Glee Obsessed Me and an OOTD

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Holy shiz.  I just spent the past 3 hours watching disc two Season 1 of Glee.  I am obsessed.  How was I not watching this show before?  How was I missing all this over the top musical geniusness?  How was I missing the awesomeness that is Glee?!  I seriously sat on the couch for three hours tonight giggling away, singing along, and just plain giddy because I love this show so freaking much.  It is taking all of me to work towards my 9:00 am freelance deadline and not finish the entire season tonight.  I have a seriousness problem.  (In fact, this entire blog post is actually meant to be theatrically sung to the tune of your favorite Britney beat.  So reach deep, and find your inner Rachel Berry.  Or I’ll go all Sue Sylvester on you.)

In other news, today, Jen from I Heart Organizing featured my jewelry organization project on her blog!  You can check it out here.  And while you’re there, stay and look around, because she has some fabulous organizational ideas that will warm your little heart.  Thanks for the shout out Jen, you rock!

And because I’m all jazzed up from Glee and not really feeling like working at 10:30 at night, I’ll leave you with a little OOTD, though I’m thinking about calling it a hOOTD.  Half outfit of the day.  I know OOTD posts are technically supposed to be full body shots, but with my photographer (aka Matt) now occupied with an 8-5 job (snooze), I’m having to rely on my bathroom mirror.  But luckily I’m 900 feet tall, and all you’re really missing is my knees and ankles.  And who really needs knees and ankles?

Dress: BCBG

Cardigan: J.Crew

Bracelet: Ann Taylor {available here}

Necklace: Ann Taylor

Ring: David Yurman

Earrings: my wedding day gift from Matt

Shoes (unseen): silver Dolce Vita flats

Hope your Wednesday was fabulous!  Oh, I almost forgot…today is my 200th post!  Woo hoo!  I never thought this little blog would turn into so much fun!  Thanks to all of you who read my ramblings and keep me smiling every day!  You make my heart go pitter patter!

*And because I am obsessed, here is a little Sue Sylvester for all your fellow Glee obsessies :)

“I'm going to ask you to smell your armpits. That's the smell of failure, and it's stinking up my office.”

“I'm about to projectile express myself all over your Hush Puppies.”

Ok, seriously, I really do have a problem.  I’m just going to watch one more episode tonight.  Just one :)

Smitten for My Mom…We’re on Glamour.com

In honor of Mother’s Day, Smitten (Glamour.com’s) daily blog, asked for photos of readers and their moms.  My mom is beyond fantastic, and there are simply not enough ways to tell her!   But…I thought submitting something to the site would be a fun way to attempt to show her how totally awesome I think she is.  And guess, what?  Mine appeared on the blog this afternoon!  Eeeek, my mom is famous!  So check out the post here to see a glimpse of how much I love my mom, what I had to say about her, and how good we look rocking pool-time mohawks :)

We’re the third picture down, and no the title of the post was not intended to be a mother day’s jingle (though it is kind of catchy!)

Love you Mom, you’re the BEST!  Enjoy your newfound fame!

Happy, Happy Me

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Hey lovelies!  Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your encouragement with my first ever outfit of the day post on Tuesday.  Yall were totally awesome and supportive, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it!  Thankfully, I didn’t get the, “what the shiz are you wearing and why do you think you’re cool enough to post an OOTD” comment.  Success in my book :)  But for realz, I really really really appreciate all your kind words and will keep the OOTD posts coming :)

Along the lines of OOTD…I sent an outfit over to Kim at Anthroholic (if you love Anthro, this blog is for you) for her weekly reader outfits, and she was kind enough to post my little get up.  I felt sooo cool in my Anthro get up on an Anthro blog.  But don’t worry, you folks got the VIP treatment and saw the outfit in my birthday recap post.  Yeah…nothing but straight up VIP for my smart and sassy followers.  Straight up VIP .  (And rewind, did I just say “folks” in the previous sentence?!  What am I, ninety?!)  Anyway, if you want to see my cameo, you can check it out here.  (I’m like the 13th picture or so down, not that I’m counting or anything.)  If you’ve hopped over from Kim’s blog…hey hello, I’m glad you’re here, feel free to sit and stay a while.

In other exciting news…Matt and I booked a trip to New York City for next month.  Woo hoo!  Remember in this post where I talked about voluntarily bailing from our overbooked Delta flight and getting mega dinero in return?  Remember how I thought for hours about all the fabulous places we could visit with that dinero?  (No idea why I’ve now said dinero twice.  Weird.)  Well, we’ve booked a flight to Phoenix in a few weeks to visit Matt’s parents and then we booked a trip to NYC for mid June with those lovely Delta dollars.  Score!  We’ll be going to NYC for a friend’s bad ass wedding.  More details to come, but let me just tell you it involves a private yacht, the harbor, black tie attire, and fabulous friends.  Can I get a helllll yeah?

To say its been a good week for me just doesn’t do it justice.  I survived my first ever OOTD post thanks for my fab fab readers, got a celebrity shout out (yes, Kim that’s you!), survived a presentation in my structural equation modeling class (a miracle in itself), and booked a trip to NYC (with the promise a fabulous new dress.)  I mean, its only Thursday, what else has the week got in store? :)

Happy Friday and a Guest Post…(go check me out!)

Hey friends, happy Friday!  I am so thrilled it is finally the weekend (my birthday celebration weekend, no less), and I am even more thrilled that today, I am guest posting at The Decorista’s Secrets of Domestic Bliss.  Ashlina contacted me a while back about doing a guest post in her Six to Bliss series, and I was beyond thrilled!  She has been a faithful and encouraging reader since the early days of my blog, and she has a rocking blog herself.  For realz.  So head on over there to check out my celebrity self guest post and swoon over her fabulous blog.

 

I am going to be MIA most of the weekend, enjoying some delightful birthday love involving fabulous friends, vineyards, wine tasting, one of my favorite restaurants, of course, lots and lots of pictures :)  Happy weekend to you all!

Those of you visiting from Ashlina’s blog, I’m so happy you hopped over!  Feel free to stay awhile and check out how delightful life is with sprinkles!

Happy 101 Award!

I was so delighted to open my laptop this morning to see a lovely, and thoughtful shout out from Chelsea at The Vintage Chair.  I’ve seen the Happy 101 Award floating around blogland, and I was so honored that she thought of me.  I also wanted to say a big thank you to Ashley at As a Matter of Opinion for bestowing me with the Honest Scrap Award a while back.  It came in the middle of a crazy time for me, and I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner  (Ashley, please forgive my scatterbrainess!)  So if its ok, I’m going to cheat a bit and respond to them at the same time, with ten things that make me smile-from-ear-to-ear-happy!  (I stole a few of these from the Happiness Challenge I did a few months ago.  No reason to completely reinvent the wheel right?)

1. My husband.  Predictable, I know, but my life has changed dramatically since I met Matt, and I can honestly say that I’ve never met someone who makes me laugh as often or as hard as Matt.  He gets me, even the parts of me that I sometimes don’t get, and he loves me unconditionally.  I am so so blessed and thankful to be sharing my life with such an fun and incredible guy.

2.  My family.  We have always been that crazy, strange family who loves hanging out together and laughing at things other people just don’t get.  Even as a kid, I would gladly pass up a sleepover invite to stay home and watch a movie and with family.  My little brother is the light of my life and the motivation behind so much of what I want to do.  Being a good big sister is the accomplishment I’m most proud of to date.  (This picture was taken in Positano, Italy two summers ago.  If you haven’t been, add it to your must-go-to list!)

3. Celebrating the small stuff.  In my family, we celebrate everything, no matter how big or how small.  Every year on the last day of school, my parents would print out a banner with something like, “See ya second grade, hello third grade!”  We celebrated Valentines Day as a family with heart shaped pizza, we celebrated St. Patty’s Day with a green dinner where my mom would add green food coloring to everything (yes, we had green milk and green mashed potatoes, and yes, it was awesome), and when my mom was pregnant with my brother, we had a “congrats you’re gonna be a big sister” celebration.  I’ve translated this into my “adult life” having parties to celebrate Matt’s first solo publication, friends getting accepted into various programs and internships, and having a 100 followers party.  Life is short, celebrate the small stuff!

4. Diet Dr. Pepper.  I’m from Texas, and no Texas girl can survive life without this delicacy.  For real yall.

 5.  Thrifting with my mom.  I love things that have history, things that tell a story.  I love things that have been loved by someone else and things that show they can stand the test of time.  There is no better way to discover these things than thrifting, and my mom and I have made this experience into quite the adventure, though we prefer the term “treasure hunting.”  It’s a bit more inclusive (garage sales, flea markets, family hand-me-downs, thrift stores, etc.)  Our treasure hunting was put on hold when my parents moved overseas, and it’ll be put on hold again when Matt and I move to Chicago next month.  But I have no doubt what we’ll be doing when my mom comes to Chicago to visit!

6. Longtime friends.  I love all of my friends, and I am all for branching out and discovering new relationships with each phase that life brings you.  However, I think there is something to be said for longtime friends, friends who have known you for years and friends who have experienced you at so many points in your journey.  No matter how often we see each other or how often we talk, there’s just something about the bond you share with longtime friends that makes me happy.  And these three ladies certainly fit that bill!  (That’s me on the far right.  Short hair is a definite “never again” for me!)

7.  Tiny, local restaurants.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good trip to Chili’s or Olive Garden once in a while, but sweet, small, hole in the wall restaurants just warm my heart.  I don’t know if it’s the people, the food, the cozy atmosphere, or the feeling that the spot is someone’s pride and joy, but something about these places makes me really happy.  Matt and I have our own favorite spot where we live, and it’s so special to us, we got engaged just outside of it, on a wooden bench.

{we heart it}

8. Christmastime.  I know lots of people enjoy Christmas, but I actually prefer the 24 days before Christmas (though I try to always be mindful of the reason for season.)  The tunes, the spirit, the weather, the get togethers, the trees, the family traditions, the Nutcracker…I could go on and on.  Oh how I looove me some Christmastime!

9.  Finding an old mix cd. In college, it was the cool thing to do to make your friends mix cd or mark a special occasion or roadtrip with its own soundtrack.  Though that idea has now evolved into an iPod playlist, there is nothing like finding an old mix cd stuffed at the bottom of your car console, desk drawer, or suitcase.  I found one from my junior year in college and was literally rocking out like a crazy person to Wilson Phillips, old school Gwen Stefani, and early 50 Cent for weeks.  I encourage you to dig up an old mix cd; I promise you won’t be able to stop smiling!

10. Blogging.  I started my blog about six months ago, and I had no idea how much joy it would bring me.  There is something magical about intentional reflection, connecting and sharing encouragement with so many different people, and having a little place to call my own.  But blogging wouldn’t be blogging with each and every one of you, so thank you, for being a part of my daily happiness!

To pass the happiness around, I am excited to share the Happy 101 Award with ten other delightful bloggers who keep me smiling each and every day.

Amber at Amber’s Notebook

Kelly at Just a Girl in a City

Jessica at Living the Swell Life

Anne at Get Your Martha On

Anh at 9 to 5 Chic

Jordan at Living in Leopard, Relaxing in Rhinestones

Amy at kelinda.KELINDA

Melissa at Martinis and Football

Lauren at Busy Bee Lauren

…and Belle on Heels

Happy Thursday to all of you!  May you find yourself smiling from ear to ear sometime this afternoon!

The Happiness Challenge

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So my sweet friend Rachel, tagged me in a blog post, and a secretly did my own happy dance, because I’ve always wanted to be tagged in one of those things.  As she described having to tag a friend in the post, I scrolled down thinking, “pick me…pick me…pick me…yesssssss, she picked me!”  Side note about my competitive-psychoness: In first grade, I had this crazy teacher who gave out a “student of the year” award (who the heck does that in FIRST GRADE?!) and it was based on how many stars you had on the chart on the wall.  (Yes, she publically posted stars so we could all see who was beating who.  Can you say PSYCHO?!)  Anyway, I was totally in the lead before I was out sick for three weeks with the chicken pox (on my birthday I should add.  Major suckiness for a first grader.)  When I came back to school, I’d fallen behind in the sticker stars and she wouldn’t let me make up the daily math quizzes to earn some potential stars.  Three weeks later, we had our end of the year program and the “student of the year”  award was handed out in front of the whole school and all the parents.  As she called another first grader’s name to receive the best student ever award, I cried hysterically on stage in front of everyone, coveting the public recognition.  It was horrible, scarring, and the start of my competitive-psychoness and need for reinforcement.  Dang you Ms. McMahon.

But anyway…back to my happiness post (just thought you all should know that my craziness is totally warranted lol) I must tell you something about Rachel.  She takes FABULOUS pictures.  For proof check out some of my favorite images that she captured during Matt and I’s engagement/wedding.

Like I said.  She is the shiz.  Seriously, I love her and think she is insanely talented.  Her professional blog is here (our wedding post is here.)  She’s is the bomb.  Yes, I really just said “the bomb.”  I break out the big guns for her.  Anyway (do I always ramble this much?) the happiness challenge was to make a list of 10 things that make me happy, and do at least one of those things today.  It was a challenge to create this list, not because I can’t think of things that make me happy, but because I had trouble getting the list down to 10.  In the end, I made it (well technically, I got it to 12, but who’s counting…)

My Happiness List (in no particular order)

1. Hanging out with my BFF and little brother Ryan.  Even if you’ve only read this blog a handful of times, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I am slightly obsessed with my brother.  (If not, read here or here for a quick refresher.)  There is no one else in the world who I’ve laughed more, louder, or harder with.  My mom said to my dad once as my brother and I chatted, “Do you ever feel like this is their world and we’re visiting?”  Haha, we do speak our own language and get each other without having to say much at all, so how can I not be happy when I’m around the little dude?

2.  Candles.  I have two pieces are furniture that are dedicated to housing my candle collection.  It’s a serious addiction, and I can admit it without the slightest bit of shame.  If I am home for more than 15 minutes, I will light at least 1, if not the all of 30 candles in our apartment.  Sure it might look like a séance, but I love the instant coziness candles give.  Plus, the hunt for good candles at a bargain price is another source of happiness in itself.

3.  Turning on the TV and seeing my DVR has caught an episode of Criminal Minds that I haven’t yet seen.  I gasp, do a fist pump, and then hunker down for an hour of total awesomeness.  Seriously, me and the BAU team are like this (fingers crossed.)

4.  Celebrating the small stuff.  In my family, we celebrated everything, no matter how big or how small.  Every year on the last day of school, my parents would print out a banner with something like, “See ya second grade, hello third grade!”  We celebrated Valentines Day as a family with heart shaped pizza, we celebrated St. Patty’s Day with a green dinner where my mom would add green food coloring to everything (yes, we had green milk and green mashed potatoes, and yes, it was awesome), and when my mom was pregnant with my brother, we had a “congrats you’re gonna be a big sister” celebration.  I’ve translated this into my “adult life” having parties to celebrate Matt’s first solo publication, friends getting accepted into various programs and internships, and having a 100 followers party.  Life is short, celebrate the small stuff!

5.  Finding an old mix cd. In college, it was the cool thing to do to make your friends mix cd or mark a special occasion or roadtrip with its own soundtrack.  Though that idea has now evolved into an iPod playlist, there is nothing like finding an old mix cd stuffed at the bottom of your car console, desk drawer, or suitcase.  I found one from my junior year in college last week and was literally rocking out like a crazy person to Wilson Phillips, old school Gwen Stefani, and early 50 Cent.  I saw three people laugh at me as I was driving, no joke.  It was awesome and has not left my cd player in my car since. 

6.  Ballerinas.  Ballerinas are like magical Barbie dolls in my eyes.  Graceful, unique, and captivating.  I was a dancer for most of my life and there was always an overwhelming sense of joy when I was on stage.  Now that I’m semi-grown up and my body can’t bend like it used to, I remain captivated by all that is ballet.

7.  Pillowtalk.  One of my favorite moments of the day is when Matt and I settle down and head to bed.  Our schedules are crazy and sometimes we aren’t able to see a lot of each other during the day (or night if one of us is writing or reading for school.)  But on those nights where we venture to bed at the same time, I love chatting about our days and laughing about something that happened earlier in the day.  They’re simple moments, but certainly some of my favorites.

8.  Tiny, local restaurants.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good trip to Chili’s or Olive Garden once in a while, but sweet, small, hole in the wall restaurants just warm my heart.  I don’t know if it’s the people, the food, the cozy atmosphere, or the feeling that the spot is someone’s pride and joy, but something about these places makes me really happy.  Matt and I have our own spot where we live, and it’s so special to us, we got engaged just outside of it, on a wooden bench. 

9.  Shopping.  I can’t lie, it really does make me happy.  Shallow and silly, maybe, but I really really really love shopping.  Though our budget doesn’t always allow for it, when it does, I’m totally there.  Nordstrom, Banana, Anthro, and J.Crew are my first stops should I make this particular happiness venture.  Online shopping does not fall into this catagory; it just doesn’t do it for me (which makes my bank account happy!)

10.  Snail Mail.  Though it’s almost a thing of the past, I work hard to keep it current for my friends and family.  I love browsing for cards and finding a card that was made for a certain friend.  I often buy cards months ahead of time and have created this giant expandable folder-box-thingie for all my cards.  My mom gave me this happiness gene because I got cards for just about everything growing up (see #4), and I always felt so appreciated and loved.

11.  Coke.  (For those of you who aren’t from the south, Coca-Cola.)  The red can, the sweet fizziness…nothing is better.  Plain and simple.

12.  Having friends and family who know your heart.  Nothing needs to be said, time can pass, hundreds of miles exist between you, yet they know you, they get it, and you feel it.  Friendships like this are precious and I’m so lucky to have a handful in my life. 

Just typing those twelve things made me happy!  So just as Rachel passed it on to me, now, I must pass it on to someone else.  Who will it be…(is your Ms. McMahon inspired competitive-psychoness kicking in yet?)  Just kidding.  I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who is that nutty.  I’m tagging two of my sweet friends (blog and real life) to see what makes them happy… 

Kelsey from Stuck in the Sticks, who has an insanely beautiful talent as well as a competitive-psychoness similar to mine,  and Kendall from The Stoy's Story who is one of my sweet tell it like it is friends and is about to be a new mommy.  And for anyone else out there who also wants to take the happiness challenge, I tag you as well!  Go for it and let me know what you come up with!