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 

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Belgium

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Barcelona

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Paris

via 

 

Rome

via 

 

London

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Berlin

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Dublin

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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.

murphy update: month 1, he gets around

Wow. I can’t believe we’ve already have the ‘lil Murphykins for a whole month! Time flies when you’re having fun. We’ve also been exhausted, stressed, emotional, and confused but it’s still been mostly fun. We love our puppy boy to the moon and back. He has the sweetest disposition and there’s still an innocence about him that makes even his obnoxious behaviors endearing. Don’t worry, we still correct him..even though it’s hard. After just a month I couldn’t imagine not having him in our lives, although, it still sometimes catches me off guard when he walks into the room that oh man, he’s mine. This is my dog. That still hasn’t fully sunken in.

This past week Murphy was a man about town..going here, going there. There was a puppy play date at a friend’s house where he got to meet his 4 best friends- Mila, Alphie, Chica, and Reese’s. Unfortunately, none of them would stay still long enough for a decent picture.

Then Murphy joined us at a Labor Day/wood splitting BBQ. He could be found sleeping on my lap most of the day, what a party pooper.

 And last but not least, he took a few trips to my parent’s house and was introduced to the cat’s. That went well..

 It wasn’t all bad though..cuz he loves him some grandma time.

But yea, I’m still in disbelief that in only a month’s time this little love of  mine went from this

 to this.

He’s growing up WAY to friggin fast…as everyone in life always seems to do.

awkward, just awkward

When you see the word awkward in a blog post it's more often than not paired with the word awesome. But no, you won't find that here. It's allllll about the awkward. I'm not saying there's nothing awesome going on in my life right now (believe me, there is) but the awkward is just more interesting and well, amusing.

Here ya go, a big giant dose of pure awkwardness..

Running into the son of the man who robbed your house. This situation didn’t happen to me (thankfully I’ve never had to endure a burglary) but it did happen to my father in law. AND he had the guts to bring up this uber awkward situation- go Roy! It could’ve gotten a lot more awkward at that point but the guy just said yea, my dad’s a D-bag and is in jail somewhere to which my father in law said GOOD! I love my father in law, he’s got some cojones.

Having a nasty little mosquito bite on your upper, inner thigh that continually itches. Thank you mosquito for making me look like I’m always scratching my crotch.

Bringing your big giant umbrella and wearing your rain boots into work because it’s pouring and having the sun come out about a half hour after arriving. I’m currently dreading dragging all of that stuff out later…

Someone trying to hold a conversation from the next stall over in the bathroom. ‘Nuff said.

Saying “Fuck Yeah!!!” really loudly while exiting Michaels because I realized I had just gotten a 50% off coupon as a mother and her young daughter were walking in.

Earlier I heard someone from across the office say to someone else “I’m gonna smack you so hard you’ll like it”, obviously joking around. There was nothing awkward about that. The awkward part was that I laughed so loud but no one else on my side of the office knew why because they didn’t hear that hilarious comment being made. Then I had to go ahead and explain why I was laughing..no one found it as funny as I did. Damn this bionic hearing of mine.

Tripping..over everything. Stairs, carpets, my own two feet. These bad boys can't be trusted anymore.

Having your dog decide that now would be a good time to take a #2 as soon as you stop to say hi to a familiar face on your morning walk. It happens every morning and all that can be done at that point is laugh awkwardly and explain that your dog has no manners.

weekly wednesday weigh in

I didn’t weigh in this morning. There were just an overwhelmingly large number of contributing factors that led to the scale not being touched. The two largest factors included being way too hot to leave my spot in front of the fan and a very needy puppy who wanted nothing more than to play or cuddle, how could I say no?

So instead, I think I’m going to weigh in on how I feel instead. And how do I feel? Not as good as I thought I would after a week that I was supposedly going to count points diligently. But of course, we all know that didn’t happen. I got way too caught up in Taco Bell runs and BBQ food.

When the time for grocery shopping came around I totally wanted to kick my healthy food intake into high gear. Unfortunately, after feeling very uninspired and disinterested in food I seemed to always come back to the one thing I truly have a love/hate relationship with- carbs. Potatoes, pasta, rice, bread…all of it, I don’t discriminate. They’re just so quick to make, go with anything, and make everything taste SO much better. That sounds marvelous and all but they don’t really get along so well with my waistline. That’s where the hate part of this relationship comes in.

 via

I’m obviously regretting my decision to cook a week filled with sandwiches, lasagna, a flour tortilla fueled Mexican night, and waffles (they’re healthy, I swear!) but the money has been spent and the food has been bought so I have to tread carefully and get through it. Portion control, it’s alllllllllllll gotta be about portion control. I’m pretty sure I’ll get through it in one piece but I better start getting inspired now for next week’s (not so carb filled) meals so I don’t have to go through this all over again.