thankful thursdays

Extra reasons to smile this week:

1. A sun-kiss from the big guy above.
2. My new favorite nail polish: Essie Raspberry. Can't get enough.

3-4. Fresh tulips from the super market. Well, as fresh as they can get from Pick 'N Save. It's amazing the impact a few flowers can make.
5. Impromptu dinner with my aunt and uncle at Buckley's. Best lobster sandwiches and carrot cake...ever. Plus, it's adorable. and I love living close to family!
6. Psychology Today magazine. A supportive surprise from Michael as I figure out a plan for my next decade in life. It's the little things :)
7. Cinnamon toast crunch with berries....fabulous. Who says cereal isn't healthy?!
8. A mid-day phone call from my mom, "I just found the cutest flats for you!" Mom, you are awesome. And the shoes are too.
9. DIY for my apartment. It involved sawing. I felt like a lumberjack, and I was proud. Stay tuned.
10. Milk duds and popcorn from finally seeing Hunger Games. My favorite sweet and salty combo. And the movie? Can't get it off my mind.

11 - 12. Happy Easter! Two varying Easter outfits. We battle through ridiculous photos but sadly my bunny ears did not win. My oldest sister and her boyfriend dressed up as chickens and took a video of them clucking...winners.
13 - 14. I've been sick this week. I'm not a fan of feeling awful, but I do love an excuse to lay in bed all day surrounded by books and blogs and warm coziness. My saving grace was Silver Spray - it's the underdog for immune systems. Stay healthy, homies!

And of course, tomorrow's Friday :)

xoxo

Thankful Thursday

Extra reasons to smile this week:

1. Dinner date with my girlfriend, Brenna, for a "classy burger" (the perfect combo!) at one of my favorite spots in Milwaukee, Elsa's. So thrilled that it's within walking distance!
2. Close-up of my necklace-holding tree. More on that later.
3. Ivanka Trump's Gurdia pump from heels.com. I stalked the mailman in anticipation for this package.
4. I'm a Gemini. Gurdia pumps, meet my other side: running shoes. First run since my marathon in October. Letting my blood drain to prevent soreness...? I know, I know, running myth for sure. I felt like a spazz and it didn't even work. But I'm back on the road. Progress!
5. Came home from work, put on my hoodie and suddenly felt very J.Crew-esque. Had to capture it ;)
6. It is unseasonably warm here in Wisco. Dear flip flops, meet the month of March.
7. Michael and I walked down to Alterra at the Lake to enjoy such glorious weather. Hooray for 70+ degrees in the evening, patio sitting, and the smell of spring!
8. Nightfall at Alterra at the Lake
9. Happy St. Patty's Day! We pretended we were in college again and started the day at noon. Complete with beads, green beer and glasses!
10. God made the Irish #1. Enuff said.
11. What a cute happy couple :) I finally caught dinner with two of my favorites at the Horny Goat's outdoor patio. (I cringe every time I hear the name, but I love the place!) We enjoyed the dangerously delicious "loaded tots" outside by the fire. Replace nacho chips with tator tots. Napolean Dynamite would FLIP!
12. I went to my parent's house for a night just in time for the pier to go in - one of my favorite days of the year! I am soo loving this heatwave.

I feel like it's been an unusually exciting week.

:)

Now if only we could get a win from Marquette tonight for the Elite Eight...

Ring out ahoya!

xoxo

An enormous gift.

(photo of my kitchen chalkboard used for shopping lists, etc, anddd where I channel my inner 1st grader for each holiday)

"Thanksgiving is about the bounty of this great land, and the plenty that ingenious and hard-working people have been able to create. With this plenty, America has saved the world from two world wars, invented medicines, technology and production techniques that have lifted living standards massively.

Other countries have smart people that have done good things. Other countries have resources. Other countries have been around longer, but none has been as generous, or had a more positive impact on the world, than America.

Being an American is an enormous gift. The freedoms and widespread prosperity we enjoy are unique and desirable. That’s why millions of people from all over the globe not only desire to live in America, but actually risk their lives to live in our land. More importantly, Americans are not leaving America to go anywhere else in large numbers at all. Despite recent high unemployment, no country provides the combination of opportunities, protections, freedoms, or living standards that America does."

An excerpt from What's So Special About America,

Brian Wesbury, Chief Economist

So Thankful for my amazing friends and family, the love and many blessings from God, and this beautiful country!

Happy happy Thanksgiving!!

xoxo

Thankfuls from the Land of Flu.

I've been blogging like a madwoman this week and I wish I could say it was in addition to my 8-5 and the rest of life, but in reality I've been home all week with the stomach flu. I'll spare you the details, just stay healthy please!

So on this Friday night as I sit by myself, with Michael in sunny Florida, my family out at dinner and my friends afraid of contracting my plague, this is what I'm thankful for:

1. the Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More album that I purchase today from iTunes. At Thanksgiving my younger cousins gave me the stink eye when I said I had only heard their main song. So even if this is "soo two months ago," their album is on repeat, and it's amazing. I can't even list a favorite song, it really is the album as a whole!

2. Philosophy's Grace products. This brand is new to me but popping up everywhere! I was recently gifted the Inner Grace bath soap (the purple one) - it's so relaxing and I love the messages on each bottle! Which is your favorite?

3. Bubble baths. The most wonderful remedy of all.

4. Jane Eyre. I'm halfway through and the book is at a time of such happiness but the foreshadowing gloom is overwhelming, so I get nervous to keep reading haha. Nerd alert. My book is not nearly as glam as this beauty, but I would love find such a copy!

5. Buddy, my 6 month yellow lab. This has been a very solitary week with the exception of my not-so-little-anymore buddy. The stomach flu is the new anti-friend, but he doesn't care :)

6. The lovely blogosphere. I've had so much fun exploring new blogs and sharing quite a few posts this week! Sick days from work aren't nearly as relaxing as sick days from school. Oh, the big kid life. Your posts and comments were definitely an escape from the icky flu cave I've been living in, but please go easy on me if I can't keep up the momentum as I rejoin the world!

Have a fun and healthy weekend everyone :)

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