1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and get them sit ups right

After downloading my T25 workouts when I got to work on Tuesday, I was all set to work out Tuesday after work. And I did... and it was ROUGH!

 

I pushed through and even did two sessions to make-up for missing Monday.  I called my sister after I was finished to commiserate over how out of shape we are!  She recommended I take a motrin before bed, which my little legs were a little less sore in the morning thanks to. 

 

I finished my "Totally Body Circuit Work-out" this evening and oh, it burns so good!!

 

Those 25 minutes are pure torture but it feels so good when I am done. 

 

Brandon is on the workout bandwagon with me and has even turned it up a notch and has us eating healthier too.  I haven't gotten him to do the T25 workout with me yet, but he supportively came in the room last night and laughed hysterically at my complete lack of rhythm and coordination (even took a little video blackmail)... gotta love him.

 

Now I just need to keep up my motivation!  So I am dreaming of a summer full of

paddle boarding sessions

. walks with this guy

and days spent here

 wearing this

 and hopefully looking just as good.

 

So bring it on Shaun T!!!

Dear Internet connection... we are about to fight!!

So last night I raced home from the office ready to try out the new T25 workout my sister had wrangled me in to doing with her.  I was excited!

 

T25

We decided over the weekend (over a few glasses of wine and some to-die-for appetizers at California Pizza Kitchen) that we would do the workout at the same time and keep each other on track.  I would consider myself an "in-shape" person, but to be honest, I have the upper arm strength of a baby bird.  I was ready to start a new workout routine and get in shape.

 

My sister had texted me during the day to let me know that she rocked the cool down portion of the work-out but the first part was rough. 

 

My sister had sent the file to me over google drive (greatest invention, by the way) and all I had to do was download the file when I got home.  But oh no, my little sad excuse for an internet connection decided instead of a workout I would get a lesson in patience. 

 

Long story short, after an attempt to drive-up the road to get a better cell signal to download the workout onto my phone (I was pretty pathetic at this point), I gave up on downloading my workout and went to bed with my sad little baby bird arms.

 

We have been using the Verizon Jetpack but our cell signal has gone to crap in our country spot recently and I feel like I am cut off from the world (a bit dramatic I know... but it's rough). 

  

Thankfully today I have downloaded all the work outs and am ready for a two-fer tonight to catch-up.

 

So now I ask, does anyone else have connection issues in rural spots?  What has been your solution? 

Favorite Things on Friday {link-up}

I am following along with an exciting new link-up today with the lovely Karissa and Betsy.
 

Favorite Things Friday
 

 

 

The Day Designer:

I am a huge planner junkie and this one is perfect. 

even their packaging is perfection!

An unexpected favorite part, the "daily gratitude" corner.  It has been a nice before bed time ritual to write down something to be thankful for from the day.  A little reflection even on a dreary day!

 

Warmer Weather:

The past couple days have been a welcomed glimpse into the warmer days ahead.  While I am a big fan of fall, and can appreciate a snuggle in front of a fire on a cold day, I was born at the beach and this snow and freezing temperatures is for the birds!!

 

House Progress:

and thanks to the aforementioned warmer weather, dirt has finally been dug at our new house!!!  This makes me sooooo happy!  It will be a dreadful spring waiting for them to finish, but I know the day they turn the keys over to our brand new home, it will all have been worth it. 



that's right people... we have an address!! 



  5 o'clock on Friday:

That magical hour when I leave the office setting and head home to love on that husband of mine and focus my weekend on my favorite things, the boutique and blogs!!

 

Happy Weekend!!

 

Be sure to link-up this week and share what your current favorites are!!

Wanna be a Belle!

Do you ever find yourself watching a TV show and wishing it could be real life?!

 

I have rekindled my love for Hart of Dixie and am falling in love with the little town of Bluebell.  Not only the quant town and southern charm, but the style those lovely ladies wear.

 

Now I know the full skirts and oversized bows aren't the usual fashion choice but oh how I love that they are coming back in style!  And Annabelle Nass has me wishing I was her (the hair, the dress, her sweet southern self... what's not to love!) 

 

I would love to fill my closet with stripes, sequins and Kate Spade and here is where my inspiration begins...

 

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Have you watched Hart of Dixie?  Are you yay or nay on full skirts and curls?

Thank you Mr. President!

To all the past president's that were celebrated this lovely three-day weekend, your country thanks you (well, at least the one's whose work recognized this honorable day)!

 

Friday's workday was full of cavity-inducing wonderful treats.



oh Dunkin Donuts... crème filled and heart shaped?!  Heaven!



Then Brandon and I started our Friday night with a long overdue sushi date at a tiny little restaurant in Suffolk.  We definitely forgot that the spot only had 7 tables.  On Valentine's Day, that leads to a bit of a wait.  Thankfully everyone else seemed to not have much patience for waiting so we were up for a table quicker than we thought! 

After filling up on sushi and edamame, we grabbed some movies and headed home.

 

We woke up to a rainy Saturday which meant movies on the couch, then I headed to my parent's house for dinner.  We had family in town so we squeezed around the dining room table and caught up.

 

Thankfully the rain was gone by Sunday morning.  Brandon had plans to take our newest beagle puppies to a bunny pen to learn to hunt (apparently they need to "learn" to follow their natural instincts).  So I rode down with him and the pups to the North Carolina pen and spent the afternoon following the dogs around the woods.  It was about as enjoyable for me as it sounds.  For Brandon, nothing could be better.  



man in his natural element



On Monday I was thankful for an extra weekend day, which was spent sleeping in late, errands, and a failed attempt at cupcakes with the husband!  When the deflated disasters came out of the oven (before I could hide it with icing), Brandon quickly commented that he was so thankful he didn't marry me for my baking skills... he is so sweet!

 

Now it's back to the 9 to 5'r and no work day holidays in the near future, bummer!

 

Valentine's Day looks

With one more sleep till Valentine's Day, I am sharing my favorite Simply Style Boutique top.  

And with the day of love falling on Friday, a work day, I thought I would dress the look up for the office, and down for a casual date night (which is just how Brandon and I roll..) 

a polka dot blouse to keep warm during the never-ending Polar Vortex

 

blazer: Target

top: Simply Style Boutique

Skirt: H & M

booties: Banana Republic

bag: Philip Lim for Target

 
 

 
 

 





 

the "witch boots" as my sister so lovingly calls them!

 Close-up of my favorite top!

back detail



 


shoulder lace

 

 

top: Simply Style Boutique

cami: Simply Style Boutique

necklace: Simply Style Boutique

jeans: New York and Co

booties: Kohls

 

 





Happy Valentine's Day ladies!!

No One Puts Baby in a Cubicle

Oh, but they did!

When you dream of your real world adult job, you picture a big corner office with a window, view of the ocean and every morning's e-mail check filled with sounds of waves crashing, birds chirping and a warm cup of glorious coffee with hope for the new day. 

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I'll take this one!

 

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or this one!

 

Then you wake up from the dream, find yourself sitting in a dreary cubicle farm where the heat is broken and the motion detector light goes off on you when you sit too long.  No view of the ocean, heck no window at all. 

 

Oh real world... college made you seem so much cooler!

I love my 9 to 5'r.  My work is fun and I get to lead some pretty neat projects, but my everyday view leaves a lot to be desired.

 

One of my 2014 goals is to not settle!  So while I can't storm into the directors office and demand a office upgrade, or pay raise and all the up-to-date technology I can dream of (I do beg often for a iPad... they laugh a lot at that one!), I can spruce up my little 4' x 6' home while I am there.

I had already been scouring pinterest for inspiration for my upcoming home office for Simply Style Boutique (oh, I can not wait to share what we do with that space!) so I expanded my search a bit and started to look at cubicle organization/décor!

 

Here is what I have been day dreaming of, while pretending my walls weren't so grey.

 



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My organization/décor prepping includes finding a way to hang my pen cups from the cube wall, decorating tins for desk catch-alls, finding the perfect lamp and getting some frames to bring all my favorite faces and posters with me to work!

 

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I may possibly need to add a little glittery garland... it seems you can't go wrong with garland!!

 

How do you dress up your work space?!

Liebster Award

It was so very sweet of Breanna of Up... Up.. and Away to nominate me for a Liebster Award.  She has a great blog talking about her life as an new Air Force wife.  She has some amazing DIY projects and adventures from her live as a military wife.

 

 

So here is how it works:

 

Rules for the Liebster Award:

 

1. List 11 facts about yourself

2. Answer the questions the blogger who nominated you asked

3. Create 11 new questions

4. Nominate new people who have under 200 followers

5. Let them know and no tagging back

 

 

11 facts about me:

1. I grew up with my 3 brothers and 1 sister.  7 people in one house. We were a loud bunch, but I wouldn’t trade my childhood for anything.

2. My dad was active duty in the Navy and my parent’s and older siblings lived in Pennsylvania, California, Maryland, Florida and the Philippines.  They were transferred to Virginia 5 months before I was born and remained there till he retired 14 years later.  I am a lucky Navy brat to say the least!

3. I am obsessed with watching Law and Order (I prefer Special Victims, but any one will do).  I turn on the tv and find whatever channel it is on just for background noise all the time.  I made need an intervention.

4. I graduated with a degree in Exercise and Health Promotion, but my first major was Nutrition.  I had big plans of being a dietitian and working in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (for premature babies) but after a summer internship stuck behind a calculator and a wall of charts with little to no patient interaction, I went right back to school and changed my concentration.

5. I am a beer girl! I love a good Corona by the pool. 

6. I played in a pool league after college.  Brandon started on a team, then I joined when they needed an extra player.  We have won 2 trips to Vegas to play in the National Tournament, one for Brandon as an individual player, and one as a team.  But I will be honest, I am a terrible player that ended up on a pretty good team.

7. I love to learn. And I also love to be able to prove it… with certifications.  I am a certified personal trainer, Zumba instructor, swimming pool operator, and real estate agent, just to name a few.  I think of them like Pokemon… gotta catch em’ all!

8. Before I could get my driver’s license I had to prove to my dad that I could drive a stick shift, change a tire, and do my own oil change.  I am so thankful for that and all that he and my mom do for us..

9. Cooking is definitely not a talent of mine.  I can follow a recipe, but I have no ability to just ‘add a dash of spice’.  Nope, I strictly follow those directions, and sometimes most times, it isn’t all that great.  But I am working on this one!

10. I could eat chips and dip every day for all three courses.  I have it for dinner a tad too often.  (probably due to my lack of cooking skills)

11. I am a terrible writer, which I think about every time I sit down to write a blog post.  I had a professor my senior year of college tell me how terrible my writing skills were and how he didn’t know how to help me (we’re talking poor use of commas, run on sentences, fragmented sentences… the works!).  I rocked the presentation part of that class which thankfully saved my grade.  Needless to say, graduating as an Exercise and Health Promotion major was probably a good choice.

Questions from Breanna:

 

1. If you could witness any past event past, present or future, what would it be?

2. What is your favorite indoor/outdoor activity? Cornhole on the beach with friends, family and cold beer! (you can always play that game inside too!)

3. Would you want to know the exact day and time of your death? Definitely not.  I don’t think I could stand the countdown to doomsday.

4. What is your favorite smell? Clean Linen!  The crisp clean smell is the best!

5. If you could live anywhere in the world and not have to worry about money, where would it be and why? Somewhere on the East Coast.  I wouldn’t want to live too far from family.  I also wouldn’t want to live in a place where English was not the predominate language (I love to travel to new places, but to feel truly comfortable in my surroundings I would want to be able to talk with everyone around me.)

6. If someone were to make a movie about your life, who would you want to play you?  Jennifer Aniston, hands down!  Sure we look nothing alike, and I may be just a tad younger, but she is amazing.  I wish I was her!

7. What is your dream job? I don’t know if I have one dream job.  I think my dream job would be to work tons of different jobs and try my hand at everything.  I get bored a little too easily.

8. Did you make any New Year's resolutions? If so, how are they going?  I made some pretty broad resolutions, like find motivation, start working out more, and learn to sew.  I am slowly working on these goals.  Not as far along as I had planned, but slow and steady wins the race, right?!

9. What has been your biggest challenge in life so far? Finding contentment.    

10. If you could pick any superpower what would you choose for yourself? Super speed.  To be able to get from one place to the another with lightning fast speed would be amazing!!

11. Where's Waldo?

My questions to my nominees:

1. What is your morning routine?

2. Describe a perfect day.

3. Marathon?  Wanna run one, or have no idea why those crazy people do it?

4. Beach or the mountains, which is your preference.

5. What is the number 1 thing on your bucket list?

6 .What is the hardest item of clothing for you to shop for?

7. What is your drink of choice?

8. What made you start your blog?

9. Who is your favorite celebrity leading lady?

10. Favorite date night activity?

11. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Just a couple of my favorite small blogs:

Emily @ Eloquently Emily

Erica @ Erica Ashley

Samanta @ Everyday with S and J

& any one who wants to play along!

What NOT to discuss in the Cube Farm

I discovered, and quickly fell in love with Mary's blog, The Classy Cubical.  It is an amazing little spot on the internet where she shows off great office appropriate and still fashionable looks.  She also has a hilarious little post about the Top Ten Cubicle Crimes in fashion.  It is amazing. 

 

At my 9 to 5'r we get fresh, new, just out of high school interns in the summer, the looks these girl's wear make me want to throw them in the car, head straight for the mall and show them what "appropriate" clothing looks like.  Mary's blog is the next best thing!

 

Her blog got me thinking, it's not just what you wear that can give off the wrong impression to co-workers and clients, but also what comes up in your everyday office conversations. 

 

After talking with friends I put together a small list of "What to NOT discuss with coworkers and customers" taken straight from the mouths of those uncomfortable coworkers and customers.

 

photo source: forbes.com

 

What NOT to discuss with coworkers and customers...

 

1. How you got knocked-up by your boyfriend.  That it was totally unplanned and you probably need to get married now.

(This one happened to me at the other day.  Why the hygienist felt this was good small talk, I am not quite sure.  I am happy for her and her boyfriend...err, fiancé?!, but you could just mention you are excited about being pregnant and leave out your inability to effectively use birth control.)

 

2. How you are cheating on your husband/boyfriend.

(My sister was telling me about how her manicurist was going in to way too much detail about the affair she was having and how she couldn't wait to get off work and go over her new "friends" place... what?!)

 

3. Let's just go ahead and put a blanket statement of "Let's Not Talk About Sex At Work EVER!" 

(This should be a happy hour discussion topic with your girlfriends, not cubicle talk.  Don't Ask, Don't Tell should cover every person single person at work)

 

4. How you hate your co-workers.

(From a customer stand point this just makes everything uncomfortable)

 

5. How often, and much, you drink

(If your cube farm buddies are your BFF's they already know, no point in risking your boss over hearing how smashed you were last night.  No one wants to promote the office lush.)

 

6.  How you terribly messed up the customer before me and how their account/transaction was completely wrong.

(Had this lovely chat the other day.  Let's just say I called that office the very next day to be sure MY permit had been correctly filed)

 

 

What else can we add to this list?!  I would love to hear more horror cubical chat stories!

Valentine's Day Lust List

Valentine's Day Lust List

Brandon and I have never been a big Valentine's Day couple. I think  this goes back to us having our first date on February 7th.  That close to Valentine's Day makes for an awkward February 14th.  We were a new couple so we didn't want to make a big deal about a "love" holiday.  We ended up going out to eat that first February 14th (only because there was no food in Brandon's bachelor pad) and had a perfect night eating at the Applebee's bar, since there was no seat left in any restaurant in town!

 

While we don't go all out on this holiday, a girl can always dream right?!  Here is a little Valentine's Day inspired Lust List!

 

1. Cute, and practical pajamas... it's winter people!

2. To commemorate the first Valentine's Day since he made me his Mrs!

3. Flowers... you can never go wrong with a bouquet of fresh flowers!

4. A date night outfit, picked out by him!

5. A scented candle, you can always use candles!

6. A new, sexier robe than the oversized flannel one I have been rocking for years!

 

What is on your Valentine's Lust List!