What's Up, Wednesday (9/26)

Ready for WUW this week! 

What We're Eating This Week

I made a big pot of chili this week as the temps are starting to drop. It was good, but I feel like I'm still missing something. On the hunt for that perfect chili recipe.

But I did make what I think is the perfect cornbread recipe. I knew we didn't have cornmeal in the house, so I searched for recipes sans cornmeal and was surprised at how many there were. This recipe is SO good, people. Highly recommend.

And meals around the office have been looking a lot like this recently...

There's no cafeteria in my new building, so I've been in our cafeteria every day this week soaking it all up haha.

What I'm Reminiscing About

Since Sammy and I are officially one week away from getting on a plane to Paris, I've definitely been reminiscing about the trip I took there with my mom a few years ago. Can't wait to be back.

What I'm Loving

This guy even though he's been kiiiiiiind of a pain in the ass this week ;) we're in the teething/chewing phase and it is NOT a joke.

What We've Been Up To

All things Henry, first and foremost. Trying to keep the progress going on potty training, leash training, crate training, skill training, and the blessed chewing... ALL the trainings ;)

Sammy has been working on our basement. He mounted the TV with his dad last weekend and is in the process of figuring out his shelving and bar situation. Right now he's digging something like this and I'm here for it.

And I'm working on not losing my shit in the next week as I prepare to change jobs, handle a packed weekend, and pack for our trip.

What I'm Dreading

I'm mostly super excited about my last day on Friday, but I'm also a little bit dreading all the goodbyes. In part because there are some serious things I want to say before I leave regarding some concerns I have and feel a responsibility to call out, but mostly because I don't want to say goodbye to these tremendous people I work with. There are several I'm going to see often, especially one who has turned into one of my very best friends, so I'm not concerned about those folks, but I'm sad about leaving others I'm sure I won't see again unless by accident. They've made the hard days a little easier and are such a bright light in my day.

What I'm Working On

Currently working through my never ending to-do list as I wrap up 1458 loose ends at work.

What I'm Excited About

PARIS.

I woke up to both of these emails this morning (!)

What I'm Watching/Reading

I watched the first Fall Harvest Hallmark movie last weekend and thought it was pretty cute! Definitely gearing up for the Christmas movies to start. I've also been watching Seinfeld from the beginning. 

I currently have two library loans checked out on my Kindle:

The Paris Apartment -- this isn't a difficult book by any means but I'm having a hard time explaining, so here's the plot from Amazon haha.

Based on the fascinating true story of a treasure-stocked Parisian apartment opened for the first time in seventy years.

April Vogt, Sotheby's continental furniture specialist, is speechless when a Paris apartment shuttered for seventy years is discovered in the ninth arrondissement. Beneath the cobwebs and stale perfumed air is a goldmine, and not because of the actual gold (or painted ostrich eggs or mounted rhinoceros horns or bronze bathtub). First, there's a portrait by one of the masters of the Belle Epoque, Giovanni Boldini. And then there are letters and journals written by the very woman in the painting, Marthe de Florian. These documents reveal that she was more than a renowned courtesan with enviable decolletage. Suddenly April's quest is no longer about the bureaux plats and Louis-style armchairs that will fetch millions at auction. It's about discovering the story behind this charismatic woman.

I'm really liking this one so far and am excited to get further in. I already know I'm going to be reading more of Michelle Gable's work.

Meet Cute -- this is an anthology of "meet cute" stories written by popular YA authors and I'm super excited to get into this one.

What I'm Listening To

Pretty obsessively listening to either Lauv, Cardi B, or Parisian cafe music ;)

What I'm Wearing

Transitioning into fall over here. Trying my best to use some of my summer pieces as fall pieces, like throwing a long sleeve under a sleeveless jumpsuit. Really loving the combo. 

What I'm Doing This Weekend

On Friday night I'm going to run a few errands with my mom and then stop by my girlfriend's for girl's night game night! I'm excited to have many drinks and spend time with my best girls. 

On Saturday I'm participating in an apple pie contest, so I'll up early baking and then we're spending the day in town at the Johnny Appleseed fest. The evening plans are still up in the air although, I hope I can get out of them and spend a quiet night at home ;)

Sunday we were maybe going to do something with Sammy's family, but I'm not sure those plans stand anymore. I would love to have the day to prepare for my first day at work on Monday, but we will see how it pans out.

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month

Paris (how many times can I say it?), starting my new job, Halloween (especially with Henry) and some other festive events, seeing Elton John in concert, and seeing my girlfriend's townhouse for the first time.

What Else Is New

People keep texting me stuff like "Omg, so many things are happening for you lately!" New job, Henry, license, going to Paris, etc. It's all wonderful stuff and I'm so grateful, but I'm also looking forward to not having any "new" stuff happen for a little while. Excited to let all of this sink in.

Bonus question: What’s your favorite way to eat or drink pumpkin?

Any and all ways. Seriously, I'm not picky when it comes to pumpkin. Give me your muffins, your cookies, your coffee, your chili...actually, chili might be my favorite way. So damn good.

That's it for me! Excited to see what everyone else is up to! xo

What's Up Wednesday?

What We're Eating This Week

Started off the week by making these chicken meatball subs from BH&G. They didn't look as gorge as these, but Sammy said they were better than any meatball sub he's had in a restaurant which is now the highlight compliment of my life.

And on the complete opposite end, we're also utilizing frozen meals from Aldi haha. I had an eye doctor appointment right after work yesterday, so I only had about twenty minutes between getting home and having to leave again, but I wanted to get something ready for Sammy for dinner since he was working. Made this in ten minutes and left it on the stove for him. Piece of cake.

My grandma made us a big batch of gravy with zucchini and sausage in it, and we've been using it up since Saturday. I threw some frozen ravioli on the stove, added this gravy, and it was perfection. 

And Sammy has been eating tomato salads (I add white onion and cucumber to some chopped tomatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. It's better when you let it sit in its juices and get real chilled in the fridge--Sammy loves dipping Italian bread in the juice.) left and right this week. 

This is the ONE tomato we got this summer hahaha. We have a few others on the vine but they're still green. It's embarrassing how proud we are of this little guy. And Sammy acted like it was the best tomato he had ever eaten ;)

What I'm Reminiscing About

Being in school. Watching all the kiddos go back as had me reminiscing about my own childhood. Sleeping in my childhood bedroom this weekend didn't help ;)

What I'm Loving

I'm loving that our breeder has been sending us pictures of Henry ever since we officially picked him out. She emailed me a picture of one of her sons holding him and a picture from a trip to the vet and I'm living for it. 8 days!

What We've Been Up To

Getting ourselves ready for Henry! His collar and name tag were delivered this week, and we're looking to order the rest of his stuff soon. Next week we'll do a quick sweep of the house and "puppy proof" anything that he could get into and get rid of stuff that could be harmful to him.

What I'm Dreading

This beautiful human has been battling brain cancer for the last year and he's taken a turn for the worse this week. Definitely dreading losing this major presence in Sammy's family.

What I'm Working On

We've definitely slowed when it comes to house projects. We've decided to save our bathroom floors and backsplash in the kitchen as projects for 2019, but we've each been doing little things this week. I bought six fabric storage bins (for like $15 on Amazon!) for the shelf in my closet and have been loving the uniformed, clean look. While we don't plan on doing anymore "major" projects this year (except maybe getting my bedroom furniture from my mom's house into our guest room...), I plan on doing some organizational projects like this throughout the house. Our pantry/closet downstairs could use some help, as could our karate closet in the basement.

And Sammy has been working on this equipment unit for all his gear. They have these DIYs on Pinterest, but building from scratch seemed like it would be too much work quite frankly. So I suggested he find a bathroom vanity that had a towel rod he could hang his vest from. So he bought a white one, painted it black, and of course customized it with his last name. He can charge his stuff on there, hang his gear, lock up the unsafe stuff, and display his academy certificates and other stuff from when he was a trooper in WI. I think it turned out awesome (and now his stuff doesn't wind up on our bedroom floor!).

What I'm Excited About

I think it goes without saying that bringing this guy home is the most exciting thing to us right now (and possibly ever ;) ).

What I'm Watching/Reading

I'm currently obsessed with all things To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Watched it again this past weekend. If you haven't, WATCH. I urge you.

And reading? You guessed it. As Victoria Aveyard said on Twitter, I "mainlined" the To All the Boys I've Loved Before series in like two days. Then I went and read Jenny Han's "summer" series in two days (highly recommend). And am now back on my YA kick, reading books by her buddies Morgan Matson and Siobhan Vivian.

I read Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian last week...

and just finished Amy and Roger's Epic Detour yesterday.

While I enjoyed both, with a preference to Morgan Matson's voice (definitely checking out her other stuff next), nothing compares to Jenny Han's stuff. TOO good. I'm obsessed with her.

What I'm Listening To

I've been listening to Aloe Blacc's "Brooklyn in the Summer" and Mike Shinoda's (of Linkin Park) "Crossing the Line" on repeat lately.

What I'm Wearing

I've been wearing a lot of easy stuff lately as the temps have crawled back up to the high 80s/low 90s.  Jumpsuits and easy dresses. But today we're down to the 70s! So I'm embracing my pointe pants and light sweater today. Pumped about swapping my sandals for loafers soon ;)

What I'm Doing This Weekend

I look forward to this weekend all year long haha. Our favorite Italian fest happens this weekend and knowing we have Monday off makes the whole weekend better. Our plans will obviously be dependent on how Sammy's grandpa is doing, but as of now, plans include attending a former coworker's baby naming service at their temple, hitting up the Taste of Melrose, a little Henry prep, relaxing, and spending time with family. I was thinking of maybe convincing my family to help me move my furniture from my mom's house (I would love if this was done before Henry comes home) buttt it may be too last minute. 

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month

SO much. Obviously having Henry home with us is number one, but I'm also looking forward to decorating the house for Fall, going to Sammy's coworkers wedding, girl's night, and prepping for Paris!

the perfection that is Jessica Garvin

What Else Is New

Just excited for the new season approaching, but that's really not new since I basically spend the entire year waiting for Fall ;)

Bonus Q: What's Your Favorite Back to School Tradition?

We didn't have many back to school traditions (that I can remember) which makes me a little sad haha. As a kid, my favorite back to school related thing was definitely school supply shopping. OH man, I loved that. I loved picking everything out from the list that was sent to our house, and then I would go home and take everything out of it's packaging, write my name on it, organize and pack it all up. Forever a #mom even at like age 9. 

Have to mention that I love Andrea's back to school traditions and fully plan to execute similar ideas when I have kids of my own.

That's all for me! Happy Wednesday, all! xo

What's Up Wednesday

What I'm Eating This Week...

My mom is currently renovating our kitchen, so for the first half of this week we've only had a microwave to cook with which has been a challenge in the healthy eating department haha. I've been trying to stick with proteins and vegetables at lunch lately, especially when I go right to personal training after work. I like to grab soup for lunch as well if I'm not feeling particularly hungry. I've been doing fried eggs for dinner a lot lately as well (0 points on WW--whoo!).

Thrilled to find out last week you can make fried eggs in the oven! Game changer.

What I'm Reminiscing About...

I got the BEST news from my girlfriend on Monday night and I've been reminiscing about our friendship over the years. I love how big life moments inherently pull me to reminisce about my friendships and memories with others. 

What I'm Loving...

My girlfriend for gifting me her unused Kindle, getting to spend time with Sammy's family over the weekend, Black Panther (!), being productive at work, seeing my former boss this week for sushi, fresh jersey sheets on my bed.

What I've Been Up To...

Not much outside of work which has been nice! The summer is already booking up like crazy (every weekend in June is already filled!), so I've been enjoying the slow weekends I've had lately before life gets crazy this spring/summer!

What I'm Dreading...

I went to a wake last night (my second memorial service in the last two weeks) and I was dreading that. Not so much dreading the actual event but the acknowledgement of another life no longer with us.

What I'm Working On...

Always working on a million books at work ;) I also spent some time Sunday night writing out all my goals for the year by category (because I'm a dork). I never do goals or anything in January because I always feel kind of daunted by the new year and needing to make goals for myself, but by February I'm itching to get going which is a great feeling. A big goal this year is working on this bod, people. I've starting personal training this month, really working on improving my nutrition, etc. A specific goal I'm currently working on is losing 20 more pounds by wedding season (end of June) and another 20 by the end of 2018.

What I'm Watching/Reading...

Haven't been watching anything other than The Office on Netflix quite frankly...except When Calls the Heart (!) and any other Hallmark stuff I catch. I have a bunch of shows I want to binge watch when they all wrap up for the summer (or because I never finished when the ended): The Crown, The Mindy Project, This Is Us (I can't bring myself to watch that shit every week. Way too emotionally draining for me to wait a whole week to see another episode haha I have to binge them all at once), Scandal.

I've been reading a bunch this month and it makes me so happy. I'll have my February book review ready tomorrow! I've been reading a little of everything from fiction to memoirs to YA to chick-lit romance.

What I'm Wearing...

Still rocking the boots, leggings, and sweaters. I'm hoping this rise in temps we're currently getting sticks around and I can start wearing my lighter coat and flats.

But I wish I was wearing outfits like this. How stunning is she? via Cup of Jo

What I'm Doing This Weekend...

Sammy and I are going to the Bulls game on Friday which we're excited about! And I have minimal plans for Saturday and Sunday which I'm extra pumped about ;) Definitely plan to watch The Oscars, I'm just disappointed I didn't get around to watching more nominated films this year.

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month...

SPRING. 

Not much else is going on next month except for a few possible outings for a friend's birthday and St. Patricks Day. I'm honestly just looking forward to seeing what the new month brings.

What Else Is New...

Not much! I have a bunch of favorites to share though on Friday, so I guess some things are new ;)

What's Your Family's Favorite Spring Break Destination?

My family never went on vacation for spring break when I was growing up primarily because I didn't get long spring breaks when I was kid. I'm sure we could have taken a short weekend trip somewhere, but I think we were all perfectly happy to lay lazily around the house.

If I had to pick somewhere though, I would love to go somewhere on the east coast or in the midwest, somewhere not too hot, which I know is the opposite goal of many people planning spring break vacations haha, but I want it to feel like SPRING still not summer.

I feel like Boston would be a great choice...

And the Tulip Festival in Holland, MI is supposed to be lovely...

But if you're budget is a little more flexible... I'm pretty partial to this particular scene right now ;)

And always, quite frankly.

xo