All things LOVED in March

1. THE Ohio State Basketball Team
I absolutely LOVE March madness, I love filling out my bracket, rooting for the team that I chose in each game, and watching some amazing upsets [hello Moorehead state! i'm still impressed!] However, this year its more than just filling out a bracket and cheering on who I have going to the final dance.. its cheering for my beloved Buckeyes! and i have to admit - its been a fun season watching them! They just look like they are having fun [well let's be honest, they are having fun! they are #1 in the country!] and just to prove that they are just in it for a good time.. if you haven't seen the guys singing Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA - its totally worth watching!

2. Nude Shoes

I picked these lovelies up at Marshall's a few weeks ago. I wear them with just about everything! I love them, and they can go with brown or black!

3. Nature's Finest Jam

My mom brought this on vacation with the family last month, and I had to go out and get my own.. its just so fresh and delish!

4. Morning Star Spicy Black Bean Burger

I always tell people that I could be a vegetarian if it wasn't for bacon, and I could be a vegan if it wasn't for bacon [obvi], cheese, [and sometimes sour cream]. However, you will never hear me claim to be either - unless i claim it with my disclosures. We have been on a black bean burger kick lately - and speaking of kick - these have a little of one too! they are delish - we grill them up for dinner and even J likes them!

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5. LuluLemon

Remember this post? Well I think I may have found a place to solve the world's problems... err well at least some of my own personal problem!!! [can i get a hallelujah?!]

I have been told by a few marathon runners that LuluLemon is the end all be all place for workout apparel. Well while out shopping the other day J and I decided to stop in and see what all the hype is about! HOLY customer service! I loved it, they were totally willing to work with me to find a sports bra that fit! [please cue the hallelujah chorus again] and all of their merchandise has kind of witty names to it - kind of like OPI nailpolish!

I hope you have had a wonderful March!

Doesn't it seem as if it has just flown by?!!?

Inspiration: Plate Wall

So I often find myself day dreaming about how I can change things up within my condo....
because lets be honest, i will probably be in this condo for the rest of my life based off of the current state of the economy

one idea that i have seen a lot of lately is a plate wall... it was something that i LOVED but never really thought there was a place in my condo, until I saw Molly's plate wall on her blog it inspired me to find a wall to transform...

so what about this wall??
its off of the family room? that looks over the kitchen table


what do you think?

I would remove the clock and the corner wire piece - and add plates similar to the ones below

Molly's plate wall


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So do you think this would work on my wall? Using the colors in my family room?
[tiffany blue, artichoke green, chocolate brown and white]

I really appreciate your opinions on what you think!

Spring Swap Goodies

Through Molly and Aly's spring swap I was paired up with
Jessica from Stilettos & a Fishing Pole!

She was so creative with her swap gifts! And she totally figured me out to a "T"

Thanks Girl! I'm loving everything you picked out for me!

• polka dotted beach towel! [LOVING THIS!]
• polka dotted drink koozie [yes please!]
• cookies [that i immediately ripped into when I opened the package and then realized I needed to hold off until after I took a picture for the blog! yes - so really this picture is of an open bag of cookies - I'm sorry - they were just THAT good!]
• Mike and Ike's [brings me back to Trick-o-Treating Days!]
• Flip Flop Picture Holder w/a little note on the bottom
• A floral notepad
• Some mints

AND my absolute Favorite part of the entire gift

• I asked her to send me some of her Atlanta Sunshine, so she sent me a sun :) LOVE!

Jessica is SO creative, not only is the front of the card completely adorable! I love it
but please look at the inside...

The timing of this swap couldn't be any better, because Mother Nature is playing a cruel joke on us here in Ohio, and decided that it needed to SNOW [<--- yes you read that correctly!] over night! Seriously lady, its the end of March, enough with your funny games already! Bring on the SUNSHINE!

Welcome Lennon

The world became a little sweeter on Feb. 22nd when Lennon Henry made his entrance into the world

[Lennon's older brother is Jude, that you might remember from this following post or my other posts from the past - notice the Beatles theme with the names?]

Here I am with the little peanut when he is just a day old


Welcome to the world Lennon! We already adore you to pieces!

For Japan with Love

Happy St Patty's Day!

Today is the day that everyone claims to be Irish!

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY!

[even if you claim it 1 day a year or 365 days a year like me;)]

its amazing how my planning for this wonderful holiday has changed over the last few years [i sure do miss college on days like today! right - Aly?] it used to be waking up at 6am and looking all cute in our green outfits that we would plan out for a full month and now its just another day in the office waiting to get out and put green die into a nice frosty cold one at the end of the day!

I will say that this year doesn't look much different than last year

same shirt, same hair style
[I call this hair style, "oh sht, i woke up late and need to get into work quickly"]
[perhaps next year I need to find a new green shirt, i might need to retire this one - 3 years running may be pushing it a bit!]

Tonight we have plans of working out, cooking dinner and going out with a few people to enjoy a green beer or two while we watch the beginnings of March Madness

J and I have a little friendly competition between our brackets, the loser has to take the winner out to dinner.. and no J, Chipotle doesn't count as a nice dinner!

So who are you rooting for this year! I have OSU and Kansas in the big dance [really i just want to talk smack with Kelly during the game - ha! i love friendly competitions!], with OSU winning of course... LETS GO BUCKEYES!

So to wrap up all of these ramblings...

I hope you have a WONDERFUL and SAFE
st. patrick's day
and good luck with your brackets for March Madness!

DIY St Patty's Day Project

I know that Molly is the luckiest little 14 month old ever...
but I needed for everyone at her daycare to know how lucky she is as well

so I made her something to wear on Thursday

Supplies Needed:
Shirt/Canvas Bag/anything cloth
Freezer Paper
Fabric Paint
Sponge Brush
Iron
Pencil
Scissors
via
Trace your design onto your freezer paper

Cut out the area of the freezer paper that you want to paint
[basically you have created a stencil]

Iron on freezer paper
[shiny side down, make sure all areas are secured very well {to avoid any bleeding onto the shirt}]

Apply paint liberally
[I would recommend putting a piece of cardboard or a magazine in between the middle of the shirt/tote bag/ect so the paint doesn't bleed through to the back]
Wait for the paint to drive
And pull back the freezer paper
Remove all of the freezer paper
I used puffy paint for the heart [yes, it totally brought me back to my sorority days, making shirts for every occasion possible!]

I applied the glitter to the shamrock with fabric glue for glitter
The hardest part of this whole project was waiting for the glitter to dry to see the final project
To pass the time I made a bow to match and then removed the excess glitter

The funniest part of this entire project was when Justin brought up a load of clean laundry that Molly's shirt happened to be washed in

he came up with the laundry and said

well the load is done but we have one slight problem....

I think I shrunk a shirt - ha!

Were not used to things this small being in our laundry

Happy Crafting!

Support Needed

**Disclaimer this post is about sports bras and what a sports bra is used for... if this subject makes you the least bit uncomfortable please stop reading!**

**Please don't say that I didn't warn you**

As many of you know I am a runner
I also have been "blessed" with a large set of "the girls"
And if you put these two items together, it makes for appropriate/supportive attire sometimes difficult to find

So that's where I'm turning to you all to help me.

I am in the need for new sports bras. I am willing to pay the price for a nice one [since mine are from high school - gross i know! but lets be honest - who actually likes bra shopping - except for Bethenny Frankel?]

I am needing something that will support ALL of "the girls"
Something that will not leave me in pain in my shoulders
Preferably one that allows me to breathe while I'm running

In the past [yes, like back in high school] i have bought my bras from Title Nine which ranks their bras based off of cup size and barbells [based off of your activity level] - which I LOVE!

I was going to get the same bra's that I have had in the past however I have found my that after a long workout the girls are at full attention and I think its from the chaffing, and they HURT! and after reading the reviews on that same bra - others have had the same problem - so I don't think I will be heading down that path again.

So I have come to the conclusion its time to set out on a quest for a new bra, one that supports me and that provides comfort during my runs.

Any suggestions on where to look? Or a brand that has worked for you?

Thanks so much for baring with me on a not so comfortable topic :)

We will be back to our regular schedule programming tomorrow [well hopefully!]

Weekend Recap [Times 2]

You know whats better than a weekend recap.... the past 2 weekends recap wrapped up in one blog post!

Because that's what happens when you have a crazy busy week but an even more eventful weekend!

Last weekend I was invited over to one of my friend's houses from college for a craft day. I had SO much fun getting together. On our way to the Flower Factory to pick up last minute supplies we passed a Sonic and I shared with the girls how much I was obsessed with the Route 44 Diet Coke, with easy ice in their styrofoam cup, and most of the girls we were with had never had Sonic before so on our way home we had to stop and show them what pure deliciousness tasted like!

The girls ordering

Traci and Kimmie ordering at the car hops

We made magnets for our crafts, I will blog post about them later this week [when I finish my craft - ha!] I can't wait for more craft days.

Saturday night we met up with a group of friends for the Jason Aldean and Eric Church concert. I had been looking forward to this night for a long time! Our friends Jimmy and Jess invited us to go to the concert. Unfortunately Jess was terribly ill and was not able to make it to the concert :(

All night long Jimmy was begging Lauren to show him the concert tickets.... and Lauren wouldn't let him see them until after we reached the front doors of the arena. Of course I had to make it a kodak moment
All of us in the nose bleeds
My dates for the night
Mikey, Jimmy, and Justin
J and I

The concert was amazing. Justin and I have like Eric Church for a while now and we haven't had a chance to see him in concert so I think we were both looking forward to seeing him more than Jason Aldean. However, after seeing Jason Aldean in concert we realized how amazing of a performer he really is and I now know what all the hype is about in regards to his concerts. All I have to say is that Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley need to watch out because there is an upcoming Entertainer of the Year nominee in my opinion! He put on an amazing concert.

This past weekend we got together Saturday night with some of my best friend's from college. The Arnold Classic was in town this weekend and our friends always get together and go to the show, and Justin and I watch Molly [truthfully I think we get the better end of the deal ;)] however plans changed at last minute last year as well as this year when Katie stayed home with Molly and the rest of the group went to the Arnold.

Its tradition when we all get together to revert back to our old college days and hang out in the garage [and potentially play a little flip cup and or beer pong! ], listen to music and just catch up with one another. With some of us living in Columbus, some in Lexington, Kentucky and some still in Toledo, its nice to get us all together a few times a year.

Steven's 30th bday is later this week - so we all celebrated last night
Love this kid
Please notice that Ryan is wearing an OSU hat! this is kind of a big deal!
and this picture just makes me laugh
It has been an amazing last few weekends!
Its no wonder why on Sundays I'm looking for a weekend from the weekend! ha!

I hope you all had a great weekend [or past 2 weekends] as well!

All things LOVED in February

Holy Cow!
How did it get to be March already? probably because February is only 28 days long

Its been a while since I have done a All Things Loved for the month so I thought I would share some a few of the things that have gotten me through the dreary month of February!

[1]
30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels
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I am on day 13 and I'm LOVING this!
Its 20 minutes a day, a 20 TOUGH minutes a day, and I can totally see the results already! I think this is a great way for someone who is so busy that they don't have time to get to the gym to get in a good workout.
Although I totally curse her name during the entire 20 minutes, I know that its working and that it will be over before I know it. I HIGHLY recommend getting this DVD!

[2]
Clif Bars
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At the end of the work day I'm starving! [lets be honest, there aren't many times during the day when I'm not hungry!] but I know that I still need to get a workout in before dinner [and I can't run on a full stomach] so I have a clif bar before I head to the gym. They are made out of soybeans and oats and are organic. I'm a big fan of the white chocolate chip macadamia nut and the blueberry crunch.

[3]
1/2 Marathon Training

I'm laughing that this is something that I LOVED in February... because this time last year it would have been on the list of things that I HATED in February [along with the long gray dreary days!], however this year is different. With 1 attempt at a 1/2 down, I know that training really does help and that the more commitment I put in during the training, the better race day will go. I'm excited that J is running the 1/2 with me at the beginning of May.

[4]
Words With Friends

Hello addicting! But I figure if I'm going to be playing a game, it might as well be stimulating my brain! However I do find myself trying to create words, or trying words just to see if I can get the triple letter or double word! Can't blame me for being creative - at least I'm trying!
Did you know this is the definition of Qi per Wikipedia

In traditional Chinese culture, qi (also chi or ch'i) is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as "energy flow", and is often compared to Western notions of energeia or élan vital (vitalism), as well as the yogic notion of prana and pranayama. The literal translation of "qi" is air, breath, or gas.

[5]
Trade Joe's Reduced Fat Cilantro Dressing

Can we just say heaven in a bottle! If you know me well enough you know that there is rarely a time that I go to the grocery store and I don't have cilantro in my cart! I absolutely love it! and i think its so fresh... and now its all bottled up for me in a little salad dressing that I use on salads, dip my veggies in, drink straight from the bottle ... get the point - its delish!

What did you LOVE about February? I know that I'm also loving that it is March [finally!]