Grocery shopping on a Friday night. Plus 2015.

I've never done my grocery shopping on a Friday night. I did tonight. It was my first day back at work after nearly two weeks off, and I felt like being productive for the duration of my day. It's a weird world at that time, especially in the dairy aisle. Mostly young families and the elderly. Not 23-year-olds. 

I spent the rest of the night submitting my self-published novel to agents. I haven't done that in over a year. Not since my book was first picked up by a publishing house. Unfortunately, that agency closed up shop last spring, so I'm back to square one. It has taken me quite some time to get back to square one.

I am nearly done with book two of the series. That has given me some courage to go at it again. And what with all those New Year's resolutions floating around, now is as good a time as any to go for it. My attitude about it all this year is "What have I got to lose?"

Ah, New Year's. How I love that holiday. We hosted a fun, fancy party this year and ate a lot of good food. We had lemon drop shots in Power Rangers shot glasses, but only after yelling "It's morphing time!" 

2014 was just what I needed after 2013. 2013 was rough. Very rough. 2014 was rejuvenating. 2015 will be one of the most memorable years of my life. 

We are finally getting married after two years of being engaged this year, and we will be moving. Those two things alone are major, but then there are all the other little moments to come.

Cheers to the new year!

Shopping local. My town edition.

Happy Christmas week, friends! With only about two more days to feasibly get some online shopping done, I have a couple last minute gifts from right here in Central Illinois.

I haven't always lived here. I came here from the Chicago suburbs for college. You'd think moving two and a half hours south wouldn't make much of a difference.

But I promise you, it does.

There are a lot of things about Peoria that surprised me. Like the sheer amount of camouflage worn in any given restaurant, for example. Honestly, when I first arrived here, I thought it was hideous. (Looking back now, that's probably because my mom and I drove up the run-down warehouse district route to get to my university.)

Now I work in the tourism industry promoting this town, and something else has surprised me: Peoria has one heck of an artistic, entrepreneurial crowd. There is certainly more here than CAT headquarters. So because I live here and many of my family and friends are split between Chicago and St. Louis, I thought it would be fun to shop local for my gifts and give them a little Peoria flavor.

Here are my top five picks for great local gifts (if you can't tell, I love gifts involving delicious food and drinks):

1. Thirty-Thirty Coffee, Roaster's Choice Bi-Monthly Coffee Subscription, $35

Oh how I LOVE Thirty-Thirty, even though I rarely touch coffee. (They have lovely teas, however!) This coffee shop is housed in one of the oldest buildings in town, and it's actually the coffee shop that inspired my novel. They have incredible coffee. Like they were named one of the six best U.S. roasters by Yahoo! Shine. That's how good they are. This coffee subscription is perfect for the java addict on your list.

2. J. Draper Glass, Blown Glass Wine Sets (prices vary)

I recently had the pleasure of watching Jeremie Draper, owner of J. Draper Glass, create a glass-blown pumpkin. It was amazing. She did it in about ten minutes. I particularly like this glass gift set including a wine preserver and two glasses, but there are plenty more on their site. Contact them for orders here.

3. Julie's Corner Store Fudge

Julie's Corner Store is a local legend where fudge is involved. We often pass around a plate of it at my office. The Butterfinger fudge is my one of my all-time favorites. They even offer a fudge-of-the-month club for those who take their sweet tooth seriously.

4. Olio and Vino, Specialty Gift Baskets

Truffles and Bubbly, Table in Tuscany, Wine Lovers Gift Set...Olio and Vino has something for every food lover. Their specialty is actually olive oil and vinaigrettes, so they certainly have gift sets for that as well. See the options and shop online here.

5. Pumpkin Glass Gallery & Studio, Sterling Name Pendant

I have been very into personalizing this year, and I would love to get one of these for my grandma. The sterling silver stacks to showcase every child or grandchild's name. Shop for this and other products here.

I have been seriously impressed with all the incredible local businesses around here, and what they give to this community. If you own a small business, be sure to check out Kabbage - an online provider of small business loans.

Kabbage provides resources to help small business owners build a strong business that will thrive in their local communities.Please consider shopping local for those last minute gifts and support the small businesses in your community. Happy holidays!

Mid-December?! Plus that time I met the Grinch.

Good morning!

Just popping in to say I have some blog posts coming up again, and I am, indeed, alive. It's been good having so much to do. I do kind of feel like I'm drowning, but I'm getting things figured out. 

That aside, here are some random things that have happened:

The children's book is published! I've been doing lots of fun signings with this:

You can find it here. How amazing is that cover?! Thank goodness I stumbled across an awesome local illustrator.

Thomas and I created our own version of Christmas Clue:

And we put up our Christmas tree, complete with a Grinch, swords and owls. 

Speaking of the Grinch...

So I hate anything in costume pretty much. Yesterday at the grocery store I walked up and noticed Santa and a real reindeer were outside, with people waiting in line for pictures. I thought that alone was pretty weird.

But then I was in the pasta aisle, on the phone with my friend, and when I turned around I saw the most terrifying Grinch standing there, waving at me. It was scary. 

I didn't smile at it.

I didn't wave back.

I gaped at it in horror until it walked away. No one else in the aisle saw that thing and I was kind of scared I fabricated it.

On that note, today is day one of our Secret Santa at work and I am so excited! I've never participated before. This will be good.

Happy Monday, friends!

One year to go + Halloween fun!

Hello hello! Happy Monday!

The past two weekends have been wonderful. Top-notch Halloween/wedding fun.

Two Fridays ago, Tom and I took the day off work to celebrate our one year to go until our wedding day! Would that be called a -1 anniversary? 

Anyway, we started the day with homemade pumpkin pancakes in bed and watching some Merlin.

Then we went to Tanner's Orchard, which is where we got engaged last year! I love llamas, clearly.

Then we went to our hotel, where we also stayed last year after we got engaged. We took a walk by the river before dinner.

We got fondue for dinner! It was amazing. Especially the cheese. I don't care what food they give me, I just want more vehicles for cheese.

I am pale...

The chocolate portion of the cheese and chocolate dinner. It was heavenly!

Spooky trees and fog outside our window the next morning.

And here are some pictures from Halloween and our Halloween party! I was very proud of our Merlin/King Arthur costumes. We worked on them for literally two months. There were a lot of JoAnn Fabrics runs and brainstorming. I also got to see my brother and his friends briefly this weekend and some friends came in from out of town. As you can see, we take our Halloween seriously:

My work wear on Friday

Tom played Merlin on Friday night for the trick-or-treaters

I attempted to craft some wrinkles, and I think it turned out pretty well! 

The Halloween party group!

Hope you had a wonderful Halloween!

Autumn, snakes, bad news and book signings

I love cold days. Days that are just a little too cold for comfort. Especially the kind where the sky is a crystal clear blue, and the fiery red leaves look painted. It's a horrible distraction while driving, really. I have my qualms with Illinois but the fall certainly isn't one of them.

It has been an interesting week. I got news last week that my 18-year-old cousin fell off a cliff in Isla Vista, California. He fell about 40 feet and was a John Doe for 24 hours. Thankfully, he survived and was conscious just long enough to tell the nurses his name and his mom's phone number. His story can be found here. Something like that has a way of making the days feel deeper and more important. He is doing well but has a very long recovery ahead of him. I'm too far away to really do anything to help my family, and that's hard. But the funds we have raised for his recovery so far is definitely a huge help, and truthfully, it's overwhelming. People who have never met my cousin have donated money to help my family shoulder the load of medical bills. The outpouring of support has been remarkable.

The weekend was wonderful. We stayed at my aunt and uncle's house, the parents of my cousin who fell. My mom lives there now with them, so it was nice to keep her company. Interesting fact...I lived in that same house as a child. We've kept it in the family. The biggest shock for me was the neighborhood trees, which are so much bigger now than they were when I was 7. 

We went to visit this weekend because I had my first dress fitting (!!!) in Chicagoland on Saturday. The dress is always prettier than I remember whenever I put it on. Our wedding day is one year from this Friday! I can't believe it!

Also coming up...I have a signing for my book at the local coffee shop that inspired it. As I was writing the book, I always imagined I would give them a copy of it if I ever had it published. To do a signing there is like a dream! Hopefully people show up so I don't look like a loser...

Finally, a little creepiness for this Halloween season...I found a snake in our bedroom. It was dead, luckily, but I nearly died. I can't handle all that nature. Now every black cord in a shadowy corner in the house freaks me out because I expect it will start slithering.

Happy Tuesday!

Hello Hello!

Happy October, friends!

Sorry I disappeared for ages. I was starting up a bunch of projects and trying to figure where I wanted to go next. But I am back!

This won't be a very long post, just something to let you know I am, in fact, alive.

This past weekend we got to visit some friends and family in St. Louis, and this weekend I will be doing my first official book signing! So excited! I currently have three giant, heavy boxes of my books in the basement, ready to go.

Also, have any of you seen the BBC show Merlin? I watched a few episodes back in high school but lately Tom and I decided to watch the whole thing. I am obsessed. I love living in a magical world for 45 minutes every night. Thank you, Netflix.

This month is very busy and exciting. Sunday marked a whole year since we got engaged! We are also preparing for our Halloween costumes and Halloween party.

An assortment of life photos:

Halloween decor

Puppies in their puppy beds.

A visit to the St. Louis Zoo!

Happy Tuesday!

Treating the Bridesmaids

This weekend Tom and I drove up to Chicago for our engagement party! My mom, aunt and grandma started planning it in January, and it came together wonderfully. It was a tropical luau theme, and I can't wait to share the pictures!

But first, I wanted to talk about the bridesmaids. After being engaged for nearly a year, I still hadn't asked anyone to be in the bridal party. I wanted to wait until about a year out, and decided the engagement party would be the perfect time.

I planned to give each bridesmaid a personalized travel mug, a framed picture of us, and a card. I made the travel mugs using personalize-able mugs from Starbucks.

I was thinking of ways to make cute card crafts, but then I got an email from Treat.com, and I got something even better!

If you haven't heard of Treat, it is a card company that allows you to personalize greeting cards. They have cards for any occasion you can think of, including birthdays, weddings, sympathy, Patriot Day, Sweetest Day...look through the occasions tab and you can find anything.

A Treat representative emailed me a few months back and asked if I would be interested in trying out some of their cards. I was certainly interested because I thought their cards were adorable and unique, and I was REALLY excited when I found out they had "Be My Bridesmaid?" cards! I decided to select cards for my bridesmaids.

I went with the "Beautiful Bridesmaid" option and was very pleased with the quality of the cards when they arrived. The delivery was quick, the prices were comparable or cheaper to drugstore cards, and the material was a quality card stock that came with matching envelopes. Oh, and designing the cards was a breeze. Once you select a card you are directed to a card-editing page, and you can change fonts, layouts, and colors. I was surprised at all the options that were available.

Many of the bridesmaids commented on how cute and unique the cards were, and how they hadn't seen anything like them, so they were certainly a hit! 

While I was looking around for bridesmaid cards, I also found some beautiful "Thank You for Being My Bridesmaid" cards that I will definitely be ordering. (See the bridal selection here.)

Something else I was excited to find? There is a section for personalized gifts. I am a very anxious gift-giver, so I have been really into personalized stuff lately because that is something people don't get for themselves, and it feels more heartfelt. How cute are these easel art displays? I have been eyeing those for Christmas gifts this year. 

Also, please PLEASE look at the selection of Halloween cards. My year revolves around Halloween, and these are some of the best I've seen. I was going to send a Facebook invite for our Halloween party, but I would be missing a perfect opportunity to use some of these! See them here!

Thank you, Treat! 

Have you used Treat before? What did you get for your bridesmaids?