Friday!!!

I'm so glad my post about friendship resonated with so many of you. Your comments made me realize that I'm definitely not alone... I'm glad we have each other! 

As soon as I leave here, I'm off to meet Garrett to pick up keys to OUR apartment!! Can you believe it? I can't. If you don't want to miss a second of the action (lol) you can follow me on Instagram!!!

As bloggers, we look through stock photos a lot, right? Here are some... um... strangely naked ones? For the boys that read this blog, here is some SOLID advice from a dudebro who has "learned about women." Really, you can't make this stuff up. Are you Type-A? Do you experience these side effects? 

In things that make you say "well, DUH." some study proves that 50 Shades of Grey (which is apparently still a thing we're talking about) perpetuates abusive relationships. What are your thoughts there? Do you love Hillary Clinton? I do, and apparently so does everyone else. But they didn't always. And since you know I'm a sucker for any article about millennials, here's a very interesting one about millennial Christians. Veeeeeery interesting.

Um, did I mention we're about to pick up keys? To our very own apartment? Does it get any more confetti worthy than that? I don't think so.

Have a great great great weekend!!!!!! 

Check out one of the sweetest (literally! get it?) bloggers I know, Leslie!

How to Write a Blog Post, A Helpful Guide

Have you ever wondered what I looked like when I'm in blogger mode?

So, the last time I posted one of my helpful guides, you all seemed to really like it. I really think I changed a lot of relationships for the better that day. 

1) Decide you should actually get ahead of the game and write a post for tomorrow before, you know, it's actually tomorrow.

2) Announce to partner that you, The Blogger, are about to 

3) Check Twitter, just to see what everyone's doing.

4) Engage in a ridiculous conversation with your blog friends about the hot topic of the day.

5) Oh right, you were about to go write a post. 

6) Make sure you have established the Ideal Blogging Environment (TM). This includes: laptop, box of wine, blogging notebook, and iPhone to continue checking Twitter without leaving your blog post. Also recommended (though not entirely necessary) is a doting partner to refill your wine glass. You're busy being a Professional Blogger, after all. No time for breaks!

7) Open browser. What were you doing again? Oh, writing a blog post. That's right.

8) Realize that ummmmmm... you don't actually have anything to write about. Sit in shock for a few minutes, because your life is so interesting and all. Talking about it should be way easier.

9) Check blogging notebook. What are all these scribble lists? Were they written by an actual person? There's nothing to write about in here.

10) Oh snap, the wine's gone. Better get some more from the box.

11) The wine gets your creative juices flowing, so you finally decide on a topic.

12) Every blog post needs a good graphic, right? Open PicMonkey and go to town.

13) Realize another 30 minutes has passed, and all you have is a title and a beautifully edited picture taken by your incredibly patient fiance.

14) Have you checked Twitter lately? Better make sure you don't miss anything!!

15) Your wine glass is empty AGAIN? Fix that.

16) Pat yourself on the back for being such a great multi-tasker.

17) Oh right, you still haven't actually typed anything. Maybe you should try that now?

18) Hammer out a few paragraphs. Dang, girl. You are funny.

19) Realize that three rambly paragraphs is totally sufficient for now. Pour a glass of wine, sit back, and relax.

20) Pat yourself on the back because ZOMG, you're such a good blogger!

21) Wait until 9am the next morning and realize that you never finished that bomb.com post you started yesterday.

22) Scramble to finish it so it can get max exposure.

23) Curse your own procrastination.

24) Realize it should NOT take 25 steps to write one freakin' blog post.

25) Repeat. Everyday. Because you will just NEVER learn, will you? Seriously, self. Seriously.




Check out one of the sweetest (literally! get it?) bloggers I know, Leslie!

Goals: I have them.

So, if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I laid out a bunch of goals for myself and for the blog. And let's be real here: I have SUCKED at keeping up with them.

So I'm here to tell you right now that all that is about to change. It's about to get way awesome and goal-oriented up in here. And instead of just saying "I'm going to focus more on my goals," I decided to choose a few to focus on, and make a plan on how I'm SPECIFICALLY going to meet those goals. Obviously, I'm telling you guys all this for accountability's sake.

So here's the plan, man:

I have lots of plans for things I want to create for the apartment. Unfortunately, I don't have an unlimited budget, so I'll have to spread them out a little bit. Here's the tentative plan:
August - Hooks and decor for apartment entryway. (sort-of inspiration here. I'm actually really excited about this one, and I can't wait to do it and show it to you!)
September - Jewelry Nook (inspiration here)
October - Gallery Wall in dining room (inspiration here and here)
November - Paint furniture and create centerpiece for dining room table (paint inspiration here and centerpiece inspiration here and here)
December - Curtains (inspiration here. I'll probably be using this tutorial.) and MAYBE painting the apartment? We found out we're allowed to paint, but I'm not sure if we will or not.

Now that Garrett and I are going to actually be together, and have a semi-normal schedule, we're really going to get into the intentional meal planning thing.  I'm going to do a more in-depth post on this sometime soon, but what I plan on doing is sitting down with Garrett at the beginning of each month and choosing recipes we'd like to make throughout the month. Then, at the beginning of each week, we'll choose what we're going to make that week. Planning meals for the whole month seems fine in theory, but we're so busy and plans change so frequently that we'd never stick with it. I'd like to avoid mid-week, unplanned, 'lets just make this' trips as much as possible. That's where we typically end up spending the most money, so being intentional is key here. I feel like there are going to be some growing pains with this one, but I'm excited about it nonetheless!
We also really, really need to start eating healthier again. I've gained ten-ish pounds in the last year. The number on the scale doesn't bother me (that much), but the fact is: I've gained weight because I'm being unhealthy. And I need to change that.

Our apartment complex has a nice little gym in it, so there's really no excuse anymore. I used to be able to run a 5k, and now I don't think I can run five minutes. I think I'm going to do the Couch-to-5K treadmill program, but we'll see. What do you guys do to get yourself motivated???

I'd like to read one book a month from now until the end of the year. To a lot of you, that probably doesn't seem like a lot, but it's busy around here, yo. So that's the goal for now. The plan is:
August: Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
September: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
October: MWF Seeks BFF by Rachel Bertsche (per Lauren's recommendation!)
November: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (I'm also going to reread Catching Fire in preparation for the movie, but that'll be easy.)
December: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
I'm also going to try to start using Goodreads again. Who else uses that? Want to add me, or whatever?

So there you have it. I have a plan, with measurable goals and everything. My dad would be so proud. Keep me accountable, okay you guys?!?



Check out one of the sweetest (literally! get it?) bloggers I know, Leslie!

"We could invite all our friends over!!! Oh, wait."

When Meredith and I went to see Avenue Q a few weeks ago, we were talking about how my parents should get a pool at their house. "We could have pool parties and invite all our friends over!" she said. And then we realized - our friends? uhhhh. What other friends?

Maybe it's because everything in my life is all shifty-changy lately, but I've been thinking about adult friendships a lot lately. What do they entail?

I never had that "we've been friends since we were six" BFF situation. I've always been intrigued with people who have. I have close friends, several of them. I talk about "my best friend" a lot, even though I have four or five of them. I'll say "my best friend teaches sixth grade" and then five minutes later say "oh yeah, last summer when I visited my best friend in Baltimore..." when those are two separate people. My friends all fill separate roles.. Jenna is my sit in coffee shops for hours friend. Kelsey is my lives far away so we text about nail polish all day friend. Meredith is my lets go shopping and get drinks friend.

All of these girls are people I call my best friends. But what does that mean? We easily go two weeks without talking to each other. Not on purpose, but we're all busy, and before you know it, it's been two weeks or three weeks or a month and boom! we have A LOT to discuss at coffee.

Friendships take work, you know? I mean, duh. Of course you knew that. I always knew they would. But I guess I didn't anticipate the kind of work. Kyle and I will plan a phone date three weeks in advance. A phone date! We have to PLAN a phone date. It's so weird, right? But it's really not. I mean, I know you guys are reading this and nodding along with me, because you totally have to do it too. 

And then there's the whole other weirdness of how some friends are 'talk on the phone friends' and some friends are 'gchat friends' and some friends are 'make plans via text and we'll just catch up in person' friends. I mean, Meredith and I have been friends for over ten years now, and we've never gchatted one single time, but I gchat with my blog friends nearly every day. Kelsey lives in Baltimore and we rarely talk on the phone, but Kyle (who lives in San Diego) and I talk on the phone once a month-ish. It's weird and illogical, right? Right. 

But all these people are my friends - my best friends. And at the risk of sounding TOTALLY cliche, our sporadic texting and once-a-month meetups and three hour phone dates are what has made our friendship that much stronger. And that's something I'll be forever grateful for. 

And PS - you're all invited for a pool party if my parents ever get a pool.

Check out one of the sweetest (literally! get it?) bloggers I know, Leslie!