no, no..i'm still here

Contrary to popular belief, I didn't run off screaming into the night. Or get admitted into a hospital for the “mentally disturbed”. I made it out of this past week/weekend in one piece (barely) and managed to only get into one screaming match with the hubby. Based on the amount of work that was put into readying our apartment for guests and then immediately destroying all of our cleaning efforts by loading in suitcases and cooking for what seemed like an army I’d call that a success!

This weekend’s activities included (but were not limited to)-

• apple picking in the Hamptons ♥ (most romantical, and absolutely necessary, day ever)
• Kristi and Kevin’s arrival- which was a little later (7 hours!) than originally anticipated but still just as awesome
• preparation for their reception (AKA 10 hours of hardcore work in the kitchen. 3 tiered, fondant covered cakes? 4 trays of food? Never again..)
• and then it was party time! All of the work over the past 2 months or so magically became so worth it for the four hours of fun that we all had.

but I’ll have to go into more detail (with LOTS of pictures) at a later date because well, the pictures from my camera haven’t been uploaded yet and as for the pictures I took with my phone? Well, they may be lost forever because my beloved little connection to the outside world broke. Umm, maybe I shouldn’t go as far as saying it’s completely done-zo but it’s definitely having technical difficulties and it is currently not in my possession.  

Yup, you heard me right. Today is the first day that I don’t have a cell phone with me in at least 6 or 7 years (if you don’t include vacations where my phone wouldn’t have worked anyway or days when I purposely leave it at home so I can “disconnect”-  which is, let’s be real, never!) and needless to say..I’M BUGGING OUT. I’m slowly realizing how dependent I am on that thing and I’m going through withdrawals. I even had a hard time picking out what to wear this morning because how else was I supposed to have the weather forecast at my disposal? Turning on the TV would’ve taken way to long… I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that the Iphone gods (aka apple care) will help me fix this problem and since my phone is obviously on its way out anyway (the home button is refusing to work and yea, it’s a 3GS. Who still even has those??) it’ll be time to place an order for the brand new Iphone 5. Yay!

I just think a little time “off” in the evenings is what I need to get my head straight. It’s the hubster’s and my “dating” anniversary (Happy anniversary Ryan..9 years baby, wootwoot!) and a couch + pajamas +  puppy + sushi + Kristi + the Voice + fro yo date is in order (it may not be your typical anniversary date but it’s sounding like beyond perfection right now) and once I motivate myself to clean my kitchen I think I’m going to avoid it for a few days. Plus my husband, puppy, and couch (in that order) have not gotten the attention they deserve in a while so, I’ll see ya in a few days. Sound good? Thought so.

wahhh

Remember how last Friday I said I’d be busy in the upcoming weeks? Well..I wasn’t lying. And do you also remember how I said I’d be over this busy schedule in about a day or so? Turns out I wasn’t lying about that either. This weekend was a bit of a blur and the next few weeknights are filled with party supply shopping and cleaning and that’ll lead me into next weekend where it’ll be all about day trips, cooking, and a reception I’m co-hosting. You see what I mean when I say never ending?

Please don’t think I’m complaining, though. I’m just merely trying to explain to you all why I’m longing for the wonderful day that was last Friday.

 You see, this past Friday was our company picnic. It’s always a good time when you’re given a Friday off of work for no good reason but when you also add in an obscene amount of food (along with just as many drinks) in this beautiful setting you’ve just made things 1000x better. This year I went in with the objective to do nothing. Just eat, drink, and relax with some good company. I definitely accomplished my goal. The only downfall of the day? This questionable attire was pretty much required.

Ya know what? I’d dig that shirt out of the garbage and put it on all over again to have another day (or two) just like that one. The next time I had a minute to really sit down and enjoy myself since then was last night, at 8:15 p.m, when I curled up on the couch to watch The Voice with a lovely little dinner in front of me.

It was glorious. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for at least one more night like this before next weekend hits.

fall schedule

 We're quickly approaching my favorite time of year so it's no wonder why my schedule is quickly getting filled with all sorts of fun events. There's just way too many things coming up and I want to do them all, of course.

Part of me dreads things being so busy because I will inevitably run myself into the ground but another part relishes in the hecticness of a packed schedule. I just love the feeling of constantly having something to do..for about a week or so and then I'm over it. We'll see how I handle of a full month or so of not having a weekend to myself.

Well hey, at least I'll always have something to blog about!

insta latelies

     

[Disclaimer- these pictures we're all not technically taken "lately". Maybe they were all from August up until just recently. I need to make it more of a point to use Instagram way, way more often.]

from L to R

 1. maple pecan ice cream topped with banana's and fresh whipped cream all on top of a perfect chocolate chip cookie. i'm still bugging Ryan to take me back to Krisch's.

 2. i didn't move from the cozy corner of my couch at all that night. it was a few days before we got Murphy. needless to say i haven't had a similar night since.

 3. whenever i see a pack of bicyclist's riding Tour De France style i always keep an eye out for my dad cuz ya know, he may just be in there.

 4. a little murphball laying all over his toys, lovin' on his bone

 5. a dinner time view on the lovely Nautical Mile

 6. nothing makes a summer night more enjoyable than a roaring outdoor fire.

 7. taking a break to play between morning walks

 8. ominous clouds and the raindrops pouring from them

 9. trying out some bright red lips

10. an impromptu dinner out at Cosi. that caramel vinaigrette was to die for

11. a beautiful (not edited) sky on the drive home from work always sets the tone for a good night.

Follow me @mrshiller114

the shops

Target’s been creating “designer collections” for quite some time now but something fairly new is their concept of The Shops at Target. It seems like each season they choose 4 boutiques from the same city to create these amazing and affordable collections. I believe last season was the first time they did The Shops and the city they chose Miami. So appropriate for Spring/Summer and there was definitely some cute finds (flamingo print? Yes please!).

Being that fall is my absolute favorite time of the year you can only imagine my excitement when I found out that The Shops were coming back for the fall with 4 new stores from NYC…and I can’t help but be a little extra excited about that, being a New Yorker and all. The 4 new collections that were just rolled out yesterday are from Odin New York, Kirna Zabete, Patch NYC, and The Curiosity Shoppe.

 Although I wish there was some more clothing going on I must say that I do loveeeeeeeeee the purdy little things for the home from Patch NYC and the Curiosity Shoppe. Everything is either travel inspired or in the shapes of adorable woodland creatures and apparently that’s all I need to be obsessed. And yea, I did say I wish there was more clothes to choose from but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like the collection from Kirna Zabete. I’m loving the lip print on everything and that black metallic skirt? Need it. The only collection that is kind of blah for me is Odin New York. I was hoping to find some cool Ryan appropriate stuff (maybe try to wean him off his Express obsession and show him the awesomeness that is Target clothing) but nothing was exciting. The plaids were kinda cool but unfortunately hubby just doesn’t pull off plaid well. Even if it’s not red and black he still looks like a lumberjack. Other than that, everything was kinda plain. Oh well, guess it’s still going to be Express all day everyday for that boy.

So, without further ado, here is my fall wish list from The Shops at Target-

 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9

 

 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

And of course I have a non-The Shops related wish list…

 1 // 2 // 3

Oh, and an FYI, if anyone is looking at the Mossimo Supply Co., Fit 6 colored jeans..expect to go 2 (or more) sizes larger than normal. Those bad boys run SMALL. Unless it’s just me and my fat ass having that problem. Anyone with me on that? Anyone, anyone??

got bitten

It’s unfortunate (because I’m broke) but alllllllll I’ve been wanting to do lately is take a serious vacation to Europe. And when I say serious I’m talking a month long jaunt that’ll hit every city from London to Rome. I don’t even know if a month would cover spending a “few days” in 8 different countries but hey, I can dream big. Really though, who wouldn’t want to go when you could see all this..

 Amsterdam 

via

Belgium

via

 

Barcelona

via

 

Paris

via 

 

Rome

via 

 

London

via

 

Berlin

via

 

Dublin

via

The different cultures of every country, the history, the food, the sights, the shopping. It’s just friggin awesome there!!

I’ve been wanting to go to Europe for about 10 years now and I wish I would’ve figured this out a wee bit sooner than I did. I’m still kicking myself in the ass for not taking my parents up on their offer to send me to Germany for the summer when I was 13. But at the time 2 months on a farm with a 46 year old being the closest person to your age did not sound appealing.

The reason for this latest yearning to fly across the pond was inspired by newly discovered bunch of blogs written by expatriate’s (or expat’s for short). Especially these here and here. All of those stories of living abroad are quite enticing. Oh, and did I mention a friend of mine just let me know a goal of hers and her husband’s is go to live in Europe for 2 months next year? Yea, that might have made me just a weeeee bit jealous. Well, all I can do for right now is dream of this awesome trip and live vicariously through others because Europe just isn’t in the cards for us for at least the next 2 years. Unless of course we win the lottery or something…one can hope.

feeling right now..

the tip of my nose and the back of my neck is cold to the touch. the air conditioner has been kept way too high, once again.

my mouth is watering at the thought of pretzels and a laughing cow cheese wedge.

like a trip to Michael’s is necessary. I need fall décor in my apartment..stat.

getting antsy thinking about 2 weeks from now. I want Kristi and all the fun that comes along with her visit to be here SO bad

hoping I’ll get time this weekend to play dress up in my closet. coming up with new outfits from what you already have is the best.

a little melancholy. these little mushrooms made me long to see a certain someone again. If only for 5 minutes.

looking forward to a rainy day in October. I have big plans to be under a fleece blanket on my couch with a stack of movies only to venture out for a big bowl of Panera’s broccoli and cheese soup.

& that, in a nutshell, is how I’m feeling at this current moment.