Blogtober day 31 : Halloween costume reveal and a pretty cute Five on Friday

Happy Friday, y'all! And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I'm linking up here with April for five on Friday and here with Helene and Taylor for the final day of blogtober. 

-one-

I was super anti-fit bit earlier this year, but I've recently come to see the value in some sort of pedometer. I downloaded this free app on my new iPhone a couple of months ago and I LOVE it! It's called Pacer and you can find it here in the app store. You leave it open and as long as you have your phone with you, it tracks your steps. I also enter my weight so it tracks any weight loss with a line graph. It has a ton of other features like 'couch to 10k' plans and activity graphs, but it is really easy to use if you just want a simple way to track your activity. It is a little weird when I'm grabbing my phone to run to the bathroom or to the printer and back, but I want to make sure everything is accounted for! I think I'm open to a fit bit, now!

(this was very early in the morning!)

Bar graph showing steps for the week...

...Or turn it sideways to get your trends and see activity, calories, steps, weight, and blood pressure graphs for the last month.

Plans available!

-two-

Mark and I are crazy and we signed up for a co-ed soccer team. Little back story: when we were younger, I was in band, Mark played soccer. Clearly one of us has more athletic prowess than the other. On top of that, Mark tore his ACL in his left leg during his senior year of high school. From there, he only played on our college club team and in other rec leagues. It was in a rec league 6 months before our wedding that Mark (unfortunately) tore the ACL in his right leg, bringing back bad memories and a resentment towards soccer. He hasn't played since then!

A couple of his friends play just for fun and they asked us to be in this co-ed team with them. We hesitated but they assured us that it was a super easy league and Mark wouldn't get hurt. Well, we did it. Last night was our first game and it was super fun! I am going to be super anxious this entire season about Mark's safety, but hopefully he is smart enough to take care of himself! We agreed that he would do his best not to play competitively, but I'm not sure that's possible when competition has been ingrained in him since he was 8! 

We ended up tying the game 4-4. Mark didn't get hurt, but he did cramp up and get kicked a couple times, which made me freak out a bit. I also didn't get hurt! I went knee to knee with a guy that had about 50 lbs on me and I took him down! I felt pretty good about myself, even though I later whiffed the ball about 5 times.

-three-

I've been trying really hard lately to save money and eat better and I've found that simply bringing my lunch makes a huge difference in both of those areas. We typically shop at Kroger for groceries but we have a Tom Thumb near our house (part of SafeWay) and I've found quite a few things that I've worked into my weekly lunch routine:

(sorry they don't have images I can find on the website!)

I've found two salads that are pretty similar but they are my FAVORITE! The Santa Fe Style salad and the Southwestern BBQ are soooo good. It is made up of super fresh green lettuce with the components in their own little tray on top. The dressings for both salads are super good, and they both clock in under 300 calories but you feel full after your lunch! Seriously, SO good. 

I also reallllly like their Tuscan tomato & basil bisque as well as their low fat zesty fiesta chicken tortilla soup. Both good, both relatively low in calories, and super yummy. 

And....when I'm tempted to just get fast food because I'm tired of my low calorie meals, I try to instead divert myself to Target and grab a 'treat' with this Panera baked potato soup. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good, y'all. At 420 calories for a pretty big tub, it's cheating a little without breaking the bank. Way better than a Whataburger meal! (find it in the cases next to the deli!)

-four-

As I've mentioned, I'm pretty picky. That being said, I'm trying to change my taste buds and my habits to get the nutrients I need. I finally tried out these Bolthouse Farms juices and lemme say, they are pretty good! 

Berry Boost is my favorite and perhaps the safest, but I also like Tropical Goodness and C boost. I have decided I'm definitely not a big blueberry fan because I bought Blue Goodness and while I can get it down, it's my least favorite. I also bought Green Goodness but I haven't had the guts to try it yet!

-five-

It's Halloween, y'all! We had big plans to stay home and do nothing, but they were thwarted by the offer of free lasagna, free homemade dessert, free candy (if you count stolen as free), and some good family time. We are going to go see these munchkins and hang out with their parents, my parents, and my sister's in-laws for the evening. 

I was going to show you my 'costume' of a working adult, but these were way cuter :)

You guys stay safe and have a happy Halloween!!! 

Blogtober day 29 : most embarrassing moment

We are SO close to the end of Blogtober, I can feel it! I’ve loved this series but I can’t wait to get back to my normal  blogging routine and share some updates from around the house!

Today’s prompt is ‘most embarrassing moment’…

When I hear this, the first thing I think about is a time in 5^th or 6^th grade in the girl’s locker room during P.E. I was never considered a ‘cool kid’ although I longed desperately for full-priced flared Limited Too jeans and Doc Marten sandals. On this day, we were getting changed and I spotted a small spider (I’m talking super tiny) near a bench. I’m not sure why, but acting dramatic and overly girly (read:stupid) in this moment made me think I would earn some sort of ‘cool’ points. Anyway, because of my desperate cry for attention, I screamed shrilly and jumped on top of the bench. All I got were stares. My cool factor dropped steadily after this moment.

these were THE COOLEST!

I tend to embarrass myself on a daily basis but those are usually cringeworthy moments that I dare not share here on the internet…so I’ll leave you with that.

Blogtober day 26 : who would play me in a movie

Well well well, here I am, back again.

Sorry for my absence yesterday, I was busy being lazy, cleaning my house, and burying my face into the pillows after the most embarrassing loss in the history of football. You know that geeky guy in high school that doesn't do too bad and manages to stay afloat for awhile and then ends up totally crashing and burning and trips with his lunch tray and then gets stepped on? Yeah, that's essentially what my alma mater did yesterday in the game of football. We're bad, and we've been bad before, but wow. Wowwwwww. 

Anyway, I'm moving forward and am back for today's blogtober prompt: who would play you in a movie.

In high school, I was approached by strangers and told that I look like these two beautiful women:

I can't really see it, but I'll take it! I've heard I beat some resemblance to them both, but they are not who I think would represent me best in a movie. Nope. 

I'm super weird, awkward, and try to make everything a joke, typically while embarrassing myself in the process. I'm not sure what movie would ever be about me (see previous paragraph detailing my daily activities) but if for some reason there were one, I would definitely be played by her:

I'm definitely not claiming her looks, but I feel like our personalities are pretty similar. Plus, she's awesome.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Blogtober day 23 - my pet peeves

I'm so behind here! I need to get my stuff together.

Day 22 for blogtober was "what's your pet peeve" but I'm changing it up and doing it today. I'm just keeping it mysterious this week for the sake of the blog!

So here we go...I could go on and on, but these are the first things that came to mind!

-being late

-braking HARD in the merge lane to cut over, OR driving in the exit/merge lane until the very end and then cutting in, all the while blocking the exiting driver from, well, exiting.

-ALSO (a lot of my pet peeves revolve around driving) riding the exit lane and access road to get around rush hour traffic, therefore clogging up those lanes for people that are actually exiting off the highway.

-hearing the same story 5 times from the same person. Yes. I know. You told me. I listened.

-one-uppers. This should be self explanatory

-using 12 gifs on Every. Single. Blog. Post.

-dishes piling up in the sink

-people that can’t say “no”. You know who you are…

-misuse of "their, they’re, and there"

-misuse of "your and you’re"

-the little baby hairs and fried hairs that stand up on my head. Hate those!

-shoes that pile up in walkways

-small talk. It bugs me! “Hey, how are you? Good! How are you? Good.” That’s all fine and dandy when you don’t see someone for a while, but every day at the office, or someone you talk to all the time? C’mon, we’re past that!

-vagueness. If you want to talk about something, come out and say it.

-girls that play dumb. Come ON!

-leaving the TV on when you’re not watching (or not in the room, or the house…such a money suck!)

That's all I can muster up for now. What are your pet peeves?

Blogtober day 18 - share a secret about you

Blogtober day 18! Today’s prompt is ‘share a secret about you’.

When people ask me to share secrets my thoughts always go more towards negative secrets; the kinds of things you are embarrassed to tell. I don’t think I really have any positive secrets to share (hello, over sharer!) but I’ll share a story of a positive secret and a negative semi-secret today just to mix it up a bit.

Back in May 2013 Mark and I loosely decided we wanted to buy a house. We started looking and ended up having our offer accepted in the span of about 5 weeks, which was pretty quick but seemed slow at the time. Since we weren’t really sure if we were definitely going to buy or not, we chose to keep the fact that we were planning to buy a secret from all of our friends and some of our family. It kind of naturally turned out that way, since we weren’t really sure ourselves what we were doing, but it ended up being a good thing for us because of the ups and downs of searching and having offers rejected, etc. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have to recap everything to everyone as the roller coaster went on. Plus, it really helped me to focus on other aspects of life since I couldn’t really talk about what was happening – and in turn I was probably less stressed and anxious than I would have been.

When we did announce that we bought the house, it was after our offer was accepted and a contract signed. I did so with an Instagram photo and posted it on facebook, and we got lots of surprised reactions. It was pretty fun, but I think some of my friends were a little ticked off that we kept that secret from them, but oh well! It worked out for the best.

My other secret is more embarrassing and not really a secret, more so just something I don’t like volunteering. I developed psoriasis in college on my scalp and it’s kind of a big nuisance to me. It flares up in the summer and I get sores on my scalp that itch and burn, especially when it’s hot and I’m sweating. To most people, the flakes and ‘scales’ look like dandruff so people typically comment on that. But most people think dandruff is ‘gross’ so any sort of white flake in your hair is pretty embarrassing.

Anyway, it’s not super severe by any means, and I just have a topical ointment that I can put on it from time to time. Most people don’t know about it, though!

Anyone else have a weird secret they want to share? Feeling super vulnerable today! ;) Oh, and happy weekend!!!

Blogtober cheat day #2 - fall and halloween decor!

So today's prompt for Blogtober is "funniest childhood memory". I had a pretty good childhood, that's for sure. But I was sheltered. All of my stories involve inside jokes about something my family did or they aren't really all that funny after all. So, I’m going to save you ALL the trouble of hearing about that and today I’m going to talk a bit about my Halloween/Fall decorations!!! 

I’m a total fan of decorating for holidays. I believe in buying little bits of décor every year rather than spending a paycheck on everything at the spur of the moment. As you can see, some of my tastes have changed, but I still mix and match all of my décor! I also put out all fall decor as well as Halloween, and once October 31 passes I just weed out the spooky stuff and keep the warm, inviting fall stuff. Love it!

Starting with the kitchen:

Some simple Halloween cheer on my welcome sign (and I changed out my rug)

This sign is one of those things I've had forever that I don't necessarily LOVE. But it works in the kitchen to remind me what season it is! ;)

I love having these candles as a centerpiece. I just switched them out so they look kind of silly now, but they look super cool once they are all melted! Plus, cinnamon scented pine cones are the BEST! (and can be carried into Christmas)

Our coffee bar is pretty fun to decorate. 

Oh my gourds!

The bookshelf in our living room gets changed out quite a bit. Lots of my favorite knick knacks go here!

Oh hi, favorite new Halloween sign. #bootoyall

This tray on our coffee table is another rotating decor piece. Love it the most!

Mark thought it would be stupid to hang a wreath over this bug print I got in Fredericksburg. I said I didn't care and did it anyway. What's your vote?

Either way, Kitty* loves the witchy candy stand I picked up at Hancock Fabrics on super sale. Isn't it so cute?! I want to name her.

*no black cats were harmed in the making of this blog post

Wreaths on wreaths

The front porch and entry aren't left out of the decor! The leaves and pecan tree debris just add to the spookiness, right? (just go with it)

There you have it! I love Halloween more and more every year. Did you decorate when growing up??

Blogtober day 10 - I never thought blogging would...

Blogtober day 10 – I never thought blogging would…

…suck me in so easily!

I made it pretty clear from the beginning that I didn’t know how far I could make it on this blogging train. I guess I’m growing up though because I’ve totally followed through on my commitment! Here I am, way over a year later and I’m blogging a LOT. I’m almost at 200 posts! I can’t even believe it.

(make sure you check out my new about me page!)

I’ve learned that I love the creative outlet that blogging offers. I love how I can’t wait to sit down at the computer and get my thoughts out or share something I’m proud of, be it my house or my etsy shop, what have you. I love the ways in which I stumble upon new bloggers that are eerily similar to me, or those that are so different yet so intriguing and I just GET them. I love that blogging has pushed me to do more with my life, more with my time, and it’s held me accountable from day to day. I’ve been inspired to upgrade to a DSLR, get out of the house, break out the ‘big’ camera, and live more fully. I’m dyinnggg to get my hands on a new MacBook so I can be even more advanced and flexible with my blog! (My 7 year old iMac is slowly dying)

check out my blog buttons and all my side ventures!

It sounds super cliché and kind of scary, but I think my blog has turned me into a different person. I’m more detail oriented, more in love with our ‘home’, more invested in life in general. I never thought blogging would do that for me!

I can’t wait to see where I am after 5 years!

Join us here for #blogtober14!

Blogtober day 9 - Best/Worst Halloween Memory

Today’s prompt: best or worst Halloween memory.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been super #blessed and can’t think of a bad Halloween memory. That doesn’t exactly make for great blog content, though! Oh well, I’ll still share some of my best memories!

-In sixth grade, I dressed up as a witch and went to a friend’s house. We were WAY too cool to trick-or-treat but not too cool for me to go sit on her brick mailbox and pretend to be a statue. I seriously thought I was SO realistic but really…come on! And that’s when I knew I was a weirdo.

-Two years ago, I ordered my girlfriends to buy some candy, dress up, and come over to our apartment. It was when we lived in Winnetka Heights so we were the one rental house in the neighborhood. We grabbed our lawn chairs, sat on the porch, and watched as THOUSANDS (not even exaggerating) of kids, teens, and adults (really, people?) invaded the neighborhood. We had lots of laughs and the candy was gone SUPER fast. It was so fun though!

(this was pre-iphone!)

-Last year, Mark and I made a point to keep it low-key. I wanted the ultimate trick-or-treating experience in our new house. The house was decorated, candles lit, and we watched Hocus Pocus as about 20 kids came by. It was honest and simple and fun! Growing up isn’t so bad after all. J 

Join us here for #blogtober14! 

Blogtober day 7 - best/worst vacation

I’m not sure I have a worst vacation…I feel a little ungrateful saying anything bad about the opportunities I’ve had!

The one thing that comes to mind would have to be our trip to New Orleans last fall. Honestly, we had a really good time and I dream about the beignets from Café du Monde every day (#omgyum). We saw lots of beautiful things and the wedding we went to was gorgeous and a BLAST!

parts 1, 2, and 3 here!

The ‘worst’ part of that vacation would have to be the 7 hour drive that took us 10 hours because of POURING rain (seriously, we couldn’t drive faster than 30mph for a solid 2 hours), the complete middle-of-nowhere feeling we had on that stretch of highway before hitting New Orleans, the rain that lasted all weekend, the stench of Bourbon Street, and the weird, dirty infrastructure that we found everywhere in town. It was mostly the city of New Orleans/Louisiana that we didn’t like. Plus we got a red light ticket (that we didn't pay). BUT it was a great time!!! Have I made that clear?!

I think the award for best vacation is kind of a tie. I LOVED our honeymoon on Kauai (again-post coming someday on this!), it was gorgeous and we had a blast, but our hotel wasn’t everything we had hoped for and we were still jittery from wedding stuff so I couldn’t totally relax. The other contender for best vacation would be our most recent trip to California. Our awesome hotel with all it’s perks coupled with our good planning, budgeting, and happy-go-lucky attitudes made it for a pretty care-free and awesome trip. It wasn’t Hawaii, though!

I've blogged about California WAY too much, but in case you missed it, here are the recaps! 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

I try to make the best out of any trip, and love squeezing everything good out of them!!! What was your best vacation??

Join us here for #blogtober14!