to think whoever ends up having to shop for me is kind of lucky in the sense that I pretty much want every single thing I ever see. Walk into a store, close your eyes and point, and chances are there's something I would like. It's a little ridiculous really. Either way, my Sneaky Jesus has it easy if you ask me. And to help whoever that might be (and the hubs, hint hint), I decided to put together a little wish list of sorts. Unfortunately there's not actually a whole lot of things on here under the $30 Sneaky Jesus price cap, but there's a few and I figure it's still a good indication that I'd be happy with most anything. Behold - my 2012 Christmas Wish List!

Oh My Chic Sweatshirt ($55) - This is adorable. And would look perfect with these.

Printed Backup Phone Battery ($39.50) - I cannot tell you the number of times my phone battery percentage creeps down to single digits throughout the day. I blame my addiction to Instagram. Imagine all the extra time I can spend liking photos with this extra battery!

Gold Athena Tray ($45) - This bad boy is all over the blogosphere, and I'm in love. I'm pretty sure it's the one thing missing from my living room.

Kate Spade Jewelbar Stud Earrings ($38) - I have a gorgeous gold Kate Spade necklace that the bestie got me for my bridal shower, and it bugs me that I don't have gold earrings to wear it with. These are also gorgeous in just about every color under the sun.

Lacquer Jewelry Box ($49) - I don't have a whole lot of jewelry, but what I do have is all over the place. Let's wrangle it all in to one pretty box, shall we?

Gold Chevron & Confetti Paper Placemats ($25) - I could see myself encountering great anxiety trying to choose between these two patterns. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone that knows me well.

Kate Spade 2013 Desktop Spiral Calendar ($38) - I've decided that 2013 is the year I will finally meticulously organize my entire life. Twenty bucks says Dan is going to roll his eyes at this news (hi honey, love you!)

Gold Sequin Sherpa Lined Slippers ($16 at Old Navy) - I can't find these online anymore, but I am really hoping they're still in store.

Limited Edition Birchbox Home ($58) - Getting my Birchbox every month usually makes me squeal, and I adore opening up the little box and unwrapping my samples to see what I got. This limited edition home box looks nothing short of amazing, and I'm already imagining all the fun parties and crafts I could use everything in the box for.

Kate Spade Card Case ($58) - What? I love Kate Spade, ok? I also love the idea of a fancy pants little case to carry my business cards around in. You know, for when I need one to drop in the fishbowl at Chipotle to try and win a free lunch. (PS - I've seen these cases in all kinds of colors at the outlet for half this price, and have no idea why I haven't just bought one yet).

DKNY Be Delicious ($45) - My current bottle is almost gone. Probably because it smells so delicious. Hehe.

Bold Legs

I saw this image on Pinterest awhile back and immediately added it to my "I wish I was stylish" board.

If that's not coziness for the winter, I don't know what is.

Regardless of how much I love the image and the idea of fun patterned leggings, they're not exactly a necessary purchase in any way, and certainly not something I would spend a lot of money on. But, when the lovely PLA ladies posted a link to nordic-style sweater leggings in a plethora of colors and patterns on ebay for less than $5 a pair, I figured it was meant to be and placed an order! I snatched up a pair that look very similar to those in my inspiration image, as well as a more fun holiday pair with little reindeer on them. Fingers crossed they arrive by Christmas for me to sport at family get-togethers with a long sweater.

Brass & Gold

I'm sure I'm the last blogger in the world to hear about High Street Market, but boy am I in love. I stumbled on it via Pinterest, and immediately browsed through the entire site looking at all the goodies. As with a lot of other shops I've found and fallen for, their little random knick-knacks are much more in my budget range than their pillows, throws and small furniture (like bar carts and end tables... swoon). I have yet to figure out where people get $100 to drop on a pillow for the couch, but I digress because there are plenty of other little goodies from High Street Market that I'm loving.

As I went through the site and started to pick out some favorites, I realized that most everything I loved was brass or gold. While this isn't a huge surprise to me lately, it's interesting how things change - as early as just a year ago I couldn't stand anything gold, and gravitated towards silvers tones. Now, I find myself adding little touches of gold throughout our home on a regular basis, and wouldn't mind any of these items being added in as well.

gold rope wall hooks (three of these would look amazing in my hallway, just saying)

agate platters  |  faux bamboo brass tray  |  brass pear box

large gold wishbone  |  chubby brass owl bottle opener