Friday Favs

This week was kind of a pain. I definitely should have practiced more gratitude which may have curbed some of my complaining {which I did a lot of} but the stress eventually just got to me. Whenever I look back at weeks like this one I always realize that others have it so much worse than me, but that's sometimes hard to  remember in the moment.

Anyway, I'm glad this the weekend! Gratitude for the weekend ;) so, let's start it off with some fun Friday favorites, shall we?

One // Cupcake & Cashmere's "Time-Saving Tips" Post

{read here}

You all know I'm obsessed. So this post was no exception especially since I'm always looking to read how others save themselves extra minutes each day. I loved her tip on picking outfits for the week {slightly less daunting than picking out entire outfits} and the "top two" trick. I also need that wet skin moisturizer asap. 

*also. I grabbed the nail polishes she did with Formula X that launched today. Couldn't pass them up. I also couldn't choose just one of the colors, so I bought all three. Told you. Obsessed. 

Two // New Books!

      

Our Spring titles came into the office this week and we all got our copies! We make some of the cutest books out there. Look at those stinkin' animals! Too much. 

I may have also snuck a book or two early for my cousin to read with her little one. Worth it when I get pictures like that sent to me. Look at those little feet!

Three // Yoga Now Studio

For anyone local, I recently heard about this studio on LaSalle and can't wait to go. Their workshops and healing services sound amazing. I really want to partake. Like the Moon Magic with Yoga Nidra workshop? K. I need that in my life immediately. 

Four // Little Baby Garvin's Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party Post

{read here}

Again, you guys know I'm obsessed and I still can't get over this birthday party Jessica put together for her daughter. The details were subtle and fun but so on point. I want this for my next birthday party. AND the dinglehopper. Like. Yes, please. 

Five // The Sound of Music in Chicago!

{here}

I can hardly stand that my favorite movie ever, ever, ever is coming to Chicago on broadway! I've seen it at smaller theatres in the suburbs, and while I loved those productions, I have a feeling this one may be a little different. It's only here for about two weeks in June so I'm waiting for tickets to go on sale when I can grab a few. Ahh, too exciting. 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to relaxing date night tonight & for the Oscars on Sunday!
Gowns. Popcorn. Chris Rock. Done deal for me. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

xo

mid-week weekend recap

I'm here today pulling a classic Alex-couldn't-get-it-together-on-sunday-to-post-a-recap post! I know the world is waiting on breath that is baited (to quote Aleksandr Petrovsky's pretentious friend that one time in Pastis) for my recaps, so here it is ;):

Sammy had plans to go downtown for a guy's night on Friday night, so I stayed home finishing up some editing and revisions for a class and had a visit with my grandma. I can't begin to explain how happy I am that she's doing so much better. Her spirits are amazing!

Always love documenting her artwork ;)

As I mentioned in my Friday post last week, I had plans with some girlfriends to go to a wine tasting event near her house. I had so much fun spending time with them {and her fiancé!}, but to be honest I had no idea just how much wine would be there and how much it would affect me. There was a moment where I fell down on the floor of a motorcycle showroom. In all fairness to me this could very well have happened if I was sober as I have terrible balance. {but also why is there a motorcycle showroom in a quaint little downtown area? don't blame me for your mistake, village of Libertyville} Clearly I still have anxiety about it because I'm normally overtly aware of my behavior and had to leave the premise {and move on to the next tasting obv} immediately.

Anyway, here are some snaps my sober, and eventually not-so-sober, self thought was important to document. All in various snapchat filters, of course ;)

      

Eee! A wedding countdown at my girlfriend's house! // Pre-tasting snap

Some favs! {the one in the middle is the one getting married!}

      

I felt it necessary to document {at the weirdest angle} a bakery we stopped in // books I thought would look artsy

      

Mid-tasting snap // peace sign hanging in a pizzeria 

      

Chelsie // Sammi 

{always looking far better than me}

      

We stopped in like 18 {okay, two} art studios.

Random paint splatters I thought would be cool on my snap story // Sammi signing up for something she "felt she had to".

      

Chelsie with our new best friend {at this point in the day all I wanted to do was sit on the ground and stay with this dog} // easels to prove I have a keen eye for art

After the tasting we made it over to Firkin to have something to eat. Sammy was able to meet us there for dinner and I couldn't have been happier to see him. Based on my reaction to him you'd think I hadn't seen him in weeks but it had been like six days haha. If we're being honest again, I remember being really about my veggie burger and the tortilla chips we got for the table, so I'm not a great judge on the food beyond that although I'm sure it was good! I just wanted to eat and go to bed, so we headed home around 6 pm like the 87 year olds we are.

Sammy spent some time visiting with my mom and brother while I laid on the couch next to him singing the song from Spacejam because my brother mentioned Michael Jordan…. 

clearly a really classy day for me

Sammy then made himself an ice cream sundae and we went to watch Matilda before we both fell asleep. Naturally this is how our evenings go. This is who we are. 

On Sunday, I spent the day with Sammy running some errands {per usual} and then having dinner by his house since his mom was making pizza and pasta which is clearly everything to me in life.

I mean, really. 

& of course, this is the week I got back on the Weight Watcher's bandwagon. I'm also wearing my Fit Bit again. 

I already dislike me. 

      

I also watched him be cute as hell ironing his uniforms // & took pictures of recipes and apparently griddles I'm obsessed with in Bon Appetit 

So, there ya have it. That was my weekend. 

On today's front, I woke up with a charlie horse, forgot my computer for class tonight, and there's a winter storm warning for today, so current mood:

Things could be much, much worse Sophia. 

xo

Friday Five

This week has felt really productive but I think that's partly due to the fact that I finally got around to folding laundry that's been sitting around for weeks and weeks. I'm so great at doing laundry, but folding and putting it away is a totally different story. Anyone else like this?! 

Anyway, this week at school was a heavy writing week, and a heavy project-based work week, but class was also cancelled on Thursday night which was such a nice break. It's amazing how restorative one night off is!

I have a random mash-up of Friday Favorites this week but all good things! So let's get into it.

// One // 

I made pizza earlier this week with the leftover cheese and fresh basil Sammy and I had from our Valentine's dinner. I used organic frozen pizza crusts I had from Trader Joe's, but I think I waited too long to use them 'cause it cooked rock hard haha. Flavor was good but I was basically eating a slab of concrete with sauce and basil on it. Definitely want to try them again but this time I'll use them much sooner!

// Two // 

These are some cute umbrellas my grandma colored the other day during therapy! She's making such great progress. 

I had such a great visit with her earlier this week and was asking her a lot of questions about St. Joseph's Day {an Italian holiday coming up in March} for the essay I was writing. She perked right up talking about our family's traditions. I can't wait for her to be home. I have such a new found appreciation for her which I didn't think was possible since she's always been my favorite human. ;)

// Three // 

Like I said earlier this has been a writing week for me {I can't wait until every week is a writing week} and this was my set up on Tuesday afternoon. A messy outline + an intrinsic need to live exactly like Olive Pope was the inspiration for this writing session. 

// Four // 

We had some awesome news this past week on my Dad's side of the family. My cousin {picture on the left} sent out announcements last week that her and her boyfriend are expecting a child! & then on Valentine's Day he proposed to her! AND my cousin and his wife announced they're going to expecting as well with this sweet announcement {picture on the right}. Couldn't be happier for these couples. They've dealt with their fair share of hardship, so they deserve all this happiness. 

// Five // 

Tomorrow I'll be attending the "Wine About Winter" event with a few of my girlfriends and I'm excited for a little girl time! From 1-4 pm we'll be walking around downtown Libertyville where several participating shops and restaurants will be providing wine tastings as you shop around. I have a feeling I'll be spending a few more extra dollars than I need to ;) 

Looking forward to some fun this weekend! Can't wait to read everyone else's Friday Favs. 

xo

LBH: Reasons I'm Annoying

New series idea on this little ol' blog of mine: "Let's Be Honest".

And let's be honest, this series may only last for one post, but I'll try to be self deprecating for more than that. 

I love, love, love Matt Bellassai like seriously go watch his videos {especially his older ones}. They make me cry I laugh so hard. For those who haven't watched, almost all of his videos consist of him complaining about stuff and giving "reasons why" things are the worst or whatever. 

I'm inspired by his honesty and willingness to just come out and say whatever he wants probably because I tend to edit myself way more than I would like to on social media, here on the blog, and in my own writing.

*I have to work on this*

Anyway, I wanted to do a post inspired by Matt and I must have been annoying myself when I got the idea to write about why I'm annoying. Because I so am. I'm even finding this intro to be annoying. 

We all need a little humility, no? Like let's just get over it. We're all human, we're all annoying at times. I'm just more annoying than others {but then there are people like D Trump and I'm like no, I'm the loveliest person on earth}.

But, ANYWAY, let's get into it. Here's to being humble and honest about who I am.

Reasons why I'm annoying:

-I am so loud at work. I throw things into my purse which ultimately hits some kind of empty container I hoard around with me making an obnoxious sound. I'm always smacking my ear buds on my table which makes a louder sound than you think. I'm a constant mover of things: papers, mouse, pens, post-its. It's an odd compulsion to constantly move things around when they don't really need to be moved. I'm sure people around me love it. Also, every water bottle I've ever had is destined to become defective so I even drink loudly. 

-I do this weird thing with my arm when I'm trying to be sarcastic. Like I can't even describe what it looks like. It's like something one would do during a square dance. I cringe every time I do it and yet I can't stop. It's the worst.

It's not far off from this kinked arm 12 year old Amanda Bynes is doing here..

-I never shut up. Like ever. It's such a struggle to convince anyone I'm an introvert and have anxiety because my rambling nature doesn't seem to match up to that. I'm working on listening more. I have a decent thought like once a week, so I don't really need to spew my shit all the time. 

-I will get annoyed if you prefer Jake to Fitz {even though I kind of love Jake also, but still Fitz) or Jack to Sawyer. And don't even get me started on Big vs. Aiden. I will get really annoying really quick on that one. Big always comes out on top. Always. 

like how on earth do you not prefer this man?! He's so clearly superior!

-I love Disney. I don't personally think it's annoying, but I'm sure some people do since I have to take it to an obnoxious level. I own several monogrammed Disney items. It's a love affair, and I'll always defend it, but I can admit it's annoying at times just because I can't be normal about it. 

-I never remember to grab napkins. Like stop being a barbarian and take a napkin. This is annoying to me and anyone who has to look at me while dining with me.

I am George Costanza.

-I never stop talking about Jessica from Little Baby Garvin or Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere with one of my girlfriends {and anyone else who wants to gush about them… aren't they amazing?!} and I'm positive the rest of our friends think we're equal parts nut cases, creeps, and stalkers. But it's all in good fun {and totally not creepy at all}.

-I quote the same movies over and over again. They are as follows: Home Alone, Space Jam, Sandlot, and Back to the Future. 

Classic.

-I will listen to the same song on repeat until I'm sick of it which is annoying to everyone in my house especially when it's Drake one day and Chris Stapleton the next. 

-Christmas. I can't possibly be normal about Christmas BECAUSE IT'S SO WONDERFUL AND MAGICAL, so I become unbearable the moment Thanksgiving ends. 

I'll save the rest for part II {and III, IV, V...}

Top reason why you're annoying. Go.

Valentine's Recap

This was a lovely weekend spent celebrating love! 

I started off my weekend by practicing a little self-love by chopping a few inches off my hair and then stopping at Starbucks to treat myself to a caramel macchiato and a little writing time. 

I spent a relaxing evening with Sammy and practiced more self-love by making myself mac&cheese for dinner by his house ;)

On Saturday, Sammy and I ran some errands, went grocery shopping, and visited my grandma at her rehab facility. 

      

A therapy dog brought my grandma a carnation in his mouth for Valentine's Day :) & my first stop at the grocery store is to get the wine and cheese.

      

Sammy & I decided we were going to celebrate Valentine's Day on Saturday night since he wouldn't be around Sunday night. We used my beloved Tucci Cookbook for their homemade pasta and meatball recipe. 

      

I finally got a chance to use my pasta maker which I was thrilled about! & my guy insists on chopping parsley very precisely ;)

      

Next item to buy from Crate & Barrel: Pasta drying racks. 

      

I seasoned ricotta and we put dollops of it on our pasta.

We grabbed some cheese, olives, and used the crusts of the bread we had left over (after using the insides for the meatball recipe) to snack on.

      

Even though I don't eat them anymore I can't deny how good frying meatballs smell.

We had a few scraps of pasta left over and since I was making ricotta I decided to see if I could remember how to make a ravioli like my Papa used to. I was so proud of my lone ravioli I was disappointed we didn't make an entire batch!

      

Our finished product :)

& for dessert we had makeshift fondue {since I forgot my fondue set at home}. Strawberries for me, bananas for Sammy. 

We had a little sleepover to end the evening and this little face kept cramping my style by stealing my spot. But seriously I felt like Sammy and I had children because both dogs would not stop squeezing in between the two of us.

& then the pancake king made me a heart shaped pancake for breakfast the next morning :)

We spent the rest of the afternoon taking naps and Sammy did some laundry before he packed up to make the drive back to the academy. I spent the rest of Sunday night doing my own laundry, homework, and visiting with my grandma. 

It was a nice, relaxing weekend filled with lots of love. As all weekends should. 

xo