March in Review

I turned 30 and celebrated the best way I know how, with roller skating!

Some of the yummiest Chocolate Cookies! So wonderful all piping hot.

Bought a flower crown and proceed to wear it with everything. #sorrynotsorry haha!

Had one of the funnest and busiest weekends in a long time. 

Birthday outfit totally proves I am a kid of the 90's.

Absolutely loving spring hats, I want  to own all of them!

I cannot believe March is over and I've been 30 for almost a whole month! It is so crazy just how fast this year already seems to be going. I swear I am going to blink my eyes and we are going to be on the road again, haha. Looks like April is going to be slower of a month than March. We will be on the road for a month plus starting in May, so I am looking forward to some quite lazy days. What do you guys have planned for April? Anything exciting? 

x's and o's

Spring Hats

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

I have seriously become obsessed with all things hat related in the recent weeks. It's kind of funny because in the past I haven't been a huge fan of hats. I used to think they just didn't work well with my face, like my jowls were way too big and made hats just kind of look off on me. I realized now that it is just plain stupid. I totally feel like I kind of rock the hat look! 

Besides adding a little bit of flare to an outfit they are perfect for keeping the sun out of this gal's face, which is really useful because I foolishly misplaced the only pair of prescription sunglasses I own, ugh! I really need to get a new pair before we venture out on our trip and then back to WV, but they are just so darn expensive, double ughs. When I finally bite the bullet I'm going to be sure to take better care of them, but until then hats it will do the job. 

What article of clothing have you been loving this spring? 

x's and o's

Hello Spring

Spring is here, which actually just means summer is looming in Arizona. This winter was a lot warmer than normal, and that usually means summer will be happening way to early this year. We are headed out in the Scamp for a little west coast trip in May, so I am really hoping the heat stays away until we leave at least, but that might be asking too much haha.

I've been loving this maxi dress ever since buying it in Portland over the summer, and I've really been digging figuring out ways to style it differently. I have always loved seeing people who can bring like six different pieces of clothing on a trip to last over two weeks and never repeat an outfit. While I'm no where near that level yet, I feel like I am getting a little better, which will be great during our West Coast Tour 2014 (haha that's what I like to call our month long Scamp trip). 

Now can we just talk about this hat for a minute? I am smitten. I had been lusting over all of Gentri's adorable hats for quite a while, and so much so that I knew I just had to get my own. She gave me some great tips (Target Men's section), but I just had no luck. However, while looking in my dad's closet for some of my mom's old hats I came across this beauty! Everything about it screams spring to me and it's just prefect in every way. 

 dress // Forever 21 (similar)

shirt // thrifted

hat // dad's

shoes // Target

This weekend was filled with catching up with old friends and eating way too much food! Those kind of weekends are the very best. I cannot wait to start our trip out to Los Angeles and then up to Portland so I can enjoy even more wonderful friends and good food! What did you all do this weekend? 

x's and o's

90's Kid

This outfit makes me so wonderfully happy, which is probably why I wore it to my birthday party. I feel like when I was in elementary/middle school all the cool older kids in high school rocked awesome jean vests and I wanted to be just like them. Unfortunately, I still did not have full control over my own wardrobe at the time. Things I picked out had to get the mom stamp of approval hehe. I forgot about my love of the jean vest until I came across this one last summer while I was in Portland. Looks like I am a 90's kid now and forever.

Sorry this flower crown keeps showing up, I just love it so much. I guess it's more like sorry not sorry, haha. It seriously has just been brightening up my days every time I put it on my head, I feel all special (that must sound just so silly). And on a totally unrelated note, while I still absolutely adore my short hair, it has been looking something ridiculous at the gym as of late. It is now long enough to be a bit of a floof when my head gets all hot and sweaty, haha. It's pretty absurd looking. I think I might just have to share that look one of these days on instagram just so you all can get a good laugh too.

shirt // Stay Home Club

pin // Etsy

vest, pants, flower crown // Forever 21

shoes // Lulu's

So far this week work has been on the slower side, so Will and I have taken advantage of our free time and started doing a little wood work. While my dad doesn't have all the tools we are used to using up on the mountain, he's got enough for us to get to do all the things we've been wanting to do. And with the weather being pretty darn perfect outside lately we are in heaven. What are you guys up to this week?

x's and o's

Jam Packed

I think this weekend was the busiest one we've had in a very long time! It was the type of weekend were you kind of need an extra day just to recover, haha.

1 // Just a picture of Wigs 2 // Waiting in line to get into the theater.

Our weekend started on Thursday as I waited for the Veronica Mars Movie!! I totally fangirled out and bought us tickets to the AMC Fan Event mainly because it let us see the movie the day before haha! I also totally made us get there about 2 hours early so we could make sure we got great seats (poor Will.) The movie was pretty much everything I could have hoped, I just loved it!  

Friday we went horseback riding with a a couple of friends. It was the perfect day for it, a little cloudy and breezy. Our trail leader (and basically everyone who worked at the ranch for that matter) was an interesting characters to say the least. They were all old men complaining/joking about their wives, who we all kind of awkwardly laughed with. Thankfully, once we started on the ride our guide was too far ahead of us for me hear him anymore haha. 

On Saturday we ventured out to the Renaissance Festival! I actually hadn't been to one since my 10th birthday, so it was really fun to see it as an adult. I remember thinking as a kid that this must have been what it must have really looked like in medieval times, but seeing it as an adult I realize just how exaggerated everything is, haha. It was still a ton of fun, with lots a great shows, and of course the jousting event. 

Then on Sunday we had some friends over for a Mario Kart Wii tournament, which was just an absolute blast.  So much laughing and good food. I pretty much need a nap afterwards haha. 

So all in all last weekend absolutely rocked, but I'm happy about having a nice quiet couple of days this coming weekend. 

x's and o's

Black Shirts and Flower Crowns

Last week when I was having a bad day I ended up finding this crown at the store and plopped it on my head to see what it looked like. It instantly made me smile. It was just so bright and fun, it made me happy to have it sitting on my head. And that leads me to believe when you wear a flower crown there is no way you can have a bad day!

This shirt used to be my brother's. It was a part of a stack of shirts he gave me years ago before he moved back east for law school. It used to be too big, so I hemmed it and chopped off the sleeves (kind of poorly haha) in college, but I still love the way it looks. Back in my college days I was a jeans and thrifted shirt kind of gal. They were just so comfy and easy, which made my 7 A.M. class a lot more bearable, mainly because I just rolled out of bed only a couple of minutes before I had to leave, haha. 

 shirt // brother's
pants, shoes, flower crown // Forever 21

There was a time back in high school thatl I absolutely hated wearing jeans/pants. I always felt they made me look awful and would just rather cover up with a longer skirt. Luckily (maybe) I went to a private school that had skirts as the uniform, so for four years I never had to worry about pants. Once college started though, I forced myself to venture out into the world of jeans/pants and I have never looked back. Recently I've been getting back into pants/jeans and comfy shirt. It's probably because all you have to do is change the shirt, shoes, and accessories and bam you have a whole new outfit. Have you guys been getting back into a style you used to rock? 

x's and o's

Chocolate Cookies

There are definitely days where I wake up and just think "Hmm I think I am going to bake cookies today" and those kind of days are the best days for everyone! I had one of the days last week, so I whipped up a batch of these soft Chocolate Cookies, and I must admit it took everything I had to not just eat batter by the spoonful with some milk. It came out so good! 

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup butter softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
3 Tbsp vanilla (or more! I love the taste of vanilla)
3 Tbsp milk (I used soy milk)
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While your oven is preheating cream the softened butter, then add in your sugars and beat until mixed. Once mixed together add eggs in one at a time, vanilla, and salt. In a separate bowl mix flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Once the wet ingredients are all mixed slowly stir in dry ingredients, add one Tbsp of milk each time you pour part of the dry ingredients in, this will help it from getting too dry. Scoop dough on cookie sheet and cook for 9-12 minutes. 

I'm definitely not one to wait for cookies to cool to eat them, so I say once they are done baking serve piping hot with a cold glass of milk. Or you could put these bad boys with some vanilla ice cream for a real treat! Oh man writing this post is making me want another one or three of these guys. Is 9A.M. too early to start eating cookies?! Haha! 

Let me know if you guys give them a try. 

x's and o's

Aww Yissss

Holy cow guys, not to toot my own horn or anything, but the idea to have my 30th birthday party at a skating rink just might have been my best idea EVER! I will admit, I was a little nervous that everyone else wasn't going to love the idea as much as I did, but they all seemed to be onboard. When we first got to the rink there was a sign in sheet outside and a whiteboard filled with all the kids names and ages. I wish I had taken a picture of it because it was super ridiculous/hilarious seeing ages like 7, 12, 10 and then mine: 30 haha! 

(photo from @what_the_pugz)

What are these?! Cups for ants?

Even though my age was listed pretty much on all the paper work, all the employees were super shocked when I told them I was the one having the birthday party. Maybe they thought someone inverted the three and the zero or something haha! Once it was sorted, I was lucky to find they thought a 30th birthday party there was pretty awesome. 

(photo by @theaceinyourface)

For not having skated in probably a decade plus I have to say I was pretty darn proud of myself. Once I got going I felt like I doing pretty great. Who knows what I looked like, haha. I was a little afraid I was going to eat it at least once or twice, but I'm happy to report I didn't. Yay! The above photo is my totally 'Hey look at me mom I went around the whole rink and didn't fall once' look (just incase it doesn't actually come across that way).

Instead of doing a cake I really wanted to do donuts. I've kind of have become obsessed with them recently. I love that you can get a big variety and it's pretty much like giving everyone their own personal sized cake (especially with the cake style donuts haha). The skate rink had these crazy linked candles where one lit all the others. It was kind of intense, but very pretty to watch. 

(photo from @what_the_pugz)

I had such a great time skating around with so many wonderful people that I'm lucky to call my friends! I cannot wait to see what shenanigans we all get up during this decade! 

x's and o's

Birthday Girl!

This is what happens when I try to get birthday photos with Wigs and Littlemin at the same time, haha! 

Today I am spending the day playing games and eating lots of yummy food (and not going to the gym haha) with Will. It is going to be a great day indeed!

Getting to Know You (Err Me)

(I am reusing last months photo because of number 2)

1. I recently learned I might be lactose intolerant! Talk about worst news ever for this cheese and ice cream loving gal. Boooo! What am I to do now?!

2. There haven't been any outfit posts this week because I had a huge awful zit on my lip all week, ughs. I'm an adult, I thought that kind of stuff was suppose to be over by now. Thankfully, it's clearing up so I don't think I will be sporting it on my birthday!

3. I am super excited to see Non-Stop! I am such a sucker for silly action movies, mainly because I would always go and see them with my dad. One of my favorite things about being in Phoenix for part of the year is getting to go to all the action movies with him. And I think our love of them is rubbing off on Will too.

4. One of my new favorite things to do in the evening is to take a nice hot bubble bath and read a magazine, usually Entertainment Weekly. It is especially wonderful when I am all achy after a particularly hard day at the gym. It's just the perfect way to relax.

5. I think Sylvester is getting to the age where he doesn't always want to snuggle with me (all the time) and I don't like it one bit. Luckily, Wigs is getting out of that age and snuggling up to me a little bit more. Last night she spent the whole night sleeping next to me (heart so happy)

6. Because Will and I work from home we tend to use what seems like an absurd about of dishes throughout the day, haha! I'm always shocked when loading the dishwasher or washing dishes in the sink.

7. Oh my word the last episode of HIMYM (How I Met Your Mother) killed me! All the emotions. I cannot wait to see how it all ends (it best be a happy one).

Also thank you for you sweet comments on Tuesdays post, after writing about it I started to feel better. Sometimes you just have to get those thoughts out of your mind.

x's and o's

Little Thoughts

In less than a week I will be celebrating my birthday and it's got me thinking about my mom. More specifically the days following her passing. What I remember most about these days was how everything in the world somehow seemingly had something to do with death. iIt's funny how you become more highly aware of something and it just seems to be everywhere.

My friends took me to go see Wedding Crashers to cheer me up, to only have that weird funeral scene send me into tears. The new Death Cab for Cutie album was almost entirely about death, which forced me to pull my car over on the freeway and just scream and cry. And in what might have been the worst of those experiences, I picked up where I'd left off in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to lose myself in something fun only to read about Dumbledore's death. I remember right before reading that he was killed thinking 'No way Rowling is going to do this to me!' but insteadI ended up just started hysterically crying for what seems like hours. I knew I wasn't actually crying that hard for Dumbledore, though I would have stilled cried some if the situation was different. My mom was really already gone before she actually passed, her mind had left several years prior to her death. Even though I prepared myself for what seemed like forever for her body to give out too, I had no idea that just the act of being able to see her face and hug her (even if she had no clue who I was) was going to hit me so hard. 

I really don't like talking about this period of my life, because it makes me so sad to remember her this way, but birthdays and special occasions make it hard. I just miss her.

February in Review

February didn't seem to wiz by as quickly as January and that might be because we were sick for a little while, which always seems to make the days go by so much slower. It also might be because February is that pesky month before my birthday haha. And this year I turn the big old 30, ahhh! 

I love silly poses and comfy sweaters.

Getting to know you (err me) a new monthly series.

Derpy faces are my favorite cat faces (Wigs and Sylvester/Littlemin update).

Walnut pie! 

I decided to be a part of the short hair club again!

I'm helping Angie celebrate her 5 year blogiversary! So many great prizes to win!

Another comfy OOTD with buttons for flare.

Chocolate Pecan Pie. I'm kind of obsessed with pies right now!

February was a pretty great month, but I cannot wait to get going with March (aka my Birthday Month! haha). I'm excited to see what 30 brings for me, I'm really hoping it involves more pie baking and lots of fun adventures in our new little Scamp! 

Happy Saturday!

x's and o's