Election Day (& a surprise!)

Hi there, Lovebugs! Yes, you're totally in the right place! SURPRISE! I got a new look (Thanks Sarah at Span-tag Designs!) and I am in L.O.V.E. with it!! Makes me feel all gown-up and stuff;)     But back to the main focus, today is Election Day (as if you did't already know)   but I'm going to use this fabulous little blogging platform to tell you o vote vote vote!! It might not seem like much, but please take the time to do something that other people are out there fighting for you to be able to do.   I was lucky enough to turn 18 in an election year (2008) and it was so cool to be able to say that I had a voice in the new president. And if you're part of my family you would know two things:   1. You vote on election days. Even little local ones. 2. You only buy American made cars.   Pretty easy, right? I think so:)   Now get to your voting station and proudly wear that little "I Voted" sticker! :)  

Is it Monday??

I'm crushin'

Lately, I've been  falling for some fall T.V. shows.  (Ha, get my lame joke?) Get your DVR's ready beacuse currently I am O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D with: {Side Note: Does anyone even watch real tv anymore??)     Chicago Fire Hellooooo hotties;) And that fact that it' actually filmed in Chicago is pretty dang cool too!  I'm only two episodes in, but so far there's just enough drama (and hot, half-naked men) to make it interesting but not soap-opera worthy.      Nashville Total girl show guilty pleasure. Country music, pretty ladies, and hot men taking their shirts off left and right? Sign. Me. Up.          Underemployed Not going to lie, this one kind of pulls on my heartstrings a little...it's the story of 5 friends who just graduated college as they navigate "real life". It's funny to see some of the same things I'm feeling/thinking being played out on TV. So far I'm lovin' it, but I have a feeling it could get a little too crazy. (PLL anyone??)  We'll just have to wait and see:)       Arrow This one is more action packed (read: I can get Matt to watch it with me!) It's like a modern day Robin Hood with a reallyyyyyy cute guy playing Robin;) Even though it's only 2 episodes in there have been quite a few twists and turns. Definitely hooked me to hang around to find out more things!      And on that note, Happy Hump Day, Ladies;)  

Eff. Marry. Kill. Take 5

Love Love Loving this link-up! It's always a surprise when it comes around and it's just plain F-U-N. With a capital F.    Welcome to the HIMYM version of Eff. Marry. Kill. (That's How I Met Your Mother for all of you tv deprived people who had no idea what that meant ;))   Hosted by:     And on to the good stuff:      In their How I Met Your Mother Character--   Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris): marry Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor): eff Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segal): kill (Sorry Lilly!)     Who would you pick?:)   

I Picked A Good One

.....at the pumpkin patch!

  Saturday was the October edition of our "Year of Dates" that I put together for our anniversary. I'm not sure if we could have picked a busier day to go on....we had a flag football game to go to, a third birthday party to attend, and a fundraiser dinner at the end of the night.  Whew, it's making me tired just thinking about it! But we managed to squeeze in our date. Complete with hayride, haunted corn maze, and pumpkin picking of course:)

On the hayride!

Oh, did I mention I was dumb and wore my brand new boots (check 'em out in the picture above!) into the muddy nasty corn maze?? Well I did. And Matt almost didn't let me in the car to come home. Just kidding, but he does love his car;)    How was your weekend?:)

Surprise #1!

I need your help......

"Be a pal, Vote for Mal!"

  I promise it'll benefit you too;) So why do you have to vote for me? I'm in a Costume Contest over on Janna's blog, Perception Is Everything! So if you all could run on over to her blog and vote for me you just might walk away with some very amazing prizes!! Woo, who doesn't love prizes!? And it's her first ever giveaway...be a part of history;) So things to do: 1.Go to Perception Is Everything (I even made it easy for you and linked it!)  2. Wish Ms. Janna a Happy Birthday! (She needs it, her husband is away on deployment:( Lets show her some love!) 3. Vote for me in my cop costume:) 4. Enter her Birthday Giveaway  5. Hope you win! Good Luck && Feliz Friday!:)  P.S.- I think I need to edit my use of exclamation points. It looks like I'm screaming at you guys all the time, HA! Promise it's just because I'm excited;)

A giant THANK YOU!

I'm am all kinds of excited this week! So many fun things going on, and some of them will be revealed to you these next few days:) This post   First, Thank you so much to everyone who commented about my scary ER experience! I was totally feeling like a freak of nature, but your sweet words were just what I needed to hear:)     Second. The power of this blogger love is amazing! I sent a tweet out to three very big name blogging ladies and each of them  sent very sweet responses very quickly. I'm loving how supportive blogging can be, and it's such an encouragement to keep up with it:)     Third,  Have you entered the Holiday gift swap?? I definitely did. Who doesn't love mail containing fun things?! This button will take you to the page where you can sign up:)     And that's all folks:) I've got a 3rd birthday to celebrate over here, so you can find me licking the spoon from the cake bowl with my 4 & newly 3 year old helpers;) Happy Thursday!!  

Don't drink & eat

  Or you will be a sad panda like me who had to sit in the ER on Sunday afternoon because there was a piece of food caught in my throat:(   Ok, so maybe it had nothing to do with drinking and eating at the same time....   I was out with Matt at Cooper's Hawk (ever been? totally delicious!) and had just taken my last bite of chicken when I thought it had maybe gone down the wrong way. I could still breathe just fine, it was just kind of a weird feeling. You know, sometimes that happens with pop and stuff...no big deal, right??   Wrong.  All say Saturday I couldn't really eat or drink so I just knew something wasn't right. Sunday afternoon I went to the ER and had to be given a drug that relaxes your throat muscles so the food would move past where it was stuck. Luckily, this wasn't painful at all and worked like a charm!
So why did this happen to me? I promise I know how to chew my food, I've been doing it for 22 years just fine;) Turns out, if you have seasonal allergies, this is pretty common. Your throat can swell up, not enough to cause issues breathing, but enough to trap things that are on their way down to your stomach. There's not much you can do about it except take care with small bites.
Lesson leaned. 
I'll now be eating like a baby bird with food chewed 100 times. Each side.      1,2,3,4........  

That one time I got outdoorsy

Hi there. Girl who refused to wear anything but skirts (the twirly kind, obviously) and dresses until the age of 8, here.   I'm reporting in from my outdoorsy weekend! It was totally fantastic, and I'm not just saying that because it was 5 days long;)   Sunday, Matt & I went with a friend of his from work, Todd, and Todd's family to Starved Rock. Huge attraction here in middle Illinois;)   Here we are in the middle of a canyon...    And on top of an "illegal" climbing path...    Me squeezed into an indent of a huge rock...don't mind the dirt all over me, it was a good climb:)   And in front of the pretty yellow trees...     I may just have to go back there someday soon! (Maybe because we walked/climbed for 4 hours and burned about 700 calories. Talk about a good workout!)   Have any of you ever been?:)  

Blogland//Sponsor Love

This month was a first for me, I paid to sponsor two blogs.   AunieSAUCE and For Love of a Cupcake   It was awesome. These ladies were nothing but amazing.   I mean Aunie is just the sweetest thing ever. She walked me through the entire sponsor process (since it was my first time! A Virgin? Gasp!) and even gave me twitter shoutouts:

    And it didn't stop there, she went out of her way to notice my follower gain and tweeted me again.   I'm feelin' the love! Not to mention, sister just got engaged!! Go over to her page and tell her congrats!! :)   And Amanda. Don't even get me started. Girlfriend is getting married this weekend but was still available for questions and to host this month's sponsor giveaway! Talk about busy!         I would highly highly recommend sponsoring one of your favorite blogs today!!     Happy Almost Friday!!

Triple Digits & Costume Decisions

First of all, I can't believe it! You awesome ladies have pushed me over the 100 mark!!

  When I started blogging I thought it would be so awesome to have 100 followers by the time le blog was a year old. Yeah, yeah, blogging for myself, yadda, yadda. You know everybody thinks it's cool when they get new followers! It means there are actually other people in the world who are just as crazy/ off the wall/ hilarious as we are;)   I love love love that I get to share my little corner of Blogland with you!     Which reminds me, Le Blog's 1 year birthday is rapidly approaching. I'll have to plan something special for you guys! Any ideas?:)   Now.   I know it's only September and I am definitely one of those people who makes fun of those people who decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, so go ahead and make fun.   I need your help with a Halloween Costume!   Option 1: Flapper Girl     Option 2: Loofah

    Option 3:     Which one do you guys think?       **Don't forget to check of For Love of a Cupcake for her September Giveaway!**       Catch ya later, cupcakes!   

Dating made easy

Hello! ::waves to new followers::   It's monday, which sucks. But I have a Friday-approved post for you guys today. Which is awesome. Score!   Remember in my anniversary post a few weeks ago, I talked about the "12 dates" present that is ever so popular on Pinterest?   Well I wanted to share with you the dates I planned in case any other Chicago area bloggers needed some inspiration. (I'm lookin' at you Miss. Steph from Bourbon & Glitter) :)   I started it off with September, our anniversary month and planned 1 thing for us to do each month through August 2013.  

September: Date night to P.F. Changs

October: Local Pumpkin Patch (Including haunted corn maze and midnight hayride

November: Comedy Club (I didn't pick a specific show because I didn't know what our schedule would look like, but it's in Joliet, IL)

Decemeber: Ice Skating downtown by The Bean

January: How I Met Your Mother marathon day (I just bought a combo pack of seasons 1 & 2 and we will hang out at home all day nomming and watching tv!)

February: Bowling at a local place

March: Movie date at Hollywood Palms in Naperville, IL.  It's a cool place where you eat dinner in the theater and the seats are la-z-y boys. Wanna talk about awesome??

April: Mini-golfing (since he likes to golf and I refuse to participate in the world's most boring sport the real thing.

May: Navy Pier (emphasis on the ferris wheel ride. It feels tourist-y, but still fun for a native)

June: Dave & Busters in Orland Park-- Dinner and an arcade? It's (one of) a grown man's dreams;)

July: Ice cream date to Coldstone Creamery

August: Chicago White Sox Game

    Who doesn't love a pre-planned date night?!   Aaaaaaand you should all head over and enter in the group giveaway on For Love of A Cupcake! You might see a familiar face over there;)   Happy Monday, Sweet Ladies!  

I believe

Linking up with Living In Yellow today.   I believe in testing your limits.   I believe in pushing just a little farther than you think you can go. The payoff is amazing.   I believe in baseball.     I believe in babies with big bows, tutus, and feathers.

Yes, I actually know this little cutie. Don'tcha just want to eat her up?!

  I believe in making traditions.    I believe in curly hair making an outfit feeling that much more dressy.   I believe in working out until you see some results. Even if they take forever.   I believe in family. Born into or made.

Sorority pledge family:)

I believe in the sisterhood of the blogging world. Ladies, lets use these powers for good.    I believe in pampering.   I believe in love.          What do you believe in?      

Inspiration Tuesday

I've been sort of neglecting my Pinterest boards lately, but it makes me mad when my mobile app wont load! However, I've recently been shoing them a little love and mostly with clothes dresses that I want to wear buy as a reward for sticking to my exercising and healthy eating plan!               Clearly I have a thing for little black dresses;)   But I've also decided that I'm tired of the 4 styles I know how to do to my hair. I mean you can only wear it straight or curly, sock bunned, or low pony-ed so many times before it gets boring! So I've been pinteresting ideas for that stuff too and this is what I've found:               Something tells me I'm going to be stylin' this season;)   Happy Tuesday, Cupcakes!! 

Everybody loves a good twit every now and then

Ok, ok, highly inappropriate title, but you know you clicked on it because you wanted to see what it was about. Do I know my readers or do I know my readers? ;)   I know I've been slacking in the blogging department, but I've been feeling just so uninspired lately. Sadface.   But I was wracking my brain for some comedic fodder for my fabulous readers when I thought about how much a dirty sailor I sound like.   After I saw this.       Cue swearing. Yes that's my brand new laptop with LCD screen damage. No, I did not purchase the 2 year warranty plan when promopted at the time of purchase. Yes I've looked up repair costs online only to be met with "You might as well just get a new laptop, it's about the same amount of $$". Yes, I cried.     Anywho, I'm now $160 in the hole thanks to buying a late warranty with accidental damage coverage. Do you think they realized I'd have to send it in so soon?;)      And luckily for you, it also led to a new post!   Introducing: My bad-word dictionary. a collection of my favorite words to use when you just can't think of anything else to say   ::warning-if you are easily offended, this post is not for you!::  

Twatwaffle: Proud to say I learned this from my 7th grade nephew who heard it at school and wanted to know what it meant. Kids these days!

 

Twit: A little more on the mild side, but greatly underused in my humble opinion.

 

FRO: Stands for "F* Right Off". Good in situations where swearing isn't an option.

 

Dick: As in; Stop acting like one, You're being one right now, or Whatta dick. All acceptable. One of my alltime favorite insults.

 

Asshat: This one packs a bit of a punch in an unexpected kind of a way. Generally good as an element of surprise.

 

Douche Canoe: Best as a last resort, however highly entertaining to see people's reactions when they here this one. Try it out, you'll love it. I promise.

 

 

 

Enjoy.   

366 days +1 second

It's been a wonderful first year of dating...all 366 days and 1 second of it! (Thanks leap year and Mayan calendar!)   Obviously I've been slaving away working on a present for him. But first I needed an idea. Everything I thought of just didn't seem to fit....until I checked pinterest. Omg so many cute anniversary ideas!   I went with the "12 dates" idea where you plan out a date for each month and hide it in an envelope until the 1st of the month when they open it and see the surprise!   I took it a step further and made sccrapbook pages for each month that will go in a book after we take a picture on that date:) (Ok, so that part was more for me. Sue me:P)   I also made him a "Man Bouquet" a.k.a. instead of flowers he got mini airplane size bottles of booze on a stick! Romantic, right? ;)   Here's a pic in case you can't picture it in your head:)     "Of all the other fish in the sea, you're the only ONE for me" I've seen them in bigger bowls/ more liquor, but I just wanted this to be a little part of the present, not the whole thing.    So on to the important stuff.... What I wore.   Wellllllll, I wore this awesome dress from eshakti.com that I won from the fabulous Holly over at Running in Stilettos!          I loved loved loved the lace detailing at the top and on the back! Classy and wearable into the winter time with tights. Double score!:)   What he got me.   I think I'll let the pictures talk on this one;)                 Aaaaaaand I'm in love. Carrie Underwood and a beautiful necklace. I'm a lucky lucky girl. :)   My love.         Oh, and it seems like everyone's anniversary is around this time! So Happy Anniversary to you all too! :)