That’s still a thing right?! Thirsty Thursday… oh to be in college again!!

While lying in bed this morning, (surprisingly I got up before 6:45) I decided that I should clear my calendar, plan some amazing trips, do some shopping and just hang out for the day.. and most certainly not work..  I could just imagine planning a fun trip to Hawaii or to Turks & Caicos and I could even taste the fruity drinks..#givemeallthecoladas then I remembered that I do have to work for a living (and bawled my eyes out, of course!) and that a Skinny Vanilla Latte would have to do for the perk up of my day! #whencanihavemypumpkinspicelatte #thatwouldbrightenmydayalittlemore

Wow… 4 blog posts in a row this week?? What has gotten into me?!  Oh yeah, I finally have some pictures to post!! 🙂  Again… disclaimer: I’m not a fashion blogger so sorry if you’re over these posts already but #sorrynotsorry

So I bought these booties a few years ago and never wore them.. and now I know why!  What color are they even?? They aren’t the cutest and I wish my #nsale booties had come in the mail prior to this post BUT since this is what i’m working with, it’ll have to do! I’ll take a #mirrorselfie once they arrive 🙂

I love this outfit for Fall.. the dress is so comfortable and can be worn with booties or with knee high boots as well!  I love the way the leopard plays off the burgundy dress!

My dress is no longer available but these are just as cute and on sale! Another great option is this dress!  These are both selling out quickly so don’t waste any time picking one out!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I guess i’m headed out to work because “apparently” that’s what grown ups do.. #adultingsucks

Also, since I’m clearly becoming an expert on blogging and fashion #duh, and you might not want to miss a blog post, you can subscribe on the sidebar (to the right) and you’ll be sent an updated blog post as they’re posted! Did you like my run on sentence?! All the teachers out there are cringing i’m sure but again, #sorrynotsorry

Here’s to tomorrow’s Friday Favorites and my brother’s wedding rehearsal!  Follow me along on Instagram and Facebook for some wedding pictures 🙂

Kristi

Hello!  2 blog posts in one day.. who am I?!?! Today, I’m linking up with Sheaffer and Shay to share What’s Up Wednesday!

Every month, you answer the following questions, plus a bonus question: “What was your favorite part about summer?”

What we’re eating this week:

I wish I was a better cook.. or just had more ambition to cook some meals!  This week, we’re having steak, BLTs and some cookout foods (brats and burgers!).  It’s my brother’s rehearsal dinner Friday and that’s on the menu, per the bride & groom’s request; brats, hamburgers, taco dip, caprese bites, etc! Yummy!

What I’m reminiscing about:

Our honeymoon!

If you’re new around these parts, our summer has been insane and intense!! The hubs and I haven’t had a weekend home together (heck, even a weekend home by ourselves with no plans!) since the beginning of May!  We’ve had approximately 52 weddings (more like 8 but you get what I’m saying!).  I miss those 7 days that we got to have time together; just us two with no other distractions!

What I’m loving:

Truthfully, I’m loving the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!! If you’ve been following my blog then I’m sure you’re so sick of hearing those sweet little words but it’s true I am!

I shared a dress from the sale here.

I’m also wearing these cute jeans (only $38!) here at the winery this past weekend!

What we’ve been up to:

We just spent the past weekend at a friend’s cabin and I shared all about it here!  It’s wedding week for my brother this week so I’ve been trying to help my Mama with the rehearsal dinner foods!  I’ll be making taco dip #duh and some mini Caprese Bites!

image via

Of course I’ll be making some yummy Sangria as well, because #itstasty!

What I’m dreading:

Summer ending!! We haven’t even been able to enjoy the warm and sunny weather!  I’m not ready for Fall just yet… We have about a month left until the Fall weather starts to set in and the only thing I’m excited about for Fall are Pumpkin Spice Lattes!  Otherwise, give me all of Summer back please!

What I’m working on:

Making some Special K Bars for my Brother’s dessert table at his wedding as well as making some treats for the rehearsal dinner!

What I’m excited about:

A weekend at home FINALLY with the hubs next weekend!  Have I complained about it enough yet??  The only thing on our agenda is the PGA 3M Champions tour that’s hosted right by our house!  We’ve gone the last 2 years and it’s just a fun event to walk around and watch!

What I’m watching/reading:

I’m always on the hunt for new books to read so any suggestions are welcome!  I just finished the book Southern Charm.  It was such an easy and cute read!  I’d definitely recommend if you’re looking for a light-hearted book!

I’m probably on my own for this one but I’m pretty much over the Bachelorette this season.  I love Jojo but it’s just not entertaining.  I’d say that was on my list of things I’ve been watching (since i’ve been watching all season) but i’m kinda over it.  I’m not a Jordan fan.. even though I love me some A-Rodge and Robby isn’t my favorite either so we’ll see.. My bet is on Jordan being the “winner!”.

What I’m listening to:

Currently I’m listening to Sweet Home Alabama in the background as I’m writing this post!  It’s seriously one of my favorite movies, y’all and I can’t get enough of Reese Witherspoon! Definitely brightens my morning to have this on!  Does anyone else love this movie?!

What I’m wearing:

With a few chilly mornings this past weekend, I was thankful for my warm blanket scarf from Nordstrom!

But since luckily, it’s still Summer outside, I can’t get enough Lilly dresses!

What I’m doing this weekend:

Celebrating my Brother’s wedding!!

Check back next week for the recap of the wedding festivities! Follow along on Instagram if waiting that long seems like a terrible idea! 🙂

What I’m looking forward to next month:

Having free weekends!! We have 1 wedding on our radar for August but otherwise a pretty open schedule!  I’m looking forward to a few date nights with the hubs 😉

What else is new?

Not much!  Life is pretty great around these parts and we’re just finally going to be getting back to our routine of work and some weekends at home!

What was your favorite part about summer?

The amount of time we got to spend with friends and family!  As exhausting as it was to be so busy, I’m so glad we got to see so many fun people that we don’t see often!

Hope you enjoyed reading what’s been going on with us this summer!  Head over here for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale tee I styled this past weekend!

Also, if you are anxious about missing any of these posts (because they’re so fun to read!),  hit the subscribe button on the sidebar and enter your email to get emailed directly when a new post is up!

Kristi

Good morning and happy hump day!  Seriously thinking the below.. am I right??

Did I mention that this week is my brother’s wedding week?  It’s pretty surreal… he’s the last of us 3 kids to get married in my family and it’s seriously SO weird that we’re all old enough to be married!  Over the last 10ish years, my siblings and I have become pretty close – in that I love hanging with them and am sad when our time together ends!  I talk to them at least once a week and am so thankful they’re mine (most of the time at least!)!

I’m ready for some fun this weekend and to celebrate my brother and his fiance!  But since it’s only Wednesday (again….) I thought i’d share another piece from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale! And because I made Jess take some pics this past weekend – I figured they should be shared! 🙂

This shirt is one of my favorites from the sale!! It’s long enough to wear with jeans or even leggings but can be tucked in for shorts to wear now!  And clearly anyone can wear it.. I mean, seriously..! Unfortunately, my specific top is out of stock BUT you can find solid colors here for only $17.90!

It was approximately 112 degrees outside when we took these so I was sweating profusely glistening quite a bit and my hair was a bit dull and boring flat!  BUT guess what..???  I don’t care because it was finally in the 90’s outside and trust me… that doesn’t last very long!

Hope it’s a wonderful “hump” day and you get a lot of “humping” in 😉 Or at least start to get prepared for the weekend!!

Kristi

Whew, this past weekend was one for the books!  As I said in my Friday’s Favorite’s post, we spent the weekend at a friend’s cabin in Alexandria and had such a great time!  We ended up with some great weather and got to spend time on the water, at a winery and playing some Phase 10! #becausewerecoollikethat

And just FYI… I think the hubs and I truly need a lake home.. seriously.. life just seems better at the lake.  Who’s with me on this one??  I could totally see myself blogging from the lake on the daily 🙂 Well, until winter comes! I’d love to say the ocean instead but think that’d be a little out of reach. At least for now a days 🙂

Now onto the “good” stuff… recap time! Thursday, Jess and I went up early after work for the evening (the hubs met us a little later after class!).

Thursday night consisted of chatting, unpacking and some wine drinking!

Friday was a day full of water, flamingos, sun and more drinks!!

It was so relaxing to just hang out by the water after the Summer we have had!  The sun came out early and it was nice and hot all day!

While us girls did a lot of this………..

The hubs enjoyed some time on the jetski!

Jeff came after a meeting on Friday (Happy Birthday last Friday, Jeff!) and we all got to soak up some quality time together!

That is until the boys went golfing… 30 holes during Twilight time!  Can you say boring?? Oh yeah, and the hubs did 18 in the AM by himself.. Obsessed much?!

We ended the day with grilling out and lots of veggies!  #becausewewanttosaywerehealthy We also had some ice cream cake from DQ… Hollllllla!!! So incredibly good!  Give me some of that any day!

Saturday, the weather was a bit chilly and windy/rainy in the morning and we weren’t sure what we’d do all day… so we did what anyone in their right mind would do… visited a winery!!

As I mentioned before, we always hit up Carlos Creek Winery for some good live music and great wine!  They did a complete renovation from the last time we were there (last year!) so it was fun to see all the updates!

They added a little cave area where they give a little bit of the history of wine and the winery!

And now for an array of winery photos because.. well duh, it’s a winery and it’s beautiful!

How funny are these signs that are in the hallway to the bathroom?? This is clearly how I feel about wine.. and Casual Friday at work 🙂 #iweartiarasathomeallthetime

Give me a winery and warm weather any day!!

Love this winery and hope to go back again next year… Jess please invite us again 🙂

We really lucked out, after the storms in the morning, we had beautiful weather the rest of the day!  We stopped by Zorbas for a few cocktails and some nachos.. and of course queso! #becauseitsyummy #duh

We headed back to the cabin after and watched an episode of Law & Order: SVU.. think I got Jess and Jeff hooked a little bit 🙂

After that, we went in the hot tub on the deck! I should have taken a picture of the view because it’s amazing!

We had a fun little bonfire… I say little because it lasted 15 minute and my husband asked a million questions during it… “If you were on a stranded island for the rest of your life and could bring 1 book, 1 type of food and listen to 1 song forever, what would they be?” “If you could go anywhere in the whole world, where would it be..?” etc!  After having 3 s’mores (I normally eat approximately 24 but decided I should cut back this year!) we decided it was time for a Phase 10 rematch (hubs won the previous night) because we’re serious gamers! #notevenclose

We had a cheese platter, a million veggies, strawberries and Chex Mix.. and some drinks to end the night off 🙂

Every year after we leave, I literally look up a million “lake homes” and tell the hubs we MUST move ASAP!  He thinks i’m kidding but there’s no kidding here.. Lake home or bust!  I’ll even take a home on the ocean if he prefers that 😉

Kristi

Hello!!  Hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are ready for the start of a perfect week! Haha.. did you all read that right?  Let’s hope my optimism sticks around!  Let’s be real for a minute.. i’m seriously still so exhausted and how did Monday roll around so fast?  I feel like that’s been the theme of our summer! We had such a fun weekend (come back tomorrow for the recap and LOTS of pictures!) but i’m already ready for another one!

Since I’ve been raving about the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for the past… forever!  I know, it’s a bit annoying (trust me!) but I thought it would be fun to show a few ways to style some of the pieces I bought during the sale! Keep in mind…. I’m NO fashion blogger so the pictures and poses might look a little goofy!

Also… it was literally 91 degrees out when we took these pictures (just via my iphone!) so I apologize for the lack of makeup #sweatcentral and the uncurled hair! I swear it looked a lot better in the beginning of the day! #typical

I’m not going to lie… this dress did not WOW me by itself! I really really wanted to love this dress. Umm it looks so cute on so many other people-it makes me jealous!! Isn’t that usually how it goes?  You love something on other people who have nowhere near your same body type but yet you think it’s going to look the same on you??  I feel like it makes me look a little wide which I don’t want to accentuate! I’m not sure it’s meant for girls with a bit of curves!

However, I do think it’s a good layering piece for Fall! Imagine these booties and a long cardigan over it or these tall boots and a fun jean jacket or utility jacket?! So cute!

There are a few colors left in this style dress so if it’s something you’re interested i’d definitely jump now!  It’s $24.90 during the sale and $38 after the sale!

I have a few other outfits to post this week.. let me know if this is something you like or if you’d pass on these!  If you want to see more of my everyday pajamas outfits, let me know and I’d definitely give you all a little something you’re interested in!

Hope you all have a “perfect” week and i’ll see you here tomorrow for the recap of our cabin weekend!  Trust me… you don’t want to miss more pictures of it! 🙂

Kristi

Hi everyone and Happy Tuesday!  Is that an oxymoron… happy that it’s only Tuesday??  I’m hoping for Thursday to come soon 🙂  I’m linking up with Andrea to give a tour of our home… The hubs and I moved into our home August 2013 and we have loved being homeowners (minus the mortgage part, right?!)!  When we moved into our house, it was as if it hadn’t been lived in much.. in the sense the previous owners didn’t do a whole lot to it! The first thing we did was paint all the walls (or the majority at least!).

One of our bests came to help, pregnant and all!! They are the best! We even painted the door and replaced some of the hardware!

That was pretty much where the extent of “bettering our home” ended.. I mean as far as household projects!! Our house was fairly new so not much needed to be done but i’d die to have white trim, am i right?? But that might be a little difficult with all the trim/rails we have going on!  Without further adieu, here is our home!

And a few pictures of our front porch in years past…

This is our entryway…

*Side note: these pictures are pretty true to every day life therefore I did not dust or pick everything up before taking them… I used to clean EVERY.SINGLE.DAY and the hubs would get so annoyed and tell me that our house never looked like anyone lived in it..!! I’d definitely say our house looks “lived in!!”.  So I apologize for the lack of professional photos!

We have pictures (mostly from our engagement) lining the stairs and our dining room still needs a little sprucing up!  I generally have fresh flowers (who doesn’t love that?!) on our table almost every week so this week is a little off! On another side note: I LOVE my pineapple candle holders!!

The picture on the left is current (I know, I know.. who wants to see a mess?!) and the picture on the right was right after we moved in!

This is the view from the entryway and front door.. couldn’t you just picture so much white trim?! I seriously dream about that sometimes… one day!! Also, we bought that red couch in our first apt together back in 2010 and I HAD to have it… big mistake.  Who wants a red couch?!!? Can’t wait for some new living room furniture as well…

Our hallway upstairs… we have 3 bedrooms upstairs with a guest bath (and master bath).  I would love to put that mirror on the wall (umm duh) but my hubs says it’s too heavy 😦 serious crying face!!

Our bedrooms need a bit of work… the guest bedroom FINALLY got painted (from the construction paint that’s been on the walls since it was built!) but it needs some sprucing up; lamp (because don’t we all love the lamp in the corner circa 1990s??), pictures/color on the walls!  Our other bedroom is considered my “office” but I definitely NEED to fix it up a bit! The hubs and I have been saying we’d use that room for a baby room (holla to all the Mamas-to-be trying out there!) but I’d rather use it more for my office until we finally get preggers!  So that will be next on my list! I’m picturing a bit of pink and white all over (and throw in some gold touches!).

Our guest bath is pretty basic.. more brown trim (for the Love of…!!) and we have a yellow/gray color scheme going on in there! I got the shower curtain and rug from West Elm (and absolutely loved them) but have been dreaming of changing it all up a bit again… it’s been almost 3 years after all!

Another room that we need to do some work on.. (have I said that enough in this post??) We could use some mirrors behind the nightstands, a new bed frame and some more color on the walls!

I know you’re thinking… what have you been doing for the last 3 years since it’s clearly not house work?!  To be honest… we’ve been busy with life!! There’s so much I want to fix up in our house (mainly with furniture and some paint) and am hoping to start checking things off my list this winter!  I’ll have to do an update once I actually do some changing 🙂 To hold myself accountable at least…

And because i’m always dreaming of Christmas time.. a few pictures of my hubs putting up our Christmas lights 🙂

Hope you guys enjoyed our home (even with all the imperfections and things we definitely need to work on!!).  Can’t wait to show you the improvements!

Welp… this weekend was a little bit of a rough one!!  It’s been a bit since i’ve drank (more than 2 drinks!) and Friday night proved to me that I am no longer a 21 year old girl!  Now, when I was 21 my hangovers were no cup of tea either (they seriously lasted foooooorrrreeevvveeerrr!!) but I clearly thought I was a champ on Friday!  We celebrated my sweet friend, Elaine with going out to a few bars downtown Minneapolis.

We hit up Prohibition Bar (in the W hotel) first (via limo) and had three of their signature drinks- Mango Pina Colada, Margarita and a Blueberry Martini.  All three tasted divine and we ate some prosciutto and shared stories of the love birds!

After Prohibition, the limo dropped us off at Union Rooftop where we enjoyed a few more cocktails and a few appetizers.  Once the DJ started, we definitely got some dancing in and before we knew it, we were headed back home!

Saturday was a rough day for me.. I had a million things planned and unfortunately was not able to do one of them! It was the worst hangover in I don’t even know how long! I’m still paying for it today!  It was a bit insane but thankfully Jess brought me over some Panera and large bottles of water and kept me company for a little bit!  She’s a Godsend and i’m so thankful to have her!!  Seriously… can someone invent a magic remedy for hangovers?? I’ve decided i’m done drinking for life… or at least until the cabin this weekend!!  We’ll see how it goes 🙂

I have a date with this guy this coming weekend at Jess’ cabin and I am so ready for 3 days of R&R!

Let’s start this (short) week off right and hope it flies right by!  I’m ready for the hubs to come home tomorrow night from his boys weekend! Can’t wait to hear all about it!

Have a wonderful week!!

Kristi

In yesterday’s post, one of my confessions was that I couldn’t believe I graduated high school 10 years ago and I still can’t.  How am I 28 years old… that just sounds weird!!  I’m thankful for every day that I get to keep on living and for the people I spend my life with!  In light of it being Thursday, I thought i’d throw in some throwback pictures of the past 10+ years 🙂

 

So much has happened throughout these last 10 years and I am SO thankful for where I am today.  I have a loving husband, beautiful home, wonderful friends and family plus two super cute pups!  I count my lucky stars, EVERY.DARN.DAY. and hope you do too!

We’re soo close to Friday… hope you have a terrific Thursday!! 🙂 See you tomorrow for some more of my favorites 🙂

Kristi