Back to life...back to reality

I am probably 30,000 feet in the air as you read this post...on my way back to the Lone Star state. It's been a long week on my feet, sneezing my face off, eating and drinking, all in rainy NYC. As much as I love going to visit The Big Apple, I couldn't be more excited to get home to my two misters (and a regular eating, sleeping, LIFE schedule!). I mentioned earlier this week that I haven't seen Jon in a week...insane for us since we are borderline obsessed with each other. 

Thank the Lord for FaceTime (no really, thank you God)

Ernie totally recognized my voice and was doing the typical dog 'head cock', it was precious

Ernie do you miss me?

I also mentioned that I got to hang out with my sister from another life, Amanda from Simple Girl Simple Pleasures. I wanted to cry when I finally hugged her, it was like we were long lost friends and picked up right where we left off. We had a perfect night together...dinner at an adorable Italian hole in the wall and 12 Melissa's mini cupcakes all rolled in with TMI conversations, blog talkin' and planning when the next time we would see each other would be. It was so refreshing to admit that sometimes our blog friends are mean more to us than "real life" friends. You chose what blogs you read based on compatibility, rather than just being friends with someone because they live near or go to your school. Amanda is my most consistent and encouraging blog friend and now a true "in real life" friend that I am so thankful for. We had been planning this get together for 6 months and I never thought the day would come. Cheers to blog land for bringing friends together!

So I was in NYC for another tradeshow but wanted to get at least SOME sight seeing in. Monday, a few of my team members went to the Intrepid museum and it was insane and very cool. The space shuttle won't open for another 6 weeks but we got to see it from afar. 

I sent Jon a ton of pictures of the planes on the flight deck and he reminded me his dad had a love for planes. He was in the Air Force and I was wishing he would have had a chance to see the Intrepid.

I spent all of 3 minutes in Times Square. I stayed in Chelsea and had 2 hours one afternoon so I walked 2o minutes to take a picture and walk back. I've only been to NYC a few times as a tourist so Times Square wasn't a new thing for me (but I felt like I needed the obligatory picture!)

Grand Central Station

Empire state of mind

#ootd

Who knew that knishes were a real thing?! Can anyone name the movie...."Big ol' Mr. Knish!!!!!!!!!"

Wednesday night I got to catch up with a friend I haven't seen from high school and it was so refreshing and great. Lindsay...we didn't take a picture (because remember, it didn't happen if it isn't on Facebook or Instagram right?!). So all in all....fun trip...a lot of work and a little pleasure but I am sure as heckfire ready to be home (at least until I go to Canada in 3 weeks...)

Oh & I almost forgot, walking to the tradeshow yesterday, which was at the Javits Center if you're curious, I saw Isaac Mizrahi filming/shooting an ad for Chevy. I swear we made eye contact!

signing off for the weekend, as I have a husband to attend to and stare at :-)

the Behind the Moon Beadworks winner was posted last night...was it you??

ladies night out

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting up with group of Austin's finest lady bloggers.

It was the first time I had met a couple of these women but 5 minutes into dinner, you would have thought we were old friends hosting a panty exchange. I am so grateful for world wide web and good ol' blog land. How else would I have ever met these fabulous chicks?

Top row: Brittany, Ketrin, Jenni, Nikol, Shalyn, Amanda

Bottom row: Leah, moi, Mallorie

Oh and to kick off the night my car was love tapped. When I told my husband over text (who was traveling for business) he was like what the heck is that? Well folks I was rear ended. Sounds way more dramatic then it really was because all it was was a little tap. Poor Austin hipster was shaking in his little chef academy outfit. Luckily we were starting to accelerate as he tapped me but his little Honda Fit made no mark on my SUV. Leah and Amanda we with me so we were sure to investigate the damage and get his digits/info but no harm was done. And then I almost ran over a dude on a bike...not my night for driving :-). 

More shots from the night

My girl Leah...please tell me you saw her tutorial for pen-15 cake pops?!

I am not your typical blogger and I love using the flash on my DSLR :-)

Show us your heel stretch Shalyn...

Mallories husband, Dave Owens, is playing a show at SXSW tomorrow night...check it out yo!

Happy hour turned into 3 hours of girlie fun. A highlight of the night was our hipster mustache owning waiter asking me if my foot long camera lens was used for anything else (wink wink). I immediately exclaimed "I'M MARRIED!" and probably blushed like Ashlee Simpson lip-synching on SNL. Cute right?


Before signing off I want to share a great post by Jenni from Story of My Life with some blog tips she took away from the Texas Style Council meetup this weekend. I think the important take away from this post is to focus on creating your own content (vs. curating- grabbing pics from the internet, etc.). You should really go read it :-)

Have a great Thursday y'all!

Yesterday's randoms

Thank you for all the helpful comments and Facebook posts about workouts at home. I have so many ideas I can't wait to try them out. I actually did a suggested at home workout yesterday thanks to Christina! It was a "get off the couch workout" from Gourmet Runner and I made a little picture so I can remember to do it again...

I took Ernie on a 15 minute jog/power walk before doing this workout and was in a full sweat by the first round of squats. Ernie and I did a 10 minute walk to cool down after I finished and I feel like I got a great workout in! One thing to note, I don't workout my chest so I did tricep pushups instead of regular ones. I will post more when I try them! Lots of people suggested ToneItUp.com and Insanity so I am going to look into those.

Ernie was so weirded out when I was doing jumping jacks...

Last night I had the pleasure of going on a blate (blog date) with the beautiful and sweet Jenni from Story of My Life. Seriously, if you don't read her blog, stop reading mine and GO NOW!! We both laughed when we saw each other and said "you're short too!" We had such an amazing time catching up and even though it was the first time we'd met face to face, I felt as if we were old friends. We kept using the disclaimer "I am an oversharer!". It was such a fabulous night and I can't wait for lots more blates with Mrs. Jenni (and hopefully man dates with our hubbies!).

Our Salvadorian food (our waiter was sure to tell us it was NOT Mexican food)

Total bloggers with our Canons at the table

Do you have hair Jenni-envy yet?

I also wrapped Jon's anniversary present last night...I am getting giddy thinking about giving it to him in 3 days!!!!!

Jon has been gone all week for work and gets home tonight!! I've been super busy this week so it's flown by but I am excited. I felt like a wild child last night because I ended up going downtown with some co-workers to watch the band that 3 of our co-workers are in. I'd known about it for awhile but decided not to go when I found out Jon would be gone. Call me silly but I like having my hubby with me when I go out late at night. But after my awesome blog-date, I was in such a fun/happy mood and decided to go! It was really neat to see people I work with up on stage performing, they were so good and talented! 

Today I am pretty sore (120 squats!) and tired but yesterday was perfect and so worth it! 

Blog stuff

Welcome to my new and improved blog today friends. Did you notice a theme?

Yep. Mustaches!!!!!

If you've been reading a while, you would know that my husband, Jon and I love mustaches. And no, we don't love them because they are "in" right now. We didn't jump on the mustache bandwagon...we STARTED the mustache fad. Ever since I met Jon a few years ago, he has been obsessed with mustaches. Jon can spot an awesome mustache in a crowd of a million people. Sunday night he was all about finding mustaches while watching football. I don't know what it is but we've always been mustache spotters/lovers. And this winter, Jon had the opportunity to sport his own set of mustaches..

I love that people will see mustache stuff out and about or on Pinterest and send it to me. Jon and I seem to be collecting stache items...we are thinking we need a mustache themed room in our new house. 

So I hope you like the new layout! I've been wanting to make things more simple and as much as I loved my chevron thing, I like how sleek my blog looks. I also kinda started freaking out that I wouldn't have access to Picnik in 3 months so I thought, what the heck, time for a change. Do y'all think this new Google+ picture editor will be as good as Picnik? Tear...

Do you guys have other awesome photo editing sites? I have Photoshop and I like it for some things but Picnik was just so darn easy!!!!!

So in other blog news...I have reached capacity on how many photos I can upload to my blog. I am really confused by this because I was able to upload photos to this post and I even did a test post yesterday (if you were wondering why I posted twice yesterday, I didn't really mean too). Where I found the issue was uploading to my blog design, specifically my header. Over the past couple of months I've been moving all of my blog content to HTML vs. uploaded pictures so that didn't really matter. Has anyone else run into this over capacity problem with Picasa? I never upload anything to Picasa but every picture on my blog is automatically stored there.

In other blog-ish news, if you haven't already, peeps, you need to make the French fried onion spaghetti bake I posted on Saturday. Allison from Austin Moms Blog posted this on my Facebook wall last night...

I realize my posts of late have been a mish mosh of random things...hope you are enjoying them :-)

How to Be Your Guy’s Year-Round Goddess

So thanks to The Nest I now know how to be a goddess for my husband year round! Hahaha. Some of their articles crack me up, well most of them, and I love to share them with you. Here is the link to the goddess article. Below are other articles I've blogged about from The Nest. 

• 10 things to buy now that you'll keep forever
• 15 things to do before you have kids 
• The 10 biggest fitness mistakes that are making you fat

So how can you be a rockstar wife/girlfriend? I know you are on the edge of your seat!! So here we go. My comments are in RED. 

Do a DIY Spa Night

After a long day at work, give him a foot massage, a hot bath, and a glass of (insert his favorite drink here). Make sure to bring enough oils...to last you both through the night!

Does Pedi-egging my husbands feet count?? Haha I know that is so gross, he actually does his own now. We have a few of those back massager things (that they hand out at tradeshows and festivals) that we call "magic". Massages are definitely a nightly thing in our household. 

Black pedi eggs are more manly right?

 source

Make His Hobby for Two

Take an interest in one of his favorite pastimes: Watch a football/basketball/baseball game with him and prepare a homemade platter of his favorite munchies. If he likes golf, take a few lessons on your own and then wow him with your new skills on the course.

I have to admit I am becoming quite the NFL fan this season. Jon lives and breathes Cleveland Browns football and he has quickly morphed me into a "dawg pound" fan. Jon has a million hobbies, most of which I like (bowling, frisbee) but some things I  let him do on his own or with the guys (Madden, scary movies, golfing, pick up basketball). He is a really good sport if I need help with a craft (he has really good handwriting) or hanging a new picture so I try and reciprocate. 

Throw the Ultimate Guys' Night

Transform your house into the ultimate bachelor pad -- complete with poker, bar snacks, beer, and a classic video replay of his favorite team’s most memorable game. The whole crew will love you for it.

Jon is really good about planning man nights and they mostly happen at our casa since we are central to a lot of our friends. I usually plan something with girlfriends for the night and let the guys have reign of the house. Call me a bad wife but I let the guys fend for themselves at man night so I usually come home to take out bags and empty beer cans haha

No thank you...

 source

Personalize a Crossword Puzzle

Sneak your own crossword puzzle inside his paper for his morning commute. When he comes home he’ll be sure to dot his i’s and cross his t’s.

Hmmm this seems like a lot of work considering Jon doesn't play the crossword and we don't get a paper! Cute idea though!

Be a Tourist

Be tourists for a day and snap cool retro pics of your hometown. A cult classic, the Picture Imperfect Diana camera produces soft and dreamy images with super-saturated colors, unpredictable blurring, and random contrast. Finish off your work of art by compiling a photo album collage of your campy visit.

Thanks to instagram I can edit my pics like they suggest above. A week from today the birthday bunny should be bringing me a new a DSLR camera so I can 'snap cool retro pics of your hometown'

Here is Jon in his hometown of Medina, OH in front of his high school

Sing in the shower

If your guy uses his showerhead as a microphone more than for water, get him this waterproof speaker, which transmits tunes from his MP3 at a safe distance. Load his music-maker with his favorite songs (and a few of yours, of course!)…and invest in some earplugs. 

 

Haha well I am definitely a singer in the shower...not so much Jon though! Maybe if I load some metal onto a waterproof speaker he would scream along with the music. 

 

Make Musical Coasters

Treat him to a 6-pack on music! Cut out and cover the inserts from some of his favorite CDs to create a set of coasters that he’ll love to accompany his favorite kick-back-and-relax playlist.

Hmm interesting idea. Too bad we don't use coasters :-/.

 

Question time!!

What are some things you do that cause your hubby/fiance/bf to call you a total goddess? Do you play WoW? Eat Philly Cheesesteak pizza? Or burp like a drunk?

Blog coverage

I am so grateful for people reading my blog! My blog is a fun way for me to talk about things going on in my life, things I find interesting or just random stuff :-). As I wrote in my first blog post (and have mentioned a few times thereafter), I am completely obsessed with reading blogs! I love getting to "know" people and get a little piece of their lives. In a way, it is parallel to my love of reading and sometimes I talk about the bloggers I follow like the are my besties! Again like the books I read, I read all sorts of blogs. Food, fitness, babies, DIY, fashion and more. Below I have listed some of the blogs I follow. I love reading about real people who blog about real life experiences- the good, the bad, and the ugly!

PB Fingers- this is the first blog I started following. I heard about it on a morning show I listen to religiously and now check it multiple times a day! Julie got married in October and I loved reading updates about her plans, dress, wedding crafts, etc. while I was planning my own wedding! She blogs about fitness, recipes, fashion and her Vizsla Sadie. Below is the Hart's favorite peanut butter, we go through a jar a week!

YoungHouseLove- the most adorable young couple who blog for a living about home renovating, DIY, crafts and living modestly! They've been featured on the Nate Berkus show and regularly write for various magazines and websites. Check out their baby girl Clara and their chihuahua Burger, so cute!

BowerPower- Katie Bower is actually a good friend of Sherry from YHL so that is how I found her blog. She is also a young mom who blogs about re-doing her home, crafting and her to die for cute baby Will (check out the picture below of his nursery!)

GirlMeetsLife- this blog follows 24 year old Gracie, a recent college graduate who moved to NYC this year. She posts about love, food and the quest to figuring out the "adult world".

SkinnyRunner- I have never been a runner, ever, and don't have any desire to become one. I've done a few 5ks over the past couple of years and that is the absolute farthest I can run (and my knees, hips and calves are totally shot after that long of a run) but I LOVE keeping up with SkinnyRunner's workouts, marathon prep, recipes and fun posts. She is very motivating (yet not motivating enough for me to run more than 10 minutes on a treadmill with my ipod!).Oh and she ran the LA Marathon last week while it was raining cats and dogs, bless her heart!

Sweet Tooth Sweet Life- Courtney is a cute 20 something teacher who blogs about food, fitness and her husband! She has some awesome recipes including a delicious protein pumpkin breakfast cake (cake and breakfast in the same sentence, yes please.)

Kellie Staats- I posted last week about Kellie's blog and losing her sweet Princess Maddie to SIDS. This week she has been posting about SIDS Prevention and the Spring for SIDS event. Check it out and keep Maddie in your prayers. 

The Anderson Crew- mommy of 3 boys and soon to be 2 girls, Emily blogs about her kiddos, photography, fun trips and her crazy household. She has 4 biological children and will be bringing home Elsa, a sweet little 3 year old from Africa. They are a beautiful family!

The Vintage Pearl- get ready for the most beautiful jewelry you've ever seen. This blog follows The Vintage Pearl which is a jewelry store in Tulsa, OK. I haven't purchased anything....yet! The owner blogs about new products and life with her precious 4 little ones. Look at this awesome necklace with her children's names

Like Mom Made- follows Virginia, a young mom of a cute toddler who recently lost her baby girl who was born 4 months early and went to heaven at 12 days old. Originally, her blog's purpose was to inspire women, wives and mothers to get creative. She posts recipes, crafts and ideas and is also a cancer survivor, her story is really amazing 

I follow a few others but I think the above pretty much sums it up! 

You should also check out:

Tomi the college girl- my little sis blogs about being a freshman at Texas A&M- juggling a packed social calendar, 17 hours of class and a long distance relationship with her boyfriend Cole. She has a touching post about Cyber Bullying that I encourage everyone to read. Love you Tom!

Confessions of a Sorority Girl- you will laugh your ass off with my Delta Gamma Big Sis, Ashley Burns. I've never seen a girl draw so much attention (or get this many free drinks!). Read her most recent post about her adventure to Vegas this past spring break!

Heaven is real

I wanted to share a story I heard through a friend that really touched my heart. Kellie & James Staats lost their 4 month old baby girl Maddie a month ago today when she stopped breathing while taking a nap while her babysitter was in the other room. Kellie blogged about Maddie before she went to Heaven and even before she was born and I have loved getting to know that sweet girl. Yesterday I found out that Maddie and I share a birthday, October 14th, and now I realize why I've felt so connected to this little girl. You can read more about her story here. 

Kellie is kindergarten teacher by day but has recently been inspired to make bows and accessories for children. Check out her Facebook Store, Maddie's Mom Made That. My heart hurts everyday for her and her husband and what they are going through and I am so moved reading how strong they are becoming. She recommended the book Heaven Is Real by Todd Burpo which is a true story of a 4 year old boy's trip to heaven and back. Watch the video below, God works in amazing ways!

 

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. "

-1 Samuel 1:27 

 

Let's give it a try

So my husband Jon (so much fun to call him my husband now!) has been encouraging me to start blogging for the past couple of months after I got slightly obsessed following a few other blogs (Peanut Butter Fingers, YoungHouseLove, BowerPower, just to name a few!). He always comments on the fact that I have over 1500 friends on Facebook so of course I would have followers on a blog but the question is...what do I write about? I've been making a mental list of things I'd like to blog about in the future but read on and you will see how I have been a little preoccupied with life lately :-).

We recently got married 3 weeks ago on February 5th, 2011 and it was the greatest day of my life! I married my best friend, the man of my dreams, my biggest fan and everything I aspire to be, it was a day that will not be forgotten by many. Despite the Texas snow storm and major airports being shut down, we said our vows in front of 140 of our family and closest friends. Below are 2 shots I quickly downloaded from my Facebook but I look forward to sharing more details about the wedding in the future.

We honeymooned for a week in Cabo which I can not brag about enough! A short 2.5 hour plane ride from Dallas, Cabo was beautiful, romantic and everything we hoped it would be. We slept 10+ hours a night, ate our body weights in salmon and filet and were treated like celebrities at our resort (because of our under 65 age group status!).

We returned from our honeymoon relaxed, well rested and ready to explore marriage! To add to the long list of thank you notes, changing my name and setting up our new house....call us crazy but we got a puppy! On February 14th, 2011 we brought home 12 week old French Bulldog Ernie Hart! I have no doubt that his pictures will be plastered all over this blog as they are on my Facebook page! He is such a sweet and cuddley little guy who needs lots of attention! We are working on getting him acquainted with our funky living situation, pottying outside and being crated at night and parts of the day. Oh and did I mention I started a new job this week? I think it's a quote from Die Another Day but hey, you can sleep when you're dead right? I need to remind myself of that when I am outside at 4am trying to get Ernie to go #2!

I hope that this blog becomes a place for family and friends to be caught up on my life as Jon and I venture through marriage and one day, start a family of our own! We like to think of ourselves as organized free spirits who love to travel, lead a healthy lifestyle, maintain a relationship with God and get the most out of life!