Happy 2nd Birthday Roman!

Roman turns 2 today! It's crazy to think about and makes me a little sad to look at his baby pictures. He is so big now! He is all boy. He runs around like crazy, climbs on things, shoots pretend guns, wants to play every sport but is as sweet as can be. He loves to read books and sing songs. He says new words and strings together new sentences every day. He has started asking lots of questions. "Why, what's that"? He loves Mick Mouse and Elmo. He still doesn't sleep well through the night and wants to be rocked to bed. We love him so much and it melts my heart to hear him say I love you back. It's been the best 2 years of our lives. Happy Birthday Roman!


We celebrated his birthday early with a Mickey Mouse party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I made 2 brunch casseroles. French Toast Bake and Hash brown casserole. Both were SO good that we plan to have them again for Christmas morning. FYI, the hash brown casserole is really a crockpot recipe, but I baked it at 375 for an hour instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Cocktail Party

We had a holiday cocktail party this year with some of our friends. I always love to start planning this party weeks in advance. I love to plan the food, décor and what I will wear. Funny enough, I should have stated on the invite that it was to be holiday festive, because I ended up being the only one dressed up! Oh well! Anyway, we had a great turnout and incredibly fun night! The lighting in our house was very dark that night, so these pictures aren't that great, but I wanted to document and share it anyway.

 

 

 

 

In case you were wondering about my outfit. Here are some selfies from the dressing room of Old Navy, neither of which item is from there though. I couldn't decide what to wear and a friend told me to wear the crop top. She said, you will look back years from now and be glad you did. So I did!! Thanks for the nice comments on Instagram it made me feel better about wearing it and also being literally the only one dressed up. :)

Crop top is Topshop from Nordstrom and pleated metallic skirt is from the Gap.

Wednesday Wishlist

I have been traveling a little bit for work over the last few weeks and I have seen this dress on two girls now. I finally asked a girl where it was from and she told me Zara. I love it. I think it's so cute with the bell sleeves! It's perfect for work with tights and ankle boots.


I found these shoes this week and I'm obsessed with them. I love the embroidery!

Dress - Zara
Boots - Sole Society

A Few of my Favorite Things

For Christmas I usually like to get my mom, sister, and SIL's things that I love and use the most with hopes that they will love them too. Here are some of my favorite things that I use daily and may be giving as gifts this year.

Land's End Tote Bag. - Roman and I both have the larger version of this bag and use them all the time. They are perfect for overnights, pool days, etc. The canvas is super durable!

Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip treatment. I absolutely love this lip balm. It goes on like a chapstick, but with color! They are regularly $24 each, so I think this little trio for $30 would be an awesome gift!

Kate Spade Initial Necklace - I got this for mothers day last year and wear it all the time. Great gift for others!

Wet Brush- this is so random, but a good friend had this and we all made fun of her for it. Turns out, it's awesome! My stylist even recommended it! Use it, exactly as it says, for wet hair. So good for tangles. You can buy it at Target.

Nars blush/bronzer combo. - If you haven't tried Orgasm blush, then you need to immediately. It looks great on all skin tones!

Timex Weekender watch - Admittedly, Dan had this watch first and I copied him. It's a little boyish, but I like that you can change the strap out.

Living Proof dry shampoo - I was never into dry shampoo until this year and this is my favorite! I get mine at Sephora or Ulta, but I think it's sold on Amazon and even Target.

Zella Leggings - These have been a favorite of mine for a few years. I just recently bought the high waisted ones and love them so much!

Swell water bottle - Dan got me this last year and I love it! I use it every day at work and for the gym. Water stays cold for hours! I loved it this summer on hot days when normal bottles would get hot.

Earrings - I have worn these for a couple of years now and they are my daily go-to. Perfect size and shine!

JCrew Factory Vest - I have this in both the navy and the cream and wish I had black. Goes with everything. Size down. I have XS.

Pretty Pleats

Pretty pleats for the holidays? Pretty please! I love the idea of dressing up a skirt for cocktail parties with a sleeveless top or wearing a turtleneck for more conservative work parties and family get-togethers. Now, which color should I choose?

I have found several options for pleated skirts. ASOS has a huge selection. I just searched "pleated skirts" on the website and the return came up with pages and pages of options.


Gold skirt - Gap
Teal satin, Fuschia Satin, Pink Velvet, Copper - ASOS
Silver skirt - Forever 21
Silver skirt - H&M


Check out Topshop, Nordstrom, and Express for more options.

Denver trip

A couple weeks ago my Mom and sister Meagan booked trips to meet each other in Denver. My mom booked her flight out of Indy for $70! I decided for that price I wanted to go as well and take Roman to see my grandma. We flew out at 6am the day after my half marathon and I thought I might die from being so sore. It was a real challenge running after Roman through the airport. Naturally, he didn't sleep the entire flight. If you have kids, you know traveling with a toddler is no vacation. It's just parenting in a different city. Roman didn't adjust to the time difference and was up at 4:30am every morning. He yelled "snack" probably a million times over the 3 days, but nevertheless it was a good trip!

Playing with the phones. "calling" everyone we know.

 My grandma Kitty is 95 years old!

4 Generations.

 Colorado Springs. Garden of the Gods.

Roman loved "climbing mountains"!

  I met up with my sorority sisters Anna and Katye. Katye has 2 little girls. It was so fun to get the kids together!

13.1

I did it! I wasn't sure I would be able to say that, but I DID IT!!!! Over the last few years I have watched countless friends run half marathons and always wondered if it was something I could also do. I started running this past summer and kept adding miles. I ran during my lunch break and on weekends. As I added miles my knees began to hurt and I wasn't sure I could continue. I went to see a PT and began doing strength exercises, icing, and massaging. The most I ran in my training was 9 miles, so I was nervous about making it to 13.1.

The race was so much fun! I met my cousin who happened to be in town running the race too and we started together. Running with a crowd cheering you along is MUCH easier than alone. Dan, Roman and our friend Ross came to cheer me on around mile 7, which really helped! I wanted to walk several times, but kept going! Miles 10-13 were the worst.

I finished and ran the half in 2:16. I'm pleased with my final time and pace. My goal was to finish under 2:30 and not to walk. I accomplished both! I know so much more about training now and if I do it again I will strength train as well to help with knee pain and  hopefully a faster pace. It was hard as hell and I don't know how my friends do this over and over again. It was a great experience!