OOTD: My Brother's Closet

Posts have been a bit sporadic lately with interview madness going on, and outfit of the day posts, well, those have been even more sparse.  But in all honestly, my outfits haven't been that exciting, because packing for a two week trip in one tiny suitcase is not my strength.  (Yes baggage fees, I'm giving you the evil eye.)  And when that suitcase has to include 2 interview suits, 2 pairs of boots, a cute bridal shower outfit, and the large arsenal of hair and makeup stuff it takes to get me presentable, there isn't much room left for regular day clothes.  Luckily, I love the oversized men's shirt look and can steal most of my little brother's flannels, button ups, and grandpa cardigans.  So for the past two weeks, its been men's shirts, skinny jeans, brown riding boots, and loads of gold bracelets.

Flannel: Zara mens
Jeans: J.Crew skinnies
Bracelets: vintage mix
Earrings: Matt's wedding day gift to me
Ring: David Yurman
Sunnies: Bucees

And the only thing better than flannel shirts and skinny jeans?  New shades from the gas-station-megaplex also known as Bucees (pronounced Buck-ees.)  If you aren't from Texas or haven't taken a roadtrip through my sweet state, you probably don't know what I'm talking about.  And if you're from Texas and don't know what I'm talking about, you should probably get out from under a rock and move out of Texas now.  Bucees is like the Neiman Marcus of gas stations.  Its the roadtrip taker's dream stop.  I know its hard to believe such a thing exists (and that I would get so excited about it) but Bucees is no joke.  They are the size of a small grocery store and carry the best of the best of everything travel, Texas, or roadtrip related.  I literally plan Texas roadtrips around how and when I get make a stop at Bucees.  So far on my interview tour, I've been able to make 3 Bucees stops, and trust me, I wish I could have made more.  I'm that obsessed.

Anyway, when I landed in Houston the week before last, I found my favorite pair of sunnies in pieces at the bottom of my purse.  (Apparently they make those case things for a reason.)  And after a very squinty drive to Austin, I realized I could not spend the next two weeks driving around Texas without a pair of sunglasses.  So when I saw my roadtrip mecca, I knew they'd have my back.  And at $12.99, I was sold.  So behold, my new favorite shades, courtesy of my all time favorite Texas roadtrip spot.  And in addition to shades, I walked out with a package of cherry sours, a large coke icee, a jar of candied jalapenos, a Texas sized marshmallow bar, and a sweet smelling Circle E candle.  Now what other gas station can give you all that? :)

Start Stop

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What are you feeling compelled to start/stop these days?

Lost Post: A Quick Visit, the Christkindlmarket, and Rockit

In all of the Christmas craziness, I totally forgot to post these pictures!  Our friend Edgar was in Chicago the week before Christmas for two days for a stop off on his interview tour.  (Edgar is a friend from grad school so he is currently going through the same weird interview process as me.)  Though it was a quick trip, it was so good to see him and show him a little bit of our city.  I had to work most of the time he was in town, but I managed to snag Friday night off for a little fun.

Friday night, we all met up at the Christkindlmarket market (previously mentioned in my Christmas recap post.)  I expected it to be fairly crowded a week before Christmas, but thankfully it wasn't too bad.  I wasn't quite sure where the market was, but our friends told us to walk down Dearborn and look for the big Christmas tree.  Sure enough, it was impossible to miss.  So pretty, especially to see in the middle of freezing cold Chicago!

We made an instant beeline for the gluhwein stand.  If you haven't had gluhwein, you are missing out!  Its a mulled wine, popular in Europe, typically served around the holidays.  Its basically a cross between hot apple cider and red wine.  Yum!  I first had it when my parents moved to London, and then my mom started serving it at my parents annual Christmas open house.  Then when my mom and I went to Belgium for a Christmas market, I practically lived off of it because it was so insanely cold when we were there.

Edgar warming up with some Gluhwein.  Having Edgar (a fellow Texan) in Chicago, made me realize how much I've acclimated to the cold weather here in Chicago.  While I was no doubt freezing this night, poor Edgar was in pain he was so cold lol.  Walking to the market I couldn't stop laughing at Edgar's spontaneous shrieks and shrills from being so cold.

Our favorite Chicago friends!  Without them, we wouldn't have seen half of what we have in Chicago.

Hahaha, this picture makes me laugh out loud.  Edgar's face, the steam from our mugs, remembering how cold we all were and how fast we were trying to drink the gluhwein, lol.  A fun memory for sure.

Cheers to the holidays, friends in town, and loving our fun city!

Nothing like life-long friends to keep you laughing and keep you warm!

For dinner, we headed to Rockit, a posh little burger joint that has recently won a ton of accolades and awards.  It was named by the Tribune as one of the top ten celebrity hangouts in Chicago, so I tried to keep my picture taking to a minimum so I didn't seem like "that person."  But don't kid yourself, if Brit Brit would've walked in, all my cool would have gone out the window.  PS: Matt and I split the Rockit burger: kobe beef, melted brie, fried shallots, and medjool date aioli on a red onion brioche bun with truffle fries.  OMG.SO.GOOD!

I did manage to have my friend Matt snap this picture of me, because I wanted yall to see my nails.  They're still super hard to see, but if you squint or zoom, maybe you'll get an idea.  I wanted something fun for the holidays, so when I got a manicure, I had them do a gold metallic polish with black polka dots.  It almost looked leopard, but not quite, and though my husband thought I'd lost my mind, I thought it was a fun change :)

And since I've posted twice recently about Christmas markets, I thought I'd dig up a picture of my first Christmas market, in Belgium with my mom!  At Christmastime in 2008, my parents were still living in London, so Matt and I went there for Christmas.  I flew over a few days early though so my mom and I could take a girls trip to the Christmas markets in Belgium.  (My parents went to the main market in Germany and came back with rave reviews.)  It was a short trip, but we squeezed in a lot of laughs, a lot of walking, and a lot of shopping.  Here we are in Bruges at the market square.

And here I am, with food, no surprise lol.  Did you know french fries were invented in Belgium?  Who knew?

The grand plaza in Brussels.  If you are ever in Europe at or around the holidays and have time for a side stop, the Christmas markets are wonderful!  But if you can't make it to Europe, just come to Chicago.  The weather is just as cold and the gluhwein is just as good.  And ps: I promise this is my last Christmas post of the season.  Pinky promise :)

Late Happy Lately Lists

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I know we're a week into January, and most of you are probably over Christmas and have moved on, but I well, haven't.  I'm still soaking up all the last little bits of the holidays.  (Confession: my Christmas decorations are still up and won't come down till I'm back in Chicago on the 18th.)  That said, I wanted to post these two Happy Lately lists that I received over the hoidays.  Your response to the Happy Lately List feature has been great!  So great that I've gotten a little backed up (sorry!)  But since these lists are holiday themed, they couldn't wait, and I didn't want to lose them because they are both so wonderful.  So for all of you who are like me and are still soaking up the last bits of Christmas, here something to make you smile today!

Jess' Happy Lately List

Coming home to BFF every night...he makes EVERYTHING better...

Finding the perfect gift for someone...

Cleaning with Christmas decorations up, Christmas music playing and a glass of wine...

My students. Coming from nothing, they are appreciative of ANYTHING. It makes me stop and think sometimes...

Getting a Yorkie for my birthday!

Hot chocolate with LOTS of marshmallows...

Buying my plane ticket to go home and see family for Christmas (900 miles away). There's no place I'd rather be on Christmas morning...
Scarves...
Candles...
Football...

Amanda's Happy Lately List

The Glee Christmas episode. I loved the part when Mr. Schu talked about how when we are older we seem to forget our child-like excitement and how Christmas becomes mandatory. It was such a memorable scene. Must try to be excited about Christmas instead of going through the to-do lists in my head...
A husband who knows how much I love Christmas and does little things for me. For instance: while decorating the tree, he made supper and used our red + green Fiesta dinner plates. And was very proud of himself when I saw that he did so...
Our Christmas tree decked with ornaments. It's super sweet to see our childhood ornaments mingling together...
Pinterest Christmas boards. My daily stop to this site gives me so many good ideas (mostly tucked away for next year) that I have to "pin" to my "board"...
Christmas tunes. I love making mixes that combine the old and new. The Ella and Frank next to the Sixpence None the Richer and Norah Jones. Singing along to my favorites definitely brightens up my car rides...
And along with Christmas tunes, come Christmas movies! Again, I love mixing the classics with the new favorites. This weekend is going to feature a viewing of It's a Wonderful Life and Elf... both will be watched with a cup of hot cocoa in my hands and a husband to lean on...

A big thanks to both of these lovely ladies for sending in such wonderful Happy Lately Lists and continuing my after-Christmas cheer!  I'm curious...what holiday happiness are you still trying to soak up this first week of January?

On the Road Again

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Hello from TEXAS! In all the craziness the past week, I forgot to mention that I was headed to Texas to start my two week interview tour.  (If you're new to the blog or aren't sure what interview process I'm talking about, you can catch up on that here.)  So far, I've had two in person interviews and two phone interviews.  Over the next two weeks, I have four in person interviews across Texas and Oklahoma and five phone interviews.  With some brilliant juggling and scheduling, I managed to book just one flight to Texas, so I can drive to all the interviews and take the phone interviews from my parents house in Houston.  I'm getting a workout just thinking about it!  Yesterday though, before I flew out of Chicago, I had a interview at a university a few hours outside of Chicago, and it went GREAT!  Definitely my best yet, and I really loved the site.  An added bonus?  The director of the site said I was a "powerhouse" applicant and it was clear that I had worked very hard in graduate school.  Umm, hello, can we say ego boost?  It was the best compliment I've gotten in a long time and certainly made me feel more prepared and excited for this crazy application/interview process.  (My friend Miguel has now taken to calling me "powerhouse" through texts and Facebook, and I can't help but laugh every time I read it.)

After I landed in Houston, my mom met me at the airport and we headed straight to my brother's basketball game.  I haven't gotten to see him play at all this year, and when we first walked in, I couldn't find my brother on the court.  He couldn't possibly be that tall kid with the man muscles.  Is he even old enough to have muscles?  Sadly, number 13 is old enough to have man muscles, but his big sister still looks for the little ten year old with a buzz cut and big ears.  Oh how things have changed :)

I'll still be blogging over the next few weeks, in addition to enjoying all my Texas treats.  Mexican food, Chick-fil-a, Diet Dr. Pepper, and real Texas BBQ.  Rereading that list makes me think...I may need to book two seats on my flight home :)

Oh ps: Those are totally my legs in the picture above.  My legs, my pink handbag, and my private jet.  Yep, uh huh, totally mine.  I'm sticking to it :)

A New Year and a Focused Effort

Hey friends, happy new year! Its hard to believe 2010 came and went so fast and that we are already two days into 2011.  Crazy.  I hope you all brought in the new year just how you wished, surrounded by people you love.  Matt and I spent New Years Eve with some of my friends and coworkers from the store, as my boss and her husband opened their home to friends on New Years.  (The same wonderful couple who hosted us for Thanksgiving.)  The party was fairly low key, with great people, great food and lots of bubbly.  Matt and I had lots of fun and were both so happy to be snuggled in our beds just after 1:00 am.  My party animal skills have never been quite on par with my peers :)

As long as I've got this guy next to me at midnight, I'm a happy girl :)

Cheers to a new year, filled with adventure, change, love, and lots of happiness!

Ok, and lots of kisses too :)

And speaking of New Years, I bet you're wondering about my resolutions.  Well, I should tell you, I don't make "resolutions."  Nope, no sir, not here, not me.  I don't make resolutions, just like I don't go on diets.  Because if you read my New Years post last year, you know diets and resolutions just tease me with things I can't do and can't have.  So I'm a fan of "focused efforts."  Yes, very similar to resolutions, I know, but in my crazy head, less of a cruel tease.  Last year, while perusing the blogosphere, I heard about the idea of creating a phrase or word to capture your "focused effort."  Something you can say to yourself to remind yourself in times of temptation to help you make a more informed choice.  Last year, my phrase was "use what you have" in an attempt to stop being so wasteful and use the things I already have and love.  This year's focused effort is almost identical, but with more of a money component.  "BUY LESS."  Yep, that's it.  Just two little words to keep in my head for 2011.

I've shared my focused effort with a few people, and most have laughed at me.  (Apparently its no secret I'm dangerous with an Amex.)  But I'm pushing the laughter aside and reminding myself why I'm choosing to focus on these two words.  I have so much stuff.  Literally.  Its disturbing.  So many clothes, so many candles, so many rolls of gift wrap, so many headbands, so many books to read.  I have so much jewelry, so much makeup, so much stationary, so much food...so much stuff!  I don't even see, much less use, have of what I have.  And yet, I buy buy buy.  Why I do this is another story, but the effects are nothing but negative.  Less space, less money, less clarity, less creative effort.  So while I'm not kidding myself with the phrase "buy nothing" (because that is beyond laughable) I really do want to focus on buying less and focusing on the things I already have and love.

So that's how I'm gearing up for 2011, what about you?  If you're making a "focused effort" this new year, do share, I'd love to hear!

Christmas in Chicago Recap

I had intended to do a day by day recap of my family's visit to Chicago, but after going through all 9 million pictures, I realized that just isn't going to happen.  Because I picked out all of my favorite pictures, and well, they totaled 63.  And since I love you all so much, I decided to spare you the play by play, and instead just post a few of my most favorite pictures from their trip.  And by "a few most favorite" I mean 30.  Ha.

They're here, they're here!  So happy to finally have my whole family in Chicago!

Me, Ry, and Chicago.

Sunday, we stopped by the Christkindlmarket, a big German Market that sets up shop in Daley Plaza.  Several Chicago friends had recommended the market, but with my parents having gone to a real German Christmas market in Germany, I was apprehensive.  But it was delightful!  Lots of the vendors fly over from Germany and bring some incredible treasures with them.  My favorite...no surprise, the food, particularly these potato pancakes :)

Oh how I love this guy :)
PS: Most days in Chicago, I try hard to look cute, no matter how cold it gets.  But Sunday was painfully cold, and I couldn't bear the thought of freezing all day while we showed my family the city.  So I said to heck with it and piled on my big puffy coat.  Sure I may have resembled a marshmallow, but I was a warm marshmallow :)

Fried apples+whipped cream+powdered sugar=a very happy dad

My favorite four people in the world.

Yall know I had to drag them to The Bean.  It's my favorite place in the city!

Christmas card worthy according to my mom.  A potential for 2011.  Except Matt looks kinda lonely over there on the right :(

Someone needs to windex The Bean.  Its throwing off my photo opps.

Matt found a great spot at the Art Institute that has an incredible view of the city.  We went up to take a peek, and I added it to my top five Chicago spots.  The view was beautiful and oddly undisturbed.

We spent most of Monday at the Museum of Science and Industry, and I couldn't get enough of the interactive butterfly exhibit.  You know, the ones where they react to where and how you move.  Don't kid yourself, I was pushing the ten year olds out of the way so I could have another turn.

Dinner at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba, without a doubt one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago.  We bring about half of our guests here, and I have dreams about the bacon wrapped dates and spicy potatoes with tomato aioli.  Omg.so.good.

During the two hours we were at dinner, it snowed quite a bit (especially in the eyes of a Texan.)  My dad was so excited he laid down at the corner for an impromptu sidewalk snow angel.  Awesome.

Cookie decorating at our place.

Matt and his headless snowman.  Poor guy, didn't stand a chance :)

Me and my OCD cookie.  I arranged each sprinkle with a toothpick.  Lol, crazy much? :)

How did I get so lucky to be his big sister?

The Christmas tree at Macy's on State street.  Really really beautiful (though I think the tree at the Museum of Science and Industry outdid it.)

A kid in a candy store :)  My dad is a total popcorn lover, so Garrett's was heaven for him.

You can't come to Chicago and not have deep dish pizza.  Our favorite is Lou Malnati's.

There's no better way to warm up than with a red cup from Starbucks.  (Remember in my Christmas Happy Lately list when I mentioned the caramel brulee latte?  Heaven in a cup I tell you.)

Hanging out in our new Christmas Eve pajamas.  (Every year on Christmas Eve, we get to open one present.  It just "happens" to be new pjs each year.)  This year I asked my mom for more loungewear type pjs, and I got a super cute lounge set from Express.  Black with a little bit of leopard, just my style.  Thanks Mom!

Ryan opening his present from Matt and I.  He really wanted new shoes from Nordstrom, so we got him a gift card.  But I can't just give a plain old gift card, so I wrote a poem to accompany it.  A sample from this year's poem: "You get to choose the size, color, and shape...just don't be acting crazy like Professor Severus Snape."  Just call me Jay-Z junior, bahaha.

Matt's gift to me, a major blog upgrade!  More on that in the months to come.  (Thanks, honey!)

What better way to celebrate a white Christmas than sledding!  Hooray!

Please ignore the lady on her iPhone, and note the guy on the green disc with his arms outstretched.  Yep, that's my dad, always a big kid at heart :)

A guy who loves me, supports me, and makes me laugh.  I couldn't ask for a better Christmas gift.

Weeeeee, there I go!  (I hadn't intended to pull a spin move, but the one leg out did me in.)

My "little" brother and me.  Ha.

Our last group photo before we turned home to lounge in our sweats and enter a food coma.  (Matt did all the cooking and oh was it yummy)  Having my family in Chicago was such a treat, and I couldn't have imagined a more delightful, wonderful Christmas!  I am SO grateful that my family braved the cold and came to visit.  Going home is always wonderful, but there's something special about having the people you love come to you!

New Years is tomorrow, so I guess this is officially my last post of 2010.  Hard to believe this year is already over; it has seriously flown by!  Have a fabulous New Year's Eve, however you choose to spend it, and please please be safe.  Happy 2011 yall!