off to the races, i'm going places..

well hello Friday! I swear this week has been non-stop. Between Valentine's Day for the kids school, a birthday for little J tomorrow (he's going to be 3!!), and trying to pack for everyone to go out of town life has been a bit hectic. Plus I made a leap and joined ClassPass here in the city so I've been trying to fit in some gym time before being out for a week (which btw I love so far!!)

five randoms:

1) was having the most legit random thoughts yesterday about how I dress myself. As in I always put the same shoe on the first, arm in the same sleeve, ya-da, ya-da. Anyways, after a very interesting gym class yesterday morning (FlyBarre literally kicked my butt) I decided to switch it up and put my clothes on differently. It was really weird. Think about it, try it, be different and feel awkward. Lots of fun!

2) Tomorrow I'm leaving for Prague!! I'm super excited to get away and explore a new gorgeous city. I've received some great tips and recommendations from friends and family. Still need to pack though. baby steps.

3) I took Phoenix to the vet on Tuesday to get her contact taken out and while there went ahead and got a check-up for her. The vet basically told me she was perfect (she legit said "she is perfect"), and the best looking cat that she had seen in a while. my cat-dog is perfection.

4) Happy (almost) Valentine's Day! I've spent a better part of the last few weeks helping big J make valentine's cards for his classmates. He had an assignment (in Kindergarten) to make and write a personal message to every child in his class. This meant that I made 25 bookmarks and he wrote a message on the back. yay children!

5) In case you missed it... Wednesday marks my first Blogiversary!! I seriously cannot believe I've been at this for a year. In honor of the big day, I had some friends join me for a fun giveaway, a $75 gift-card to Amazon and a great ad space with Karissa from A Fresh Start on a Budget. Make sure you enter before it is too late!

Rebekah/Karissa/Kaelyn/Hayley

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Friday!

 

Happy 1st Blogiversary to....ME! + a giveaway

Well kids, not sure if you will believe it or not- but TODAY is my Blogiversary.

One year since I hit publish for the first time. woah crazy.

In honor of this spectacular milestone (with hopefully many more to come!) I brought together a few friends to celebrate the event. We a giving away a lovely gift-card to Amazon plus a great ad space!

shaa-bam.. turning 1 is kind of fun!

(also if any of you are having trouble loading the rafflecopter below, just click on my home page and enter through there. I just contacted rafflecopter and am trying to have this fixed but it is still possible to enter. home page, find post, enter.) 

Rebekah/Karissa/Kaelyn/Hayley

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

It is quite hard to believe I've been doing this for a year. In that year I've grown a lot...
I've:

• hit that publish button 213 times
• brought a new look to this place... just a few months ago I was rockin' this: 
  
• met a bunch of really really awesome people (like those fine ladies above!)
• learned to step a little out of my comfort zone
• been able to give blogging advice to others (who would have thought?!)
• created a space where I know I can be myself 

I hope you have all enjoyed joining in on this journey of mine- here's to another fantastic year ahead!!

5 Ways to Travel in Style (long-distance or cross country)

No surprise here but I love to travel.. when I travel with work it's usually with the luxury of sitting in first or business class, but in the real world I can only pretend to have that kind of money. So here are five wonderful ways to make your travels feel like first class while sitting in the back..

1) A really, really great pillow. Travel pillows come in all shapes and sizes but finding one that actually supports your neck is a given. I used one for years that inflated, which was nice on the packing but not that great on the sleeping. I just gave in this year and picked up this baby, the J Pillow. sexy, I know.

but the awesomeness of it is that is supposedly supports all sides of your head. chin, neck, cheek. you name it. I'm going to try it out on my flight to Prague next weekend- wish me luck!

2) Noise-cancellation headphones. No one likes  a flight with a crying baby, a screaming passenger or a seatmate that snores. Now again, as much as I would love to purchase a pair $300 Bose, there are many other affordable and quality headphones out there. I recently snagged these babies (used) for $86 on Amazon, and they had free prime shipping. Win!

3) Alcohol. Lets be real- no one wants to pay $10 for an awful drink on a plane, but we have all been there where one would have been super nice. So bring the drink with you! For a few bucks you can pick up an airplane bottle from the liquor store, pack it in your carry-on and then just ask for a coke when the flight attendant comes around. The biggie with this is that technically it is against the law for you to serve yourself on a flight so use some caution- have a drink before you get on the plane, or use discretion when tipping it into your plastic cup.

4) A cozy blanket. Those airplane blankets can suck it. They are never big enough, or warm enough, and those long flights can get cold. Find a cozy blanket it at Marshall's, TJMaxx, RueLaLa or wherever and make yourself a lot happier.Or if anything make sure you back an pashmina or large lightweight scarf.

5) Pack your own food. Airport food is usually junk, airplane food in the back of the plane- just as bad. Make yourself a tasty pasta salad, an array of snacks- fruit, nuts, a few pieces of candy, freeze a yogurt, a stick of hard cheese. Throw it all in a flexible lunch sack (like the one below, cute and will fold up easily when you are finished)  and bring it with you. I've never had an issue bringing food through security and it has a lot of pluses- you can eat when you want to (always takes the plane a while to serve), you know you are eating things you like, and you will be saving yourself some money. Don't forget to bring an empty water bottle too- you can refill it after you've gone past the x-rays and scanners!

 Happy Friday!

what do you say when you have nothing to say?

That's me right now- speechless, writers block, got nothing. Hence my absence here on the scene. I've got a mad case of I just don't feel like I have anything worth saying. My weekends are normal, my days fine. I'm pretending to plan my trip to Prague in a few weeks.

My cat Sadie had her teeth cleaned- I also found out she lost more weight, (about 3 pounds in the last year!) which is a very good thing. She is a fluffy lady but we are finally working on her health..

I'm in the middle of two pretty good books and one not so good book (A Fifty-Year Silence, The Girl on the Train and  Beauty Queens.)

Gilmore Girls on Netflix is drawing close to an end for me.. I have just a handful of episodes left before I've finished the series, again. And so many questions about the shows timeline! I'm very very confused about how Luke and Lorelei actually met and when? Things that also make me aware that I have too much time on my hand to really be thinking of questions like that. Next on my list is to finish Lost, again. Then I might start The 100. We will see.

Speaking of TV, The Walking Dead is back on Sunday! And The Red Band Society decided to air the last few episodes they made, which is really nice and depressing at the same time.

Had a fun time watching the Superbowl with my friends, sad the Patriots won, but it was fantastic game and left shark was clearly the overall winner. I made some chocolate chip cookies and buffalo chicken dip for the gang. good times.

Nephew #2 is due at any moment and I can't wait to meet him and find out what his name will be!

Stitch Fix box 9 also came in the mail but I was too lazy to photograph if for you all/I only kept one thing anyways.

And I think that's all I got for ramblings right now.

Until next time. Which will hopefully be sooner rather than later.