My birthday and wedding rings!

Happy Monday, friends!

I am just coming off a weekend filled with food, fun, cake, male dancers and more food. (More on some of that later.)

Today also happens to be my very first day at my new job! I've definitely got those first-day jitters going on.

I'm excited because I actually have posts set up for this whole week. Yes, this past weekend warrants an entire week to recap.

First: My birthday.

Friday was my birthday. Tom and I had the day off, and Thursday was my last day at my full-time job. Friday morning we got up and went to Starbucks to finalize a part-time role I am transitioning out of. That was a big weight off my shoulders; I'm finding that a full-time job and writing my books are enough to keep me busy right now.

After that, we walked around Bed, Bath & Beyond and then went to look at wedding rings. I didn't think I would want one that matched directly up against my ring, but I found this one and loved it. It didn't come with my ring, but it happened to fit perfectly. What do you think?

After that, we came home and relaxed before heading off to one of my favorite local restaurants: The Mackinaw Tearoom at the Depot!

We left completely stuffed, but we had more eating to do. We had a wedding cake tasting that afternoon! I have a separate post for that coming up on Wednesday. After that, we went to our favorite Indian restaurant for dinner: Rasoi.

We finished off the night with a movie and eating the rest of our cake samples. It certainly took awhile to recover from all that cake.

So far 24 has been treating me well! Enjoy your week!

Saying Goodbye, and turning 24

Today is my last day at my first real full-time job out of college. I was there for about a year, and it really was an amazing experience.

My view this morning before I left for work. It was -8 degrees!

My coworkers are fantastic. When you work in an office with 14 women, sometimes things can get dramatic. But at the end of the day, everyone there had each other's backs and genuinely cared about each other.

Leaving won't be easy, but my new position is a major step up, one that will challenge my skills and allow me to grow professionally in so many ways. But right now, for today, I am sad about this chapter ending. Just like I was when I left college. And when I left my last internship. Despite that, I am ready to take on this new opportunity.

It's strange to me that my last day at this job also falls on my last day of being 23. This next year will be monumental in so many ways (finally getting a place with Tom, getting married), so why not kick it off with a major life change?

My sweet co-workers, well aware of my love for tea, threw me a surprise going away tea party/birthday celebration! They had me totally believing it was just another average staff meeting day.

So today I am wrapping everything up and preparing for all the birthday fun to come this weekend, and then a brand new job Monday. Wish me luck!

Cheers to birthdays, new beginnings and wonderful coworkers!

Wedding food tasting, snow and February!

Happy February, friends!

This weekend was as lovely as the weather was dreary. The verdict is still out on whether we will have to shovel - again - to get out of the driveway, but I will save that until after I've had my tea.

Friday evening Tom and I went to go look at tuxes for his groomsmen. We're going for something like this:

Via

Then we got frozen yogurt. Yellow cake batter and red velvet cake flavors! I just...I like cake.

Saturday morning I headed off to the grocery store. I usually go on Sundays, but due to this impending blizzard that dropped 9" of snow on us, I went Saturday. I was not alone. Snow + Super Bowl prep = One packed grocery store. I picked up my favorite juice for the drive home.

I had been SO looking forward to Saturday because it was the day we finally got to sample the wedding food at our venue! They host this big dinner for the couples getting married that year. My dad and stepmom drove up from St. Louis to join us, and it was wonderful.

Our dilemma is that we have to choose two meats, and we loved the chicken marsala, rosemary pork and top sirloin. We still haven't been able to narrow it down.

New sweater from Target - On clearance!

I love our venue. So cool.

After the tasting at thirty-thirty Coffee Co.

Then Sunday morning came, and I woke up to this:

And that was just the beginning. It snowed for the next 12 hours.

Happy groundhog day!

New Job!

Oh 2015, you're crazy already. And that's not even considering the whole moving out the basement and getting married part.

I've worked at my current job for nearly a year, and it took me 8 months to find it while working part-time at an internship. Those 8 depressing months were incredibly challenging, and I was so grateful to find a full-time job. Anyone who has job hunted for any length of time can probably attest to that feeling of I am going to be unemployed for the rest. of. my. life.

How strange it is then, a year later, to have a company approach me for a job when I wasn't even looking! 

I gave work the news yesterday and everyone was incredibly supportive. My current coworkers are incredible. I work with 14 women and I have made some great friends. That's the hardest part about this transition right now.

As for the new job? Better pay, I can use the skills I went to college for, a small but flourishing local company, plenty of opportunity for advancement...it's a fantastic opportunity. 

That's the thing about networking: I knew these people from one of my side jobs, and that's why they offered me the job. Had I sent in my resume, I can't say I would've looked right for the job on paper.

So there it is, kicking off a new job Feb. 9!

Happy Wednesday!

My makeup trial!

January 21st already?! Man, this month has been crazy. And getting crazier. More on that next week...talk about shaking things up.

This weekend I went home to Chicago for a late family Christmas party! It was great getting to see everyone and we ate a LOT of food. It was wonderful.

Also, my cousin is doing my makeup for the wedding, but she lives in California and I haven't seen her in two years! We were worried about getting to do a trial. But then she ended up coming out last weekend! So I finally got to see her again, and she did my makeup trial (yay!)

Here were some of the inspiration images I pinned:

Via

Via

Via

Because we're getting married in late October, I wanted to try the dark lip thing just to see how it went. I wear very little makeup on a daily basis (conceal raccoon eyes, put on lip gloss...that is my morning routine) so I was worried it would be too much for me. I tried to find some pale/brunette people wearing it to give me an idea, hence the photos above.

And the result!:

Definitely love the lip color! It was fun being really made up for our late Christmas party, even though I immediately tried to explain to everyone "It's the makeup trial! I don't always wear fake lashes!" It was a pretty big relief to be able to fit in a trial.

Happy Wednesday!

Snow, books + wedding updates

Ahhh, January. Sweet, sweet January. I kind of hate it. I like New Year's and fresh starts, but January in Illinois? No thanks. I have a car that is definitely more suited for California weather, so until I get around to changing that, January and I are not friends. I will say there is some part of me that kind of revels in battling the snow and shoveling and braving the elements. Makes me feel like a true Midwesterner! I tell myself that to feel better.

This is how we handle the snow.

Other than the snow (which is actually really beautiful to me when I'm not driving in it,) this month is pretty good. I'll be going home to the Chicago suburbs for a late family Christmas party, attending yet another bridal expo to talk to a vendor (remember this?) and finally getting to sample the food we will have at our wedding! I have been looking forward to this food tasting since we booked our venue in October 2013. Yes, like fifteen months ago. 

And...big news...I FINALLY CONTACTED A BAKER. Oh my gosh, that is like the pinnacle of wedding planning to me. I mean, finding the dress was good, too. But sampling cake? Little girls dream of their weddings. I dreamed of going to college, and maybe getting married so I could sample some cake. Only half kidding. The best part is we will be going on my birthday. Which is a Friday. And I have the day off. And Tom is taking the day off. And we get to go back to the delicious Mackinaw Tearoom at the Depot...These are from when we went last month. So. Good.

Book update too! Book two after Brewed is almost done. Like, five pages away from being completely done. And I still love our Owl Book more than words can say.

I am feeling very optimistic about this year.

Oh! I am attempting to make some resolutions. So if you'd like, please share yours below! I love hearing people's resolutions. Maybe it'll inspire me to actually make some this year.

Happy Tuesday!

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!