Anyone still out there?
I was about to say "Can you believe it's been almost a year since I last posted?" and then realized that anyone who has read this little space from any time between when I started this blog in 2014 to now isn't and shouldn't be the least bit surprised I haven't posted in a while.
That's kind of my calling card.
Showing up consistently for a few weeks or months and disappearing for god knows how long.
You may have noticed, the ol' blog got a name change so it would match with my bookstagram account. I love when things match.
Let's see what else has been going on since I last posted...(this is one of those long posts I do where I just post photos and caption them incessantly. SO HERE WE GO, HOW FUN.
SEPTEMBER 2019
SEPTEMBER 2019
Did some late summer thrifting and dive eating with Morgan.
Celebrated Jacqueline and Adam's wedding! My amazing bridesmaid gift from Jacq below.
Moments I want to always remember: sitting in our hotel room, talking, eating junk, the night before Jacqueline's wedding.
One of the best days. Look how gorgeous she is.
Such a gorgeous wedding and the most fun. Loved every single minute of it. I remember texting her repeatedly for the next month afterward to tell her I was STILL thinking about it.
We took a lot of naps that lasted for 28 seconds.
Great photo but had to document my first "book mail" experience!
Did a lot of car reading last end of summer/fall. Also, I ADORED this book.
Forever staring at my ring and taking pictures of it.
I went apple picking in a rainstorm with my mom and MIL.
And we decorated for fall up in this bitch.
And tried a bunch of new "comfort" recipes.
Sammy insisted we change the position of all our furniture in our living room. I cried about it and I think we're due to change it back to how it was ;)
Speaking of Sammy, he became everyone's favorite police officer in town (already was IMO), especially with its littlest citizens.
Henry continued to live his best each season.
We went to the Johnny Appleseed festival in town. I was unable to enter my apple pie this year because Sammy was a judge and has to stay impartial. What everyone fails to realize is I'm the last person he'd vote for so I'm really the one who gets screwed but that's OK.
Sammy's dream was made when he put Henry in his squad.
We watched the rain together (Henry reluctantly took part).
OCTOBER
We continued to force Henry into many seasonal photos.
I read The Flight Girls and loooooved it.
I couldn't bare to finish Lock Every Door and thought it was terrible. SRY.
The first trade book I worked on at work delivered!
In October, Sammy and I took a weekend trip to DC and this is a terrible photo documenting Sammy buying me McDonalds in the airport even though I said I didn't want any (always a lie) and I got to eat it while reading on the plane aka my most perfect morning.
Aside from our Paris trip, this was my very, very favorite trip we've taken together so far. It was so fun and it came at a time when we needed a little reconnecting and it did that for us so perfectly.
I read this while we were there and I thought it was wayyy overhyped.
Became totally obsessed with the Capitol building. Like truly enamored with it each time we passed by.
I got to take the Smithsonian Zoo book I worked on at work to the actual Zoo (which is an impeccably kept zoo, highly recommend)
We went to the Library of Congress and you can imagine I stayed very calm and collected there. Surprisingly enough, Sammy said this was his favorite thing we saw while in DC. Shocked the hell out of me. Below is Thomas Jefferson's personal library and I didn't freak out at all.
This is me wearing sunglasses indoors to hide the fact that I'm sobbing.
We went to the law enforcement memorial and museum which was incredibly moving to see with Sammy.
While there, we celebrated being engaged for one whole year AND what was supposed to be one year till our wedding. We've since postponed due to COVID to September 11, 2021, and are very excited about it.
We went to every Smithsonian museum and I marveled in each one. I get to work on books licensed with Smithsonian at work so being in the museums was especially thrilling for me.
We had the best meal at a little Italian restaurant in the cutest neighborhood in DC one night. We stayed for hours which is longer than we normally stay at restaurants. We ate outside and talked and talked. And we got a call from Sammy's brother and SIL telling us they were pregnant! It was a really lovely night for no specific reason but I think back on it a lot and always want to remember it.
I read Julia Whelan's book and really, really enjoyed it. She's my favorite audiobook narrator so I figured I'd love her book.
I won a fall themed basket at work during our Halloween celebration that had cider and apples and candy in it and I lost my mind because I'm a grandmother.
I documented our tree at various stages of its leaves changing color. Again, grandma.
Went to more library sales. Does it bear repeating? #Grandma
And had coffee dates with friends.
And made more comfort foods.
And carved pumpkins as is our annual tradition.
And made Sammy take a photo since we take one every year and he gave me a hard time about it this year for some inane reason and this was the best we got and I was not thrilled and Happy Halloween.
Henry staring longingly at himself in pumpkin form.
Here's Henry THRILLED with us about his costume this year. (We never make him wear costumes for longer than it takes me to take a picture, I swear. I hate it too.)
I continued to wear my denim jacket until it was literally too cold to do so.
I rec'd the greatest birthday gift of all time. If you know me, you know I love me some Jamie Fraser and now I have his face on a neck pillow. Morgan is the greatest human I know.
For Halloween Tina and I have created a habit of doing couples costumes with each other. This year it was "angel food cake" and "devil's food cake" and I was the devil which should come as no surprise to anyone.
We always get drunk before we take a picture and then wind up with gems like these (which truly are gems to me honestly):
And Sammy went as Harry from Home Alone and I've never been happier to be marrying him.
I went to a Harry Potter event with Morgan and Andrea. And I'll tell ya, it's really fun to go to a HP event as a person who pretends to still hate HP.
Got my ass sorted even though it was wrong.
Our neck of the woods is SO pretty during fall.
For Halloween at work I went as the grammar police and I loved every minute of it.
Red pens in my holster and all.
My coworkers gave me the greatest birthday gifts EVER on Halloween (since I took my birthday off the next day) and always make me feel so understood and seen. I love them to death.
I wore a dark mark faux tattoo and have never felt more badass in my entire life.
On Halloween night, Sammy and I always do a themed date night. I usually cook something "spooky" and we have themed apps and dessert. I can't remember what I made and don't seem to have a photo but I know we had this cheese board and had wine in our Halloween cups. We watch a Halloween movie, usually Halloweentown, while passing out candy and I love it very much.
I read The Flight Girls and loooooved it.
I couldn't bare to finish Lock Every Door and thought it was terrible. SRY.
The first trade book I worked on at work delivered!
In October, Sammy and I took a weekend trip to DC and this is a terrible photo documenting Sammy buying me McDonalds in the airport even though I said I didn't want any (always a lie) and I got to eat it while reading on the plane aka my most perfect morning.
Aside from our Paris trip, this was my very, very favorite trip we've taken together so far. It was so fun and it came at a time when we needed a little reconnecting and it did that for us so perfectly.
I read this while we were there and I thought it was wayyy overhyped.
Became totally obsessed with the Capitol building. Like truly enamored with it each time we passed by.
I got to take the Smithsonian Zoo book I worked on at work to the actual Zoo (which is an impeccably kept zoo, highly recommend)
We went to the Library of Congress and you can imagine I stayed very calm and collected there. Surprisingly enough, Sammy said this was his favorite thing we saw while in DC. Shocked the hell out of me. Below is Thomas Jefferson's personal library and I didn't freak out at all.
This is me wearing sunglasses indoors to hide the fact that I'm sobbing.
We went to the law enforcement memorial and museum which was incredibly moving to see with Sammy.
While there, we celebrated being engaged for one whole year AND what was supposed to be one year till our wedding. We've since postponed due to COVID to September 11, 2021, and are very excited about it.
We celebrated at Le Diplomate and I'm so glad we were able to get reservations there since it's French. And... yeah. What else do I have to say?
We went to every Smithsonian museum and I marveled in each one. I get to work on books licensed with Smithsonian at work so being in the museums was especially thrilling for me.
I read Julia Whelan's book and really, really enjoyed it. She's my favorite audiobook narrator so I figured I'd love her book.
I documented our tree at various stages of its leaves changing color. Again, grandma.
Went to more library sales. Does it bear repeating? #Grandma
And had coffee dates with friends.
And made more comfort foods.
And carved pumpkins as is our annual tradition.
And made Sammy take a photo since we take one every year and he gave me a hard time about it this year for some inane reason and this was the best we got and I was not thrilled and Happy Halloween.
Henry staring longingly at himself in pumpkin form.
Here's Henry THRILLED with us about his costume this year. (We never make him wear costumes for longer than it takes me to take a picture, I swear. I hate it too.)
I continued to wear my denim jacket until it was literally too cold to do so.
I rec'd the greatest birthday gift of all time. If you know me, you know I love me some Jamie Fraser and now I have his face on a neck pillow. Morgan is the greatest human I know.
For Halloween Tina and I have created a habit of doing couples costumes with each other. This year it was "angel food cake" and "devil's food cake" and I was the devil which should come as no surprise to anyone.
We always get drunk before we take a picture and then wind up with gems like these (which truly are gems to me honestly):
And Sammy went as Harry from Home Alone and I've never been happier to be marrying him.
I went to a Harry Potter event with Morgan and Andrea. And I'll tell ya, it's really fun to go to a HP event as a person who pretends to still hate HP.
Got my ass sorted even though it was wrong.
Our neck of the woods is SO pretty during fall.
For Halloween at work I went as the grammar police and I loved every minute of it.
Red pens in my holster and all.
My coworkers gave me the greatest birthday gifts EVER on Halloween (since I took my birthday off the next day) and always make me feel so understood and seen. I love them to death.
On Halloween night, Sammy and I always do a themed date night. I usually cook something "spooky" and we have themed apps and dessert. I can't remember what I made and don't seem to have a photo but I know we had this cheese board and had wine in our Halloween cups. We watch a Halloween movie, usually Halloweentown, while passing out candy and I love it very much.
NOVEMBER
My birthday last year was perhaps the best birthday I've ever had. I felt so, so loved. The day started out with a little snow and a serious dog.
I went and got myself a pedicure by myself which I live for and rarely do (because I'm an idiot).
Sammy decorated the house for me because my mom always decorated the house for us on our birthdays so he tries to keep up the tradition which makes my heart soar.
Part of my gift from Sammy was this gorgeous purse that I love so much. Marc girl for life.
All I wanted for my birthday dinner was for Sammy to make me pasta and drink Dr. Pepper while watching Home Alone and that's exactly what we did. This was the first year in my life that I didn't see my parents on my actual birthday (we saw them the next day, I'm not a monster) but since my birthday fell on a Friday, we just figured by the time everyone got home from work and over to our house, it would be kind of late, so we opted for a chill night at home just the two of us which was nice to be able to do.
Saturday morning we went to my favorite place on Earth: Freddy's in Cicero. It's old school Italian and a perfect reflection of my soul. I told Sammy I wanted him to propose here. (The Eiffel Tower was FINE too.)
Morgan also gifted me this HP plate that I've used almost every single day of my life since I've rec'd it. This HP hater is underserving of all this stuff (you should see how many HP things I have on my birthday/Christmas list for this year hahaha).
Serpent & Dove was my first time reading anything in the fantasy genre and I really enjoyed it.
My best friend and MOH got a pup last year and this was the day Henry and Rosie got to meet for the first time!
The size difference, I die.
We had our annual Friendsgiving—one of my favorite days of the entire year. I've known these girls my whole life, one of them since kindergarten, and I would be lost without them.
Chelsie hosted this year and truly killed the game.
We went to Sammy's cousin's annual pumpkin party, another favorite fall occasion. She always makes the most bomb pumpkin chili, we all bring a pumpkin themed food (with containers to bring home leftovers!), and we do a candle swap.
And we get to see the cutest boy of all time while we're there.
I read another GEM by Jason Reynolds and my admiration grows with each book, if that's even possible.
We took a VERY serious Thanksgiving photo.
We always split the holidays but for some reason I only have pictures of dinner at my grandma's.
The very next day we got our Christmas tree, as is our tradition since buying our own home.
And I documented every single moment of Sammy bringing it inside.
It's in a new spot this year, so naturally I have 900 photos of it on my phone from the Christmas season.
We went on a Christmas light boat tour in Lake Geneva with our SIL's family and the boat docked where our rehearsal dinner is being held so my MIL asked if we could go up and take a look at the room in person while we were there and we love it. We hope the weather will cooperate and we can have all the doors open that look out over the lake.
I read this super fun YA about a big Italian family that takes place over Christmastime and it was really festive and fun to read.
This is the police officer I live with when I asked him to participate in an Instagram challenge of choosing my books for me.
Hot AF. The only one in this pile I read when I said I would is Cursed Child and I hate myself for it.
Then we went to Allen's Corner, our family's favorite diner, for lunch. My favorite kind of vibe.
I went and got myself a pedicure by myself which I live for and rarely do (because I'm an idiot).
Sammy decorated the house for me because my mom always decorated the house for us on our birthdays so he tries to keep up the tradition which makes my heart soar.
All I wanted for my birthday dinner was for Sammy to make me pasta and drink Dr. Pepper while watching Home Alone and that's exactly what we did. This was the first year in my life that I didn't see my parents on my actual birthday (we saw them the next day, I'm not a monster) but since my birthday fell on a Friday, we just figured by the time everyone got home from work and over to our house, it would be kind of late, so we opted for a chill night at home just the two of us which was nice to be able to do.
Saturday morning we went to my favorite place on Earth: Freddy's in Cicero. It's old school Italian and a perfect reflection of my soul. I told Sammy I wanted him to propose here. (The Eiffel Tower was FINE too.)
My best friend and MOH got a pup last year and this was the day Henry and Rosie got to meet for the first time!
The size difference, I die.
We got Disney+ the day it came out and that was a big deal in this bitch. I wore my castle sweatshirt to commemorate the occasion like a true nutcase.
Chelsie hosted this year and truly killed the game.
We went to Sammy's cousin's annual pumpkin party, another favorite fall occasion. She always makes the most bomb pumpkin chili, we all bring a pumpkin themed food (with containers to bring home leftovers!), and we do a candle swap.
And we get to see the cutest boy of all time while we're there.
I read another GEM by Jason Reynolds and my admiration grows with each book, if that's even possible.
We took a VERY serious Thanksgiving photo.
We always split the holidays but for some reason I only have pictures of dinner at my grandma's.
The very next day we got our Christmas tree, as is our tradition since buying our own home.
And I documented every single moment of Sammy bringing it inside.
It's in a new spot this year, so naturally I have 900 photos of it on my phone from the Christmas season.
I read this super fun YA about a big Italian family that takes place over Christmastime and it was really festive and fun to read.
This is the police officer I live with when I asked him to participate in an Instagram challenge of choosing my books for me.
Hot AF. The only one in this pile I read when I said I would is Cursed Child and I hate myself for it.
DECEMBER
Here we are again, documenting every single thing Sammy does, especially related to holiday traditions, in the name of capturing "memories" as I say to him all the time ;)
Here's our little outside light set up.
Here's another nap I presume only lasted four minutes before he was reeking havoc in our living room.
Blessed beyond words.
Cookie swap at work during our work Christmas party.
Took my junior bridesmaid and love of my life dress shopping.
Chelsie and I had our annual Christmas cookie baking day.
And Rosie and Henry had another playdate!
We made a few.
Sammy designed our Christmas cards this year (I tried my hand at delegating tasks this year).
I wore this to go try on my wedding dress when it came into the salon.
And tried on far too pricey hair pieces. I've decided to wear my grandma's headpiece for our reception and I think it will be really special. She's thrilled out of her mind.
We had a Christmas day with our niece. We decorated a gingerbread house, watched a Christmas movie, took her out for dinner, gave her an early present and new pajamas, and drove around looking at Christmas lights before bringing her home.
She did notttt care for the cookies I made.
See? I said I had a million of these photos.
I never remember to sit in the evenings and just look at the tree. I'm always reading or on my phone or watching TV. This night Henry was really cuddly and I hung out with him in front of the tree, just us two, for a while before bed and it reminded me how many of my dreams have come true and ok calm down.
Sammy and I give each other ornaments each year for Christmas and he's Mr. Personalization. He lives for things with monograms or years on them especially if it includes a photo, so I grabbed this from Target and new he'd dig it and he acted like I gave him an ornament made of gold. Sometimes I really like him.
We made our annual Christmas trip to Dinkel's downtown with my dad. We've been doing this since I was a kid and I love, love going every year. I've actually never been here any other time other than Christmas haha.
Sammy and I had a Christmas date night with his cousin and girlfriend and she lives in the most gorgeous Chicago apartment.
We ate at Quartino's which is always awesome.
We got samples of our Save the Dates (that are no longer accurate but I love them sooo much I had to share here haha).
We celebrated my brother's birthday on the 23rd. Greatest man alive.
I make Sammy cinnamon rolls and eggs (his two favorite breakfast items) for Christmas Eve each year.
And we always do the big Sicilian Christmas Eve with Sammy's family at his parents house and it's one of my favorite nights of the year.
I'm marrying Santa Claus. I'm VERY chill about it.
Sammy's aunt gave us hand towels with Henry on them and I die.
Henry also got many Christmas gifts because he's the best boy.
We spent Christmas morning opening up gifts, truly something I've waited my whole life to do and it never gets old.
Our tradition is I make breakfast on Christmas Eve and Sammy makes me shaped pancakes on Christmas Day. This means he made me shaped pancakes ONE TIME and I've held him to it ever since.
He got me the best mug of all time. I wish I could use it all year round but I'm very specific about using my Christmas mugs JUST during Christmastime.
He also got me the best Home Alone sweatshirt and my brother got me the long sleeve version 'cause a bitch has to have multiple versions.
Henry was immediately ready to go to my mom's.
Was handed jingle juice upon entering—my kind of party.
My mom's insanely small tree.
Christmas dinner. This year my friend and former coworker Andrea wasn't able to travel home to spend the holidays with her family so she was with us for Christmas and it was so nice to have her.
My chef uncle made an insanely decadent chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache and strawberry sauce.
For NYE we hoped to have a lot of friends over to our house but it wound up only being a few, but that's OK 'cause Tina and I drank enough cocktails for 80 people.
This post is getting exceptionally long, so I decided to separate these update posts by season. Next up, January through March—everyone's favorite time of year. ;)
Thanks for sticking around if you have. And if you're new... get ready. It tends to be real rambly around here, just like talking to me in real life.
Here's our little outside light set up.
Here's another nap I presume only lasted four minutes before he was reeking havoc in our living room.
Blessed beyond words.
Took my junior bridesmaid and love of my life dress shopping.
Chelsie and I had our annual Christmas cookie baking day.
And Rosie and Henry had another playdate!
We made a few.
Sammy designed our Christmas cards this year (I tried my hand at delegating tasks this year).
I wore this to go try on my wedding dress when it came into the salon.
And tried on far too pricey hair pieces. I've decided to wear my grandma's headpiece for our reception and I think it will be really special. She's thrilled out of her mind.
We had a Christmas day with our niece. We decorated a gingerbread house, watched a Christmas movie, took her out for dinner, gave her an early present and new pajamas, and drove around looking at Christmas lights before bringing her home.
She did notttt care for the cookies I made.
See? I said I had a million of these photos.
I never remember to sit in the evenings and just look at the tree. I'm always reading or on my phone or watching TV. This night Henry was really cuddly and I hung out with him in front of the tree, just us two, for a while before bed and it reminded me how many of my dreams have come true and ok calm down.
Sammy and I give each other ornaments each year for Christmas and he's Mr. Personalization. He lives for things with monograms or years on them especially if it includes a photo, so I grabbed this from Target and new he'd dig it and he acted like I gave him an ornament made of gold. Sometimes I really like him.
We made our annual Christmas trip to Dinkel's downtown with my dad. We've been doing this since I was a kid and I love, love going every year. I've actually never been here any other time other than Christmas haha.
Sammy and I had a Christmas date night with his cousin and girlfriend and she lives in the most gorgeous Chicago apartment.
We celebrated my brother's birthday on the 23rd. Greatest man alive.
I make Sammy cinnamon rolls and eggs (his two favorite breakfast items) for Christmas Eve each year.
And we always do the big Sicilian Christmas Eve with Sammy's family at his parents house and it's one of my favorite nights of the year.
I'm marrying Santa Claus. I'm VERY chill about it.
Sammy's aunt gave us hand towels with Henry on them and I die.
Henry also got many Christmas gifts because he's the best boy.
We spent Christmas morning opening up gifts, truly something I've waited my whole life to do and it never gets old.
Our tradition is I make breakfast on Christmas Eve and Sammy makes me shaped pancakes on Christmas Day. This means he made me shaped pancakes ONE TIME and I've held him to it ever since.
He also got me the best Home Alone sweatshirt and my brother got me the long sleeve version 'cause a bitch has to have multiple versions.
Henry was immediately ready to go to my mom's.
Was handed jingle juice upon entering—my kind of party.
My mom's insanely small tree.
Christmas dinner. This year my friend and former coworker Andrea wasn't able to travel home to spend the holidays with her family so she was with us for Christmas and it was so nice to have her.
My chef uncle made an insanely decadent chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache and strawberry sauce.
For NYE we hoped to have a lot of friends over to our house but it wound up only being a few, but that's OK 'cause Tina and I drank enough cocktails for 80 people.
This post is getting exceptionally long, so I decided to separate these update posts by season. Next up, January through March—everyone's favorite time of year. ;)
Thanks for sticking around if you have. And if you're new... get ready. It tends to be real rambly around here, just like talking to me in real life.
