Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

My mom is the best mom ever and bought me The Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary Limited Edition set.   

The set includes a blue ray version of the movie with a 3D option, a book of the timeline of the development of the movie, a wizard of oz notebook, three pins of the 3 things her friends ask for, a globe (see below) and a thumbdrive of the red shoes.

So awesome.

Also, when I took out the globe I realized that he had a little button.  I pushed it and that's what happens...  As you can tell from the video, I was pretty excited.

TWO Days!

I don't even have the attention span to write a legit post.  Seriously.  I go to the Michael Buble concert in two days and then head to vacation the next morning....

Obviously my mind is not focused on anything else - including work. :)

Tomorrow, we have a staff event at work so I will really only be "working" for a few hours in the morning.  So today is technically my last day of work until September 23rd - excited much???

I probably won't post in the morning tomorrow since I will be working on packing that evening and I promised posts about packing.

Two days people, TWO DAYS!!!

The most epic month of 2013

I'm not kidding when I say that I have been actively looking forward to September since.... May... April even?!

As I am sure you have gleamed from this blog over time, I LOVE Michael Buble!  After seeing him in concert with Melissa in 2010, I have been actively stalking his website (and getting email notifications) for when he would be returning to the US on tour.

Like any great internet stalker, I was able to find out in late April that his US tour dates would be announced soon.  PLUS, as a Citibank card holder, I could get early access to purchase tickets.  Lucky for me, Chicago was his FIRST stop on his new tour!!!!!

As soon as I heard the dates announced, I sent a group text message to my mom and sisters telling them the day he was coming and asking them to commit ASAP if they wanted to go.  I was planning on buying the tickets as soon as they became available so I needed everyone's response and commitment.  Unfortunately, at the time, my mom had planned to already be in Barcelona with my dad.  So it was just going to be Melissa, Lauren and I.  (Of course, now plans have changed and she will be in town.)

So, I set a calendar reminder for the time and day that tickets would be on sale and waited patiently.  Just like my tickets to Brian Regan, I was able to score some pretty great seats for a reasonable price.  In fact, all three tickets were cheaper than the two tickets in DC three years ago.  And I think these seats might technically be a bit better.

Anyways, after months of random texts and facebook posts, that concert is finally THIS Saturday.  I'm super excited because Melissa and I had a great time last time.  He put on an amazing show and I know this time won't disappoint.  I'm also excited to spend the night with both of my sisters since I missed the Maroon 5 concert earlier this year.  Plus, last time Melissa was pregnant with Kayla and now Lauren is pregnant with baby #2.  Hopefully, this baby will become an early Buble fan like Kayla. :)

In preparation for the concert, I will be spending Friday night and all morning Saturday doing laundry and packing for the MOST EPIC VACATION EVER!!!

I know I've mentioned it a few times but that next morning, I will be heading out for my 11 day vacation to Barcelona and Paris!!!!!!!!  I can't even clearly convey how excited I am about the next two weeks of activities, so we'll just leave it at that....  lots and lots of exclamation points!

And then when I get back, we celebrate Brody's birthday.  Before I can blink it's going to be October, so I want to enjoy every second that September has to offer.

I know Leslie keeps bugging me and I am working on a packing post for my trip.  It probably won't be until Friday or Saturday though because I am only in the beginning - list making - point of packing.  :)

Finally feeling a bit better

 Today is my last day being 30 and I FINALLY am starting to feel better.  I still have a stuffy nose and a bit of a nagging cough, but I didn't wake up feeling like death today - so that's an improvement!

It also allowed me to actually make an effort getting dressed this morning.  It is HOT, HOT, HOT today, so I tried to go for something nice and comfortable.

*Dress - Macys (old), shoes - Nine West (also old)

This evening I have a meeting with some ladies that work at the Pinup studio to talk about planning events for them.  This is something I haven't really mentioned much in the blog yet, because it's just been some discussions over the last couple of weeks.

It actually came about because I started talking with Heather (the photographer/owner) about a little parttime job she had.  Through the discussion, we started talking about events she wanted to do and how that would be a better fit.  So this evening, a small group of us are meeting at the studio to have a "Think Tank" sort of meeting and we will go from there.

It was an interesting practice to have to put together a proposal for event planning and determine what my time is worth.  I went lower for her than I probably would've for others because I knew she would have a low budget.  Now we are talking about possibly doing a trade for the first few events.  She is worried about spending so much money to do the events and not knowing what the outcome will be.  Since I have wanted to go back and do another shoot, I agreed to talk with her about a trade.  We'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks.

The benefits of being single

I won't lie, there are definitely perks to being single.  The best one (in my opinion) being free reign of any space in the bed to sleep.

I can sleep on the right side.  Or the left.  Or in the middle.  Or no a diagonal.

I can sleep with just one pillow.  Or two.  Or all six.

I can con Samson to lay up there for a little bit without worrying about running out of space.

I can use all the blankets or none of the blankets.

So, during this holiday season when not being part of a couple is most recognized, I wanted to celebrate the little things...

Happy Friday!

I've noticed that some people post their "week by pictures".  I think I want to try this.  Stay tuned... maybe I'll remember to talk enough pictures next week.  In the meantime, some randoms for your Friday!

Fried Pickle Chips from Weiner and Still Champion - Awesome!

My favorite summer color combo right now - yellow and royal blue. (new tank top from Gap - super comfy)

Miss Kayla

I needed a good laugh this morning.  This totally did it.

I few weeks ago when we were visiting Melissa and Justin and Kayla, Kayla was fascinated by the things floating around in my drink.  This video only captures 1.36 minutes of the 5 minutes of entertainment.

A little funny

I couldn't resist.  I knew there had to be a reason why this is my favorite movie!

via pinterest

December Advent Blog Celebration

It's Christmas season and I LOVE Christmas season....  no wait.....

I
LOVE
Christmas season!

I'm not kidding.  I freaking love it!  Even with what happened last year (which was the worst Christmas ever).....  I still love it.

I love the music and the festivities and the decorations and the general excitement.  I'm a little sad that I will not get to decorate my house this year (since it's all in the POD), but I know it's for the best.

I got an email a few weeks ago from the company that makes my cutting machine that they had a cool limited edition advent calendar (complete with templates for the boxes).

(Advent Calendar)

Since I don't have anyone to make an advent calendar for... and at this date, it would have to wait until next year anyways... I thought I would do something a little different.  So, I present to you.....

The BLOG CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN.

What is the Blog Christmas Countdown you ask?  Well, I'll tell you.  Starting tomorrow (December 1), I will countdown the 25 days until Christmas with one of my favorite Christmas songs each day.

It's going to be Christmas-palooza on this blog!  And I know I'm not the only one that's excited! :)

P.S.  There will still be regular blog posts throughout, but every day will have a special Christmas post.

Food for thought

Insight from Melissa via Pinterest.  Originally found here.

Appropriate reminder as I start off my best year of my 20s. :)

Thought for Thursday

Found on one of my new favorite blogs, Etiquette for a Lady.  So true.

Food for Thought

“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.”

– Joseph Campbell

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Happy Thought #3

Getting to spend a week each year with my favorites without feeling the least bit guilty about it.

Happy Thought #2

Getting to decorate my next place of residence ANY WAY I WANT TO.

Including this headboard....

Found here

I better start working on my carpentry skills now.

Happy Thought #1

In the car on the way home listening to my ipod (this will make sense soon), I thought of a great addition to my blog.... HAPPY THOUGHTS. So today is happy thought #1. I'll be adding these as I think of them and will have a quick link in the header in the future.
I no longer have to have endless discussions on which is the better Canadian band: the Barenaked Ladies or the Tragically Hip.

It's totally these guys...

The Barenaked Ladies

*Still sad that Steven Page left the group.

I was introduced to BNL while I was a freshman in high school by a friend.  I loved them instantly.  Then as a freshman in college, I got to see them perform at the Bradley center with a group of teammates while I was at Marquette.  For years, it was hands down my all-time favorite concert (only recently tied for first with Michael Buble).

I couldn't possibly pick a favorite song, so I tried to pick a song that I really liked and felt exemplifies their "playfulness". 

*Sidenote:  this acoustic version ROCKS!

Ok, one final one. I love this song. (the guy in the glasses is Steven Page, the lead singer that left.)

*Trivia tidbit: BNL sings the theme song for The Big Bang Theory, for those of you that watch that show.