Buy a Lady a Drink, A Bride No More & Spring Shopping {Friday Linkups}

Can we just talk about how nice the weather has been this week!?

Like nice enough for me to take my pup out in my workout shorts (and my hubby's coat/snow boots since our backyard is a slushy mess.  Our new neighbors might think I'm crazy but hey, I don't care because it's warm enough!!)

I am seriously craving all the bright colors.  All the florals.  All the pastels.  All the patterns. 

Spring anything and everything.

1. Buy a Lady a Drink

Ok, no, it's not what you think.  But that's a great little attention grabbing gif isn't it?!  For those of you who don't know our pup, Stella was named after her daddy's favorite beer.. Stella Artois.  Every once in a while she gets the full name thrown at her.  Usually if she's guilty of trying to eat my feet while I zumba or does something funny and turns into super dog.  But that's also not the point..

Stella Artois teamed up with Water.org donating and starting a new campaign to get water to 750 million people around the world that don't have clean water.  More specifically, for the ladies that have to desperately try to collect the water for their families each day. They've designed three different beer glasses - one inspired by India, one by Ethiopia and one by Honduras.

One glass purchased will provide five years of clean water for one person in one of these places.
FIVE YEARS FOR ONE GLASS.
That's amazing!

Snaps to the husband for finding this great cause!  Such a clever title because when he told me to look it up I definitely thought it was a bar app or something like the gif above. We're getting ourselves a set this weekend. To find out more or pick up some yourselves; check out their website: here

2. Spring Shopping.. Finally!
Today Mom & I are playing hookie (it's nice when your boss Mom is fun like that) and taking a little spring shopping trip.  I can't wait to come home and flood with new spring items to lust at until it's really warm enough to wear them.  (this week was a little tease, but I'll take it!)

3. Hollywood Happenings
How perfect was it that Ben Stiller announced Zoolander Two.  AT Fashion Week. AS Derek Zoolander.  Whoever thought up the idea for Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson to walk the runway at the Valentino show is a genius. I can't wait until next February.
*Fun fact: In college I broke my rib and spent a lot of time in the apartment recovering, my roommate and I tried to watch this since it was one of our faves and had to turn it off because all the laughing was too painful for my rib*
Anna Wintour and Derek Zoolander chatting: here. Kinda surprised she played along.

How fantastic would this be if it was actually true.  These three girls together = pure hilariousness.  I've heard rumors it's on.  I've hear rumors it's a rumor.  I've heard rumors that Jen is out and the other two are in.  What is the deal people?! I have a feeling it's definitely not happening, but it would be so fabulous if it was!

And we will definitely not be seeing Lauren Conrad's future kids on television.  Good for them for being private but I'd for sure tune in if she did another reality show; preferable her as a mom.

via

4. Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels
Okay, so whoever came up with this saying never tasted cupcakes.
Or cheese fries.
Or cookie dough.
Or Enchiladas.
Anyways, a while back I blogged that I'd given up sweets for a month (then I switched it for all of lent) but I vowed to give myself two days off - my brother's birthday and my grandma's birthday.  Only two days for six weeks! Anyway, those two days are both this week!  You can imagine how excited I am for one little piece of cake each birthday.  Oh my gosh!

Whenever I eat my tiny boring little lunches I think of this scene in The Devil Wears Prada.  

Every time.

The diet's going well but my goodness I can't wait until it's over.   

Soon.  

#givemealltheenchilladas

5. Wedding Tasks - Check!

Six months after our wedding and we've finally wrapped up our "post wedding to do's."  We ordered our wedding album this week! Wahoo!  Best part was since we prolonged it.  Then cancelled an appointment.  They let us do everything over email and not go in for an appointment (total score for one less errand). It won't be in until summer (seriously, why does it take so long) but it feels good to keep checking little things off the list and be done with it.  Oh and I can't wait to see the final product. Also the girl at the photographer sounds just like Yolanda from Real Housewives of BH so I love chatting with her one the phone.

Alas, a bride no more.  Well not to Derek, he still calls me his bride.  Being a wife and newlywed is much better.  

Bachelor Talk

Of course Whintey handled the meeting the family situation perfectly, like she always does!!
Becca brought cookies?! You go girl! so cleaver and she'd win my heart if I was a blonde sister.
The consume a lot of wine in Iowa.  A lot.

The Soules family looks for a great time.
How sweet when Chris' mom wiped Becca's hair out of her face - what a sweet lady!
Also, did we already know that Chris owns 800 acres of land?! I must have missed that before.
Neil Lane appears in every finale now I guess?!
Must have been a little ticked off that he was in Iowa. In the cold.

They made the barn where Chris raised his first pig look good. Well good for a barn.  Okay, they really should have been on a cliff in St. Lucia or something, I mean they were shivering.

I've been 100% Team Whintey for Bachelorette from the beginning.  I always cheer for my favorite to loose, it's better to have them steal the show next time! But anyways, girlfriend needs to learn to play it cool! Let Chris speak.  Don't get so excited that someone most likely needs to get you a bag to breath in.  Everyone knows you love Chris.  Relax.

I've gone back and forth about this a little bit since everyone is so into that Chris picked Whitney because Becca didn't love him.  Becca got a date in the hotel room.  Whitney got a date AT his house and ON his farm.  He's loved her all along too.  I think that was a little pot stirring there at the end.  I think they'll last.  I hope they last.  As long as Whintey #2 (another fave) keeps her hands off the farmer.
How sweet were Chris' parents at the end?! Those two were just so happy! We (as in plural, as in my husband AND I might have shed a tear at this point)
Has there ever been a bigger bachelor nation star bigger than Ashley S?  I don't think so. She's beautiful.  Smart and normal (see this article from Reality Steve: here) and everyone's talking about her and loves her.  I think she's the real winner of the show.

Nothing can top Jimmy Kimmel.  "Should I load Juan Pablo into your car." HILARIOUS. Do we know if Chris actually gets to keep him?!

For once in his life (well Bachelor Hosting) Chris Harrison finally was not lying about shocking twists.

 
What???
Stupid!!!
How is Britt even involved?! The audience even barely clapped for her.
#TeamKaitlin
I read they start filming this weekend so hopefully we'll know soon who it is.  And hopefully we're hearing Kaitlin's name.  Girlfriend looked pisssssed on the After.

 I think Stella's expression below says it all. We are ready for the weekend!!
Poor girl had a rough time with the time change just like us.
Sometimes she sits on my lap at work and she's just recently learned to hoist herself up onto the desk.  Usually she sniffs around where she shouldn't but she needed a new nap spot on this day.

Linking up here, here and here today

Another snow day, Goodbye to sweets & The bachelor double header {Friday Linkup}

1. Snow Day

We had another snow day this week - this time with actual snow unlike the last one when the "blizzard" hit.  In addition, we've been having brutal temperatures this week.  Like -15 degree windchill brutal.  But anyways, we got probably about 4 inches, just enough to stay home and little enough to enjoy it.  I woke up early per usual (and to track the storm) then once I knew I was staying put, I caught a little extra sleep while Derek handled the major tasks - shoveling our driveway out front and a path for Stella outback.  It was a nice little mid-week break, I caught up on a couple much needed things, Sex and the City (the movie) was on, I put a new soup recipe to try out in the crockpot (delicious! recipe coming soon), and spent a lot of time out in the yard with little miss Stella who enjoyed the heck out of her first snow even though the snow was higher than her paws.

2. Friends 2015

I saw this pop up on a friend of mine's Facebook.  I LOVE any articles/buzz feed posts on Friends but I got a few laughs out of this one.  Except #35, I was really excited to send a holiday card last year.  Read: here if Friends had of been set in 2015.  This is everything.  I love Friends the way it is but I also very much wish it was still on the air so this is great.  I'm still holding out hope for a movie.  Never say never, right?!

3. No More Sweets

I've given up sweets for the next month! I was waiting for Valentine's Day to pass - you can't miss out on a holiday where it's a free pass to eat anything with sweetness - so I made sure to indulge over the weekend.  Here's hoping that I can stay strong and reach my goal.  I conveniently picked the end date to be BEFORE my brother and grandma's birthdays - this girl would never miss out on a cake product!

4. Me Time

I love me some trashy magazines and now that I actually have to buy my own groceries instead of just reading the magazines at the store while I wait for my mom to shop THEN take some home too, I rarely get them anymore.  Sunday when we were grocery shopping, Chris (The Bachelor, duh!) was on the cover of two and I had to have them.  I enjoyed me some time curled up under a blanket reading them (and enjoying my last day of sweets).

5. The Bachelor Double Header

Love back to back nights of The Bachelor especially since they keep saving the rose ceremonies until the following episode.  FIVE hours in two days is a little much, but I still enjoyed it.  

I've had my same three favorites for weeks now - Carly, Becca and most favorite Whitney but now 

my mind is 100% made up - Whitney to win and Carly for the Bachelorette

 but I'd still be happy if Becca gets it too.  

Whitney is so perfect for Chris, she seriously handles every situation so well - the wedding crashing, meeting his friends, talking about her rough past - she carries her self SO well.  

Carly is h-y-s-t-e-r-i-c-a-l and so wants to genuinely find love.

I'm SO glad Britt had a meltdown and made herself look terrible.  What kind of girl (on a show like The Bachelor) cries every time she doesn't get a group date rose.  It's all about Chris, not all about you.

I loved crazy pants Ashley S.'s segment on the special.  Her intro video was so normal??? The crew must have felt like they found gold with her, not for the show but for their own entertainment during filming. Again, I can't wait to see her at the Women Tell All.

When Chris was chatting with the cows.  That suddenly made sense later on because their is literally nothing in Arlington.  NOTHING.  Britt couldn't work because there's no restaurants, Jade couldn't work because there sure isn't any modeling gigs. I hope the town over has some stuff going on but at least Chris' place is nice.

I'm thinking Chris was definitely loving Jade as a front runner since he took her to his house AND introduced her to his parents weeks before that usually happens.  I'm thinking the Playboy spread might have had something to do with his change in heart but I wasn't surprised to see her go, I was actually surprised she made it that far.  I still like her though.

and a couple Favorites...

Favorite Day of the Week: National Wine Day. What a fabulous holiday!

Favorite Husband Moment: all his shoveling! We had some snow in the driveway when we got home from our weekend away and Stella and I drove in the find him shoveling it before the two of us could even get home! He also shoveled our snow day snow before I was even out of bed :)

Favorite Stella-ism: Stella hides UNDER her bed at my office.  She never does it with her bed at home, but I'll hear some rustling around and I'll look over my desk into the pen and she'll be completely hidden!  When I peek around the corner she usually stays hidden and only comes out if I pull it off of her.  I was lucky enough to catch her in action one day (and video it for Derek) and it's hysterical!

Favorite "Little Thing": co-dreaming with Derek about renting a house in California in future years to escape the cold.  We love where we live but it would be fun to get the best of both worlds and experience that life style a little bit.

Favorite New Recipe(s): Chicken Parm Casserole and Hamburger Soup... one recipe coming next week, one is being tried again because of a couple errors :-/

Favorite Surprise: Flowers!

Friday Favorites with Diary of a Real Housewife

Friday Favorites with Life in Leggings

Friday Favorites with Meet @ The Barre

Friday Favorites

Oh Hey Friday!

Five on Friday

A new girl in our life & snow days {Friday Linkups}

Happy Friday! TGIF, I am so ready for a weekend!  Even though this week flew because of the "blizzard" I'm ready for another weekend.

If you missed my favorite post from the week, click: here for a look back at wedding planning, wedding memories and our honeymoon in… Bora Bora! Professional photos and more Wedding Wednesday's coming soon… 

1. Meeting Our Stella
Yesterday our family of two became a family of three!  We picked up our sweet little puppy, Stella!  Check back next week to meet Stella, our story of our journey to get her and a picture overload.  The photos today are from our visit last Thursday (1/22) when we first met our little girl puppy.  She is sweet as can be (when you are right by her side) and we are so excited to welcome her into our lives.

On our way to meet our girl.  About a 45 minute drive.  Derek had to go into work late on Thursday and I was able to rearrange my schedule so we could make the quick trip; we were back home by about 11am.

Eeekk!! The cuteness 

She won us over instantly.

Loving on my girl

Check out those curls.

Such a tiny little ball of joy in her daddy's arms.

I'm so happy to finally have this cutie home with us. 

2. Snow Day
The storm that snuck in! So happy and thankful that when I was at the grocery store last Friday I had meal planned through Wednesday and we were stocked on food before the storm popped up.  My Monday morning meeting was cancelled on Sunday so I settled down for two days at home.  Although, I was missing my husband :-/ Derek had to stay over at a hotel because they had a couple clients that were still planning on coming in on Tuesday even though the city was in a snow emergency. Oh wait, except we only got maybe TWO inches of snow!! Derek slid home on the still iffy roads Tuesday morning and we spent the day at home like most people!  Sun was out and "snow" was melting by noon.  I do love tracking a storm, even if it's a bust.

3. Bridesmaid Canvas

I wanted a few canvases for our house with wedding photos but I thought it would be best to start with just one to see how I liked it.  It came in the mail this past week and it was love at first sight! As soon as I have some free time to measure wall space and pick the next photos, we'll be ordering a few more!

Full office details post coming soon

4. Magazine Time

I used to get 3-4 magazines every single week and read them cover to cover.  Now I usually just resort to apps but I couldn't pass up the US Weekly Cover with the Bachelorette Wedding and coverage of Des and Chris' big day.  The snowy nights gave me the perfect time to read curled up under a blanket.

5. Bachelor Comments

All hail Queen Crazy.  Ashley S. had a speaking roll again this week! PTL! Sad her crazy had to go.  I cannot even wait to see her at the Women Tell All.

Chris' sisters were so cute; what an adorable blonde family.

Jade hit the jackpot - She gets to keep Louboutins AND Neil Lane Diamond Earrings?! Of course it was noted multiple times that they wed Neil Lane.  But even better - There's a new Cinderella movie?! Of course ABC had to promote the Disney movie but who cares, I watched Cinderella everyday as a girl, I see myself going opening weekend.  This might have been my favorite date. ever.  I was so loving Jade.  Until one of my besties Sam told me she had nude photos out and posed for playboy.  Bye Jade.

Favorites: Whitney, Becca, Carly 

I don't know if I've ever hated a contestant as much as I do Ashley Kardashian.

How happy were we all that TGIT was FINALLY back last night?!

I needed a big ole glass of Olivia wine after Stella let herself out of her play area.. three times. TG for parents too right?! Thankfully mine brought over Nash's old play pen so prayers for some smoother adjusting today!  

It's a Fabulous Friday! {Friday Linkups}

Happy Friday, Everyone! 

In our new outlook on living a "quieter" life, I'm super excited to be home this weekend and have not a single thing to do (and by not a single thing, I really mean catching up on some must do errands an house work but hey, at least I'm home)!  I'm really proud of Derek/I for sticking to our plan of not over booking our selves and making an effort to be in our new home  most weekends.  I'm also exited to hibernate, my gosh it's cold out there!!

1. This Single Digit Weather
We dipped down way low into some freezing weather this past week and it's really not the most pleasant. at all.  I'm 100% ready for spring, but it does have some perks! Sometimes I'm in such a rush, I just put on my coat and run out the door but I've been prepping for the cold and taking the time to get my scarf/gloves/head warmer/boots/everything on and a couple extra layers help!  I've also been very into cuddling up under blankets, like every. single. night on the couch.

2. Kate Spade iPad Case
My old iPad case had pen marks on it.  It was old and beat up.  Last week I spilled some of a printer ink cartridge on it and it was just plain time for a new one.  I had eyed this case at the Macy's in Philadelphia (it's not available on Kate Spade's website and is currently unavailable on Macy's website, but I think I've seen it in person in Kate Spade stores and I have definitely seen it in Macy's stores).  Davey had given me something else in this pattern as part of my birthday gift and I just love the glitz and pink sparkles.  I don't even know what model my iPad is {not a technology wiz over here} but I took a shot because Macy's has easy returns.  All is well and I LOVE it, definitely a current favorite of mine - it makes my iPad look much more sleek and cleaner.

3. Me Time
Derek's had to work late (well not super late every night but late enough to miss dinner) and while I always miss him when he's not home at night I've been enjoying some nice "me" time and have been having a great little time watching reality tv reruns, blog reading, pinning, recipe searching, etc.  I pretty much have come home from work/gym, got myself some dinner and then parked myself on the couch the rest of the night.  I see this routine continuing now that the holidays are over even when Derek is home at night. So nice to have nowhere to be.

4. Clogged
Anyone that travels up to Penn State understands that you do just that.  Travel UP to Penn State.  My ears usually pop at least once or twice on the way up the mountain, except on Friday they didn't pop just got plain clogged!  Derek was talking to me one night when I was laying in bed with my clear ear on the pillow and I could barely hear him! Crazy! Anyway Derek & I had been on the lookout for a new doctor anyway so I found an angel doctor right down the road from the new house and not only do I love her as my new doctor but she got my ear right back into shape!

5. The Bachelor Thoughts
Bravo producers, bravo.  This season of The Bachelor has really brought out the crazy which is ironic because Chris is so normal and sweet.  I hid under my blanket in embarrassment for some of the girls, it's funny how you can get so embarrassed for crazies complete strangers.  My favorites at the moment: Trina, Kelsey, Whitney, Britt.  Honorable Mentions: Jeulia, Jade, Becca, Carly, Megan.

What's terrible is that sweet, nice, small town Chris made these girls walk down the LA street in just bikinis - why didn't one single one of them grab a cover up.  Chris is in a hoodie, it can't be that warm.

What's even worse is that the girl trying to be a Kardashian won! I didn't even notice her until this episode and home that she goes home next week so I don't need to notice her anymore.  Does this girl really look like a farmer's wife??? I mean this isn't the simple life, it's the bachelor.

 What's the absolute worst about the terrible group date is that he picks Mackenzie for one-on-one time. 

I think he literally had the least connection with her, picked her and seemed "happy" about it. 

 I almost spit out my water when she said "I have a kid" giggle giggle giggle. 

How hard is it to nicely say "I have a son who means the world to me."

Oh wait, sweet and nice Chris did say that "you have a child?"

I later went on to read the wording next to her name... age 21...

 My absolute favorite crazy. Ashley S

I drop EVERYTHING when she comes on to the screen.

Maybe it's because one of my favorite bachelorettes ever was Ashley S but it's probably because she's SO entertaining.

I can't even understand where she's going with her sentences other than that after this week it's 100% sure she's on drugs. prescribed or not. mixed with alcohol or plain.

She did almost look half normal at the rose ceremony so I can't wait to see her explain her crazy at the After the Final Rose

Praise the Lord the craziest of the crop got a rose.  The very last rose no less.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, to whichever producer made Chris keep her around.  I think her crazy will probably be funny for about another week before things get serious

Out of all that mess, I think I'm most embarrassed for Jillian. 

She fell getting a rose.  that wasn't even for her!!!

Chris didn't call her name for another like three names, way to make her sweat.

One of the girls, I think drunk Jordan told the entire world how hairy she is. mortifying!

I wonder if that will be addressed at the WTA

Why did they keep blacking out her bikini bottoms???

This season is for sure boozier than most of the previous, which is hard to do.  Jordan and Tara are most definitely just there for the free drinks.  I mean, Tara was more upset about missing the group cheers than leaving Chris.

Here's to hoping for another week or so of crazy and then Chris actually finding a wife.

{Extras}
I was blown away when I got home from Penn State to find Mom's/my stuff from the Lilly Sale had already arrived! I thought it would have been a couple weeks for sure with how crowded their site has been.

Happy Weekending!

Xo CHS