And I'm Back...

Hi!  I didn't blog for 2 weeks.  I don't know why, I just didn't.

There's been some, ya know, junk going on in my life recently but that's not really my excuse.  I still read blogs everyday but I just never felt like hitting 'new post' and posting something of my own.  But today, I am back.

Here's a picture of Marley, just in case you missed seeing his cute little face.

 

I've done a bunch of stuff in the past 2 weeks, so much that I don't even really know where to start.  So I'll just start with today.  It's Tuesday.  I really need to stop drinking on Monday nights.  I had a really bad bathroom experience today but since I haven't said anything on this blog for 2 weeks, we'll save that story for another day (or not because who wants to read about bathroom stories?).  I'm in a bad mood from my hangover and also because I'm dressed really weird.  Doesn't it just ruin your day when you wear something you don't like?  Me too.  I put on a dress this morning but then it was cold so I put on a sweater that is 2 sizes too big for me.  But then it was still cold so I put on leggings.  Now I am wearing a dress, leggings, and a huge freaking sweater.  Whatever, you win some you lose some and today I am losing.

Another thing I haven't done in 2 weeks is cook, which is weird, because I enjoy cooking.  I'm also not going to cook for the rest of the week because tonight we're going out for a date night, tomorrow night I have to work, and Thursday night we are leaving for a wedding back home.  I have been pinning lots of delicious sounding recipes but I've just been eating a lot of sandwiches and ice cream.  

Have I told you guys about how I hate shopping?  Like, shopping in an actual store/mall shopping.  I could shop online for dayssss.  I talk about Amazon so much that people around me probably think it's the name of my best friend.  This past weekend Vinnie and I went to his mom's house because it was his little sister's birthday party (which made me wonder why my mom never threw me a birthday party when I was turning 20, I coulda used the extra presents).  Well of course we both never bought her anything so the morning of the party I was forced to go to the mall and shop.  Freaking mall.  There was an art festival that day too so it was even harder to navigate my way from one end of the mall to the other end of the mall because of course the 3 stores that I had to go to couldn't have actually been located in the same vicinity.  Well before I left the mall I found myself right next to Anthropologie and quite frankly I don't let myself venture into that store and I delete the e-mails they send to me before I even open them so that I don't end up spending 90 bucks on some t-shirt that is made out of zebra bones or some shit and I just stick to target bargains.  But I have an undeniable love for that store and I was proud of the fact that I got in and out of all of the stores I needed to go to and didn't even kick any children or curse at any old folks who are taking Sunday stroll and don't realize some people need to move fast and don't have time to stop and smell the bee infested flowers.  So I went into Anthropologie and bought 3 shirts that were on 'sale' and then cried all the way home (but not really because I like the shirts).  Do you wanna see?  I thought you might:

I love awkward posing fitting room photos (not).  So then when I got home and Vinnie saw the Anthropologie bag he said "is that for Lexi?" and I said "no I just bought myself a shirt, or 3.  But they were on sale!" and he just rolled his eyes.  Story of my life, poor Vinnie.  I'm lucky he accepts my shopping addiction, for now.

Ok, that's all for today.  See you in 2 weeks (jk!)!

XO. Tarah

 

    

Feel Good Friday

I am soooo glad it's Friday.  Even though I've been really busy this week, it still seems like it's gone by kind of slow.  That may be because it was the first full week back after a long holiday weekend.

I'm definitely feeling good today because this weekend is going to be full of shennanigans.  I already took a vacation day from work on Monday because I know I'm going to need that day to re-cooperate.  Too bad I forgot to take Monday night off so I'm actually gonna end up having to work one of my jobs but hey, at least I'll be able to sleep in because I won't be getting much sleep this weekend.  I'm working tonight and then getting up bright and early tomorrow morning for Maggie's bachelorette party, which everyone is coming here for, and then Sunday my parents are coming to visit!

Alright, I'm getting excited just thinking about it so let me switch gears and tell you what else I'm feelin good about today...

This probably isn't a good one to start with because I'm feeling both good and bad about this.  My bridesmaid dress finally came in for Maggie's wedding.  We ordered them 3 months ago so why it took this long for them to come in doesn't make sense to me.  Maybe they had little fairies hand sewing all of them.  Even if that was the case though, Cinderella's mice and bird friends maid her a big, beautiful gown for the ball and it took them like what...an hour?  Back to the point of this story, I'm glad it finally came in and I'm glad I found someone to alter it in time for the wedding (2 weeks away) but it cost me a pretty penny because it was so freaking gigantic on me and also it looks like I'm wearing tinfoil.  You also can't see it but there's a big fluffing bow in the back and just screams 'I'm an ugly bridesmaid...look at the bride, not at me!'  Normally I would say, I'm definitely never ever wearing this robot suit dress again but since it's costing me half of a paycheck in the end, it will now be in regular rotation in my wardrobe.  "Oh you wanna go to the movies Vinnie?  Hold on a second let me put on my movie date dress!  Let's take Marley for a walk?  Just give me a minute, I need to put on my dog walking dress."  Yep, I can see it now.

Scary woman creeping in the back of my picture alert!

Moving on to better things, the St. Louis Cardinals are in Chicago for a 4 game series against the Cubs and I'm going to not one, but two games this weekend.  Yep, I'm going to a game tomorrow night for part of the bachelorette party shenans and then Sunday night with my parents and Vinnie because I bought my dad tickets for Father's Day.  I'm super excited and really the Cardinals pull of at least one win.  Also really wishing my brother and sister could be a part of this weekend because that would just really make it the best weekend ever.  

There's the bride to be and me.  Looks like 2 ladies I'd like to party with...bachelorette style.  What more is there to say?

Also, I know I talk about the weather like all the freaking time but I just have to say that this weekend's forecast is basically sunny with a high of 82 degrees and the most perfect summer weekend Chicago ever did see.  But really, today on the radio they even said it sounds like it's going to be the perfect summer weekend here in Chicago, so I'm looking forward to that.

And last but not least...

I know I say this all the dang time but my boyfriend is stupidly handsome and adorable and he got so excited because he got a picture with the Stanley Cup, THE Stanley Cup, and I mean I can't blame him because look you guys, he's touching THE STANLEY CUP!  I'm jealous.  And then this morning he and Marley were all sleeping in bed (yes Marley is in that picture asleep on our bed you just can't see him because he camouflages into our comforter so look closely) and I was getting ready to leave for work and I just wanted to hop back in bed and sleep in with them.  But instead I took a picture and posted it on instagram to which Vinnie commented 'I feel like I'm being spied on' and that ruined the cuteness of the picture.  Anyways, it's still cute.

Have a super awesome weekend guys!  See you on Tuesday, if I make it to Tuesday after this excitement filled weekend!

XO. Tarah

 

I'd Follow you to the Moon in the Sky Above

Today I'm just having one of 'those days' where I'm filled with emotions and thinking.  It's not a bad thing though.  I like thinking sometimes.

I'm also feeling very thankful for having Vinnie today.  Days like today where my mind keeps thinking lots of thoughts are the days when I try to remind myself not to take him for granted and not to fight over silly things, things that don't matter.  He's perfect and amazing and I am so lucky to wake up with him by my side every morning and to fall asleep with his tall self hogging the bed next to me every night.

Loving someone is truly the best feeling.

He makes me laugh every day

"Love has truly been good to me
not even one sad day
or minute have I had since you've come my way 
I hope you know I'd gladly go
anywhere you'd take me
it's so amazing to be loved 
I'd follow you to the moon in the sky above..."

XO. Tarah

4th of July 2013

Hello!  Hope you all had a lovely Independence Day and long holiday weekend!  I'm currently in a state of depression that it's all over and I'm back to the hustle and bustle of my adult life in the real world (aka working and then working some more).  Luckily this coming weekend I've got some pretty sweet plans, so at least I have something to look forward to...see this depression is seriously kicking in.

My holiday weekend started off Wednesday.  I got out of work a few hours early and decided to head to the mall to hit up the holiday sales.  That was a bad idea seeing as everyone else had the same idea.  I didn't find anything (shocking I know) and it ended up taking me suuuuuper long to get home because of the holiday traffic...it seems as though every single person who owns a car in Chicago was driving at the exact same time that I was.  My night turned around when we went to our friends Julianne and Phil's house for a relaxing night.  We had good food, yummy drinks, girl talk upstairs for me, and beer pong/golf talk downstairs for Vinnie.  

Thursday was the 4th of July.  I slept in, and it felt so so good.  I took Marley for a walk and then ran some errands while Vinnie was at work.  He got home later that afternoon and we took the train downtown.  

We definitely made the mistake of trying to head over to Navy Pier to see the fireworks.  Living in Chicago, we should have known better, because that's where all of the tourists go and during the 4th of July apparently there's a million tourists in town.  It was so packed that at some point the police wouldn't let any more people come near that area.  We said 'eff the fireworks' and headed to Timothy O'Toole's for some food and some much needed drinks.

This was before we realized how chaotic Navy Pier was.

We both got SixPoint beers...how cute :)

Shots of Patron

Cheers to America!

There's nothing like eating at an Irish bar and taking shots of tequila to celebrate America...right?!

After we ate and had a couple of drinks we decided to head back to the train station and go home.  We did see some fireworks on our walk to the train station and on our ride home so I'm pretty satisfied.  When we got home we had another drink and relaxed with the Marley Monster.

I love this picture.

<3

Friday morning we had to get up at 5:30 am because Vinnie had a flight to Columbus, OH to visit his dad.  So the rest of my weekend was pretty lame.  It consisted of work, cleaning, doing dishes, laundry, a little bit of laying out (aka sweating my buns off), and more work.  I picked Vinnie up at the airport at 11:30 pm on Sunday because his flight was delayed 3 hours and pretty much haven't seen him since because we've both been working so dang much.  I'm just glad we were able to enjoy our 4th of July together.

Hope everyone else had a lovely, relaxing holiday!

XO. Tarah

 

Happy 4th of July!

Ok well, Happy (Almost) 4th of July!

I'm counting down the minutes until I get to leave work and dance my little butt into the weekend.  I love short weeks and I love the 4th of July even more!  I don't really have any plans for tomorrow, I don't have a cute little Independence Day outfit planned out, and I'm not really planning on making any red,white, and blue themed foods or drinks.  I'm planning on waking up, putting on a swimsuit, and drinking Jameson and Gingerales all day.  Maybe I'll throw some firework watching action in there at some point too.

Ok, on the real though, I've seen some really cute 4th of July pins lately on Pinterest so I probably have to share those now.

If I was going to throw a huge 4th of July party picnic party, this is what my table would look like:

If I was going to paint my nails all festively, this is what they would look like:
 

If I was going to dress to the nines in red, white, and blue, this is what my outfit would look like:

If I was going to bake a cute little 4th of July dessert, this is what it would look like:
 

Actually, just kidding on that last one.  I could never bake a pie that looked that pretty.  Let me throw some bananas, strawberries, and blueberries in a bowl and call it a 4th of July fruit salad...done.


I also found this really cute little 4th of July facts thing so I'm going to share that with you as well.

I feel like I find these for almost every holiday but they're always interesting and cute so, yeah, I'm not sorry for sharing another one.

Happy Birthday America!

Everyone have a happy and safe 4th of July!

XO. Tarah


 

A Weekend Spent Back Home

Hello everyone and Happy Monday!  It actually is a happy Monday for once though because this is a short week for everyone (at least it is for me so I'm happy).  Only 2 1/2 days of work this week, so today is basically like Wednesday afternoon and everyone loves hump day!  4th of July is on Thursday and I am just excited to get to sleep in on a Thursday and hopefully enjoy some good food, drinks, friends, and fireworks.  Vinnie and I still don't really even have plans so I don't know what we're going to do but since we live in Chicago there are a million possibilities.

This last weekend started early for me because I got to leave work a little early to try and get on the road back home without hitting rush hour.  But remember how Friday was the Stanley Cup Champions (aka the Blackhawks) parade and rally???  Well apparently a lot of people came to little old Chicago (over 2 million people to be exact) and I got caught in THE WORST TRAFFIC EVER!  That might be a little dramatic but for real, it was awful.  It normally takes me 2 1/2 hours to get back home but Friday it took me almost 5.  I was already stressed out about the bridal shower so I thought I was actually going to have a meltdown in the middle of the interstate and start pulling my hair out.  Don't worry I still have all of my hair and I only almost started crying, no actual tears.

By the time I finally got home to my sister's house my parents were already there and they left Iowa about 2 hours after I did and the trip usually takes them about 3 hours.  P.S. I don't think I've ever told everyone that my older sister currently lives in the house that I grew up in.  We moved way out to the country when I was about 6 years old and we lived in that country house until my parents moved to Iowa 3 years ago.  My sister and her husband decided to buy it so now whenever I go visit her, I get to visit my old house too, which is truly a blessing because I have so many fond memories growing up in that old house.  Anyways, back to Friday night, I finally arrived and we pretty much left right away to go to a Winery that was located in the town next to ours.  It's in the middle of nowhere and they had a pretty popular band playing that night whom I had seen play several times while I was in college.  

That night I could not have been happier because sometimes I forget what it was like growing up in the country.  Concerts in the middle of cornfields, good ol' boys dressed in cowboy boots and dirty camo hats, fireflies lighting up all around you, stars upon stars filling up the entire sky for as far as you can see, no police regulating your every move, no snot nosed girls in heels and short dresses judging you for not wearing enough make-up, no one has a care in the world and they're all there just to dance and sing to the country music and have a good time.  I forgot how much I love coming back and hanging out with my fellow rednecks.  There are so many things that I got used to seeing in the country that I never see anymore in the city and I forgot how much I miss it.

Sister, Mom, Me, and wine

Maggie and I

We drank wine, listened to music, reminisced, and just enjoyed ourselves that night.  I wish I lived closer and worked less so that I could have nights like that one more often.  But before we knew it, it was time to go home.  We went home and woke my niece and nephew up even though it was way past their bed time and played with them for awhile before we were all too tired to function anymore.  That night I slept in Emma's princess bed and woke up regretting that decision oh so much.  My back still hurts. 

Saturday was the big bridal shower day.  I woke up early and immediately started working on drawing, cutting out, and gluing mustaches and lips for a stupid bridal shower game.  Then I got ready and ran to the store for a couple of last minute things.  I met Jacquie (the MOH) at her house and we loaded up our cars and drove to the church to set up.  I took a bunch of pictures but they're all still on my real camera so you will have to wait to see any pictures from the bridal shower and lingerie shower but I will tell you that it all went well and all of the stress was worth it because Maggie did enjoy herself which was all that really mattered.  That night Maggie and I stayed up late talking and then fell asleep on the couch.  

Sunday morning we woke up and her fiance made us white chocolate chip pancakes (she bagged a good guy) and then we worked on a few party favors for her wedding.  I hit the road back to Chicago around noon and took all of the back roads to the highway so that I could enjoy my time in the country a little bit longer...and enjoy I did.

I definitely love living in the city of Chicago, but I will always be a country girl at heart.

XO. Tarah


Linking up with Sami's Shenanigans