August 8, 2015 - Instagram Roundup

Hi there! I hope your weekend is going well! :) Tonight I wanted to do a post featuring the outfits I wore throughout the week and shared on Instagram! I am also trying out a new app I recently discovered called Tagspire! I am able to "tag" my photos with links to everything I am wearing. Pretty cool, huh?! :)






Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

Another Use for Bobby Pins

Last month I bought a cute white dress from Nordstrom that doesn't look like anything I've ever owned! I ordered it online (for 40% off, btw), and when it came in the mail I thought it was super pretty but was a little surprised at the length of it. It wasn't too terribly short, but it was borderline at the length I would wear to my office (which has a super casual dress code, just to be clear!)

One thing I like about this dress is it has a built-in slip, so it is not sheer at all. When I wear white, I am always a little worried about the fabric being too sheer, but I have nothing to worry about with the slip.

Well, the next time I washed my dress, the outer fabric shrank and became too short for me to wear as a dress. Even worse is now the outer fabric is considerably shorter than the slip underneath! Having your slip stick out a good half inch from under your dress is not a classy look. ;)

I didn't want to hem my dress because I can't tell if the fabric really shrank, or if the already crinkly material just became extra crinkly in the wash.

I didn't want to iron the dress because. . .well I never want to iron anything ever. Plus, the crinkly material is so thin, I was afraid to ruin it if I tried ironing it.

 My solution? Make a temporary hem using safety pins. . .except I didn't have very many safety pins. What I did have, in bountiful supply? Bobby pins!

 I really didn't know if the bobby pins would last all day since they're not meant to hold fabric, but they worked perfectly! You couldn't see them through my dress, and I couldn't feel them at all while wearing them.

This didn't solve my problem of my dress being too short, so I tried wearing it as a tunic instead. I didn't expect to like how it looked with jeans, but I actually loved the outcome! This whole day was just full of surprises. :)

Anyways, I'm going to try washing and drying it again (why didn't I just do that the first time?) I'm hoping that if I don't let it sit in the dryer this time, the dress won't be so crinkly and will hang at its original length. I'll keep you posted! ;)

Date Night at Goodwill

Last night Michael and I had a “Date Night”, and instead of eating out we ate at home, and instead of paying to go see a movie we did some thrifting at the local Goodwill. Living large and in charge. ;)

We both actually had some luck at Goodwill last night. I found this sweater for $9.99, and it even has the original Windsor price tag on it for $39.90. That’s what I like to see ladies! I can’t even imagine when I’ll actually be able to wear this pretty thing, since it is currently 107 degrees at 8:00 at night while I type this. If it ever Once it cools down, I’ll be ready!

 

Michael was super excited last night because he found some sliding shower doors, which were also $9.99! He wants to remodel our guest bathroom*, but instead of going all in at once we’re going to start accumulating pieces here and there until we are ready for our bathroom makeover! Hopefully after a few more trips to Goodwill, we'll be ready in no time. ;)

***************

Tonight wasn’t quite as eventful. My sister came over and we ate some Quick Bean Salad (recipe from Tone It Up), and now I’m trying to think of a fun childhood story to share at work tomorrow! My team is supposed to email my manager a childhood story, and then she’s going to share it with the rest of the team and we have to guess whose story it is. Hopefully I can think of one that’s not too embarrassing. :)

*Guest bathroom, master bathroom, kitchen, master bedroom, living room, pretty much every nook and cranny in our house. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, he just loooooves doing that kind of stuff.

Camping & Kayaking at Blue Ridge

We went camping this weekend! At Blue Ridge! We only stayed one night, but I think that was plenty of time, if you catch my drift. ;) Michael goes camping all of the time with his broskis, and this was actually our first time camping together! I was going to write I don’t understand how that happened, but then I remembered that when I get to pick a weekend trip we usually end up at the beach. #sorrynotsorry

Saturday was rainy on and off the entire afternoon, and it was such a nice refresher compared to the weather we’ve been having in Phoenix. We explored to find “the perfect site”, and ended up at the base of the Moqui Lookout Tower. Before I go on, here’s a picture I found online of it:

We’re sitting in our car at the base of it, and Michael looks and me and says “Do you want to go up to the top?” Uhhhhhhhh what? Somehow, I agreed and we started climbing up to the top of this 83 foot tower. The stairs are grated, so you can see the ground underneath you and it was definitely making me a little nauseous climbing up. The view at the top was worth it though! You could see for miles and miles around, and it was so beautiful. The lookout worker at the top is even available to answer any questions, and to give out Smokey the Bear bookmarks. Haha It was pretty neat! 

We soon found our campsite after that, and stayed at our site for the rest of the day. We took a small walk, but didn’t go too far because it looked like it would start pouring any second.

 Michael made a little “shelter” for a makeshift kitchen, and hunkered down to start grilling up our chicken. About 2 seconds later, we realized that neither of us had actually packed the chicken. Huzzah! I’m on this diet (more on that later), and despite my inner being craving a classic hamburger from the grill, I decided to stick to my meal plan of grilled chicken on a bed of spinach with blueberries (and no s’mores :( ). Well, no chicken = a dinner of spinach and blueberries. Michael settled for a can of chili from the general store down the road. . .a can of chili that passed its expiration date 2+ months ago. 

Even though dinner was a bit of a bust, I was happy we got to set up a campfire to sit around and talk for a while until it got dark. :)

 This campfire was begging for some s'mores!

The next morning, the skies were clear and it was the perfect day to go kayaking!! Somebody Michael works with was generous enough to let us borrow his kayaks, even though we are very inexperienced kayakers. We’ve been talking about buying some of our own, and this was kind of a test run.

Kayaking is HARD. Hahaha Or at least I’m not very good at it. I must’ve spun in about 35645 circles trying to navigate myself down the Reservoir. It was hard to get too mad though, with the sun shining and the beautiful scenery! 

Getting them on top of our car was a whole different story. You know when you’re trying to strap 2 kayaks on the roof of your car and one falls down and breaks off your side mirror? So then you use some rope to tie your side mirror to your car and pray it doesn’t fly off on the highway? Yeah, that happened. Needless to say, I don’t think we’ll be buying our own kayaks any time soon!

We got home with plenty of time to spare for the crazy madness of going to Costco on a Sunday, and a mad dash to Sprouts. Then after stocking our fridge and pantry with groceries, we obviously went out to dinner. We ended up going to True Food Kitchen so Michael could try a bison burger while I could stick to my diet pretty easily. TFK isn’t exactly Michael’s scene, and he pointed out that he must really love me if he is voluntarily eating dinner there. I gently reminded him I’d been peeing out in the middle of the woods all weekend, and marriage is all about sacrifices. ;)

January 24, 2015

This week has been a little rough. Well, I take that back. I've had a bad attitude all week. I started writing about 5 Good Things that happen to me each day to help me focus and stay positive, but I didn't do a very good job of that these past few days. How silly of me, because there were plenty of good things that happened!

So, without further ado--here's 5 Good Things about this week!

1. Last Sunday was the P. F. Changs Rock'n'Roll Marathon! I had originally signed up for the half marathon, but got bronchitis during the last two weeks of training. I knew that running 13.1 would be too much for my body, and was pretty bummed to miss the race (and even more bummed the entrance fee was non-refundable!!) My friend Shallahn told me she was going to run the 10K, and invited me to run it with her so I did! It was perfect weather, and a ton of fun. Even better? My pace per mile was 10 seconds faster than I had anticipated! :)

2. On Monday night, my Bible Study group met for the first time since Christmas! I'd been missing those girls! We prayed for one another and continued our study of Genesis. I can't think of a better way to start the week!

3. Tuesday night was Date Night! Michael and I tried Carolina's Mexican Food. We have heard great things about it, but had never been there before. It is definitely a little dive restaurant (it reminded us a lot of Chino Bandidos), but my burrition was deeeeelicious! And the tortilla chips were extra salty. Nom nom nom.

4. Michael and I didn't have any plans today (Saturay), which was a beautiful thing! This morning we hiked the "Scenic Trail" at McDowell Mountain Preserve. Driving there was an adventure in itself! :) The view was very beautiful, and we hardly came across any other hikers.

5. Tonight was Michael's holiday office party! (It's January 24. . .a little late hahaha) It took place in this giant barn in the middle of nowhere--it literally doesn't have an address! We followed a winding dirt road before we eventually found it and were greeted with complimentary valet parking. The barn was decorated with pretty lights and crystal chandeliers. There was yummy BBQ, fun country music, and even a photo booth! It was so fun to get to meet Michael's friends from work. :)

January 16, 2015

5 Good Things About the Last Few Days

1. On Wednesday night, our Highschool small group met up for the first time in 2015! Last Fall, Michael and I started leading a small group together for the first time, and I am so excited for a new weekly study with an awesome group of people! Our topics this week included bearing spiritual fruit, meditating, and spending more time talking to God. We even have a memory verse for the week: "For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction." (Psalm 1:6) I have a hard time memorizing scripture, but I am hoping to get better at it this year!

2. On Thursday, Amy and I went to a "Mixed Aerial Arts for Newbies" class that was soooo much fun! We were introduced to silks, lyra, and trapeze! I have absolutely zero history of gymnastics, strong abs, or anything involving heights (not even monkey bars in elementary school, people), so I definitely wasn't look too graceful out there haha but I learned a lot, and already want to go back. . .well, maybe after my triceps recover! ;)

Our instructor, Lindsay, and Amy hanging upside down on the Trapeze!

3. I got to hang out with Amy before, during, and after the class. No better way to spend a Thursday night! :)

4. Today I managed to go to Yoga during my lunch break. We focused on stretching our calves and hamstrings, which felt amaaaaazing. I have a 10K Race on Sunday, and my legs definitely needed some extra stretch!

5. I caught up on The Mindy Project after work. That show cracks me up!!

What are 5 good things from your day? :)

January 13, 2015

5 Good Things About Today

1. Our apartment gym has some new cardio equipment with the option to virtually "run/walk/hike" on famous nature trails around the United States. I tried it out this morning, and virtually eliptical-ed myself around Crater Lake in Oregon and Lake Tahoe in California. ;)

2. For "Date Night" tonight, Michael and I picked up some pizza from our favorite place and came home to watch more Friday Night Lights.

3. Amy and I are holding each other accountable with daily goals this week. Every morning, we have texted each other our 3 goals for the day. Holding myself accountable to somebody else has kept me motivated and productive, even when I don't feel like it. :P

4. Michael asked me this morning if I get mad that he can get ready for work in 30 seconds, and it takes me so much longer. I said no, I'm not jealous--getting dressed and ready for the day is fun!! I had fun putting together this morning's outfit. :)

5. I'm going to bed early. As in right now. As in 9:08 PM. Sweet dreams. :)


What are 5 good things about your day? I would love to hear about them! :)