5 Things on Friday 10/16

-one- Four day weekend! Every year Education Minnesota holds a conference for teachers to gain credits for relicensure. Therefore we always get two days off of school. I'm way ahead on my relicensure credits so I'm enjoying some relaxtion! Well, I did some work yesterday and today but it was from the comfort of my couch in sweatpants and that makes a difference!

-two- The new Pumpkin Almond Milk smoothie at Jamba Juice. YUM! It packs all the flavor of many of the pumpkin spice fall products but is made with no dairy and no high fructose corn syrup! One of my new favorites.

-three- I love this deep conditioner from Target. It comes in little packets for a couple bucks each and I stretch them to be two uses. I've used plain coconut oil to deep condition my hair before but I thought this had a greater effect. When my hair feels a little dry and dull I slather it on during a long shower and can definitely feel a difference. And it smells amazing!

-four- I tried this recipe this week for Whole 30 compliant cashew chicken. The flavor was great and it satisfied a craving I've been having for Chinese food. There are a couple random ingredients (tapioca flour and arrowroot starch). I tried substituting them with coconut flour the first time and the flavor was still good but the texture got strange. So it's worth grabbing the two, especially since I know I'll make the recipe again.

source

-five- Major progress on the cat front! I was freaking out at the beginning of the week that this was never going to work out. Kristen was so sweet to give me a ton of advice about how to slowly introduce them and look what I just found!

Now, I'm sure if Bruce advanced even slightly Quinn would still hiss and bat as his face. But now I'm much more optimisic about their blossoming friendship.

Linking up here and here!

Wedding Wednesday: All My Bridesmaids are Getting Engaged!

When we got married all of my bridesmaids were indeed 'maids'. Since April, there has been a landside of engagements and suddenly 3 of my 4 bridesmaids are soon-to-be-brides! Some of the proposals were expected and others a surprise! Guess there was something in the water at our wedding!

April 2015:

Julia had just been placed for her residency in Chicago and Brian proposed while they visited there looking for a new apartment.

October 2015:

Andrew returned from Afghanistan after seven long months and soon after proposed to Karissa on a hike outside Las Vegas.

October 2015:

James proposed to Mariam on hike during her birthday weekend!

I LOVE proposals and I'm so happy for these three (six, I guess, with the guys)! The only one left is my sister. But she's much younger than us and not looking to get married any time soon :)

Linking up for Wedding Wednesday!

Books Lately - Oct 2015

My book club seems like it might, tragically, be defunct. We met twice in two months and then life seemed to get really busy. People got married and traveled. Our group also grew. People invited friends to join and while I think it's great that I know so many women that are enthusiastic about reading, it's impossible to coordinate the schedules of ten people. I think I'd like to be in a book club of about five or six. Maybe it will be easier to form one this fall or winter. Anyway, I got some good summer reading done and I've kept pretty good momentum even after school has started. I never buy books because the expense would add up quickly and we don't have the space for all of them! I borrow from friends when they volunteer them and I frequent our public library. I wish the library would keep a record of things I have checked out in my online account because I'm sure I'm missing something!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

This was meant to be our next book club book. I flew through it. It reminded me of Gone Girl and other Gillian Flynn books. It's completely nerve wracking and I had to stay up late to finish the last one hundred pages last night because I wouldn't have been able to sleep. I wish I would have been able to talk about it with my girlfriends. I hear it might be a movie soon, too! 4 stars.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (and other concerns) By Mindy Kaling

I love books by female comedians. I love Bossypants by Tina Fey and Chelsea Handler's books. Mindy Kaling is so cute, modest, and unapologetically girly. I also love that most of these books are essays or short vignettes so they are quick and easy to read on a beach (not that I've been to any beaches lately). I found Mindy very relatable and I started watching her show The Mindy Project after reading this. She has a new book out, Why Not Me, that I hope to pick up soon. 4 stars.

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

This book is dumb. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it. It's a light, fast-paced, and entertaining story. I actually listened to it as an audio book and didn't really enjoy the narrator's voice which can really put a damper on it. However, it was easy to listen to while I cooked, cleaned, and ran around without intense focus on the story. It was good enough, not great. 2 stars.

Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

This was a beautiful, hearbreaking, and adorable love story. When I started it, I was surprised that it was about teenagers. I don't typically reach for books about teens. There's a reason I don't teach high school. They're just not my scene. But, I got really interested in the story because I've recently learned more about trauma and it's effects on people/children. 5 stars.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Ok. I didn't finish this. I was listening to it on audio from the library and it's very long. My time ran out and I couldn't renew. But I fully intend to get a hard copy soon and finish it. It's a very interesting story about a surgeon from India who lives in Africa. I think 4 stars, we'll see!

The Martian by Andy Weir

I know everyone is reading this and I'm so glad I picked it up. I thought I would get bored with his internal monologue but I was totally hooked. The narrator states in the beginning the truth about humanity and the need to save others and the bigger message rang true for me. He also had a great sense of humor. I read this in its entirety driving from Milwaukee to Minneapolis (thanks for driving Cody!) and I totally cried at the end. And now I'm obsessed with space. 5 stars.

Yes Please by Amy Pohler

Another great comedy book that I listened to on audio. Amy narrated a lot of her younger life and how she got to where she was today. It was refreshing that she was totally honest about many topics including her divorce and struggle with self image. However, she continuously complained about how difficult it was to write a book. I'm sure this is true and I know she was saying it over and over to be funny but I got a little annoyed. 4 stars.

A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

This book is so cute.  It's an adorable love story of two college students. It's an extremely quick read and you defiintely want to find out what happens so I just flew through it. The story is told from the perspective of everyone except the couple, including their friends, professors, bus drivers, acquaintences, and even a bench and a squirrel. If the last two seem a little excessive, you might find this book a little annoying. 3 stars.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

I loved this book. It's established at the beginning that it's a murder mystery and they're trying to find the murderer. But we don't even know the victim is for the entire book. I think it's possible that you could get annoyed by all of the mommy drama throughout the book, but as a non-mom I found it entertaining. I also loved that it was set in Australia. There were several subplots going in that became intertwined and I found it really engaging. 4 stars.

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

Ugh. I don't know. This book is just okay. I picked it up at the library in one of those situations where I realized I was returning everything I had to read and none of my reserved books were ready to be picked up but that I also live by a small branch of my library and there were very few options. I spent the better part of a half hour hemming and hawing over what to get and just grabbed something. It's the story of an overstressed mom who becomes addicted to prescription pain medication. Despite saying I found mom stories interesting the last book, I just didn't feel for this character. I find addiction really interesting and even watch Intervention sometimes. But this wasn't even as good as that. But did you know Jennifer Weiner live tweets Bachelor/Bachelorette episodes. I love that.
2 stars.

Seriously, I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres

I think I hit my limit with audiobooks by comedians for a while. And this one just wasn't as good as the others. I love Ellen and her attitude about kindness and life in general. But this whole book was basically her stream of consciousness. I know that's her style and there are definitely cute parts but I feel like she didn't say anything at all. 2 stars.

My first book link-up. Yay!

New Cat Woes

I grew up with cats and love them as pets. They're low maitenence, funny, and loving. Cody got me a cat for my 27th birthday a year a half ago. Her name is Quinn. She's incerdibly cute and a little crazy. Here's Quinn:

I have always felt guilty leaving her alone all day while we're at work and thought it would be nice fo her to have a friend. I've been casually browsing the Humane Society website and on Friday I found a young, male cat. I knew I wanted a male because it would be less likely for Quinn to be aggressive toward him than if it was a female. Anyway, without too much thought or preparation, we ran off to the Humane Society on Friday afternoon and swept him up before someone else could adopt him.
Here's Bruce:

He's extremely affectionate and laid back. He seems to be adjusting well and though he's not eating a ton (which I'll keep an eye on), seems to like his new home. The problem is Quinn. She's completely freaked out. I read a ton online about how to approach this and we've kept them in separate rooms but feed them on the either side of the same door. We've pet them with the same towel to comingle their scents. We've swapped their spaces so that they get used to each other and we've brought him in the room in his carrier. She growls, hisses, and arches her back. She isn't aggressive, but just seems extremely afraid. She has lived alone with us for about a year but before that she lived with another cat for about six months so I thought she had been a least a little socialized with other cats.

I'm feel completely guilty. I know I'm being dramatic, but I feel like I've ruined Quinn's life, when the whole point of this was to get her a friend. And I feel bad for Bruce because he must feel like the new kid that no one likes. I'm hoping this will improve and just take time. I read it might take weeks for her to warm up. But after just three days I feel like accommodating these cats completely dominated my time! We're also moving in three weeks so it will be good to bring them both to neutral territory. That's all for my crazy cat lady rant. But if anyone has advice on this front, I am all ears!

Wedding Wednesday: What Everyone Else Wore

Almost as soon as I chose my dress we set out to choose bridesmaid dresses. My sister and maid of honor was the only one that lived in Minneapolis so we went shopping with my mom and then gave the other girls options that she liked best.

We went shopping at Flutter Boutique in Minneapolis and I wish I'd known about them when I was dress shopping! However, I think their bridesmaid dress selection was even better than their bridal gowns. Since we were having a November wedding and my ladies preferred it, I knew that I wanted long dresses. I also knew I wanted navy blue. Otherwise, I let Amy decide!

Here's what they tried on:

Anything short could be made long and they all could be done in navy. I loved the center and bottom left ones but selfishly didn't want the bridesmaids to have more lace than me.

Then I sent pictures of the dresses and they called said what they liked. They went with this beautiful dress from Amsale. I also love how their different hair colors looked with it!

As for the guys, I had this vision of all the groomsmen in one suit and Cody in a different one. I'm not sure Cody was 100% about that idea but he got on board for his bride. They found a sale at Jos. A. Bank and it was a way better deal to buy their suits than rent. The groomsmen wore grey with a navy tie. Cody wore navy with a grey tie. I thought they looked great!

Here are some shots of what our Junior Bridesmaids wore from the Wedding Shoppe and our moms wore.

I could not smile anymore at this point, haha

Linking up for Wedding Wednesday!

Five Things on Friday 9/25

-one- One of my closest friends told me on Monday that she's expecting! She hasn't told that many people yet but I know she doens't read this, no one she knows reads this, and I'm obviously not even naming her so I feel like the anonimity is pretty good. We both got married in the same year so we've been on similar paths for a while and I'm so excited for this next step for her (though I'm not quite ready for it). And none of my friends have had babies yet so I'm SO excited!

-two- We went to Acme Comedy Club on Wednesday night. They offer free tickets on weeknights during the month of your birthday so my sister got four tickets. Sean Patton was the headliner and he was hilarious. I feel like live comedy is totally hit or miss but this one was good. It was a nice way to break up the week.

-three- Last night I made Paleo Pizza Pie for dinner. OMG. It. was. so. good. I got the idea from Laura who raved about it during her Whole 30. It's time consuming but super easy. Cody loved it and I'm sure kids would love it, too. I want to make like 5 and freeze them.

-four- I'm going to a U of Minnesota Gopher football game with my dad tomorrow! My sister and I usually buy him some tickets for his birthday and then each get to go to a game. It's going to be 70 degrees and sunny! I can't wait!

-five- We're going to Ireland! Ok it's not until next August but the planning has begun. Cody and I have wanted to go to Ireland as long as we've known each other and my whole family including my parents, my sister, her boyfriend and us are all going together! We definitely need recommendations for how to choose what to do. It seems like there's so much right now!

Linking up here and here!

Wedding Wednesday: Dress Shopping

I was not looking forward to dress shopping. I don't like any type of clothes shopping or trying things on. But to my surprise, wedding dress shopping is fun!

I went into my first appointment pretty clueless. I had one picture that I showed them.

They didn't have that dress (it's discontinued now) and I didn't give them much other guidance. I did know that it was important to me that the shape of the dress was flattering. I didn't want to get stuck on a certain silhouette if it wasn't right for my body. So, I spent most of that first appointment trying on different shapes.

#1: I didn't like the straps or how structured the top was

#2: This was my mom and sister's favorite. I thought I looked so fat. Then when I saw the picture it looked completely different.

#3: I thought this shape really wasn't flattering and it's hard to tell from the picture but the front dipped down extremely low

#4: This was one of the favorites. And the price was awesome. But in the end, I just felt like I could do better.

#5: I guess you can tell from my ridiculous face how I felt about that one. I did like the top though and they even tried to get me to put a different skirt on it.

#6: I think they were trying to get the feel of the bolero that I wanted. This felt like something someone royal would wear

#7: Trying something different 

#8: And yet another style

#9: I saw this as we were getting ready to leave and asked to try it. I loved it and it was definitely the front runner when we left. I would have covered the front sheer part to make it less scandalous.  I felt great in it but I still had my idea of a separte bolero stuck in my mind.

That weekend we went to my second appointment.  I went in with a clearer idea of what I wanted. I know my sister took pictures of everything I tried on, including the last dress from my first appointment but I honestly liked almost nothing. In the end, I told them I really wanted two separate pieces and they came through. I bought a dress from one designer and a bolero from another! And I think it was perfect for a chilly November wedding!

I wore Tom's wedges

Right before our first dance I lost the bolero and added this lace belt

Cody gave me pearls for my wedding gift so I put those on after I took off my bolero

 Linking up for Wedding Wednesday!