Monday Blues, Student Dinner, and a Weekend OOTD

Monday, Monday, Monday.  Oh how I despise you.  But, since I didn’t have to teach at 9:00 am this morning, I guess I will forgive you.  This weekend came and went entirely too quickly, and though I got some work done, I have a feeling I’m going to be kicking myself later in the week for not being more productive (particularly on my take home exam that is due Friday and is still not started.  Ugh.)  You already heard about our fun date night on Friday, so Saturday and Sunday were filled with errands and doing stuff around the house that we’ve been avoiding a couple weekends in a row.  Then last night, I joined a group of my student mentors at our last community dinner of the semester.  I have been at my job for four years now, and I have to say, this group of students is like no other.  They are energetic, wise, fun, and kind, and I learn something from them every single day.  I really do have the best job in the whole world :)

Love, love, love these people.  Working with college students is so fun, and I am so lucky!

Never a dull moment :)

This is the fabulous student that I supervise.  She rocks and has somehow managed to put up with me for a year.  Love you K-vel!

My INSANELY fabulous boss is on the left.  Saying goodbye to her will be one of the hardest goodbyes I’ll have to make when we move to Chicago.  I am seriously attached to her (and have her to thank for these awesome pics.)  If I didn’t like her so much, I might have to steal her camera :)

My outfit of the day was actually inspired by this picture I’ve had on my inspiration board for a few months.  (Do you have an inspiration board or am I the only fashion picture hoarder?  I’ll have to show you my inspiration board at some point, it was an easy DIY project that has been super useful for me and my wardrobe.)  But back to my OOTD inspiration…I love how the heaviness of the skirt was made fresh for spring, and as always, I am loving the layered bauble look.  I’m from Texas, the land of big hair and big diamonds, so I am all about lots and lots of jewelry.  Here’s a breakdown of the look…

 

Skirt: The Limited

Button Up: Eddie Bauer

Shoes: BCBG

Necklaces: 4 in total (Like I said, I’m a big jewelry layerer.)  The gold and cream ones are thrifted, and I stole the green one from my mom’s closet :)

Bracelets: vintage {it was my great aunt Bunny’s}; Banana Republic

Earrings: Kohl’s

Clutch: vintage

This skirt was actually a score from a Thanksgiving shopping trip with my mother in law who temporarily lost her mind while shopping on Black Friday.  She was literally grabbing everything in the store for me, and though I tried to refuse, she insisted that she wanted to get  me something.  I later walked out with two giant shopping bags stuffed to the max.  (Thank you, Jamie!)  This skirt was the one thing I hadn’t worn yet, and all but sworn it away till next fall because I thought it was too heavy for spring.  Glad I didn’t!  About the shirt, I know Eddie Bauer is super random, and what’s even more random is that I’ve had it since high school!  Kind of disturbing to admit that lol.  I worked as a hostess at a Mexican steakhouse where we had to dress like cowgirls, so my mom bought me 940 of these white button ups at Eddie Bauer (her personal shopping mecca.)  For some odd reason, this lone button up has lingered, and I’m glad it has.  It’s a great basic for this rich and patterned skirt.

The rest of the week is pretty crazy for me, but tomorrow is all about Matt as he is defending his dissertation!  This is such a big deal, and I’m SO proud of him.  The actual defense is at 1:00, and we have celebrations planned for the rest of the day and evening.  Matt is stressed about his defense; I’m stressed about the celebration details.  Hmm, what’s wrong with that picture?  Looks like somebody needs to get a grip and it isn’t Matt :)

What about you?  How was your weekend?  What exciting things do you have going on this week?

Date Night Surprise and an OOTD

Last night was date night, and not only did Matt and I have fun, we got a totally unexpected surprise at dinner.  We went to our favorite little local Italian spot in the historic downtown of our little city.  It’s a really special place for Matt and I; we had several of our first dates there, we got engaged on a bench across the street from the restaurant, and we’ve celebrated just about every occasion there.  So for Christmas, Matt’s brother, Josh, got us a gift card so we could enjoy our favorite spot on him.  He is so thoughtful :)  So last night as we were in the middle of dinner, I said, “We should text Josh to tell him we’re enjoying date night on him,” so Matt did, and Josh texted back something along the lines of, “Oh I’m so glad, have fun!”  So as we’re wrapping our dinner (I had their seafood ravioli which is oh.so.good), the waiter comes over and says, “So have you saved room for dessert?”  Matt and I laugh and start to give the standard, “Uhh, I don’t know, we’re so full, blah blah blah,” when the waiter says, “Well you better have saved room, because Josh had ordered you two every dessert on the menu.”  Wait, what?!  It turns out that after we texted Josh, he called the restaurant, explained the gift card and our love for the restaurant and then ordered us every dessert on the menu!  This is what came to our table…

Helloooooo sugar/chocolate/cream heaven!  Not only was it ridiculously delicious, it was so incredibly thoughtful of Josh to make Matt and I’s night extra special.  He always thinks about the little ways to make stuff memorable.  Thank you Josh, you are my favorite brother in law ever!  (Ok, I know you’re my only brother in law, but you really are my favorite!)  Annnd I may or may not have had the rest of the tiramisu for breakfast :)

After dinner, we walked to meet our friends at a wine bar just around the corner.  It’s one of our go to places on a weekend night.  Love it (and my fabulous friends!)

They were having a steal of a deal on wine flights, and my friends and I are never ones to pass up a good deal  :)  And because you all were so sweet with my last OOTD post, I thought I’d do another one from last night’s date night.  I’m not crazy about the way the whole thing photographed, and Matt and I need to work on figuring out the best backgrounds and poses for these posts, but enough of that, here’s the look.

My face is blurry, but whatev, you can still see the outfit.

Dress: BCBG

Boyfriend cardigan: a boutique in London, can’t remember the name!

Belt: Steinmart from a bazillion years ago, I’ve never found a belt I can wear or love more

Shoes: Jessica Simpson

Necklace: Kate Spade {see my post here}; Target, Target

Rings: vintage { my great aunt Bunny’s}; Banana Republic

Earrings: Banana Republic

Not totally thrilled with this outfit, but I’ve decided that part of my OOTD deal is going to be posting regularly, even if I think its not a home run or one of my faves.  How was your Friday night?  What did you do; what did you wear?  Let me know!

PS: To see the awesomeness of the another one of Josh’s Christmas presents, check out a post from last November.  If you haven’t seen it, there’s a video, and you’ll be surprised, it involves me and a gun range :)

Take the Power

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Happy Friday yall!   Hope its a great one :)

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? :)

First Ever OOTD!

Hello and happy Tuesday!  Sorry I’ve been MIA the past two days, but I have been hard at work adding labels to allll of my blog posts.  (Yes, every.blog.post.from.the.day.I.started.this.blog.  Eeesh, it was a long process.)  Hopefully the labels will help my blog’s organization, both for my sake and yall’s sake.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to link to an older post and then had NO earthly idea where to actually find the post.  So hopefully this will help.

Anyway…after several suggestions and requests from readers, I am finally doing my first outfit of the day post.  WAIT!  Before you furiously scroll down to see if I have OOTD street cred, let me say that I am very hesitant about adding an OOTD feature on my little blog.  Something about doing OOTD posts, seems a little like I’m tooting my own horn.  Now, there is nothing wrong with tooting your own style horn, but part of me thinks I should leave that style horn tooting to lovelies like Amber, Anh, Amy, and Andi.  (Hmm, perhaps having a name that starts with an “A” gives one instant OOTD street cred.)  I love their posts because they are stylish and fab (I like to abbreviate fabulous, aka fab.  Must learn quickly to understand my speech.)  Not saying I’m not fab, but I don’t know how fab my style is, and I certainly don’t know how fab YOU all will think my style is.  But because several of you have asked, and because I’m feeling optimistic this Tuesday, I’m going to give it a try.  I’m giving myself a few OOTD posts, and if people tell me they could care less what I wear, I’ll end this little experiment.  My day to day wear is fairly flexible, sometimes I can do jeans, sometimes I have to be a pencil skirt.  It just depends on what I have going on that day with work, school, class, etc.  So, now that I’ve officially rambled (no surprise!) here is my FIRST EVER outfit of the day post!  Hope you like it :)

Sorry about the shadows (and the fact that my wedges are sinking into the grass.)  Beginner’s error :)

Sweater: the Gap {here}

Tank: J.Crew

Jeans: the Gap {here}

Shoes: Jessica Simpson {here}

Necklace: Anthropologie {see my post here}; Target

Bracelets: vintage {it was my great aunt Bunny’s}; Banana Republic

Earrings: Kohl’s

Bobby pins: Sprout Studio {here; see my post about Sprout studio here}

So there you have it…my first OOTD post!  Eeek, hope you liked it!

Weekend Delight

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Hey there…hope this finds you at the end of a delightful weekend!
Mine was certainly delightful…filled with extra Zs…lunch with my little brother…a mini shopping trip at the Gap (hello additional 40% off of sale items)…Saturday thrifting…a spritzy glass of sangria…a trip to the spa thanks to a thoughtful birthday gift from my parents…a dinner date with Matt…Hills marathon madness (Lauren Conrad, we NEED to be friends, I know you’d like me, I’m certain of it)…budget friendly furniture makeovers (pictures to come)…a yummy take on broccoli cheese soup meets chicken and rice…more planning for our upcoming move which involved the rental of a 26 foot truck (ohhh this could be interesting)…an afternoon walk…sunny weather…and Dairy Queen’s buy one get one for 25 cents Blizzard treat (hells yeah for the “Texas stop sign.”)
Tomorrow is Monday, boo.  So to avoid facing that truth, tell me about your weekend; I’d love to hear!

Every Little Thing…

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Thank you to all of the fabulously sweet peeps who sent prayers and positive thoughts my way for the interview today!  I think the interview went ok…not great, not awful…just ok.  But then again, I tend to be pretty hard on myself when it comes to stuff like this so who knows.  We’ll see.  If its meant to be, I’ll get it, and if not, it just means God has something else in store for me!  No matter what, I keep trying to remind myself that everything will work out; everything will be ok.  Because when I look back on other stressful times and transitions in my life, I remember all the stress and moments I wasted worrying about what would happen, how it would all work out, blah blah blah.  And you know what?  All of those things worked out ten times better than I ever could have imagined or planned myself.  So tonight, I’m taking a big deep breath, giving thanks, and letting go.  Because you know what?  Everything really will be alright :)

Happy (almost) Friday!

Birthday Week Recap

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So between work and interview preparations today, I managed to sneak in some time to do a little birthday week post.  Just wading through all the photos made me smile thinking of all the laughs and fun I had this weekend.  I seriously have the best friends and husband in the world.  Seriously.  I win the prize for the most rockin friends.  They’re the best of the best!

I will warn you now, this post is incredibly picture heavy.  But you know what?  It’s my blog, so I can do what I want.  If you don’t want to look at the 954 pictures we took this weekend, then you can scoot along and come back when I post something non birthday related :)  But until then…

My birthday morning started off perfectly with breakfast in bed thanks to my thoughtful husband.  (No this is not a picture from breakfast in bed lol.)  I taught Monday morning and got lots of sweet birthday wishes from my students.  The best birthday wish was from a student who said, “Happy 20th birthday!”  Hmm, I think that student deserves a little extra credit :)  I took the afternoon off for some birthday shopping, and then we met up with some friends for drinks at one of our favorite happy hour spots.  The picture I took of all of us didn’t turn out so this is the only picture I have from birthday drinks.

Matt and I had planned to head out to dinner just the two of us after, but for some weird reason, neither one of us was very hungry.  So we headed to one of my favorite spots in town for my most favorite dessert EVER.  For realz.  I heart this chocolate strawberry tart at a level that is likely unhealthy :)  Matt and I headed back home and enjoyed a quiet night just the two of us.  Since I had my big birthday celebration on Saturday, it was nice to just spend the night with my man :)

My birthday week continued the next day when I met my mom for lunch at a precious little garden store/nursery/tea room that is about 45 minutes outside of Houston.  Neither one of us know a dang thing about gardening; we were there for the shopping and lunching :)

These little tea cups had both of us swooning.  I LOVED the little winged handles.   It was like a little butterfly just landed on our teacups.  So precious.

Wednesday night I met two of my favorite people for dinner on the patio.  Clare and Amanda are in the same Ph.D program as me, and their sarcasm and sense of humor have kept me laughing through all of the craziness that comes with getting this dang degree.  They are out of this world hilarious!

Friday after work and long week for a lot of us, a small group of my friends headed to our favorite patio in town for happy hour and what my friends called “Birthday Kickoff #2.”  We frequent this spot way too often :)  Natalia was going to be out of town the next day for my birthday celebration, so I was happy she could join us for a little pre-celebration.  I don’t know if its the angle or the colors of this picture, but I think its so fun!

Saturday was the big birthday celebration, and I had friends come in from Dallas and Austin to join us to for the celebration.  (Like I said, I win for having the best friends ever.)  That evening we headed to a local winery for a private vineyard tour and wine tasting, and it was so much more fun than any of us expected!  The guide had no idea what she was in for, bless her heart.  Our group can get a little crazy :)

Please excuse the awkward solo pic lol, but I wanted you all to be able to see the dress I talked about a couple of weeks ago.  I hadn’t planned to add a belt to it, but I think it added a nice layer to the dress.  PS: someone asked me a month or two ago about doing some outfit of the day posts, and I’ve kinda been on the fence about it.  Do people really care what I’m wearing?  I feel like I should leave that to the fashion professionals.  If so though, let me know, and I’ll see what I can do.

Me and two of my favorite girlies!  My best friend Jordan (on the left) drove down from Dallas with her fiancé for the occasion.  Like I said, I have great friends :)

  Matt and I towards the beginning of the tour.  I am so so so blessed to be spending my life with such an incredible guy, who also happens to plan a great birthday celebration :)

  Here’s the whole group out in the middle of the vineyard.  This picture is probably my favorite from my entire birthday week and will have a prominent place in our Chicago apartment as soon as we move!

  We learned a TON about wine throughout the tour (though I guess that was the point lol).  The whole growing, picking, smashing process is quite fascinating.  Those teeny little bunches on the vine are the early early grape babies that will soon make port wine.

  We were all curious what those tiny little grape babies would taste like.  And thankfully, the ever adventurous Ricky was on hand to test them out.  He reported back, “Tastes like grass.”  He them sampled another one.  Only Ricky… :)

  Here Jordan and I are are in one of the fermenting rooms (I think that’s what it was called) where the wine behind us is aging.  We’ve been best friends for over 12 years, so I’d say wine isn’t the only thing that gets better with age!

  On the tour, Ricky was selected for a “special task,” and I immediately pouted that as the birthday girl, I wasn’t chosen.  (I can be a little annoying about birthday privileges.)  Little did I know the special task would be drinking straight from the fermenting tank!  That would not have gone over well with my new birthday dress :)  Luckily, Ricky was on hand to take care of the “special task.”  We tasted this same wine from the bottle later in the tour.

  After the tour, we headed into the tasting room for a lesson in wine tasting .  Matt and I (and creeper Steven) pause between wine/cheese pairings for a photo.  Who knew so much went into drinking?  Our friends realized we’d been drinking our wine allll wrong ;)

  A blurry group shot (probably fitting considering the several glasses we’d each had) with our guide Lauren.  Though we were a little crazy, she told us we were her second favorite tour of all time.  Second only to a group of red hat ladies, which I for one, don’t mind being second to :)  The group’s favorite discovery of the day was port cheese.  Omg.have.you.ever.had.that.stuff?  It was so deliciously yummy….and pink!  Anything pink is great in my book.

  On the tour, our guide talked about this rare red wine the winery produced in 1998.  So rare, there were only 12 bottles left in the world.  And yes, I said “were” because my crazy friends decided to purchase one of those 12 bottles to celebrate my birthday.  Here I am with the grape version of the golden ticket.

  Matt dishing out the fancy pants rare wine.  It was pretty tasty, but looking back we all decided we probably should have tried it at the start of the evening ;)

  Cheers to fabulous friends and another year of incredible blessings!

  What kind of friend stands beside you as a bridesman in you wedding and drives in from Austin to celebrate your birthday with you?  The best kind :)

  We probably have 3,000 self portrait shots like this over the past twelve years.  They’re still the best kind.

After a few hours at the winery we headed to one of my favorite spots for dinner.  (Don’t worry, we had a DD.)  Edgar was able to join us for dinner, and he brought a bad ass Dora the Explorer balloon with him that I wouldn’t let out of my sight all night.  Seriously.  I loved it and am now enjoying it perched in a vase in our dining room!

Me and the fabulous party planner.  Love him :)

No birthday celebration is complete without a cake, and this one was both beautiful and yummy.  I have a thing for birthday candles, so I was over the moon at this point!  I can’t tell you what I wished for (because then it wouldn’t come true), but I have a feeling no matter what happens, this next year is going to be filled with lots of excitement and love.

From Monday to Sunday, the week was truly incredible and one I’ll never forget.  A huge thanks for all of my incredible friends, family, and readers for making my 26th birthday SO special.  I am so so blessed and am continually thankful for all of the incredible blessings in my life!  Here’s to year 26!

Monday Check In

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Hey sweet friends!  Just getting back to blogland after an INCREDIBLE birthday celebration weekend, and all I can say is wow, who knew the weekend would be so stinking fabulous?!  My husband and friends are beyond thoughtful and did so much to make my 26th birthday one to remember!  I’d hoped to post a full recap tonight, but that’s going to be a no-go.

Because…in the midst of my birthday excitement last week, I forgot to mention that I got a job interview in Chicago!  A woo hoo!  (If you’re new to the blog you can read about our upcoming move to Chicago here and here.)  I’m beyond excited, but also slightly overwhelmed with all I need to do to prepare.  I’m a bit of a neurotic over-preparer when it comes to interviews, so I’m trying to get as ready as possible before I fly out on Wednesday morning.  In my book, “ready” equals fully prepared for any question they throw my way, fresh highlights, a new suit, neatly manicured nails, organized print outs of my travel plans, an insanely pared down cosmetic case, reviewing my application 40 times, and some creative packing to manage just a carry on.  Eeek, a lot to do before Wednesday morning!

So hopefully a full birthday recap will be up soon.  Nothing like blogging at the airport to take away some interview anxiety :)

Until then, much love and happy Monday (almost Tuesday!)

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!