Friday Favorites

We made it! Well, the week wasn't as chill and slow as I had hoped, so here's hoping for next week haha. On to some favorites...

// A Henry update! He's doing much better and being suuuuch a trooper about all the shit we're making him wear. I'm hoping today is his last day and night with the full getup and the vet tells us he's fully healed tomorrow.

// I got this emailed to me yesterday and it reminded me how close his birthday is! I'm so excited to celebrate in two weeks. Initially Sammy had the day off and I was going to take the day off too so we could all hang out, but now that he's on a 8-4 schedule, he's obviously not off so we'll have to pack a lot of celebrating into that evening ;)

// Another random favorite: just how much I love my job and the people I work with. Which isn't really random since I say it all the time. This is perfect evidence from our recent Harry Potter party that I work with the best people.

// One of my favorite writers announced she has a new book coming out next spring and I obviously dorked the hell out about it. SO good. If you haven't read her stuff, you're sorely missing out.

// Speaking of books, my book instagram is slowly gaining followers! This community is so much fun, all I want to do is spend time on there haha.

// My mom and I got to spend some time together randomly on Tuesday night after work so we went to a few department stores so she could start trying on mother of the bride dresses :) We're ahead of the game by a good chunk of time but she figures she'll start eliminating styles now. And ya girl had to try on a jumpsuit, of course.

Truly can NOT with her. She's so gorge.

// I had my last (foreseeable) walk/bike to the train this week and was living for the sun bursting through the trees on my way. Even though getting to the train that way was certainly a pain sometimes, I'm definitely going to miss it.

// I found some good finds at TJ Maxx last week with Tina and one of them was this botanical printed kimono. I probably didn't need it (ok, def didn't need it) but oh well, it's pretty!

// I also grabbed these leggings per a blogger recommendation and am looooooving them. Same quality (if not better) as my Zella leggings but softer, cheaper, more comfortable, better length, and has pockets (!). Highly recommend. 

// I grabbed these at TJ Maxx too. They're Adidas cloudfoam shoes. I wanted a pair of "athletic" shoes that I could slip on for errands but could also use for easy workouts at home. I LOVE them. So comfortable even if they do look a little senior citizen-y. And they're great for my plantar fasciitis. Because I'm literally a senior citizen. 

// And biggest update of all: I got my car! If you've been reading (or know me personally), you know I've struggled with a driving anxiety for over a decade, so this is pretty big for me. My therapist and I are very pleased with this development ;) 

It's a big change to my entire mindset which has operated under "I'm not a driver" for the last 10+ years, so even though it's exciting and a really cool thing, it's thrown me for a loop, especially since it means I won't see my dad quite as much as I'm used to (we used to carpool before and after work when I didn't have a car). It's a big adjustment, so I'm trying to really give myself the time I need to get used to everything. 

That wraps up my favorites! My plan for the afternoon is to surprise my grandma and take her to lunch, then stop at the park district to buy a pass to the dog park and hopefully get over to the library. (We've lived in CL for a year and I STILL haven't gotten a library card, so I'm very excited to get over there today, which should come as a surprise to no one.)

We have some shopping to do tonight and then we're hoping to see Toy Story 4 FINALLY. Has anyone seen?! 

Tomorrow we're celebrating Sammy's brother's 30th birthday at their house and we have a graduation party on Sunday. Hoping to sneak some relaxing in there where I can—I feel like I could sleep for a week!

Have a great weekend all! xo

*linkin up with Andrea

This or That — Book Edition

Since getting involved with the "bookstagram" community, I've been even more book focused than usual, which is a lot. I found this awesome idea from McKenzie—fellow book lovers unite!—and just had to do it too. 

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buy new or buy used? 99% of the time I prefer used because I love the feeling of a worn book. However, if it's a book I absolutely love, getting a brand new copy for myself is such a treat. eat 
while your read or read while you eat? I prefer neither ha! I actually really don't love to eat while reading—it's too hard for me!  
re-read old favorites or pre-order upcoming possibilities? For loving books as much as I do, I think it's odd at how little I re-read books—there are just so many I want to read it feels hard to justify spending time on something I've already read! Unless I really, really love it. But preordering kind of gives me anxiety? Haha. I have a needy personality when it comes to books. If I read a synopsis and am really into it, I want the book immediately. Preordering is for patient people, which I am not ;) 
read every single word or skim at times? Definitely skim at times. I hate to admit I do it, but sometimes we gotta get back to the dialogue, OK? 
happy endings or tragic endings? Happy. I'm not here for a tragic ending, but I'm HERE for drama and for realistic endings if they can't be entirely happy. 
audiobooks or e-books? E-books all day. I can't focus on audiobooks for shit. 
multiple books or one book at a time? Ugh, I hate reading multiple books at once but I do it occasionally. It's usually because I started reading a physical copy of something and then also have an e-book I'm reading. 
mostly one genre or a little bit of everything? I definitely lean toward certain genres (romance, contemp fiction, historical, contemp YA) but I do dabble in other genres as well. Definitely working on broadening my horizons. 
lifelong obsession or later re-discovery? Life.Long.Hunni. 
classics — yay or nay? Ehh, after getting an English degree, I probably should say YAY but if I'm being honest, I'm more a nay right now (unless we're talking Lost Generation writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald in which case always a loud YAY). I think I'm going to come back to the classics later in life and really enjoy them though.  read aloud to others or be read aloud to? Both sound kind of ehh for this introvert haha but I would say read aloud to others, especially since that's something I can't wait to do with children someday.
absolute silence or background music/noise? Both are fine. I can read under most circumstances.
cover on or naked? ON. They're gorgeous, people spend a ton of time designing them, why take them off? (Although inside covers are starting to get pretty treatments now too.)
bookmark or dog-ear? Dog-ear!!
movie cover or original? Original ugh please.
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Anyone reading anything good right now? Happy Tuesday!

Weekend Recap

Boy am I happy to see Monday...which isn't my usual reaction. As fun as the weekend was, I'm happy to start a new, hopefully very slooooow, week. Last week was madness with our schedules turned upside down, working different hours, doing different things after work (and before work in my case), etc.

Thrilled to see nothing on the calendar after work for this week, which will leave room for a possible drink with a friend and maybe a date night with Sammy to see Toy Story 4 (otherwise we go at 11 a.m. on Saturday with the rest of the senior citizens). Otherwise, I'm not leaving our house haha.

FRIDAY

After work on Friday I met Tina for lunch and some TJ Maxx/HomeGoods shopping which was cathartic and the best afternoon. I came home and waited for Sammy to get back from the vet with Henry. Our poor guy ended up with an infected incision (no clue how that happened since he has barely gone near it/shown interest in it) and infected neck. 

The cone we got from the vet is so enormous and freaks him out so much he wasn't sleeping at night or during the day with it on (but we didn't have an alternative at the time since they didn't recommend or give us their professional blessing on anything other than that damn cone) and it resulted in him drooling a ton which was his body's way of dealing with the stress I guess. It's supposedly common among long haired dogs if moisture remains on their fur, a rash can spread, which is what happened to his neck so they had to shave it to prevent more spreading, we got an antibiotic and medical spray, and then said fuck the cone and purchased every alternative you can think of i.e. diapers, full body suits, inflatable cone, smaller cone, etc.

He's in a variation of these items depending on time of day and whether he's completely alone or not but our new system (albeit totally obnoxious) seems to be working. We were told 5-7 more days of healing from Friday, so we're hoping by middle to end of this week we'll be in the clear.

He currently sleeps in a full body suit (which is a glorified onesie I found on Amazon) and inflatable cone and it's worked out well (and Sammy and I have finally been getting some sleep too although I don't think I'll be able to sleep soundly until I know for sure those damn stitches are gone—I'm constantly worried he's going to lick them in the middle of the night) and then is in the body suit and new cone during the day when we're at work. UGH haha. He's been such a trooper though. We just love him.

Needless to say, I needed some relaxation so I did a mask and attempted to paint my nails (before giving up and doing a rush job the next day) and then read approximately one page of my book before falling asleep.

SATURDAY
Saturday I hung out with Henry in the morning while Sammy worked a shift (his last scheduled weekend shift for the next four years!) and then headed to pick my dad and brother up from the rental car place before heading up to Wisconsin for a family wedding.

It was on a farm/rural property and the ceremony took place on its own little island (where we got eaten alive by mosquitos).

The room where the reception was held was really pretty with the light coming in from the huge windows.

We ate a very Schultheis type dinner with my classy choice of beer ;)

And my sister continues to look like a model wherever she goes. Not sure why I wasn't blessed with that metabolism but OKAY.

There was a pretty outdoor area and I loved all the hanging lights. We ended up spending the whole night out here talking and drinking and it was really fun because we don't get to see my dad's family that often.

This is after some whiskey (me) and vodka (her) IF YOU COULDN'T TELL.

SUNDAY
Sammy worked another shift Sunday morning, so Henry and I hung out watching Girls Incarcerated on Netflix ;) He and I didn't have a great Saturday morning (I was so ready for a drink at that wedding haha) so I was very happy to have a chill and easy Sunday morning with him.

We left as soon as Sammy got home for his cousins' graduation party. It was such a nice party and there were so many family members there, it was so nice to catch up with everyone. There's a graduation party every weekend for the next three weeks so we'll actually see that family a lot this summer which I'm excited about.

Sammy and I were home before 7 which was nice. We hung out and watched a movie on Netflix. Henry was shockingly calm, even after being home and napping for a few hours prior, so not sure if that was a fluke or if they neutering actually did calm his energy a bit?? We were told it takes about two weeks for the testosterone levels to level out and we're coming up on the second week so maybe? 

That's all for me! Have I mentioned I'm looking forward to a slow week? ;) This will also be my and Sammy's first full week of week of being on the same work schedule, so we'll see how that goes as well. It was rough last week because we were both stressed with a variation of things we wouldn't normally be worried about and kind of took it out on each other, so I'm hoping all that gets smoothed out/worked on for the future.

ANYWAY. Bye. :) Have a great Monday! xo

*linking up with Johannah!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! Per usual, got some random favorites to share. Shall we?

// To start with, Sammy recently got a new position at the department that he's incredibly excited about! It's going to be a lot of work and different work than he's currently used to, but he's absolutely up to the challenge. It's a four year position with a M-F, 8-4 schedule which we are definitely not used to. He started yesterday and having him home when I got home was so weird haha! Weird but good. It's like we're moving in together all over again because we're just not used to being on the same schedule. It's going to be an adjustment but there are so many good things that come with this schedule. We can plan weekend trips more easily now, he doesn't have to miss holidays for the next four years, and he'll be home for dinner every night (theoretically). Because this position is focused on community relations, I'm hoping he ends up with a lot of freedom to create new programs in our community, especially with children, and I'd love to get more involved, if I can.

// Our wedding website is finally up! Took me a stupidly long time to do it, but I think it turned out pretty nicely.

// I finally took the plunge and started an Instagram account specific to book stuff. I'm hoping I can keep the hobby up and it doesn't become all consuming because I would love to get involved in the book community via Instagram which is growing like a weed lately it seems. Follow along if books are your thang.

// Has anyone tried these pretzels before?! Tina's coworker brought them to our picnic last weekend and Alicia and I became obsessed. She said she found them at Binny's, so if you have a Binny's nearby, TRUST ME. You want these.

// I shared these already but I've been loving the peonies growing in our yard. I've been cutting bundles once they start to droop outside because they'll last for another few days to a week inside. Fresh flowers in the house makes me so happy.

// Sometimes Sammy's snaps just kill me. For some reason, when I play music over Alexa in the house, it interferes with his music in his car. I came home after seeing the Disney cover band and had an itch to hear "So This Is Love" from Cinderella so I was playing it a few times as I cleaned up downstairs before going to bed. He sent me this snap while he was working... <3

// I spent some of last weekend organizing books I was storing in our garage (which I had to clean out to make room for my car that I should hopefully be getting in the next week or so) which led me to reorganizing my children's shelf in our library :) Ugh I love looking at those books and that growing collection.

// We celebrated some June birthdays in the office this week and had a Harry Potter potluck of sorts and I wish I had taken a picture by the end of the day because there was SO much good stuff. Not pictured: butter beer that I literally died over, chocolate bars in case you're faced with a dementor ;), more cakes, "slugs," a cheese ball shaped like the sorting hat, etc. Unreal. 

My insanely creative coworkers had a Nearly Headless Nick in the kitchen, dressed Jamie (our cardboard cutout from Outlander) in HP gear (which was both alarming and sexy at the same time and yes I'm as off put by my own reaction as you are), house flags on the walls, and Ministry of Magic signs in the bathrooms ;)

I made "Luna Lovegood's Pudding Trifle" which was an adaptation of something I saw on Pinterest. I just found whatever colorful things I could find to use as layers between the pudding and whipped cream. And then hot pink and gold sprinkles for "magic" on top :) Love a trifle.

// Tina's engagement gift (Disney themed because they got engaged in Disney!) finally arrived and I got it all wrapped and ready to go last night since I'm meeting her for lunch today aaaaaand forgot it at home. So annoying. Hopefully we can get it to her this weekend sometime.

She got me a "police wifey" shirt when we got engaged along with a wine glass that said "wifey" so I basically copied her gift ;)

That's all the randomness I got! After my half day at work today I'm meeting Tina for lunch and some TJ Maxx-ing and then heading home to be with Sammy and Henry. Tomorrow I have a wedding on my dad's side of the family up in Wisconsin, and on Sunday we have Sammy's cousins big graduation party (over 100 people were invited!) in the afternoon. Lots of family this weekend—my favorite.

Have a great weekend all! xo

Midweek Check-In

Hi there! I'm so glad it's Wednesday already. I worked from home on Monday because Henry got neutered, so I wanted to be home to help Sammy, if possible. And yesterday was a whirlwind day so it's no wonder we're halfway through the week. 

I want to recap the weekend and I might have some rando thoughts, who knows.

Friday night I met Alicia (who is also new to blogland so you definitely need to go check her out! Her blog is amazing.) and Tina (who just got engaged!) and Tina's friend from work to sit in the park and listen to a Disney cover band. We brought beer and snacks and got to hear details from Tina's engagement. 

Forever the child listening to Disney while eating Lunchables ;) the beer helps make it more adult, right?

Tina and I have been close since high school and our fiance's are best friends. I can't believe we're both getting married next year. It's totally wild and going to be SO much fun. There's no one else I'd want to share this time with.

Saturday morning, Sammy and I met my brother, sister, and dad for breakfast at my dad's favorite diner to celebrate Father's Day. They're not open on Sundays, so we moved our Father's Day celebration because that's how much my dad loves this place haha.

Sammy and I stopped at an antique store on the way home and then I hung out the rest of the day at home with Henry. I cut some more peonies in our yard, vacuumed, got Sammy's brother's Father's Day gift wrapped, and went through boxes of books I had in our garage and then reorganized some shelves in the library.

Over the weekend we made the last minute decision to have Henry neutered on Monday because we wanted the two week recovery period to be over before his birthday (July 10), and by "we" I mean me haha, and to have recovered for over a month by the time we leave for Colorado at the end of July because our family and friends will be watching him and we didn't want anyone dealing with anything medical with him while we're gone.

We were givin' him lots of extra love this weekend.

We spent Father's Day on Sunday with Sammy's family which included smoked meat and a lot of hanging outside (despite the fifty degree temps!) with our niece who is currently super into her new house ;)

Henry did great on Monday morning! He hates his cone but is starting to get better with it. He has it on at night and when we're not home, but when we're around we take it off so he can have a break from it.

Sleeping is still a bust for him. He cried for a few hours Monday night (he's situated in our bathroom because it has more room than his crate does) and last night we tried having him sleep with us but he was so restless no one was getting any sleep, so he went back into the bathroom. I don't know if he slept a wink but he didn't cry! He should sleep a bunch today though.

Here's how he thought we were going to sleep last night...*eye roll* I would have slept with that damn cone on my head too if he would have stayed put haha.

I met Morgan and Andrea for dinner last night with another coworker of mine. Andrea lives near where we all work, so we met for Big Bowl and I convinced everyone to get the stir fry. It was nice to catch up with them and hear some gossip ;)

This week is a nutty week. Henry is recovering so he's not on a normal schedule, I haven't been getting to work when I normally do, I dropped my dad and brother off to get their rental car Monday morning because they're going on a road trip this week which means I have my dad's car so it isn't sitting unused in his parking lot for a week, my sister and I are splitting a wonky cat feeding schedule before and after work (my dad's a cat guy) while they're gone. Etc., etc., etc., 

Everything feels just a little bit off. Everything has been going smoothly, so I really can't complain! But needless to say I'm ready for the weekend to get here so we can get back to some regularly scheduled programming. 

See ya Friday for favorites! xo

Friday Favorites

Okay, HI. Back on my shit with some serious randomness this Friday. It feels like its been so long since I've linked up, so I'm excited to join in today!

Let's start with some serious cuteness like could you die? Sammy happened to be off on our niece's actual birthday so he went with them to the zoo to celebrate and he got some James time in as well. My ovaries are not the same since seeing this photo.

Sammy and I are truly obsessed with him. No one can get me to make this kind of face. Only food gets me this excited, so James is real special.

Forgot to include in my "update" post that we celebrated our cousins' high school graduation a few weeks ago! These two are unbelievable. They each play an instrument, have beautiful singing voices, played in multiple soccer leagues throughout high school, got every academic honor you could think of, etc., etc., etc. More importantly, they're so sweet and kind, always thinking of others. I met them when they were five years old, and I'm officially that adult who is constantly telling them, "I can't believe you're eighteen!" as if they don't know their own age. So, so proud to know them (even if they both picked colleges that are my college's rivals IT'S FINE).

A month or so ago, there was a child murder case that floored our town and circulated throughout national news. Sammy spend many shifts working extra hours to help with everything that comes with a murder case/trial. Someone sent him this screenshot from a private Facebook group regarding the case where someone had commented on a picture of Sammy working at the scene of the crime. A little context of what he was doing in the picture: a ton of people had come out to leave stuffed animals and toys and balloons on the lawn in memory of the child and that night a heavy storm was coming in so all the officers boxed up the toys so they wouldn't get ruined and to save them for the boy's little brother to have later. I can't thank people enough for publicly reaching out when they have a good experience with a police officer. It makes all the difference in a sometimes thankless job, and it made all the difference to Sammy during an incredibly emotionally heavy case. You don't have to tell me Sammy is a good man. This I know. But I can't explain what it does to my heart when I see other people notice it as well.

Now for some lighthearted shit, we have a life size cardboard cutout of Sam Heughan from Outlander in our office because a decent amount of our team is obsessed with the books/show. He has since been folded up and stored in a room *SHAME* but my coworker is a genius and made me a mini version for my desk and I swear she's a magician. It's hilarious and I'm OBsessed.

In the very best turn of events, one of my very best friends got engaged at Disney last weekend! Her dream came true which makes me tear up every time I think about it. Her fiance (ah!) surprised her with a weekend trip to Florida and then proposed outside Cinderella's castle.

 From one Disney obsessed to another, I snagged these for her engagement gift :)

I've been making these bowls a lot lately. I make some rice and fried eggs and throw whatever else we have on hand in and top with everything but the bagel seasoning from TJ's. Love, love, love.

My mom and I stopped into BHLDN before high tea last weekend and I definitely found a few favorites from their gorgeous store. I love these earrings:

And I think this would be a stunning shower dress. I also saw many a jumpsuit I would have loved to try on.

And then at Bloomingdales, I saw this dress that set my Gatsby heart racing. How cool for a bachelorette?!

Big favorite this month has been watching our plants grow like the grandparents we are. Especially when Sammy sends me snapchat updates.

 I got a lovely bundle earlier this week. The white ones were a little far gone, but I cut them anyway.

Love how they look on our end table.

This will never not be funny to me (because if it isn't funny it's incredible sad and embarrassing and I can't let my brain go there anymore).

One of my closest friends from childhood moved back home this week so Chelsie and I met her for dinner and it was like absolutely no time had passed. We laughed so much and it made me so nostalgic for how things were when we were younger.

My girlfriend's family actually owns the restaurant where we ate and it was packed when we got there, so we brought some wine into the office and sat around chatting before our table was ready. I don't know why I felt like I needed to take a picture but it just felt like one of those moments when you really appreciate your life. My girlfriend has a way of making you feel that way when you're with her.

During lunch one day this week, this movie came up in conversation and I haven't seen it in years so I became obsessed with watching it. It's not available on any streaming service or to rent anywhereee so I had to buy it on Amazon and truly I'm not sorry I own it. I watched it Wednesday night and was LIVING for it. So good. Ironically enough, the girlfriend I reconnected with is the one who showed me this movie when we were kids so this week was all kinds of nostalgic which just sends my nostalgia-loving heart into a tailspin.

I have a pic of this on my phone because I was raving about it Chelsie...if you're in the market for a new scent—this is SO good. I'm a huge fan of their eucalyptus mint lotion and was about to buy yet another bottle when I smelled this one and changed my mind. It seriously smells so good, I wish they made a spray of it. And I think Bath and Body Works's semi-annual sale is still going on, so this was like $3 online instead of the $15 I paid in-store.

I threw together an antipasto pasta salad last night with whatever we had in the house that felt appropriate. It was SO good and I know it'll be even better this afternoon after sitting in the fridge over night. Going to make so many variations of this throughout the summer.

Love my nights outside with Henry while the weather is still cool in the evenings and the mosquitos haven't gotten bad. This is us playing "fetch." ;)

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That's all for me! We have a low key weekend over here. Fridays at my office are half days now that we're in summer hours mode which has been great. I usually use this time to do some cleaning, reading, extra playtime with Henry, etc. I'm meeting Tina later tonight which I'm excited about...Ms. Fiance! 

We have plans to have breakfast with my dad at his favorite spot tomorrow to celebrate Father's Day. And Sunday we're spending the afternoon at Sammy's brother's house with his family. I'm excited for a pretty low-key/well balanced weekend with my favorite people.

Have a great weekend, all! Happy Father's Day to all those great men in our lives. I personally couldn't function without mine.