Gorgeous monograms

I found this site the other day and started drooling. These monograms are simply gorgeous. They're creative as well, not just the standards you'll see at most places. I've highlighted a few below that particularly caught my eye. She will set up a registry for those who are interested. Linen handtowels, high threadcount sheets, maybe even a slipcovered headboard?? Imagine the possibilities!!


My favorite of all!

Wine for the weekend

For B's birthday, we went to a Lebanese restaurant that was BYOB. I went to Binny's to get some help selecting some wine for the meal. B and I love champagne, so I knew I wanted to start the meal with a champagne toast. Since it was just 7 of us for dinner, I only bought one bottle. Boy am I glad I got the bottle I did. It's a Spanish Cava (it anticipation of our honeymoon), pretty dry (read: not super sweet), and really wonderful. Not only did we really like it, but it also gets really good reviews. You can read a
review of the cava here.



The other bottle the wine connoisseur recommended was Petalos. Ladies, if you love reds, buy this bottle and try it!! It was around $20, and it was amazing. He told me it would work the best with any middle eastern, Greek, or Spanish food as it is a product of Spain. My bestie's husband is a huge wine drinker and definitely has a strong opinion about wine, and he loved it as much as the rest of us did. There's a discount by the case at Binny's, and I've thought about going back for a case of it. An online review of Petalos can be found here. I also am quite impressed by the label and think it's completely dinner party appropriate. The pic above isn't the greatest (it's so small), but it looks to be a hand painted watercolor.

I'd love to hear about it if any of you try either of these. Do you have any champagne recs for us?? Is anyone out there as in love with champagne as I am??

I'm really doing it!

Well, it's official!! I'm running my first 10K on April 18th. Wow. The training is going well (read: I haven't died yet and I haven't skipped a run), so I'm hoping I'll finish without walking! Anyone want to join B and I???

An Etsy find for the four legged kind

Aren't these adorable?? I found them awhile ago on Etsy and just ordered one for my brother's dog Bella yesterday. I ordered her the blue and white seersucker with the white gardenia, though I also love the other two I have above! They're just so summery and perfectly preppy!! Her shop is here, and her blog is here. Check them out for yourselves and outfit your dog in sheer cuteness!! Oh, she'll also make custom leashes to match if you want one. Trust me when I say that the minute we adopt our own little pup, I'll be ordering another of these!!


Miss Bella

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you all have on a touch of green this a.m. I am wearing a green cable knit sweater to clinic today. It'll have to come off the minute I get home because it is supposed to be 72 (!!!!!!!) degrees here today!!! Yea!!! Today is supposed to be my short run (2 miles) but I'm going to do the three mile run instead since it'll be so nice out. I can't wait! I have a few other errands to run this afternoon as well. It's amazing how many people come out of the woodwork when it is nice out, plus it's St. Patty's Day, so the streets are going to be crawling with people here in Chi town.

Also, the wonderful weather guy just told me that Sat is supposed to be 56 and sunny. A few days ago weather.com was saying rain and 40s, so this is a huge improvement. Blair and I will both be home all day as he'll be back from Dallas and I don't have to work---I'm so happy it'll be nice out so that we can spend the day together outside!!!

Hope the weather is just as beautiful today where you live!

Help with color for monogram

Stopped in for a very quick Old Navy trip yesterday since I had the 30% off coupon plus 15 extra minutes before work began. I picked up an adorable white dress (can't find a pic on their website) as well as two spring cardigans. I needed a new white one, which I am going to keep plain so that it matches everything, and this adorable yellow one was calling my name. It's actually brighter and darker in person than it is showing up here. More like the citron color from JCrew. I really want to have the yellow monogrammed but am not sure which color to use for it. Originally I thought navy, but I know I'd wear it with black pants just as often. Do I stick with white so it's more versital? Any other ideas? I bought a ruffle cardi this winter in gray and am going to monogram it in hot pink. One of my friends is just starting her own monogram company, so I'm going to have her do these for me!

Please help me decide!!

PS- I have a great monogram post coming up- fantastic finds and very cool, very different designs!!

Weekend updates

I had to work on Friday while B was at his interview. He was able to pick me up from work and have a quick dinner (pasta with pesto--mmmmmmmmmm) before heading out to a going away party. From his perspective the interview went very well, and he is very anxious to hear back from them. The man who would be his boss said that it would be "a few weeks" before B would hear anything, so we are in a holding pattern for now. He is sending out a few other resumes this week to see what else is out there. I'm just so happy that he came home feeling successful. He had definitely prepared well and worked hard to make sure he would be considered one of the best candidates. We'll see what happens from here!!!

Saturday I worked all day (7-7:30), so B submitted his (last) paper for his last graduate class and then went to a St. Patrick's Day party hosted by a friend of ours. He had a great time hanging out with friends and drinking beer in the afternoon (always fun!). He was home by the time I walked in the door, so we walked down the street to a Mexican restaurant for a quick dinner. I hadn't been out for Mexican in forever, and it totally hit the spot.

Sunday morning we woke up at 8 (oh how I love to sleep in!), got organized, and went for a 4.5 mile run. My longest ever! Per Hal Higdon's training plan, this was another 4 mile run, but I knew I was ready for something slightly longer. I probably could have done 5 today as it was beautiful out! I felt really good throughout the run, and I have officially decided to sign up for the race on April 18th. 10K here I come! I loved having B to run with this a.m. as we don't often work out together. I feel sort of bad making him run with me as he is quite a bit faster than I am, but he is such a great support system and totally kept me going today! After the run, we got ready and went to a local shelter to look at dogs. We have been wanting one for quite a while but knew that we didn't have the time necessary to be good dog owners. Now that we are both finished with school (well, almost!) and preparing for a house, we feel that we are ready and able to take on the responsibility. We were able to view quite a few dogs but we played with and walked just two of them. One is a lab/mastiff mix- huge, full of energy, and incredibly beautful. The other was an abondoned hound (coonhound?)- so skinny with no training whatsoever. Boy does he need some love!! We had to leave today because I had to work at 3 p.m., but it did give us some great insight into what we do truly want. Have any of you adopted a dog that wasn't a puppy? Any pros/cons for us? It's just so easy for the puppies to be adopted, and I feel badly for the 2 year olds that no one wants. I'd love to hear any information or advice. B and I both grew up with dogs, but this would be our first foray into training one ourselves. Is it significantly harder if they are out of the puppy stage?

While I was at work this afternoon, B had to leave for Dallas again. Luckily this is a short week, and he'll be home Wed night with no foreseeable travel in the future. I have to work long days Mon and Wed, and Tues I have clinic, a run, and homework to do, so I will stay plenty busy while he is gone. Once he gets back, we're going to his favorite running store to find me some new shoes. I don't like the Asics I am currently running in as I'm starting to feel it in my knees. So, we'll go and I'll be evaluated by the experts to see what I should be running in. I'd be surprised if it isn't Sauconys as I have always felt they fit my feet the best.

I'm off to catch some z's. This girly is tired! Can't wait to catch up with you all tomorrow!

Since B is interviewing today.....

Because I adore looking at houses, I went to the local realty website of the area he is interviewing in and started searching. Here are a few pics of a house that is in our price range, in a great school district, and completely adorable!! It's also over 100 years old- fabulous!


front of house
one view of kitchen
master bedroom
another view of master
mud room entrance
dining room
formal living room
family room (there's a wood burning stove in here as well) foyer/entry room- isn't the fireplace gorgeous?
side view of house

Goodness it's fun to dream and think about the future!! Happy Friday everyone!

PS- Thank you girls for all your wonderful Lilly updates. I loved watching the show and seeing Hopsy speak!! So much fun. I've loved looking at the pics too! I'm also definitely jealous of the gift bags. So awesome!!

Another Monday Giveaway

Ashley is hosting a Swoozies giveaway until March 11th. They have such fun notecards, stationary, pens, and personalized gifts, I'm sure anything received in the surprise package would be adorable!! These below are so cute and would be great for summer correspondence or thank you notes!!

Gorgeous necklace giveaway

Head on over to Kristin Pearce's blog to see the gorgeous necklace she is giving away. Then visit her etsy shop and find something new for spring!! It looks like her new website will be up soon. Hopefully we'll be able to buy some of the adorable stone bracelets or the bright necklaces with the sparkly clasps!