And Almost Another Month Has Gone By...

& that's okay. No excuses over here for me. Just living life as usual but always wanting to post when I get the itch to do so. 

And it's FALL people ;) which always puts me in the blogging mood for some reason. OK so for some super random shit, here we go...

My end of summer, early fall uniform is in full swing.

I never get nail polish with sparkle but this color was called "Eiffel for This Color" so obviously I had to get it and put up with a little sheen.

Posted my "shameful stack" on my bookstagram aka all the books I want to read and feel bad I haven't gotten to yet.

These mother effers posted about TATBILB #2! Can't wait for Feb (actually I can but you know)

We celebrated one of our favorite girls during her awesomeee bachelorette party in Lake Delevan, WI.

The resort we stayed at was perfect for our group and super up the bride's alley.

We came prepared.

  

We spent time by the pool and then hopped on a boat for the afternoon and it was a great day.

We got ready later on and went to a bar on the resort's property.

It was so nice to spend time together, which I say all the time, but it WAS. And now the big day is next weekend! Can't believe it.

We've also been taking some dumb pictures lately.

I decided maybe I do like a wedding band after all??

I bought this at Target because the older I get the more I realize how much I LOVE the midwest.

We took some bookish pictures for my instagram and by "we" I mean me and my self timer.

We celebrate birthdays and work anniversaries each month at work and August's theme was space and it was so fun.

We've been trying to go to the dog park as often as we can because this guy's energy isn't slowing down for shit.

My grandma got some ehh health news recently so I took her out for lunch and a library date (well, kind of a library date, she sat in the car while I parked illegally and ran in to have her card renewed).

Henry took a bookish photo for me, looking handsome as ever.

My dad met Sammy and I so we could introduce Sammy's brother, SIL, and our niece to the wonder that is Allen's Corner.

Then we accompanied them to a petting zoo which had an old school on the property and I lived my best because if it's old, I'll love it.

Henry came with us to Chelsie and Dan's BBQ a few weekends ago and almost fell asleep sitting up.

And then fell asleep on my side when we got home.

I've, yet again, waited too long to utilize our fantastic set up we have outside. Actually this might be the perfect time to use it now that it's getting a wee bit cooler outside in the evenings. You can find me reading out here always.

I joined Planet Fitness which is simultaneously hilarious and also awesome. I'm really loving it which is a huge step up since I had such a negative experience at LA Fitness.

This one got an ear infection last week but was a very proper boy at the vet.

And hasn't been a total nut still or anything.

But will sometimes sit and let me read for like four minutes.

Labor Day weekend was a great weekend. I was off on Friday and went to the gym, did stuff around the house, read, took Henry to the dog park, did a little window shopping with Sammy for fall decor (fun fact about Sammy: he loves decor shopping, god bless him), and then took Henry to Dock's, a lakeside restaurant near our house, for dinner.

He half liked it, half wanted to leave the entire time.

I've been loving this book and hope to finish it before it's due back at the library this Friday.

Best friends forever, these two.

Saturday we thrifted for a while in the morning. I found a first edition American Harry Potter, so OKAY YOU NERDS, you caught me.

Then we did our own things with our friends: Sammy went up to Northern Illinois to watch them play Illinois State in football. And Morgan and I ventured to Elgin Books & Coffee, a used bookstore we really liked and will be visiting again.

Sunday we met my family for the Taste of Melrose and lived our best Italian food lives. I love being with my people so much it hurts my heart, so this day did me good.

And I made this very important and necessary purchase.

We came home and cleaned the house together (at Sammy's request since I'm trash and don't care about a clean house ;) ) and then spent time relaxing for the rest of the night.

Monday we spent time with Sammy's family at his grandma's and it was awesome to be together. And then Tuesday felt like a MONDAY, so that was fun. But I got to the gym in the morning and work was productive and I made chili for dinner, so really, it was all fine. 

I'm getting my haircut tonight which continues to be one of my favorite things to look forward to. My hair stylists comes to my house since she lives five minutes away and we chat the entire time, I just love her so much. And tomorrow night I'm meeting my dad for our monthly Chinese food date. 

It's good stuff, people. Life has been very good, as it always is to me. xo

Hi, I'm Alive

Well, hi. Its been a few weeks since my last post. I wanted to get better but life has gotten busy again. Life is always busy so I gotta stop using that as an excuse. Maybe when I'm like 60 I'll stop.

How about a little update, shall we?

Some book updates will be scattered throughout here, like this one. I read this gem of a book and it is as good as everyone says. Read it. Learn from it. You won't be disappointed.

This was the first year my dad and I didn't work the county fair but we did stop by to snoop and to get me a footlong corndog.

Sammy ran and hosted a few events with the department this month—his first under his new title! They both went really well and I'm so proud of him. The first was the annual lunch event at Texas Roadhouse where officers serve a free lunch to anyone who stops in. Donations are welcome and all proceeds go to Special Olympics.

I was able to stop by since it was a Friday and I was working from home and I was definitely the only person with their laptop at Texas Roadhouse haha.

Later that Friday we got packed up (and by packed up, I mean I picked which books I was taking with me, see below) and ready to head out to Denver for a weekend trip!

We shared a house with Sammy's brother's family and his parents and it was so fun to be together for a few days.

We were in Denver for a wedding but the day before and after we did a little exploring. We went to Golden, Boulder, and even white water rafted!

The wedding was really lovely. It's always fun to attend weddings but especially when you're planning your own and I definitely picked up a few tips.

Four of my bridesmaids :)

My future MIL who is very special to me.

And my (future) SIL, love of my life.

And some rando I met while there ;)

I really enjoyed Boulder and wished we could have spent more time there.

You know I got some insta pictures while I was there ;)

And made Sammy take these staged photos

I have a camera roll FULL of terrible pictures of me and I get this one of him on the first try. OK.

The following weekend we went up to Lake Geneva for Sammy's annual family picnic. It was a smaller crowd than usual but I almost preferred it this way. So nice to be with my favorite people. We were able to take Henry too and he mostly behaved.

After the picnic we came home and got ready for dinner to celebrate my grandma's birthday. She never buys herself new clothes, so I always take the opportunity to get her some new things. I'm obsessed with all the prints I got her.

We went out for Chinese food and some Dairy Queen and it turned out to be a really nice evening.

The next morning my mom and I went to Sur la Table for the cooking class I gifted her with for her birthday. It was a "French Desserts" class and we had so much fun doing it.

Last week Sammy hosted his biggest event of the year which is National Night Out. It's a free (national) event where police departments invite families to come and spend the evening with them. There were raffles, snacks, face painting, a K9 demonstration, different booths with different branches of law enforcement, and a bunch of cool vehicles kids could see up close.

 It was held at Three Oaks which is a lovely recreation center in town. I think he had over 100 more people than last year's event which was awesome. I snapped this of Three Oaks as I was leaving the event. Love where we live.

It was also Henry's first time in my car and that went well and my car isn't completely full of hair so I'm a happy camper.

After the event we met Sammy's coworker and his fiance for ice cream at The Freeze which is the perfect summer activity. We stayed talking in the parking lot until after they closed up and turned the lights off haha. I just love them so much. It's so awesome when you know you'll have friends for life.

But before ice cream, I ran home and made my new favorite summer dinner: grilled cheese and a peach.

Finished this book recently too and really dug it. Such a fun read and my favorite Christina Lauren so far.

Last Friday night we had an impromptu date night and went mini golfing. It's our favorite thing to do together in the summer 'cause we're nerds and we haven't tried any of the places near our house.

And then we woke up the next morning to a very serious man.

We celebrated James's first birthday last Saturday and it was such a lovely party, per usual. Our cousin does everything so beautifully.

And there's truly no cuter boy on Earth.

Some of my very favorite women on this planet. I love any chance I get to spend time with them (and three of my bridesmaids too!)

All the cousins (minus a doctor busy studying away in Alabama) <3

Yesterday we met our friends for a boat day and they were kind enough to let Henry come with us. He did really well which was such a relief.

It was a really lovely day spending time with friends I don't get to see as often as I'd like. Plus I love any excuse to be out on the water. It's truly one of our dreams to own a boat one day.

That's all for me, friends. We've got a low key week before I head up to Lake Delavan, WI, this weekend for one of my best friends's bachelorette party! So excited for the girl time. xo