I love Nutella cookies + fun baking again

Confession time. I've put off fun baking for a long, long, long, long time. A really long time. An uncomfortably long time considering it's my only hobby. Fun baking is -- baking for fun, not because I need to bake for a reason. That's not to say I don't have fun when I'm baking for a party or for Christmas but there's something special about baking because I just like and want to do it for fun and not because I feel obligated. 

With it being the New Year and feeling especially inspired to make positive changes in my life, I decided it was time to bring back fun baking! And naturally, my first fun bake session involved Nutella because why wouldn't it?

Getting back into baking means learning a few lessons the hard way and feeling a bit like a doofus. Unfortunately it's not like riding a bike for me. It's like tripping up the stairs with no one around and I'm just embarrassed that I can't walk like a normal human up the stairs. 
I have to remember how important it is to read the recipe ahead of time. I think I got back into amateur mode over the last few months of 2014 with stepping out of the baking world completely for a while.  I made a few cookies and treats for Christmas and neighbor gifts andI made the mistake of not reading the recipe before committing to "hot chocolate truffles" for the neighbors. I really, really, really messed that one up -- although, I blame the second mistake I made on the glass of wine I had when staring to make them. 

Take it from me, read the recipe completely through before committing because who knows if you need to put the dough in the fridge to chill for 2 hours and it's a weeknight and you have to go to bed at 9:30pm and there just won't be enough time to bake them so you have to make it a two-day process without planning ahead of time for that! 

Anywho, with some extra white chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips I had from baking cookies a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to bake Nutella white chocolate chip cookies. I forget who said it to me but someone said "Oh, haven't you made these before?" Naaah, I haven't but I do have a bit of an obsession with anything that involves getting Nutella in my mouth so I get it. Also, these are actually THE best cookies I have ever baked. So good that I've averaged two cookies a day since I baked them last week. Mmmmm.

I think I fudged (pun intended) something up because somehow they're not "soft" as they are supposed to be and are actually more fudge-y than anything. Honestly, still the best cookies I've ever made! Highly recommend making them!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I love Etsy finds: New Year's Resolutions Edition

1. Keep going no matter what card - be a better friend 

2. Sparkle mousepad - be a happier person

3. 2015 planner - be more organized 

4. Just don't quit tank - be more motivated to workout pt. 1

5. Printable Be Awesome Today print - be a more positive human

6. Kitchen conversions print - be a better cook 

7.  Mosaic headband - be more motivated to workout pt. 2

I love planning surprise parties.

As recent as when I was a junior in college, I thought I wanted to be a party planner. I liked planning small get togethers and minor surprise parties then. I liked using my planner. I thought it made perfect sense. 

Flash forward to July of this year at about three in the afternoon on Saturday. I'm sweating in my tank top and shorts. I'm anxious and can't blink because what if I miss some small detail. I'm so irritable and worried about the surprise party for my mom's 50th birthday not going off without a hitch that when Paul tried to hug me in the midst of putting up decorations and straightening the chip bowl for the tenth time, I said "DO NOT TOUCH ME." 

Yup, that's my life now. A few years after saying in my public speaking class at Stevenson that I wanted to be a party planner and there I was having a meltdown 30 minutes before my mom was going to come home from her hiking adventure with her friend, Jody, and worrying about ridiculous things like: What if she isn't surprised? What if she hates this? What if she's mad she's coming back from hiking all sweaty and she walks in to 15+ friends, family, and neighbors who want to eat food with her and drink sangria? What if there's not enough people here? 
Uh, yeah, nope. I wouldn't have worked in the party planning world. I'm too big of a worry wart and a perfectionist. 

The good news is -- despite all of my anxiousness and worrying, the party was even more awesome than I could have hoped for! I had a lot of help from my dad (who had the idea for a surprise 50th birthday party in the first place), my sisters, Shannon, Paul and everyone else that came from near and far to make it to the party. 

My mom was surprised and seemed (and I think she actually was - right, mom?) happy! She didn't hate it, wasn't mad about the hiking sweatiness she had in front of everyone, and was happy to drink and eat food with everyone. Not sure why I expected her not to want to eat and drink, however. 
Naturally, the cake pops I made the night before at Shannon's were a hit - which tends to be the case when cake pops are around and despite my worrying that we wouldn't have enough food -- almost all the food was gone by the end of the evening. And yeah, at the end of the evening, I realized that maybe I do like party planning. Maybe it is a rush for me, my worst, horrific, and most anxiety-filled nightmare, and then a really good pay off at the end. 
I'll still volunteer and want to plan parties in the future. I'll have fun buying the food and the decorations and inviting all of the people. And if anyone wants to see a girl melting down the day of that same party because what if the cupcakes don't look just right or what if the one person that couldn't make it to the party ruins the whole thing -- you can count on me. I'm your girl. 
Oh, and happiest belated 50th birthday to my mom! 

I love (and terribly miss) Disney World (so here are some pics from my trip last month).

I love Mother's Day: Etsy Gift Guide Edition.

Obviously, the card is one of the most important parts of your Mother's Day gift. It's the first thing she opens so it's gotta be heartfelt and make her want to cry a little. Unless you're me. Then you want to buy her a card that makes her smile but isn't too cheesy. I think this card definitely does the trick and at least makes her feel like I'm implying that she can be considered awesome. 

Mugs are always, always, always a safe bet for moms. All moms drink coffee or at least...right? If not, hopefully this mug is cute enough to make your mom want to start drinking coffee/tea. You could fill this with candy (my signature gift for anyone - all gifts have to somehow include candy of some kind) or a gift card! 

If your mom is like mine, she likes (a lot of) rum and she pretends she doesn't like sweets and says they're "too much" for her. I highly doubt she would be able to say "no" to these. They're Captain Morgan whoopie pies! 

Moms love decorative pillows, right? I feel like that's what advertising has told me. This one is perfect and timeless and true! If I'm being completely honest, I'm hoping my future children somehow find my blog on the internet and buy me this pillow for Mother's Day.

I am 98% positive that the only people that truly, really care about whether or not people use coasters are moms. I'm also 98% positive that most moms actually are superheroes. So these cute, colorful, fun coasters are a 98% win and great for summer! 

And to use on those coasters (see above), moms who like the O's and the Ravens obviously need these stemless wine glasses to get their drink on this summer. I'd suggest buying a bottle or two of wine to go with these with some flowers and you're set! Again - pssssssst -future children who are reading this, I want these. 

Just like mugs, candles are always a good gift for moms, in my opinion. As long as they're cute and unique and smell good. Bears, honey, and hugs are also great gifts. I imagine this cute little Bear Hug candle smells amazing! Mmmm.

Another good treat (for anyone but specifically moms) -- chocolate peanut butter cupcakes in jars. Moms need chocolate at all times and this is 100x better than a box of chocolates from the grocery store. So Pinterest of you to make cupcakes in jars. These really look like you made them. But you didn't. Someone on Etsy did and charged you a little bit more than necessary but it's so worth it. 

I love the Color Run + weekends + my dad's birthday.

HIIII. I feel like all of my blog posts in 2014 start off with me saying "LONG TIME NO SEE" or something along those lines. And if they don't, it's because I feel like I'm always saying it on here. But really - long time no see. 

To be real, I haven't been in the best of moods lately. I'm not in a bad mood, I'm just not feeling 100% Lindsay. And because of that, I've been neglecting this. But, here I am! I had a good weekend and am feeling pretty Lindsay-like so I'm back and hopefully back for good! Ayooooo. 

This weekend I ran (eh...mostly walked) the Color Run with Shannon, Catie, and Natosha. It was hard waking up 6:45am on a Saturday but do what you gotta do to make sure you can get some Starbucks and a crossiant before speeding to the Color Run because you're super anxious about parking and not making it there before 9am when the first waves start the run. Great news though: we got there at the perfect time and were one of the first waves! Like I said, we mostly walked -- and by that I mean, we only jogged a few times: through the color stations and then again at the end to make it seem like we jogged/ran the whole thing. We are maybe posers for running at the end like that. I like to think we got to enjoy the course more than anyone who ran because we walked! 
The finish line "party" was a great time and everything but the weather and being able to be near the stadiums (ugh, dreamy M&T -- heart eyes) and hanging with my BFF and sister and Natosha were the best parts. I miss it already! 
It won't be too long until the next little fun run, though. Shannon, her cousins (who I love - hi!) and I are running the Electric Run in July. Excited for that :)

Easter was also obviously this weekend BUT it was also my dad's birthday! 
We're not a super religious family so Easter doesn't mean going to church or doing anything tradition-wise at my house. It normally means I have to be punished by hearing we're having ham for dinner (ham is not one of my favorite meats -- ick!) and just hang out with my family for half of the day and Paul's family for the other half. 
However, today was a bit different with it being my dad's birthday. Lots of Easter candy, dessert, playing outside, present opening and pictures on the deck. As an almost-25 year old adult person, I still get pumped on Easter baskets. Living at home has its perks - thanks, Easter Bunny! Paul surprised me with Easter treats too (Mr. Nice Guy) and I got to try the Summer Honey Wheat Blue Moon (heart eyes again). Wound up being a pretty great day!

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this whole blogging thing again. I have plans to try a few new cookie and brownie recipes in the next few weeks so I'll post those on here! With my 25th birthday in a week and a half, I am trying to come up with a year-long fully-pre-planned Happiness Project especially for my 25th year of life which I will also be posting on here for all to read. Fingers crossed I can have enough brain power and energy this week to get something going with that!

I love these things: Etsy edition.

I like to pretend that I have a few hobbies (if any). One of them being baking. Another one is finding-and-favoriting-and-possibly-buying-things on Etsy. I like to think I have an eye for favoriting great things on Etsy. I guess that's more of a talent than a hobby but I still want to call it a hobby so I feel like I have more than I actually do. 

Here are some of my recent fave favorites that I think are worth sharing (and buying!). 

Black and Orange O's shirt

Opening Day is tomorrow @ OPACY. Baseball is here! Hopefully baseball brought baseball weather with it because it's hard to wear t-shirts like this when it's snowing. The best thing about Etsy is that there are things on Etsy that are 100% unique that you can't find anywhere else. This shirt is an awesome example of that! You won't be seeing anything this great on in the O's shop online (and for only $12!).

Personalized Stemless Wine Glasses (with lids!)

I'm always looking for a new way to get wine into my life/mouth. I've been known to spill alcoholic beverages onto my Macbook Pro and almost completely ruin it and then pay $800 to get it repaired. So...I think it goes without saying that when I'm looking for a new way to drink my wine, I need that new way to have some sort of lid on it. Ideally, I'd like an adult sippy cup. These stemless wine glasses meet all of my qualifications - lid, cute, I can put wine in it. I'm all about them and want to buy some soon! 

Here's a Huge Hug Card

"Who doesn't like getting cards/letters/packages in the mail?" - things I tell myself as I'm "building my greeting card collection" aka have 5 cards in hand @ Target. I've recently decided that it's fun and it makes me feel well-prepared for any birthday/get well soon emergency to have a greeting card collection. In my mind, I have to have as many as possible for any situation. You NEVER KNOW WHAT COULD HAPPEN and you want to have a card for every situation, haha. I'll probably be buying this one in a few days when I have an Etsy binge. It's so cute and simple.

Red + White Polka Dot Swimsuit

Minnie Mouse life. Those days when I wake up @ 5:35am and I'm struggling to make myself get on the treadmill, I like to look at this swimsuit because I think, "I don't know. Maybe if I get on the treadmill and run a little bit, I'll be a little bit closer to being able to wear this in real life in front of other humans." It's perfect. It has polka dots. It's red. There's a bow. Ugh, need. Also, again, Minnie Mouse life. 

Aqua Polka Dot Dog Collar

Etsy not only nails it at having the best human things but a lot of sellers sell things for cute little nice doggies. You can't really find adorable collars like this at a pet store or Target even (gasp)! I think Sasha wants this one. She likes to be fashionable and this is totally her color. Maybe for her half birthday in June! ;)

I love Nutella cookies.

After a long time of not having the energy or desire to bake, be crafty, etc., I finally got my groove back  after buying some Nutella randomly at the grocery store one late Sunday night. I was craving Nutella. But didn't want to eat it straight out of the jar (why? I'm not sure. Something must've been wrong with me) so I went on the search for recipes to make with my newly purchased Nutella.

Let's go back in time, to late January...

I decided to make just regular old Nutella-filled sugar cookies. I made my sister, Catie, help me. I have made these cookies in the past and remembered it being kind of a pain in the butt to make them - so I thought maybe if I had someone to help me, it'd be less of a pain. Welp, even with Catie's help, it was still a pain. I think Catie could vouch for me on that too. The sugar cookie dough gets so sticky and doesn't 'wrap' (I could probably find a better word to describe it) around the Nutella as easily as the recipe says it should - which leads to me wanting to cry and throw dough across the room because I'm a toddler when I get frustrated while baking.
But no pain, no gain, I guess. These cookies taste amazing when they're done, haha. They don't always end up looking very pretty -- but they taste great! Here's a link to the original recipe. 

For 'World Nutella Day,' I decided to try to make some Nutella-related cookies again to bring in for my lovely coworkers. I was doing this to be nice and festive and for the sake of being Nutella-happy so I didn't want try baking anything that would make me want to roll around on the kitchen floor sobbing (this has almost happened when I've tried baking the previously mentioned Nutella-filled sugar cookies). Normally, I'll hit up Pinterest or Foodgawker for a good recipe when I need one, but for this one, I decided to go super simple in hopes that would get me a super simple recipe - I Googled "easy Nutella cookie recipe." Ding ding ding! I found a winner: Nutella-filled Funfetti cookies. What...a game changer. 
Not ONLY did I not need a partner-in-crime (or someone to hold my hand and comfort me as I sobbed over how sticky the dough was) but it was so easy that I actually thought I was doing something wrong so I had to look at the recipe at least 5x to double-check that all was well. These were a hit at the office and I had to eat 2 or 3 after they were done baking because YOLO. I highly recommend them!

P.S. Help me reach my goal of raising $500 for the Maryland SPCA! 

I love paper straws + Blue Moon cocktails.

Sometimes I buy things that are on clearance at Target simply because it's on clearance and it's at Target.

A few months ago, I bought a twelve pack of really cute, colorful paper straws because they were only $1.00. I couldn't help myself. As soon as I got home, I got them out of the plastic Target bag, and put them on my book shelf. And there they sat. For months. I didn't have an occasion for them so I figured I would save them for a special occasion and until that special occasion came, I'd just have to stare at them because there was no chance I was going to waste them.

So recently, when my BFF and I decided we wanted to plan and have a 'drunk sleepover' -- to stay in and drink all night at home and then have a sleepover -- I realized that this was my chance to come up with a way to make that night the special occasion that my paper straws and I had been waiting for. I wanted to make some kind of special drink for our drunk sleepover (meaning we had to step out of our comfort zones and not drink yellowtail) and I wanted it to be drinkable by a paper straw. 

We both love Blue Moon and we both are pretty cool with OJ so I found this drink after searching through the internet one day. 

I was nervous that maybe Blue Moon + vodka would = very gross -- but surprisingly, it didn't. I really liked it and if it didn't require me to pour multiple things (come on, with wine I just have to pour one thing), I'd probably make this more often. I really only tasted the orange juice, despite there not being much in it -- just a 'splash' to be exact, haha.  

I'm not a big drinker of anything other than Blue Moon when I go to restaurants (aka Chili's) or wine at my house so I don't have a lot of liquor or anything fun at home. Because of that, it's fun for me to have a reason to buy a new liquor to 'add to my collection.' My collection right now consists of the clementine Svedka vodka and Pinnacle whipped cream vodka so that's pretty pathetic and clearly I need to do stuff like this more often. I plan on trying to! 

I love these things lately.

Lately, I love:
March for the Animals! It's the time of year again. The time of year where I beg anyone and everyone to donate and help me reach my goal of raising $500.00 for the Maryland SPCA because Sasha and I will be walking in the annual March for the Animals in April! That being said -- here's the link to my page. Please, please, please, please consider helping me out with this. It is so worth it. Your money really, truly does make a difference: 
     $11 pays for one feline leukemia test
     $25 vaccinates 20 dogs for kennel cough
     $43 provides flea treatment + heartworm protection for a dog
     $300 pays for an animal's vaccinations, food, and care at their shelter until it's adopted
The Man by Aloe Blacc. I have a thing with associating certain songs to certain times in my life. Last year, I associated Clique and Hall of Fame with the Ravens SuperBowl run so whenever I hear those songs, I get extremely overwhelmingly happy. Even though I despise Colin Kaepernick, the Beats by Dre commercial with Kap in it came on so much during the end of the football season when I was feeling really sentimental about football and guess what song is in that commercial? The Man by Aloe Blacc. I bought the song and have played it basically nonstop on my way to-and-from places for the past month. I am so in love. It's so good. It makes me feel happy like it's still football season and momentarily makes me forget that it's only barely mid-February/still winter/going to snow every day for the rest of my life/I'm never going to be able to open my car windows ever again.
Greeting cards from Target. Yeah. Give me all of them.
Sharpie ultra-fine permanent markers. Yup. Only want to write in them.
HGTV. Really been into House Hunters and Love It or List It lately. I'm not sure how I didn't get addicted to these kinds of shows sooner. If the Bachelor or Pretty Little Liars aren't on TV, I immediately turn to HGTV. I've even got Paul into liking these shows. I really do feel like I have a keeper with him - he likes The Bachelor/Bachelorette annnnd HGTV? Really feel pretty lucky. He's also got a girlfriend who actually enjoys sports of all kinds (with the exception of golf #snoozefest) so I hope he considers himself lucky too, haha.
Dove chocolates that have peanut butter inside of them. Ya. Had them for breakfast Sunday.
ModCloth and their customer service. Not only has ModCloth.com been on point for me the past week or so, they also have amazing customer service. When I got home from work last week, I got a package from ModCloth -- it had my itemized list of things I bought and some stuff inside the box...that I didn't order. Some weirdo tights and some other strange clothes that I didn't even bother to bring out. I knew it wasn't mine the moment that I didn't spot the shirt with dogs on it that I bought. I was confused on how to return/exchange the things I didn't buy for the things I did buy (because what a strange thing to happen) so I decided to live-chat with someone at ModCloth to figure it out and it was the best experience ever, haha. The woman I talked with was so nice and so helpful and got it all sorted out in the matter of 5 minutes. I am forever impressed with great customer service. Now I love ModCloth even more. Even when they mess up, I love them.

I love life lately.

celebrating Nick's birthday with a surprise party thrown by Shannon that was really great and had Chick Fil A and good times and arguments about the Ravens. I'm sorry. I can't be tamed.

making cupcakes with Catie around and realizing that you can dip cupcakes in sprinkles if trying to sprinkle them on top of the cupcakes isn't working. Catie is a baking genius - WHO KNEW? 

looking at ModCloth 3x a day trying to find something to buy but I don't like anything enough to purchase anything #roughlife #feelbadforme

drinking hot lemon water every morning - it's refreshing and apparently great for you so just doing that to try to counteract the pizza and cookies I'm eating for lunch

listening to One Direction non-stop to-and-from anywhere I drive and humming them forever at work 

trying hard to memorize my expiration date for my new debit card so I can become a pro at online shopping once again without having to look at my card

wearing exclusively leggings or jeggings on the weekend because I'm sick of wearing jeans but I have to during the week for work and also I'm an adult I make my own decisions so yolo
obsessing over my new camera that I am in love with and want to cuddle with all day but when I'm not cuddling I want to be using it to take pictures of Sasha
wishing I could commit more to my Happiness Project. February is going to be my month, OKAY?

I love December Resolutions.

My first month of my Happiness Project went pretty well! Most days I felt really good after checking off that I had followed all of my resolutions but some days, I really didn't stick with my resolutions and it made me a bit unhappy with myself which is the opposite of what I'm trying to do. I realized I have a lot to work on when it comes to seeing things in a positive light instead of jumping to "I SUCK I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T RUN OR MAKE AN EFFORT TO NOT EAT A LOT OF CANDY TODAY." That being said, December's resolutions focus on trying to be more positive -- which is something I already knew I had to work on. 
Obviously, once November has come and gone, it doesn't make sense to just forget about those resolutions and just move on to a new set. So, in addition to this month's resolutions, I will also be sticking with November's as well. 

Here's a mini-recap of my November Resolutions:

1. Go for a run or do a 20-minute workout routine 
Not making excuses (or maybe I am) but November got pretty busy toward the middle and end of the month which actually made it really hard to fit in a run or a workout. The good news is it's on my radar now that I can go for a run instead of pin on Pinterest and I've been running more frequently. Running makes me happy - even if I dread it and Pinterest sounds more fun at the time - and remembering that will hopefully keep me running more often/whenever I can.
2. Stick with Weight Watchers
Thanksgiving week made life really hard and I got extremely off track. The rest of the month was easy. In addition to Weight Watchers, I started participating in a fun, little weight-loss challenge called Diet Bet (here's how it works). I started the first week in November and it ends this coming week on December 6th. It pushes me to stick with Weight Watchers and eating right even more -- but makes it fun to do it. Also, money. 
3. Walk + talk 
I got pretty cray and bought a $1.99 pedometer app for my iPhone called "Moves" and it has made me addicted to walking (or as I like to say "stepping"). It's pretty ridiculous but apparently you should walk 10,000 steps a day if you want to be considered "active" -- oh and I want to be considered active. The most I've walked is around 4,000 and that was a lot of walking so every day I try to walk as much as possible so I can beat my "All-Time Record." That's life. 

4. Say no to sugar
This gets easier as time goes on. Sometimes I just want a mini Crunch bar with breakfast though. I'll never be able to say no to sugar forever. It's all about portion sizes for me. 

December's Resolutions:
1. Think of the good that will come out of it -- even if there doesn't seem to be any good at all. This is especially important for me to do at work. 
2. When in doubt, say something positive -- I sometimes have this fight in my mind, especially within the last few months, where I know that I could say something positive but what comes out of my mouth is something negative. I want to make the effort to say something positive when I feel like I definitely have the choice to be positive or negative and hopefully it will become a habit (like it used to be for me).
3. Smile, smile, smile -- I've heard/read in several articles that just the act of smiling, even when you're alone (creepy, I know) or there's no reason to at that current moment, can make you feel positive and happy. I try to do it in the car sometimes when I can feel my road rage getting out of control and it really does help so I want to do this more often - especially in situations that I consider to be "negative."
4. Truly compliment someone else (and myself) -- something else I've had to fight in the last few months is the urge to say something negative about someone/something or insult them. It started happening by default when I was struggling in September and October of this year and that's really not who I am. In an attempt to get back to positivity, I'm going to make the effort to truly (not a forced one) compliment anyone/something/someone on a daily basis. I say "(and myself)" because as I talked about in my first Happiness Project blogpost, I'm not very fond of myself sometimes. I think in addition to complimenting those around me, I need to also take the time to compliment myself. 
5. Read at least one positive quote a day -- I've always been a fan of quotes in my "adult life." Whenever I'm feeling especially icky or mad, I'll Google "positive quotes about ______." Then I read a few and it will usually bring me back to feeling pretty decent. Cheesy, right? That being said, I think it would be helpful for me to read quotes that make me feel good on a daily basis, instead of just when I'm not feeling great. Super cheesy on a daily basis. I think it'd be fun to keep some sort of journal or Google doc (I'm addicted to Google docs) with all of my favorite quotes! 

I love being thankful.

I'm thankful for:

• Torrey Smith's wife's tweets during Ravens games
• a boyfriend and best friend that take my half-birthday very seriously
• a best friend who has the same sense of humor as I do 
• really nice, super great Chili's employees
• the same teal scarf I wear every day because #fashion
• warm walking-weather into mid-November
• safe rides home late at night without deer friends out-and-about trying to hang with me
• times when I have mature conversations with my 8-year-old sister, Brooke
• my warm, comfy bed - every night when I go to sleep I think about how thankful I am for my 4 layers of blankets
• Anthony Allen's tweets about Maury
• the fact that people think of me when they see/hear "#yolo"
• work friends that get my life
• the nicest, sweetest, cutest doggie ever
• a supportive family, best friend, and boyfriend that all help keep me happy and smiling every day
• a younger sister who still thinks I'm funny even though she acts like she hates my life on Twitter
• online shopping - it makes me very happy hehehe
• a job - one where I work with fun people who like to do fun things 
• daily routines 
• a hilarious boyfriend that makes me laugh even when I don't want to support the weird-o things he does sometimes 
• never worrying that I'm going to be alone because of the great people in my life
• Pretty Little Liars - even if it is very frustrating
• my team 

I love weekends.

This weekend I:
ate way too many mini York peppermint patties. Paul started eating them in the past few weeks and now I find myself strangely addicted to them when I used to think they were stupid. 
spent the last hour of my work week with a meeting that consisted of Bohs and sushi. Probably the best + only way to spend the end of that crazy week.
bought lots of new things at Target -- totally unusual (not) -- including dry shampoo (finally) and the best (and cheapest) eyeliner pen. Shout out to Jackie for the recommendation on eyeliner -- I'm really excited.
hung out at my house + watched football with my bff and boyf. This is really great (and unusual) because I rarely hang out with both of them on a Sunday afternoon and even more rarely (probably terrible english, whoops my bad) at mi casa. 
started running again. Hey sore legs. Ouch. Feels good to be back at it, though, as it always does when I start running again after a long period of time without running anywhere ever.
got sleepy at Starbucks with Shannon. Just doesn't seem right, AM I RIGHT? The lighting in the Starbucks near my house makes me FALL ASLEEP while I drink my drank. That's life, I guess. I did get a new pretty Christmas cup - yaaay!
watched Paul play on his iPad. #iPad

I love happiness projects + November Resolutions.

“When I thought about why I was sometimes reluctant to push myself, I realized that it was because I was afraid of failure - but in order to have more success, I needed to be willing to accept more failure.” - Gretchin Rubin

After a pretty rough October for me and deciding to finally buy the Happiness Project in audiobook form so I can listen to it to-and-from work, I've decided to do my own little happiness project.

For those that don't know, The Happiness Project is a book in which Gretchen Rubin, the author, spends an entire year dedicating the time and effort to 'resolutions' each month in an effort to become even happier than she previously was. I, myself, consider myself a fairly happy person - even after the rough month I just had, just as she describes herself as being before starting her project. And just like she mentions in the book, I have acknowledged that I can be a happier person and that I'm the only person that can make that change. 

I know I could be more positive, happier with myself and more confident, less judgmental, more loving to the people in my life, etc. and that if I were these things, I'd be happier overall. 

Unlike Gretchen, who basically logged out her entire year and knew what each focus would be each month, I don't have that. I don't know if I'll do this for an entire year and right now I only have about 3 months worth of things I'd like to work on.  Ideally, I would start this in January because it's the mark of a new year - being that most "resolutions" come into play on New Years' Day - but I don't think that I can't wait until then I feel like I need to start now. I feel motivated to start now so I'm just going to start at the random month of November.

My November resolutions focus on becoming a healthier and more active person -- as if it were actually January 1st except I'm going to try to make this a lifestyle change (everyone's favorite buzzword when it comes to eating better and being more active, hahaha). I don't like to admit this to people that I'm not close with, but for those who don't know, I struggle with feeling confident about the way I look when it comes to my weight -- no matter how much I'm told that I look good. It's been an issue with me for about 8 years now. It started out terribly where I was young, not the brightest, and doing all the wrong things to stay thin and has now gotten to the point where I feel like I'm able to make smart and adult-like decisions. However, I still have a tough time sticking to a 'plan' when it comes to losing weight (and maintaining it) and getting to a weight where I know is good for me and my confidence. 
In a perfect world, I wouldn't start off focusing on this but it is something that is unfortunately very important to me and I know will give me the confidence to move forward with my other goals and resolutions in months to come. 

All of that being said, here are my November Resolutions.  
I keep these in a chart where each day, I check off whether or not I was able to stick to that resolution -- all in hopes that that will encourage me to stick to it!
1. Go for a run or do a 20-minute workout routine -- no excuses! 
2. Stick with Weight Watchers -- it truly is the best. I get embarrassed to say that I use it most times because I feel like I don't need to lose that much weight so people probably think I'm crazy to use it but it really is super easy and it's a way to keep myself on track without tracking my calories because I hate counting calories. I can also eat whatever I want basically which works for meeee! 
3. Walk + talk -- make an effort to move around more at work and at home because I have a terrible time being alive/active once I get home from work and I should make an effort to get up and walk with coworkers to lunch or just around the office. I don't need to be glued to my chair at work or my Macbook @ home
4. Say no to sugar --  most of the time. 

At the end of each month, I'm going to try to make a new blog post updating on how it went and what my new resolutions will be for the next month! Wish me luuuck :)

I really (don't) love juice cleanses.

Some may remember two months ago when I decided to try to lose a few pounds before Shannon's wedding (in order to fit into my bridesmaid dress...yup, that was my life) by going on a three-day juice cleanse. I posted several Instagram pictures of my juices when I first got them and a lot of people wanted to hear what I thought and how it was. 

Welp, it was horrible. It has taken me two months to write this because it's taken me two months to get over how awful it was, haha.

It seemed like an amazing idea. I love juice. I could easily drink juice nonstop for three days. I read up for weeks before trying to find the best (and the cheapest) ones based on reviews on other blogs, etc. I finally made a my pick -- the BluePrint Cleanse (Renovation). They had great packaging and the juices seemed decent. I found several awesome blog reviews of BPC, so I went for it. I spent $225.00 on 3 days of juice. 

Here's a little, mini-journal of what I went through. 

Day 1

Juice 1: Made my breath smell horrible - or so I thought. Wasn't the best way to start the day but it could have been worse. Drank it during a morning meeting so it got real warm and gross. The last few sips made me want to vom but I made it through somehow. Felt really accomplished.

Juice 2: Sounded amazing. Thought it would be one of the better ones. then I smelled it before I drank any of it and wanted to die. The first few sips are very minty...too minty. But the more I drank it the more I liked it.

After Juice 2: I was pretty alert and awake and not hungry and not wanting food immediately after. I felt kind of light and air-y and the mint taste stayed in my mouth for a bit after so when I was drinking water, it tasted really weird. After about 30 minutes of finishing, I started to feel tired and sleepy. An hour after that, things escalated quickly and I wanted real food for the first time all day. I became extremely hungry, heard a coworker making food in the microwave and thought I was going to die. At around 2:00pm I started to crave weird foods like tomato soup - the kind that they served us in our cafeteria in high school that was just water-y tomato juice. 

Juice 3: Same as juice 1 - my LEAST favorite. So yucky the second time around. It was a rough afternoon. Where's the pizza?

Juice 4: Really spicy. No joke about it being spicy lemonade. I had to drink it through a straw but that helped get it down. I still avoided it for about 45 minutes and then right before work, I just chugged it to get it down. It was not fun times.

On the way home, I felt a bit lightheaded again and kind of grumpy for the first time all day.

I got home, saw brownies on the counter, and wanted to die. 

Juice 5: As I started drinking it, I heard the ice cream truck. Never wanted ice cream so badly in my adult life. It hurt my heart. Ouch.

Juice 6: Clearly the highlight of my day. It was actually normal -- but it was chunky. I honestly thought that if the rest of my juices were like this one, I could maybe actually do it for the remainder of the cleanse. 

Day 2

Juice 1: Attempted to drink Juice 1 after waking up feeling sick to my stomach. Had one sip, almost got sick. Took a 5-minute break and came back to it. This time I tried to drink it while plugging my nose (because that's supposed to help me not taste it...right?). Couldn't do it. Went to the kitchen at work and threw it away. 

After Juice 1 (or the sip I had of it), things went downhill extremely quickly. I couldn't even think about drinking Juice 2...but I tried. 

Lunchtime rolled around and it was time for Juice 3 (same as Juice 1) again. Couldn't even look at it so I decided I just wouldn't drink any more juice that day. I wasn't going to break the cleanse, but I wasn't going to drink any of that juice either. 

Spent most of the afternoon with my head on and off my desk, looking exhausted. My lovely cubiclemates agreed that I looked pretty awful. Around 4:30, I really, honestly thought I wasn't going to make it. Decided that I was going to get a salad from Panera - just a regular ol' salad with tomatoes and cukes - nothing else. 

Got to Panera, decided I wanted a baguette too. Why not, right? Got home, ate my salad, went over to the kitchen and there were those same brownies that I saw the evening before and wanted so badly. I felt so sick to my stomach (as I did all day) but I knew that eating something more was going to feel really great. So I did it. I ate a brownie and never looked back.

So, that's that. So awful and horrible tasting that I actually gave up after 2 days and threw the rest of my juice away. I couldn't even give away. No one wanted it! Still, even two months later, I will randomly be sitting at work or in my car and I'll get a whiff of Juice 1/Juice 3 and want to gag. Forever punished.