back from the lull!

enjoy these belated valentines day images... jeff's chain is counting down the days to our wedding

hi self, welcome back to the blog!

for those of you who have missed me, i can promise i have not been blowing off blogging for no good reason.  family guy reruns are a very good reason thank you very much.  well, at least they are when you've actually been stretched thin with too much to do.  so what have we been up to lately?

things are changing a lot around my workplace and as a result i have a significantly greater workload.  high hopes this won't keep me from blogging too much in the future, but a reasonably demanding job is actually quite a time suck.

planning a wedding is a task and a half.  particularly while planning on being a bridesmaid in two weddings, a guest at three more, planning an international vacay, and existing as the point of contact for everyone who is planning parties related to these weddings.

also somewhere in there we're fitting in a cross country move and related job hunt.  which honestly is becoming more of a stress reliever than stress producer given michigan's cruel persistence of mega-freezing temperatures.  science has confirmed it:  michigan's winter 2014 officially sucks the most.

on the plus side:  i finally replaced my battery charger for my DSLR so with any luck there might be more pictures coming to pretty this place up.  i'm going to do my best to keep pre-blogging when i can to try and spread the fun out over several posts for y'all.

now re-reading this it's occurred to me... not much is new (well my boss is new, but she's great).  i hate when people bemoan how busy they are, so let's call it a day.

xoxoxo

PS like the heart garland on our mantle?  it's easy to make - check out my post here.

happy birthday stevedore!!

happy birthday to:

my personal comedian

my co-cat wrangler

my bff

and my very favorite human in the entire universe

steve is officially 22 today (does it feel like the perfect night to dress up like a hipster bebay?)

happy happy happy birthday to my handsome, hairy younger man!  the world has been infinitely better the past 22 years since you've been busy livin' in it!!

[insert excessive/obsessive proclamations of love here]

word count: 34,149

guest blogger: court of lovecourtxoxo

happy wednesday!  thanks for stopping by while i'm out this week!  today's guest blog is brought to you by the darling ann arborean, court from lovecourtxoxo.com!

court is a fabulous photorapher and i love following along seeing what she and her handsome fiance are up to!  be sure to go pay her a visit over at her blog!

guest blogger: meghan of meghan silva lifestyle blog

thanks for checking in while i'm out on vacation this week!  please welcome meghan, today's guest blogger!

meghan is always coming up with amazing new posts about beauty, blogging, and staying inspired (along with recipes, DIY, and more... she pretty much does a little of everything)!  and she's a total sweetheart to boot!  be sure to go visit over at her blog, i promise you won't regret it!

no time to blog today

so enjoy this blog-related humor.

perhaps it will inspire you to watch party down. (aka the funniest show in the history of shows).

<3

sponsor us!

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consider this a quick hiatus from blogging

i will definitely be back with you next week.  life has just been kinda poopy.  not like please put me in your thoughts poopy, just a kind of general stress and yuck. in fact things are going to be getting really really UNpoopy soon and i will be back to tell you all about it, i promise.  in the meantime:

i'll be back soon!  love and excellence!

blogger faves

i always love when people leave comments on my and other blog posts with the URL to their own blog!  i follow a LOT of different blogs and i love seeing the diversity of tastes, passions, interests, and ideas floating around the creative zones of the internet.  i think i'm going to start sharing with my readers some of my favorites on a slightly regular basis.

to start off, i'm going to share with you the big 3.  the top 3.  the 3 blogs on the internet i would be saddest to see disappear.  here they are in order of preference:

3.  the locals (formerly copenhagen street style)

i follow a lot of different fashion blogs, but street style blogs are my absolute favorites.  i consider myself to have a pretty solid handle on my own personal style.  i love some fashion blogs because they really fit with my own fashion choices and offer great shopping inspiration for new pieces to fit my wardrobe.  

this is so far from the case with the locals.  street style blogs like this one feature really avant garde fashion choices on everyday people.  they challenge you to push the envelope with everyday style and teach you how to balance casual with couture.  it really helps me feel like i'm a step ahead of certain trends, and it's a great reminder that fashion is creative... not imitative.

2.  lang photographers (formerly underagedandengaged)

the mormon mommy blog has it's own magical little niche of the internet.  out of all of them, i enjoy following the lang family the most.

maybe it's the constantly sunny arizona weather around them, maybe it's the fact that stacie's references to profanity and dr. pepper make them seem the most relatable.  maybe it's because they are both unreasonably good looking, or maybe it's because they have two hilarious daughters with hipster names like ivy and lola.

i think what i really like most about this blog is the way stacie writes.  there is something about her sense of humor that really reminds me of myself.  i like to imagine in another life we may have been friends.  either way, this family is a riot and so inspiring to watch as they all grow up together.

1.  honestly wtf

in my opinion, honestly wtf is as good as blogs get.

the blog is a mish mash of pretty much everything that i enjoy on the internet.  it has editorial fashion shoots, orignal art, interior design, hair inspiration, recipes, crafty tutorials, but what ties it all together is its focus on extraordinary photography.  honestly wtf has an ever so slight edginess and artsy feel that i just don't get from other blogs that deal with this range of content, such as a beautiful mess.

because it has such a range of posts, it's difficult to put this blog into words, so i highly recommend you check it out.

and there you have it.  the creme de la creme of the blogs i follow.  so if you find your looking / reading list in a bit of a rut these are the places i recommend you start!

bloglovin

so you've probably already heard that google reader has called it a day... or will this summer... or something.  anywhoodles if you like keeping up on us zoo animals feel free to:

Follow Us on Bloglovin

my sister

my sister and roommate moved out of our townhouse two days ago.  she and her boyfriend are on an epic cross-country road trip to their new home san diego, ca!  steve, bert and i are missing them already, but we are very excited to have family in such a tropical destination!  vacation visits?  methinks yes!  we are wishing them the very best of luck on their drive (they may or may not have three uncaged cats roaming around their car).  power to you guys!

if you are interested, you are certainly welcome to follow along with their trip.

check out the blog they started!

back at last!

after a flat tire in north carolina and some EXTREMELY nasty weather through the mountains, we are finally back home safe.  i have some photos to sort through and touch up from our trip, but in the meantime, I was featured in a guest post over at my amiga Alyssa's blog Glitter & Gapske.  Head over and check it out!