Celebrating The Birthday Boy!

My hubby turns 27 today! 

Happy, Happy Birthday to him!

He's my absolutely very favorite & I am lucky to have him! Now off to wrap some presents and spoil him... :)

 

CCC Christmas Wish List | Sweet Auburn Studio Goodies

It's never to early for a Christmas list, right?

Let me start this post with a disclaimer. I really don't NEED anything for Christmas this year. I am blessed in a lot of ways and being a grown up with a really great husband has allowed me the discretionary money to buy something if I need it (or occasionally even if I don't need it, but I convince myself it is a good deal.). I am really pretty lucky. With that said, it's still fun to dream and gather a list of really pretty things I wouldn't mind having, right?

So, with that in mind, I decided I am going to put together a weekly blog post highlighting some fancy little things I think any girl would love, from now until Christmas. Last year I did a Pinterest list, but that got really confusing for my non-Pinterest addicted husband and Mom (I know, how is it possible that anyone is not addicted?), so this year, I am going to share my wishlist on a platform they understand. And, hopefully along the way, you can pick up some new ideas as well!

So without further adieu, I present to you the most beautiful bracelets from Sweet Auburn Studio. What girl wouldn't love one of these?

Source: etsy.com via Jamie on Pinterest

I am having an internal debate on what I would have engraved, but I am set on the coral color. It's just gorgeous. 

Source: etsy.com via Jamie on Pinterest

And even though this might be too simple for some of you, this sweet bracelet would go perfect with my favorite earrings that I ordered off etsy last year. I know big, bold jewelry is in, but at $10, it would make a fabulous stocking stuffer or a simple gift for a friend. Plus, you could also consider ordering more than one. :)

What do you think of the Sweet Auburn goodies? And do you have a favorite (or your own) Etsy store that I should browse? I will be back next Monday with some more pretty little things for your Christmas wish list!

XoXo,

H54F | November 9th

Happy Friday! 

I am definitely looking forward to the weekend. It's going to be full of old-friends, my husband and Christmas crafts. Perfect in my book.

By the way, remember yesterday when I was so excited about making all my Christmas gifts? Then I made a list and got really scared. I have a lot of freaking stuff to do. Say goodbye to lunch breaks and lazy Sundays...

Anyway, every Friday, I like to celebrate the little things that made my week exciting by linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk for her High Five For Friday post. And there is a lot to celebrate this week!

1. One Year Anniversary

{You can read all about it here.}

 2. FBO Cheese Cave - Let me introduce you to The Cheese Cave. It's a little slice of heaven hidden in downtown Faribault. We've stopped in a few times before, but our visit last night was the best by far. I love it because the food is delicious, the wine is local, they have our favorite beer, plus the cheese gives France a run for its money even though it's made right down the road in the caves of Faribault. 

{via}

 3. FBO Beer Lovers Unite - Have I ever told you that I really, really like good beer? No mixed drinks or girly cocktails for this girl, I usually stick to beer (preferably dark) or really good red wine. In fact, one of my 101 in 1001 goals is to complete an Old Chicago beer tour. So, when we found out Faribault has an Unsettled Ale Society that gets together once a month to dabble in beer tasting, I almost died and went to heaven. Faribault, you really have been impressing me lately.

4. Weekend - Can I be thankful for something that is yet to come? Regardless of your answer, I am looking forward to this weekend. I have a date with my craft room and a brunch planned with my high school classmates. Plus, if my husband manages to not shoot a deer this weekend, my fears of eating venison can be laid to rest for another 365 days.

5. Crazy Good Gap Day - If you know anything about me, you know I have an obsession with Gap clothing. On any given day, you can find me wearing something Gap. It's partially because I had that ridiculously great discount card (read about that here) for a year, and partially because of days like I had this week when I walk away with impossibly good deals. By the way, Friends & Family event is this weekend -- 40% off your whole purchase. I wonder if I can convince Mark that I need to go again?

What are you thankful for this week? If you are linking up for H54F, share your post in the comments!

Have a great weekend!
 

Ridiculous Thoughts For A Thursday - Christmas, Apples, & Elections

I have a few fun blog posts in the work for next week, but for now, let's keep this simple. 

 Here are the completely random thoughts running through my brain today. Enjoy?!

1. I am listening to Christmas music as I type this. And I am not ashamed one little bit.

2. And speaking of Christmas, I am so excited to start making Christmas gifts. Yup, you read that right, my goal is to make every Christmas gift this year. Totally unrealistic, but still trying...

3. Yesterday, my blood was boiling all day over the ridiculous Facebook & Twitter posts over the election. Where did the days of not talking about politics go? And since when did Facebook become a venue where we should say things we would never actually voice out loud in real life? 

And on the same note, did anyone notice that this ridiculous social media backlash was somewhat generational? I remember when my Mom & Dad would come home from the polls and refuse to tell us who they voted for it because it was a personal decision for them. Clearly, my generation decided their political beliefs were public, and if someone didn't believe the same as them, they should "unfriend them," "unfollow them" or spew hate at them. And maybe it's the PR professional in me, but I would refuse to hire you for any job if you posted such offensive tweets/posts that I could publicly see.

4. On to a more positive discussion, we put our apple peeler/corer (one of our favorite wedding gifts) to good use this week. Two batches of homemade apple sauce in the crockpot and apple crisp -- yum!

And I learned that I should probably stick to being in charge of grocery shopping from here on out. I sent my husband to grab some quick-cooking oats and nutmeg for our Betty Crocker apple crisp recipe. First, he called me in panic looking for the oats - I am nearly positive he was looking for oats like we feed our cattle - and then he came home with Maple Brown Sugar instant oatmeal packages. And he forgot the nutmeg. 

Oh well, we needed a laugh, and it still worked!

5. Last, how long is it acceptable to leave pumpkins on your front step? I am fully intending to leave ours out until Thanksgiving. Too long!? I plan on giving Thanksgiving all the attention it deserves this year so I am refusing to put up Christmas decorations up until November 23rd. However, that does not mean I am not making new Christmas pillows tonight....while listening to Christmas music (if they made Thanksgiving music, I would listen to that, I promise).

And that's enough torture for one day, but feel free to add any and all (as long as they are appropriate and don't spew any more election hate) random thoughts of your own in the comments. See you tomorrow for a High Five For Friday! 

Happy Thursday!
 

Happily Ever After 367 Days Later

On Monday, we celebrated our first official anniversary. 

It was a big deal for two reasons:

1. It was our first anniversary as husband and wife.
2. It was our first "official" anniversary as a couple.

Can you believe we never had an official start date? (I will tell my someday daughters to get it in writing.) For the last eight years, I have just convinced him to like me a little more during the month we started dating. And/or my best friend would nicely remind us every county fair of our first "date" in the beef tent.

I found out that I clearly have been missing out. My husband is good at anniversaries. I am glad we officially have one on the calendar for rest of our lives. :)

{small town USA breakfast. Everyone there was regular, breakfast was cheap and the service was fabulous.}

{Augusto's & a bottle of wine I brought home from France for supper.}

{Just so you know, year-old sugar cookies aren't good, even if they are your wedding cow cookies.}

Monday was low-key, but perfect. It involved a breakfast date before work, Italian takeout for supper, a bottle of French wine that I saved for our wedding night that someone forgot to bring to the wedding, homemade apple crisp, wedding pictures, year-old cow cookies, Gossip Girl and a really terrible movie to watch on your anniversary. Thanks to"What To Expect When You're Expecting," we now have no plans to expect anything any time soon.

And by the way, I just realized I NEVER posted about my wedding. I will have to work on that, but until then, here are some of my favorite photos. By the way, my photos were done by Jeff Loves Jessica -- an amazing husband/wife photography duo.

I am pretty blessed. That's all.

There's More To Our Success Than A President

I am proudly sporting my "I Voted" sticker as I write this.

There is something about casting a ballot that is exhilarating. I was a grown up, I figured out where I needed to vote and I knew exactly what circles I was filling in. It felt good. I don't remember feeling that excitement four years ago for some reason, even though I know I voted. Maybe an absentee ballot doesn't give you that same sense of accomplishment, or more likely I probably wasn't as passionate about what I was helping to decide.

I will admit, until about a week ago, I was undecided who was getting my vote for President. I am sure 90% of my friends are groaning right now, because according to discussions, tweets and posts, it was So&So or Die (I may or may not have considered deleting friends it got so over the top), but it is the truth and I have never been one to follow the crowd. 

However, I think the fact that Mark and I were somewhat undecided was actually really neat. It meant that we got to really experience this process together. We watched the debates intently and had great discussions on what our impressions were of each candidate. We came home and taught each other what we had heard at work that day or what we had read about and we did our research on the amendments up for vote in Minnesota. 

I actually really enjoyed it. I am sure I wouldn't be saying that if I lived in actual swing state and I had to listen to commercials and ads all day long (I am excited for those to be over), but for now, I am proud that Mark and I took the time to make a decision that we believed in.

I don't know if we voted for the same ticket for President. And that's okay with me. I am not going to tell you who I voted for either. Call me old fashioned, but even though I am proud of my decision, I don't believe I should blast that opinion upon you.  

Regardless of who's candidate gives an acceptance speech tonight, I know as a country we will keep moving forward. Why? Because we have to. There's no doubt, whoever wins will play a major role in the future of America, but, it is just one man. And more important than Obama or Romney, is the character and drive we find within ourselves. 

So, while I watch the results filter in tonight, I am going to try not to groan at every ridiculous post on Facebook and remind myself that tomorrow's a new day and whoever wins, wins. There's (hopefully) no re-votes and there is no going back. Instead, we need to move forward and reach across the aisle, whether that is at Church, our cube at work or in Congress and agree to disagree and decide to work together.

Because even though I am crossing my fingers that Minnesotans voted for equality at the polls and I sure hope the candidates I voted for are victorious, at the end of the day, if it didn't work out that way, I still believe in the process.

So I will wear my sticker with pride, and be thankful that my husband isn't extremely political. I am glad we got to work through this mess together. :)

And side note: My optimism about the democratic process might be why I originally intended to get a double major in communications and political science. Can you believe I actually wanted to be involved in campaign management? The process behind campaigns fascinate me. 

Until next time,