October 30, 2015

friday favorites: all things scary edition

In honor of tomorrow being Halloween and all, let's get spooky today!
And by spooky I mean not spooky at all, because spooky is scary, and scary is not fun. 

Let's get Halloween-y today!
There we go. That's better.

Favorite Halloween Jam
This Is Halloween from The Nightmare Before Christmas
I mean, does it get any more non-spooky, but kind of spooky than I am the one hiding under your bed. Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red. PSA: the monster under your bed is real. Just for tonight, though. 

Favorite Halloween Food
I mentioned this soup in my Whole30 resources post, but obviously it is just as important in a Halloween post. At first glance this soup is in no way Halloween related, but there is the very important fact that it is orange and orange is a Halloween color. Therefore, this soup is 100% Halloween related. It also happens to be 100% delicious. I am not lying when I say 100% delicious as I have eaten it for dinner two nights this week and lunch two days this week. Hashtag I'm turning orange. For the sake of Halloween. How not spooky of me. 

Favorite Halloween Purchase 
This answer will be short and sweet...
Target dollar section Halloween
Any and every dang thing from the Target dollar section. They have got cheap Halloween on lock-down. Kudos, Target, for always winning in the game of Who Has The Best Dollar Section? 

Favorite Halloween Pilates Move
Spoiler alert: there is no such thing as a Halloween Pilates move. There are such things as Pilates moves done on the day of Halloween, so I guess whatever Pilates move(s) you do tomorrow will count. Since today is Halloween Eve, my Pilates move has some added help from a not spooky overlay, thanks to PicMonkey.
The Saw 
(^^ooooh, total spooky horror movie weapon moment right there)
pro tips: Hinge at the hip to twist, reaching through the crown of your head. Keep your opposite hip heavy and pushing down into the floor because you should be reaching with your arms. Not with your hips. 

Favorite Halloween Costume from A Halloween Past
Hershey Kiss costume
I wrote about many a past Halloween costume here, but this one takes the cake. Literally, Hershey kisses take the cake, amiright or am I right? My vote is that Hershey Kisses are better than cake. Hashtag not a cake fan. Double hashtag not at all. My mother made this costume which officially makes her the sweetest mom ever. Get it? Sweetest? Yeah? I'll never be the sweetest mom because I can't sew.

Sigh.
Anyways...

Happy Not Spooky, Halloween Eve Friday!
Linking up with Karli and Amanda

October 28, 2015

all the Halloween feels

It's the Wednesday before Halloween. Two important things of which to take note: 
1) We have not gone to a pumpkin patch yet
2) ^^This means we have not carved a pumpkin yet
although I did cut and scoop a butternut squash last night so I think I've filled my food guts quota for the year. 

Excuse me, three important things:
3) ^^This means that we have not wasted precious pre-Halloween candy eating time with carving pumpkins. More candy = mo' winning at life.

I would say it doesn't feel like Halloween yet, and that's 99% entirely true, and it's not just because of our Jack O' Lantern-less selves. It's because I'm still sweating when I go outside. Remember the terrible, horrible, and sad, depressing story of when I was forced to wear a white turtleneck under my Snow White costume because of the lower temperatures? Yeah well, living in Texas makes me realize that "slutty" versions of Halloween costumes weren't created for the sex appeal as much as they were created by people who live in Texas, and therefore need less clothing coverage on Halloween.

Totally logical, go with me on that. Moving on. 

The reason I say the whole it not feeling like Halloween is only 99% entirely true is because there is that tiny, minuscule, almost invisible 1% of a Halloween feeling lingering around. 

It's lingering in the tiny, minuscule, almost invisible pumpkins on our dining room table.
Halloween decor blog

It's lingering in the burlap-is-where-it's-at Hobby Lobby pumpkin. 
Halloween decor blog

It's lingering around the $1 candy corn banner I snatched up from the Target dollar bins. 
Side bar: snatched definitely equals bought in this and all instance(s). Glad we got that cleared up.
Halloween decor blog

It's lingering with the Fabulous (with a capital F for added important, mmhmm) pumpkins my mom and I glitterified when I was home a couple weeks ago.
Halloween decor blog

And finally, it's definitely lingering in the giant bowl of Reese's Halloween mix. Speaking of, I haven't had my daily fifth serving of Reese's today. The Halloween Horror!
Halloween decor blog

What makes it feel like Halloween to you?

October 26, 2015

things i learned about life from playing tetris

Patricia stopped by Houston this past weekend for a visit, and boy oh boy did she pack in some rain. Thanks, Patty. Really. It's super fun staying indoors for 48+ hours. ::insert eleven side eyes emojis::

Freddie and I were super productive during this Patric-ation. We did a little of this (sitting on our butts), a little of that (sitting on our butts), and we even squeezed in some dog cuddles. Some major dog cuddles.

One thing we actually did accomplish was pulling out the good ol' Nintendo 64 to play some Tetris. You see, we're 130,000 lines away from building the Egyptian Wonder so we had no choice but to play and get some lines.

It was in these dark, stormy, intricately-fitting-blocks-together days of the weekend when I had an a-ha moment (read: I was going stir crazy).
Playing Tetris is like playing life.
Important side note: By life, I mean life life and not the game, Life. Of course.

Without further ado,
Three Things I Learned About Life From Playing Tetris
It's okay when things (pieces) don't work out (fit together). 
You see, the point of Tetris is to fit the pieces together perfectly--one hundred percent perfectly so that no space is left open. Let me give you a guess at how often I fit everything together perfectly because it's about as often as I do anything perfectly in my life (again, my life life, not the game, Life). Hint: it rhymes with schemever. That's right, NEVER. I never freaking remember to grab Freddie's dry cleaning when I'm over on that side of town. I never remember people's names when I first meet them. I never mail people's birthday cards on time. On that note, I never get the yellow Tetris piece to fit in the space where the blue Tetris piece needs to go. <<<I KNOW, RIGHT?!

It's not about how many lines you get or your score, it's about the wonders you uncover along the way. 
Are you gagging yourself and/or rolling your eyes yet? Sometimes we (read: I) get so caught up in getting things done that we (I) kind of forget to notice all the little things that are accomplished along the way. Life is a journey, not a destination. But really, nine times of ten when we go grocery shopping I get annoyed that Freddie is taking ten hours picking out produce. Literally, it feels like ten hours. <<that is me not exaggerating. I always think of all the other things we need to be doing, and how now they'll all take longer because we've wasted almost half of our day in the produce section of the grocery store. Then Freddie finds crazy new fruits and vegetables to try, and then he cooks me delicious meals, and then we laugh and tell work stories over dinner, and then I realize how ridiculous I was being, and then I write a run-on sentence about it all in my blog post. 

Enjoy the journey, people. Oh yeah, and play Tetris so you can make some pretty cool wonders. 

Freddie is always better than me. 
What?! How did this life lesson get in here? I asked Freds for his input and this is what he came up with. Obviously. It is true that Freddie will always, without a doubt, score higher than me in Tetris, but I wouldn't necessarily say he is better than me. Because remember, people---it is not about your score! Otherwise I would be screwed... Let's just say we both have our own particular skills when it comes to life and to Tetris. I help people find their neutral pelvis so that they can get a deeper abdominal connection so that they can improve their overall posture, and he gets more lines than me in Tetris. We both win at life. The End. 

Here's hoping that the coming weekend is rain-free so that I can go outside...and not compare life to a video game ever again! 
Happy Monday!

October 23, 2015

friday favorites: the would you rather...? edition

Favorite Jam
Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin...but I'll listen/dance to any version. I'm not picky. 
There's something about this song that makes me want to live in a world where we all just grab the nearest person to be our dance partner and start dancing away. I mean, doesn't it make you want to do that?? Why don't we live in a world like that? Is that world somewhere beyond the sea? Har har har. Okay, listen, grab a dance partner, and dance!

Favorite Food
Friday favorites froyo
Does froyo count as food? Because it is my post-Whole30 jam. Here's how froyo goes down with us...
Me: combines every chocolate flavor with every chocolate and gummy topping
Freds: gets one fruit flavor with one or two fruit toppings
My creation = dessert
Freddie's creation = disgrace to the froyo gods
The End. 

Favorite Workout Article of Clothing I Need
that may or may not be expensive...
I know I've said this before, and about fifty times at that, but this should really read Favorite Workout Article of Clothing I Think I Need For These Next Five Minutes Until I Find Another Article I Need Even More. But is that a mouthful or is that a mouthful?! It's a mouthful. These high waisted Glyder leggings are what I'm choosing to love for the next five-ish minutes. I think high waisted things were made not to be made fun of, but for me to embrace and love as I go to workout after eating a handful of chocolate. High waisted pants, granny me loves you long time.

Favorite Pilates Move 
Mermaid.
My brain/body is still recovering after learning a thousand-gajillion-mazillion new Pilates moves this past training weekend. That's code for two hundred forty six. Nothing like some Pilates to help you recover from a lot of Pilates. Mermaid helps you feel lengthened and stretched. Pro-tip: Keep hips and shoulders square. Pretend you are in a toaster and go up and over to the side. If you go front/back and over then you will get burned in the toaster and it will hurt. Use you top obliques to pull you back to the top.

Favorite Halloween Candy
I wrote this category and then sat here typing nothing for the past two minutes. This is an impossible category. How can you pick just one Halloween candy?! You can't. But you know how you play that Would You Rather...? game as kids and you HAVE TO PICK an answer NO MATTER WHAT? Okay, so if I had to pick an answer, no matter what, I would say...that it's too hard so I'll pick a mix.

This mixlooks puh-retty delicious.

Happy Friday!
Linking up with Karli and Amanda

October 21, 2015

whole30: resources

After writing about my first Whole30 experience last week I had a lot of questions about what I ate, where I got my information, how anyone could survive thirty whole days without chocolate, etc., etc. Today is as good a day as any to share all my Whole30 deep, dark secrets! A.K.A. to share all my resources with you. Because I have no secrets after writing out that novel post last week.

Also because I blog promised to share my resources and what kind of blogger would I be if I went back on a blog promise? A bad blogger. Yay, alliteration!

Whole30 resources
Books and Blogs
  • Whole30 cookbook - So many good recipes, so many good tidbits, so many good Whole30 life hacks. I flipped through this book weekly like it was my job.
  • It Starts With Food - Everyone suggested reading this before starting Whole30. It explains every who, what, when, where, and why of the program. Spoiler alert: I never read it (insert hands over face monkey emoji) and I survived; however, most people I know that have read it have had nothing but positive oh-my-gosh-this-blew-my-mind things to say. 
  • Inspiralized blog - I fell in love with noodles and I'm never looking back. 
  • Anne's Whole30 resources post from Anne in Residence - You'll notice I have a lot of the same recipes and what not from Anne's post. That is because I went back to her post at least once a week to get ideas slash affirmation that I could make it through the 30 days. 
  • The Whole30 website - Thank the whole food gods for this website. They have a blog, a forum (where you can go and ask: wait, why can't I have corn again?!), and my personal favorite was the Can I have...? guide. I wish I was exaggerating when I say I was on this guide's page at least once a day. And my once I mean thrice. Ish.
Whole30 recipes
Recipes

Breakfast:
Lunch/Dinner:
Sides:
Other recipe-less things of which we ate a lot:
  • Frittatas. Omeletes. Fried eggs. Poached eggs. Scrambled eggs. Eggs. Eggs. Eggs.
  • Burrito bowls - throw in a ton of veggies and meat and voila!
  • Zoodles with just about any no-added sugar sauce and any and all veggies and meat
  • Roasted Sweet Potatoes
  • Roasted Eggplant
  • More Meatballs - using chopped mushrooms instead of breadcrumbs 
Anne has a great list of pre-made products that you should check out.
 Some of my favorites include:
  • Tessamae's dressings and sauces - Balsamic is/was my jam. I still pour it on all of the food. 
  • Almond butter - I was not a fan of Trader Joe's creamy almond butter. Justin's worked better for my snobby taste buds. 
  • Sparkling Water - flavored (like La Croix) or not (like any regular soda water), delicious. 
  • Larabars - Compliant flavors found here
  • Nut mixes - I actually found making my own cashew and raisin mix was my favorite, but Trader Joe's has some good mixes. 
  • Jicama tortillas - found at our HEB and uh-mazing for Taco Tuesdays. 


And there ya have it. Everything (ish) that went into my belly the month of September. Now, who else is way too hungry at 8am after reading this? Time for food! How about eggs...? ;)

October 19, 2015

when fall is non-existent

I haven't been able to make myself make a fall bucket list because a) it's still been 90 degrees in Texas and b)...well, there is no b) because did you read a)? I wore shorts the other day and in my mind I knew that technically it was seasonally inappropriate to wear shorts in October, but it was shorts weather! I couldn't not wear shorts! 

^^firstworldiliveintexasproblems <<itsthegenerationofhashtagsandidontusethespacebaranymore

When I landed in Georgia a few days ago the weather was 78 degrees. 78! It felt like winter! And right now it's 49 degrees in Georgia which feels like winter in Antarctica! Duh. I have been wearing the crap out of my new, necessary houndstooth vest, and I don't even care who knows it. Am I a basic betch yet? Please?

Since I've been feeling very wintery in this oh-so-cold (sarcasm) Georgia weather, I thought it was about time for me to start doing some fall stuff. 

Enter the corn maze
The Muppet themed corn maze!
Muppet corn maze

Let me start by saying corn mazes confuse the bleep out of me. I don't understand why they hand you a map because...well, because how is that helpful? Is the dirt path between the corn really a yellow brick road? No? Then I definitely will not be able to make any sort of sense of it. Will the map turn into a drone and take me over the corn so I can see where the punch stops are? No? Thanks, but no thanks. I'll just be in this maze here for the next six to seven Octobers. Don't mind me between the months of November-September 2015-2021. 

The good news is my mother and father were there and apparently reading fake maps of corn mazes are one of the additional skills they should both add on their resumes.
Oh, we're definitely in Fozzie's smile right now!
This dead end is Kermit's crotch!
We're somewhere inside Miss Piggy.
^^I can't make this stuff up. 

Somewhere between the curve of Kermit's butt and zig zag of Gonzo's eyebrows we managed to find 10 of the 12 number stops AND find the exit. Actually technically we found the exit a lot. In fact, I think we passed the exit more than we passed anything else in that field. Except for stops #2 and #10---those number stops just downright did not exist. I'm convinced. I'm also convinced that if you had seen a bird's eye view of us you would have just seen us walking in circles and pretending like this stalk of corn was a brand new one that we had never seen. Wow! This stalk looks way different than the other thousands of stalks!  I'm also also convinced that corn mazes just tell you that the shape of the maze looks like such and such, but really it's just random paths with no rhyme or reason

I even managed to snap this blurry picture of my dad totally winning at the corn maze by finding a number in Rowlf's ear. 

Other important fall things for you slash me to do:
-Get a hot chocolate from Starbucks just so you can carry around a Starbucks cup. Gross, coffee.
-Take a picture with pumpkins, but definitely don't buy those pumpkins because you should already have some BECAUSE IT'S ALREADY OCTOBER 19, PEOPLE. Bonus points if the pumpkins are around hay.
-Wear a sweater with a chambray shirt under it and a vest over it, and document it. #fall #ootd #yas
-Put glitter on the tops of your previously purchased pumpkins. Just trust me on this one.
Blog corn maze

It's back to the Land of Summer Fall for me tonight sooo...BRB, gotta go soak up every last second of wearing long pants. 

Are you able to play real life Signs and successfully navigate through millions stalks of corn?

October 16, 2015

friday favorites: the what the bleep did i do edition

Favorite Jam
I'm currently living it up in the Peach State for another weekend of Pilates training (only three weekends left! Gasp! I should be studying anatomy and not posting this blog!). In honor of my forever favorite state, let's all jam out to some Ray Charles.

Favorite Recipe
Goat Cheese Cheesecake
I have been eating my fair share of desserts since completing Whole30. Which means I obviously am a big failure, and my sugar dragon is nice and settled inside my body. But whatevs. This full-on goat cheese cheesecake has been delicious. Rachel, wanna bake us one weekly? Daily? Bi-weekly? All of the above? The sugar dragon wants more. Rawr.

Favorite Free Thing I Already Have So I Don't Need Any Expensive Thing(s)
Except for all the expensive things from Friday posts past.
Houston skyline
Sometimes I get super sad about missing Charleston (which, seriously, I'm having some major separation issues over here. Hashtag me crazy), but then Freddie comes home from work, and I come home from Pilates, and we both just spill out all the wonderful things that happened to us at work that day. It's then that I realize our being in Houston makes so much sense. All the sense, really. We are where we are supposed to be.

Favorite Pilates Move
One thing I l-o-v-e (and actually kind of hate) about Pilates is that it always is challenging. Always. Once you figure out one move, there are five to twenty more hanging out on the sidelines waiting to make you work every single tiny muscle you never even knew existed. On that note, meet leg pull back. 

Keep your hips lifted like a sling was around them. Press away from the floor to create space in your shoulders. Keep the back of your neck long. And breeeeeeathe!

Favorite Craziest Thing I Did This Week
Lupe the dog
I have never ever wanted a pet. In my five-year plan (and my ten-year and my twenty-year...), getting a pet never shows up. Give me all the human babies, but animal babies? I don't even know what to do with them. Well, just because it wasn't on my five-year plan doesn't mean it wasn't on our five-day plan because five days ago we got a dog.

What the WHAT! WHAT?! What even?? <<<still don't have words to describe what happened this week. Thank God for this generation's vocabulary of nonsense to help me try and describe it.

A dog was found, had no home, man that found dog couldn't keep dog, we met dog, Freddie was the happiest ever, and I couldn't say no. I couldn't say no to Freddie's big smile, and the dog's incessant tail wagging and homelessness. Who am I? I say yes to a dog?!

So now we have a dog. His new name is Lupe. He likes napping, playing, and spooning with Freddie. I am in shock. The End.

Happy Friday!
Linking up with Amanda and Karli!

October 14, 2015

on finishing Whole30

And the culprit of the stench was...a head of rotten broccoli. 

^^ That totally caught your eye and made you overly excited to read more, right? Oh, it didn't? Weird.

You see, I used to have the worst eating habits. Super picky plus stubborn plus unwilling to try new things--that all equaled me. As a joke, one year I was given a head of broccoli as a present. Hardy har har har and all that, but I kind of forgot about the broccoli in the bag. Not too long afterwards our entire den started to smell terrible. Horrible. We couldn't figure out what in the world was creating such a horrible stank. Spoiler alert: it wasn't dog farts (or human farts), it was the old, nasty broccoli.

Promise this was many, many moons ago and not 24, 25, or 26-year old Emily.
yippeemlebaby
Many moons ago Emily also lurved some peanut butter. 26-year old Emily still does. 

Fast forward to the present--I eat broccoli. I eat cauliflower mash. I eat sweet potatoes, peas, eggplant, and mushrooms. I eat fruit. I eat meats. I do not eat green beans. How I got to this place of eating such strange foods as eggplant (sorry, it's weird) is a story for another day. Today we are going to talk about...


The pilates studio (where I now work!) (check it out! Pure Body Studio! Represent and all that) recently did a challenge called Pure30. It was 30 days of living, breathing, eating Whole30 in addition to working out at the pilates studio 5 days a week, and working out at home 1 day a week. Phew. Wore me out just typing that all out again. 

I did it! I actually factually completed the entire challenge. No dairy, no alcohol, no added sugars, no grains, no exercise excuses, and no fuss (okay...maybe I did fuss juuuuust a little somewhere around days 8-20ish...but then you realize you're eating delicious food and it's all good). It's taken me some time off of it to decide what my true feelings were/are, but today felt like a good day to finally word vom out all my Whole30 thinkings. Lucky. You. 

Pure30
Apparently I didn't take any pictures of my real meals for the past thirty day...

Sidebar: Just some background, people rave about this program. R-a-v-e. The testimonials are pretty inspiring if you ever have hours to waste on medical and physical victories of Whole30-ers. They call these NSV or, for you noobs, non-scale victories (I literally Googled NSV when I started this program because what?). Things like clearer skin, better sleep, no bloat, healed injuries, vanishing allergies, no chronic pain, and better overall control of cravings just to name a few. 

Drumroll please...

...

I did not get any of that from this program.
Wanh wanh. 
I, Emily, am immune to Whole30. Do not tell me I cut out my wine and bread and cheese for 30 days for NOTHING?!
^^that's a joke, but literally what was going through my head some of the time. 

At first, this was all a pretty big bummer for me. Where was my angelic, baby butt's soft skin?! (I literally had a new zit every few days). Where was my lean, mean, bloat-be-gone-cuz-I-eat-clean stomach?! Why did I sometimes still really think chocolate just sounded like the bomb.com?!

However, now that I've had some time to let everything sink in (and let a glass of wine sink down my belly), I am finally able really to recognize and acknowledge the main thing I gained from these 30 days.

Whole30 was a vacation for my brain. 
Biggest and greatest, first and foremost, forever and always pro. I was afraid that denying myself foods would turn up a side of my brain that did not need to be around, but that did not happen. For years I have gone through extremely disordered eating. I have gone from not thinking twice about how I eat, to overanalyzing and big time controlling my eating, to losing way too much weight, to binge eating, to just in general not taking great care of my body. While I am much healthier now, it's something that never really goes away. There's always the voice in my head telling me I shouldn't have eaten that, or did you really not read the calories?!, and so-on and so-forth with the no good thoughts. Thirty straight days of knowing I was only putting in wholesome and good-for-you food in my body was huge. I could go to bed without extreme guilt. I could go out with friends without dreading all the bad choices I just knew I would make. It was literally a vacation for my disordered eating brain and I really enjoyed that vaca. 

I also am thoroughly enjoying my handful of chocolate and my glass of wine on this side of the challenge, so life is funny and chocolate is yummy. 

Other big pros:
Cooked more.
Tried so many delicious recipes.
Had more meals sitting together at the real table and not the coffee table.
Realized that cauliflower rice is delicious and zoodles are just as fun as they sound.
Practiced my true housewife skills and washed 1000 dishes a day (oh wait, pro or con?)
Discovered that the world does keep spinning even if you don't get an after-dinner dessert. Shocking.
Spiralized the cuh-rap out of some vegetables and realized how amazing it is. 
Felt stronger from good food, good fuel, and good workouts. 

All in all I am glad I finished it. So what that really means is I'm glad I did it in a group because without the support of the Pure30 community, I probably would have quit. And then been mad at myself for quitting. And then talked about that a lot and pondered about starting over again. And then Freddie would have left me so...yay for finishing! 
Finished Whole30

Special thanks to:
-Pure Body for creating the challenge.
-Pure30-ers for posting delicious recipes on the Facebook group for me to steal.
-Freddie for cooking and experimenting with all sorts of Whole30 recipes.
-and to Ryan and Rachel for bringing back all the delicious wine from Spain and letting me have some on Day 32. Hallelujah. 

I'd be happy to answer (or attempt to answer) any questions you have about Whole30, my experience, or why chocolate is made of crack! Ask away. The blog mic is yours. I'll try to do a post next week with resources and recipes that worked/helped me during the thirty days of rockstar status. 

October 9, 2015

friday favorites: ma! the meatballs!

Favorite Jam
There's something about this time of year + pumpkins Mumford and Sons that just goes so well together. I like to put on their album Babel and just jam it out. Like head banging, air banjo playing jam it out. Try it. Your head and fake banjo will thank you. 

Favorite Food
Meatballs. 
meatballs
Another Whole30 staple in our house. We have been making a batch of about 300 every Sunday. I'm kidding. It felt like 300, but was probably more like 50 (so 300, yes). 

Favorite Expensive Thing I Want
1 | 2
Ugh, always the hardest category every week. How do I narrow down my list of all the expensive things I can't live without?! Every day I'm strugglin'. But seriously,  I need a good tote to carry around all my Pilates books, and I'm preeeeeeetty sure there's no other good totes in the world other than Kate Spade totes. Ain't no party tote like a Kate Spade party tote.  

Buuuuuut I also want my backpack purse. So basically, I am a terrible and very materialistic person, so I'll just take one or the other. That makes it all better, right?

^^both paragraphs are ridiculous. 'Scuse me. Carry on. 

Favorite Pilates Move
Rolling like a ball.
Pilates-rolling like a ball
Pro-tip: don't roll away like a ball <<such a good tip, I know! Real pro-tip: Only roll to your shoulders, or  if you have spinal injuries just roll back a few inches off of your sitz bones <<actually a real and important tip! Rolling like a ball is great as a massage for your spine, AND it helps you find abdominal control. Your abs become your brakes in this move. Now get to it, do it. 

Favorite I Might Pee My Pants Because I'm So Excited
Exactly five months ago we left Chucktown and headed for Texas. I lurve where we are now, but there's a big piece of my heart in Charleston. So...drumroll please...in exactly one month we will be reunited with Charleston AND with the best of friends!!! !! !! Here's hoping I can contain my excitement and not pee my pants waiting for November to get here. Nope, I can't. Hurry up, November.
Charleston friends
This terrible quality photo is brought to you by the last time I saw these top notch people in May. CAN'T WAIT TO SQUEEZE YOUR FACES SOON.


Happy Friday!
Linking up with Karli and Amanda!

October 7, 2015

currently: the let them eat brownies edition

eating //
I recently finished a Whole30 (more on that as soon as my brain and/or stomach can process all my feelings about it) and I'm kind of/sort of terrified to eat sugary things right now. But all I can think about is this brownie...and how scared I am to take a bite of it. But how badly I do want to take that bite because LOOK AT IT.

exploring //
Other than that one time we almost died because of 500 alligators (exaggeration level is high there), we have been exploring big, bad Houston. Food, parks, hiking trails, more food, hookah bars, and Central Market sammies, just to name a few exploration destinations. By exploring I mean we try to do a few new things every week, and yet we still have only explored about 10% of the city. Houston is huge, people. Huge. Ginormous. We'll never be done.

wearing //
I was going to try and post some super cute, Pinterest worthy outfit, but then I would be lying. So because the fact that a Pinocchio nose would make me look ruh-dic, I will tell the truth. I put on some workout pants, throw on a tank top (that doesn't usually fall under the category of workout tank, but I pretend it does), and I head out the door. Hours later I come home planning to shower and look halfway decent, but then I remember how badly jeans (unless you unbutton them and then what is the point?) suck so I just don't. The End.

admiring //
Anyone who has given birth. I bow down to you. I've been reading a lot (emphasis on the a lot/too many part) of birth story blog posts recently and no. For someone who likes gross things, I can't with the birthing thing. It's on a whole new level from zits and flakes of dead skin. For someone who wants to have a lot of kids, I grow more t-e-r-r-i-f-i-e-d of birth/post-birth with every dang sentence of every dang blog I read.

collecting //
Does anyone else save every single card ever given to them? I'm talking like that ballerina birthday card from your sixth birthday, or the Happy Graduation card from your neighbor four houses down, or even the Bed, Bath, and Beyond typed messages from your wedding gifts? Yeah, I'm that person who saves every single thing and I'm that person who has run out of room to store said cards. Every time I go through them I end up just getting sentimental and awwwwww-ing while reading them. Then somehow the piles stay the same size. Ohhhhh welllllllll. There could be worse things to collect (I did save all my old baby teeth as they came out when I was younger--ew).

Linking up with Anne and Jenna!

October 5, 2015

help me: a fall fashion wish list plea

Happy Monday!

We all know why you're here today...to get some good ol' fashion tips.
Oh wait, I'm sorry. Brain fart. I must have confused myself with someone who actually knows a thing or fifty about fashion. 

You came by here today to help me with whatever my current life fashion crisis is. Thank goodness you're here because this fashion crisis is a doozy! A dizzalicious doozy. Dizzamn! I've got a doozy! 

Okay, I'm done. Moving on. 

Fall Fashion
There are three super important items on my Fall Fashion Wish List. (and then there are about six more slightly super important items on the list, too). Problem is, I don't know/can't decide which exact item of each to get. 

Life is hard.
help me
Help me, I'm poor helpless.

Floppy hat

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Last week when I jokingly seriously asked if I should get a floppy hat, everybody and their mom/dad/aunt said, Yes! Actually, most people said YES! and I can't not get one when caps lock is involved. But do I want a fun, fall color? Or a basic, neutral color? Or both? Or neither? See, this is complicated. 

Backpack purse

1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Sole Society is winning it. 

Two big reasons this style purse appeals to me:
1) It's cute.
2) Pilates training has made me a tad crazy/over aware, and now I feel all uneven and lopsided when I wear my crossbody bag. The horror, I know. Let's fix it!

Faux leather leggings

1 | 2

I go back and forth about these babies, and yes, these are important enough that I spend a significant amount of my brain space thinking about them. I've seen them on some people and the crotch is baggy and the knees are baggy and they look weird. But Moooooooom, I don't want baggy crotch fake leather leggings. Whine whine. After much research, Spanx and Hue win for best brands. Which ones do we (yes, we collectively) get?

What's on your fall fashion wish list?
Should we just only wear pumpkin colored fashion items this year? #basic

October 2, 2015

on having favorites on a friday

Insert obligatory paragraph HERE about how I cannot believe it's already October. But really, how is it already October? I feel like I was just eating Halloween candy the other day...

Favorite Jam
This Girl by Punch Brothers
Anyone ever listen to Nickel Creek? Now, don't get too excited. I knew you thought I was going  Nickleback there. The dude, Chris Thile, sings in many bands, apparently, and Punch Brothers is one of them. Enjoy my current car jam where I pretend I am the girl that is this girl that they are singing about, obvi.

Favorite Food
Freddie made broccoli slaw and ohmygosh. Oh my gosh! I have never been so excited to eat nasty green vegetables.
Every morning when I wake up I get excited knowing that I get to eat that dang broccoli slaw for lunch. Mmmm! I'm excited all over again just typing it out now. Is it lunch yet and/or can I eat broccoli slaw for lunch? Can I say broccoli slaw any more times before it gets annoying?
^^ sad update: Freddie finished it all last night. My life has no meaning. Carry on.

Favorite Expensive Thing I Want
This category is going to start being a weekly regular because a) apparently I want a lot of expensive things and b) maybe someone will read this blog, take a/some hint(s), and Christmas will be full of expensive surprises. #wishfulthinkingfriday
But how cute and necessary are these?! Emphasis on the necessary
Found here. Hint hint. Wink wink. 

Favorite Pilates Move 
a.k.a.--I just wanted another reason to make a fun gif. 
Side plant to twist. This picture is brought to you by a) post-workout sweating stank bod, Freddiehusband, and our kitchen floor. Cheers, enjoy. May your side plank to twist form look better than mine. 

Favorite It's Obviously 2015 Thing
Do you ever wonder how people shared big life events in the past? Like how did you let everyone know your baby had a blowout in his or her diaper before Facebook? And how did you tell all of your friends you were engaged before texting? Those times must have been hard times. Snail mail should be called snore mail because I would have fallen asleep waiting to hear all of my friends' big news. It feels like all of my friends are getting engaged and married and it is all SO exciting! Rings! Weddings! Parties! One of my friends made this collage using the pictures that we all texted to one another to spread the news that we were engaged and not underage.
Oh, no one cares about this picture other than me? Weird. Well, whatever. I love it!

Happy Friday! 
And Happy October. May your fall be cooler than 89 degrees, but warmer than 8 or 9 degrees. 

pee-ssss: Thank you all so much for your helpful comments and blogging advice from Wednesday's post. You (plural) da best. 
Linking up with Karli and Amanda! As always.