{currently loving...}

Starbucks Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte



With only 90 calories (without the whip) and 75mg of caffeine it’s the perfect little afternoon pick-me-up. Plus you get calcium and some sweet tooth satisfaction. (For the record, the grande has 130 calories and 150mg of caffeine). But there is a downside to this treat: Without a gift card, a tall alone will set you back $3.50. Happiness always has a price.

{a little scrapping for you}

So, I'm sitting here at work this sunny Friday, not wanting to work (is it obvious??) so I thought I'd post some of the most recent scrapbook layouts I've made for work. They're both all digital, made in Photoshop with free kits available at Memory Makers.


(The title says, "My 8 for 2008: 8 things I'm looking forward to this year." Number 5 is "The opening of IKEA." Yay!)

{hooray!}

My super very most favoritest fabric designer, Amy Butler is putting out a new fabric line called, appropriately for me, Midwest Modern. I’m so incredibly excited, as Amy’s fabric never fails to excite me and I’m eagerly waiting the chance to sew pillows for the living room. Even more perfect, is that the new line includes a collection of bright green and blue fabrics (called, also appropriately, Ohio Sky), exactly the hues that I have planned for the house. The bummer is that the fabric isn’t due to hit stores until April. I guess if I have to wait until March for IKEA to open (hello chairs, bookshelves, and frames, oh my!), I might as well put off finishing the home décor one more month to wait for Amy. Okay, so no one’s allowed to visit until June, got it?

{why I like the snow}

Found this on my way out the door this morning:

{30th birthday weekend recap}

My 30th-birthday-eve was almost just as special as my actual birthday. The girls at work got me a super-sweet card and brought in food in honor of my bday. Totally low-key but so nice that they thought of me. I’m very thankful for my coworkers—they are such as nice group of young women, with whom I have tons in common. Thank you, girls! I came home to pack and prep for an overnight trip to Nashville, Tennessee. After delish garlic bread pizza and some cabernet, Paul and I headed to the local theater to see Juno. (I recommend the movie if you haven’t seen it.)

Nashville was a great mix of kicking back, looking around, and having fun. Plus Paul and I love road trips—having four hours to talk and eat sour Jolly Ranchers is always a good time. We got to Nashville pretty early since we forgot about the time change, so we headed a little south to cute little downtown Franklin to eat at Merridees, which has the BEST baked goods. We walked in a few shops but it was so darn cold this weekend (25 degrees), being outside was pretty un-fun. We stopped at the Belmont Mansion for a little historical tour.

The tour was pretty interesting, but one of the women on the tour with was SO annoying...she asked about a million stupid questions, most of them asking if the wallpaper was original (after about the 10th “no” she would have figured it out).

Anyway....we headed back up to the hotel for opening presents and taking naps. (Thanks, mom, for the super cute Amy Butler bag!).

Paul did a great job surprising me with some really great gifts. What a sweetie! That night we headed out early this rather well known , but small hole-in-the-wall kind of place called the Bluebird Café. It was SO much fun—way more than I expected. Four singer/songwriters played some awesome country music (way better than the crap they play on the radio) in the round. And we sat about a foot (literally) from the musicians. Not only was the music really good, but so was the company. I was dreading having to be social with other people at our table (I was really tired...and I don’t like people all the much). Some girl who knew one of the musicians came along and sat at our table. She was really nice and asked some questions but I just felt really awkward. And then it turns out she lives in Nashville but she’s from Orange County and went to EV Free. Small world! We chatted easily after that. I had planned to go out after the Bluebird, but it was so much I figured nothing could top it, so we just kicked back at the hotel.

I woke on Sunday morning to find the bed empty (Paul was downstairs reading so he wouldn’t disturb me) so I did some more kicking back, drinking coffee and watching tv. By the way, I have to mention Paul did a great job picking the hotel...I highly recommend (at least the one in Nashville) the Spring Hill Suites by Marriott. The rooms were really nice (suites) and only $90! Plus they come with two free bottles of water—wow! About 11am on Sunday we headed to the Pancake Pantry, a Nashville tradition. We were expecting the line that greeted us when we got there—unfortunately, the line was outside and it was 25 degrees, but it was worth it.

After cinnamon and sugar pancakes (yum!) we spend some time browsing in a used bookstore, then drove out to the Hermitage to tour the home, tomb, and grounds of Andrew Jackson, 7th US president.

I noticed they kept the mention of the whole Indian removal thing to a minimum, but the place was pretty interesting. By they end of our two hours, much of it outside, I was pretty frozen and ready to head back to Cincy. Which we did.

{currently loving...}

CO Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint No. 1136

I got a tube of this luscious lip gloss at Bath & Body Works on sale for $5 (and I just heard it's on sale for $3 at the CO Bigelow store). The tint is the perfect hint of color, the gloss has a slight sheen that's not too shiny or sticky, and it has a fabulously minty taste. Plus it doesn't dry out my lips. Mom and sis both tried some of my tube and agreed it was every bit as great as I said it was. Mentha Lip comes in a couple different tints as well as clear.

{new year, new perspective}

Literally. I now have pieces of dark plastic framing my vision, which can sometimes be distracting. But I’m excited that I finally got new glasses, which I have been searching for the entirety of 2007.

Anyway...

Happy New Year to all of you!

I can't help but make New Year's resolutions. Maybe it's my goal-oriented side. Or my tendency to self-reflect. Or constant dissatisfaction with myself. Or maybe just my love of list-making. In any case, I never have trouble coming up with a few resolutions. Here are the three that came to mind first:

(1) Do more pilates (actually, that would be just "do pilates")

(2) Accept my personal style (but also stop feeling self conscious when I wear things that are “not me”)

(3) Wear more skirts (which is Paul's personal favorite)

I was discussing these facts with Paul on the drive home from the airport on Sunday, and lamenting the fact that I am never able to get the motivation to really change, specifically my complete inability to want to exercise. Paul, who had just come from hearing an appropriately relevant sermon, said something to the effect of this: It's not up to me to change myself or even within my capability of changing myself; it's up to God to change me (I'm assuming counting partly my willingness to allow the change...I can be pretty stubborn sometimes.) Well, good point, Paul (and thanks Dad-in-law!). It’s one of those notions that is so obvious yet so easy to forget, but so freeing when we remember. I don’t have to try to do the impossible. I don’t have to beat myself up for failing at the impossible. I don’t have to despair that I can’t complete the impossible. I can still try to make an effort to do Pilates or whatever, but it’s so nice not to have to rely on myself.

So, we'll see how the year goes. In the meantime, I will chuck my resolutions. Except maybe the one about the skirts because it's such as great excuse to go shopping.