I Miss Summer

Iced coffee just does not taste the same when it's 40 degrees outside. 

Water balloons + iced coffee = two of my favorite things about summer. 

Wedding Wednesday

Cake by Zingermans

A couple of weeks ago, we had an outdoor wedding that was gorgeous. It was the first Jewish wedding that I helped out at and I was in charge of the procession- which proved to be more difficult than anticipated, due to some last minute changes. 

But overall, it was awesome! The bride was stunning. The weather was great. And from the 'first look' photos to the beautiful traditions during the ceremony, I was a bit emotional. Cue sunglasses. 

Rainy Mondays

Today stinks. (weather-wise)

It's been raining allllll day long and it makes me not want to do anything.

Here are the pictures of my desserts on my birthday. Why? Because they make me smile. And rainy Mondays need all the smiles they can get. 

Above is the cupcake that the family I babysit got me and below is the cannoli dessert from dinner with my Dad!

Dearest Friday

Dearest Pinterest, thank you for being my number 1 favorite time waster. 

Dearest Poshh, I'm sad you're closing. And now I'm unemployed again :(

From Me to You, you are my favorite tumblr. Well next to Suri's Burn Book and Derriere Diva

Also, does anyone else take pictures of things they want to buy/make/tell other people about? I have maybe 25 pictures on my phone of random things from magazines...awkward if anyone else looks through my phone :/

It's Gettin Hot in Here

Groupon recently had a deal for some hot yoga here in Ann Arbor

$30 for 20 classes? Um. Duh! 

Tuesday was my first class. I've done hot yoga before- Bikram to be precise but Tuesday's class just about killed me. It was hot Vinyasa flow and boy-oh-boy was it hot!

The instructor said we got up to 99 degrees.... aka too hot to be exercising.

I know it's good for me. I know I will reap the benefits of doing hot yoga. Blah blah blah. 

I was in child's pose like 8 times during the 75 min session. While the other 'yogis' were doing headstands and making me jealous. 

Oh and my entire body still hurts. 

On the plus, I'm told we will all be able to do this by the end of class 2:

Image found via Pinterest

Wedding Wednesday

I helped out on the cutest wedding this past weekend- the bride made homemade paper buntings that we hung in the trees and the theme was wheat/bees.

So the centerpieces were dried wheat tied with beautiful blue velvet ribbons and the favors were beeswax candles and honey. The bride DIY'ed everything herself- and it looked awesome! 

And the bride's family choreographed a surprise flash mob- so creative and awesome!

The venue was probably my favorite place ever- well next to Misty Farms- but it was at Concordia University, in a manor that had secret passageways! Aka hidden doors in bookshelves that led to creepy basements- but still so cool!

Travel

While it was SO MUCH fun to see my friends and family last weekend, getting home and then getting back to Ann Arbor was a bit of a struggle.

My journey started early Thursday morning- train left around 7:45 am from Ann Arbor. My pops dropped me off and I had luckily packed some magazines and books because my train ride ended up being delayed on the tracks for almost two hours. Grrr

I was supposed to meet up for lunch with my favorite little "Frenchie" Kate for lunch with her bf in Chicago. But my train didn't get into town until around 1 and my train to my mama's house was supposed to leave at 1:30. So sadly no lunch :( 

After getting a little bit lost in Chicago- aka I'm an idiot- I made it to my train just before it left. 

And my bro was nice enough to pick me up from the train station in Geneva! 

Now getting back to Ann Arbor was another story...

I woke up at 4:30 am. Took a cab at 5 am to take the 5:30 am train into Chicago. Arrived into Chicago around 6:45 am. Took the 7:30 am train to Ann Arbor and arrived in Ann Arbor around 2 pm. Of course I couldn't find the right bus stop- so I spent a good 20 minutes walking around with my luggage looking for the bus (which was luckily running late). One transfer later and I hopped off the bus to walk to babysitting. That's right- I walked a little over a mile on a road with no sidewalks with my rolling luggage to go babysit. And it turned out, they didn't even need me to babysit. 

But overall, it was a gorgeous day outside and I am so happy I was able to see my friends and familia! 

And here's a picture of the scenery of the street I was walking down- so pretty right??!

Last Weekend

Last weekend I headed to Crystal Lake to visit with friends from college and celebrate an engagement (not mine...duh!)

It was so much fun to get together with sorority sisters and some of the guys we were friends with in college

We spent the day boating (and drinking) and just hanging out and then we spent the night having a bonfire and hanging out at a local bar...with all the locals

Overall, it was a very needed weekend and a very fun weekend! I miss seeing these girls on a daily basis :(

Gladys

This dog is so hard to stay mad at.

One minute she might be gnawing on my toes. The next minute, she's giving me kisses. I. Just. Can't. Stay. Mad.

Life in the Fast Lane

Today I am headed to Chicago! Woop woop

Takin the train from Detroit to Chicago means I will most likely have some hilarious stories to share. And also, I got to PACK for my four day trip!

Don't know why, but I absolutely love packing. So it's been a fun week.

And while I pack, I like to snack on pretzels and dijon mustard.

Again, don't know why, but it's probably my fave snack of all time.

Also, the never ending amounts of rain that we've been having in Michigan mean it's Sperry weather. I just slip and slide way too much in any other shoes and I don't have my wellies here right now :(

So excited for the fun weekend ahead!



Ombre Nails Take Two

It's no secret that I dig Ombre nails.

I experimented last week with doing Ombre throughout all my nails.

This week, I bring you a different style- but lots of 'Ombre'- goodness!

Using a little bit of glitter on your brush- start at the top of your nail and brush towards the bottom. Only use a little bit of glitter polish at a time and then just apply until you get the desired effect.

I used a light brown color for a base and then silvery polish for my ombre effect- I dig it.

What I Have Been Up To This Past Week

What I Have Been Up To This Past Week (Numbers Edition)

45: Numbers of hours worked

24: Celebrated a birthday :)

3: Cabs taken- boo public transportation this weekend!

2.5: Watched some movies (The Help, Prom and half of Captain America)

2: Power outages on Saturday- crazy MI weather (check out the picture below)!

1.5: Books read (Sarah's Key and half of The Lonely Polygamist-not for me)

And then countless hours spent job hunting...because tomorrow is my last day at job #1!!!

I have to say that I normally don't leave a job before I have another one lined up- but I just could not stay there any longer.



Where Did Summer Go?!

I cannot believe that it's already Labor Day weekend. Where has this summer gone?! sadly, I wore my white pants for the last time yesterday: ( I do love me some Fall-knee high boots, pumpkin spice lattes and tailgating? Yes please! But I am sad to see summer go. . .

The Big 2-4

I am going to save the sentimental birthday post for tomorrow (or never) but in the meantime, I wanted to share some birthday pics

Today was a good great day

Not that I was expecting anything less, I mean it is my birthday and all

But I sometimes wonder if people expect too much for their birthdays and then are left feeling disappointed.

I didn't really have any expectations in place for the Big 2-4

I had to work both jobs today (9-3 and then 4-6) and I was excited to go out to dinner with Daddio

Not only was I brought (close) to tears by the touching comments from friends on facebook, blogs, texts, phone calls, etc. But when I walked in to babysit this morning, this is what I saw:

I was so touched that they even knew it was my birthday! I have only known them for a couple of weeks and they went to the trouble of decorating?! I dig it.

When I made the chocolate chip pancakes for their breakfast, the oldest told me "these taste like they are from a resort in Mexico". Confused, I wasn't sure how to respond until I was told that that was the highest form of compliment I could be given. Big smile.

We spent the day going to see the Smurfs movie (another birthday treat) and working on building stilts (awesome, right?) and shortly before it was time to leave, I was surprised with this:

And they even sang happy birthday to me :) I was speechless. Not only did they celebrate with me, but they also bought me a gift certificate for a pedicure. So beyond awesome.

More details to come on the rest of my day but I just wanted to give you a snapshot of the way I ended my day:

Dessert #2 and celebration #2. Because, really, on your birthday, you can eat as much dessert as you want, right?