It's OK Thursday

It's OK...

* That I sleepily verbally asked the dogs for 5 more minutes when they woke me up this morning wanting to go out. They totally understood.

*  I'm SO OVER cold weather, but am also concerned that I have nothingtowear for spring. (I think this every year. It's totally not true. I realize this.)

* I'm thrilled that March is TOMORROW! It's no secret that my least favorite month is February. I know I share that with many of you. It's been alright this year. Coming out on the other side pretty much unscathed. But, still...ready for March. :)

* I'm kind of addicted to my online wedding registries. I get on them, edit them, delete things, add things... It's getting ridiculous. I haven't even published them anywhere yet.

* I kind of freaked out the other day realizing our save the dates need to go out in April. Time is FLYING.

* I eat Cheerios for pretty much every meal when Eric is out of town. #lazy

* I stole Eric's hand moisturizer from his work bag (without telling him) b/c it's the only thing that really helps my super dry skin! (Seriously...it's awesome. Jack Black's industrial strength hand healer. Ulta has it.).

* I've gotten the "your mailbox is almost full" message at work approximately 8 times this week. Stuff's been busy!

* I saw this image on a friend's fbook and stole it immediately. Love it. Leaving you with it.

Happy Thursday, friends!

Weekend Recap!

Feet up. Oscars on tv. Dogs conked out beside Eric and me. Blogging. :)

Weekend was good! We've had some crazy Oklahoma weather lately. The last time I blogged, it was snowing. Today, it was 65 degrees. Tomorrow= prediction of snow and "blizzard like conditions" in some places. Random. 

Anyhoo, Thursday, Brooke, Ashley, Jenny, Sarah and I got together for sushi and (lots of) wine. Please note my extra full wine glass. That place doesn't mess around with wine. I dig it. That said, thanks to those full wine glasses, I'm pretty sure we'd all decided to get owl tattoos (We're all Chi Os :) ) before the night was over. Thankfully there are no tattoo places next to the sushi restaurant we were eating and my body remains tattoo-free. 

Friday night, a few of us got together to celebrate Candice's (center) birthday! A bevy of blondes with our fabulous friend and stylist in the center. :)

Speaking of hair, I'm trying to grow mine. No idea what I'm doing with it for the wedding, but I want it to grow. Just bought biotin today and am hoping it helps a little. My other friend has some other vitamins she recommended that I need to get. Other tips are welcome, long haired friends! :) 

Saturday was Roman's 1st birthday! I feel like we were just at Kristy's shower; time is FLYING! He was so great with his cake, the singing, everything. :) I wanted a photo with him and he was starting to get a little fussy. Three girls started doing hilarious things to try to get him to smile. Needless to say it worked...for us both. 

Look at how great Winston is doing on the leash! Eric and I took the pups for a walk today since we're expecting craptacular weather the rest of the week. Friday is little miss Gracie's 6th birthday and I hope the weather's better by then b/c she always gets a super long birthday walk. The long birthday walk may or may not be to make up for whatever I make her do (wear hats, pose for photos, sit still while I sing) on her birthday...haha...

 Saturday, Eric and I took our first stab at registering. I know you can do most of it online, but I really wanted the experience. I mean...getting to zap things with that little gun...fun, right?! Have to admit, it was fun, but also kind of exhausting. I ended up coming home, completely editing the list online and registering at two more places...completely online. And the lists are definitely not final.

Things I learned while registering:
* I have no idea how many place settings to get. Blowing.my.mind. 8? 10? Same for china and for every day dishes? Ihavenoidea. I haven't registered for either china or everyday stuff yet b/c all the options made my head hurt.
* Speaking of everyday dishes, did you know that Pottery Barn dishes measure too large for some dishwashers and cabinets?! So glad a friend told me that b/c they measure too large for our cabinets! Blerg.
* I want stemless wine glasses AND stemmed wine glasses. Excessive? Eric thinks so. Me? Not so much.
* Dude. Dysons are EXPENSIVE. I mean... I knew they were cost prohibitive for me to just randomly buy on a trip to the store, but I'd never really priced one out. I went ahead and put it on the darn registry b/c I know we won't get it, but I figure I can use any gift cards towards it since it's the number one item I want. (When did I get old and really want a vacuum?!) Currently, Eric and I have two vacuums..one better for attachments (mine) and one better for floors (his). Getting two out every few days is super fun and all, but yeah. But putting something that pricey on the registry felt awkward. Is that awkward?
* I have no idea what 1/4 of the cooking/kitchen items at BBB and Williams-Sonoma actually do.

Hope you gals had a fantastic last weekend in February! Bring on March!!

A little midweek recapping

Hey ya! I was off work Monday for President's Day, so I kinda skipped the whole weekend recap thing on Sunday night. Thought I'd hop to it now...

Friday, Eric and I went to Lucky's to have a nice, slow-paced dinner and celebrate the day of luuuurve. This isn't a great photo, but hey.. it's the one we've got so I'm posting it. :)

Oh and let me back up.. Some of you saw on Instagram/Facebook but lookie what greeted me at my desk at work on Valentine's Day morning! We really don't do anything big to celebrate Valentines Day other than cards and maybe a little dinner or something, so I was FLOORED. He gets major props for surprising me and for even knowing I loved this bag b/c I didn't ever really even mention it...outside my random blog post last week that is. But by that time, the bag was likely hiding somewhere in our house and I had no idea! haha!

 Anyhoo, Friday night, Eric, my new bag and I went to Lucky's for dinner and then went to see Safe Haven. :) Per usual, the book was better than the movie in my opinion. They changed quite a bit, I thought. It was still good, but I just preferred the book.

Saturday night, Eric and I went to a dessert party at a friend's house called "Champagne and Sweets." How fun is that?! They have it every year, but this was our first time to attend. It's a cocktail-type event and his wife makes tables and tables full of desserts. They have bartenders on site offering awesome champagne concoctions. My favorite: the bacon waffle. :)

Sunday night, I had a little girls time with some friends since we were off on Monday. :) And then Monday, I went back to a local bridal boutique with my mom....

....TO BUY MY WEDDING DRESS!

That's right! Sara, Beth and I went on Saturday to re-visit my top three (at three different places) and at the final place, Facchianos, I saw a different dress I hadn't tried on before. Randomly decided to try it on even though I wasn't sure the style was what I wanted. Put it on...and fell in love. I walked out and Sara and Beth gasped. (Always a good sign, right?) After parading around in it and totally not wanting to take it off, I was confident I'd found "the one." 

Ignore my haphazard scarf. I'd just come out of the dressing room...

So I took my mom back on Monday to try it on again (she loved it!) and make it official. :) So excited and so random that it was just some dress I hadn't even been considering! I didn't really understand that whole "the one" thing b/c I liked a lot of dresses, but yeah... I get it now. This one is just miles above the rest in my opinion. And while I got excellent service everywhere, I just adore the ladies at Facchianos. They really make the experience so special. Highly recommend them.

Absolutely thrilled!

Next wedding step: Registering! We're going this weekend to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get started. :) Thank GOSH for The Knot with all the little reminder emails: "You have 8 months til you're wedding. You should be starting to register." If you have any registry tips, must-haves, etc, feel free to forward my way! :)

******

I'll leave you with a quick pic from this morning. Yesterday, I was in a jacket and today, it's snowing...a lot. The pups were fascinated by the large white flakes falling before I left for work today. :)



What I'm Loving Wednesday

What I'm loving today...

1. This movie comes out tomorrow! Loved the book. Can't wait to see the movie! Kinda hoping I can convince Eric that this would be a great Vday present to see this weekend...haha.. I'll let ya know how that works out for me.

2. This bag needs no explanation. *sigh*

Michael Kors Selma Large Top Zip Satchel

 3. The makeup blogger I love (Tiffany D in my side links) talks about Sigma brushes all the time. I added two to my Christmas list and Eric...er...Santa...put them in my stocking. Love love love them, especially this one. Flawless bronzer application that really contours my cheekbones if I want. I got this and went "ooh..that's what it means to contour..." haha...

Sigma f20 large powder brush

4. Honeymoon researching. Have I bought a dress yet? Nope. Is it royally stressing me out? Yup. What calms me? Honeymoon research...

Who knows where we'll end up, but doesn't this photo of Moorea make you sigh? Yeah, me too. 

Weekend Recap!

Hiya! 

So if we're friends on Instagram, you know I was in Houston last week at the winter NAPE meeting. I rarely travel for work these days...which is totally fine... but it was a nice break in the daily grind to get out of the office. Plus, I learned a LOT! 

My friend and coworker, Nicky, and me at our company's reception in Houston. 

Eric and I were both in Houston most of the week, returning on Friday evening. Saturday was rainy which provided the perfect excuse to be lazy bums with our two furballs. :)

While we were busy planting our asses on our sofas, we discovered the Netflix original show, House of Cards. Not gonna lie.. kind of obsessed. I threw a bit of a hissy and almost turned it off after the opening scene. For fellow pup lovers out there, the show opens with a dog dying. That doesn't ruin anything for you and it gives you more warning than I had. After Eric convinced me, I finally gave in and watched the whole first ep. On episode 9 and so far, no more animal issues. Phew. 

Saturday night, some friends were headed to Kid Rock while Lauren and I headed to see Bill Maher. Our groups merged for a little dinner festiveness at Mi Cocina. Mambo taxis? Yes please. :) 

I dunno if I've mentioned but poor little Winston has issues with leashes, cords, anything that looks like a cord... It makes me sad. I kind of think he was tied up at one point. Anyway, it's really hard to walk Gracie and him alone b/c Gracie LOVES walks, so when Win sits down and braces his little body on the sidewalk, things get a little crazy while she pulls on my other arm. (It's entertaining in my head. Reality? Not so much...haha). And he won't go unless Gracie is going. So, Eric and I teamed up today. It started with Win running to my car and then crawling under it and hiding. Poor guy. After a little coaxing, some carrying, and some treats, he ended up loving his walk by the end. :) 

Oh and while Eric and I were packing to head back to Tulsa, tickets to the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival went on sale...featuring Mumford and Sons! Guthrie, OK (easy drive from Tulsa), is one of their ONLY stops this year, so tickets were a hot commodity. Thanks to Eric's parents working both their laptops, we got tix! I'm not even that obsessed with the band- just think it'd be fun!

And that's it, folks! Hope you had a great weekend!

Weekend Recap!

You guys are freaking awesome. Thank you so much for your comments on my last post. While I'm sorry to hear that so many of you have encountered similar situations, it's also comforting that I'm not some horribly rude bridezilla. Thank you for sharing your situations and for making me feel more justified in the whole thing. As a couple of you commented, I'm actually glad it went down this far before the wedding...plenty of time for feelings to subside and everything to normalize.

The weekend
Eric was on an annual ski trip this weekend so I had the casa to myself til today. This weekend started off a little bumpy but righted itself and turned out pretty solid. :) Why did it start out bumpy? Below you'll find the weekend in photos, clockwise order...

1. Thursday night work reception thing. (If I do something on Thurs evening, I always include it in the "weekend" in my head). Picture it. EXTREMELY windy downtown. No...you're not thinking windy enough. More wind. Okay...you're there now. Wind + your clumsy friend Jackie= epic clumsiness. I was leaving a reception (in a dress), wind blew a hotel door back into me as I was pushing it to leave, I got off balance and hit the pavement. Casualties: my thumb (just badly jammed I think b/c it's better today), my palm, my (very scraped) knees, a toe, my pride (since the dress flew up)...and my iPhone screen. Lame.sauce. So glad it wasn't worse.  Lesson: I'm not only clumsy on stairs (the breaking back incident of 2008), but also in windy doorways. Cool.

2. Friday, things got way better. :) Some friends and I went to a totally random bar (complete with mardi gras decor) to hear a potential band for the wedding! Love them for coming with me. Cocktails + dive bar + friends + good music = voluntary memory loss about the tumble taken on Thurs night. :) All of us voted in favor of the band, so I just need to make it official this week! So excited!

3. Saturday morning, participated in The Focus Group's photo workshop themed around Valentines Day. Got to wear an adorable white pants romper from my friend's new spring line. I think I smelled faintly of smoke and dive bar from the night before, but it certainly doesn't look like it in the photo above taken by my very talented friend, graphic designer and photographer, Sherman! He's such a rockstar. :) The Focus Group is such a cool org with great people and I'm really lucky I've gotten to join them in some of their projects.

4. Got home from the shoot and two adorable (and very LARGE) dogs wandered up to me. Obviously someone's pets, the pups looked lost and thirsty. I opened my back gate and they went right on in like they owned the place. :) We have a local lost and found Fbook page in Tulsa, so I posted info there. Within 2 hours, the owner had seen the fbook post (thanks to others' shares!) and was coming to get his dogs! So happy they're home!  Definitely a top feel-good moment of the week.

5. Fun couples shower for Ryan and Jessica! They're getting married on a Caribbean cruise next month! (They're huge OSU fans..hence the orange and black). I could totally use a cruise right now, couldn't you?

6. Finished Saturday with a fabulous little wine and cheese party thrown for April's birthday. I'd never paired wines and cheeses (at least the way they're supposed to be paired), so it was fun AND educational. I think the wine may have wiped out the ability to retain the education I gained about the right cheeses for certain wines, though...haha...

Not pictured** Today, I may have vacuumed a sock into the attachment hose and spent 30 minutes trying to use large sticks from the yard to poke down into the hose to dislodge said sock. Now there's a broken stick AND a sock lodged in the hose. Just call me Susie Homemaker.