Easy Breezy Tuesday

Man, I am tired.  I am still trying to catch up from my weekend in Atlanta and last weekend up in Milwaukee.

I really had a good time up at the Wisconsin State Fair, eating and drinking all of my favorite things....

We had so much fun that we wore Liam out...  Poor guy might have gone one too many times to the fair.

And in a totally unrelated story... this is what I am wearing to work today.  Its supposed to be a high of 70 which is perfect to get another wear of my white jeans before its September.  The shirt is new from Express that I picked up this weekend and I LOVE it.

And Leslie, I picked up several new great things at Gap and Express this past weekend that will make it on my packing list.... TBD. :)

Thinking about packing 30 days before I actually travel

Yesterday I had a pretty hilarious conversation with Leslie (Hi Leslie!) about packing for my upcoming trip to Barcelona and Paris.

I realize that I have spoken much about this trip (yet) on the blog.  Mostly, this is because I'm so freaking excited about it and if I talk about it all the time, this will be the longest 30 days of my life.

So, I'm not talking about it too much - but it is quickly approaching.  And thinking about the packing is making me nervous.  Which is what Leslie and I started talking about.  I promised her that as it gets closer to the trip, I will post details about the outfits I plan to wear (because I will NOT look like a tourist - I refuse!).

In the meantime, there are a few things on my blog that would be good outfits/items to pack.  Like....

This outfit - with different shoes.
The Jardin skirt - either the blue or the purple - or both
Definitely this skirt - because its awesome!
This jacket and pants - because they are versatile
Of course this sweater - and blazer probably
Probably this top - it's easy to dress it up
And definitely something like this - layers, layers, layers


So at least there are my starting ideas.

One year - the permanent deletion

Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote a post about the final closing of my house and my last relationship.

Words cannot express how nice of a year it has been not having to deal with my ex or that house.  In the back of my mind, I was constantly prepared for a random email about a problem in which I would have to communicate with him.

In truth, it never happened (A-freaking-MEN!).  So today, I did what I have been looking forward to.  I officially deleted his contact information from my phone.

I'd like to take a moment to recognize this achievement....

Conferences, conferences everywhere

Sorry for the random absence, although I guess recently I haven't posted every day so you probably didn't even notice.  :)

This past weekend and through Tuesday I was down in Atlanta for a conference with my peers.  I always enjoy attending conferences as an actual attendee as opposed to working it.  I stayed with Sara from my old office and had a great time.  It was nice to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while and make some new friends.

I'm pretty tired so I'm looking forward to heading up to Milwaukee this weekend to visit with Lauren, Kevin and Liam and go to the State Fair (fried food and cream puffs, oh my!).

And just to round out this incredibly pointless post, here is an outfit pic.   Is it Friday yet???

*shirt - Ann Taylor, skirt- Jcrew, shoes - payless

Birthday Pinup Shoot

If you remember, almost two weeks ago, I mentioned briefly a birthday pinup shoot.

A little back story for you.

I have recently been speaking with Heather, who is the owner of Vavoom Pinups (website has music) about helping run some events for Vavoom.  Four of us "vets" were invited to participate as VP Contributors and help really beef up some of Vavoom's activities and presence in Chicago.

During this meeting Heather started talking about some future ideas she had which lead to me mentioning (not so subtly) that my birthday was the day after our meeting.  And thus, the impromptu Friday birthday shoot was born.

Since it was my birthday shoot, I decided to pick up a few birthday related props.  First were a bunch of balloons from Party City.  *Side note, I need to buy balloons more often.  They just make you feel happy!

Then, I stopped at Molly's Cupcakes on Clark to get a few fun looking cupcakes.  I also had some confetti and candles at my house to use.

As I mentioned last time I did a shoot, the first thing you get to do when you arrive is get your hair and makeup done.  Being the last person of the evening and know having chatted with Sara, the hair stylist a few times, it was nice to have a nice time just chatting with the girls. I snagged a couple of pictures of the getting ready process.

 They had some new water glasses at the studio - how adorable are they?!

 This is Sara perfecting my 'do.  I'm sure she would be thrilled by this picture.  Sorry Sara!

After my hair and makeup were done, I was just sitting and chatting waiting for the girl before me to finish and for Heather to put out a few fires for the next morning.

The shoot was a ton of fun.  By the time we got started, it was just Heather and I left in the studio.  We took a few shots with the balloons, a few shots with the cupcakes and then I put on my black high waisted bikini for a few final shots just to round out the shoot.  There was TONS of laughing and I had a really great time with the shoot.

It's amazing how much more comfortable I was with Heather the second time around.  Not that I wasn't comfortable the first time, but the second time was different.  Also, it's addictive.  So there's that. :)

After the shoot, Heather and I sat and looked at the pictures (and got another good laugh in).  She touched up a photo while we were sitting there talking, which was really interesting to see their process.  I ended up leaving the studio around 12:30am that night.

Here's the photo she touched up while I was there.

photo by Vavoom Pinups

#56 - Travel First Class

I can't believe I forgot to post this..... I did get to travel first class for the first time.

Thanks to my mom and her awesome miles program, I was able to fly first class out to my trip to NYC!

I tried to grab a picture, but what was I going to take a picture of?  Plus, it's not cool to exploit first class people... seriously.  :)

Goals Update: July

I don't know what happened, but July went by so quickly, that I didn't realize I didn't post an update until August 2nd.

1. Complete at least 2 items from my 101 IN 1,001 LIST each month - I did this one and this one (almost forgot about the second).  I know a few more will be accomplished in the next couple of months.  Also, in looking through the list, there are some I'm just not interested in accomplishing anymore.  I guess that can happen when you write a list almost two years ago.

2. GET IN SHAPE - Fail.  Totally fail.  I need to get back into this ASAP.

3. EAT BETTER -  Well, I did that cleanse which was interesting (to say the least).  I have been eating pretty well (with exception to my trip to NYC).  The great bonus to the cleanse is that I seem to eat smaller portions before I get full.  I'm hoping I can contain that and not get back to where I was before.