SOCIAL MEDIA

Monday, November 25, 2013

My Dress

Rory and I had dinner at my sister's house last week and we were talking about Christmas ideas which lead to me telling them I love clothes, want more clothes and have been buying too much clothing lately.  Yes I have a problem.

I couldn't buy or I should say, was on a budget when we were planning the wedding, that I never bought myself something unless it was necessary or for the wedding.  Now that our wedding is done (super sad face), I have been buying lots of stuff as evidenced by my last post, One For You, One For Me.

I told them that my favorite piece of clothing was my wedding dress.  Yes I love her so much.  I was super sad when I had to get her cleaned and boxed up.  It is a pretty box, but this is how she sits right now.
I did put her on and do random things around the house for about three hours before taking her into the cleaners.  No shame.

I really think someone should have a party where you wear your wedding dress, tux, wedding suit or bridesmaids dress (if you haven't walked down the aisle yet).  It would be so much fun and I could wear my beauty again.  Please oh please, someone plan this party.
Isn't she dreamy?
I always joke (but really want to in all actuality) that I am going to wear my wedding dress to work.  She is the most beautiful, most expensive and most coveted piece of clothing I own.

This post has been brought to you by my lovely friend Stacey because she did a photo shoot this last weekend in her wedding dress doing normal things around the house.  She said it was inspired by me, but I am still 100% SUPER JEALOUS that I didn't get to partake in this.
Thursday, November 21, 2013

One For You, One For Me

As I was getting my nails done Tuesday, Lauren reminds me that Christmas is coming upon us really fast, and in fact it is.  Thanksgiving is a week late this year, so she told me that after Thanksgiving, we have 3 1/2 weeks until Christmas!?  Let me tell you I am not prepared for it at all.  I must craft, decorate, address my Christmas cards and shop.  Which brings me to my reason for this post...

I started Christmas shopping online this week (the only way to do it) and I will find someone a gift and then want one or something else from that shop.  One for you, one for me.  At this rate my pocketbook will be empty and my husband won't be happy.  Did I mention, I am having my Christmas gifts and extras sent to my parents house?  Yep, that way he won't know where I shopped for him at, and if there is anything extra in there for me.

I want to get my sister this certain gift (not sure if she is reading it, so I will refrain from saying), but I want one too.  And I will be so jealous when I see her with this gift.  To buy or not to buy, for me, that is the question.

Oh and Cyber Monday is coming up soon (December 2nd), so bank account watch out, I am going to shop the crap out of the sales.  That way if I accidentally buy myself something, it won't be as noticeable.
I leave you with a picture of my lovely nails this week.  Isn't Lauren amazing?!

Back to online shopping I go.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Cuteness Overload

This morning while perusing Facebook, I came across the sweetest and cutest link.  Meet Beau and Theo.
Jessica Shyba (check out her blog here) and her family adopted a 7 week old puppy and named him Theo.  On the third day with his new family, Theo started taking naps with Beau.  Click the link here for cuteness overload.  You won't regret it.

One more picture because they are too adorable for words.
(All images via TwentyTwoWords)
Monday, November 18, 2013

Monday's are Awful

Back from the weekend and it doesn't feel good.  I came into work today only to have our whole office get in trouble.  Nice way to start the week off.  I hate you Mondays!

This weekend was full of too many ups and downs.  Can we fast forward to Thanksgiving week please?  I get my new furniture delivered, get to see family (sister-in-law comes in from New York!), have a 5 day weekend, watch the Pack play BYU and cut down a Christmas tree.  So jealous of next week already.

Back to this weekend, I donated blood on Friday.  I was so excited to actually donate because for the past year, they wouldn't let me.  Who knew vacationing in Costa Rica was that "dangerous" for malaria?  Warning: turn away if you are grossed out by blood and needles.

I also got my hair done.  One of my favorite things to do.  Isn't it for most women?  Plus my hairstylist was back from maternity leave, so I got to share my wedding with her and see her adorable new son.

Then I went home to chaos drama.  When Rory and Walter got home from their hike, he was racing around like a crazy dog.  This is the norm for him.  He gets really excited to see us, and since he hadn't seen me all day, he did about 5 laps around the house.  While he was racing around, he caught his dew claw on the couch (I think) and tore it off.  We didn't even notice until he was trying to clean it and there was blood all over the couch.  Poor little dude.

We tried to clean it up enough, but it ended up being an unexpected trip to the vet.  An emergency (they called it that) vet visit that cost $140.  Not bad considering this is our first visit other than normal check-ups.  Walter had to get patched up (silver nitrate to stop the bleeding), get some pain pills and the cone of shame.  He has not been himself the last few days.  He hates the cone.
 He was not a happy camper
This is only partially what he tore off
So Walter has to live in the cone the rest of the day and then he can run free again.  Hopefully my cute, cuddly, hyper, happy pup will be back.

In football news, I am losing my fantasy football this week.  So long first place.  Thanks to Peterson for not having an outstanding game and Niners shitting the bed AGAIN!  My only hope is for Brady throwing 7 touchdowns and Newton getting injured (like we could ever count on Brady. I still hate myself for drafting him).  Ugh bad end to a football weekend.  At least the Pack broke their 5 game losing streak.  Now can they beat BYU in two weeks?  Probably not, but it could be a Thanksgiving miracle.
The best way to end a tailgate...Wolf Pack vanilla cupcakes

I am going to complain just a bit more as my back is killing me for stacking wood yesterday morning, but now we can have fires all winter long.  Monday is really sucking, but at least I have Picasso and Wine (painting and wine with my ladies), dinner at my sisters house (she is an amazing cook) and a friend's 30th birthday party Friday.  Please let me make it through this week.  
Friday, November 15, 2013

Walter the Dude

I was reading my daily blogs and came across a linkup that I just couldn't pass up, "Pets are people too". Jackie and Karly are putting this linkup on and I just knew I had to brag about Walter.

Those of you who don't know Walter, he is a chiweenie.  He also has stolen my heart and I may be just a bit obsessed with him.  Walter is MY first real pup.  Growing up, we had cats, and then when I had roommates, they would have dogs, but they weren't my own pups.

About a year after moving in with my husband, I begged him to get a dog.  I wanted to rescue a dog because there are so many cute pups out there that need a home rather than spending thousands of dollars on a pure breed.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  To each their own.  We searched for six months.  I would take him to every SPCA, humane society, pet adoption event and online pet searches.  We searched Reno, Carson City, Gardnerville, Sacramento, Tahoe area, you name it, we went.

We came across a dachshund in Tahoe that I just had to meet.  We drove to Tahoe only to find out the little guy was adopted.  But lucky for us, I had made plans to see another little guy too.  Enter Clifford.  Since Truckee Humane Society hadn't built their shelter yet, all dogs were in foster homes and we couldn't get a hold of Clifford's foster family, but we were told by the humane society that every Saturday they do an adoption event.

Saturday came and we got to Truckee early because I knew I couldn't let this little dude get adopted before I saw him.  We searched high and low for the adoption center (it was off the beaten path), only to finally make it and not see Clifford, but his paperwork was there.  We found out he was cold (it was a chilly, windy day in Truckee) and inside.

It was love at first site.  Rory and I had actively looked for six months.  We looked at hundreds of dogs, but none were perfect for Rory.  I wanted them all, but knew that wasn't happening.  But when we met Clifford we were hooked.  They let us take him for a walk and we made the quick decision to take him home.  Best decision ever.  We renamed him Walter (after the Big Lebowski and Walter White on Breaking Bad) and he stole our hearts.
Top Left to Right: Walter comes home with us, Walter hiking with us, Walter playing with his kong
Bottom Left to Right: Walter in his Niners shirt watching the game, Walter hiking in the snow, Walter at the beach

Jade and Oak

Football and Wine

Today is Friday which means it is Fan Friday Link up with Sarah from Venus Trapped in Mars.  Seriously go check out her blog.  She writes about sports and life.  My kind of blog.

Football and Wine...two of my favorite things in life.  Lucky for me, I enjoyed both in massive quantities this last weekend.  Sunday we drove to San Francisco for the 49ers game.  It was our last time (maybe) at the Stick (Candlestick Park).  We watched the Niners offense get stomped on.  Thanks for the six sacks Kap.  We watched Cam Newton play poorly, but still manage to get a touchdown, which the Niners did not.  We saw some drama in the stands (very entertaining), and we saw everyone support our troops.  It was an amazing time, even though we loss.
Super pumped to walk a mile(?) to the game.
Celebrating our troops
 Drama in the stands
Newlyweds pumped even though the Niners were losing

The drama in the stands was awesome from an entertaining aspect.  If you look at the guy standing in our row, he was pretty pissed that the people in the next row were cussing, getting drunk and being all around rowdy.  He told them to quiet it down since his kids were there, but the others just kept being idiots.  So security got involved twice and then the cops came and asked them to take a break from there.  They were gone maybe thirty minutes.  Once they got back, we got to see the dumb girl cry and whine for another thirty plus minutes.  There was more action going on in the stands where we were than with the Niners offense (OUCH).  Yes I just went there.  Please let Crabtree get healthy, Manningham get his groove back, and for the love of god, Greg Roman, let Kap run the ball and do his thang.  Rant over.

After the game, we were pumped to go to our favorite restaurant in the city, Sotto Mare.  But fools we were as we didn't check to see if it was open on a Sunday night.  Nope, closed.  Luckily, we found an amazing restaurant, Vicoletto, conveniently located next door to Sotto Mare.  We ordered a bottle of wine and dined on yummy pasta.  We had the mozzarella burrata which is fresh mozzarella that is imported weekly from the Italian region of Puglia.  Amazing.  It comes with fresh arugula and cherry tomatoes.  Then I had the ravioli aragosta which was lobster (huge chunks) raviolis with prawns in a tomato brandy cream sauce.  My mouth is watering thinking about it again.  Hubby had the Taglierini al nero di seppie, or as we like to call it, black squid ink spaghetti with clams, squid and prawns in a light tomato sauce.  So good.
We walked about a mile to the restaurant uphill, so we decided we could indulge a little more and get some gelato at Gelateria Naia.  I had gelato from here last time I was in San Fran for work, so I wanted to share this little treat with my husband.  I got the toasted coconut and the pistachio gelato.  Hubby got the nutella and another flavor I can't remember.  We walked back to our hotel area and had another glass of wine.  This time he won the wine battle (whose glass of wine is way better).

Monday we went to one of my favorite places...Sonoma for some wine tasting and to pick up our wine from Scribe (we are members).  We went to four wineries including our membership winery.  I am a bad blogger and didn't take many photos because I was too busy being a lush with the wine.  We went to Larson Family Winery where we bought their Three Lab Cab (named after you guessed it, their three labs that hang out there) and their Sonoma Red.  Since we bought two bottles, our tasting fee was waved.  This is a great little winery where you can sip wines in the back with different lawn games, hang out areas or sample and hang out inside their large barn area.

Next they recommended we try, Anaba. This is another smaller winery (producing less than 5,000 cases per year).  We again bought another two bottles of wine which meant our tasting fee was waved.  This time we bought their white Rhone blend and their pinot noir.

Next up was Homewood Winery.  This was also a smaller winery with a smaller tasting room, but they also had a tasting area outside for warmer weather.  Again, we bought two bottles of wine here.  Lushes I tell you.  Actually, we just want to stock up since we are sadly cancelling our wine membership.  We bought a bottle of their merlot and a bottle of Late Harvest Albarino.

We finally made it to our 2:30 appointment at Scribe for some wine tasting, a tasting plate and our shipment of wine.  We tried six wines and had a tasting plate of fruits, cheeses and nuts (all free with our membership) and ended up taking home 5 bottles.  We originally had four bottles of red wine, but changed it to three reds and two whites.  One of the reds was a reserve that we normally don't get in the wine shipment.  Sadly, this will be our last shipment as we want to try to have babies.  And what are we supposed to do with four bottles of wine every quarter?  Let my husband drink alone?  Nah.
Isn't the view breathtaking, even in the fall?  In heaven and not sure if I can actually cancel our membership.

Also in other football news, I lost my fantasy football last week, both teams.  One team, I am a complete failure at and don't care much about, but the other I was in first place.  Boo.  This week I better dominate.  I can't have my husband beating me with all the shit I talk.  What is up with all my players getting injured and messing with my fantasy team?  Or was it the fact I left 23 points on the bench from a kicker?

What are your plans for the weekend? Does it involve lots of wine and football?

Venus Trapped in Mars

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The Totally Awesome Blog Hop

After reading one of the many blogs I love, I came across this blog hop.  I thought I would share it, so you all can find new and amazing blogs to follow and meet some new people out there.
Totally Awesome Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Totally Awesome Blog Hop! As you may know, this is an ongoing effort brought to you by four really cool ladies, where many friends have been made, and new blogs discovered!

The hop is linked between four hand-picked sites, ensuring everyone's links get seen and clicked. Our goal is community building between like-minded folks, and creating a place for people to meet, make friends, and expand their following! The TABH is not merely a "follow-back" event. Our audiences like to get to know each other, and we want to keep it that way!

Participation is super simple-

#1 Follow your four hostesses- they are the first four links.

Chantilly of ChantillySongs
Amanda of of Little Lady, Little City
Cara of The Marvelous Flight of Cara
Whitney of Everything Happens for a Reason
(We promise you will love these blogs, and they are all totally worth getting to know!!)

#2 Link your blog/ website

#3 Visit other sites, follow, and comment

#4 Grab a button & post it on your blog

#5 Post about it on Twitter, Facebook, and all your social media sites

We love you, and thank you!


Blog hop


Eshakti Review

Awhile back, I bought a skirt online on eShakti.  You may remember my post here.  Well I finally got around to wearing it and having my husband take a few photos of me in it.  Warning, he didn't do that great of a job at photographing it.  He always brags of his camera skills, but this isn't up to his usual standard.

If you remember, you can customize your apparel to your true size by entering in a variety of measurements.  They even tell you in detail how to correctly measure yourself.  Plus when you get your first item, they send you a measuring tape for the next time.  I customized my skirt to have it hit just above the knee, have pockets and a cute sash.  I am so happy with this skirt.  I wore it to work today, and I have gotten a ton of compliments, so I put that in the win category.
Best thing about this skirt?  Pockets.  Super pleased with it.  Sorry I don't have any photos to show you the pockets or up close of the details.  Fail on the hubby's part.

Now to narrow it down between these three for my next piece.
 Which would you choose?
Tuesday, November 12, 2013

My Announcement

I am back from my weekend away in San Francisco.  Spoiler: the Niners loss. 

I am still bumming on the loss and mad at the Seahawks win (they can't take the NFC West), but I came back to see my big announcement I was hinting at can be revealed.  Now this may not be a big announcement to anyone but myself and loved ones, but our wedding was featured on one of my favorite wedding blog websites, weddingbee.

I have been stalking (ok I do post a ton, so stalking may not be the right word) this website for over a year now.  Yes I wasn't even engaged when I started reading it.  Creepy?  I don't think so.  Doesn't every girl do this?  You are probably lying if you said you didn't have a Pinterest wedding board, swoon over other girls wedding photos, dream of this day, etc.

I wanted to be a bee, but was sadly not chosen.  I have seen real budget wedding breakdowns and real weddings on there, and I have always wanted to submit mine should it be worthy enough.  Well I did, and we were chosen to be featured.  Excited doesn't even cover it.  So check out my wedding.

Would you submit your wedding to be featured?  Do you stalk/read every wedding blog you can?  Nope, ok maybe it's just me.

Domestication Station

I am settling into this domesticated wife thing pretty well I think.  I have been crafting (I have two new craft projects I will be posting soon), buying furniture and buying other household things.  And I can tell you I absolutely love it.

I have been nagging asking my husband if we can go furniture shopping to replace our Ikea media center and maybe a new coffee table if we feel inclined.  Now I hate our media center.  I don't mind it being from Ikea, but it just looks cheap.  I can feel my husband glaring at me as he has had it for about 8 years (can we say bachelor lifestyle?).  As for our coffee table, I actually like it, but if and when we have kids, it isn't the most kid friendly.  It is a very heavy metal bars with a stone table top that can move.  Believe me, I have smacked insert body part on it many times.

Last weekend I noticed there were many furniture sales going on, so we decided to take a look.  We went to Pottery Barn, World Market and Macy's.  And we bought not one, but three pieces.  I can't wait to have them delivered.  But they won't be here til the 1st of December, or maybe sooner.  So I will keep the pictures until we can do the switch out and show you the transformation.  But we bought a new coffee table, media center and bed!

Plus we had some gift cards to use from our wedding, so we got another set of dinner plates, salad plates and bowls from William Sonoma.  Ok we also got my favorite salted caramels from there.  I die thinking about them.  We also bought a new tv and mounter set for our kitchen, so I can watch football and cooking shows while cooking.  Score.  Oh and we may have done some fall/winter clothes shopping.  I may have gotten new black boots too.  Maybe.  Now that the wedding is over, we have more cash to spend.  But I do miss our wedding, but loving the married life.  SO. HAPPY.
Friday, November 8, 2013

Friday Never Felt So Good

 First off, I have a big announcement (ok it is big to me, but maybe not to you) coming next week, so get excited, or not.

Second, In honor of Sarah's Fan Friday (seriously go check out her blog...AMAZING), I am so excited to tell you all I will be getting away this weekend.  To where you ask?  I am going to San Francisco to see my (yes I feel like I own them, but really don't) favorite football team play.  I will be watching the lovely Colin Kaepernick (holla fellow University of Nevada alumni), Frank Gore (please have a good game for my fantasy football team), Mario Manningham (I hope you make your come back debut this weekend) and the Niners defense.  Excited doesn't even begin to describe it.

Every year I am fortunate enough to go watch the Niners for free (well sort of) courtesy of my husbands aunt and uncle.  This year we are watching the Niners take on the Panthers.  I get to watch Scam Newton try (but that won't happen) to take the Niners down in the beloved craphole Candlestick park one last time.  I am so happy for the Niners and their new stadium in Santa Clara.  Now to decide which game to go to next year.
So Tuesday except a full recap unless we lose and I cry like a baby in the corner and don't want to blog about it.  Oh and wine tasting at my favorite winery this weekend. So stoked.
Venus Trapped in Mars
Thursday, November 7, 2013

The Best Things

I couldn't have said it any better. She was one wise woman.

And because I am still obsessing over my wedding photos, here is another fitting one.
Monday, November 4, 2013

Craft, Craft, Craft

I had a pretty busy weekend with football and crafting.  Ok we did a bunch more than that, but I will save it for another post.  This weekend I wanted to tackle more post-wedding DIY projects and I finished two more, plus I ordered all my wedding prints and a beautiful canvas.  I can not wait to get those photos TODAY!

I started my wedding shadow box last week, but still needed a few things to secure some items in....mainly my sash.  That was the hardest part of this shadowbox.  I did NOT want to ruin or mark up my sash, so after hours of adjusting, I finally got my shadowbox done.

I would recommend trying different layouts on your shadowbox background before securing any items.  I tried many layouts before deciding on this one.

I did not use the handkerchief or the lavender bag, but I added some of the navy lace I used on my centerpieces.

 Finished shadowbox
I also have my mother's corsage, wine cork from my centerpieces, second garter (made my my Maid of Honor), paper from from my bridal shower and silver letters from our gift table.  Overall, I am really happy with how it turned out.  Now I just need to hang it.

My other DIY post-wedding project I tackled was a Christmas ornament.  When pinning things for my wedding on Pinterest, I saw several wedding ornaments and knew I wanted to replicate it.

 I bought a plastic ornament from JoAnn's Fabric for about $2.00 (50% off coupon).  Then I cut my wedding invitation into strips and rolled each piece up.  I found it easy to wrap each piece around a pen and then pull each end to stretch it out a bit.  Then I slipped each piece into the ornament, filling it up to my liking.  I ended up using about an invite and a half.  Then put your ornament cap back on and it's ready for your Christmas tree.

Next project is putting all my wedding photos in albums and frames, and hanging up our beautiful canvas.