Whoops.

It's here. It's been here a week now. Whoops. This is certainly not how I planned to start off the blog in the new year, but ya know, the holidays are busy, especially when you travel!

A recap of our holidays:

We were all set to drive back to Illinois early Christmas Eve morning.  Ben had suggested driving back after work on 12/23 and I'd shot the idea down for fear of driving over night and us staying awake (last summer Ben's family drove out to CO and his mom fell briefly fell asleep at the wheel. Thankfully the rumble strips her up immediately, but because of that we instated the rule that someone needs to always be awake with the driver). Monday morning, 12/23, I got to work anxious to get the day over. After checking the forecast and road conditions, I emailed Ben and said "what the hell? we might as well drive after I get off to have the extra time with family" and we did just that.

We arrived home at 4am MT/5am CT and immediately hopped in bed for a few hours.  By 10:30 we were up and at 'em. We even made it to 10pm Christmas Eve Mass!

This year's Christmas was a strange one.  With our nephew being here, my SIL decided they wanted his first Christmas to be in their own home in Chicago.  My brother and his wife decided that their dog is on her last leg (so sad!) and it was best not to travel with her but they hated the thought of leaving her behind, thus we both missed siblings at Christmas. None the less, it was so nice to be home with our parents and Mr. Sister. Home is always home.

My parents wonky tree

Sleeping in my own bed

Family Tradition: Ticket to Ride and wine :)

 Thursday I got my first EVER spray tan. I went to a place called Flesh Tones as recommended by my hair stylist/wedding make up artist, Glam 2 Go. A person did airbrush spray and it was only $15! I was pretty nervous that first night, but overall happy with the results!

Friday Ben and I hopped in the car for our next roadtrip, a five hour drive to Indianapolis for MT's wedding! We were supposed to have arrived with an hour to spare before rehearsal, but do to the worst back up I've ever seen, thanks to a overturned jello and pudding semi load (REALLY! I could not make up a worse excuse!), we barely caught the end of rehearsal.

Wedding day was perfect.  MT had arranged for hair and makeup (and food) in the private loft area of an adorable salon called A'Do.  From there we went to a beautiful Catholic church for pictures and the ceremony.  Who would have thought that the last Saturday in December in the Midwest would end up being 50 degrees?!

I was pretty proud of my makeup! I saved $50 and did it myself :)

The party bus and reception were a blast. One of my best friends, MJ and her husband were there. I hadn't seen her in months so it was great to catch up and hang out. 

I die. Love the look on MT's face

 

Sunday morning, dead tired, we drove back to the QC to watch the Bears lose. My inlaws had driven to Chicago on Christmas day and taken our gifts for SIL with, returning with their gifts for us; so Sunday night we FaceTimed and opened another round of gifts.

10 months old; isn't he adorable?!

...because we were up early on Monday to get on the road back to Denver!

The loves of my life

We got home around 5pm and had our last Christmas tradition: Ben and I's exchanging of gifts. I love this quite wrap up (or should I say unwrapping? ha!) of the holidays and the time between the two of us after the chaos of family.

 

 I hope you had a great holiday season!

Three Years Ago Today

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

 

It's more like fourteen years ago today...

...these junior high kids went to a dance and started "dating".

 

Eleven years later, the walked down they aisle...



and were married.

 



Happy third anniversary to Ben, the love of my life, but much more than that, my absolute best friend and partner in life, in it through thick and thin, and always by my side. I'm thankful for our past and excited for our future. I love you.

Wedding Photos by Todd Boerema

Farmers Market Finds: my weekend

I have just a handful (now two) Fridays off remaining in the summer. Last weekend worked out perfectly for a trip back home to spend time with my family and to see my friend, visiting from Texas, and meet her six week old daughter.

 

After running just her third half marathon in Duluth (all three of which she did in nine months), my mom decided she wanted to train for and run a full marathon.  Through her running group, she learned about a small trail-course marathon in Wisconsin in September and signed up. This last weekend she was scheduled for a 20-mile run. 

 

Not being in nearly good enough shape to run 20 miles, I joined her on the second half of her run for a solid 8.5 miles along the Mississippi River.  She's using the Jeff Galloway training method, which involves running for 5 minutes and walking for 1.  We downloaded an app on her phone and surprisingly, I adjusted well.  Towards the end of our run I was yearning to hear that walk buzzer!  The only downfall was that we were out for 1hr 45min and did 8.5 miles.  Typically I would do about 10.5 in that time period.  Regardless, it was a nice start to the weekend!

 

Friday I bopped around town for some errands, including a much needed cut and lowlights before meeting up with my girlfriends for dinner at the new Barrel House bar/restaurant in Moline.  The fish tacos, sub avocado for wasabi, were delicious.

 

I called it an early night because I had plans the next morning to go with my mom and grandma to the farmer's market.  My grandma has been doing extrememly well since my grandpa's passing in the spring.  One of the regular "dates" my mom and Grams have is attending the Freight House Farmers Market every Saturday morning. 

 

They have their plan down to a T.  First they stop over to get bread from the vendor that sells out and then hit up The Crepe Guy for one of two rotating crepe options (savory or sweet) before finishing their shopping. 

 

I love love love crepes, mainly sweet (as witnessed here), so it was a no brainer to choose the cherry cheesecake with fresh Door County cherries. Uh-mazing!



Chicago has dozens of farmer's markets, including the big Green City Market in Lincoln Park.  We've been a handful of times, but it's a pain to drive to and after buying sunflowers and attempting to bike home with them once, I've learned my lesson.

 

My mom has her handling down.  She fills up her basket every week before heading home.

Here are my purchases, which make me really excited for meal planning this week.  I'll be utilizing the goodies below and have two recipe posts that will come as a result.  I'm currently salivating just thinking about the bruschetta chicken we'll be eating tonight with fresh asiago foccia bread (bottom right).

Saturday afternoon held some quality time with the girls and the baby. I sent a few gifts from the registry for her shower, but after making onsies for my cousin's baby, I couldn't resist making a few more; especially given the cute Texas themed cut-outs!

Add in a few ruffle butt leggings, baby girl ornament (I love giving ornaments that have a significance as gifts), home made headband and Old Navy bulldog pajamas (E and M have worn these since I bet them and now seven years later as "big kids"; still do), and I consider it a nice gift basket.

As cute as baby clothes are, nothing can compare to the baby.  My friend is working on building her photography portfolio so I asked if she'd mind for me to jump in and snag a few pics.  How precious is she?!

Saturday night was dinner with the fam at our go-to restaurant, Cafe Indigo, which we also at lunch at, before more friend and baby time.

I wrapped up the trip with homemade brunch with my family on my parents gorgeous patio before snagging a few peaches from their peach tree and hitting the road. After three weekends away, while fun, I'm looking forward to sticking around Chicago these last couple weekends of summer.



Linking up with Sami

Wknd Recap (+7/22 deals)

This weekend we headed back to our hometown of the Quad Cities for Ben's cousin's wedding.  Ben drove back on Thursday night with his sister and worked from home on Friday to be able to get to the rehearsal on time (he was a reader). On the other hand, I had to work in the office on Friday, lucky I had a trusty co-pilot to direct my drive.

The entire weekend was pretty much a whirlwind. Because we had the rehearsal dinner, appointments to get our hair done (much thanks to my MIL!), ceremony at 1:30 (we had to be there at 12:45. I was the guest book attendant), and reception at 5pm, it only made sense for us to stay at Ben's parent's house.  It's kind of odd to be in your hometown and only see your parents for about an hour, let alone not sleep in your own bed! But, we spent plenty of time together in June between Denver and Duluth, so I can't be too upset (I should say neither can they!).

 

Given our crazy agenda for the weekend, we didn't last very late at the wedding...

...but that was okay because it gave the guys a chance to catch a good night's sleep before golfing Sunday morning...and for Ben to get a hole in one!!!  A great day for golfing! Ben now has had two hole-in-ones: age 8 (damn son!) and age 27. It makes me think of my Gramps and how proud he would be for Ben (I'm pretty sure my Grandpa only had one hole in one during his life and he got it when he was in his 70s).

 

I asked him what happened when they realized.  When he shot, our brother in law said "man that's a great shot" and lucky for them, they were able to see the hole. The ball hit about five feet to the left of the hole and bounced directly in.  Ben started jumping up and down yelling, followed by my father in law and brother in law.

 

I suppose I should learn how to play golf, right?

The enginerd in me has to inform you of the numbers. The odds of
an amateur getting a hole in one on a par 3 are 12,500 to 1; the odds
 of a pro are 2,500 to 1. Ben's no pro, but he's certainly not an amateur.

I'd hoped for us to have time to go to the country club's pool, but clouds rolled in and Ben was in a hurry to get back to Chicago for what turned out to be a very wet Phish concert (three hours of rain with no shelter, yuck), instead to compromised to hit up Whitey's Ice Cream on our way out of town.  Since it was National Ice Cream Day (3rd Sunday in July), we let Oscar and Huey share a scoop. They were in dog Heaven!



How was your weekend? Linking up with Sami.

 

Today's Deals and Steals:

• Banana Republic/Gap/Old Navy: 30% off your purchase with code EVERYONE through 7/23, online only (2% back via ebates.com)
• Banana Republic Factory: Extra 40% off sale items
• Folica.com: 25% off site wide (and free shipping for $50+ orders) with code JULY25
• Francescas: Buy 1, get 1 50% off all full priced items, plus free shipping, online
• Macys: Extra 25% off women's clearance, prices marked (3% back via ebates.com)
• Piperlime: 20% off purchase with code EVERYONE through 7/23 (2% back via ebates.com)

The Artful Office Giveaway

A friend I went to high school with recently started her own business called The Artful Office in my hometown, but lucky for you, she also has an online store filled with some fun items.  Not only does she have goods available for purchase, but also her talented creative services can be yours, for a price, as well!


Fluorescent Double Vase



Watercolor Chicago Print



Right now she's hosting a giveaway, all you have to do is like The Artful Office on Facebook and share for a chance to win this cute (great color!) Retro POP Phone!


POP Phone





Christmas Weekend

What a weekend. Ben and I spent the long weekend/holiday back in our hometown of the Quad Cities.

We had a nice surprise to the start of our weekend. Ben's office closes at 5:30, so our plan was our typical "going home" plan: I get off at 4pm, take public transit home, grab the car and dogs, then drive down to Ben's office to leave from downtown when he's off.

During lunch, Ben's company owner decided to close their office at 3pm. I'd worked a bit of extra time during the week so I went to ask my boss if it would be okay for me to leave at 3pm and he stuck his hand out and simply said "Merry Christmas, I will see you next week" and excused me to leave at 1:45!

We dropped Tiny Tim off at another volunteer's house on our way out of town (the parents vetoed a non-pottytrained/4th dog around), and were on our way.  Although we hit some remnants of the storm the previous day (icey roads!) we made it home by 6:30pm.  We went out with my ILs for a QC classic, calzones at Pizza and Subs.  We've searched Chicago high and low for comparisons and there's nothing even close.

Saturday morning we went to brunch with my inlaws at Symposium Cafe before picked up our dogs (their Goldendoodle Rudy and our Osc) before going to Petco.  Ben has always grown up with a dog, so their family tradition has always been to take the dogs to pick out their gifts.

I think Oscar was a bit bummed we said no to the rawhide (choking hazard for bullies!)

We ran around town to finish up a few last minute local gifts before my sister and I went to VonMaur.  It was a good day at Vonmaur! I ended up buying three pairs of boots for myself. 

Two pairs of Corso Como Mott Booties...

...and a pair of Joan of Arctic Sorels. I've spent Chicago two winters with Huntress Wellies and fleece socks and it just does not cut it walking in snow, to and from the train.

aka "Moon Boots" according to Ben and Mr. Sister



I just couldn't help myself. I have been searching all over town for black booties (kid you not, I went to 5 stores in 2 days).  The original retail cost for the three pairs would have been $486....and I paid $170. Not too shabby!  The booties are on sale for $37 (here; down from $149! Call Northpark, Davenport, IA store to have them search your search. Free shipping!) and the Sorel's were $100 (down from $150). I told you VonMaur has the best shoe sale room.

And yes, my sister and I both bought the black. 

We have quite similar tastes, as proven by this picture (from Thanksgiving)



 



Following the exciting shopping spree and quicken fresh up, we had dinner with my family at Bass Street Chop House. As the same alludes, it's a steak restaurant (although their ahi tuna is also amazing). It's one of the nicest restaurants in the Quad City area, but my dad had bid on a gift certificate as a fundraiser for a local college (although he ended up paying more than the value of it) and it was expiring at the end of the year, so we had a wonderfully delicious meal.

After dinner we drove by our old neighborhood to go by one of the best decorated houses in town. They even have music and a bowl of candy canes for sight seers.  How cute are the huskies?!

Of course, a trip home isn't complete with a stop at Whitey's Ice Cream.  After getting dessert (we always forgo dessert at local restaurants for Whitey's), we headed home for a round of our favorite family game, Ticket to Ride, before calling it a night.

Sunday was our "alternative Christmas" in that we typically host my mom's extended family on Christmas afternoon.  This year we agreed that because a few of us travel from out of town and had to work on Wednesday, to have "Christmas" on Sunday afternoon.  It was lovely to spend to with family.  My mom has five siblings, all with kids, so as you can imagine, I have a good size extended family.  As the years go on and children grow, grandbabies have babies and every year immediate families branch off to do their own celebrations.  The time spend with those who attended was wonderful!  In addition to an adult giftcard white elephants (and gifts for the kiddies, qty: 4), we played Apples to Apples and watched the Sound of Music.

How cute is she? My youngest cousin, age 4, is also the youngest in a family of three boys. She is a spitfire and a sweetie rolled into one.

 Christmas Eve tradition always stands true.  My dad's side of the family, who also have five siblings, comes over for Harris Pizza, although it's typically just my grandma and uncle.  We had them over for lunch and yet again wound up playing Apples to Apples.

Christmas Eve has always been a big celebration on Ben's side of the family, so since we've been married I've adopted the tradition: dinner with extended family at Ben's aunt's house followed by 10pm mass.  Although we rarely go to church, I would like to change that, I do consider myself a Christian and spiritual person.  I love love love the reminder of the true meaning of Christmas before a morning full of gifts.

Another tradition of my in-laws is to watch Christmas Vacation, which we did after church until we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer.

All ready for Santa

Without any extended family Christmas day obligations, our day was slightly more relaxed, although we had the impending three hour drive back to Chicago ahead of us.

Because it felt like we spent the majority of the weekend with my family and at my parents (although we spend two nights at the ILs and 2 nights at my parents to "be fair"), we decided to open prezzies at my parents first, eat breakfast there and then head back to Ben's house until it was time to depart. This meant driving to my parents at 7:30am.



Our now "traditional" Christmas morning shot:

Following gifts, we had a beautiful brunch.  There is nothing like Christmas morning surrounded by loved ones and the smell of my mom's homemade cinnamon rolls.



We were back at my in-laws by 11am to open more presents and for a light lunch following gifts. I'll post some of my fav's later.

By 3pm, we were on the road back to Chicago with a pit-stop to pick up Tiny Tim.  I am not going to lie, I was so happy to see my little buddy and based on the absorbent number of kisses I received at the door, I think the feeling was mutual (uh-oh).

We gave Oscar his gifts, which we required him to open, but wasn't much of an issue after he smelled what was inside (bones).

Don't mind Oscar's blanket



We ended the evening with a gift exchange between Ben and I.  When Ben had suggested we not bring our gifts to one another home, I was kind of surprised.  In the two previous Christmas' we've been married we've exchanged gifts during the exchange with our family.  However, prior to that, during our dating years, we also exchanged at the end of the night, after all of the family gatherings were over.  Exchanging with just the two of us left night gave a bit of nostalgia to the past.  It was cozy. It was intimate and it was perfect.

As I stated on Facebook before bed last night, I feel quite blessed and thankful for the love and generosity of Ben, friends, family, and Savior this holiday season.

Happy Holidays!