november you sneaky month

Um. WHERE did October go?

I barely had time to get out my scarves before November hit and with that, one of my favorite months is gone, leaving way quicker than it came. 

October was filled with lots of ups, including a friend's wedding, a weekend trip to Akron to visit Adam's granny, and even a few Wildcat wins. All of which I took approximately five pictures of. Total.

It was also the month that The {Something} Project, a blog created by a good friend of mine, officially launched. Molly was kind enough to ask me to contribute, although if you've been reading here long enough, you know I am clearly no expert on any topic whatsoever. So hop on over there to check out what's going on in the lives of eight interesting, hilarious, fun-loving gals. And me.

I'll still be posting to finer feelings of course, but what's better than one blog that I can contribute to? 

The answer is two. 

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favorite word

Pillow.

Is having a favorite word weird? Because I've always had one. In sixth grade, it was doodle. Sometime around high school, it became pillow.

Whatever the reason, I love that word. It makes me so happy.

During our stay in Austin, we slept on the most amazing pillows I have ever encountered. I can't stop thinking about them. 

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If only I could justify spending the pretty penny they cost....

just call me magnum

It's a wonder that summer is over. I wish I could say I was busy doing fabulous things to blog about, but the truth of the matter is I didn't do too much.

Three books were read. Three trips to the Ozarks were taken. Many glasses of wine were drank on Blue Eyes' back porch. I moved in with my parents before the big day. I found the dress. The best season of the year has started.

I rode in a helicopter for the first time. 

I missed blogging.

snow day

It's a little after 9am and the courtyard of my apartment looks like this.

That's five inches of snow in less than three hours people. Did you know thunder and lightning still happens when it's snowing? I would have thought no way until just a few minutes ago when I heard it firsthand. In my defense, Kansas City really doesn't get much snow. 

The plan is to only leave the comfy confines of my apartment to Instagram some hopefully really pretty pictures of snowflakes and the overall whiteness of my hometown, within a twenty foot radius of my front door. There's zero chance I'm driving in this craziness. 

Happy snow day to the rest of my Midwest readers. Stay safe and warm out there!

quiet weekends

This quote really resonated with me this weekend. I did next to nothing of entertaining value, but did a whole bunch of resolution #1 and got a lot of things crossed off the to-do list that had been there for weeks. It doesn't happen often that there's not a thing in my planner except "get mani/pedi with Mom" in it, so I took full advantage. It was glorious, relaxing, and rejuvenating.

We did venture out lazily Saturday night to catch Django Unchained. Who has seen it, and what did you think? Minus a few unnerving scenes, I thought it was highly entertaining and worth watching.

So back to the subject at hand: what do you do when you don't have any (and don't necessarily want any) social plans over a weekend? I'm looking forward to making room for a few more of these quiet weekends in the near future. 

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Christmas spirit

I had a long post drafted last week about the Christmas spirit, and how I hadn't been feeling Christmas-y yet this season. When I went to post today, I realized none of that was true anymore.

After work on Friday, I ran to the Plaza to exchange a top at H&M. If you're not familiar with the Kansas City area, the Plaza is our city's pride and joy at Christmastime.
While the Plaza is a very nice area, it naturally attracts the less fortunate, who sit on the sidewalks asking for money. I was walking out of H&M when I saw an older lady in a wheelchair with a sign asking for donations about 15 feet in the direction opposite of my car. I started to turn towards the parking garage when I saw a well-dressed older man and his wife stop and talk with the woman in need. They had a lively chat of a minute or so before he handed her a 20 dollar bill and continued towards me. The woman in the wheelchair was glowing. Yes, I was just standing there, watching her happiness unfold.
I know this sort of thing happens often, but for some reason that was the trigger that sent me in to full-blown Christmas spirit. I walked to my car literally smiling I was so happy to have witnessed that random act of kindness.

From that point on, my cheery Christmas mood was catapulted in to overdrive with all of the fun festivities of the weekend.

sparkles and curls for a holiday party at Arrowhead stadium.

using the estate sale KitchenAid in preparation for a cookie exhange.

Homemade lasagna and wine in Waterford crystal before the ballet.

The Nutcracker at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center. (Recognize those two?)

Our view of the stage from our box seats. NBD.

It was busy. It was fun. It was really festive.
Bring on the cold and snow and holiday music. I'm ready now.

month in photos: october

October was one wild ride.

6 happy hours.

4 Wildcat wins.

2 bachelorette parties.

2 surprise birthday parties.

1 nasty cold.

1 bucket list item completed.

0 cute pictures with Blue Eyes.

countless prayers said for the victims of Sandy.

just a bunch of slobs at Liz's bachelorette party in St. Louis

be prepared to see many more pics of Tiff and I in January as we head off to Mexico for destination wedding #2.

pretty pink Kansas City sky. 

impomptu DIY project with leftover Kate Spade packaging.

number 2, baby.

my 2013 planner arrived, compliments of Letter C design.

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I'm celebrating two 30th birthdays, seeing a good friend (and awesome blogger) I don't get to see near enough, cheering on the Wildcats, and hitting up the Hollywood casino with my family & Blue Eyes for baby bro's birthday.

Hope yours is lovely too. 

whirlwind

how i'm feeling lately.

These last few weeks have left me feeling completely upside down. Between traveling for work (recruiting trips in Manhattan and Orlando for a conference) and play (Utah and Wyoming), multiple happy hours and other special events each week (not complaining - but it's getting to the point where I have to start saying No) and trying to keep up a semi-consistent fitness routine, eating well, maintaining good relationships, (oh, and that little thing called my job), I'm about to crawl in to my messy room and not come out until I'm completely unpacked, the laundry is done, my vanity is cleaned and my pile of reading material is read. The length of that sentence is reminding me of the length of my to-do list..... Gah. The reading material alone would take weeks, and with lots of fun activities in the month ahead (and hopefully follow-up posts about them) unfortunately  hibernation is not an option.

So here's where I ask you, my lovely readers,  for advice. How do you take a step back from the chaos, get a fresh perspective on things, choose what to attend and what to skip out on, wind down, etc. when it feels like you just can't catch up?

image can be found on my happy pinterest board. if someone can find/knows the source, please let me know!

updates

Today I am providing updates on the many ongoing projects and goals I've put in place over the last few months.

First topic of discussion: Fantasy Project Runway

This season is going about as poorly as last year. I drafted one awesome competitor, Sonjia, who is carrying my team. Andrea was a coward and left the show in the middle of the night, and Raul is the bain of my team's existence as he continually ends up in the bottom of the bunch, awarding me with negative points each episode. When he finally got kicked off a few weeks back I was thrilled he wouldn't drag my team points farther in the red. But as Project Runway has been known to do, the producers invited the man with the ugliest hair in the history of the show back, just to give Heidi Klum the task of saying auf wiedersehen to him for the second time last week. I just about poured a glass of wine over my head when I saw him back in the work room.

Second topic: Spending freeze

Five days in and $0 spent on clothes/accessories/shoes.

brunching @ Gram & Dun

$70 spent on brunch yesterday. Good thing I decided food & drink weren't part of the freeze.

Third topic: 2012 resolutions

1. Learn Spanish. Doing a pretty horrible job on this lately.

2.Work out three times a week. I'm averaging three work outs each week and really enjoying the classes offered at Woodside.

3. Go to church. Summer is tough on church attendance with lots of lake weekends. Probably now averaging 2-3 times per month.

4. Eat more veggies. I'm making a concentrated effort to up my veggie intake, but am not at the level I'd like to be at yet.

5. Read 12 books. I finished book one of the 50 Shades trilogy and can't imagine taking any more time out of my life to finish the series. I'm now over halfway through Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? tome. So I've read 6 1/2 books in almost 9 months. Does anyone else slow down their reading over the summer?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. And if you have any quick but enjoyable book suggestions for me, I'll take them! I really want to cross that resolution off in December.

mason jar chandys

First item of note today: All six of my crazy friends landed safely after free-falling from a plane for 90 seconds at 120 mph. Needless to say, I went to church Sunday night to give a little extra *thanks*.

After the long afternoon in the sun, the last thing I wanted to do was go to an outdoor concert. But that's what I did. Old Crow Medicine Show only comes to Kansas City but once a year, and Blue Eyes and I were not going to miss seeing (and singing to) Wagon Wheel in person.

Ketch, Willie and the rest of the band were amazing live! If they come to a town near you, please do yourself a favor and go to their show. Not only is the music and entertainment factor a wow, but the stage decor was possibly my favorite. Ever.

Pretty chevron lights lit up the backdrop and mason jar chandeliers hung from the catwalk.

The whole mason-jar-as-decor thing is not new. Especially if you've been on Pinterest since last June, you've most likely seen the same mason jar pins be recycled and repinned over and over. I do still enjoy a good mason jar vase, but there was something so rustic and whimsy and perfect about these chandys at the concert. I wish I had a better picture than the above. It doesn't give the chandeliers justice at all.

Can't get enough of mason jar chandys now? Me neither. I would love to host a party or shower where I could put these to use!

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weekend recap

I'm not ready for Monday, so I'm going to reminisce over the past weekend instead of write about anything forward-looking today. The past few days were quite relaxing, with a housewarming Friday night and a girls' night at the hidden Manifesto on Saturday. If you're ever in Kansas City, you must go to Manifesto. The bartenders are talented mixologists that mix delicious ingredients like red bell peppers, egg whites, cilantro, and butternut squash puree in their cocktails, and the ambiance is that of a 1920s speak-easy.

Here's a little peek in to my weekend:

Hanging out college-style at the pool with baby brother.

The quirky rules at Manifesto. 

How were your weekends? Whatever you did, I hope it was lovely and relaxing!

month in photos: may

One of my favorite months has come and gone. May was filled with tons of sun, a tiny bit of travel and plenty of patio time. Can't complain about that!

Boston:

Trinity Church.

George Washington.

Hancock tower. They have a pretty amazing food court on the main level.

Fun with friends:   

out with the girls, way too much flash.

Blue Eyes enjoying Cinco de Derby. Yes that is a seer sucker suit. ♥

Caught a lot of rays pool side with the roomie.

the grad in front of his favorite K-State bar.

While I was doing this.....

... Blue Eyes was getting some besos from his sweet Goddaughter. Love her!

Miscellany:

latest Pinterest meal: ham & cheese sammies.

SportingKC game. Nice save, too bad it was the opponent's goal keeper...

Today's outfit. Pants: J. Crew / Top: J. Crew Factory (similar) / Cardi: Banana / Watch: Burberry / Shoes: Steve Madden (similar)

cirque de sol Mon: round 3

**You've just entered a judge free zone**

This weekend is the Crawl for Cancer, or as Blue Eyes calls it, Cirque de Sol Mon.... because as you can tell from last year's pictures, it's a bit of a circus. Our theme last year is a personal favorite: 80s fitness. Please note my ridiculous two-toned leggings and crimped hair. This year our team dwindled from a healthy 11 people to 5, however we are determined to be small but MIGHTY in our neon outfits.

Happy weekend everyone, TGIF!

weekend recap

I can't believe it happened, but baby bro graduated college this weekend! He made it through two 20 hour semesters his Senior year while bartending and remaining involved with his fraternity. This was clearly cause for celebration in the Ahrens household, so my parents and I left for Manhattan early Saturday morning to watch his commencement. I'm so proud of him, and excited that he's moving back to Kansas City to start his career.

the relieved grad

The early morning road trip meant I needed to lay low Friday night, which I didn't mind doing at all since it was Big Trash Day in Prairie Village. If you don't have one of these (I just learned about them two years ago), it's a day when the city makes a deal with the trash companies to pick up any large items they normally wouldn't accept. Mattresses, furniture, carpet rolls, you name it. The night before the garbage trucks come by, scavengers drive through the streets to see if there are any pieces that can be salvaged. One man's trash is another man's treasure, right? We sat 10 feet from the street in Blue Eyes' drive way with a cooler between us and, naturally, created a BTD drinking game. One drink for Missouri license plates, two for a truck with Big Trash in it, three drinks for a towed trailer with Big Trash in it, and an additional drink if the vehicle stopped in front of a neighbor's house to search through their loot. I was hoping to see Trish Moore, the genius behind Good Ju Ju rummaging through the neighbor's stuff, but no such luck.

After the excitement of graduation day, Sunday was spent outside, sipping red wine with my wonderful mom while my dad grilled rib eye steaks. All in all, a wonderful May weekend!