december?!

i'm not exactly sure how it happened,
but i barely had a chance to celebrate fall this year!

we didn't carve pumpkins or decorate our front porch w/ hay bales.
we didn't go to a haunted house or see a scary movie.
unless you count hocus pocus.
we didn't decorate inside the house for fall either,
unless you count the four orange dish towels that i got out.

i did manage to celebrate fall in a few small ways.
by consuming my fair share of salted carmel mochas.
by taking in the turning leaves on morning & evening walks with the pup.
by attending the college homecoming football games of both of our alma maters.
by taking my cowboy boots out for a fall weekend in nashville w/ the girls.
by restocking & then consuming my supply of red wines.
by wearing skinny jeans & aldo boots every chance I could.
& by dressing up Sampson for halloween as a shark, for all of three minutes.

here's to hoping that i fully celebrate winter for all that it's worth!
peppermint mochas. hats & gloves. warm fireplace. cozy blankets.
twinkling lights. more red wine. baked goods. puppy's first romp in the snow.

photo is a print as seen on the raceytay etsy shop

homecoming

this weekend i'm headed home.
home to my alma mater.
home to the butler bulldogs.
home to my sorority house.
home to the place of some of my favorite memories.

cheers to a fantastic education.
cheers to the place where i met my best friends.
cheers to my old stompping grounds.
cheers to the nostalgia & the memories.
cheers to some of the best days of my life.
cheers to butler u.
image via kelseys wanderlust

excitement

sometimes i feel that i don't have too much to blog about.
life isn't that exciting around these parts these days.
wake up. walk dog. get ready. go to work.
work. work. eat lunch {read blogs}. work. work. go home.
eat dinner {prepared by husband}. walk dog. watch tv. go to bed.

but there was a time, back in the day, where life was a little more exciting.
day drinking, spring breaks, sorority socials & bar hopping in broadripple.
blind dates, break-ups, road trips & the hilarity {& innocence} of freshman year.
& other things that cannot and should not be mentioned.
most of which my mother, who reads this blog, doesn't & shouldn't know about.

but someday, i hope our kids ask me about those days.
& i might refuse to tell them until they are out of college, but i hope they ask.
because i was young & wild & free once, and i had a blast.

just don't ask about the motorcycle.

lucky september

september has come & gone in the blink of an eye.
it was filled with trips to the lake for labor day
& to nashville for a girls weekend in the finest honky tonks.

it was a month where sampson discovered his love for
hotdogs, the fall breeze & the stuffing inside any and all toys.
he perfected the act of stealing socks from the hamper.
he got yelled at by a neighbor for something he didn't do.
& he was upgraded to bigger water and food bowls
which, for me, was a sad milestone to mark.
most importantly, september 27th was our 3rd wedding anniversary.
we went out to a nice dinner, just the two of us.
i even tried the bang bang shrimp.
we've been talking a lot lately about what direction we're taking our lives.
personally, professionally & as a couple.
there's a few unknowns at the moment, but one thing is for sure.
we're looking together in the same direction.

tied the knot & lucky in love.
picture via mary ruffle (orig­i­nal source eliz­a­beth demos via design sponge)

out with my boots on

it's been a while since i've been to nashville.
there's something about that place that makes me feel alive {& young}.
maybe it's the neon lights.
maybe it's the plethora of cowboy boots tapping to live music.
maybe it's singing at the top of my lungs in a honky tonk with my girlfriends.
whatever it is, i have determined that it's good for the soul.

i'm going to miss out on sharing this fall weekend with the husband & the pup
but the bright lights on broadway are calling my name.
be back sunday. xoxo

image above by aron wright via design sponge.

rural sights & rural sounds

this past weekend we ventured out of the city limits to a farm.
a farm with chickens, goats, cows, pigs, llamas, turkeys, horses
& lots of other little creatures.

we were there for a company get together, of sorts,
& were allowed to roam & explore the property.
we held the chicks, watched kids chase the goats & gobbled at the turkeys.
we mingled with co-workers, enjoyed the potluck food & drank a few beers.
we laughed while watching the egg toss competition & the sack races.
& there were a few moments, even in the midst of the 300+ people nearby,
that i was able to take in every morsel of the farm.
the breeze through the trees. the dirt paths. the old red barns.
the roaming farm dog. the old farm equipment. the shade of the trees.
the chirping crickets. the hard work of generations of a family.


even living in the suburbs, moments like those are hard to come by.
moments of reflection. of deep breaths. of appreciation of the simple life.
did i mention that it was 70 degrees and partly cloudy?
there are worse ways to spend a Sunday.

photo by: max wanger: oh my leftovers

puppy class

yesterday sampson started an 8 week puppy obedience class.
& i have to brag, for a second.
because sampson is clearly the smartest puppy in the class.
{the smartest out of a total of 3 dogs, but that's beside the point}

the instructor noticed right away that he could already:
walk properly on a leash, sit & recognize his name.
to say that i was basking in the compliment would be an understatement.
proud momma.
there's really no point to this blog post.
other than to brag about my puppy. i just can't help it.
sure, he has his moments. but, to be honest, he's pretty much the perfect pup.
for example, as i type this {while finishing my glass of wine @ 11pm}
he's snuggled atop a pile of his daddy's clothes on the bedroom floor.
he hasn't moved an inch or made a peep in the last hour and a half.
neither has his daddy, who is snuggled up next to him.

they are both so precious there on the bedroom floor.
well behaved and snuggly, just the way i like them.

picture above is of sampson on the bed in our guest room at some point in august.
he has since doubled in size.
so there's that.