Christmas Wish List

Here are a few of my wants for Christmas this year.

 

A nice carry on bag. I am ready to update my old Vera Bradley carry on.

 

Lilly Pulitzer Boarding Bag

 



My gym bag is also starting to look like it's seen better days.

 

 

I like this one.

 

I wear mostly dresses (with shapewear underneath) to work and as soon as I get home, I immediately change into lounge clothes before I study or cook dinner. I am always in the need for more pj pants.

 

 

I like these from LL Bean. These are sold out right now, hopefully they will restock. I am really not too picky about pj pants, as long as they are long enough.

 

I can also never had too much clothing to wear to the gym. I feel like I wash it constantly. I'm also sort of over Lululemon. I want to see how I like Under Armour.

 

I like wearing crops to workout in.

 

My only other wish would be a new Pandora charm.

 

Due to Nick's work schedule we will not be traveling this year, which is a last minute change and are doing Christmas at home.

 

Happy Hump Day!! 



Girl's Weekend in Charleston!

Saturday morning my partner in crime Ashley and I hit the road for our girls weekend. First stop was a quick look at the beach, then on to see one of our good friends and her new baby girl.

 

As I was zipping along the Isle of Palms connector I noticed the unwelcome sight of blue lights in my rearview. I got pulled over for speeding, by luckily when I told the officer that we were bringing a casserole to our friend who just had a baby and he saw the cooler in the backseat he let me go with a waning.  

 

I am obsessed with holding this sweet, beautiful baby.

 

We had lunch at Poe's on Sullivan's Island and it was delicious! After lunch we checked into our hotel and lounged for a few hours. It was raining and super windy, so not the best weather to go exploring. We headed back out that evening and met Blair, who I know from reading her blog Reasonably Swanky, and her friend Jennifer at Vickery's. Dinner was so much fun and they are both just the sweetest!

 

 

 Sunday morning we woke up to much better weather, thankfully. We had an amazing brunch at Magnolias. I had never been to Magnolias before, but wanted to go since it's in the Tradd St. Series by Karen White. We explored the market, and I found a gift to give to Nick for our engageaversary. Santa came through the market and we had to take a picture with him. We took a bike cab to the Battery next. We passed lots of beautiful homes on the way to Battery Park. I snapped pictures of the Sword Gate on Legare St., and lots of other scenery.

 

 

Overall it was a great, and much needed, trip!! Ashley and I have had some fun trips, and this one was definitely one of the best. I would LOVE to own a second home in Charleston or Beaufort one day. I hope after I finish school that will become a reality and not just a dream!

 

Have a great day!

 

p.s. I will be back soon to share the Get Out of  Speeding Ticket Casserole recipe. I made one to leave for Nick to eat while I was gone and we both thought it was good.





One Year Ago...

One year ago this weekend, I made the best decision of my entire life and said YES to the question every girl dreams of hearing.

 

You can read the recap here.

 

Sometimes I still can't believe I get to marry this nut guy, and I think after a year I have finally stopped accidently calling him my boyfriend.

 

Originally we planned to go back to Charleston for our engageaversary, but Nick had a work conflict. Although the conflict worked itself out, I had already lined up a girls weekend by that time.

 

While I am on the girls weekend I will be meeting one of my best friend's ten day old baby and I cannot wait!! My daytrip to Charleston for her baby shower is here.

 

My friend Ashley, who was my running buddy all through undergrad and our early 20s, is coming with me.

 

 

 Beaufort in 2009, one of the best trips we've ever taken.

 

 

The Bowery in Myrtle Beach on Ashley's 25th birthday.

 

I am trying a new casserole recipe tonight to bring to my friend who just had a baby, so I will share if it turns out well. It sounds so good I literally cannot wait to get home and make it. Obvs, I am making one for myself and Nick, as well as one to take to my friend.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!





Life Lately

Now that the semester is DUNZO, I am loving life. Even though I still have to work until next Friday, I already feel like I am on vacation! Just having my evenings free from school work is enough of a vacation.

 

I haven't wasted any time getting caught up on my favorite shows. My new favorite Real Housewife is former Miss Puerto Rico, Joyce (or should I say Jacqueline?).

 

Brandi is a hot mess. She really needs to get lowlights. Her hair looked yellow and fried when I watched Monday's episode.

 

Today was our Christmas lunch at work. Now I feel like I am in a food coma. A group of us uses the college's commercial kitchen to prepare the lunch ourselves and it's always so fun.

 

 

I was down to 140 lbs this morning, which is the best news I've heard in a while. Needless to say, after lunch I will not be skipping the gym today.

 

Happy Thursday!



My first semester of grad school is OVER!!

After many late nights recently getting things wrapped up, I am free! I survived my first semester of grad school. I am still waiting for final grades to post, but as far as I know, I am expecting an A and a B (I only go to school part time).

 

Speaking of late nights, not only am I running on less sleep, but I think our mattress has very limited days left. I have been waking up with aches and pains every morning.

 

I LOVE a lot of fabric and leather headboards I'm seeing.

 

 

Images are from a design blog called Sweet Savannah.

 

After the wedding I want to redecorate. I day dream about it on the daily.

 

I hope everyone is having a great week!



Midweek Randoms

I liked reading this today on the Huffington Post. As if the holidays aren't already stressful enough by themselves, I have finals as well. And don't even have my Christmas tree or decorations up as of yet. Horrors.

 

I thought this was a cute article on style for college students *and* it's written by a minor in the college I work for.

 

I got a little bit of Christmas shopping done, and I have to say J. Crew Factory is the best! I got these as a gift to self, and there are several other things I like today. Depending on what we end up doing, I wouldn't hate something sparkly for New Year's.

 

I still need to get Nick's big gift. Last year his big gift was a year long subscription to this beer of the month club and he loved it. I am at a loss as to how to top that. As a side note, I would not mind a wine of the month membership.

 

And finally, this is my motto this week.

 

 

Happy Tuesday!

Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend Extravaganza

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Wednesday evening we got Nick's brother Tedd from the airport. We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant and wasted no time getting into a celebratory mood.

 

 

Thursday Nick cooked the turkey in a fryer outside while Tedd and I went to town in the kitchen. We made all the sides using some of Nick's Mom's recipes and some from Pinterest. As a side note, how did the pilgrims ever plan their Thanksgiving meal without Pinterest? My grandparents joined us for our meal and I was so glad that they came. Sadly, my Mom was still not feeling well and couldn't come along with them.

 

Friday we stayed at home and it was SO nice. I've done Black Friday and shopped all night before, and of course that was fun, but I think I am over Black Friday. I don't need anything that badly, and I feel bad for people that have to leave their families and work. After relaxing all day, Tedd and I went to a few stores that evening and to Miyo's for sushi. We stayed up late watching movies when we got home.

 

Saturday we went to the Clemson Carolina game. I always look forward to this game. I grew up near Clemson, but went to Carolina and am a huge Carolina fan. I was thrilled over the win!

 

 

Tedd left the stands to go to the restroom in the third quarter and got separated from us and lost. After the game, traffic was crazy and there were people everywhere. By this time, his phone died so we had no way to get in touch with him. We looked for him for several hours, driving around the stadium, going back to our tailgate spot several times to see if he returned, and finally talking to the USC PD. The police put out a BOLO for him. When the officer I was speaking with told me he may be in the hospital, I started crying. Apparently EMS took 35 people out of the game Saturday night. I had to call hospitals looking for him. After several hours, he finally called us and was at a gas station. When he got him, we found out that he walked around asking people for directions to our tailgate spot and no one knew how to get there. He thought he was walking into town, but instead walked down Bluff Road all the way to interstate 77. If you are familiar with Columbia, you know that is a long way. He bought a charger at the gas station and was finally able to call us. We were very happy when we found him. He was lost for so long that it was 4 am before I went to bed that night. I'm sure we will talk about the time we lost Tedd for a long time to come.

 

After staying up late watching movies over the break, going to bed early and waking up early was a shock to my system. I hope everyone has a good Monday!

Weekend Recap

We had a busy weekend getting ready for Thanksgiving.

 

Saturday we went to the USC v Coastal Carolina game, but left around halftime since the weather was iffy.

 

 

The rest of the weekend was spent making a huge Sam's Club haul and deep cleaning. As soon as I finished cleaning last night, I started to feel sick. I think that goes to show that cleaning must be bad for you!

 

Trinket supervising my company/Thanksgiving preparations yesterday.

 

I'm not sure if I am even going to last through the day at work. I HATE to go home sick because I was out a lot last week, and I was looking forward to Pure Barre right after work. Oh well.

 

I hope everyone has a great Monday. Yay for a short work week! 





Week Roundup

This was a crazy week! Monday I was out for my observations (which I loved), Tuesday I worked, Wednesday at 6:30 am as I was getting into the shower I got a phone call from my Mom and she couldn't breathe. I drove 2.5 hours to her house and took her to the dr. She has pleurisy and I ended up staying at her house for two days to take care of her. She got a lot of meds and should be back at her job on Monday. I've never had pleurisy, but have had a lot of people tell me it's incredibly painful. I feel like it's been a long week, and yet today is only my second day at my job. And I am ready for 5!

 

I never got a chance to recap last weekend. This is me with my bestie Marcia at the FL game.

 

This picture is from last week also. My friend Benson came over for dinner and I made his favorite dessert, Pineapple Casserole.

 

We have a big weekend of football and plans to get ready for company and Thanksgiving. I hope I get a lot done!

 

TGIF! 





Observations on Observations

I have been MIA from blogging because I have been super busy getting in my required observation hours for school. I used annual leave to be out of work and have two days completed so far.

 

The first day of observation I was with an SLP who visits facilities and individual's homes for appointments. I LOVED every single client we saw all day (even if I did get a toy car thrown at me). I thought it was super nice how she was not in an office all day, but out on her own. She has a lot of independence.

 

The second day of observations I was in an elementary school. Again, I loved every single client she had. It was a super pleasant work environment. She saw students either individually or in groups of three. I loved the Thanksgiving books the students were reading and the turkey project they worked on in speech. So fun!

 

Both days I got home much earlier than I usually do and that was saa-weeeet. Yesterday I ran an errand, went to the gym, made dinner, cleaned up a little bit, studied, and actually had time to watch a tv show before bed. It was amazing. I've never had a lot of interest in working in schools because the salary is not as high as some other SLP positions, but let me tell you getting home and still having so much of my day left blew my mind.

 

Unlike in undergrad, some of the things I saw and heard on my observations were things I've actually learned in my classes so far. That was also amazing to me!

 

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday! I will be back with more soon.

Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend! I defiantly need to get reacquainted with the gym after being lazy swamped with school last week and eating terribly all weekend.

 

Saturday was spent watching football with Nick and going to Lowes.

 

Sunday I drove down to Charleston to attend a baby shower for one of my oldest and dearest friends.

 

Jamie and I have been friends for about 12 years. She and her husband are expecting a baby in December.

 

Those of you that know me IRL know I am a huge Gamecock fan and buying a Clemson bow for the baby was not easy. 

 

The weather in Charleston was perfect yesterday and it was SO hard to leave. I am really struggling with being at work today-just not feeling it at all.

 

 

Along with owning my own practice one day, having a weekend house in Charleston or Beaufort is my biggest caviar dream.

 

Happy Veteran's Day! On this day, I think of both sets of my grandparents. Both of my grandfathers are veterans. My friend the shower was for yesterday is mil spouse, and I see first hand how many sacrifices she and her husband have made during his service to our country.







Wedding Update

In the spirit of keeping myself accountable and on track here is a list.

 

 

I have:

photographer {Courtney Dox!}

venue

dress {!!!}

shoes

bridesmaids/groomsmen

Save the Dates {same artist is doing my invitations}

Pastor to perform ceremony {our friend Brock}

DJ

bridal portraits booked {March}

lost about 10 lbs

 

 

We still need:

catering

cake

bridesmaid/groomsmen gifts

decorations

florist

groom's wedding ring

hair and makeup

favors {koozies}

to lose about 5 to 8 more lbs

 

 

I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out, but that is what's on my mind for today. I'm not really bothering with thinking about stuff that Nick is taking care of, such as the honeymoon.

 

I hope every one has a good day. Only one more day until Friday!



Counting Down

I am counting down to Thanksgiving. 22 days to go! We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house and I CANNOT.WAIT.

 

Since I met Nick two years ago we have traveled so much for holidays that I am mostly just excited to spend a holiday in my own house.

 

I'm also really looking forward to the dishes I plan on cooking and having Nick's brother visiting from Chicago.

 

I got this little guy from Ross last week.

 

My house is FAR from the Pinterest worthy or Southern Living house I have in my head, but it will get there eventually. I love our house, we just need a lot of decorations and furniture. I wish I could wave a magic wand and it would look like this for Thanksgiving.

 

Aren't these cakes adorable?

 

 

I am also beyond ready for the end of the semester. I love my Clinical Phonetics class and am super close to having an A (I have an 89 as of today). I am over my other class and am counting down how many classes I have left to attend. So ready to get it over with. But, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I will say I am still grateful to even have the opportunity to be in school.

 

Happy Hump Day!







My College Homecoming

My college homecoming was this weekend and was so much fun. College doesn't feel like it was that long ago, and yet I feel like so much has happened in the six years since I graduated.

 

I went to the University of South Carolina and had such a wonderful time there. I consider going to USC one of the best decisions I ever made. I made great lifelong friends, and I think that was the best part. I spent a lot of time with these girls.

 

 

 If I could change anything about college, I think it would have been best to not have been in the long term relationship that I was in. I dated someone all through college. For many reasons, it was a hard lesson learned. I am definitely 100% happier now than I could have even imagined back then!

 

 

We started Friday night by attending an alumni event. This was also a work event for me.

 

You can't see my dress very well, but I picked up a black peplum dress at Ross for super cheap.

 

Saturday morning came way too quickly after being out the night before.

A few Bloody Marys and biscuits later and I was good as new.

 

 

My suitemate from college, Amber. We missed Ashley, our other suitemate on Saturday, but I got to see her Friday at the alumni event.

 

 

I found my garnet top at Wish in Five Points and think I'll wear it a lot.

 

Happy Monday everyone!









Halloween 2013

We had a great Halloween at our house! I loved every second of having Nick home to help pass out candy and see the dogs in their costumes. Last year the dogs and I did Halloween by ourselves.

 

We got a decent number of cute little trick or treaters. I LOVE seeing kids in their costumes.

 

Ducks Umlimited bucket FULL of candy and pizza.

 

 

Trinket dressed as a spider.

 

Yadi the pirate.

 

By about 8 most of the trick or treaters were gone, and I was able to get in about an hour of studying. I might post on time management soon, I try to get in time studying whenever and wherever I can.

 

TGIF!! 

 





Happy Halloween!!

I popped right out of bed this morning because I am super excited that today is Halloween.

 

Here are a few of the decorations around our house.

 

I am using annual leave to have a half day at work today. I have a lot of errands left to do to get ready for trick or treaters tonight and my college homecoming/football this weekend.

 

Last year I was very pleasantly surprised to have trick or treaters for about three or four hours. I almost ran out of candy last year and will be sure to be prepared tonight. I also have to pick up a costume for Yadi.

 

I am very excited Nick will be home tonight to see all the trick or treaters. He was traveling for work and missed last year.  

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween!!

Happy Halloween Week!

The weather is crisp and cool, and Halloween is this week. Halloween has always been a special and festive time for me. My Mom always made a big deal of it when I was growing up because it is one of her favorite holidays. As an adult, I've definitely inherited her love of Halloween, and like to make it as celebratory as I can in our home.

 

Some of my favorite costumes from years past.

 

 

Oh to be a 25 year old that could wear a two piece costume in public. I am determined I am getting that body back for my wedding.

 

I was supposed to go out with the hotties pictured above in genie costumes Saturday, but I was stuck at home in bed feeling like a garbage can. I have been *so sick* and today is my first day back at work since Wednesday of last week.

 

Happy Halloween Week!!



Hump Day Inspirations

Yesterday I turned in the first paper I've written since I graduated from undergrad in '07. It was a STRUGGLE. I am not exaggerating when I tell you it took three hours to get a paragraph written when I first started. I am hoping that now that I've gotten my feet wet the next time paper writing will come with a little more ease.

 

Some inspirational quotes I liked on Pinterest.

 

 

 

 

I am loving this cool weather now that it's finally here and the chance to wear fall clothes!

 

 

My midweek wishes:

 

A sweater like this one.

I also wouldn't mind a new dress coat or a leather jacket similar to the one above.

 

Oh, and while I'm making wishes, just one more lake day before the weather really gets too chilly.

 

Happy Hump Day!



I Love Fall

I started the weekend with a pure barre class after work Friday. Nick didn't get home until after 7, so I studied for about an hour before he got in. WHEN did I become this disciplined?!

 

Saturday I took Yadi for a long walk at a state park and twisted my ankle pretty badly. I've hurt this ankle numerous times, and it wasn't long until it was turning black and blue. I was laid up for the rest of the day. It really wasn't so bad since Nick spoiled me that evening. Nick made some amazing tacos for dinner. We had cupcakes for dessert, and Yadi discovered he loves frosting, as you can see below.

 



Sunday I felt mostly recovered and we went to the South Carolina State Fair with two of our good friends and their little girls.

 

 

Nail polish is Zoya Mason and I love it. It's definitely my new favorite for Fall. We scooped up a cute little pumpkin for our doorstep from a pumpkin sale. I ended the weekend feeling blessed to share my life with Nick, and loving our life here in Columbia.

 

I was sad this morning about the weekend being over, and Nick going out of town for the week. I checked Blackboard and saw I made a 92 on the last quiz in my Clinical Phonetics class and that has done a lot to raise my spirits.

 

I hope everyone has a great Monday and doesn't have the Monday Blues too terribly bad.



Stressed Out Thursday

I know this sounds so whiny, and I really am SO grateful to even have the opportunity to be in school (I didn't think I'd even get into the program), but I am working on a paper that makes me want to go lie in the road.

 

A speech pathology joke for you.

 

 

Sometimes it feels SO hard to work full time and be a student. Each by itself is hard, but together they make me want to go hide under the covers and never come out.

 

I will be so happy when Christmas gets here. I love snow and want to see some this year for sure. A ski trip would be even better.

 

I would never actually buy bear bedding for my home, but this bed looks so cozy and would be cute in a cabin somewhere like Gatlinburg.

 

 

Is anyone else an adult student? I welcome any tips to deal with being stressed out.

 

Weekend, please come quickly. Hope y'all have a great day!