One Year Anniversary Gift Ideas: Paper

The hubs and I are in the middle of planning our one year anniversary and so I've been a busy bee researching gift ideas. We are planning to stick with the traditional give idea of paper, so it has been a challenge to find gifts that are still personal. I thought I'd share some of my favorite ideas :)

Savings Bond

via

This might seem unromantic at first, but I think the symbolism of waiting for a bond to mature to full value is sweet. Plus, then you could cash it in on your thirty year anniversary and do something fun with the money! 

Two 8 X 10 print's by Nicole Cohen of Sketch42

I think art is a wonderful way to get creative with a gift of paper. I've followed Nicole's blog for awhile and love her dreamy paintings. But, they are way out of my price range. So, I was so excited when she started to sell photographs of her paintings! I love the colors she uses and I think a set of two 8 X 10s hanging next to each other in crisp white frames would look phenomenal. She has a lot of different options, but these two are my favorite. I think there is something romantic and whimsical about them.  

Night Sky Print

Indigo Night has come up with such a cool idea! If you tell them the place and date, they can recreate what the night sky looked like from that location on that specific date. I think a print of the night sky from your wedding day would be such a romantic gift. 

Tickets to a Show

Neill and I don't go to shows too often, but when we do we always have such a good time. Well, except that time we went to the opera and I likened it to being tortured, but I'm willing to try it again. Tickets to dance, plays, and musicals would be a great gift because it is something we could do together. 

Personalized Anniversary Memory Album

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I love the idea of having a special book to record how we celebrate each wedding anniversary and it would be so easy to design something on a site like blurb. The cover could be an engagement or weddings photos and then each page could have something like "June 12, 2060: 50th Wedding Anniversary" (how weird is it to think about the year 2060?).  Then there could be a few questions with blank space left for us to fill in the answers.

Photo Album of our Relationship

via

For our one year anniversary Neill and I made a photo album together and we planned to update it every year. Lovely idea right? We thought so too. But, unfortunately we never kept up with it. Sifting through all of the photos that we've taken over the years would be quite a daunting task, but the end result would be so worth it. 

Canvas Print of a Wedding Photo

via

Neill and I don't have any of our wedding photos hung and so it would be lovely to have one of our favorite photos printed on a canvas.

Love Art

 via

I've got to admit, this is something that I've wanted since I created our bedroom design board back in November. I love the simplicity of this piece and the romantic message. I planned to attempt a DIY version of this piece, but let's be honest - I'm just not a DIY girl.

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Do any of these strike your fancy? What is the best anniversary present you have ever received? How did you and your hubby celebrate your one year anniversary?


xoxo

Summer Wedding Style

You guys were so helpful in helping me figure out what I should wear to my cousin's wedding that I wanted to show you my final look. I decided to wear the dress I really, really loved rather than the dress I thought would be most appropriate. I might not be the fanciest person there, but that's just who I am. Love me or leave me, you know?

blue silk dress 

via sundance.com

nine west shoes 

via zappos

a big blue hair flower, somewhat similar to these small ones 

via target

a tan colored cardigan that matches the embroidery around the waist of the dress

via target

long gold necklace

via target

gold wristlet

via taret

So I went a little target happy. What can I say? I love that store. I'm really happy with how the outfit came together and I'm sooo excited for the wedding. Oh, and I took Jessica and Steph's advice and purchased a little something for under the dress. Sexy lingerie? Hell no. Neill wishes. Bike shorts! Now I won't have to worry about my legs sticking together and I can really enjoy myself. Plus, being able to lift my dress up and "flash" people is always a bonus.

Making the Most of Our Balcony

I could list some good reasons why our balcony isn't anything to get excited about. For starters, its tiny. But even worse than that, it faces an alley AND train tracks. Lovely, right?

looking to the left

looking to the right

But, its my balcony. And so I plan to make the most of our little piece of outside. But, right now we don't have much more going on other than a few dead plants and dirty plastic chairs.

Yikes! I am so sorry you had to see that. But, I'm convinced that the space has potential. Just look at these beauties.

Source: tumblr.com via Alisha on Pinterest

Source: None via Alisha on Pinterest

Source: farm6.static.flickr.com via Alisha on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Alisha on Pinterest

Source: pompo.com via Alisha on Pinterest

So, I've come up with a plan to beautify our balcony. First,  I'd first like to add a brightly colored 5X8 out-door rug made from recycled polypropylene.

source

Then, I'd like to upgrade our seating and bring in a little table. I think we have just enough room for a small bistro table and two chairs. I can already imagine us resting our drinks on the table.  

source

Lastly, the balcony can no longer be where plants go to die. I'd like to invest in two flower boxes to decorate our railing.

source

Even though these changes are pretty basic, I think they will make a huge difference. I can't wait to share the "after" pictures with you!

Do you have a backyard, balcony, or patio? Do you use it often? How do you decorate it? What do you think of my plan to make the most of our balcony?

xoxo

I Need Your Fashion Advice

In early May, Neill and I are heading to Jamaica for a cousin's wedding. Yay for tropical vacations! We went to Negril for our honeymoon last summer and we had an amazing time. So, we are really looking forward to his cousin's wedding in Ocho Rios. Not only will it be a great time with family, but it will give us a chance to have a mini-second honeymoon. Let's be honest, a few days of romance never hurt anybody. I just can't wait to be sipping pina coladas by the beach with my toes in the sand.

While I'm planning to be in my bathing suit for most of the trip, I do need to bring something to wear to the wedding. This is where you come in. According to the couple's wedding website, the dress code is "evening attire" and they recommend that men wear suits and ladies wear cocktail dresses. The problem? I normally drink my cocktails in jeans and a t-shirt.

I've just never been one for dresses. Plus, its going to be in the mid-80s and humid. The reception is going to be outside. In the heat. On the grass. I kind of get sweaty just thinking about it.

But we're going. So I need to have something to wear that will keep me from sticking out like a sore thumb, but also won't make me melt. But, I'm having the hardest time. I feel like such a shopping reject because I'm literally sitting here scratching my head wondering where to buy a dress.

After spending more time than I care to admit scouring the internet, here are some of the dresses I'm thinking of. But, I'm not sure if any of them are right.

via sundance.com

I fell in love with this dress from Sundance. I love the color and style. I don't know if it is exactly "evening attire" though. But, its silk so maybe it can be dressed up?

via garnetthill.com

via garnetthill.com

I also really like the shape of this cotton dress. This picture makes it look really casual, but I would get it in the black and wear it with a pair of black espadrilles. I probably wouldn't be the most dressed up person there, but I'd be comfortable!

via thelimited.com

I found this dress on The Limited's website. It has more of a cocktail dress vibe to it and I love the color, but I don't love the dress. Its made out of synthetic fabric too, so I'm worried that it won't be "breathable."

via jcrew.com

I was really excited when I saw this dress from J. Crew. Not only is it my style, but its on sale! But I'm not so sure how I feel about the bright orange color. It definitely says Sunday Brunch more than Saturday Evening Cocktails, right?

via bananarepublic.com

This is definitely not a sun dress and I love the pattern. But long sleeves? Yikes. Also, while wrap dresses can be flatting on me, I'm always paranoid about them becoming unwrapped! I'm not so sure this is a safe dress to wear for a night of dancing. 

via target.com

Here is the cheapest and simplest of the options. And of course, I fell in love with it right away. It says cocktail, but looks airy. And the 30 dollar price tag is the icing on the cake. But, when I went to order it I realized the dress is out of stock in everything but a 4 and a 6. Darn! They still have the dress in a platinum color (looks silver on the screen), but I'm worried that it is too close to white. What do you think about wearing a light silvery gray to a wedding?

After I decided I liked the one shoulder look, I found a similar Maggy London dress. So this is also a possibility. But, do I really want to shell out a hundred bucks for something I don't love?

via nordstrom.com

My last resort is to wear this dress I got recently from J. Jill and focus on dressing it up with accessories. Maybe a belt and some long sparkly necklace? 

Anyways, as you can tell - I'm no fashionista.  If I could, I'd wear shorts and a tank top. So I need some help with this one! Which dress do you like best? If you were going, what kind of dress would you wear? Do you have any store or dress recommendations? What do you think is hot weather evening attire?

My Weekend in New York

A big thank you to all of you who shared with me about what your relationship is like with your grandparents! Since I didn't have a reliable internet connection I couldn't respond, but I want you to know it was wonderful to read your comments!

I had such a great time in New York this weekend! It was really important to me to see my grandfather and I feel so lucky that I got to see him now, before his health deteriorates further. Unfortunately, he isn't doing too well. When I saw him in August he was still able to carry on a conversation,  but now he has difficulty finding words and what he does says doesn't make much sense. His doctors think he might have had a series of small strokes, but it is hard to tell. I'm pretty sure he knew who I was though and so it was wonderful to hear him say "good morning, darling" every day.

We spent most of the weekend around Bayside, which is part of Queens.

image via http://www.weichert.com/NY/Queens/

We arrived into town on Thursday afternoon and went to my aunt's house to say hi and have a quick catch up. My aunt, a clinical social worker, had some clients to see that evening so we got out of her way and met up with my cousins for dinner. Well, technically we saw my mom's cousin and her two kids. So, that makes them my cousins once removed? second cousins? Either way, it was really fun! I hadn't seen them since August and it was good to catch up. They are in their first year of college and sophomore year of high school, respectively, and it was fun to hear about their lives. They even taught me a cool new phone trick - bumping! Sounds dirty, right? But, its not. It is the new way to exchange phone numbers. You can literally just bump two phones together! I'm still amazed by this. Which, of course makes me feel old.

On Friday, everyone hung out at my aunt's house and then in the afternoon we went shopping. You know what else makes me feel old? I found some stuff at  J. Jill and Cold Water Creek that I really liked. Yes. Apparently, I dress like a sixty year old lady.

I got a cardigan, a striped boat neck tee, and a simple black dress from J. Jill and a printed cardigan from Cold Water Creek.   

After shopping, my aunt had a big surprise. She made reservations for us to eat at Peter Luger - one of the oldest and most respected steakhouses in New York! I do love me some steak and after doing some quick googling and reading the rave reviews my mouth was watering! The place has a real old school vibe to it and the menu features only the classics. We ordered so much food and ate until we felt like we were in danger of having to be rolled out of the restaurant. Neill snapped this picture of me right before we started eating. You can see the steak for four in the middle of the table as well as the german potatoes we ordered. We also got onion rings, creamed spinach, and a tomato and onion salad. 

Yummo! My family loves to eat and we spent most of dinner joking about what fabulous appetites we all have :) We washed the steak down with big spoonfuls of shlag, or whip cream. Here is my mom with the sundae we split.

You can bet we all went to bed very full that night! On Saturday, after hanging out with my grandfather in the morning, my aunt took Neill and I into Manhattan to see Avenue Q. Before the show, we got a chance to walk around a bit in the craziness that is times square. I love Chicago, but I've got to admit - New York has us trumped on this. We just don't have anything that compares.

Avenue Q was hilarious! Neill and I don't go out to see shows very often (like basically never), but we both had so much fun that we decided to try and catch more performances in Chicago. After heading back into the city we ordered a spinach and meatball pizza, played catch phrase, and all hung out until it was time for bed. 

And that pretty much brings us back to the present. Sunday morning consisted of one last bagel with cream cheese and lox and saying lots of goodbyes. Now, I'm safe and sound back in Chicago and luxuriating in being able to sprawl out on my own bed.

What was your weekend like? Have you ever been to New York? What was your favorite part of the city? Or, do you have another favorite city?

Guilford Press 50% off Sale

Once a year, Guilford Press does a huge 50% off sale for full time students. This is the best time to stock up on all of of the pricey treatment manuals. Check out these crazy savings!

Even though 260 is still a ton of money, without the discount all of these books would have cost more than 500 dollars. If you are a student, you can use the promotional code STUW to get the same discount. Then, at check out you will have to enter your student ID number and the school you attend.

Another super nerdy thing I got excited about? Most of the books for sale on this site allow you to read large chunks of the book for free using google preview and even download a sample chapter at no cost. I've already downloaded about twenty different chapters from different books.

Happy Reading!

Shoes. Omg Shoes. Let's Get Some Shoes.

Before I tell you about the shoes I just blew my budget on, let's all take a moment to laugh at this classic youtube video.

You know what's not so funny? I took a little trip to DSW with Grace and because I have absolutely zero self-control I left with THREE pairs or shoes.

But you see, I had to get all three. Or rather, if I was going to get one pair I had to get all of them because they are each different and there was no way I was going to leave empty-handed. I think you'll agree with me once I show you.

See? A pair of comfortable black flats that have the cutest lace up detail on the back,  a pair of fun, mustard yellow flats with a flower detail on the toe, and one pair of super practical black sporty slip-ons. All necessities . . . kind of.

The big problem? Finding a place to put them. Just over a year ago I shared with you a complete list of every single pair of shoes I owned. Since then I've done some purging (and let's be honest, some shopping), so I'm curious to see how things have changed. I copy and pasted my original list below, but I've crossed off shoes I no longer own or comments that no longer apply and put updates in italics. For fun, I also put them into categories.

To Deal With the Weather . . .
green uggs
pink uggs
purple uggs (which for some reason, i never wear)
brown northface wintery boots
green galoshes
black hunter rain boots

Summer Loving . . . 
black pair of fit flops
black flip-flops
green flip-flops
gold leather strappy sandal i bought somewhere in europe
black gladiator type sandal i also bought in europe, but that I don't wear
maryjane crocs (these give me blisters so I don't wear them)
ballet flat crocs
summery flats with a peep toe that gave me blisters the three times i've worn them
nude, suedey strappy sandals 
brown birkenstock sandals
pink t-strap sandals

I Could Wear These to A Wedding if I Had To . . . 
black pointy steve madden high heels
black leather heels
bronze heels 
black nine west heels

Everything Else . . .
black birkenstock clogs
colorful checkered slip on vans (come to think of it, i'm not sure where these are)
stripey slip on vans
purple and black flowery vans
gym shoes
black slip on shoes that are semi work appropriate, which i obviously don't wear
brown shoes that i bought for work, but then never wore because they are too small
heeled black ankle boots that i've never worn b/c they "just aren't me" worn a few times
old lady pumps that i wore to my grad school interviews, but haven't worn since
black ninewest boots
black old navy canvas boots (these are old but never made it on the original list)
brown cia bella leather boots
black wedges with a canvas sole (these are old but never made it on the original list)
black blowfish flats
yellow boc flats
black privo flats
black suede shoes with a small heel

Right now, I'm up from 26 pairs to 30. But since two of the pairs I added should have actually been included in the original list, its really only like going from 28 to 30. Not bad, right? But, these two extra shoes must have been the tipping point because it has become full fledged shoe chaos in my house. I'm in desperate need of an organization solution.

Are you a shoes girl? How many pairs do you have? And please help a sister out here - where do you put them all?