ooooh! I'm in love . . . with a very random assortment of things

It's the little things that make surviving winter so much easier . . .

Like truly preppy accessories found HERE  <3 Kiel James Patrick!

Like amazing Greek yogurt . . .



Non-sticky lotion



broccoli (weird addition, I know)



pears



My new perfume


My favorite drugstore nail polish



my new cheap moisturizer



Bare Minerals makeup -- best makeup I have ever worn



That's probably enough for now.  Focusing on other things I love helps me survive these miserably cold Chicago days! Happy weekend!

How I rang in 2011

Typically, my husband's friends from college always find a way to get together on New Year's Eve. Our parties have become very tame house parties as the years have passed.  This year was much the same.  It was phenomenal to see our friends who are moving to London for four months and our friends from San Francisco.  There is only one wedding this year so it will be tough to make plans to see everyone as regularly as we have in the past three years.

I had to attend  the party alone, as my husband was on-call.  Seeing all of our friends is like seeing family, though, so I never mind getting together with everyone solo.  I stopped by the hospital with Subway for dinner so that we could eat together before I headed over to the party.  Around 11:55 p.m., I heard my friend's door phone ring.  A few minutes later, my husband appeared at the door (sweaty because he had run from the hospital & it was unseasonably warm in Chicago that night) to kiss me at midnight.  Even though he was paged almost immediately after arriving and had to run back, it was one of the happiest NYE moments I've ever had.

Top 10 of 2010

I didn't reflect a lot on last year.  I was bored  had some free time at work today and thought that I'd reflect on the past year.

Top 10 - 2010 Edition

10. Seeing so much of my old friends.
 9. Becoming close to so many new friends.
 8. Learning a ton about how to be a good attorney (and how not to be a bad one).
 7. My sister getting out of the military.
 6. Getting to go home almost once a month/seeing my parents more.
 5. Finding a home we love.
 4. My sister getting engaged.
 3. My mom graduating from college.
 2. Getting involved in my church youth organization at home, again.
 1. Marrying the kindest, most loving man I've ever met.

Top 10 - 2010 Trash List

10. Brett Favre.
 9. Government's poor management of the war in Afghanistan.
 8. The rise in popularity of shows that glamorize teen pregnancy.  i.e. Teen Mom, 16 & Pregnant.
 7. TSA drama.
 6. The government's handling of Wikileaks.
 5. Bristol Palin.
 4. North Korea v. South Korea -- It's a bad situation for everyone.
 3. Unemployment and foreclosure rates.
 2. Wasteful government spending.
 1. The B.P. oil spill.

On track so far. . .

So I had a few less public resolutions.  I thought that keeping them private may make me less likely to give them up.  I know that accountability normally works the other way but I'm pretty good at declaring things rather than actually doing them sometimes.  However, I have done well so far at keeping them.

• Holding my tongue at work. 
• This is because my office is a drama-factory.  This includes everyone from the least to the greatest employees.  I'm doing okay so far.  I'd still give myself a B on that today.  Our billable requirement was increased by 25 hours.  This does not make my job any easier.  It also makes our office twice as demanding as many other firms in the city.  It also means that I have to work more hours for less money.  New year = pay cut?? Yeah, I'd say I kept my tongue in check as well as can be expected when my reaction could have been much worse.  We'll do better tomorrow . . .
• Going to church more often 
• Well, it was the first Sunday of the year.  I went to church and enjoyed it so much.  I'll definitely be going back to that one.  It has me thinking about a lot of the way I think about my faith.  I get an A+, mainly just because I'm one for one so far. :) 
• Reading more 
• The Fountainhead is amazing so far.  I'm definitely enjoying the philosophical aspects of it. A- because I could have read a little more and watched a little less ABC Family last night.  
• Doing more with my leisure time. 
• We saw Black Swan last night.  It was intense.  More about that later. I also got out a lot this weekend.  I was less tired than usual because of the very short work week.  
• I ran 3 miles. First time in awhile that I've run that much. I feel much less stressed than I did yesterday.  
• A for effort! 
• Staying in touch with friends. 
• C - but I plan on remedying that this week.  I just have to get back into the swing of things. 

More reading, less reality television

One of my goals this year is to be a little less obsessed with this
this: 

and this: 

Technology has definitely taken over.  Last Friday, I turned off the television, ignored my cell phone and finished this book: 

It was a great thriller.  The writing was okay -- not great.  However, I'm sort of in love with the thought of Russia at the moment.  Very fascinating.  More on that later.

The bottom line is that I felt more relaxed and disconnected than I have in quite some time.  I dozed in between chapters and felt truly relaxed.  I will be doing this more often.  I also think that it made me feel better about going back to work next week.  I feel a little more space between work and my personal life.  I've needed that for quite some time, so I am looking forward to seeing how getting back into reading and working out more often will help my sanity.

My next project:

Making the transition

It's always tough to make the transition from the holiday season to January/February.  I always like to overplan January and February to make them pass by more quickly. Right now, I have a trip planned for work - NYC/Boston, - a visit from my college roommate, a visit to my dear friends from Indianapolis, and a week of vacation in March.

My husband is great about helping with the transition, too.  We took down our Christmas decorations and redecorated our table in spring colors almost immediately after the holidays.  He loves getting out our new wedding stuff and rotating the decorations in and out -- we received a ton of great decorating items.  It doesn't hurt that we're both in love with our new kitchen table and chairs, either.  We're planning lots of dinner parties for this winter.

We just got a new rug for our living room, as well.  Can't wait for it to arrive! It will definitely brighten up our living room! 

Other ideas for surviving the winter months:

• theme parties (we had a cookie party, post-Thanksgiving-Thanksgiving dinner, etc.) 
• game watches for college basketball 
• weekend trips 
• movie nights
• redecorating 
• indoor projects (scrapbooking, sewing, etc.) 
• working out regularly 

Here's to hoping for an early spring! 

My favorite childhood books

Every so often we talk about having kids or what we'll do when we have kids, etc.  We're excited but we're still not planning on having them for awhile.  However, I always think of things that I want to teach them, read to them, and/or have them experience.  For me, books were incredibly important as a child and into adulthood.

My parents taught me to read pretty early in life (around 3).  I slept with books instead of stuffed animals.  I loved to go to the library for storytime on Wednesdays -- mostly because of the puppets.  My love of reading only grew as my parents bought me loads of books on tape.  I followed along and helped teach my little sister to read, as well.

I can't wait to share my love of reading and books with my children.  These are a few of my favorites:









The whole series is amazing.

























That's probably enough for now!

Happy new year!!