Things that make you go, huh?

Thinking it's okay to go out in public wearing an outfit like this

Or thinking it's okay to take Casual Friday to the extreme by wearing a micro mini dress to work.

Or just a whole lotta red.

Who wears short shorts? You know they're a wee bit too short when your boxers peek out the bottom...

It just makes you wonder....doesn't it?

Weekend Shots

I considered Thursday the start of my weekend last week since it was St. Patrick's Day. I'm Irish so of course I had corned beef! We did a traditional Irish meal with corned beef, cabbage, boiled potatoes and carrots. Some people don't like it at all but I do and actually it's a bit comforting because I've had this for almost 26 St. Patrick's Day dinners.


I decided to jazz up the table since I had my baubles around from the previous Saturday (aka green beer day)

Zapatista takes their fajitas very seriously!

The rest of my weekend was quiet with cooking, baking and lounging. I was lucky enough to find some great pieces with Gap's Give & Get Coupon. Did you end up going?

Hope your weekend was great and here's to hoping this week FLIES by.

And I recently remembered I actually set up a facebook page for LLT so go on over and see. I actually am tech savy 2% of the time....

To 2011!

I was lucky enough to celebrate the New Year with a visit by my friend, J, who lives in Denver. She came in on Thursday and we spent the whole weekend eating, drinking, and LAUGHING!

We had sushi and wine on Thursday and finally saw Black Swan.
AKA Terrifying. Creepy. Incredible Performance.

Via

Friday we shopped. Got our Make-up done. Rang in the New Year with friends. Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.




Saturday we Brunched. Lounged. and had Due's for dinner. SO GOOD.




Sunday it was time to say goodbye which is always sad. But the weekend was so fun I'll be laughing about it well into the New Year.


What did you do for New Year's?

Why You Should ALWAYS Have a Camera On You

And the best part of these? I saw both within 5 minutes of each other. Now that's what I call FATE.

The decals didn't come with spell check, I guess.

Rat-tat-tat!


Happy Wednesday!

Weekend of Celebrations!

Whew, that extra hour came and went and I still need more time! Time to recover, that is. This weekend was full of shenanigans!

We celebrated my snazzy license...

Terrible picture but you get the point.

...and a celebration isn't complete without delicious chocolate cake! Mmm. We stopped by a favorite of mine in the South Loop: Gioco.

Then Saturday night it was time to party for my cousin J's 30th birthday.

Or as we so lovingly called it, The Dirty Thirty.

My whole family came to Moonshine for dinner and laughs. The youngins then headed out for the night throughout Wicker Park and the West Loop. It was a long night. You know...we crashed a different 30th birthday and joined in on the limbo and danced in the middle of the group. Just a normal, quiet night. Riiight.

I, being the ever so responsible one, left early. At 3:30am. WHAAAT? Yeah. MMM-HMM. That, my friends, is what I like to call a PLD (Poor Life Decision). The rest of the gang made it home at 5:30 (or so I'm told) I guess the Dirty 30 brings out the crazy in all of us! Here was my outfit of the night:

Walls of mirrors :)

Black Blazer from Anthropologie. (this baby gets so much use!)
Top w/ built in necklace from Collective Concepts (looks like this)
Skinny Jeans from Old Navy (and honestly my fave, from last fall)
Intyce Boots from Steven. The ones everybody seems to have.
H&M Red Crossbody bag that I love even more since it was a whopping $19.


I recommend the Palmer House Hilton for anyone coming in to Chicago for the night or weekend. The hotel is very 1920's Chicago glamour and really is something. Potter's Lounge has good drinks and was a relaxing start to our fun filled night. Plus, PHH has tons of mirrors everywhere for my random self shots...haha

How amazing are these door knobs?! So intricate!


The Lobby area of the hotel. So glam :)

Hope you had a fabulous weekend and got the most of your extra 60 minutes!! Did you do anything fun?!

I-O-W-A

Today is a great day.

I'm heading back to Iowa City, Iowa.
Home of The University of Iowa and the Hawkeyes!

Everything you need to know you can find HERE!

It's an amazing city. I know, I know, some of you are thinking "umm Iowa? No way." But you'd be wrong. It's a gem of a town. It is full of amazing restaurants, art galleries, and shops. The city is very forward thinking, full of intellectuals, and they pride themselves on having a big city feel with small town pride. I could go on for hours. Those of you who have been, know. Those of you who haven't, GO!

My weekend will be full of

Iowa Football at legendary Kinnick Stadium

Each corner of the field yelling out a letter for when we score a touchdown. I-O-W-A!


Wandering through the Ped Mall with friends.




Have a fabulous weekend!! Enjoy Halloween and be safe!

Everybody Needs a Good Laugh

This said: "Unable to deliver your package because of: WEINER" And let me tell you. There is no Mr./Mrs. Weiner in unit 509. Just sayin....

If you don't get this...please click HERE go to 30seconds

Driving home with Oz and realizing he's licking a latte. It wasn't mine. ahaha

There really are no words. I found this terrifying.

Happy Thursday!!

Excess Weekend

My weekend was just one of those that was over the top and busy from the get-go!

Friday my girl friends and I met up for our Friday Night Book Club. If you think book clubs are lame, you're sorely mistaken! It is always a riot. We normally pick a book, take anywhere from 4-6 weeks and then have the book club on a Friday night. The girl who hosts supplies the dinner and then we assign appetizers, desserts and wine to everyone else. We eat, drink, and laugh! I think talking about the book takes up about 10% of the night ;) Are any of you in a book club??

This Friday we read Never Let Me Go and I have to say...I didn't finish. It was not catching me and I just couldn't push myself through it. Only 7 of us made it on Friday and 3 read it. haha, whoops! But we did have delicious white chili, Sprinkles cupcakes and 9 bottles of wine. Yes 9 bottles for 7 people. And 2 stopped drinking very early in the night. Can you say lushes??

I love how everyone is crowding around the cupcakes, I couldn't even get there in time before they were getting snatched up!

Saturday K had about 20 people over for the Iowa/Michigan game. Iowa won :) and again there was more booze than food. We had Root Beer Pulled Pork Sandwiches...o...m...g. So delicious. And I set up a Bloody Mary bar and I must say so myself, it was GOOD. I love a good Bloody Mary.




Wow, if you didn't think I was a drunk, you will after reading those two paragraphs hahaha.

Sunday was topped off with my cousin J & J's baby shower. Baby M is due on New Year's Eve and we're all anxiously awaiting his/her arrival! They got the cutest stuff and this gorgeous lamb bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. And I loved their super modern high chair. I think it's super cute.

So that was my non-stop, beverage-filled, stomach hurts from laughing weekend! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and here's to hoping this week flies by!

Just for Laughs

Remember when I blogged about almost getting hit by a home run ball at the Sox game? Well I found the video online and have been laughing for 10 minutes. I remember thinking it truly was going to bounce and knock my teeth out. Hmm...

So for a laugh at my expense, here we go:

There I am shielding my head while the guy in front of me catches the ball

And if you really want to see it...here's the video.

Happy to report I'm alive and with all my teeth!!!

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY.

Enjoy your weekend!

Weekend Round-Up

So like I blogged about last Friday, I had one busy weekend! It was full of non-stop action.


Saturday started off with a baby shower for an old family friend. She is the cutest pregnant girl ever and all of her college friends are having babies too. They're all 31, graduates from Ohio State and all having girls. Isn't that too funny? It's the year of the girls!

Then I rushed over to truly one of my oldest friend's bachelorette party. It was Cowgirl themed and let me tell you, it was a riot. I'm not a country girl myself, but I had fun! We got line dancing lessons and then went to a couple of bars on a bus...a school bus! I can say it was my first time drinking on a school bus, that's for sure :)

To show you how far back we go...look at some of these pics. WOW! And these aren't even the earliest ones!






Sunday I went to the Sox game with my Mom, Aunt & Uncle. It was such a long game but they did bring home a W! The game started off with KC scoring 6 runs in the first inning. The first homerun of the game truly landed one row in front of our seats. Out of the 5 years we've had our partial season tickets, this has never happened! I covered my face (I kid not) because I knew it was going to bounce and I feared I'd lose my teeth! HAHA!! The best part is that I saw the replay on tv when we got home...there I was, covering my face and holding a beer. If I can find it again I'll take a picture of the screen! It was quite exciting (yet terrifying)

Oh and how could I forget...this 'Bad Boy' was a couple rows in front of us at the game. He's obviously a fan of DIY!



And finally on Monday I saw The Switch with Jennifer Aniston & Jason Bateman. I LOVED it. I was one of 4 people in the theater but that didn't stop me from laughing out loud. Bateman was amazing, as always, and it was a really cute movie. I recommend it for a quick break from reality!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Did you do anything exciting? I have to admit I'm super excited that TV has started again...it's the little things in life, right?

Things I've Learned Recently

So do you ever have those A-HA! moments and then realize your A-HA! was a little late? Happens to me all the time and usually involves someone laughing at me.

Here's a list of things I've learned/realized/stumbled upon recently.

1. (the most embarassing) Veal is not baby lamb. Why did I think it was?! My brother asked me if I knew what veal was and I said duh, it's baby lamb baaaaaah. this did not end well for me.

2. Picasa is one of Google's greatest applications.

3. Giada De Laurentiis is married to an Anthropologie designer. No wonder she dresses well.





4. There's a little arrow on your gas tank that tells you which side your fuel tank is on. How come I never realized this before? I just always assumed they were on the driver's side. Sometimes I don't know how I graduated high school...

5. Mixing Red wine with Diet Coke is absolutely delicious. Pinot Noir (which is sooo good alone) + Diet Coke = so tasty!! Realized this when I had a glass of red wine and it tasted odd so I sipped a little bit of my DC to get the taste out of my mouth and it was so good. No wonder the Europeans have been doing this for so long. And it's supposedly better with regular Coke...






6. Bell peppers have the most pesticides on them of any vegetable. Gross. I know it's expensive to eat organically but this just creeps me out that there were over 64 pesticides on one pepper.

7. Eric from True Blood (Alex Skarsgard) has a famous dad, Stellan Skarsgard who is one of those actors you recognize because they're in a lot of movies, but never know their name. Thank you IMDB.com!



8. Gilt has designers make stuff specifically for their sites. This kind of blows because you're not really getting their stuff that's at the boutiques or department stores. I don't know why...but this irritates me. Does RueLaLa do this too? This article spilled the deets: "Of course, Gilt nor the designers want to let the buyers know which items were made exclusive for the site because they are usually lower in quality."

9. Maria Menounos used to be a size 14. Hard to believe...and I've never seen photos of her at this size, so who knows but good for her! She looks ahhmazing.

10. Justin Bieber accounts for 3% of all tweeting on Twitter. WOW.

Now I realize this isn't a groundbreaking list. Some of you are probably laughing at my lack of knowledge haha. So... what have you learned/realized/stumbled upon recently? Do you have a lot of A-HA! moments like myself?!

Who Doesn't Love 3-Day Weekends?

Happy Labor Day, Bloggers! What did your 3-day weekend entail? Mine was incredibly relaxing and low-key. Did some shopping, saw The American (damn you George Clooney, give me my 2 hours back) had our family's fantasy football draft and celebrated my birthday! Phew, what a weekend!

As for my birthday, I'll have to post some pictures once I get them on my computer...for now, it's all mobile shots :) Got some great gifts from the fabulous people in my life. This deserves a post of it's own and I'll do it later this week :) One of my absolute favorite things is champagne. MMM love it! And I received a lovely bottle of Veuve from my friend. Yay!




OK...onward. Saw The American and it truly was bad. Like I checked my cell phone about 12 times. And picked at my manicure. And sent death stares over my shoulder to the slob, I'm sorry, man who was chomping on popcorn and crumbling his bag like an animal. I really wish we would have just seen Going the Distance or something light...After the movie, however, I did see some pretty CLASSY people at the bar/restaurant we went to.
Point in case. This was a MAN. Enough said.



And on to the lovely lady in her leather Pittsburgh Steelers jacket (this is not a shot at the team, don't worry!) It was more fun that she was 1) black-out drunk slamming shots and 2) using her jacket to shimmy up to the band and shake her sexy self for the singer (who is wearing the hat above. seriously.)



And then it was time for the Fantasy Football Draft. Think we got an ok team. I really don't know about these things.

And what is a party without goodies? We had burgers, brats, salads, desserts, munchies, you name it! But NOTHING and I'm telling you NOTHING was a bigger hit than Carrie's Shrimp & White Cheddar Stuffed Jalapeños. They were spectacular. And easy! The only time consuming bit was cutting the jalapeños and getting the seeds out. Note to self...don't then touch your nose. I felt as though I was a dragon for about 40 minutes. I eventually doused a paper-towel with milk and stuffed it up my nose. People, this is not glamorous, it was 100% necessary. I do have a picture, but I don't even think I can share it. Makes my nose burn.

Pre-paprika sprinkling and grilling. They were gone too soon to snap an after picture!

So that was my weekend add in some shopping and Pumpkin Spice Soy Latte heaven and there you have it...

How was your Labor Day Weekend? Relaxing? Crazy? Gone too soon? Hey, at least it's already Tuesday and the work week isn't as long :)

Sharing the Blog LOVE

I'm pretty excited...

...I just received my first blog award from Natasha over at t w e n t y - s o m e t h i n g !!

This made me smile for multiple reasons. First, like Natasha said, it's nice to know that at least one person reads my random posts ;) and secondly, I was happy to see it from Natasha since her blog is one of my staple reads!

So here's how it works. I've gotta tell you who gave it to me...which I already did, silly. Natasha! Then I'll tell you ten things I like...and pass on the award to ten bloggers and let 'em know by leaving them a nice little comment...then they do their like list.

So here goes:

My Top Ten List of LIKES (mostly loves!)

1. Snail Mail and I'm not talking bills. You can keep those.
   
2. Any type of spa service.
   
3. Mexican Food.
4. My initial 'E'. I will buy almost anything with an 'E' on it...
5. Street Fairs/Festivals.
6. Champagne but not the hangovers that follow the bubbles.
7. Iowa City (mostly for all the nostalgia it brings...Go Hawkeyes!)
   
8. Fall. Best season, hands down.
9. Mobile Uploads (seriously this is just a fraction of what I have on my phone)
10. Laughing. (who doesn't laugh everyday? Mostly I find I'm laughing by/at myself)

Here are the ten blogs (in no particular order) I think deserve an electronic trophy :)

Village
This Free Bird
Red Vines for Breakfast
Slumber Designs
Oh, My Darling
Lemons & Laundry
I Like It
From Skirts to Skillets
With a Wink and a Smile
D,Et Cetera

Time to Laugh Out Loud

Just a quick post here as I recover from traveling and the Jimmy Buffett concert last night. Running low on energy so I thought I'd just post some of the "sights" from the weekend...until then, ENJOY!

Interesting shirt choice for Grandpa

Umm what is this? A gymnasium? No, it's a train to the gate at Denver's Airport...

I couldn't resist. This does NOT look comfortable!

This man smelled so bad and tried to go through security with mayonnaise, which he couldn't so he put it in a tupperware with food already in it. VOMIT.

All I can think of is "I'm Chiquita Banana..."

This is totally unnecessary, ewww.

Too funny!

Hope everyone had a great week and weekend. I've got plenty of blogs to catch up on and a few posts to write. Hope you had a good laugh at these pics :)

Perks, Perks, PERKS!

I don't know about you, but I love me some perks. I'm talking frequent flier miles, store memberships, movie points, the works. What's not to love? But then I got to thinking about it and really these companies deserve a huge round of applause for making me spend more than I need. (Please, I am not the first to realize this, as Carter from a rather large airline is basking in the sun at his Hampton's estate courtesy of the bonus that followed his idea to "perk" up his company...)

So then I thought, hmm Why do we love perks so much? And this is what I came up with:

1. The Card--you know what I'm talking about. Standing in line to buy a movie ticket and OH wait, here's my card. The guy behind you thinks, what's that? how did she get that? where do I get one?

2. The Coupons-- ah, yes. The coupons, which let's face it you're going to need b/c you just spent $34 on two movie tickets! A small pop & popcorn for $5? Yes, please!

3. Free, Free, Free-- Wait a minute, you mean if I take tons of flights and spend thousands of dollars flying on AA (not to mention thousands more on bag fees, and the damn sandwich I have to buy on board) I get a free ticket? OOH exciting. Oh wait, I can't use it for that flight at that time on that day? Oh...yeah...hmmph.

4. The Status-- very few of you know what I mean. You reach a certain level and BAM! You're practically famous. While I'll never be George Clooney's character in Up in the Air, I do mooch on those who are (Thanks, Mom!) Priority Boarding? Cutting in line at Security? Free upgrades to First Class?! Oh how I wish I had a job that had to fly me around so I could rack up some FF points!

5. The SPECIAL card-- sure, sure you're one of thousands with a Starbucks rewards card. Now order your latte and move along. Oh wait, I 'm sorry, you have a personalized card? Well step right up, Ms. Special. It's the Starbucks GOLD card. That's right. It's Gold (we're not talking real gold ala the Black Amex Titanium card, come on people! It's a recession!) it has a smart looking cup on the front...and YOUR NAME! You, my friend, have just arrived. Oh and free syrups, soy milk and drinks on your birthday!


Can you think of any other reasons these perks programs are so successful and why it's so easy to become obsessed with them?!

New Beginnings...seem to always come right after an ending.

Ahh, the first blog post. What to write? Who will read? Anyone?

Here I am deciding what to make of this little blog of mine and what the gist of it will be. My thoughts are very simple (and sparse...) so let's dive right in. I wanted to write about something people want to read about. Something that's organic and easy to relate to...something interesting...thought-provoking...inspired. Then I realized, Hmm better just write what's on my mind and put it out there ;)


Thoughts are always welcomed and appreciated.