A special Mother's Day (or any day) gift

It's hard to find a gift for my mother. She's one of those women who has a little bit of everything. She's always grateful and loves everything we give her, but I want our gifts to be special.

This year, we went simple. I purchased a pretty glass jar and asked my sisters to send me lists of reasons why they love our mom, things they were grateful for, etc. We all hand wrote them so that she'd recognize our handwriting. Even Zac added a few!

Some were sweet, some where funny. My mom isn't an overly sentimental person, so I wasn't sure what she was going to think!

When she opened it, she liked it. She read a few (shout out to Zac to writing the ones that cased the most "awwws!"), and then set it aside. Later, she got home and read them all...

And that's when my not very sentimental mom declared it to be the best gift ever. She loved them all, re-rolled them, and put the whole jar smack on her mantle. V-I-C-T-O-R-Y is mine! We wanted to do it for Zac's mom too, but his brother and sister-in-law are still travelling and we wanted to wait until everyone could participate.

Want to make your own? Buy a pretty jar, write things you love, cut them into strips, and roll them all pretty around a pen. Perfect for any birthday, anniversary, mother's day, father's day, graduation, or other fun day!

Did you give or receive any special Mother's Day gifts? It's not too early for me to start planning for next year...

Click HERE to see the blog parties where I'm linking!

A Happy Mother's Day Brunch

One of the best things about being finished with school is how much extra time I feel like I have. I'm sure it will fill up quickly, but for now, I feel like I just have extra hours in my day. And it's awesome.

Zac and I invited our families to our house for a Mother's Day Brunch. We live just about halfway between both of our parents, which is ideal for us. We love when everyone comes to our house. We don't have to travel, and I love entertaining.

We had so much fun planning this brunch, but it was a lot of work. I have a new appreciation for the graduation parties my mother threw us - which had about twenty times the amount of guests. We really wanted it to be special for our moms, so we spent a lot of time preparing.

Our menu was very Pinterest inspired, of course...

• Mini breakfast casseroles
• Mini coffee cakes - a recipe I can't give you because it's from my mom's good friend who doesn't want her to have it!
• Veggie tray
• Fruit kabobs
• Warm brie cups
• Salted white chocolate chip cookies
• Make your own fruit pizzas

I found navy blue and hot pink tablecloths at Homegoods, and I used that to set the theme for the brunch.

The drink station. We had bloody marys, mimosas, coffee, soda, and lemon water.

Check out the skewers on the fruit kabobs. I colored water with food coloring and soaked them for a few hours and voila! Hot pink to match the theme!

These mason jars belonged to my grandmother, who gave them to me last summer. I love them!! If you ever put flowers in a mason jar, use small carnations like these. They look perfect!

HOW CUTE ARE THESE?!? I made them using this pan.

I found these flower balloons on Pinterest. Do you like my take on them?

My pretty mom enjoying a mini fruit pizza.

My wonderful mother in law opening her presents.

Our moms loved their brunch, and we had a blast spending time with our families. Do you need proof of how hard we worked? This is what I found about 30 minutes after everyone had left:

Happy birthday Derby!

Yesterday, Derby turned one. When we adopted him from a farm, the owner of Derby's mother told us that Derby and his siblings had been born on Mother's Day. Awww.

I've told you before that I'm just not a dog person. I don't automatically love every dog I see. I'm sort of afraid of big dogs and dogs that jump on me. And yet...

Sometime over the past few months (ok, let's be honest. Less than 24 hours after we brought him home.) I completely fell in love.

Here's what we started with:

And now... happy birthday to Derby!

This is what a one year old puppy looks like!

Yummy dog treat that I spent way too much money on.

How good is this dog that I can take this picture?? I just noticed that he's literally licking his chops!

Thanks for my new toy, mom and dad!

This sounds so cheesy, but I was completely unprepared for all the good that he would bring to our lives. He kept Zac company while I was gone all the time. It's impossible to have a bad day when he tries to lick your face. He keeps my feet warm in the winter. Running with him helped us all get healthier. He helps me feel safe when I'm home alone. 

When did I become that person??

Happy birthday Derby. We love you, and we're so glad that we get to be your people!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Zac and I aren't huge V-Day people. It probably has something to do with the fact that Zac has had to work every Valentine's Day since we met until this year.... the restaurant business is not kind to couples. And I'll be in class all night. I guess the universe just doesn't want this to be our holiday.

I did make him a card, if printing a card off the computer count as making? I'm wishing I'd gotten him this card instead, because I'm all romantic like that.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'll share with you a few things that I love. And hopefully you'll share some of yours with me!

• I LOVE when I'm sitting on the couch and Derby jumps up next to me and snuggles into my lap. He's so cuddly and warm.
• I LOVE when I have happy hour with just one or two friends. There's something re-charging about that.
• I LOVE sitting down for dinner with my family and getting up an hour later because we're laughing too hard to finish dinner right away (joke credit here goes to Beth).
• I LOVE weekends with no plans. This weekend will be almost that way, and I can't wait.
• I LOVE dreaming with my husband about house projects, future plans, and just our future in general. I should note that he loves this significantly less than I do, but he's a good sport.
• I LOVE waking up and thinking it's almost time to get up - but you've actually have hours left to sleep. Score.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

My New Year's Resolutions

My resolutions for 2012 are a lot like last year - a mix of resolutions and goals. I did better than I thought in 2011, but I still have so many wishes and hopes for 2012 that it's hard to narrow it down to a manageable list. Am I the only person who has about a billion goals right now? As evidenced by your comments on this post, I'm not, so I'll console myself with that.

So, without further ado, my list of resolutions for this new year. Excuse the random pictures - this is a painful amount of words and I tried to make it more fun for you.

1. Try to "have it all," but don't go crazy when I can't. I can't stop my crazy quest for a perfect life - it would basically be against my (insane) nature. What I can do is let it roll off my back when things can't be perfect. Any suggestions for how to actually do this would be greatly appreciated by me (and my husband who will bear the brunt of it if I can't pull this one off). My mood/stress level affects our relationship so much, and I'm not going to let it do so negatively this year as much as I can help it.

2. Schedule a monthly date night. Zac and I have promised each other that we'll have a monthly date night in 2012. Since we're still kid-less, we get plenty of time alone together, but we tend to fall into a routine and forget to schedule "special" time. Zac's planning the odd months and I'll plan the even months. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, but it will be fun to focus on each other a little bit more in 2012.

Us at a restaurant. In Paris. Which is unlikely to be one of our monthly date nights this year.

3. Stick to an exercise routine. Like everyone else in the entire world, I have this goal for 2012. Derby and I are starting our third week of Couch to 5K this week, and so far, so good. It helps to have a (dog) accountability partner, and the exercise is as good for him as it is for me. I also found a cool app that speaks the intervals to you so you don't have to stalk your watch, and I stream NPR while I run. Don't knock it until you try it - it's like someone's telling you an interesting story the whole time you're running but you don't have to talk back. The real struggle here will be fitting it in when life gets busy again in January. But I'm going to do it - I have to do it.

                             

Damn, Pinterest. Why you gotta be so dead on right and mean sometimes?

4. Make enough time for my hobbies. When I get busy, I get tired, and then I get stressed. I also tend to neglect the things that relax me when I need them the most, and I want to get away from that this year. Vegging out in front of the TV has its place, but I've wasted way too many hours doing that in 2011. Sewing and reading are my two biggest priorities here... and I'm setting a goal of doing both, for at least a little while, at least once a week. Nothing crazy, but I need to make this a priority. This also includes another quilting visit to my gramma in NY. 

                                        

This won't really be me. We have electricity. But you get the point.

5. Stick with our budget. Now that we've got our finances on track, sticking with our budget is a lot easier, because new clothes and an occasional Starbucks treat are built into it. The next stage for us is adding more cushion to our savings account and watching as things like new cars, vacations, and large home projects become a reality. This isn't a hard goal at all -- I freaking love this one!

                                                        

Me with all our budgeted money. Holla!!

6. Stay present. My new boss is a huge fan of meditation and mindfulness, and I'm so excited to learn more about this from her. I spend a lot of time thinking about things that have already happened, and an embarrassing amount of time worrying about things in the future. I need to focus on being present in the moment, not worrying about things unless they need to be worried about, and staying calm and un-frustrated. Easier said than done, but do-able.

                                                       

7. Stay organized. When I feel organized, I feel better. Period. I'm a pretty organized person, but there are always things I can do to help with this. Picking up a few things each night so our house stays clean, taking time at the beginning and end of each day to plan for the next, packing my lunch the night before, and re-evaluating each month to see what I can improve.

8. Take a vacation. We don't have the logistics of this one worked out completely yet, but I want us to take a real vacation (ie: not just visit family) sometime this year. I don't want the year to get away from us without ever making this a priority. And I desperately want to go back to our honeymoon spot. Not sure yet if that's do-able, but I'm willing to eat Ramen noodles for three months to make it so!

                               

9. Stick with my blog. This wasn't a great posting year for me, but re-discovering this blog over the past month has felt great. I really do love documenting our lives, and I love the community it brings me from all of you. So thank you for reading, and I'll do a better job this year of keeping this bad boy updated (who am I kidding? This blog is obviously a girl). If I don't follow your blog, leave me a comment so I can start!

That's my not-so-small list of things to focus on in 2012. This year, I'm going to actually remember to look at it more than once between now and the end of the year. Is there anything else I should include? 

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fun and safe time celebrating the end of 2011 and the start of 2012.

Zac's brother and sister-in-law spent the night with us in Cincinnati, and we had a blast.  They left early this morning to start what we're calling their "Grand Adventure" - a 5 month trip through Russia, China, Mongolia, Thailand, Vietnam, and wherever else they feel like stopping. Crazy right? You can follow their adventures here if you're interested.

We went to a dueling piano bar, which was a lot of fun. It was mostly just fun spending time together... and commenting on the ridiculous outfits people had on. When did we get so old and snarky??

Last night as the ball was dropping I realized that I wasn't quite ready for 2011 to end. I only need a few more days, but I'd love a little bit more time to wrap up some loose ends and plan for the new year. There's something I just LOVE about the start of a new year. It feels fresh and so full of promise.

I need a little bit longer to finalize all of my resolutions and goals for the year. I'll be back tomorrow to share them with you, but in the meantime I'd love to hear some of yours! I'm the queen of, "Oh yeah, I want that one too," so you can make this process easier on me if you share!

Happy New Year!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas...

Today officially starts our Christmas festivities, and I cannot wait!! We'll have a busy but fun next few days. We start out at my parent's house for Christmas Eve and part of Christmas Day. Late afternoon, we'll head to my in-law's house for Christmas, Part II. It sounds like a lot of traveling, but it's really not too bad. They only live about 2 hours apart, so it's nice to see all of our family on Christmas.

I won't be posting for a few days, so here's our 2011 Christmas Card. I hope you like it!



Here's wishing that Santa remembers to visit your house, and that you spend the holiday surrounded by people you love. I hope all of you have the happiest of holidays and the merriest of Christmases!!

One of Our Favorite Holiday Traditions!

I don't remember exactly when this tradition started, but we've been visiting the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens to see the Festival of Lights at least since I was in high school. The highlight of the trip is always a yummy dinner at Benihana, which is a hibachi grill.

This year was no exception! The weather ended up being unseasonably warm (close to 50 degrees), which made a big difference in our zoo experience. Usually we feel like we have too much time because we're absolutely freezing. This year, it felt like we didn't have enough time because we weren't so cold!

The zoo does a really nice job with the light displays, and you can ride a little train and a carousel. Tons of fun!
We didn't get any great pictures of the lights. It was drizzley, and we didn't want to take our good camera with us in the rain. So, instead, you can see shots of my pretty family!

Zac and my mom waiting to ride the train

Beth, Nick (Beth's boyfriend), and Emily ready for a really fun 7 minute, 7 mile an hour train ride!

Mom and I playing around in the Lollipop Forest

Dad and Emily

Zac missed a UK game for this, which is a HUGE sacrifice for him. Hence our picture in front of the blue UK lights!

My mom and sisters

The cutest picture of my parents ever!

Ours isn't quite as cute, but I love Zac's face in this one. He looks so happy! Don't be fooled though - sticking his head in a wreath for a picture is not his idea of a great time. This is likely his "wedding face," which is a smile he can turn on and off. He's crazy.

And what visit would be complete without a merry-go-round ride??

Confession. I didn't ride the horses on the merry-go-round that go up and down until I was 10. Because I was too scared. I am the world's biggest scaredy cat. You couldn't pay me $1 million to ride a roller coaster. Seriously.But look! Here I'm riding with no hands!! Though I'm obviously wearing the seat belt, because while I'm not scared, I'm also not a risk taking crazy person like some of my family members.

Emmy rode some sort of gazelle like thing that no one could name.

And now - the best part! We've been to a hibachi grill quite a few times, but this was the best trip. Our chef was just adorable, and so so funny. He even had some new tricks we'd never seen before!

"No way Jose" in action

My mom can make friends with anyone, so Kayla and Brandon, who sat at our table, even got included in our family picture! 

It was SUCH a fun trip! I think this was one of the best years ever. This is such a fun family tradition that lets us spend time together before the holidays officially start. What about you - do you have any similar traditions?

3rd Annual Friends Christmas

We are really lucky to have a great group of friends from college that isn't mine or Zac's - it's ours! A few years ago (three, to be exact) we decided to start a tradition of getting together at the holidays. Now that we all live in different cities, we hardly ever see each other anymore. It's sad.

To be completely honest, one of our reasons for starting this tradition was so that our kids would be impressed when we had our 19th Annual Friends Christmas. Only 16 more years to go until that milestone!

This year's get together was in Louisville. We started at our friend Katie's house for some yummy pre-dinner appetizers and drinks.

Katie made these yummy caprese salad bites. So good!

We went to a fun local Louisville restaurant that happened to have 1/2 price wine nights (score!). Katie and I split a bottle of wine, but since we were across the table from each other, this is the best picture we could get!

                

Just use your imagination.

The highlight of the night was definitely our Secret Santa gift exchange. We should have known that everyone would be terribly awesome gifts.

Don't let the pretty wrapping fool you. Or the bow that Joe put on a free briefcase he got for buying cologne. Don't pick that gift, either.

Mandy opened a fireplace DVD. Daniel was creeping behind her.

Matt got this sweet iPhone case. It's an ear.

Kristen opened two (regifted) games - Animal House Trivia and Poker for Lovers, which was way too funny looking not to open! Made for some good laughs.

Katie rocking her new mustache glasses (definitely the coolest gift).

Joe got spy glasses. He is watching Zac over his shoulder through these little mirror things in the sunglasses. Totally inconspicuous.

Daniel was SUPER excited to open presidential PEZ dispensers. You're welcome, Daniel!

Brendan specifically requested this item when he saw a picture of it online. It's a willie warmer, which is a totally inappropriate sweater that I knitted. So worth it when tears ran down his face as he opened it.

Friends Christmas 2011 was a huge success, though I'm officially old enough that staying up until 2 AM hurts for a few days afterward. Thanks to all of our wonderful friends for kicking off the holiday season in such a fun way!! I wish every day could be Friends Christmas... but I guess that was called college, right?