breakfast of champions

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise: toasted cinnamon coffee. toasted panettone. strawberries. 

this guy has the moves.

I'm a little jealous. And speaking of moves...

whaaaaaaaaat. Can we talk about how amazing it would be if I pulled out these moves on our wedding day in my dress? Better start practicing. 

merry christmas

Hope your Christmas is as wide-eyed and magical as this little girl's. I will be having my first Christmas away from home. I'm feeling bittersweet about not being able to spend it with my family and friends, but I will be in crisp, wintery Chicago with a pretty cool fiance. I'm still clinging to the hope that we'll have a white Christmas, but it is starting to look more and more improbable. If it doesn't pan out, I'll be going one of these routes to ensure a (sort of ) white Christmas.

Other Christmas-y links:

the great debate.

explaining Santa.

the mistletoe in my apartment.

since I can't have a real fire in my fireplace...

Cheers and Merry Christmas!


photos above by Matt Cardy/Getty Images and Paul Hackett/Reuters

yowza

This skirt is equal parts awesome and crazy expensive. In the hypothetical world where I would buy this $2500 skirt, I would wear it to a fancy ball, say, in a muppet movie (think this one). 

gifting

Just a couple of gifts I've been wrapping. I try to never buy Christmas wrapping paper and just to save up all the cool scrap paper I come across during the year. And a shout out to pinterest for introducing me to this fun little trick (granted theirs is waaay better than mine). 

It feels so nice to be done with everyone's gifts. A few more packages to wrap and then I'll be kicking back in my slippers and sipping some cider. 

guess what

IT SNOWED!!! 

It is quite possibly the most magical thing to wake up to. Time for hot cocoa and present wrapping. Happy weekend, folks.

buffalo love

Between traveling, being sick and trying to get back in the swing of things, this blog has been neglected. Here's some Buffalo Grille love to try and fill some of the void. 

winter wonderland

This came in my inbox today from Kate Spade. 

At first I thought it was just an awesome print, but it turns out to be a charming little video. Enjoy. :)

tea & shuffleboard

Took a little (big) break for Thanksgiving, but I'm baaaaack. In honor of my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, the whole fam got together and acted like old people. We didn't really plan it that way, but that's how it unfolded. Shuffleboard. Tea time. More shuffleboard. Knitting.  Tea again. And yet still more shuffleboard. 
 
Not sure if you've ever played shuffleboard, but it is a blast. FOR REAL. So much fun, that I'm trying to figure out who I can talk into getting a shuffleboard court in their backyard so I can play more often. 

i heart llamas

Winter can't be so bad if you get to wear a sweater like this, right? 

I dare anyone to frown while wearing that sweater. You just can't. 

Speaking of chilly weather, it was 27 (degrees Fahrenheit) this morning when I took Amos out. I'm walking and thinking, 'This isn't so bad. Sure the air is crisp, but the sun is out...' and before I could finish my thought, the wind blew. OH. MY. I have a feeling the wind will become my nemesis before too long. 

knit.knit.knit

Ta-dah! Here is my first completed knitting project, modeled by Amos. I finished this over the weekend and am already in the process of knitting project #2, which is a hat. It's proving to be a little more complex than this scarf.

Definitely had an 'oh-my-I've-officially-turned-into-an-old-woman' moment when I found myself sitting on the couch knitting while watching Antiques Roadshow. Guess I need to start doing some knit graffiti to get my street cred back. Ya know, because I totally had street cred before this. 

weekend time!

Just a quick look at what I got to drink yesterday as the fiance and I worked on some wedding and vacation details:

CHIDER! A delicious blend of chai and...you guessed it...cider. Mmm. It warms the soul. Caffe Streets, you know what you're doing. Oh! And let's not forget that Chicago saw its first flurries of the season yesterday! Maybe nothing exciting for most Chicagoans, but this girl was pretty stoked.

Now it's pizza and movie time! See you kiddos next week. 

molar bear

  

Doesn't he just make you smile? via emmadime

let's start from the very beginning...

This blog was born on a 13" macbook, sometime in the afternoon/evening hours of early November. I realize I'm late to the blogging scene by serious (and not so serious) blogger standards, but I tend to wait new trends out for a while to make sure they have staying power before I jump in. I'll admit, I knew blogs had staying power long before this blog came to fruition, but I never felt as though sharing any part of my life with the vast internet was something I would ever have any interest in doing. Nor did I think anyone would care to read my ramblings - but let's be honest, this is still how I feel. 


Truth be told, I'm hoping this blog will mentally/physically/spiritually help me survive my first winter in Chicago, or rather, my first winter - PERIOD. I was born and raised in the South. The deep South. I've driven in the snow once. And it was just flurries. Assuming I survive the first Chicago snow and the subsequent 'Snowmageddons' that are sure to follow, my goal is to catalog my daydreams and bits of inspiration here. Who knows? Maybe it'll help me get from one frigid day to the next. Time will tell.  


So without further ado, let's get this party started.