A Snapshot of October

Fall is here!!! I'm definitely excited about the change of seasons and plan to embrace everything about fall. I already bought a few pumpkin spice candles to get my home smelling like the season, now I need to decorate! Where does everyone buy their fall decorations? I found a few inspirations online, hopefully I can create something similar for my place.

Why does fruit always look so good when on display? Yummm apples! :)

These are just adorable and would look great on my dining room table!

Okay, this would look great on my dining room table too.

Looks like I need to find an orange table runner!

Oh, if only I had a fireplace!

I also can't wait to carve pumpkins, make pumpkin pie, go to a haunted house and ofcourse just enjoy watching the leaves change colors! :)

Also this month, unrelated to the season, I am going to Austin, Texas to visit my bff Stephanie! She is moving there in the next week and I will be visiting right away to help her get settled in and check out the city. I'm pretty excited about visiting a new place and seeing her again. What does everyone have planned this month? Any exciting fall activities I should know about? Do tell! 

Race for the Cure

Did you know about 1 in 8 women in the United States (between 12% and 13% of women) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime? The statistics are frightening, but that's what makes the Susan G. Komen for the Cure an amazing event to be a part of since the global-wide event raises money and awareness for the fight against breast cancer.  

Here is the start line in downtown Cincinnati. Look at all the people!!

Saturday morning was the Race for the Cure here in Cincinnati, so my friends Ashley, Sara and Adrianna met up with me at 7:30AM (That's pretty early for a Saturday) to head downtown for the event. There were over 18 THOUSAND people there...such a great turnout!

Me & Adrianna. It was 7:30AM so that's my excuse for looking so tired! :)

Me ~ Sara ~ Ashley

Yes, that's me holding a SNAKE! (Last year I held an alligator at the event...don't ask!) :)

Did anyone else participate in the Race for the Cure this year? I know my Memphis girls are involved! :) I try to participate every year, so I knew this was an easy one to cross off my 101 list. 

Click here if you wish to donate in effort "to end breast cancer forever" ~ the mission statement for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. In hopes, one day we can say, "Mission accomplished".

The survivers at Great American Ballpark spelling out hope! Love it.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

I just wanted to share a little video of my niece I took last weekend while in Memphis. She was singing me "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"...although she sings it "Tinkle, Tinkle". Haha! Isn't she a doll? Especially since she gets sidetracked at the end of the song! (Must have been a good cartoon on the TV!)

And yeah, I KNOW its sideways. I have no idea how to rotate the video. My bad for video tapping something long ways. OHWELL, if you can HEAR it, that's what counts!

Here she is again with what she calls her "purse". (a.k.a. diaper bag). She's such a cutie!

Happy Friday all! :)

Memphis Part Deux

....as my previous post left off...
The rest of Saturday was spent at my best friend, Stephanie's going away party. She's moving to Austin, TX in the next few weeks for her job and ofcourse a proper going away party was needed. Yes, I know I don't even LIVE in Memphis anymore, but I was still going to attend the going away party even though it doesn't feel like she is "going away" to me! :)

Her pretty cake! Although I didn't really take a great picture of it. It was two huge tiers. The bottom tier was strawberry filled and I think the top was vanilla and something. Yumm! :)

Me with the guest of honor!

Her party was in the private party area of Sole (a bar/restaurant in the Westin Hotel in Downtown Memphis). And it was followed by the after-party at Rum Boogie Cafe and ofcourse Dyers (at 2am might I add!) I'm SOOOO glad I didn't scarf down a drunken dyers hamburger at 2am like the rest of the crew! Shew!

Amanda ~ Me ~ Stephanie ~ Heather
A few of my favorite Memphis girls (although none of us really LIVE in Memphis anymore)

My sweet friend, Zachary! He's the best!

Jennifer ~ Stephanie ~ Amanda ~ Me ~ Kira

That's pretty much Saturday Night in a nutshell. And then Sunday, I woke up and was not feeling like complete crap, as I assumed, so I visited with my family and attempted the drive home. That's right...another seven hours in the car (after only 4 hours of sleep)! It was not a fun drive, but it was definitely worth the trip!

Total Trip: 58 Hours (14 spent in the car, 15 spent asleep).  Now, that's a pretty short trip.

And as always, my friends and I found this weekend some time to goof off. kartwheels, headstands and forward rolls, anyone?

Me

Heather

Stephanie

Apparently, it's pretty fun after a few cocktails. :)

Memphis Doggie Paddle

Hey everyone! I'm baaaaack! Shew, my weekend in Memphis was a quick one. I don't have time to write about all of it, so Ill just fill you in on the first 24+ hours! Well, I left Friday morning at 9am, arrived in Memphis at 3pm (4pm Cincinnati time). Took a quick nap and hung out with my family. Then, I met my friend Joanna for dinner and margaritas at El Pueblo. Yummy Strawberry Margaritas! It was sooo great catching up with her and chit chatting for a couple of hours, but I am kinda disappointed I completed forgot to snap a picture of us too. We don't have any recent photos together! Grrrr...ohwell, hopefully I will see her again next time I'm in town! :)  And then came back to my mom's house and slept! Shew..it was a long day!



Then Saturday morning I woke up and met Stephanie at her parents house where we laid by the pool and chit chatted all afternoon. We both brought our dogs, and luckily I was able to get my dog to join me in the water.

Paisley was an adorable little swimmer, although she was swimming STRAIGHT towards the stairs to jump out. Haha. It sure was cute though. Anyways....I'll post the rest of the weekend tomorrow. Hope everyone had a good one! :)



The Pineapple Express

Isn't this the coolest plant you have ever seen? The top looks exactly like a PINEAPPLE. Actually, it might be a pineapple; I guess I really don't know for sure.

Here's a closer look. I think I am going to cut one up before it dies and see what's inside. A bite size piece of pineapple, perhaps?

Anyways, I'm hoping everyone has a fantastic weekend. Today is my FRIDAY at work, as I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Memphis and won't be back until Monday. I'm so excited to see all my friends and family. But I am NOT excited about 14 total hours in the car. Yuck. I'll post about it when I return...see ya on the flip side!

xoxo! :)

Top 2 Tuesday: Two Things I Want to Accomplish

Top 2 Things I want to Accomplish
(before the end of the year)

1. Get Healthier - I agree with Taylor on this one. Getting healtier is the number one thing I want to accomplish. I love working out, I go to the gym regularly and attend spin classes (my favorite), strength-training classes (a little less regularly) and just started going to Yoga. Has anyone had any good results with yoga??? It's hard to realize I'm working out when I'm not even breaking a sweat!
Anyways, with all this and my occasional running at the park, I hope to be in shape sooner than later. Hopefully this will result in crossing my "lose 10 pounds" goal off my 101 list! The only thing holding me back is my sweet tooth and love for baking tasty treats. (Damn-those-stupid-delicious-cupcakes! I will soon overcome my urge to eat you!!)

2. Save 15% of my Net Income - If you know me AT ALL, you would know one of my accomplishments had to do with finances. Yes, I'm one of those financial geeks! :) So, incase you didn't know, you are supposed to save, on average, 20% of your net income each year. That's right TWENTY PERCENT. If you aren't saving 20%, advisors will tell you that you are NOT living within your means.

Well, I unfortunately will not be able to hit that target as I've put alot of my extra savings towards my student loans this year....so I decided to shoot for 15% instead, which is still a long-shot! Hopefully, I can cut back a little on unnecessary items to save a little money here and there. (Like the costume I just bought Paisley for Halloween this year! Wait....nevermind! That costume is adorable. I definitely NEED that.) :)

If you want to participate in Top 2 Tuesday, visit The Undomestic Momma.

Louisville: Wedding Weekend

This weekend Christopher and I took a mini roadtrip to Louisville, Kentucky (my birthplace) to attend his friend Kelly's wedding on Saturday night. Not only was the weather perfect for a wedding (it rained in the morning, that's good luck, right???) it was also a nice little ceremony followed by a reception at Vincenzo's in Downtown, Louisville. Pretty fabulous for only having THREE weeks to put the wedding together. Yikes!

Here are some pictures from the event!

Our room overlooked the famous Fourth Street Live.
Pretty sweet location!!

Christopher and I hanging out at the reception!!
Aren't we just ADORABLE?? :)

The beautiful bride, Kelly!

New friends (and also newly weds): Tyler & Heather

Us with the bride!

Group Shot: The wine is kicking in!

The happy couple!

Aren't they a great looking couple!? Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Payne!

Dog Days

Ever wonder what your pets are doing when you are at work all day??? 

My guess: Watching reruns of "It's me or the dog" on Animal Planet.

(Don't worry Paisley...I'll always pick you!)

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Thursday!

Happy Labor Day Weekend

Got to love a three day weekend! (Well, 3.5 in my case, since I left work before noon on Friday!) How was everyone's weekend? I did quite a few things this weekend, but my favorite was the zoo! Going to the Cincinnati Zoo has been on my things-to-do-list for a long time and I finally had a chance to go (marking #48 off my 101 list!)!

I was kinda disappointed in the fact that they did not have any hienas or kangaroos...but fortunately the rest of the animals were pretty exciting to see. And I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty sure they were excited to see me too! :)

Then after the zoo, Christopher and I headed to his friends Labor Day party.

We drank some wine & played bochee ball (I was on the losing team TWICE! so. not. cool.)

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Here's to a SHORT work week! :)

A Snapshot of September

These months are FLYING by! It's September already, really??? Regardless, I'm looking forward to a few things this month: Labor Day weekend (bring on the festivities and a day off of work!!), a mini roadtrip to Louisville for a wedding with CV, Going to Memphis for a weekend (seeing my family and all my lovely friends), the Race for the Cure 5k (I hope I run more than I walk) and ofcourse Talk Like a Pirate Day (Aarrrgh)!!! Haha. JK. :)

Also this month, my lovely friend Joanna is getting married!!! We've been friends since high school so I'm pretty bummed I'm unable to attend the wedding, but I'll still be thinking of her on her special day! (Hi JB, Get that "kitchen tool belt" ready...haha. I heart you!) And also my BFF/LP, Stephanie, is moving from Memphis, TN to Austin, TX at the end of the month! I'm pretty excited for her and I'm pretty excited for myself too since I will be visiting very frequently (First visit in October! Yippee!) 

Happy September to all! :)