Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

Today is Nick's 25th birthday! I know, right? He's getting so old. Haha, jk, that's not really that old, but he sure seems to think so. I told him last night that in 10 years we really would be old, and we'd be laughing at ourselves for thinking that 25 was old! However, Nick did make the point that he's only 15 years away from being 40. Yikes. Let's not think about that...

So baby, don't worry about it, because you will only get better with age (please always keep the scruff that you grow so well). I am so happy that I get to celebrate every single one of your birthdays with you for the rest of our lives! You make me so happy, and I absolutely cannot WAIT to be your Mrs. in just a few months! I am so blessed to have a man like you in my life - I know I will always be taken care of, loved, and supported through everything, and know that you always have that from me as well! Here's to many more birthdays and celebrating everything else life has to offer together :)

Ok, I'm done with the sappy stuff. This man seriously is the bees knees, though. What can I say? I've been head over heels since high school! I'm bummed we both have to work today, BUT we have Martha Stewart's mac and cheese to look forward to for dinner, which I already have prepped in the fridge, just waiting to be put in the oven tonight! And of course, we will just continue eating on the cheesecake I made on Sunday :)

[Wee babes in high school - my senior prom]

[My first Delta dance - Semiformal 2009]

[Italy 2011]

[Now]

Oscar glamour

The Oscars is by far the most classy event of awards season, and I was thrilled to see all of the amazing gowns on some absolutely gorgeous women. I didn't see a whole lot of misses, but just beautiful beautiful hits. Here are my top 5.

[Charlize Theron in Dior]

[Naomi Watts in Armani Privé]

[Jessica Chastain in Armani Privé]

[Jennifer Lawrence in Dior]

[Amanda Seyfried in Alexander McQueen]

I loved all of the musical numbers, and was so happy for Jennifer Lawrence! The look on her face was priceless, and only that girl could make a trip so adorable and endearing. She's awesome. I was also happy that Tarantino won best original screenplay for "Django Unchained" and that Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor. He is seriously amazing! What were your favorite parts? Favorite gowns? Did your favorite actor or actress win?

So being sick kinda sucks

[Why yes, I am wearing a full set of long john PJs, thank you very much]

Here I am, on my couch yet again, and it's only day 2 of being sick and I'm way more than over it. Whatever Nick had last week I seemed to come down with it around dinnertime Sunday night and it really hit me yesterday morning. I haven't missed a single day of work for anything in the whole year I've worked there (which, my official year mark was Sunday the 17th! Yippee!), and I missed yesterday and decided to take one more day off to really rest up. The good news is that I don't think it hit me quite as hard as Nick when he got whatever this is, and though it's only day 2, I am feeling much better. Whatever this was had me feeling stomach crampy all Sunday night (which resulted in terrible sleep) and Monday during the day, also accompanied by a burning lower back pain and that crawly-skin feeling. Yuck. My desire to move was very low and so was my desire for food. I didn't even want coffee! I'm glad I did take today off just in case, especially since it allowed me to sleep in til 11, something that was desperately needed, even though I took a 3-hour nap yesterday. And hey, I'm not just laying down today, I'm actually sitting up on the couch! Woohoo! Baby steps, people.

All I know is that I hate being sick and I hate how low-energy it makes me. Bleh. I guess I should count my blessings, though, because I never really even got sick like this while I was in college, and this is still pretty mild compared to what most people catch during flu season. And I never even get a flu shot! I guess my immune system is working for me, so that's good! I guess I've always been able to "burn the candle at both ends" (as my mother would like to say) for an extended period of time before it bites me in the butt. This is clearly my body's way of telling me to just relax. I guess I don't realize how much I stress myself out, and even though I don't feel like it's that bad, there is the constant stress of working two jobs, getting Nick through his grad auditions, planning a wedding, thinking about logistics for next year and when we're going to move, etc, that I think really catches up with me. At least I have a wonderful fiancé who takes care of me and makes me fresh-squeezed orange juice, and lots of movies and shows to watch on Netflix and HBO go :) Yeah, I'm doing alright. And while I hate missing work, especially because I'm sick (boring), it is nice to have an excuse to just relax and not do anything. Not even think about cleaning or picking up, even! That's a big step for me ;) Hopefully I'll be feeling close to 100% when I'm back at work tomorrow!

iPhone photo dump: Chicago trip

[Our wonderful King-sized bed for a few days... so much room!]

[First night's dinner in Evanston at Prairie Moon]

[Celebratory glass of prosecco]

[Nick's delicious meal]

[My bruschetta at Prairie Moon]

[Second day lunch at Glenn's Diner]

[Guess what these shoes are for..... :)]

[Nick and Dinah.... BFFs]

[My delicious sandwich and Nick's mushroom burger from Blind Faith Cafe in Evanston]

[Nick looking dapper before his audition]

 

Our little trip to the city last week was so much fun and much needed! It was exciting to get Nick to his first auditions and we are anxious to hear back from both CSO chorus and Northwestern! Thankfully, Northwestern should be sending out notifications by March 15th, so we really don't have to wait that long! Northwestern's campus is absolutely beautiful and Evanston is such a cute area! We didn't get a chance to explore downtown, but what we did see was wonderful, and it's full of fun little places and great restaurants. I could definitely live there!

Unfortunately most of my pictures are of food (as per usual) but that's honestly most of what we did. We ventured south into north Chicago on Thursday to meet up with friends Jordan and Grace later in the day, and had lunch at Glenn's. Seriously, some amazing seafood is on that menu, and I've heard it's definitely worth the price! I enjoyed a fatty, delicious reuben myself, but I definitely want to go back and try some fresh seafood. The only downside of our trip was that it was rainy all day Thursday, so I unfortunately didn't get to shop as much downtown as I wanted to.... all we could do was make it to Nordstrom, but it was more than worthwhile, because I found my wedding shoes! They are literally exactly what I was going to design on milkandhoneyshoes.com, except $90 instead of $295... umm, yes please! I was trying them on and the sales girl told me they had come in the day before... fate? I think so! They are absolutely perfect and so comfy and I know I will wear them a lot after the wedding, too! I am so happy to have the hardest part of my wedding planning DONE. Seriously, this was the hardest thing. Not finding the venue, or the dress, or the bridesmaid dresses, or anything else, no.... the shoes have been the absolute hardest part. I mean, they're shoes, so it's preeeeetty important.

Anywho, that night we met up with Jordan and once Grace got home from work decided to go to Uncommon Ground. This place was fantastic, and I wish I had taken pictures of my amazing mac and cheese, but I was too busy drinking wine and a super delicious, worth-the-$10 price, Brandy Alexander. Yum. Everything at the restaurant is all natural and is the world's greenest restaurant! It had a great atmosphere and was perfect for the rainy/snowy evening. They have live music there a lot, too! Once again, Jordan does not disappoint in suggesting a place to eat :) Love you, lady!

All in all, I am now even MORE excited to be moving in the next few months, and it's kind of becoming more real now that it's happening! After all, February is already half over! Yikes!

Happy Valentine's Day!

[Valentine's Funfetti cut-out cookies]

Happy happy Love Day! Whether you are single or in a relationship, I hope you have a great one! I know you should show your love every day (duh), but I like Valentine's Day as an excuse to bake pretty pink and red treats, get dressed up, and go out and do something a little fancy with your loved one. OR just stay in and make an extra fancy meal, one you wouldn't normally make on a regular basis. And if you're single, you can take this day to appreciate YOU and pamper the hell out of yourself. So go ahead and eat some red velvet cake, eat Valentine's chocolate as part of every meal, and buy yourself something nice... I know I would!

Unfortunately, Nick has been sick this week. He's been feeling better since yesterday, but decided to stay home from work at least one more day... I'm ok with this, of course, because originally we wouldn't have seen each other all day since I work at the restaurant tonight. So even though we aren't really doing anything, we do get to spend some time together, and I did get him a little present full of silly little gifts :) Maybe he'll wake up soon and I can give it to him! Plus, we had our little getaway to Chicago last week and definitely splurged on meals out together, so we kinda already had a pre-Valentine's celebration. Today I plan on eating the funfetti cookies I made and hopefully making a lot of money tonight at the restaurant. I mean, it'll be crazy busy, and I'll probably want to cry at one point or another, but this girl needs some extra cash so it will be totally worth it.

Spread some love today! <3

2013 Grammys

I was able to catch the Grammys last night, and I've gotta be honest, I wasn't expecting a whole lot. Last year was just ok, and years past haven't always been memorable. Until now. Last night was a very pleasant surprise for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire show (with the exception of a couple performances... *cough* Frank Ocean *cough*). JT made his comeback, Fun. and Mumford and Sons won Grammys (and also performed), The Lumineers performed, Rihanna killed her performance, and the tributes were wonderful... Kelly Clarkson sure can sing!

I was so happy that the show didn't disappoint, and neither did the fashion, so in honor of the Grammys edition of Fashion Police currently on my tv, I will share my favorite looks!

[Carrie Underwood in Roberto Cavalli]

[JT in Tom Ford]

[Kelly Rowland in Georges Chakra]

[Katy Perry in Gucci] 

[Taylor Swift in J. Mendel]

[my absolute favorite.... Rihanna in Alaia]

Mini Vacay

I told you guys these posts were going to be few and far between..... oh well. Soon I'll start doing actually interesting things with my life and there will be more to talk about? Maybe? Probably not, but maybe I should just tell you about the boring stuff anyway.

Well today is actually about something interesting:

Nick and I get a little baby vacation in Chicago! Woohoo! Thanks for auditioning for grad schools up there, hun, I really appreciate it :) He has an audition for the CSO Chorus tonight and his Northwestern audition is Friday in the early evening, meaning we get ALL OF THURSDAY TO DO WHATEVER WE WANT IN CHICAGO. YES. And really, part of Friday, too! Currently, Nick is making us some breakfast, I'm trying to finish the last of my laundry that seems to pile up instantly after I finish it, and, oh yeah, I should probably pack. We plan on leaving around 1:00 today and checking into our little Evanston hotel around 4:30ish. We decided to just hotel it because A) We can get continental breakfast every morning and B) King-sized beds. Oh yeah, and I guess the fact that Nick will get some good rest for his auditions rather than not if we stayed with friends.

I am so so so excited to get back up there! It's been since last November. Not cool. We thought we would be going 2 weekends ago but it turns out his CCPA audition wasn't actually then, but February 16th. Whoops! Needless to say, we had a nice weekend together at home, but boy was I  bummed to not get some time in the city. It works out better this way, though, because that would have been a very quick trip, and this time we can really enjoy the time away! Not to mention, we're both very excited about graduate school for him! It feels like everything we've talked about with moving on to the next stage of our lives is officially happening once he auditions. Then, the hardest part is over, and we just have to wait! Actually, that is the hardest part. But, either way, I'm excited that we are that much closer to getting out of Decatur!

I know Nick wants to take it easy these next couple of days, but there is no way I'm going to be in Chicago and not check out a few stores, especially since I didn't get to last time we were there! The wedding shoe hunt is almost to a close since I rediscovered a wonderful site where you can design your own shoes, but I want to take one more look around, starting with the Chicago Nordstrom :) And I still have yet to see the new Topshop! Annnd if we have some spare time I wouldn't mind going to Crate and Barrel to at least look at everything in person, if not register. I also have a date with my lovely Jordan planned for Thursday night, and I can't wait to see that lady's face!

I hope to take a few pictures and post them later! Ta-ta for now!