New Beginnings

Exciting news ~ James & I are moving to Florida!!!

We got a great opportunity to relocate near family (and away from Snowpocalypse climates).  We will be moving this fall (exact date unknown yet).

So much change!  I hope I don't become an official wino through the whole experience :)  I remember when I moved to STL everything 'fell in to place' easily.  Not really happening this time, but I am still staying positive :)  And by positive I mean bugging James every day "When can I get boxes????" :)

There is just so much more involved with moving two people out of state, both our jobs, finding renters for our condo here, finding new housing...  This is making me thirsty just typing all this out!

I was so excited to get my new Lilly P agenda in the mail!!!  I had been putting off ordering it because I couldn't decide on the color or size.  I think my decision making brain cells were tied up elsewhere.  It is a weird feeling as I was moving dates over to the new agenda that I will have a different life the next time certain birthdays or events come up.

I tried the small agenda this year, hopefully it will fit in all my purses & still be big enough!  Print is Turquoise Let's Cha Cha

My soul mate in retail form (Target) was having clearance on all their summer items & I went CRAZY!  In all the moving stress I was looking for a little fun :)  And knowing it will be warm & sunny most of the year those clearance buys were perfect!!!

We were able to find an apartment in the neighborhood we liked best, and probably my favorite part is the balcony!  It is large enough for parties & you look out to see Palm Trees!!!  How fun :)  It is also large enough for a baby pool for my pet baby gator... but James doesn't approve.  Hmmm.

I am still looking for a job, so if you could send any prayers/ happy thoughts/ good karma my way I would appreciate it!

Visiting Jupiter

I am seeing James once a month now.  Prayers for my job prospects so I can move too!

Here is the view from the balcony!  Enjoying morning coffee :) 

Eating at a local restaurant Das Biergarten

I had to scope out my new Nordys.  I approve :)  Please note palm trees!

Bachelorette Life

Update on the moving situation ~ James and all our belongings moved to Florida this weekend!

Such a crazy feeling to be all alone in the house.   Here is a photo of my belongings (not pictured are some clothes)…  A chair. An air mattress.  A laptop.  Netflix.  Please send suggestions!

The moving van left…..  It was sad watching James drive away.   So I went to Trader Joe's…

And bought ALL THE PUMPKIN THINGS!!!!   

Here's hoping nexflix and pumpkin make this easier. 

Team Building Excursion

Once a year at The Firm we do a "team day away" for team building.  I think it only works if your leader is into team building.  My team is into fun things & not high on prioritizing the "building" part :) No complaints here!

This year (I must have been gone when we voted) we planned our outing to Fairmont Park.  This is a horse track - if that is even the correct terminology- on the East Side.  Let that sink in.  Gambling.  East Side.

I forgot it was on our calendar until Monday when a reminder email went out.  Having never been to this establishment I was foolishly excited & was planning my derby outfit when James busted my bubble.

James: "You know this is more the redneck casino crowd, not your equestrian crowd, right?"
Me: "WHAT? It's horse racing! Thoroughbreds! Like the derby???"
James: "It's on the East Side."
Me: "Noooooooooo"  (collapses on floor) "I think I'm feeling feverish!"

Although it was nice to have an afternoon away from work and to visit with coworkers (my team is actually really awesome), that's about as far as my forced good attitude went.

Yes, it was just like a creepy casino... I always find it so sad to see the regulars who are cashing in social security checks to gamble...  And the food there was absolutely disgusting.  There were many jokes about the meat being horse meat.  I was so scared.  I covered my brat in 1/4 cup of mustard & Kobayashi-ed that thing down.

Luckily it wasn't too crowded & we were able to sit inside in the air conditioned stands.  The races were fun to see & interesting to learn how to read the booklets/ stats on all the races.

Just when I was starting to slightly enjoy myself & not think of regretting to bring hand sanitizer there was a crash.  Crash?  Accident?  One horse collapsed & the horse behind couldn't stop in time.  Two horses & two jockeys were involved.  One horse got up right away & sprinted to the barn.  The other horse tried to get up several times but couldn't make it.  The jockeys did not move.  They were taken in an ambulance to the parking lot where a helicopter took the less seriously injured jockey to a nearby regional hospital & the more seriously injured jockey to STL.  They euthanized the horse on the race track.  It was incredibly sad.  One minute you see a gorgeous thoroughbred galloping.  The next it's gone.  Such beauty lost.  

"I had seen birth and death but thought that they were different."

~T.S. Eliot

Advocare Herbal Cleanse

I am starting the Advocare Herbal 10-Day Cleanse today!  details here

Yesterday I read the pamphlet in the box (along with the Advocare website) to make sure I had the instructions right, and went to the grocery store for a whole cart full of produce.

This morning I woke up at 5:30! Yikes!  Ok, first alarm went off at 5:30, I probably got out of bed at 5:45 :)   If you know me at all that may seem like a lie.  But no really.  Check the timestamp on my Instagram pic!!

This morning I was able to:
1) Pack my breakfast, lunch, snacks & various cleanse sundries to take to work
2) Weigh & measure myself
3) Take a "before" photo that did not look scary

And get all of this done & be out the door at 7:00 for work.  I feel so accomplished.  And tired.  Boy am I tired right now :)

I've been reading several articles recently about how the most successful people wake up early.  I need to suck it up and start some healthy habits.  The #1 reason I don't bring my lunch more often is not waking up early enough.  I used to love waking up early in college, before my roommates and have quiet time or homework time.  Where did that go???  Time to start some healthier habits!

At the end of the day, I don't feel crazy hungry which usually my mind associates with any "cleanse" or "detox" program.   That was an important part of Advocare for me, you get to eat lean protein, veggies & fruit.  The hardest part has been dairy.  I love me some dairy!  No cheese, or cream for my coffee, or daily yogurt for breakfast, or sneaking shots of whipped cream when James isn't looking....

More to come on progress!

Amish Country

I took a lovely work trip to Amish country, here are the highlights!

Lititz, PA

My wonderful B&B: The Lititz House

Reading on the back porch

Wilbur Chocolate Co.

Heavenly Soaps & Scents ~ the cutest store with natural & locally made bath items!  Check out these wine candles made in old wine bottles, they all were different wine scents! Syrah was my favorite.

A Tea Affair was wonderful for a tea lover!  And the owner was great to talk to :) I came home with Provence {rose, lavender, elderberries} & Palace Marzipan {very almondy}.  They had so many delicious flavors & can't wait to order Mexican Winter {chili, orange, cinnamon, coconut & red pepper}!

Beautiful old church

I adore The Tomato Pie Cafe! I loved them so much I ate there twice!

Delicious chocolate ale at Bulls Head Public House 

Catching some Amish ladies buying shorts at Target?!?!?!

Left:  Bobbi Brown Treatment Lip Shine SPF 15 

in Pink Seashell & Orchid Pink

Right: Bobbi Brown metallic eye shadow

 in Gold Dust & MAC eye shadow in Neo

Lovely mani to wind down the week :) Essie Shop Till I Drop

 Best part of the trip home ~ Cantina Laredo in the Philly airport! 

SLAM Film Series

This Friday we had a wonderful evening with great friends at the Outdoor Film Series hosted by the St. Louis Art Museum.   It was also James' half-birthday!!

Every Friday the Art Museum stays open late.  But in July there's a really fun opportunity to see the museum, go to a Food Truck festival & watch an outdoor move in a gorgeous setting!  How fun!

Art Hill  

Left:  LULU's Local Eatery  I had the sweet potato falafel & their specialty 

lavender lemonade! I was wonderful!!! 

Right:  Seoul Taco  James had tacos but the beef was korean seasoned.  

Very delicious.  I'll always be true to Tex-Mex but he loved them! 

You can't pass up dessert!  I for one disbelieve anyone who says that cupcakes are last season.  I hope they're around forever!  Please read the description for "Drunken Pig" above!  

Our cupcakes!  I got Vanilla Caramel Toffee :)  On right ~ the brave soul who tried Drunken Pig! 

Due to the weather looking like it could rain any moment (and the movie was Roman Holiday not Princess Bride like we thought) we decided to skip out early & head to the rooftop bar at the Moonrise!  So fun I hope we go back soon!  And if you're in STL looking for a very eclectic boutique hotel with an awesome bar check them out! 

Back to School

Today I spent all day in Continuing Education for my Insurance license.

OMG how time crawls when an 8 hour lecture is not relevant to your life.

I was quite surprised at how quickly my behavior today reverted back to college-esque.  What time did CE start? 8 am.  What time did I wake up? 7:30 am.  :)  I also wore super comfortable clothes... I did have a 30 second argument with my self about yoga pants vs. jeans.  I was totally prepared to rock the yoga pants but my left brain kept reminding me, "Every time you're at CE there are usually a handful of people from The Firm there.  Do you want them to see you in yoga pants?  Last time one of your Partners was there!"  "But I don't think she recognized me!"  Oh, that crazy internal dialogue.  I'm pretty sure a good 15 of my morning routine was packing my tote full of food & things to keep me occupied during the day.

Pretty much the only saving grace of the day (besides the iPad, who am I kidding?) was the instructor.  He is OLD and says CRAZY stuff :)

"If your pager goes off, please step outside to handle it." (I'm sorry, is it 1995?)

"Did I make all this crap up, carrot breath?"

"Medicare don't care about you!"

When he was taking role he asked, "Why are you sitting on the back row by yourself?" and I said, "So my iPad can stay plugged in to this outlet" and he said, "I don't even know what that means, but ok."

The morning session was titled "Medicare" and the afternoon "Annuity Suitability" but it was really a lot of people complaining & then getting the instructor rilled up so he would go on a long tangent/rant about Obama-care or market crashes or government spying or a random socio-policial topic.

However, I did get all my fav blogs added to bloglovin', figure out what I'm going to use my ULTA coupon for, added a lot of things to my Nordstrom wish list, read every article possible about the royal baby & grabbed lunch from one of my favorite places Pastries of Denmark.  They give you a small cheese cake with every order!  All in all I was happy with the outcome of my day :)

Bloglovin'

www.bloglovin.com  Go here!  Or click on the button on the right!


Sounds like McLovin in my head :)  I am in love with bloglovin' to keep up with all the blogs I follow (and if you're sore about losing Google reader this is for you!).  I didn't really use google reader because I used a many layered folder approach to categorize everything.  But bloglovin' lets you organize the posts you follow!  Can you tell I love them?

And they have this cute iPhone app!

More organizing for me... but check it out for yourself!

Happy Things!

Things that make me happy...

 I am sooooo in love with these flip flops!  They are super comfortable!  And Nina Garcia recommends them.  I can not imagine her wearing flip flops - ever - so you know these are great! Probably the best $20 I've spend so far this summer! 

 Our wedding album arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So gorgeous!  I loved re-living each moment of our special day :) 

 Birchbox!

My fancy new calligraphy set!  Trying out a new hobby :) 

 There are so many little bunnies in our neighborhood!

My Seester is getting a baby kitty!  I'm so excited :) 

Reflections

I'm not sure where I came across it... (lesbihonest probably Pinterest), but Jessica Alba wrote a book called "The Honest Life: Living Naturally and True to You."

I picked it up from the Library and was glad I did.  I've been recently trying to prioritize a more natural lifestyle.  One recent conviction revolves around some medical things that have popped up.  I've always felt better health wise when I make a priority to eat organic.

The book covers the following topics:

• food
• clean
• beauty
• style
• home
• baby
• inspiration

Her personal inspiration for living naturally revolves around her kids, and so does much of the book.  I still found a lot of it relevant, I think my mommy-friends out there would probably get more enjoyment out of it.

My thoughts ~ 

I appreciated how honest Jessica is (ironic?) and she doesn't come off as "I only eat organic, it's easy I have a errand boy to go to the grocery store and a cook to make it" but as a down to earth working mom with kids.  She also prioritizes each chapter on the most important things to be natural and "keeping it real" good second-choices for those times when it is too difficult/ short on time for the natural version.  The book is not written in a judgy voice, she presents ingredients to stay away from and tips on how to live naturally.  She also peppers the book with fun how-to's along with each chapter from how to host a dinner party to perfect red lip.

I think it's hard for anyone to write a book when you have a company in the industry.  She does have a plug for The Honest Co. often.  It is not over the top, but that is a pet peeve of mine :) Some of the chapters were not earth-shattering.  I would recommend this book for someone who is considering making some natural changes or wanting to learn about strategies for the first time.

The chapter that most convicted me was the beauty chapter :)  She does admit that a lot of times we expect to sacrifice quality or cost to get natural products, but more companies are entering the market.  I do agree I should be careful what's going on my skin.  The book was lacking in that she says moisturizer/base layer makeup is most important because it's right next to your skin, she says she looks up her products on a data base that gives safety scores (ewg.org/skindeep) and aims for a 0-2.  That's it. What?  For an informational book that's not a lot of information!  Hopefully the database is more informational.  The chapter discussed each type of makeup & may have a brand recommendation, but the practical application was definitely missing!

Take aways~

I'm glad I got the book from the library, probably won't buy it.  I will bookmark some of the websites :) I will start taking a better look at cosmetics... I knew this was the case for food- but the EU has much stricter regulations for cosmetics as well.  I looked up some of the products I use (in the above link) a little scary!

Estee Lauder BB Cream - score of 7 !!
L'Oreal Power Volume 24 Hour Mascara - score of 4
The Balm Blush - score of 2

I don't plan on going all crazy, but as I run out of products I plan to be more conscious about the ones I use to replace them.  My strategy is to look for European brands that meet EU standards.

I found these fun links to the best French skincare (who wouldn't want to look Parisian?):
Goop post "The French Pharmacy"
Refinery 29 post "Do French Girls Really Do Beauty Better?"
Vogue UK post "10 French Pharmacy Buys"
Birchbox post "Beauty Trip: French Skincare Favorites"

Good news is a lot of the same brands/products were mentioned many times.  Can't wait to try!

4th of July

Happy birthday 'merica!

We had a lovely & relaxing day!  In the morning I went to the driving range with James.  Apparently my Dad has spoiled me with Top Golf.  I asked if this place had margaritas & I got a weird look.  Oh well :)

Bucket of balls & a beautiful day! 

I took a few swings myself!! 

In the afternoon we went downtown for Fair St. Louis.  This is my first year in STL where 4th of July has not been 100 degrees & 100% humidity.  (remember the Cards game last year friends??)  Fair St. Louis is pretty awesome, there are food vendors, air show, concerts & a mega firework show all at the park under the Arch at the riverfront.  I think a million people go every year!  If you saw my Instagram already sorry for the repeats :)

 The concert this year was Trace Adkins

Yep.  We're VIP's.

 Fireworks under the arch!  Spectacular as always :)