Happy Friday!

I just had to share the professional photos from last Saturday's race (that I was too cheap to buy and instead took a screenshot)!

{via}

Yep, this was the best part of the Soldier Field 10-Miler.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Little Bit of Sass Thursday!

Heels by day

Boxing gloves by night

Can't wait to get back to a boxing class later!!!!

Wedding Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I'm VERY excited to announce that Kristyn from Chits & Giggles and I are going to start to host a Wedding Wednesday link-up starting next week! 

Next Wednesday, please link-up anything you want that's wedding-related. Whether you are a bride-to-be, former bride, frequent and amazing wedding guest, or even if you just have a story to share about a wedding experience, please share!

(Oh, and uh...if you could help to spread the word that would be awesome!)

Now on to the topic this week: calligraphy!

First of all, have you ever heard of Dabble? 

It's basically a site where you find random things you want to learn or teach...and then you go do it!

Here, let them explain:

Andrew told me about this site and I love the concept. I found a calligraphy class and thought it would be a cool skill to learn. Plus, I hate my handwriting. Furthermore, I want to address all of the wedding invitations rather than hire someone to do it or print out addresses on labels. 

Hence, I dabbled.

I emailed other brides-to-be and bloggers in the area and a few of us went tonight to Bar Toma for a 90-minute class for $20. It included a calligraphy pen and a few materials...and obviously a good time. 

I must say that it was such a treat to finally meet Stephanie from Bourbon & Glitter in person! She's so hilarious, sweet and fun!

She and Diane are really good at calligraphy, too!!

{Stephanie, Me. Diane took the picture.}

Calligraphy and beer. Classy and sassy indeed!

Nailed it. (Not.)

Not gonna lie, it was a big class and we didn't get any one-on-one instruction. While the instructor was a sweetheart, we basically all taught ourselves. 

Once she said, "the beauty of calligraphy is that you can write the letters however you want," I immediately tuned out and started to write my own things:

And of course:

Clearly I have a LOT of practice to do before I even attempt to address our invitations, but it was definitely fun to try! I might just have a new hobby!

What do you think about addressing invitations? Yay or nay on calligraphy? Could you care less?

Have a good one and please link up with us next week!!

Weekend Update!

{Linking up with Sami, Leeann, and Meg!}
First of all, Happy Birthday to my amazing sister Kate!!!!!!!! Love you! Second, on to the recap! What a fun weekend!

Friday after work my co-workers and I shopped along North Avenue and then went to a delicious carbo-loaded dinner at Frasca in Logan Square.

We rolled out of the restaurant and were off to Hannah's bachelorette party!!!

It was so fun hanging out with the ladies!

Unfortunately the night was cut short for four of us...

We had the 10-mile race in the morning!

Quite a few people ran the Soldier Field 10-miler.

I kind of hated it to be honest.

Mainly because by mile 6 my knees were killing me.

Also because nothing else hurt. I could have kept going if it wasn't for my knees. 

I met my three goals, though: 1) I didn't stop running; 2) I finished.

(Yes, it was slower than I would have liked and my knees hurt, but I still did it. I ran 10 miles.)

Oh and I waved my Terrible Towel across the 50-yard line. Goal #3 accomplished!

Andrew took this picture - he was so supportive!!!
I can't wait to see the professional photos!

After brunch and a liquor run I was out of commission for the rest of the day.

It was a good thing I got some rest, though, because we went to Hannah's wedding on Sunday evening!!!

So sad that turned out blurry :(

Monday we recovered, went to a delicious lunch with my girl Maureen, and went to our neighbor's fun cookout!

Phew!

Is it the weekend yet? I'm tired!

How was your weekend?

Little Bit of Sass Thursday

I am very happy I don't have mirrors in my living room. 

That way I can't see myself when I workout.

I'm pretty sure I look like this, though:

Here's one of Teddy helping me workout, too:

He's such a good coach.

In case you're curious, here's what I did today. One round of each, lasting 40 minutes total and generating buckets of sweat and sore muscles:



I'm definitely going to do this again! It was awesome!
Oh and real quick, is this a thing?

...because if it is, I need it so I can make fun of it.

Wedding Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday!

First of all, I have a question for the blog world: how do I retroactively ensure that my Pinterest pins show up on posts? The ones that I posted by the previous (easy) method no longer show up. (For example, this post.) Do I have to update ALL of those posts with the new html codes on Pinterest or is there a shortcut somehow? Please help! The empty images make me sad!

Now on to this week's topic: working out!

Since my CrossFit coupon expired I have been thinking about other ways to get into bridal shape. While I did enjoy CrossFit, there is no way I could justify a membership. So expensive! I have a LivingSocial deal for LA Boxing that I'm starting next week for a month and I run on occasion (to "train" for the Soldier Field 10-miler this Saturday!). Until the day comes where I can consistently afford a trainer or the expensive gym membership across the street from home, though, I have to keep buying these coupons and find other workout variations to get to my best shape for the big day.

If you're curious, here's my current routine: workout 5 days a week. 

That's it! 

I mix it up depending on the week (and the coupon).

Last night my co-worker and I had an amazing workout thanks to Christina's WOD (workout of the day) that she posted on her blog. It was killer! Since we're training for the race and since we don't have jump ropes, we subbed the jumping rope warm-up for a 1-mile run before the circuits, completed 3 1/2 circuits, and ran 1 mile afterward (aka the hardest/slowest mile of my life!)

Going with that same WOD mindset, I picked two from my Pinterest Motivation board for this morning's WOD.

I did this one three times:


...followed by two rounds of this ab workout:

These were both pretty tough and lasted about 35 minutes together. I also know of other WOD websites to keep variety in routines that I will definitely peruse those daily. While I loooove P90X and had amazing results from it, it gets boring after a while, you know? My co-workers and I do Insanity workouts once a week usually, too. Those are THE WORST. But in a good way :)

So, fellow workout buds, how did you reach your goal or how are you working to achieve it? While I workout 5 days a week, my goal is to look like I workout 5 days a week, know what I mean. No, I don't want to be skinny - it's not in me to be skinny. I just want to feel (and look) toned and strong. I only have about 11 months to accomplish this!

Help a chubby girl out and share your secrets, please!

Little Bit of Class Tuesday

I originally thought that today I would write about my amazing Birthday yesterday, but I just can't get the devastation in Oklahoma off of my mind.

So instead, I'm taking a break today because I simply can't brag about my delicious steak dinner and presents when some people can't find their children and all of their belongings.

Sending prayers to OK...

Hey oh heyyyy! It's my Birthday!

{Linking up with Sami, Leeann, and Meg!}
Mondays are the worst. But at least it's my Birthday, so that makes it a little better. I'm 28 today!
I celebrated my birthday alllll day on Saturday, starting with my last CrossFit class, a mani/pedi, and a haircut! 

{My attempt at an artsy photo. Didn't go too well, now did it?} I had a grand plan to go to The Holiday Grill & Bar at night, but the silly bar wasn't open.  On a Saturday night. In an awesome location.  It didn't make sense. Oh well! We thought quickly and after alerting the world (text, email, Facebook, FourSquare, Twitter) we went to The Third Rail Tavern instead! About 30 people showed up and we had a blast. The whole bar even sang Happy Birthday to me! 

I can't remember the last time I saw 3:30 a.m. Today I barely moved until 3:30 p.m. How was your weekend?

Wedding Wednesday: Our Photographer!

Happy Wednesday and welcome to the new folks from the giveaway I'm hosting on Meg's blog!!

I'm very excited to share our photographer with all of you today!

Any couple planning a wedding has their planning priorities, and one of ours was absolutely our photographer. I definitely did my research: I went to WeddingWire, the knot, and asked friends. I interviewed about 18 photographers over the phone and kept a spreadsheet with notes. Then I ranked them and had a list of my top 11 photographers. My next task was to limit the list down to five photographers and then Andrew and I would decide together. Honestly, there were so many awesome options that getting them to five was tough! So I gave Andrew 6.

After all of that, within MINUTES Andrew identified his favorite. I either know him really well or he's incredibly decisive. 

Either way, I was pumped with his favorite since she was my fave all through the process. Literally seconds into our phone conversation I knew we would get along. We gabbed and gabbed before we talked about photography. She was so awesome over the phone that I wish we met in person! Not even half of the photographers I spoke with asked any personal questions about me and Andrew. I was advised by every source that it is essential for personalities to be compatible with the photographer since they'll be with us all day. Some photographers just described their packages over the phone and that was that. Booooring. 

Once we passed our favorite by my parents, I called her and she said yes! Yay!!!

Tessa from Starling Studio is our photographer!

She gave me permission to share some of her photos from her Facebook albums. It's very difficult to choose among all of the beautiful options, but here are a few:

We just love her style and the quality is exactly what we are looking for in our photos. 

Also, check out this wedding featured on the studio website: the reception was at our venue and those photos were a huge selling point!! So so so gorgeous!

So there you have it! We're pumped and can't wait to meet Tessa on our next trip to Ohio!

Giveaway!

Hey everyone! I'm hosting a giveaway on Life of Meg today! It's for $25 at Sephora!
Please hop over and enter!

By the way, Meg's blog? It's pretty awesome. She defines what it means to be both sweet and sassy. I just love her blog! Stay a while when you're over there and say hello!!

Click here to enter!!!!