Welcome 2016!

photo source

I have a good feeling about this year. The last few have been somewhat of a transition, as I was in graduate school and everything was basically suspended until I finished school and found a real career. Nick and I both started new jobs recently and we’re settling in quite nicely so I think now is a good time to focus on really making a life we want to live. I’m notorious for making New Year’s Resolutions that only last for a few months tops but this year I’ve had a serious talk with myself and determined that I need to get it together and really be an adult. So, Nick and I are setting four big goals for ourselves to reach in 2016 that are both realistic and much-needed.

1. Get it together. This one simply means it’s time for me to be a real adult: get out of bed in the morning with enough time to work out, shower, put on makeup, AND make a healthy lunch; actually fold the laundry instead of telling myself they need another round in the dryer (this will also solve the issue of shrunken clothes!); tidy up clutter before it has a chance to take over the dining room table…. you know, adult things like that.
2. Follow through. How many times have you ran into a friend at the grocery store and, after a lovely chat, made plans to get together for dinner, meet for coffee, etc. and then weeks later you forgot you even saw them that one time at Target? This year, we’re going to start following through with those plans. Whether it’s pulling out my phone and scheduling dinner right then and there, or sending them a reminder email to look at their schedules when they get home, or whatever we have to do, we’re going to make sure we get that dinner/coffee/whatever on the calendar. Think of how much our friendships will strengthen from being placed at the top of the list!
3. Say yes to new things. I’m taking a cue from Amy Poehler and Shonda Rhimes this year by saying yes to all of the new opportunities that get presented to me. I’ve caught myself on several occasions missing out on great things in life because I’ve been too afraid to say yes for whatever reason. So this will be my year of yes, and I look forward to making it my best year yet.
4. Finances. For the past few years we’ve tracked our expenses pretty well, but haven’t been able to stick to a budget that will help us hit our goals of knocking out debt while saving up for fun things.  We’re not getting any younger and we’d like to travel more and really build our savings for whatever lies ahead.  We have the means to do so and now’s the time to be responsible and get it done.  

There you have it, the lifestyle changes we’re going to make to live our best lives. I also think I’ll include some blog-specific goals later. I read a really great article recently that highlights how feeling like you’re unable to “pull something off” in style & fashion might actually have a larger impact on the way you view your actual talents and abilities, so I’m going to give it some thought and set some style goals for myself. So I look forward to all that 2016 has to offer!

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

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Photo by 2 & 3 Photography

As we do every year, we had beautiful family photos taken for our holiday cards. And, as they do every year, they turned out wonderfully thanks to the talented artists, Thad and Sarah, that make up the awesome duo behind 2 & 3 Photography.

Photo by 2 & 3 Photography

This year we wanted to add a little extra fun to our cards, so we changed into some tacky Christmas sweaters and dressed up as reindeer. We also made sure to get a few poses that were reminiscent of those awesome 80s photos where people stare off into the distance with awkward smiles. Check out the resulting card here, if you haven’t seen it already. Aren’t we adorable?

Photo by 2 & 3 Photography

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My 30th birthday was on December 31st and to celebrate, Nick and I went for a nice breakfast followed by manicures & pedicures and then out to a fancy dinner. The following weekend, we had a party and invited a few friends. I love entertaining and try to have at least one fun activity for them to do. I wanted to do something fun this year so I gathered a bunch of pictures from my youth and created a collage around black craft paper. I wrote “Cheers to 30 Years” because I was turning 30, and the wrote a nice little quote that I thought really reflected my life: “Old enough to look back, young enough to look forward.” I set out gold sharpies and chalk and invited my friends to write memories and well wishes on the black craft paper. My guests really seemed to like it and I enjoyed reading all of their memories and notes!

I apologize for taking picture of pictures because some of them did turn out a little blurry. But I had a lot of photos and didn’t have the time nor desire to scan them all.

The photo above shows me at my first prom sophore year, my senior photo, Nick and I after we first met almost 12 years ago (we look like babies!), my very first college dorm roommate and me, a school photo from junior year in high school, my first best friend after college, and another senior photo in my dickie.

These are younger photos of me! 4th grade, me at Disney World at age 14 or 15, me in 7th grade, and my brother and me back in the day.

Me in 8th grade, me in 6th grade, and me being sassy having just blown and popped a bubble sometime when I was a kid.

We set up our table with lots of new years decorations and cooked a bunch of yummy food. I wish I had gotten some good photos after we set all of the good out, but our guests arrived and we were having too much fun! And if you’re new to the blog, this is what I wore:

Original outfit post here.

It’s time for another round of Friday Four, a fun survey I’m doing so that my readers can get to know me a little better. This week I’m talking about four TV shows I watch. I don’t want a ton of TV and when I do, it certainly isn’t Game of Thrones or even Scandal. (GoT is too violent and rape-y for me and I somehow missed the train with Scandal, Orange is the New Black, etc.) BUT the four shows I  never miss are as follows:

1. Orphan Black.

According to Wikipedia, Orphan Black “focuses on Sarah Manning, a woman who assumes the identity of one of her clones, Elizabeth Childs, after witnessing Childs’ suicide. The series raises issues about the moral and ethical implications of human cloning and its effect on issues of personal identity.”

The lead actor, Tatiana Maslany, plays the parts of ALL the clones. She’s so talented and mesmerizing that you totally forget that one actress is perfectly capturing all of the little nuances of each character. It’s currently in it’s third season but is available on Amazon Prime if you want to catch up.

2. Criminal Minds.

Again from Wikipedia, this series “follows a team of profilers from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) based in Quantico, Virginia. The show differs from many procedural dramas by focusing on profiling the criminal, called the unsub or “unknown subject”, rather than the crime itself.”

My undergrad degree is in Psychology and one of my dream jobs back then (I’ve had a ton of them because I have a ton of interests) was to become a forensic psychologist and do what they do. Alas, that dream didn’t pan out so I have to live vicariously through them. Nick and I started watching it from the beginning back in November and finally caught up in the middle of this season, which is it’s 10th season! I hope it never ends.

3. Broad City.

Described as “an odd-couple comedy about two best friends navigating their 20s in New York City. Abbi and Ilana are broke and flawed, and they don’t shy away from the sticky situations NYC throws at them — they dive right into the muck. No matter how bad it gets, these broads are always down with whatever hits them.”

They make me laugh so much and taught me that I have FOMO – fear of missing out. The second season just ended but you can watch full episodes on Comedy Central.

YAS KWEENS!

4. Little Women: LA and the spinoff, Little Women: Terra’s Little Family.

IMDB describes this reality series that “follows close-knit friends with big hearts and big personalities, who have a physical trait in common: They are little people. The ladies travel around Los Angeles while dealing with relationships, parenting and careers. As with any friends, they express feelings — from laughing, to crying, to fighting — but lend emotional support to one another. While dealing with everyday challenges, they are out to prove that — just as people say about age — “height” is just a number and being short doesn’t keep them from having normal lives.”

Terra, one of the ladies, has a spin off about her experiences with pregnancy and her first months home with the new baby.

I love all of these women and watching them navigate this things called life.

Honorable mentions:

Parks and Recreation. This is my favorite show of all shows that ever were. Only a show featuring Shakira would bump Parks & Rec out of my #1 spot. Amy Poehler is my #2 favorite celebrity, after Shakira of course, and I would watch anything she does. It’s just a bonus that Parks & Rec is so good. (OMG, speaking of which, can someone make that happen, please? A reality show featuring Shakira? It would be heaven for me!) I’m so glad that they play reruns on both Esquire network and FX because we always end up there, watching it!

You’re The Worst. “Centers on two toxic, self-destructive people who fall in love and attempt a relationship.” – IMDB. There’s something about this show that I CANNOT get enough of. There isn’t a single character that I don’t like, even though I should.

Masters of Sex. Based on the biography of the real sex researchers, Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson, this show offers a fascinating look into how we know as much as we do today about the human sexual response. It plays on Showtime and is on it’s third season, which will begin this summer. My passion is sexual health education so it should come as no surprise that I would love a show dedicated to the pioneers. Also, I have an embarrassing crush on Michael Sheen.

It’s time for another round of Friday Four, a fun survey I’m doing so that my readers can get to know me a little better. This week I’m talking about four of my favorite foods. This one will be a little more difficult than my last four, simply because I LOVE food so paring it down to just four won’t be easy.

1. Sushi. Hands down, this is my favorite food on the face of the planet.  I’ll eat any type of sushi, sashimi, nigiri, etc. It’s one of those foods that makes me feel better if I’ve had a bad day or if I’m feeling a little down. It’s also great for a celebration dinner. It’s even where I requested we eat for my bachelorette party! Nick gets annoyed that I love sushi so much because I always want to eat it when we go out, but it’s just one of those things he loves about me. We have some amazing sushi spots here in Durham.

Sushi rolls from my favorite sushi spot: Shiki Sushi in Durham.

2. Cheese. If I were superwoman, cheese would probably be my kryptonite. I don’t know what it is about cheese, but I love it so much. I put it on everything that requires cheese. Frozen pizza from the supermaket? Add a little extra cheese before popping it in the oven. Lasagna? Extra layer of cheese, please! Tacos? Cheese. Burgers? Cheese. Sandwiches? You better believe there will be cheese.

3. Pizza. Oh how I wish pizza were more healthy for us all. It’s delicious – especially when covered in cheese! – and I would eat it every other day (you know, the days I’m not eathing sushi) if there were more health benefits to it. I’m a simply gal and really love a simple pepperoni pizza, or pepperoni and mushroom, but I’ll eat just about any kind of pizza. Again, we have some amazing pizza places here in Durham so going out for pizza is easy and fun and delicious.

Spicy Philly Pizza from Mattie B’s Public House in Durham. Delicious shaved beef with pepers and onions, jalapenos, and aioli.

4. Berries. I feel I have to include something healthy and I love berries, which are healthy so there you go. I love all kinds but my top three are blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I also love cherries, but they’re not really a berry, are they?

Honorable mentions: coffee, most fruits and vegetables, ice cream, potatoes, vanilla, tacos (or any kind of Mexican food), tapas, and wine.