H54F: Halloween Week

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Happy Friday friends! I thought today would never come around.  It has been a long week and probably has something to do with the exciting festivities of this weekend.  We are celebrating Danny's birthday since he will be old starting Monday (just kidding! I always tease since he is a year and a half older).  We are also celebrating a last official day at Danny's old job and will be starting a new job on Monday (I know, I can't believe his first day of work is on his birthday!)  I am so proud of him and I can't wait to see what this job has in store for him (us).  Now onto High Five for Friday...

1.  Danny and Yogi playing out in the backyard this week.  We have so many trees in our backyard, the colors of fall are all over.  The backyard looks so nice in the evenings and it doesn't hurt that its only 55 degrees when the sun is setting.
2.  I have been working on a few special pinterest crafts this week! I always get in such a better mood when I am crafting.  I have been putting off making some improvements to the house and actually making it a home, so I decided to start on some projects I had this week. I am quite pleased with how everything turned out including this little painting/stenciling.  It's not competely finished yet, but I like the way it looks so far.
3.  I brought out my kitchen aid mixer and finally put it to use! I received my mixer as a gift from some very special family members from my wedding shower earlier this year.  I've already used it multiple times this week because it is so easy to use!
4.  Danny and I went candy shopping at Target for the big event this week: Halloween.  We had so much fun handing out candy in our neighborhood for the first time in our new house even though it rained (poor kiddos!). We gave out extra candy to the kids brave enough to face the elements!
5.  We had our friends over on Thursday to hand out candy with us and we had to dress up the puppy dog too.  We found this Buzz Lightyear t-shirt for him. Now if only he would just wear it proudly instead of trying to tear it up.

Hope you had a great week and a fun halloween!

Buckeye Tailgating

It's been a busy week for sure.  This week is going pretty slow since the weekend was so fun visiting our friends, Emily and Rob.  I met Emily freshman year of college in our very first college of Business class.  Ever since that quarter, we've pretty much taken every major class together and spent the last two years as TAs too.  Our senior year, we found out that we would be switching cities for work since I got a job in Cleveland where Emily is orginally from and she got a job in Columbus where I am orginally from.  Emily and I survived college together and after hanging out with Emily and her husband, Rob for a wedding this summer, Danny and I wanted to visit them for the weekend to go tailgating for the buckeyes game!



Our last first day of school, senior year.

We headed down friday night and spent the evening catching up and sitting by the fire with hot apple cider.  The next morning, we were able to sleep in a bit since the game didn't start until the evening.  Emily made a special chili recipe for the chili cookoff that was occurring at the tailgate.  This was an amazingingly cute idea that their friends end up doing most weeks and Emily's chili ended up winning! There were all kinds of chili and other toppings like sour cream, cheese, avacados, etc. After some delicious chili and some socializing with Emily and Rob's nice friends, we all decided to get the blood moving in our cold bodies and play an intense set of flip cup games.  It was so much fun and I had forgotten how much fun flip cup is since I left college.  After tailgating all day, we went back to Emily and Rob's nice warm home to watch the OSU game.  All in all, it was an amazing weekend with great friends!  Emily and Rob were the most amazing hosts to us and we had a lot of fun.

Sunday Social: Trick or Treat

This week's Sunday Social is all about Halloween and I love it.  I love dressing up so much that me and my friends did it up until senior year of high school.  Who am I kidding, I still dress up to this day (check out this awesomely thoughtful costume me and the hubs were last year...)

A Pair of Jeans/Genes

Now onto the questions....

1. What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

A Bride.

I only say this because I was a bride for like 4 years in a row when I was in elementary school.  Good thing I was able to dress like one this year in March too!

2. If you could go back to your childhood and dress up as something, what would it be?

I wish I could have dressed up like a Disney Princess when I was little.  My dreams came true later in college (see below), but I wish I could have dressed up as one when I was little.

3. What was your favorite Halloween costume as an adult?

My favorite costume as an adult would be a Purple Crayon.  Me and my friends wanted to go in a group of something and we decided that crayons would be cute.  I also made every part of the costumes which was half of the fun!

4. What is your favorite Halloween candy?

My favorite Halloween candy are Kit Kats.  Not just for Halloween, but for every occasion!

5. What is your favorite Halloween memory?
I have great memories of dressing up for my college's Halloween parties.  Ohio University is famous for its Halloween parties even so much as being awarded the biggest party in the country behind Mardi Gras and New Years Eve in New York.  We go all out in Athens and its always so much fun to see the crazy costumes.

 

Left: Snow White- Athens 2009
Right: Gold Digger- Athens 2007

6. What is your favorite scary movie?

I do not like scary movies at all.  I used to get too scared to go to sleep when there was a really bad episode of Law & Order on, hence why I can't bring myself to watch any kind of scary movie.  I would be an insomniac for days if I did.

Snowstorm in October? It's Ohio.

Happy Friday! Instead of October 25th, it feels like December 25th here in Cleveland, Ohio.  I saw this cartoon strip and thought it described this weather perfectly.  Ohioans always blame bad weather on the state and after all these years I believe it.  It can be October and snowing or February and 70 degrees.  You just never know what you're going to get and you have to be prepared for EVERYTHING! Good thing my daddy raised me like a Boy Scout (to be prepared).

I'm hoping the weather warms up since Danny and I are headed to the capital and my hometown of Columbus, Ohio to spend the weekend with our friends.  Just one more day of work and a recap of five amazing things stand in our way.  Now onto High Five for Friday!

1.  I pulled out the old Halloween costumes that I bought for the kitties a few years ago.  Although Yogi doesn't really fit in the costume, he still makes a cute bumble bee!
2.  We had a team event on Wednesday during work.  We played WhirlyBall which is a hybrid version of bumber cars mixed with basketball and lacrosse.  It was so much fun and we always have a blast when we play.  I captured this awesome picture of my coworker and good friend, Chad before the game started.  (PS Chad started a blog this week!! Go check it out here.)
3.  Remember when I blogged about pottery time last week? Well, here is my finished pumpkin! Everything turned out great and I can't wait to use my new pumpkin jar for some Halloween candy or other goodies.
4.  I also received my awesome Thirty-One order from the party I attended a few weeks ago.  I got a matching purse and lunch box for work and I love them.  I love anything with a monogram on it!
5.  I woke up to a hailstorm on Thursday morning on my way to work.  I took this picture from my work window as I watched the snow/hail/ice accumulate all day.  I can't believe it's already snowing here.

Hope you had a good week!

H54F: Colorado Style

This week I was in Colorado Springs all week for training for work.  I decided to summarize my experiences in this week's High Five for Friday.

1.  The mountains are an amazing backdrop to the Colorado sky.  I took 45637 pictures of them this week and unfortunately, the pictures don't do it justice.  I wish I would have gotten closer to the mountains, but they were amazing to see on my way to work every day this week.

2.  I got to actually use my sweaters and scarfs this week! It's been very warm in Ohio for October and the crisp, Colorado air was exactly what I needed.  I even saw a mini snowfall on Tuesday! It, of course melted right away, but it made me excited for the next couple of seasons (I'll probably regret typing this when the first Cleveland snowfall hits).

3.  Colorado is the king of the breweries.  There were so many different small breweries in Colorado Springs that I explored a few with my coworkers.  One of them was Trinity Brewing and they had a great beer list and an awesome veggie burger that was even vegan! Colorado is also very veggie friendly meaning I actually had options at a brew pub! Believe me, that doesn't happen often.

4.  I was in training for work this week, so I was able to see our other site in Colorado Springs.  It was great to see everything in person and to meet half of a team that I work with on a daily basis.  The people on my team that I mostly had never met before was my favorite part of the week.  Everyone was so nice and welcoming.

5.  I had my first ever rental car and boy was it an experience!  Fortunately, my company signed me up for the executive program meaning I could chose any top of the line car from a lot of cars.  I'm not crazy into cars (like some of my coworkers), but it was nice to pick what I wanted to drive around town all week!

Hope you had a great week!

The Boys Behind the Blog: October Edition

It's time for another Boys Behind the Blog link up.  My husband, Danny has answered this month's questions, so you can get to know the man behind the happy Wife.



Danny with Yogi, the Boys Behind the happy Wife.

1.  Describe yourself in 5 words.

Smart, funny, outgoing, tall, and history-buff

2.  What is your biggest fear?

My biggest fear would be snakes, heights would be a close second.

3.  What is your favorite candy?

Reese's Peanut Buttercups

4.  What was the best Halloween costume you've ever worn? (include pictures if you have them)

The best costume I wore was when I was Quail Man my senior year of college.

5.  Who is your favorite football team?

My favorite team is the Cincinnati Bengals.  My parents are both from Cincinnati, so I grew up a Bengals fan.



Bengals/Packers game last season

#WeddingWednesday: Bridesmaid Dresses and Groomsmen Tuxes

This #WeddingWednesday is dedicated to the bridesmaid dresses and groomsmen tuxes.  I really didn't have an option when deciding where to get the bridesmaid dresses.  My six bridesmaids all live in different areas, so I needed a store that was easily accessible to all of them.  Since I already bought my wedding gown at David's Bridal, I decided to get my bridesmaid dresses there too.

My husband actually decided what type of dress he thought would be nice.  I always imagined my bridesmaid dresses would be short (for my dream summer wedding), but since we got married in March, Danny thought it would be nice to get long dresses.

We knew we wanted a Champagne colored dress, but we had to find a style that worked on all six bridesmaids.  We headed to David's Bridal to try on dresses.  We found the dress almost immediately and decided it would be the best style of dress for every girl.  We even found a matching flower girl dress that looked perfect for our niece, Naomi!

Left: Me trying on the dress for the first time in Navy.  Right: My bridesmaid, Kaela trying on the champagne dress.

 

The flower girl dress.

The dresses looked amazing the day of the wedding, even though they weren't as warm as we'd hoped on a chilly March day, but everyone looked stunning!



Bridesmaids (Photo: Little Tree Studios)

Flower Girl dress in action (Photo: Little Tree Studios)

Around the same time that we picked out the bridesmaid dresses, we choose the groomsmen tuxes.  We wanted the maids and men to match so we went with the same champagne colored tuxes from Men's Warehouse.  Again, this was an easy choice already made for us because we got a huge discount from choosing our gowns from David's Bridal (they know what they're doing).  Overall, I was really happy with the way Danny and all of his groomsmen looked in their tuxes.

Samples of the Groom's tux on the left and Groomsman's tux on the right.

 

Groomsmen- (Photo: Little Tree Studios)

Pumpkin Pottery

This weekend, I was able to paint some pumpkin pottery! My friend, Kara had a great idea to go to a pottery making store.  Kara, Ashleigh, and I went to Hands On Pottery in Mayfield.  It was a great place and they had so many things to choose from.  I love decorating for the holidays so it was no surprise when I chose this amazing pumpkin candy jar!  Ashleigh painted an owl and Kara chose a cupcake and a vase to paint!

After I was done with my pumpkin, I still had some time left, so I decided to paint a shot glass for my husband in his favorite's team colors and emblem.  I'm hoping he can display it in his man cave!

All of the projects turned out awesome in the end! Kara's cupcake shown below was so creative with the pink frosting and sprinkles.  Ashleigh's favorite things are owls and mustaches, so she decided to put a mustache on her owl and it was adorable, I am so mad at myself for not snagging a picture of it! I can't wait to see how they turned out after the kiln.  We had a lot of fun and it was a great Saturday activity!  I'm also excited to cross another item off of my 30 before 30 list!

After a few hours painting pottery, we headed out to meet up with our husbands.  It was our good friend, Ryan's birthday and we all celebrated with him.  It was a good night out with friends and a good cap to the weekend!

Sunday Social: Blogging

This Sunday is yet another busy one!  I am leaving for Colorado Springs for work this week.  It will be an exciting adventure, but I can't wait to have a break from traveling for work sans hubby.  This Sunday Social is all about what we love to do, BLOG!

1.  What was the first blog you ever read?

The first blog I ever read was Mal Smiles.  I went to high school with the blogger, Mallory and I stumbled upon her blog via facebook.  I started reading and following along with her story and that's when I decided to create my own blog.

2.  What was your first blog post about?

My first blog post was about my first time running 3.1 miles on the treadmill! I started blogging to capture the moments before my wedding day about losing weight and getting fit.

3. Who left your first blog comment?

I'm not entirely sure, it was probably someone from Sunday Social or another link-up, that's why I love linking up!

4.  Who was the first blogger you ever met in person?

I have not met another blogger in person yet unless Amia from Teapots and Belles counts, but we knew each other before.  I haven't found too many bloggers from my area or Ohio in general.  If you are from Ohio or a surrounding area, let me know! I love following local bloggers because we usually have a lot in common!

5.  What was your first blogging "milestone"?

I love gaining new followers, so anytime I get a new follower on Bloglovin, it's like a milestone in itself!  Also, I was nominated for a Liebster award a few months ago from Shannon at Everyday Mom-ents.  The Liebster Award is given to smaller blogs (blogs with less than 200 followers) and I was so excited to be chosen by Shannon for this award!

Have a great Sunday and a great week! Can't wait to see some mountains!

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday! This week has gone by so quickly that I just barely remembered that it was Friday!  We didn't have much going on this week, so my five things aren't too riveting today.

one.  I made my fake chicken again this week.  I finally found a way to make the chicken so it tastes good.  I use a pre made seasoning that I found at Sam's Club.  I liked it so much, I made it for myself both Sunday and Wednesday night!
two.  Nothing excites me more than to come home after work and relax in my sweat pants.  I dug out this old pair circa 2005 from when Danny was in high school.  They are so comfy.
three.  We finally got our pool cover this week thanks to my coworker for installing it and my in laws for buying it for us.  It was their house warming gift and it will be so nice to not have to pick all of the frogs/tadpoles out of our swamp of a pond this spring!
four.  Teddy bear was locked up in kitty jail to separate the two alpha males in our house.  It also doesn't help that Teddy tries to eat Yogi's puppy food when he's not looking.  We need to break that habit before the German Shepard puppy becomes full grown.
five.  The Fall season technically started, but it is just now starting to feel like it outside. I love wearing the sweaters and scarfs.  I found this outfit in my closet and fell in love with its purple hues and comfy style.

I have work today and then I am off to Colorado Springs on Sunday to take a class for work next week.  I can't wait to meet everyone out there and check out our facility there.  It will be another crazy week away from the hubby and the fur babies.

#WeddingWednesday: Venue

Today's #WeddingWednesday is dedicated to the wedding venue.  When Danny and I got engaged, we decided we wanted to have the ceremony and the reception in the same place, so the venue was super important since our guests would be spending the whole day there.  I originally always dreamt of getting married outside, but that doesn't always happen when the groom works in baseball and tells you, you can only get married between November and March.  I remember countless conversations with Danny to try and make it work in the summertime, but we (I) had to face the facts and get married either in late spring or early fall.

We originally choose November 16, 2013 as our wedding date (I know, I would be a stressed out bride right now!), but we realized we didn't want to wait that long so we moved it up to March 16, 2013.

We took one weekend to set up appointments with three or four venues for our big day.  By the end of the day, we saw a lot of things that we liked, but nothing that we loved.

The last venue was The Lakes Golf and Country Club.  I still remember when I first stepped into the amazing two story entrance showing a beautiful staircase and grand piano.  Once I stepped in the dining room which would be the cocktail area and then the tent where we had the ceremony and reception, I was amazed by every single room and instantly fell in love with the place.  Because this venue had a tent, it felt like I was getting my outdoor wedding in March.  Although there was a slight issue with the tent heaters at first, it was perfect.

I also loved the locker rooms that we were able to use to get ready.  We had the whole place to ourselves (because who golfs in March?) and I heard stories of the amazing man cave that they had (tvs and full bar with bartender).

It was the perfect place for us and the people that helped us make our day amazing did a great job.  The chef even catered the vegetarian meal to my request.  The venue was a big part of the big day and I am so happy everything worked out perfectly.

Exchanging our vows.

Before the ceremony.

During the ceremony in the tent.

Our bridal party outside the venue.

Bridal party on the staircase.

On the golf course with the venue in the background.

Pictures taken by Little Tree Studios.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was especially fun for me.  After taking an early weekend to fly to Orlando, it was nice to enjoy my weekend especially since it was a three day weekend.

Yogi and I had an eventful Friday.  We went to the dog park for the first time in a long time.  This time, there were actually dogs there (last time, we were the only ones).  Yogi was so excited and although he was shy, he got along with the other dogs well.  We realized he had puppy socializing issues when we first enrolled him in puppy training classes, but ever since that ended, we've been trying to keep working on his socialization skills.  The puppy park might actually help us with this.

I ended up meeting my coworker and his dog and there were a handful of other dogs that showed up too.  It was so much fun to see them interact with each other and play.  It was a rainy day, which means I had a rainy, dirty puppy.  Yogi got his very first bath after the dog park.  Our pups is normally TERRIFIED of water.  He won't come near the pool, or even step foot in the bathroom if the shower is running.  I was so surprised he was an amazing puppy in the bath once he realized he wasn't going anywhere soon.

I surprised him with a new toy, it was on sale and in Halloween colors.

After the dog park with his new toy.

On Saturday, I went to my friend, Kara's Thirty-One party.  Her sister is a consultant and drove all the way to Cleveland to host a party for her.  It was so much fun to have a girls night and talk about purses and all sorts of girly things.  I ended up ordering a purse and lunch box for work and I can't wait to receive them! (Pictures to follow when I do).

Delicious snacks at the Thirty-One Party

Sunday night was yet another wrestling night with me, Kara, and our husbands.  It was fun as always especially since I got to snuggle with this little guy!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Weekly Wishes

If you can remember from last week's Weekly Wishes post, I had hoped for three things:

1.) Take the pups to the dog park.

2.) Cook a Fall inspired meal.

3.) Try a new restaurant for dinner.

Danny and Yogi at the dog park.

I was pretty proud of myself for accomplishing two out of three this week.  I had the day off Friday and met up with my coworker to take our pups to the dog park.  He is actually the one that told me about the rescue organization that we got Yogi from since he got his dog, Darby there a few months earlier.  There was a two year old white German Shepard at the dog park!! I love running into German Shepards so I can compare Yogi to the pure breds.  Danny and I actually went back to the dog park on Sunday (since Danny couldn't go with me on Friday) and we saw a 4 month old German Shepard who was all sorts of adorable.

The other wish that I accomplished was trying a new restaurant for dinner.  Danny and I went to a local place called Local Tavern (you can read my review of the food here).

This week, I am back to work.  I have one normal week and then I will be traveling to Colorado for work next week.  It is already sounding like it will be a busy week at work, so I'm hoping I have some sort of free time for relaxing, blogging, wishing, etc.

Without further ado, listed below are my weekly wishes:

1.) Find and make a Crock pot recipe.  I crave an amazing fall dinner that I can throw together in the morning and will be done by the time I get home from work.  There are so many delicious sounding recipes on Pinterest.  Hopefully I can find a tasty one to try.

2.) Create a fall craft for the house.  I love fall including decorating for the season.  Joann's and Michael's are my favorite places to visit in the fall for their amazing ideas.  I want to finally try one of the million crafts I have been eyeing since the beginning of last month!

Hope you have a great week!  Don't forget to link up and share your weekly wishes!

Food Review: Local Tavern

Thursday night, Danny and I went to dinner at Local Tavern.  We wanted to choose a local restaurant to try on our date nights for the month of October.  We just moved to the area and wanted an excuse to try the new and local restaurants in our town.  We usually convince each other to try a chain restaurant that we know we both like, but it's always good to get out of our comfort zones and try something new!  We had heard so much about Local Tavern and it had just opened in our area.

As soon as we walked in, we loved the look of the place.  It looked new, but old at the same time.  They had refinished the look of this obviously old looking building and it looked very polished.  It had a section for a live band to play and plenty of bar space, which made it seem like a fun place to hang out on the weekend.

We started with the Herb Fries.  Danny had read a few reviews online that had mentioned these fries.  They were covered in something tasting of parmesan and were downright amazing.  I was glad we decided to get them since my mushroom burger I ordered wasn't very good.  As you can tell from the picture, it just had way too much going on.  I couldn't even eat it like a regular sandwich and had to cut it up in little piece in order to eat it.

Even though I wasn't impressed with my meal, Danny and I want to go back to try something else (and to get the herb fries again!)  It was a great night out with my husband like always.

Herb Fries

Mushroom Burger

It is literally 80 degrees outside in OCTOBER in Cleveland.  I put on a sweater and jeans and then realized I needed something much lighter.  Erin from Living in Yellow inspired me to be proud of my outfit selfies in her post titled, I Now Grant You Permission To Take Selfies Daily.  I encourage you to check out her blog.  She is hilarious and has some great fashion looks and interior decorating ideas.

Date Night Outfit

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Not looking forward to Monday after my week in Florida and 3 day weekend.

H54F: My Trip to Orlando

It is Friday and I am back home in Cleveland.  I spent the week in Orlando for a work conference called AFCOM.  I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to represent my company and learn all about new technologies and new ideas that are happening in the data center world.  Because of the work trip Sunday through Wednesday, most of my High Five for Friday is dedicated to my trip.

1.  This was the setup in my hotel room for the week.  I felt super connected to everything with my work laptop, iPad, Kindle, and then I took this picture with my iPhone.  I was there for a technology convention so it was only fitting that there were 5 million ways for people to get ahold of me.

2.  I met up with my coworkers that flew in from Colorado and we had the chance to eat and explore Orlando at night.  Our hotel was so sweet that there were 7 different restaurants actually in it including this Japanese Steakhouse.  We even went to Downtown Disney one night and ate at one of the restaurants there.  Afterwards we explored the area and ran into this awesome Hulk statue made out of legos, yes I said legos.

3.  I did get some free time in between lectures and activities to check out the amazing pool at our hotel.  It was weird to think I was sunburnt in October! I enjoyed a nice beverage by the pool and it felt amazing to relax in the sun.  Although I am happy Fall is here, Orlando made me miss summer already. darn.

4.  My flight came in within hours of the playoff game at Progressive Field.  Our beloved Indians were playing in their first playoff game since 2007 and the city was excited.  Unfortunately, the Indians lost, but it was great to see Cleveland united at Progressive field to celebrate the great season we had.

5.  After a long week away from the fur babies, it was good to come home.  Rosie made sure I knew I was missed by not leaving my side yesterday as I blogged at my desk.  I had such a great week, but I am so glad to be home.

Hope everyone had a great week!  Happy Friday!