Country On My Mind

I'm not sure what has gotten over me, but I find anytime I am listening to music, it's likely to be country music. I've always been listening to country, but not nearly as much as I am lately. Maybe it's because I'm sick of hearing the same top 40 song and have it get annoying. I think my favorite part about country music is the fact that it always reminds me of summer, you don't hear them singing about snow or anything so it's a nice little escape getting lost in a good song. I just wanted to share some of my absolute favorite country songs at the moment...

**Warning if you're not a country music fan, just go ahead and skip this post**

What are your guys' thoughts, any favorites that I need to listen to?? Of course I gotta link up with Whitty Whit for #backthatazzup.

Body Image: How I See Myself

Hey guys! So I don't really ever talk about body image, but it's definitely something that I think about daily. I know I'm by no means a skinny girl nor will I ever be, and that's totally ok with me. I remember those days in high school and earlier where I weighed under 100 pounds (my drivers license still says I'm 120 pounds, I'm sure I get laughed at by the DMV people). Plus the fact that my younger (and much prettier) sister still looks and weighs the same as she did in high school. She definitely got the skinny gene in our family and I'm kinda jealous of her for that. She also never has to watch what she eats or works out, yes you can hate on her as well. Well, a few weeks ago something hit me, I need to whip my ass in shape and I have to find a way to stick to it. That was back in the beginning of Feb (waited until Feb because I wanted to miss the crowd of resolutioners). I'm proud to say I've stuck to the work out regimen for the most part. I try to go to the gym at least 3-4 times a week, some weeks going more than others. I also try to give myself a break on weekends unless I'm working, then I'll go afterwards.

I love the way I feel when I go to the gym because not only am I doing it to not look preggo, but to help keep my health under control. I've found that working out also makes me want to eat better, maybe it goes hand in hand, but I do cheat and indulge every now and then. Of course I don't see any huge changes in my body, but I know if I keep at it, I'll finally see some changes. I was very hesitant to put this pic up there for all of the internets to see and judge, but after seeing Fal @ Fal Finds Happiness brave it out ad post her before and after pictures, I figured what the hell.

Before pic: Feb 1st, 2014

So there it is, I still can't believe I'm sharing that picture, but hopefully I can come back in a few months with an after picture that's better. My lovingly coined "preggo belly" except for me there is no baby baking in there. Again, I know that you may think 'oh that's not too bad', but I need to be able to see some changes. I want to lose my tummy and flatten it up as much as I can before wedding season this summer. I hate how I look in a bikini and probably won't be satisfied, but I'm hoping when I sport one in NOLA in June for my friends bachelorette party, I'll feel much more comfortable in one. So I'm doing this for myself (not a guy or to prove anything to anyone), but I'm hoping to keep at it for as long as I can and stay accountable for it. 

Any tips to stick with it are way more than welcome!!

Linking up with Bella for Confessions & Kat(and Ryan Gosling) for humpday confessions!!

Recipe: Not Your Mama's Grilled Cheese

Happy Tuesday friends!! I'm excited to share this fun and easy recipe with y'all (have you guys noticed a trend in my recipe types?). I first had this sandwich in the cafeteria at work and thought I could easily recreate this at home, so I did and it turned out just as good!

Ingredients:

2 slices sourdough bread

Pesto spread

Tomato

Avocado

Pepper jack cheese

Directions:

-Spread the pesto on both halves of the bread

-Place 1 or 2 slices of pepper jack cheese

-Slice up the tomato and avocado, placing them on top of the cheese (add as much or little as you want)

-Place the sandwich in a panini maker or stove top to grill it up until golden brown

-Enjoy!

Linking up with the lovely ladies Kate & Emily for Tuesday's Recipe Swap.

Girl, What's Your Sign?

Hey friends! Today I wanted to share some insight I received from a recent astrology reading I won in a giveaway on Tyler's blog. Now I've always been interested in horoscopes and learning more about all of that, although Yahoo horoscopes can only tell ya so much. Thanks to this reading, I now know where I get some of my personality quirks from. If you want an in-depth look into your astrology sign, Des is the girl you need to go to. She was incredibly easy and quick to work with and always was happy to answer any questions I had. I just wanted to share with you guys a little bit of what I got from this reading (the whole thing is pretty lengthy so I'll spare you guys that).

So this is what my chart looks like

(don't worry it makes zero sense to me either).

Next up she showed me the different chart types there are out there and where my sign puts me.

I thought this was a pretty cool visual way of seeing how my sign is balanced, I also think it's pretty true, I tend to be interested in a bunch of different things without much relation to each other.

Here are some of the main points to take away from my chart reading...

// Perfection runs in your blood

// Your dependable and sincere nature makes you wonderful in so many ways

// Your eyes are crystal clear, and they see the world in a practical and analytical way

// You have purity of thought and purpose in all that you do

// You have a lot of passionate feelings

// You may have a case of road rage, but it will benefit you to slow down & smell the roses

// You are an independent person, and you encourage others to be independent as well

// You can tend to be critical on yourself or others, and worry a lot

// You have a hard time relaxing because of your analytical mind

// You have a strong desire for being a mother

// You're a little quirky and odd, but it makes you fun and different

// You are imaginative and secretively sensitive

// You're very protective with your friends and loved ones

// You are very friendly, but only get really close to few

This is just a small gist of what my reading entailed. A lot of the things I read I found myself nodding along like "yup, that's definitely me" and some other things were new for me to find out. This reading isn't something that is meant to predict the future, but it can help figure out how your personality is and how your astrological sign can make you unique. If you guys are curious and want your own reading, definitely work with Des, not only is she meticulous, but she's quick at getting your reading out to you. 

Reasons I Don't Have My Shit Together...

I absolutely love this pin that I came across a few days ago and it immediately gave me the idea to list a few reasons why I definitely don't have my shit together at 25.

...first of all I'm no closer to getting married, whereas many other 25 (and younger) are already embarking on that journey

...I still live with my parents and love it, they do everything for me. Laundry, food, dishes (granted I know how to do all this, but it's nice not having to)

...know what I fully want out of life quite yet

...not sure if I made the right career decisions

...definitely not sure if I made the right educational choices to get me where I am right now

...if I have a hard day at work or am just generally frustrated, wine will usually fix this right up (which I know many of you will agree with)

So who cares if I don't have everything figured out right now, I'm only 25 and have so many more years to figured it all out. Who the heck knows where I'll be a year from now or even 5 years from now. When I was younger I always imagined myself to be at least engaged at this point in my life so that's a hard pill to swallow knowing that I'm not and probably won't be for a little while longer. I know I want to find the love of my life and not settle so who cares if that took me longer than 25 years, I still won't settle for nothing less than what I expect out of a life long love. So until I have this pretty little life figured out, I'm just gonna hang on and enjoy the ride!!

I Can't Wait For Summer Because...

Hey guys, so you know when big (awesome) bloggers tell ya to do something, then ya do it basically?! Well when Helene & Taylor tell you they are doing a one day link up, I will definitely be present! I mean who doesn't wanna sit at the cool kid table?!

Anywho, let's get to the real reason behind this post....SUMMER!!!!!

Bikinis.

Concerts.

Beach.

Sun.

Tanning.

Cute clothes.

Trips.

Pool.

Ray Bans.

Weddings.

4th of July.

BBQs.

Birthdays.

Let's just say because of this "Polar Vortex" I think everyone everywhere will be glad it's finally summer!! 

Weekend Recap

Hey lovers, Happy St. Patricks Day!! I feel like I've been in a blogging funk because I got productive a few weeks ago and wrote up a bunch of posts to be scheduled and lately haven't been keeping up with blogs, whoops. Well since I actually did something this weekend I figured I would actually blog about it! If you Instafollow me then you've probably seen these pictures already, but if you don't then you can follow me here! Anywho, Friday was spent like most of my Friday's lately, staying in, eating ice cream and watching a movie, it was fabulous and I don't regret a minute of it. Although I worked all weekend, I wanted to make sure I went out for St.Patty's Day this year because Chicago definitely knows how to celebrate this holiday. I wish I was able to head over to the river to see it getting dyed, but work held me up until the afternoon. My friends and I drove downtown in the afternoon and headed right to Wrigleyville to start our festivities. I unfortunately kept it pretty tame because being on call at 6am could do that to a person, but fun was definitely had! Let the pictures just do the talking for this.

Nothing better than a car selfie :P

Courtesy of Google.com

Lovely streets of Chicago in full celebration mode.

Of course we got snow that night, and Taco Bell was so beyond necessary at this point.

I spent Sunday watching Selection Sunday and figuring out my bracket plans, this is my first year giving a shit about it because of this lovely man that's in my life. He lives for this and I think it's a nice way for him to teach me something and gain some new guessing skills! The only thing I figured out is I'm projecting Florida to win it all, let's hope I can figure out the rest of my bracket.

What did you guys do this weekend? Linking up with Lisa & Bella for Weekend Recap and Rachael & Lisa for Weekly wrap up!! 

Online Dating Stories {4}

Holy March! Well folks, if you've been following up with my online dating stories, I've got another treat for you with today's post. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, you can edumacate yourself here, here, and here. So when you're all done reading those posts, you can come back and join us. 

So onto today's subject...

Ok, so first off I don't really remember the first email I got from this guy, but then I checked the history and saw he emailed me TWICE before. So if you're counting, this would be the 3rd email he is sending my way. I obviously never responded to the other 2 and I wish I had saved those emails to show you guys, but I probably deleted it. 

This guy is a total stage 5 clinger. 

Hey I guess I can't knock the guy, he is definitely putting out all the effort out there, but it is coming off a bit pathetic and creepy. You just don't email a girl 3 times if she hasn't responded to a single one of your emails, you just don't. 

Now let's get onto the email itself, oh look he called me pretty, that's nice. Thanks for that dude, but just no. Second off, thanks for trying to make this whole distance thing work, but just no. That's really cool that you're lurking around my hood every.single.weekend. I will be sure to avoid the major hotspots in hopes I don't run into you (no but really). 

He just admitted he likes to talk, oh well that's just not gonna work for me. I have to be the "talker" in the relationship, just ask any of my friends. Now I love a man that is independent and able to speak for himself, but I love to talk and if you're all up in my space taking all the prime talking time up, when will I talk??

I'm sorry Kevin, I am unfortunately not looking for a stage 5 clinger at this time, maybe try again with a follow up email after 3 months (when my subscription is up).

Thoughts? Leave them below in my comments!

Organizing: Room Edition

This was the state of my room a few days ago, whoops!

**Sidenote: I had not fully unpacked from my Colorado trip (hey I was trying to preserve all the memories), and yes that was at the end of January, no judging.**

So needless to say, my rooms needed some cleaning up. Now to tackle a mess of this size, here are a few helpful tips that help me out without losing my shit.

+First off, you need some jams to keep you pumped, I personally prefer Spice Girls radio on Pandora (you're welcome).

+Next, organize and tackle clothes first. Separate the clean & dirty clothes (if you can't tell, just wash it), I like to separate my whites/colors/jeans so creating piles or baskets is helpful.

+Once you separate them, get that mess out of the room, either put it in your laundry room (or in the washer if you're ambitious) and fold any clean clothes to put away.

+Next, focus on the nooks (like my makeup area and nightstand).

**Note: Since you're cleaning, this is the perfect time to get rid of the crap you don't need anymore.**

+Now you must hydrate! You are probably exhausted at this point, go pour yourself a glass of wine, you deserve it!

+Finally, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Put away everything in it's place and complete all the final touches.

YAY! You survived and so did I, phew! That was quite the task, but I'm proud because I was able to organize not only my room, but all my makeup as well! The feeling you get after cleaning, just makes the room peaceful and quaint, I love it!

Thanks to Steph for inspiring me to get more organized, I still need to order some of those nifty hangers that she has to make my closet look nicer!

Blogmopolitan Quiz

Hi friends! I have been seeing this cutesy quiz floating around the blogosphere and have been wanting to participate, but I just kept forgetting, whoops. Well since I had nothing to do one day, I decided to fill it out. Shout out to Erin for creating this little genie!

Some of these were kind of hard to answer for me, but I think I did a pretty good job. I do get pretty defensive when someone eats my chocolate, especially if I don't know about it. Usually I will be nice and share, but just don't snatch it without letting me know, or I will cut a b up. What do you guys think? How would you have answered these? If you want to do one of these for yourself, head on over here and download the image and go to town!

Sunday Social {Week 92}

Happy Sunday folks! Today's Sunday Social is all about Pinterest, which is one of my favorite topics to talk about.

1. What is your favorite outfit pin?

I love this outfit because it's got so many bright colors and it's still very casual. My favorite part is the effortless look she has going on, wish I could pull all of this off!

2. What is your favorite food pin?

Well I think it's pretty obvious that I have a crazy sweet tooth, this just looks amazeballs and simple.

3. What is your favorite wedding pin?

I cheated a little and picked 3 different aspects of a wedding that I love, outfit, ceremony space, and cake and just created a collage.

4. What is your favorite DIY/craft pin?

This is such a popular arts and craft thing and who knows if they work, but I am a coffee mug hoarder so I love this.

5. What is your favorite quote/verse/lyric pin?

I love the girly look of this and it's so true too!

6. Share one more random pin you love.

I love the elegance of this bathroom, definitely going in my dream home on day!

I had such a fun time going through all my pins and finding my favorites, trust me it was hard! If you want to follow my pins, you can here & here (I have two Pinterests, one for personal use the other for blog purposes).

Linking up with Ashley & Neely for Sunday Social.

Online Dating Stories {3}

Hey lovers! I'm already at the 3rd installment of these stories. I want to thank the guys who've emailed me and given me blog content, really appreciate it. Also, if you happened to stumble upon my blog and these posts, sorry just some real talk. 

You can catch up on all the fun here and here!

So this week was a short and not so sweet email from a wannabe suitor, let's read shall we.

Seriously dude?

Thanks Nene for the perfect GIF to show how I felt when I saw this email. So, "how are you tonight" was the best you could come up with? I mean has that ever got a response because it is so generic and impersonal, but hey if that works for you then keep at it, but no thanks.

So I know you must be like seriously Nikki there is hardly anything there to blast on him about....well let's just take a look at that tiny number right next to his pic, 43. Yes you read that right, he is a 43 year old man (just for reference, I'm 25 years young). Not only that, but he's seeking someone 25-45 years old, quite a range ya got there sir.

Can you tell I'm having fun with all these GIFs, they are just so perfect and fitting. Funny thing is, when he saw my age he must have had to see my age range of who I'm looking for, that range would be 25-29. Sorry not looking for a sugar daddy, or somebody's daddy.

Weigh in below loves!