St. Partrick’s Day!

Happy (belated) St. Patrick’s Day!

Before I jump into the few pictures/story of what I did, you should take a look at Erin’s St. Patrick’s Day post that made me nostalgic. She hit the nail on the head and I loved looking back on our dancing years together. Have I ever mentioned that I Irish danced? It was a huge part of my life for well over a decade, both dancing in shows and competing. Loved it all! Over the years I got to meet some really fabulous people and experience once in a lifetime events.

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 This year Corey and I went for brunch at Salt & Pepper Diner and then met up with some friends and headed up to Wrigleyville for an afternoon of drinking at Bernie’s. Later Corey and I took his dog for a walk, ate dinner, and cuddled up on the couch and watched The Seven Year Itch. It was a good day

Hope you all had a fab weekend!

xoxo

leap day!

Leap Day is one of my favorite days everrrr.

And I really do mean EVER. It feels so special. And happy. Especially yesterday, people! It was 60 degrees, sunny, and BEAUTIFUL.

I love that every 4 years we get to have an extra day to do with as we please.

Unfortunately I woke up yesterday feeling like CRAP from my itty bitty cold (that turned into a can’t-sleep-or-breathe thing overnight). After I slept in a bit I doped myself up on cold meds and slept a bit longer. Bummer way to start my day, for sure. After a second round of cold meds I KNEW I had to get outside. I had a couple of things I had to do that required me to go to the burbs so off I went.

While I was getting ready that morning I came up with the most brilliant Leap Day surprise! (I borrowed the idea from Corey ) I told Corey last weekend that I’d bake him cupcakes from scratch but, you see, I didn’t. I don’t like to let my man down, so I thought I’d buy some cupcakes and hand deliver them to his office. That’s almost the same thing, right??

 There was almost a snag in my surprise when I texted him asking how busy he was on a scale of 1-10. His answer: 8. Whaaa?? In my mind meant that he was probably to busy to come get his surprise, but it all worked out in the end. He was leaving to run an errand during lunch and I met him just in the nick of time! It was Leap Day fate!

I had wanted to take pictures of the cupcakes, but by the time I remembered it was almost too late. They were DE-LISH!

We hugged for 3 minutes and quickly talked about how our days were going before he had to head off for his lunchtime errands. It was totally worth it to get to sneak in a few minutes with him

That was, by far, the highlight of my Leap Day. After that I went off to do another quick thing, returned Erin’s car (thanks for driving me home, Erin!), and went to hang out with my boo the rest of the night where I may or may not have fallen in the kitchen while standing [almost] perfectly still… twice.

Christmas

Deck the halls!

I’ve been listening to Christmas music 24/7 for a couple weeks now and am so excited to head back to South Bend tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with my family.

We are pretty big Christmas Eve people in my fam. We typically go to Mass and then head home for a huge dinner that includes everything you can imagine. For a number of years it was my mom, sisters and me, which was perfect in its own way, but soon boyfriends/husbands/kids/in-laws came into the picture and we happily expanded. Christmas Eve is when we exchange inter-family gifts, but this year we agreed that we’re only getting the kids gifts, which I’m still super excited about giving them. The big kids are getting Roald Dahl books and the little boys are getting toys.

Christmas Day has always been spent opening gifts, making “Christmas Morning Breakfast” and spending the day in pjs watching Christmas movies. Last year my mom and I didn’t move from the bed where we watched Food Network Christmas specials all day and played with her new computer in our pjs.  Trish, Jonathon, Joey and Grace (Thomas wasn’t born yet) stopped by later in the day and when I answered the door I was greeted with smiles, hugs, and a loud “MERRY CHRISTMAS, AUNT SARAH!!” from the kiddos. Love.

Erin stopped by a little later and I must have been drunk with Christmas cheer because on my way to the door I completely wiped out. I fell and stayed there for a few seconds before getting up and hobbling to the door. Poor Erin didn’t get quite the lively greeting that the earlier crowd did! But we all enjoyed the warmth of the bed and talked about how amazing the beef stew was that I had made for lunch. (It was the first and last time I made it that I could say with full confidence that it was good)

This year I’ll be at Bob’s (Erin’s father-in-law) house Christmas Eve and will be enjoying their traditions. Then I’ll head over and spend time with T&J plus kids.

I still have so much to do before tomorrow! Wrapping, cleaning, packing, boyfriend time, etc. I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Merry Christmas!!

‘Tis the season

Last year I wanted to go to Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park zoo so badly, but it just didn’t work out. This year I was determined to go so it worked out perfectly that Rikki wanted to go before her birthday dinner.

We made a quick stop at Starbucks and then walked over to the zoo. It was actually a beautiful night considering it was Chicago in December.

So very thankful

The past couple years, and the past 10 months especially, have been difficult for me and my family. I feel like I have grown and learned enough to know that in spite of it all I am blessed. I have so very much to be thankful for.

I am so thankful for my mom. Both as my mom and as the woman she was. I am so proud to have called her my mom, my friend, my secret keeper, the worlds best hugger, the person who would keep me in line, my teacher, and the strongest female influence I will ever have. She taught me how to fight for the good, how to stay strong, that it’s okay to cry, how to love, and how to be the woman I am today. The holidays will never be the same without her, but I am so very thankful for the love she showered me with during my 23 years with her.

I am so thankful for my dad. Both as my dad and the man he is. My dad has three daughters, loves every minute of it, and isn’t afraid to tell people he loves it. His love and support and sense of humor is what has helped me through the hardest moments and has lifted me higher during the good moments. There is nothing like a dad who loves his daughter.

I am so thankful for my sisters. I love that I’m from a family of all girls who grew up sharing a bathroom, clothes, and experiences. These are the two people who will always be able to bring me back to my childhood and encourage me through life in a way nobody else can.

I am so thankful for my boyfriend. He shows me love in so many ways and has allowed me to show him my love back. He makes me think about things in a different way and makes me laugh until I cry. His ability to say the right thing at the right time is amazing and I appreciate him. When I hug him I know life is good.

I am so thankful for my brothers-in-law. They provide a different kind of love than anyone else. I didn’t grow up with brothers so it has been an adventure.

I am so thankful for my nephews and niece. Talk about living life to the fullest. These munchkins help me through everything, but more than anything they show me what it means to live happily. When I am with them I play and laugh more. I have loved watching them grow up so far and am thrilled to see the people they are and are becoming.

I am so thankful for my friends. These people keep me on my toes. They are some of the most loving and honest people I have ever met in my entire life. They let me tell my 3 hour long stories and want to tell me theirs. They are the people I call with my random stories and miss when I haven’t seen them for a few days. They let me be me.

I am thankful for my job, my apartment, my heated blanket, nail polish, and my ability to make dinners without completely messing up.

Happy Thanksgiving!