Currently.

Saw this around the blog world, but not sure where it started so apologies for not giving appropriate credit. But, thought it was a good way to organize a post instead of just rambling..not like I ever do that. :) Currently...
Reading: I just finished the final book in the Divergent series. It took me forever to finish it b/c I just wasn't that into it. I was looking for something Hunger Games-ish and I guess it is...But I just liked HG so much more. But, I still read all three books, so I liked them. It just wasn't like "I can't WAIT to get home to read the book!" 

Doing: Right now, I'm excited to finish Christmas shopping and wrap everything. Somehow every year, I just hide all the gifts forever until I finally wrap them and put them under the tree right before Christmas. Anyone else do that? The tree is so pretty with all the gifts so I wish I'd get on it sooner. :)
Feeling thankful: that Winston's heart murmur isn't really bad! We just found out he had one and had his heart x-rayed this week. Little guy is gonna be totally fine on some meds and just keeping an eye on him. (Cavs often develop heart murmurs at varying degrees of severity.)
Working on: Really want to make a photo wall for our living room from the wedding/honeymoon/etc. We have so many great pics that are just waiting to be printed and framed. :) But I've been waiting b/c we're looking at houses off and on, etc...but really...It's not like the photo wall couldn't just be put on a wall in a NEW house...so I dunno why I've been waiting. I want it to look like the below image (from pinterest) where all the frames are same dimensions. 

Loving: Arby's. Yes. This is a weird one. I don't know why but sometimes I go on weird food kicks where I just want one thing all the time. Lately (and weirdly), that's been Arby's. Sure I could have gone with any one of the things I'm loving this season that are way more sentimental, but Arby's entered my brain b/c it's lunchtime. So there's that. To add something less strange, I'm loving some of the pretty ornaments we've gotten this year for our first Christmas as a married couple. Some say "first Christmas" and others are just ones I've picked out because they're pretty...like two from our honeymoon. :) Will definitely cherish for years to come.
Watching: After seeing people talk about it, I finally watched the movie The Holiday this year and LOVED it. Eric wasn't home so it felt like the perfect time to enjoy a nice holiday chick flick. Good stuff, people. Good stuff. Also really enjoying watching friends' kids on facebook and blogger during the holiday season. There's something so magical about the holidays through a kid's eyes. :) 

Weekend Recapping

Happy Monday, friends! Mondays have left me in quite the funk lately...I don't really know why, but my mood drastically improves as the week wears on...and then starts over again on Mondays...haha.. *sigh* 

Anyway, this weekend was mostly good. Friday night, Eric and I hit up a Mexican restaurant and were low key. He watched some movie with lots of exploding things and violence and I went in the back bedroom and watched Scandal on the computer...haha... Totally romantic, I know. (Speaking of though...holy Scandal! I can't WAIT til February!)

Saturday night, we attended a couple's shower for Sara and Jake! 

With my husband :), with the bride to be, with friends/bridesmaids :) 

We had a great time celebrating a fabulous couple. And I got to rock my new green dress from Banana! I've never bought anything green...well...a t-shirt here or there for St. Pats, but that's it. Ever have a color you just don't buy for some reason? Anyway, Lori talked me into getting this dress and I'm so glad she did! I think I'm going to wear it again to a Christmas party this week.. I mean why not?! :)

Taking kinda a sad turn, Sunday, I was headed out to Christmas shop when my mom called and said she was on her way to the animal ER b/c her dog, Beau wasn't doing well...at all. So sad...I hightailed it to meet her. He was 16 years old and was recently diagnosed with cancer. Poor guy already had arthritis and other old age issues. When we found out he had cancer, the vet told us he wasn't in pain and to just keep him comfortable and we would know when it was time. When mom woke up yesterday and saw Beau, she knew. I'll just skip ahead and say that the people at the ER were great, calming and considerate. I plan to write them a thank you note for being so kind. My mom and I stayed with Beau until he passed so he wasn't scared. I'm happy he's free from pain, but I'm going to miss that guy...and I know my mom will deeply miss him, too. We picked him out at the pound when I was a junior in high school.. or rather.. he picked us out. My mom found some adorable puppies and was trying to show me. But, I'd already wandered over to a crate with a skinny beagle mix with the saddest eyes. They opened the door and he put his head in my lap. My mom turned and put the puppy back, realizing there was no way I was going to leave that dog...haha... 16 years later, Beau is now our furry angel playing at the rainbow bridge. (If you've never read the rainbow bridge poem, grab some tissues, but it's really sweet...highly recommend).

Don't you wish animals could live longer? *sigh*

Anyway, sorry to be sad... I didn't mean to be a Monday downer...haha... I'll change the subject...How about that?

Eric and I have kinda been looking at houses off and on, so we finished the weekend driving around last night checking out a few. :) I have decided I love house hunting. The thought of packing and moving sounds totally unappealing, but house hunting=awesome. :) We finished the night with some Mexican food (duh) b/c neither of us were feeling cooking...

And that was the weekend. I can't believe the holidays are so close! I got like three gifts wrapped this weekend which made me feel SO ahead of the curve. Never mind the rest that are still hidden in the house and/or haven't been purchased...whatever.

Wedding: Getting Ready!

After the wet weather on Friday night, we all awoke to a sunny and fabulous Saturday morning! :) I headed to my maid of honor, Sara's, house to meet up with the other bridesmaids to get gorgeous! Eric went to brunch with his guys and then they all met up at the wedding venue at around 2:30. Needless to say, we started several a few hours earlier than they did. 

Per usual, I had issues picking photos, so here's a ton. :)

Eric and his best man, Matt. :) Matt actually introduced us! Not sure if any of y'all knew that!

Beth's mom brought her adorable little twins by since they live in the same neighborhood :) Babies. Weddings. Mimosas. Pink robes.. I mean, I was pretty much in girly heaven...haha! 

I'm not a shoe person (I know- I'm weird), but I was kinda obsessed with my wedding shoes. :) Thank you, Amazon, for the awesome deal on these darlings. 

So handsome :) 

These pics remind me what Eric looks like sans beard. Let's just say no shave November has extended into December at our house. ;) I dig his look either way, but just funny to see him without a beard...

There are several shots of him like this one in the mirror and I love them all... 

I had such a good time getting ready with my girls. So lucky to have a stylist who is also my good friend who came over and did all our hair at Sara's so we didn't have to go anywhere...So so sweet of Candice! 

The morning started with just the girls and then and my mom and Eric's mom joined us at noon and my mom brought us all lunch. :) We did hair in one room and then Destry did makeup in the other... 

If you ever need a stylist, I highly recommend Candice at Parlour Salon on Brookside. Just saying.

Mimosas and clip in hair extensions galore (see Beth curling some in the background...haha)

And if you ever need a makeup artist, I highly recommend Destry at Glamor Artz. :) I have seriously been thinking of reasons to go get my makeup done again...haha.. I got it done so much last year for showers, events, engagement pics, etc.. and now I want it done more more more!

I was seriously SO happy all day... like genuinely so amped up and excited! Pretty sure I had the high beam mega watt smile all day long...the same one the lady at the DMV told me to tone down b/c "you're prettier when you don't smile so big..." (thanks a lot, DMV lady.. lol!)! But, I just couldn't help it!

 Makeup done. Hair done. Ready to roll! :)

Taken with my iphone right before we headed to the venue to get dressed! 

I really wanted a photo of all the girls in our robes, but honestly...we just ran out of time. We thought about it once we got to the venue, but I was like "eh whatever.. we have plenty of photos..." :) 
Anyhoo, I couldn't have imagined a better day getting ready for my wedding with my closest friends... Sara was so sweet to let us use her home and it just made the getting ready process even more fabulous and chill. It went SO FAST! I remember thinking "wow, we're starting really early.. I wonder if that's too early." No, it was definitely not too early. It was perfect. :)  Next up: pre-ceremony pics/first look :)

Baby, it's cold outside!

It's 22 degrees in Tulsa. And that's warmer than it's been in days.. Eek! So glad to have a warm house to come home to and a warm car to get there. 

Things I can't get enough of in this weather... 

Got two of these after the wedding and they have already gotten so much use.. 'Cozy' cable knit throw is a perfect name for these fleece-lined gems of awesomeness. 

Via Pottery Barn

Cozy socks! Mine are grey and wool, but these are from Pinterest and cuter. Although, I can't figure out why she's standing where all her food is on the ground. Whatever. The socks are cute.

Via Pinterest

My favorite sweatpants from Aerie. :) They didn't actually have the ones I have b/c mine don't have gathered ankles, but I'm sure the ones I linked are equally as cozy...and totally sexy, like all sweatpants... duh.

Via Aerie

Hot baths. My skin is SO dry in the winter and I make it worse by bathing nonstop to warm up... but I just love it. I light candles, sometimes pour wine, often take a magazine.. *ahhhhhhhh* :) Or on less glamorous days, I just whine about being cold until I go take a bath and just sit in the warm water for like 10 minutes until my mood changes...haha...

Via Pinterest

My favorite way to deal with cold weather is to jet off to the islands, but that's not quite as accessible as my wool socks. So there's that. What about you? How to you stay toasty during this kind of weather? 

Thoughts on Thursday

Thank you so much for the kind words about the new layout! I'm really excited! I have a wedding post ready, but thought I'd go ahead and post some randomness first...
* You know those photo a day challenges on Instagram? Right. I tried to participate...and am a photo a day failure. And it wasn't b/c I forgot to post..oh no.. I did something way more embarrassing. Day three was silver.. So I took a photo of my favorite silver candle lit beside the bath before I was about to get in and relax. :) Well, I posted it...and then THANK GOSH within about 5 seconds, I was like "Wait...that's mirrored glass on that candle...and I was in my underwear (topless, though)..." I looked...and yup. Totally featured a blurry reflection of my scantily clad self...Way.to.go. I dunno if people could immediately tell, but I certainly could. Photo removed quickly and I decided "silver" was just not my day...haha.. Maybe I'll pick it up again in the next few days. 
* SNOW IS COMING! SNOW IS COMING! I say it with overdramatic urgency b/c I'm pretty sure we're expecting 4 inches...and I'm also pretty sure every grocery store in the area is now completely out of bread, milk, etc. and is likely in chaos. Hide yo bread, hide yo milk... SNOWMAGEDDON... Nah, in all seriousness, I hope we don't lose power and it doesn't get too bad. I just enjoy the grocery store chaos. Areas of town have power lines above ground (while the rest of town has them buried). We're in the older area of town so our lines are above ground... and when it sleets as much as they're predicting, it coats the lines. Here's hoping everyone in the area stays warm and safe as this winter weather approaches... 
* I've sent approximately 70% of my wedding thank you cards... I am such a slacker. I wanted to order cards with our wedding photos, so that took a bit. And then when they arrived, I didn't exactly jump on them. *head hung in shame* So now Christmas cards are going out pretty much with thank you cards. It is what it is... Also... I LOVE thanking people and am SO grateful, but I am so bad with thank you cards in general. Just me? I hate my writing, so I often go through like 3 drafts for a single card...Totally OCD. Whatever. 
* Every year, a blogger I read, MODG, does something for the holidays that I just think is wonderful. Operation WANA (We are not assholes) is for bloggers and readers to comment about whether they're in need this season or if they can help someone this season.. The people who can help comment on the folks in need and a connection is made. It will bring tears to your eyes to read through the need that some of our fellow bloggers have due to everything from health issues, unexpected layoffs, or just plain having a rough year. I didn't grow up with a lot at all, but we always had food on the table and gifts under the tree...and many of the comments are often in a situation where they have neither. And yet those in need are still offering help to others...often as a trade.. like "I have baby clothes if someone has x, y, z..." It's beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. Head over and check it out...whether you're in need this season or you could offer help to someone who is... 
* I like the new One Direction song. A lot. Judge me. It's cool. And I'm also kinda amped up about the live Sound of Music on NBC tonight with Carrie Underwood...So there's that. It's LIVE, people!

Le blog gets a facelift :)

Hiya friends!

So I've been saying that Erin from Erin Elizabeth Designs and Two Thirds Hazel was busy designing an awesome new layout for the bloggidy and I'm so excited to roll it out officially!! If you're looking for a fabulous refresh of your blog, I highly recommend Erin.. She's so sweet, talented and captured exactly what I wanted - better than what I wanted - just through a couple emails back and forth! :)

My last blog layout was fine, but it was kinda a hodge podge of what I'd learned how to do on my own sans photoshop (not very much). And it just didn't "fit" anymore. I mean... I'm 32...sooooo even the Roaring Twenties just wasn't working for me anymore. It served me well for many years and I obviously didn't think about having the blog past the age of 30. Pretttttty sure I started it when I thought thirty was still super old. *cringe* Let's not talk about that...

So why name it another age-centric thing? Well...the thirty club is what tons of people said when I turned 30, so that's awesome... But, it's also allegedly a secret society for big media, advertising and PR types... :) As a PR chick, I thought the double meaning was kinda cool. So there it is. :) I don't really do  advertising, but just go with it...

I'd quit blogging as much for many reasons, the primary of which was that I was just busy. But I was also unmotivated...and my old layout didn't really help. It's like gym clothes.. I want to work out more when I have new clothes or shoes! (Totally unhealthy; I realize). And also...I love blogging, but I found that I'd started going through the motions... I dunno what it was, but I just felt kinda blah about it.

But, taking a break was good...and I have felt my interest perking back up in the blog world...I've made some great friends here! :) So, here's to a new layout, a new name, and a refreshed blog! I think the cobwebs just needed to be dusted off a little bit!

Without further adieu, I welcome you to The Thirty Club. :)