Weekend Report

Since every week we seem to be getting cooler and cooler, we continued the trend on Thursday by having small amounts of wine, eating pasta, and watching Monster-in-Law in bed where we fell asleep by 9:30.

Even though it was a pretty lame night, it did help me not completely die during our trail run Saturday morning. We left about 10am and by the time we started our 6 mile trek it was already reaching 100 degrees in the mountain. The trail we ran - the first mile was straight....and I mean...straight uphill. It took us me almost fifteen minutes to get to the top, at which point I dry heaved for a good 5 minutes. It was very dramatic.

Somehow I finished in just about an hour and a half, and by the time we got into our car we both decided it was shitty, shitty run....but it was over.

We clearly earned some major calories, so we decided to blow all that hard work at the ever famous, Santa Monica burger joint, Father's Office. It's the sort of a hole in the wall place where you can't find a seat and will probably end up sitting next to Aaron Paul.

Luckily we got in there early, snagged a booth, and after 3 beers were totally drunk.

Which led me to devouring there burger - which they do not allow substations or ketchup of any kind.

.....oh, and I'm still blaming those 3 beers for forcing us to stop at Ralph's to pick up a very dangerous bag of halloween candy.

Whoops!

Sunday morning pretty much felt like Christmas. We had signed up for a Crate & Barrel registry event in Beverly Hills from 9-11am, where they opened the store for newly weds to be.

We got our gun, lots of snacks along the way, and have about 100 items on our registry! I'll show a few more pictures, and some of our goods on Wednesday!

Since my parents are coming this Thursday (WOO!), I wanted to test drive The Getty to make sure it'd be a good spot to take them. You take a tram up from the parking garage onto the sprawling grounds. The views of the city are stellar, but it was so hot up in the mountain that we only lasted an hour after lunch.

We rounded off the weekend with some more Halloween candy and pretty much determined that we are animals and can never bring candy into this house again.

And I had to show you this picture below. My mom took all of my blog ideas from last week and crafted with my cousins she was babysitting over the weekend. How cute did they turn out?!

Friday Thoughts

Can I just tell you that I have spending way too much time (and money) at Target lately. A CityTarget opened in our neighborhood in late August and before then it had been a good year since I'd done any shopping at this apparent Mecca. 

Once I picked up the leopard dress below, I've been giving their clothes more of a chance.

I'm borderline obsessed with this navy polka dot dress

And this cozy, flannel shirt keeps turning into my go-to for errands and around the house stuff. I'm smitten!

 

That darling Lands' End vest that I ordered last week made it's way to my door and looked awful on me. It was way, way to big, and boxy and I had to send it back. I will be DAMNED if I don't find a freaking quilted vest for under $100. 

 

We are registering this weekend and I feel like Christmas has come early - although it does kind of stink that we are going to have to wait a while to take home all of our pretty presents. I've also got my eye on some furniture to ad to our condo so that we can actually store all of these things I plan on adding to my list.  

Since items that are not purchased on the registry are normally sold to a newly wed couple with a discount, I plan on adding furniture at some point to take advantage of the deal. 

 

 I've been a production machine this week. With my parents coming next week I've felt urgency to just get shit done - which is a refreshing change of pace! With their arrival, I've been motivated to finally clean the baseboards, and bleach the bathtubs, and clean the fridge. All that fun stuff that happens way less then it should! 

  And in case you need a laugh on this Friday...

Wedding Wednesday

Did you know that Crate & Barrel hosts registry events all around the country? Apparently they throw these get togethers before the stores open and serve food and drinks all while giving you the top tops to getting the most for your registry buck.


We are going to ours on Sunday - and I'm so excited - but I didn't want anyone to miss out on the chance in case these come to a halt during the holiday season.

 

Here are the top ten registry tips that I've gathered before actually regestiering.

1. Start early: We are about 8 months out which seems early enough for me.

2. Register Together: Champagne is involved and Joel really, really wants to pick out the knife set.

3. Register for how you live: Hello wine fridge, you're coming home with us.

4. Know the stores shipping, returning, and exchanging policies: Do any return for cash anymore?

5. Stick to the classics: My mother is nodding.

Any of these I should scratch?

What do Joel and I need to know before we get our gun and go crazy?!

Too Cute to Eat?

These are all too cute (and too easy) to just be sitting on a pintrest website.

With holiday parties, girls nights, and Joel's office filled with hungry workers, I have plenty of excuses to start having a little more fun in the kitchen.

 

Weekend Report

I started my Friday off with a much needed manicure and fell in love with this color, Opi's Houston We Have a Purple. 

 
Joel works in the heart of Beverly Hills so on Friday I joined him and his co-workers for happy hour on the rooftop bar at the Thompson. I love this bar because it makes me feel like I'm back in Chicago. It's on the 14th floor and has sweeping views of LA - and really good tequila. Which....also, makes it a great place to take my parents next week.

The group had made reservations at Nic's Beverly Hills to try out the famous Vodka Box. It's a 20-25 minute "experience" and costs each person $21. Before you enter the small, 28 degree room, everyone is outfitted in fur jackets and hat.

The room has hundreds of bottles of vodka from all around the room. I'm not a huge vodka person, but our hostess inside the room could pair a vodka with any of your favorite tastes. I started out telling her I usually drink tequila - and she found a vodka that finished just like my favorite Don Julio. Each person gets two to three shots of vodka, and so I ended with a cake batter vodka that seriously tasted like dessert.

Dressing up like Russian alcoholics really sealed the deal on this place for me.
 
Saturday morning we woke up to unusually cool temps and even rain - which is a rarity here in LA. It made it so hard to get out of bed, but when I finally did Joel dragged me and my girlfriend Shelby to a trail in the Pacific Palisades.

It rain the whole time, and the first 45 minutes were entirely up hill and freaking hard. It was a good training run for our 10k race on Thanksgiving morning, and it took us 1:20min to finish the 5.5 miles that we did.

5.5 miles on the trail is just so different than running it on the roads, and my body is still not used to it. When we got home around lunchtime, I had a beer (which Joel swears is the best recovery drink for any trail runner - which I obviously don't argue with) and fell asleep for almost 3 hours.


We stayed home Saturday night and I nursed my sore legs with red wine and the movie What to Expect When Your Expecting, which we surprisingly both enjoyed.

With my parents and Claire coming in the next few weeks, I'm trying to get my house as organized as possible. The closets have not been touched since we moved in - in March - and so I spent most of the day Sunday clearing them out and making them pretty.

Isn't it sinful that baskets can put you back like $75 bucks? 

I do keep admiring my pretty linen closet though, so maybe it was worth it! 

That night Joel and I decided to treat ourselves to a "fancy" dinner at home. 

Joel set this table, and the napkins are seriously bothering me, but it was sweet....right? Even though it's all wrong.

We scoured my Pintrest recipe board until deciding that we would replicate Gina's Seared Scallops over Parmesan Risotto.

I've never made Risotto before - and damn is it time consuming - but this dish was the best dinner we've ever made. Joel seared the scallops while I manned the risotto and our team work worked! Every bite was seriously divine and was totally better than any dinner we could have ordered at a restaurant.

The to-do list is long this Monday.

Bring on the coffee!

Friday Thoughts

• For the third weekend in a row, Joel and I are both home and staying pretty low-key. I'm getting concerned that this is a sign of aging.

• We are doing another trail run on Saturday morning. Last Saturday I got 4 miles in 53 minutes, and I'm hoping we run about 5 miles in 60. I have been eating (and drinking) far too much, so Lord knows I could use a nice, long run.

• Thanks to my reader Katelyn Garlow - I got alerted of the Lands End puffy vest sale and snatched up a dark brown one for $35 bucks. If you decide to order it here, find something else for $15 dollars, because every order over fifty has free shipping, and because I had a few too many glasses of wine when I ordered it I paid like $48 with shipping and I'm only getting the vest

• I'm so happy that I have two sets of visitors coming out to LA in November! I've been homesick and my parents and bestie Claire couldn't have lined up better times to come. I have a few fun things planned but I'm totally up for recommendations on things to do or see in the LA area if you've got um. 

• Mainly since my mom is coming, I have an urge to make sure that everything in my house is perfect before she and my dad get here. I'm desperate for more chairs for the patio, organized closets, and fresh new candles for their stay. I've got a to-do task list that will be completed by the time they get here

.

•  I'm kind of bumming about Halloween. We live in a condo building, and while we have quite a few kids in the building, I really don't think they're going to be knockin' on our door for any kinds of candy. What do you do as adults, with no kids? Thai and beer and dressing up your dog? Don't judge.

• Do you have opinions on the fact that Kristen and Rob were spotted making out again? Personally, I don't find either one of them attractive in the least bit but it makes me feel bad for Rob and I totally semi want to label him a straight up fool.



And girl needs to find herself a stylist and attitude adjustment. I can't handle the emo.

• I'm so freaking happy it's Friday! 

Wedding Wednesday: Choosing a Photographer

 

 

I really don't know, or appreciate all that goes into wedding photography and I SERIOUSLY don't know how to hire a photographer.

I'm taking a few things into consideration, besides just cost:

• Woman preferred. The photographer will be in the room all day long, and I sort of envision myself and my group to be weepy - and well, I think I'd feel more comfortable with a girl there.
• Subtle and natural. I don't like posed pictures at weddings. I want the photographer to capture the real life events, just told in a beautiful way. 
• I think I'd like a team so that one of the photographers can be with me, and when can be with Joel. One can take group family shots, while the other captures the cocktail hour.

 

What else should I be considering before I make this decision? Do you have a Chicago/Milwaukee vendor that you love?

A Typical Day In My Life

Inspired from Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers, I thought I'd document how I spend my days. 

Since I moved out here to Los Angeles, I started a "Work From Home" position. It's been a constant transition, since if I don't keep myself very busy, I can quickly feel down in the dumps, lonely, and unproductive. My job is in sales, so if I'm not in sales meetings, or in the car, my time at home can sometimes move slowly. The hardest days for me are when I'm not on the road, but recently I've started to try and keep those days as full as possible.

7:30-9:30am

Joel is up and at um' at 5:45am every morning. I'm normally awake at that point, since the dog has now joined me in bed, but I let myself doze on and off until 7:30. Joel leaves right about that time, and I begin to get the day started. Today I didn't have my usual 9am conference call with my team, so I was able to start my morning slowly.

 

 My breakfast routine is a cup of coffee and oatmeal with a banana. I eat breakfast right away in the morning because I don't like to be full when I run (which is in the later morning). I'm still in my PJs and robe at this point, too. - which is a major perk of working from home.

 

I take my breakfast to the couch and put on the Today show. I live right by a school, and at 8am I can hear the bell ring and the morning announcements. For some reason, I love it. It's such a homey, relaxed feeling and I like knowing that the neighborhood is up and moving.

After I've eaten breakfast, I turn on my computer, catch up on blogs and check my email for the first time. While I was on the computer this morning, I got a facebook chat from my mom who asked me to skype. We talk every morning, but I got a strange feeling that something was up.

We skyped and I noticed my mom had glasses on - which meant that she had been crying. My heart sank when I noticed that my cousin Gia was sitting next to her. Gia was at school that day and had been at an assembly about the Columbine School Shooting. It had touched on the fact of how short life can be - and it brought up a lot of emotions for Gia about her mom - my aunt Peg, who passed away in March.

She ran to the nurses office and called my mom to pick her up from school. The two of them sat, and cried, and talked, and then went out for lunch and did some shopping. I'm so thankful that my mom is there for Gia and Riley - and so proud of her for stepping up and seriously proving what an amazing woman, sister, mom, wife, and friend that she is. I hope so much that I will be like her when I grow up.

9:30am - 11am

Today I had a proposal to work on for a client, so I set up shop at our breakfast bar and just got it done. Working from home can take a lot of discipline since you are able to make your own schedule. I find that it's easier to get the bulk of my work done in the morning, so I always try to tackle my work to-do list before moving on to anything else.

11am-12pm

I try to run at least four times a week. I have a 3 mile loop that I do around my neighborhood and it takes me about 35 minutes to get it done. 

 

My run is tough, and it takes a lot out of me. The route has about ten tough hills to get through, but my mantra when I run is "It's not can you, but will you". I know my body is capable of making it up the hill, it just depends on if my mind is.

 

It takes me like 20 minutes to cool off and I spend that time chugging water. The dog is in his crate at this time ("nap time" as I refer to it) - so I take advantage of showering without having to worry if he is chomping on my shoes.

12-1pm

I try to stay out of sweats when I'm working from home. I feel better if I put jeans on and some makeup, and so I try to make an effort to put something on everyday. I normally don't waste my time to do much to my hair - just put it in a bun or pony most of the time.

 

1:30pm

One "diet-y" thing that I'm trying to do recently is eat only salads at lunch. I kind of failed today because I couldn't say no to the leftover homemade pizza that was staring at me in the fridge.  

1:30pm-3:30pm

Today I had to drop off a few things for a local client - but just in their mailbox (no need to dress up!), so I put Roscoe in the car and took him with me. On our way home we picked up Roscoe's bestie Lucy for a little playdate. We are going out to dinner with Lucy's mom, Shelby and so we decided we'd let the pups play together while we were out on the town.

 

3:30pm-4:00pm

My mom and Dad are coming (I think!) the first week of November, and my mom is going to be so mad when she sees the state of my garden. I've totally let it die, so I'm working so hard to get these bad boys back to life before she gets here.  

 

4:00-5:00pm

Since we are heading out with friends tonight, I took the dogs for a nice long walk to ease the momma guilt of leaving them alone for the night.

  

 

 My night outfit of the day was a Milly jacket, AG jeans, and some Tory Burch wedges. 

5:30-10pm

 

I met my girlfriend Shelby for happy hour at Tortilla Republic in West Hollywood. They have $6 tequila drinks until 7pm, and so we did a little damage before our men met us for dinner.

 

The boys met us around 7pm and then took our tequila'd butts home for some much needed water and sleep. 

My days are long, but good. I can't complain about this interesting lifestyle that I've somehow acquired, but rest assured, the nights I don't make it out to meet friends, I often get a little cabin fever if I've been home all day. Luckily I'm finding things that are necessary in my day to keep me busy and productive - like running and wearing clothes - and I have to say that I often need to realize how lucky and blessed I am to have this job, this lifestyle, and the freedom and flexibility I know expect. I don't know if I'll ever be able to have a desk job again.