from above

i love wes anderson (well, who doesn't really?) so this video made my day. this video is inspiring me to take a lazy day and watch all wes anderson movies all day.

i still can't wait for his new film moonrise kingdom!

p.s. happy leap day and happy birthday to my grandma norma (wishing we could have celebrated it with you)! ♥

scatterbrain

wow - how is it already wednesday? time has been flying by as we get closer to our trip. over this past weekend we ran errands, went hiking at stone mountain park, and spent sunday with my family. we bought the annual parking pass for stone mountain and have loved hiking there. the 5 mile cherokee loop takes about 2.5 hours to finish so it's a great activity and helps to wear out townes.

this week and weekend will be packed solid. last night we got to hang out with some old friends who are in town and we all went out for thai food (so good)! the rest of the week will be filled with more hangouts, radiohead (which we just remembered about this morning), and then my niece will be hanging out with us all weekend. any tips for keeping a 7 year old entertained? hopefully the weather will cooperate!

"it is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever" - jimmy carter

i just want to dance

this video cracks me up since last night we bought the xbox 360 & kinect bundle! after my experience playing dance central in miami last week (read more here), i couldn't wait to buy it. i found the best deal on the bundle pack (costco has a deal on them for $299, which is almost $100 off the normal selling price, until 2/29) and we even set it up last night. we bought dance central 2, but i can't wait to get more games. i was nervous j wouldn't enjoy the kinect but so far, so good!

this weekend will be spent playing kinect, going to stone mountain with townes (weather-permitting), and some time with my folks (hopefully their hot tub will be working)! we also need to finalize a few tiny details for costa rica and maybe squeeze in some time with friends. i'm just so happy it's friday!

wishing you the best weekend! xo

perfect daypack

with our trip to costa rica right around the corner (!!!), i feel like this daypack from baggu would be perfect for our vacation. the daypack is lightweight, nylon, and folds into its own pocket (perfect for stowing away and bringing home extra goodies in). i am such a fan of baggu (see here) and have yet to buy anything (fail on my part).

obviously i'm super in to stripes right now! i can't decide if these are androgynous enough that j could wear it too. either way, i think this is a must for our trip and can't wait for all of our upcoming central america adventures!

p.s. yesterday, while driving home from work, i heard this song and at the end of the song, there are birds chirping and i just kept wanting to close my eyes (i know this is not good when driving) and i was picturing myself in a hammock in the rain forest. this means it's time for vacation!

xo - enjoy!

got your back!

i stumbled across the got your back movement site a few years ago and instantly knew it was the kind of organization that i wanted to support. they are a "non-profit organization that provides school uniforms to children in need worldwide. [their] mission is to create sustainable change globally through the impact that education creates in every aspect of life."

their site makes it super easy to get involved and they have many cool ways to give back. they have a store with awesome t-shirts that would make a great gift for someone dear to you. this way you're giving love to 2 people with 1 item! these are some of my favorites!

what are some charities or non-profits that inspire you? please share! xo

you are my sunshine

i know this is a week late but unfortunately i had to be out of town this valentine's day. the good news is that j and i never celebrate on the actual holiday. this is primarily due to the fact that i hate crowds (especially packed parking lots). since i was going to be in miami, j and i decided to celebrate vday the saturday night before and it was perfect!

we ate dinner at soul vegetarian (swoon) and then exchanged presents. i got j some vanilla woodsmoke soap, some new levi skinny khaki's, and this crazy one's quote print. j got me the new storycorps book, an amazing morse code necklace that i'd seen so many times but never realized how much i loved it until i saw it in person (so simple and timeless), some love plant seeds, and he wrote me a beautiful poem/ card that tied into the morse code theme. i am such a lucky lady!

hope your valentine's day was wonderful! ♥

the first couple too happy to feel sad

now that i am just starting to feel "normal" again after a long week away for work, i wanted to fill you in on some things that happened this past week. i flew to miami for a work conference and although it was very exhausting, it was wonderful. we had an insanely awesome keynote speaker. we had one event at the collins club that has a 1920's feel and incredible big band played. too bad i wanted to dance (since j and i learned how to swing dance last year) and no one was really dancing; however, i made up for it the next night when i played kinect dance central for hours at this one event - most people were watching blake shelton and miranda lambert (oops)! i even beat the guys from microsoft! it was worth not being able to walk properly for 2 days (talk about a workout)! now i want to buy an xbox kinect but i think our 1950's house would fall apart with that much dancing and jumping.

i even managed to do some sort of workout every day and ate well (when possible of course - conventions always have the WORST vegetarian options, as in NONE). so by eating well, i mean i fasted against my choice (just kidding, kind of). on the last day, we at least had some time to sit by the pool and eat some sushi and greens (oh how i'd missed you)! the best part though, is always coming home.

this weekend, i needed to recover so we watched "beginners" and loved it! we went on long walks and i took a pilates class for the first time (my abs are so sore) and went to zumba. we even got massages after redeeming an awesome groupon deal. we had our dearest friends over for brunch on sunday; however, the weather and exhaustion made me poor company (sorry)!

hopefully this weekend will be filled with lots more energy on my part and lots of cuddle time with my boys. happy monday!

p.s. can't wait for costa rica! eeeeeek! ♥

miami vice

happy friday! this weekend (sunday) i am headed to miami, fl for a large work conference. it's our annual conference (last year) and it's always very busy. i'm hoping that despite all of the running around and meetings that i can find time to exercise and that i am strong in making the right choices for meals. there's usually a great deal of alcohol consumed at the night events, but that shouldn't be too hard to avoid since i'm not a big drinker. this year's big entertainment is blake shelton whom a lot of people love, but i don't really know much about him so it should be interesting. i surely will miss my boys so much and already can't wait to be back home with them!

at least we'll have tonight and tomorrow to snuggle and celebrate an early valentine's day together. j keeps getting so many packages in the mail so i'm sure he's outdone me this year! i hope he likes what i got him! ♥ we also will be celebrating one of our great friend's birthdays on saturday!

it should be a great weekend and i hope yours is wonderful as well!

p.s. i got my haircut last night and i love it! thanks jessica! i did get some bangs but only a little bit (now if only i could style my hair the way it was last night every day)! sighs.

p.p.s. thank god for girls' nights. they are always so good for the soul - don't you think?

xo

[photo]

polaroid frames

i love me some polaroids and have been meaning to make these, but in the meantime, i bought these polaroid-shaped magnetic frames a few months ago for my new spot at work. they brighten my day and i love that the frames are dry-erase so i can switch out the pictures and messaging. phi bought these at the container store and they made great gifts for some of my friends too!

i also have some fun and colorful frames on my desk filled with loved ones and wonderful memories.

how do you brighten your work days? xo

"every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day" - unknown

date nights and nights in

i am loving this new commercial and i can totally relate to the sweet dog in it! how sweet is his face when the food is falling down from the crib? swoon!

this weekend was really nice! we went on many long walks together and enjoyed the sunshine. i went to my favorite zumba class on saturday - apparently someone in the class had on one of those heart monitors and we burned over 800 calories in that 1 hour! nice, eh? saturday night we had a double date with some great friends at farmburger - yumm! i got their slow cooked collard greens instead of french fries and i can proudly say that i was 100% satisfied! this says a lot since i could live off of french fries if allowed.

we watched the movie "drive" this weekend and LOVED it. i kept telling j that we needed to watch it because i knew he'd love it, but he thought it was just a ploy to stare at ryan gosling for 2 hours. although he wasn't wrong about his assumptions, he absolutely loved the movie. it's a definite win for any date night because it has something for the men (cars and violence) and for the ladies (hey girl).

sunday, i spent the morning at piedmont park with my dearest beth and townes. i know we'll pay the price this summer but i am enjoying the insane weather! i had also been overdue on girl time so it was so wonderful! later on we had lunch with j's family and my SIL tuned up my ukelele and restrung j's guitar so now we have no excuse to not play more often. j even surprised me with another "just because" gift the other night: a daily ukelele song book. there are so many great songs in it (i can't wait to learn "we shall overcome!"). we ended the night laying on the couch watching the super bowl. it was very laid back and we had veggie dogs with veggie chili so we could have a healthy game day meal that still felt game appropriate.

this week is going be very busy at work since we have our big annual conference next week in miami so hopefully i won't go completely MIA.

xo

first world problems!

it's been a very busy week and i'm so glad that it's friday! i am looking forward to hanging out with my boys. i went to the gym monday, tuesday, and wednesday and now i'm on a mini break (walking the dog doesn't count) until tomorrow morning (hello zumba!) since i pulled something in my lower back. i think it's a sign that i need to slow down or do more restorative exercises (thanks for the advise bestie ♥).

we've got a dinner date tomorrow night with one of our favorite couples and then some familial obligations on sunday. hopefully we'll be able to watch some of the super bowl and maybe visit with some friends.

by the way, i've got an appointment next week to get bangs and i'm trying to decide if it's the right idea. so opinions?

bangs:

no bangs:

thanks guys and have an awesome weekend! xo

make things happen

i am a member of my local YMCA and they posted this picture the other day and it has been keeping me really motivated! there have been times in my life where i remember looking back and thinking "man if i had kept going for a year, imagine what life would be like now!" this applies to everything - not just exercising or eating properly. it's never too late to start something new!

yesterday was the official end of our 30 day challenge and i can proudly say that i accomplished 2 out of 3 of my goals! i have only drank water for the last 30 days and i did some sort of physical activity for 30 minutes each day! i started strong with the rosetta stone but fell off the wagon towards the end of the month. the craziest surprise for me is that with drinking only water, i haven't had the urge to go back to drinking anything else. no cravings for sweet tea, orange juice, or coffee! so i truly have formed a new habit after only 30 days. i would encourage anyone to try a new challenge for february!

speaking of february, how did january go by so quickly? do you have any exciting plans during this next month?

xo