Monday Musings | 9

I guess I should really change the title of this to "Whenever I get around to it Musings" but hey, better late than never. 

Y'all I have been so exhausted lately. Literally dragging, I even skipped my beloved cardio tennis last night and opted for the couch and an episode of the The Crown instead. Who am I?

As I was looking through my phone for pictures to accompany today's post I realized... I didn't take a single picture during Thanksgiving. Not a one. Obviously I am a professional blogger who finds all life's happenings bloggable whilst taking charming snapshots with my...phone. c'est la vie.

The Friday after Thanksgiving we endured the cold to watch my Cousins son (also my Cousin?) play in a nail biting game against the University of Cincinnati. Lets be honest, I cut out at half time when things weren't looking so well for TU but I have to say I think my absence helped TU pull out the W. It was so cold that night too... but the miracles of all miracles happened and I was able to convince a 12 (almost 13 year old) boy to SMILE for a picture. 

Saturday I managed to sneak in a late lunch with a sweet friend and enjoy some laid back coffee drinking/antique shopping. 

Christmas decorations got put up on Sunday (heyyyo) and I think my house is officially as cozy as its going to get. What is it about twinkle lights that make everything feel that much warmer? The copious amounts of glitter on my floor is totally worth it if only for those evenings spent on the couch next to a lit Christmas tree.

What else? Great Black Friday deals? Any Cyber Monday shopping?

I might have snagged this beauty yesterday

I've got my eye on one of these but a special someone told me NOT to buy it for myself...

If that's the case and one does show up in the next few weeks then I'm hoping Santa might grab this and this

What is on your wishlist for Santa this year?

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Monday Musings | 8

The thanksgiving addition!

Can you believe its already Thanksgiving time? That means Christmas is literally right around the corner and next thing you know its the New Year. Holy Cow. Time really does speed up as you get older. 

I have somehow managed to keep my garden producing well into the end of the year. Higher temps have a lot to do with it for sure. Pepper galore! This past week I picked no less than 2 lbs of peppers. This go around I decided to freeze them and then use them in pepper jelly! I read that peppers freeze and unfreeze really well holding their crispness after they have been frozen. So I decided to wash the sweet peppers, cut the stems, cut them in half, and then let them freeze on a cookie sheet for a day. After that I put them all in a ziplock until I am ready to use them! Same with the jalapenos, only I made sure to remove the seeds!

I'm thinking about making a pepper jelly recipe my mom sent over, unless you have a good one you want to share!

Two of my nieces, or the "Little Girls" as I call them, came over Saturday afternoon for a fun sleep over! We ate spaghetti, made brownies, painted nails, watched a movie, and gorged on popcorn Saturday night. The animals both got more attention in one night than they get in a week. Constant petting and chasing and playing. We go up bright and early for church on Sunday. Who knew the time commitment it takes to get two little girls ready for church. We made it, albeit a bit late, but we made it. They were both a bit nervous to hang out in class without each other (2nd vs 4th grade) during service but they both adapted so well. I actually went by to see if they wanted to go to big church with me after the first service (I volunteer) and neither of them wanted to leave their new friends. After church we had lunch and played outside. I've been on a mission lately to purge and organize and I needed to put a few things out in the shed. The girls saw me hanging things and quickly wanted to join in on the hammering. Scrap wood and a hammer... happy girls they were. I just loved watching them take on "non traditional roles" and learn to hammer and remove a nail. Its like teaching them life skills they didn't know they needed. 

They got picked up Sunday afternoon and I spent a few hours with a sweet friend chatting over coffee. There is something so great about a crisp fall day, sharing life in a cozy corner of a coffee shop.

This weekend turned out to be a great time to refill my soul with those relationships I cherish. I love investing in those little lives and nurturing that relationship. I love catching up with old friends and hearing whats new in their world.

I just want to be present and really drink it all in. Enjoy each and every moment, especially before the Holiday rush begins.

Happy Monday, friends!

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Monday Musings | 7

Good Morning! How was your weekend? Fruitful I hope. Is that time change kicking your bootay yet?

Friday night I had the pleasure of celebrating this beauty turning 30! We had an amazing dinner at the Brady Tavern and drinks around town plus brunch the next morning. It was so much fun! Maybe a little too much fun...

Surprisingly enough after brunch I managed to be productive and get my front flower beds cleaned up plus start some laundry. Who knew I had it in me?!

Saturday afternoon I had my first of two family sessions for the weekend. I have been capturing both these families since their oldest were newborns... 3+ years ago. Blows my mind every time to see how big they've gotten. I cannot wait to show you some of these sweet images!

Sunday was the usual, church, lunch, errands, laundry... overall just prepping for the week ahead. 

Have you seen The Crown on netflix yet? After reading this I am dying to watch!

Microblading. I would love this but umm the price tag. Yikes. 

I just finished The Broker by John Grisham this past week. (I'm coming for you 30 before 30) It was good, semi suspenseful, but I wasn't on the edge of my seat. Worth the listen if you need a good audio book for a long drive, though. 

Do you listen to Young House Love has a Podcast? Last week they talked about an online calendar of weird holidays. Go see whats celebrated on your birthday! Tomorrow we get to celebrate Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds day. ha!

Happy Monday, Friends

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Monday Musings | 6

Happy Halloween Party People! Am I the only one that sees these suckers and is automatically thrown back in the 4th grade during a fall festival? I swear these are caramel covered nostalgia.

Did you dress up today? Trick or Treating tonight?

We have a costume contest at work today, to which I have seen not one single costume. Maybe everyone has the same game plan as I do and is waiting until lunch time to transform. Into the bathroom I go as an (almost) 30 year old professional and out I come as an 80 year old grandma. I cannot wait to show you pictures. Like any good student, I have been watching youtube videos on "old age makeup" for a solid week now. Fingers crossed the idea in my head can come to life. Otherwise, I will look like I got drunk and passed out in college and someone drew on my face.

On our evening walk last night I moaned and groaned about how I felt like I couldn't keep friendships alive. Like I was the only one in the world that had "situational" friendships that all revolved around a common thing... like work or school or league. I know I can't be the only one who feels like friends come and go. The difference is I feel like I am the reason they go. Maybe I am too judgemental or not fun enough. Maybe I said something that upset them or should have called them more. After a solid 20 minutes of complaining, I came to the realization that it isn't about me or what I can or should have done. Instead its this constant entrenching of social media. Seeing other people out and about or going to do things in large groups and feeling inadequate. Feeling left out, when if I stopped and really thought about it I didn't want to actually be included in the first place.

All of this to say... I am taking a social media break. I have no idea how long it will last but this blog is the only thing that will stay alive. No facebook or instagram. Shutter. No Snapchat.... serious withdrawals, y'all. No Pinterest. No.Social.Media.

My hope is that the removal of all these outside noises will give me more time to invest in the people around me. Help clear away all the FOMO (it means fear of missing out, mom) cobwebs and start fresh.

In full disclosure, there might be a contest going on behind the scenes. Who can last longer... me without social media or my boyfriend without sugar. I have full faith that I can withstand longer.

Okay, thats about all I've got for the moment. There is some old lady make up and garb calling my name!

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Monday Musings | 5

This last week was one for the record books. I've always been one to pack things in and burn the candle at both ends but wow. 

I have been planning an event for work/our customers for a few months now and it all came to a head on Wednesday. The day consisted of golf/drinks/lunch at Flying Tee (Tulsa's version of Top Golf) back to the hotel for a quick email check/rest and then a "Social Networking Hour" aka Happy Hour before heading out to Oktoberfest Corporate Night. We had such a good group of people come to town to join in on the fun and overall it was such a success. My boss sent me this gem from Flying Tee... his caption was "Samsung Galaxy makes a great coaster"... I guess I got a little excited when it was my turn. I will say I obviously have mad balancing skills.

Oktoberfest in Tulsa never fails to be an exciting weekend with corporate night kicking the whole thing off. Picture huge tents, tons of wood picnic tables, live German music, and huge steins - thats Oktoberfest. The only difference between corporate night and any other night are the "table sponsors". So to attend on Wednesday you have to "sponsor" a table to get tickets... individual tickets are sold any other night. 

After wrapping up a great event I took off my corporate event planning hat and put on my garage sale planning hat. I'm not sure why I decided it was a good idea to have a garage sale on the tail end of a big work week but go big or go home, I guess.

I have been wanting to clean out my shed for a while now, hey its even on my 30 before 30! It was so needed, especially if I want to make that space functional. The sale went off without a hitch at 7am - we even had a few early risers show up with flashlights at 6:45. I guess they didn't get the memo that Saturday mornings are for slow starts. 

I always try to get a walk in with Murphy every day to wear him out... turns out all he needs to do is greet customers all morning and hes a tired pooch!

The sale went well and by 9 am all the items I wasn't sure I wanted to sell were gone. Funny how that happens. I scheduled a local rehabilitation organization to come around 4 pm and get the rest of the items that didn't sell. That was a fantastic idea until they showed up at 1 pm. All in all though it was a good sale and a great way to spend a morning and make a little bit of cash. 

After the sale wrapped up I took a few of the nicer items that didn't sell to a consignment store and ran a few errands. Dinner with a sweet friend and next thing you know its Sunday morning!

Church with my sweet babes in the morning and afternoon tennis before community group.

Again, I must have failed to pull out a calendar but I volunteered to bring dinner to my community group on Sunday night. When in doubt... order pizza.

I wrapped up the evening like this..

and what do you know, its already Monday again.

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Monday Musings | 4

It's officially Monday, again. Did you have a great weekend? Relax much?

This was the first weekend in probably 6 weeks that I wasn't traveling in some form or fashion and the slow pace was much appreciated. There are a lot of things on the to-do list in the upcoming weeks... especially with the holidays right around the corner. For the next two weeks I am spending a lot of my extra time preparing for a garage sale (I'm looking at you 30 before 30) and we all know how fun that can be!

1. I did have a few things that fell into the "must" category and capturing this sweet things newborns was at the top of the list. Two years ago I was privileged to capture her brothers birth/newborns and now I'm doing the same for her. Being able to come along side your friends as they enter into new phases of life is just so rewarding.

2. I finally got around to grabbing a few new fall decorations and getting the house all ready for the new season. As if falls arrival is dependent on my pumpkin decor and new wreath...

3. This is Us. Have you seen it? Totally worth the watch. I was a huge parenthood fan - as in I never watched it when it originally aired but binge watched the heck out of it on Netflix. This is a Parenthood-esque show but with a little more twists and turns plus it will get you through the wait until Scandal returns!

4. The Tulsa Fair has officially arrived in all its fervor, leaving me contemplating selling my house STAT. My neighborhood is directly south of the Tulsa Fairgrounds and thus becomes a makeshift parking lot, which isn't terrible until you have to take your dog for a walk. Cars for miles and even getting to the point of people selling space in their driveways for parking. I am so ready for this show to pack up and leave town. 

5. Last but not least lets talk eyebrows! I have fallen victim to the nail salon wax job one too many times and decided the extra $10 it takes to get my brows waxed professionally was worth it. Benefit has a brow bar inside Ulta stores and has since been my saving grace. I've yet to fully jump in and buy their brow products but having a professional shape them its a game changer. I currently use NYX brow cream with a brow brush to fill them out but tried the benefit volumizer this weekend and might have to snag that soon. Filled vs unfilled brows... I'm telling you its worth the extra few minutes in the morning. 

Well friends, that's all she wrote! Enjoy your Monday!

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Monday Musings | 1

because who can really put together a cohesive thought on a Monday morning. Hell, I'm lucky to remember to feed the dog and get my eyeliner on straight at the start of each week.

1. This. So powerful. "traces the story of how an untested president, a sidearm-carrying general, top aides, the Secret Service and the Cipro-wielding White House physician, as well as five reporters, four radio operators, three pilots, two congressmen and a stenographer responded to 9/11."

2.  I tried this friday night (if you follow me on snapchat you saw the end result) and loved it!

3. We hit up the dog park on Sunday afternoon, exhausted dog and happy mom. I would say it was a success. 

4. Has anyone read, For the Love by Jen Hatmaker? I got it a few months back and have yet to start it... love it? hate it? tell me everything

5. Following this adoption journey makes my heart smile. 

6. I watched this story Friday night and it was such an eye opener, especially as someone who struggles daily with anxiety and has a history of alcoholism in my family. I can not begin to imagine the courage it must take to openly share like Elizabeth did. 

7. Do you watch Big Brother? Its been my favorite season so far. I just want to put Asian cowboy James in my pocket, hes seriously the best. Any bets on the winner? 

Thats all she wrote folks. Happy Monday!

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