1:32

so, it's one o'clock in the morning. 1:30, central time, to be exact.

i can't sleep. i'm wide awake. my mind is going 100 miles an hour. here is what's on my mind:

1. i am so glad that i updgraded to pandora one! love unlimited music. love no ads.
2. my upstairs neighbor's mattress has gotten louder. and louder. it's like they can't stop. please! i just want to go to bed!
3. tomorrow i really need to go to target and buy vacuum filters and lowe's to by a filter for my furnace.
4. tomorrow i also need to finish my laundry. it's getting serious!
5. i am so excited to see my family in northern wisconsin next week. so excited. i think a little relaxation and rejuvenation is just what this girl needs.
6. tomorrow i also really need to clean.
7. i hope the hawkeyes can pull out another win in kinnick on saturday. this season hasn't quite been what we were all expecting...
8. i really miss my life from a year ago sometimes. missouri, my friends, my life. alliteration rocks!
9. a lot of people asked me if i'm dating anyone today. the answer remains no. i'm kind of giving up on finding someone. i don't think i've really figured out how to be single yet. and i don't think i'm ready to date, honestly. too much emotional crap is still twirling around my heart/brain/body.
10. i really love late night skype dates with the little sister. maybe staying up until 1:32 isn't so bad!
11. i had dinner tonight with two married couples. they make me want to get married. and not want to, all at the same time. conundrum!
12. actually, i pretty much spend a lot of time with married people. or people who are about to get married, at least. weird. (not exactly the best place to meet people, see #9.)
13. pandora might have been the best invention ever. pandora and red box. that's all i need in my life.
14. and popcorn. and pizza. and mexican food. in regards to the end of #13.
15. i could probably get some cleaning done, but making this list is a lot more fun!
16. yes, the neighbors are still making noise right above me.
17. today when i was talking with one of my best friends via fb chat (another thing that makes my life!) i told her that i'll be the only single lady at thanksgiving. i said it was weird. she told me it wasn't weird and that i could move in with her and her hubby if i'm still single when i'm 33. i'll be the nanny she doesn't need because she'll definitely be a stay at home mommy. thank goodness i have such great friends looking out for me!
18. i think i found the perfect boots at nordstroms. and i can't wait to get them next weekend!
19. some people do their best thinking in the shower - clearly, i do it late at night!
20. does anyone else think that pandora can read their mind? it always plays the exact right music for my mood!

it's now 1:52. i'm gonna try and sleep again. look for a happy weekend! post tomorrow!

no. 75 & happy weekend!

hello all! isn't it a wonderful feeling when you walk out the door of the office on a friday evening? i love it. even when i walk out into a cold, wet, feeling winter-y drizzle. all i could think about on my way home was making a fire (and by making, i mean flipping the switch) and drinking a glass of wine. my dinner is in the oven and i happily found pretty woman on tv.

my head has been swarming this week with all of the things that i would like to get accomplished this weekend. in case you haven't heard, i have a roommate moving in in december and if this month goes the way that october did, that means she'll be moving in before i know it! tomorrow i'll be babysitting my favorite one year old twins (i can't believe that they are one year old!) and then hanging out with a pretty cool 3 year old. so, that leaves my to do list one night to get accomplished! here are all of the things i'd like to get done:

• bake pumpkin muffins using my new stand mixer
• laundry
• clean kitchen and master bath
• switch over clothes - i think we can all officially say winter is on its way

of course, there is a lot more to be done before the roomie moves in (like getting my furniture out of her room and my clothes out of her closet!) but i'm settling for starting to get the main living areas and my room done first.

what are you doing this weekend?

p.s. this was my 75 entry...and i've had this blog for over a year. i think i should probably work on that. here's to 100 before turkey day!

{today i love: web-videos}

i've been having a pretty crummy day, so i thought i would share two videos that made me smile.

happy hump day!

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

Sarah & Kyle from sweetTea media on Vimeo.

obsessed.

it has been a long time since i posted something about wedding invitations. a loooong time. tonight i am obsessed with these.

i am in LOVE with the colors. i am OBSESSED with the font. i can't wait to go to work tomorrow and play with it. but my favorite part? the envelope liners...

SO CREATIVE. i am jealous i didn't think of this. the invitation envelope says "you're invited" and the response envelope says "RSVP".

and i love that the script is in all lower case. which, if you didn't know is my personal fave.

photos via oh so beautiful paper.

fall is in the air!

after a cold, rainy saturday followed by a chilly, sunny sunday i am pretty much positive that fall has come to iowa. which i personally love. i already have accepted it and am looking forward to yummy sweaters, boots and jeans. the problem? i am in desperate need of a new fall wardrobe.

i have been wanting my wardrobe to "grow up" (hello, big girl job for almost a year and i'm still wearing the jeans chef got me two years ago...) in the office as well as outside of work. i have a clear picture of what i want to look like in my head. it's basically this:

all i want to do is introduce a little more polish to my wardrobe.

i think i will start with this:

i am now accepting donations for the 'monica needs a new wardrobe' fund.

what are you going to wear this fall?

(all images from jcrew & gap)

dark and twisty.

i have nothing positive to say. i'm feeling a little dark and twisty tonight and i'm letting those emotions get the best of me. i had so many things to tell you! even my cheerful yellow walls aren't doing the trick tonight.

it is feeling very fallish around iowa city tonight. it is making me yearn for new clothes. a new wardrobe. a chance to start fresh. and a textbook.

tomorrow i will head to kinnick to watch my beloved hawkeyes take on ball state. let's hope that they win. pulverize them. break the other teams legs. and for goodness sake, stanzi STAY ON YOUR FEET!

happy weekend - and happy fall!

happy weekend!

ahhh, weekend. isn't it so nice when friday rolls around and you think about how you don't have to go to work in the morning, because its saturday? this is a new phenomena for me because this is my first free-saturday since the opening of the studio. (i am soooo not complaining though, because that means its wedding season - my favorite time of the year! it also means that i busy with work & have job security. double bonus!)

tomorrow is my first football game of the season. i am so excited to make the walk to kinnick with the fam. i love fall. i love football. and i especially love the hawkeyes. (followed closely by the tigers, of course!) but i am not going to talk about football and the weekend. (although, i will tell you that i am excited to eat a hot dog tomorrow. so excited. and i will also tell you that i am in desperate need of a new facebook picture of my stylin' new do. hopefully i can accomplish both of these goals tomorrow!)

aside from watching the hawkeyes show the cyclones how real football is played, i have a few other goals:

• go grocery shopping (we're down to the bare minimums at the condo)
• paint my nails (i'm giving in and going dark. welcome, fall!)
• laundry. ugh-a-bug. i hate putting away laundry. i don't mind the sorting, washing, folding. but i HATE putting it away. isn't that strange? there is currently a nicely folded stack of my clothes on the armchair in my master suite. just sitting there. approximately two feet from the closet where they belong. so after doing the laundry...put it away would be another goal.
• meal plan. (okay, this could go with grocery shopping.) until recently, i gave up drinking soda. it had been a good couple of months without the sweet dark brown syrup, but recently i'm back on the crack pipe. (that's probably not a totes appropriate way to say that...) i have to kick the habit. have you all seen those nutri-grain commercials? where they say one good choice can lead to more good choices (or something like that...)? well, they are right. because with my relapse to the dark stuff i have also picked up on other bad eating habits. candy, 24/7. i can actually feel my teeth rotting. SO gross. hopefully after going grocery shopping i can nail down some healthy choices for lunch, snack, dinner, desert and breakfast. hopefully.
• clean my guest bathroom. i realized this week i have a tub. who doesn't enjoy a good bubble bath, a glass of red wine and a good book?
• clean master suite. head to toe (or floor to ceiling).

don't i sound like a good domestic lady? i should add baking to the list. but i don't want to have too many goals. i like crossing things off my list too much to be an over achiever this weekend.

what are you doing this weekend, huh? hope its ab fab!