Tuesday Things - Spring To-Do List

So, I was gonna blog about food today, but I haven't really cooked anything interesting lately.  Instead, I've been thinking a lot of all the things I want to get done now that it looks like spring has arrived.  I've basically been stuck in the house since the first week of December, so I have a lot of things I've been putting off.  And I have yet to write them down, so here we are :)

I need to:

 - adjust to freaking daylight savings time...I don't usually have any trouble, but these last few days have been ROUGH

- get my hair done!  My hair has not been touched since early October, and it has grown like crazy...and I got my highlights too light that trip, so my roots are super noticeable. (Note to self - go darker in the fall just in case you have to go all winter without getting it done again).  I had an appointment the week after Thanksgiving...but totally got the mustang stuck in the driveway...and I haven't wanted to drive it since :)

- get my car washed/detailed.  Brian's been driving my car everyday since Thanksgiving, including a two week trip to Chicago in January...and it's a bit of a mess :). It's been washed a couple times, but it's been way too cold to wash it often, and the interior desperately needs to be cleaned out.  I'd really like to get it detailed so it looks brand new again :). She's gotta stick around for a long time :)

- also car-related - clean out the garage!  Months and months of snow and stuff falling off the car and melting in the garage means it is DIRTY.  

- get a library card :). In part of my effort to save money this year, I think it'd be a good idea to join our local library, so I won't buy as many books (I'll still buy some, of course).  Plus there are a lot of books that I want to read, but not necessarily buy (mostly books by authors I've seen on The Daily Show).  Why am I explaining the point of a library??  Sorry :). 

- Go shopping!  I want to take a trip the the outlet mall to search for some of my spring wish list items. The outlet mall is about an hour away, and kind of annoying to get to, so I don't go often, but I think a trip is in order :). And then a trip to the Mall of America for anything else I need.

Ok, I think that's about it...super exciting, I know :). But spring!! Yay!  Anything you guys plan to do this spring? 

Flashback Friday - A Disney Engagement

[occasionally, on Fridays, I plan on picking out a photo (or two) and writing up a story that explains it.  Since Disney is on my mind, these seemed appropriate :)]

Ahh, March 2008.  I was finishing up my last semester of college (finally), it was sunny and warm (like March is supposed to be!), Brian and I had been dating for about a year & a half, and spring break was right around the corner.

Brian and I had been talking about getting engaged, but I didn't want to tell him how to do it, so all I told him was that I didn't want a lot of people watching (like in the movies or on tv when the couple is at a family party or something and he says he has an announcement and everyone watches while he gets down on one knee...no.  No, no, no).  But I also said that being in a large crowd, at Disney World for example, where the people watching didn't know me, wouldn't be so bad.  We also discussed rings, and (after a ton of probing) I said I wanted a princess-cut diamond, in a white gold setting that didn't stick out too much (I'm forever bumping my hands into walls...and door frames).

As spring break approached, Brian said he wanted to take me to Disney for the first weekend of my vacation, and stay at the Dolphin Resort, where I had always wanted to stay (I've always had a things for dolphins).  So, I had an idea that he might propose that weekend.  We spent that Saturday at the Magic Kingdom, and I kept seeing him adorably check his pockets as if he might lose something :).  Then, as we're watching the fireworks in front of Cinderella's castle, his arms wrapped around me, he pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him!  So perfect :) (I said yes, obviously!)

The ring itself was stunning!  I could not believe he had picked out such an amazing ring all by himself, with limited input from me :)  I spent the rest of the week back home, showing it off to anyone I could!  That's about the time I started regularly painting my nails too, because I wanted to draw attention to my hand without annoyingly shoving it in people's faces.

We had a pretty long engagement, but we finally got married in September of 2010 and are now living happily ever after!

I'd love to hear other engagement stories!  Feel free to share!

Have an awesome weekend!

Wishlist Wednesday - Spring 2014 - clothes & accessories

I don't know about you guys, but I am so very ready for spring.  This winter has been brutal!  So freaking cold!  Last year we didn't really get much of a spring (snow in May?? Seriously, Minnesota??), but I'm hoping it comes much earlier this year.

The last year or so I've taken to creating wishlists on my phone for when I go shopping (figuring out that I can do checklists in my iPhone's reminder app - priceless!).  I did pretty well with my fall wishlist, and thought it was time to get my spring list ready :)  Now, I am most likely NOT going to be buying all of these things...mostly because we're saving up to buy a house!  But, I may be able to snag some version of most of them, especially if I hit up stores like TJ Maxx & Nordstrom Rack :)  Oooh, or sample sites like Hautelook & Gilt (almost forgot about those!)

links: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 

1. I'm really wanting a good pair of boyfriend-like jeans that look cute rolled up, and AE jeans look the best on me.  I bought a cheap pair of jeans from Target last year, just to make sure I'd actually wear that look enough, and I lived in them!  So this year I need some that fit a bit better in the booty area :)

2. I've also been on the lookout for colored jeans for a long time!!  Every pair I've tried since they came back in style has NOT looked good, but maybe this year I'll have better luck :) I don't know if I want them cropped like in the picture, or long & skinny, but we'll see.  I think I want a blue or aqua color...maybe pink or coral though :)

3 & 4.  I used to have this really cute cropped trench from the LOFT that I wore to death!  Literally to death...it now has holes and just will not iron out at all.  (I even took it to get pressed at the dry cleaners, and they didn't have much more luck than I did.)  And since spring is actually a bit chilly here, I need a good lightweight jacket.  Now the question is whether I want another cropped trench like this one I found at the Gap, or one of the utility jackets I keep seeing for this spring...decisions, decisions :)

5.  After all of this snow starts to melt, its definitely going to be wet outside!  And spring is usually pretty rainy here, so I figure I definitely need some rain boots!  Of course I'd love a colorful pairs of Hunter boots, but might have to settle for some from Target.  The real question is, what color to get??  Any suggestions?

6.  One item that's actually a holdover from my fall list is a chambray button-up.  Something to wear with all the other colorful things I've got going on :)  Plus I think it is pretty much a staple at this point!

7.  Also a holdover from fall - a brown & gold crossbody bag!  There were several times this fall when I was getting ready to go out and had zero bags that went well with my outfit, when a brown & gold crossbody would have been perfect!  I would love a Rebecca Minkoff mini MAC, but anything similar would work.

8.  Finally, a new bright colored Longchamp Le Pliage!  I've been using a navy Le Pliage for over a year and absolutely love it!  So much, in fact, that last year for my birthday I got a larger one for my travel carry-on.  When they brought out all of their cute new colors for spring back in January, I had planned on getting one for my birthday this year (my birthday's in late January), but some unforeseen circumstances made me decide to hold off on any frivolous purchases.  Maybe I'll grab one for spring though :)  They're great for when it's wet outside!

And that's my Spring 2014 Wishlist!  Is there anything you think I've left off that I need for this spring?  Anything you're lusting after for when the weather finally warms up?  Let me know!

Be Happy,

Karen