Room with a view.

Why sleep IN your crate when you can hang out ON your crate?

Party nails.

OPI With a Cherry on Top and Be-Clause I Said So.

11 in '11!

World Champions!

I am so happy to be living in St Louis for this World Series.  It's been awesome to watch the whole city get so excited, and now the win!  Fireworks are going off all over our neighborhood ... and we live a half hour from Busch Stadium.  Incredible ... I love this town!

Maybe I could be a baseball fan afterall ....

TGIF

Game day means another jeans day at the office, but let's face it, I am not much of a jeans person, so I wore a dress. I'm sure the Cards appreciate it. I mean, I already wore pants twice this week. What more can I do?

In other news, I am completely addicted to Pinterest and I've been a pinning fool the past few weeks.  I am also making an effort to make my pins a reality.  That's the whole point, right?  To be inspired ... or Pinspired?

Right. (and yes, I have a board just for the things I pinned and then followed through on ... duh)

Exhibit A: a double twist scarf style.

Baby steps.  No need to bust out the heavy-hitting DIY just yet.  Have you made any pins come true this week?

And also?  GO CARDS!!!

Game Seven.

I am not a baseball person.  I am the first to admit that I am 100% bandwagoning with this post-season madness in St Louis right now.  I have to be honest with you, if all baseball was like this all the time, I would be a huge fan.  Post-season just does something to you ... especially in St Louis.  It's madness! 

Last night was truly a remarkable game to watch, and that's coming from someone who knows little to nothing about the sport.  And David Freese?  Holy hell, I love that guy.  I love that he's this hometown kid who quit baseball after high school and now he's here, and aw shucks he just hit a homer in the World Series.  Freese jerseys just sky-rocketed in price, friends.

And in the vein of cool stories and coincidences ...


Jack and Joe Buck call their respective Game 6's from Kidd Video on Vimeo.

Standing room only tickets are running upwards of $500 each for tonight's game.  We are currently debating where we will be going to watch ... do we brave the city/madness/crowds? I mean, being in a riot has always been on my bucket list ...

Go Cards!

Five for Friday, vol 21

1.  You constantly push yourself to take on new challenges and learn new things.

2. You have been making me laugh for ten years now.

3.  We have a weird psychic connection when it comes to ordering out for dinner.
4. You think I make the best sandwiches.

5.  You always make sure there is cut-up fruits and veggies for me in the fridge.

I love you.

Let's Fall in Love: Zero to Sixty-Five

When it comes to wedding receptions, there really is no right or wrong way to celebrate.  One reason I love them so much is the chance to see which traditions the couple choose to stick to, which they adapt, and which they cut entirely.  We chose to keep to tradition at almost every turn, but that still didn't mean we wanted to do every little thing just like everyone else.  While I love the idea behind the bouquet toss (and have even caught one in my career as a professional wedding guest), I wasn't sure it was something I wanted to do at my own wedding.  Instead of singling out the un-marrieds, I decided to take the opportunity to pay homage to the already-marrieds instead. I collected a list of songs from the wedding party (their First Dance songs), along with some of the love songs that had special meaning to Kenny and I.  It was the perfect soundtrack for an Anniversary Dance.

The DJ invited all of the married couples to the dance floor. 

The first song they played was one I had chosen from my parents' repertoire - Chicago's Color My World.

After a few moments, the DJ asked that anyone married for less than a day leave the dancefloor, so Kenny and I made our way to the perimeter to watch.

After a few more moment, the DJ sent off those married less than a year ... then less than five ... then ten. On a day that was all about beginning our marriage, it was really nice to take a moment and recognize the others in our lives.

 

As Kenny and I watched from the side, the crowd on the floor slowly dwindled to just a few couples. Forty years? Fifty? Who would it be?

Pretty soon it was down to my godparents and our close family friends.  But in the end, there was one special couple who won out.

Kenny's grandparents, happily married (and still dancing!) for over sixty-five years.

It was a fitting end to our Anniversary Dance, and I gladly handed my bouquet to Grandma Virginia.

From 0 to 65 ... something to strive for.

In case you missed it ...*

I bought a dress and completely changed it.  We had a marathon final week of engagement.  I giggled my way through our rehearsal.  Kenny got grilled at our rehearsal dinner.  The groomsmen ran amok in downtown Springfield. The girls got gorgeous.  We exchanged mushy wedding-day gifts.  The guys got fancy and then got dancy.  I became a Bride.  There was a first First Look. I shared my Somethings.  The boys made the most of trolley-time. And did their thing on the Capital grounds. The girls took photos at the hotel. Everyone arrived at the church. We walked down the aisle. We declared our intentions and my cousin preached. We exchanged our vows. Our hands were blessed. Kenny put a ring on it and kissed his bride. We were pronounced Mr and Mrs! We left the church in a blizzard of confetti, and took a "just-married" trolley ride. We made it legal. We took pictures with our families, followed by wedding party portraits. I hit a low point and poured over reception details. We received our guests. The wedding party was introduced. My Dad checked his toast off of his to-do list. Our Best Man and Maid of Honor shared toasts as well. The we cut our cake and had our First Dance. We shared a dance with our parents.

*Links updated!

Penelope at 12 weeks.

We brought Penny home three weeks ago, and I think it's finally safe to say we're all approaching what one could call a routine. Sort of.

She's quirky, precocious, and stubborn.
She can climb out of her pet yard and on top of her crate.
Those ears never, ever go down.

She mastered the stairs on the deck (going up) in three days.
Her favorite toy is a small pink bunny rattle.

She loves chewing on rawhides and baby carrots.
She is kind of scared of the dark.
She absolutely loves her sock monkey bed.

She sleeps through the night in her crate.
She goes nuts for chicken-flavored training treats and peanut butter.
She kind of hates her collar and tries to eat the leash when we go for a walk.

She loves toes.
She is fascinated by Tucker and wants to chase him and be chased by him all the time.
She is a champion eater, chows down, and then scratches at the bowl when it's empty for more.

She is fast.
She's gained a half pound since coming home with us, tipping the scales at 3.2 pounds.
She likes me better.
She's earned the nickname Penny Danger.
She thinks that "good girl!" means "treat."

She knows her name and sometimes "no."
She hasn't quite figured out pottying outside just yet, but she's so good in her crate that we're getting better every day.

All in all, it's been an interesting couple of weeks at our house.  It's stressful and tiring, but she's so cute that you can't stay mad at her.  Tucker is still a little unclear as to when she'll be leaving, but we're all adjusting.  I am looking forward to when she is housebroken, but otherwise she is a good little dog and a great addition to our little family.

Let's Fall in Love: In My Life

When Mr and I initially started planning the wedding, we talked a lot about the music and dances that we would have at the reception.  We decided early on that the Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances would be combined.  We wanted to have the special moment with our parents, but we knew that it would still be just as meaningful with both of us on the dance floor at the same time.

PS my dad is super handsome.

And how cute is MIL?

Such a proud mama.

We love our parents.  This dance was another moment I had looked forward to, and it (along with everything else I have documented from our wedding day) exceeded expectations.  It was a moment with my dad that I will remember for the rest of my life.  

In case you missed it ...

I bought a dress and completely changed it.  We had a marathon final week of engagement.  I giggled my way through our rehearsal.  Kenny got grilled at our rehearsal dinner.  The groomsmen ran amok in downtown Springfield. The girls got gorgeous.  We exchanged mushy wedding-day gifts.  The guys got fancy and then got dancy.  I became a Bride.  There was a first First Look. I shared my Somethings.  The boys made the most of trolley-time. And did their thing on the Capital grounds. The girls took photos at the hotel. Everyone arrived at the church. We walked down the aisle. We declared our intentions and my cousin preached. We exchanged our vows. Our hands were blessed. Kenny put a ring on it and kissed his bride. We were pronounced Mr and Mrs! We left the church in a blizzard of confetti, and took a "just-married" trolley ride. We made it legal. We took pictures with our families, followed by wedding party portraits. I hit a low point. We received our guests. The wedding party was introduced. My Dad checked his toast off of his to-do list. Our Best Man and Maid of Honor shared toasts as well. The we cut our cake and had our First Dance.

Four things.

Every once in awhile, I really enjoy these silly survey posts.  I mean, I need to post something substantial in between the ramblings about nail polish, tiny dogs, and pencil skirts, right?

Four Jobs that you have had: 

Gift Wrap Specialist (department store - my first job!)

Member Services Representative (bank teller)

Front Office Coordinator (receptionist - first job in recruiting/staffing)

Recruiting Specialist (current - corporate recruiter)

Four things you wanted to be when you grew up:

Ballerina princess
Nurse
Teacher
Mommy

Four Movies you could watch over and over:
Chocolat

Elf

Sliding Doors

Mean Girls

Four Cities you have lived in: 

Springfield, IL

Columbia, MO

Creve Coeur, MO

Fenton, MO

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Project Runway

Modern Family

Real Housewives

Big Bang Theory

Four Places you've been on Vacay:
Rome

Florida

NYC

Maine

Four Websites you visit daily:
Twitter

Google Reader

Pinterest

Facebook

Four of your favorite foods:
Pasta

Cupcakes

Cheese fries (surprise!)

Crab cakes

Four foods you can't stand:

brussel sprouts

corn

most fish

raspberries

Four Schools you've attended:
University of Missouri

University of Illinois- Springfield

Springfield High School

Dubois Elementary

Four Places you'd rather be right now:
Paris

Seaside

San Diego

Denver

Rewarding.

I like rewards. I respond well to gold stars and the like. In honor of my nice, big three-pound loss this week, I ordered three OPI polishes. Aside from Reese's peanut butter pumpkins, nail polish is my favorite indulgence ... Especially now that I learned how to successfully paint my nails. You Don't Know Jacques, Russian Navy, and the new Muppets holiday color Meep-Meep-Meep are on their way. And OK, Lincoln Park at Midnight too, since I'm a little indecisive.

And in the mean time, Essie's Wrapped in Rubies is carrying me into fall.

 OPI and Essie are my favorite brands, and I found loads of colors I want to try.  What are your favorites?

On the Weigh: First meeting in awhile.

WI: -3.2
Total: -12.6

My last WW meeting was October 1.  In the three weeks since then, I've gone out of town twice, spent two weeks sick with bronchitis, taken steroids for said bronchitis, gotten some potentially disturbing health news and underwent a subsequent biopsy, celebrated a milstone-minus-one birthday, and adopted a spanking new puppy.  I haven't been to bootcamp in two solid weeks.  It's been the most stressful month at work in the year+ I've been there, what with nonstop deadlines and looming promotional opportunities driving me to work better, faster, longer, stronger.  It's been a weird month, to say the least.  Even in a singular sense, any of those issues (positive or negative) would have been potential emotional eating pitfalls.  I eat what I feel, you know.  Regardless, I didn't forget WW existed entirely, but I wasn't as diligent as I would have been had I been stepping on a scale in the presence of strangers either.  I had no idea what to expect today.

In all honesty, I am thrilled beyond measure.  I am at a new low for WW, I held it together in spite of missing meetings (which I am not typically good at, minus that accountability), and feeling really great about moving forward.  I am pumped to be finally feeling better and heading back to bootcamp Monday morning, as well as starting C25K a few days a week to get back into running a bit.  Having mired in slowish losses over the summer, I have sudden new hope that I might just make that 20-pound goal for 2011 afterall, or at the very least get close.  I know the number represents several weeks of work, but man, it always feels amazing to see a big number on the scale.  The receptionist even whooped out loud when it popped up.

Sometimes a big number is all a girl needs to just keep going.

Shhhh... Baby is sleeping.

In which my lap becomes a hammock.

And ohmigosh the cutest stretches ever.

Five for Friday, vol 20

1.  You break open the bottle of cough syrup when I am being too big of a baby to do so.

2. You swear the cure for persistent cough is drinking Naked Juice and doing push-ups.

3.  You reallllllllllllllly love Costco.

4.  You are really jealous of the fact that the puppy likes me better (because she obviously does).

5.  I've recently realized that 90% of the photos we take together are outtakes of you trying to put your finger in my nose.

I love you!

Penny has two speeds.

1. Rest

2. Wiggle

Bothersome.

My cough drops need to can the pep talks and keep me from hacking up a lung.

I feel like poo, I do not feel like carpe-ing the diem, Halls.

Feed a Cold.

Current status: working sick from home with a hacking cough. Self-medicating with equal parts Dayquil and buffalo nacaroni and cheese. Buried under heating blanket constructed from two small dogs. Tearing up over commercials on Lifetime.

In other words: shambly mess.

Welcome home.

There are few things I love more than an opportunity to see friends that are rarely all in the same place at the same time.  Reunions have typically been saved for weddings and showers and other such celebrations, but this year was a little different.

Ten years ago, we were just freshman getting acclimated to Columbia, MO and learning what it meant to be Greek and participate in Homecoming.  We were told early and often how important a tradition it was to the school, especially considering Mizzou is widely believed (by the NCAA, Jeopardy, and one episode of NCIS) to be the birthplace of the now nationwide tradition.  As students here, we pomped floats and huge house decorations, donated record-breaking pints of blood, performed skits for all of Greek Town, and proudly helped to carry on the legacy founded on Stankowsky Field in 1911.  I don't really miss pomping or standing in line to give blood, but I have to say that it all was so much fun.

We started planning to come back for the centennial celebration a few years ago, especially with the football program getting better and better.  I was so excited to come see some of my sorority sisters and revisit the campus where we made so many memories together.

Happy birthday, Homecoming!  M-I-Z!

 

It was a great weekend, great football game, and a great ten years as a Tiger (and a Kappa, too!)  Here's to another fabulous 100 years of Homecoming!

Five for Friday, vol 19

1. You bought me a puppy. Which you spoil ridiculously.

2. You helped make my birthday weekend amazing.

3. You take really good care of me when I don't feel well, self inflicted or not.

4. You keep your road rage to acceptable passive-aggressive levels.

5. You buy me green chili beers.

Saturday Bonus: you use more expensive shampoo than I do.

World's Smallest Crocodile.

Penelope has a thing where she grabs whatever toy she's gnawing on, and immediately goes into a tiny, fuzzy death roll.

Meanwhile, Tucker attempts to sneak into her little gated area and binge on her puppy food. If he had hands, he'd be shoveling it in faster than I do movie theater popcorn. And that's fast.

Also? Crate training? Pen associates this with torture and abandonment. This makes going to bed extra awesome.

Day three, check.

In case you're counting.

It takes 4.5 hours to get a 2-pound puppy to pass out.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

The puppy has landed. Tucker is hesitantly friendly and a little overwhelmed. Penelope is rambunctious and super curious about everything. We have no routine yet to speak of, but we'll get there.

Twelve hours in:
3 pees inside
2 pees outside (I think, it's hard to tell)
1 #2 outside
3 barfs on me
Water consumed
Tiny bit of food consumed

I'm exhausted, but in a really good way.