Booties on the Brain

Scouring Pinterest lately with ways to refresh my closet and I am seeing *AND WANTING!!*a cute pair of tan-ish booties for fall. Literally all my pins are jeans, sweaters, big scarves, and booties.
However, I have a problem.
I SEE these booties every where... but yet I can't FIND ones I really like.  How come ones I try on look cute on other people but not me? Am I not a bootie person? AHH- Where are those from? Discontinued? Out of my size?
Maybe I am being too critical. Either way, I am just not pulling the trigger on my fall booties. While looking for booties (and a dress for an upcoming wedding), I definitely pulled the trigger on quite a few other things... ;)

On a side note: man I am saying booties a lot. The husband asked me the other day why I keep calling them "booties"... and I was like that is what they are called! He told me they were boots... he did not understand the concept that they are two separate things!

Anyways... here are a few (cheaper) options I am thinking of trying out.

Target- Jessica Suede Strappy Boot
 (go for the taupe or tan?)
Zappos- Rocket Dog Sayla

 
 Kohl's Sonoma Life & Style
 

HAPPY MONDAY!
xo Jess xo

p.s. I am almost done with the gallery wall (AFTER A MONTH SINCE REALLY STARTING! YIKES!)-- just waiting on a few things I got printed to put in their frames!! I can't wait! I am loving it so far! :)

Happiness is...

The work-life balance can be pretty hard. With how busy we have been with work, weddings, weekend plans, trying to get stuff done at home... it can be so easy to look at the negatives and start complaining. I am all about a good vent or a good cry-- but I don't want to be an overall negative person.
I have seen those facebook or instagram projects for awhile now in which, you do 365 days or 100 days of happiness and you post something that makes you happy that day-- for the end goal of making sure you are more optimistic and grateful for the things that are going on in your life.


I am signing up HERE and will likely use my instragram so as to not annoy everyone in facebook land. -Maybe I can get a link to my instagram on here... (I am not as tech savvy as I like to think) (edit-- link is on the right! Hope it works!)

 AND SO I BEGIN with my #100happydays....

Granted this is technically from Sunday, BUT I am so happy to become an aunt again! 

My brother Graham and his wife Christine are due in May!

M.I.A.?

I'm BACK! Granted, not that I meant to go anywhere but the last week has been a whirlwind.  Busy long days at work, followed by trying to be productive at home (mainly going through clothes to keep or get rid of since the closet in our 2nd bedroom fell apart. literally. seemed like it might be a good time for a lil' purge.),  and then in general being out of town for a (((3 DAY))) Labor Day weekend!

How was your labor day weekend? We spent a lot driving in a car to and from my cousin's wedding in Iowa, but it was a good weekend for family.  :) Feeling a little refreshed! AND we have another wedding this weekend back home for a long time friend.
Unfortunately, I haven't really been finding much time to shop for something to wear. Lucky for the closet falling and going through my clothes!! Nothing too fancy (and not great photos) but here are some things I have pulled together...

*Left: what I wore from my cousin's wedding.. and I think all from Target at some point.

*Right: a selfie of the hubs and I at the wedding.

*Above are both possible options for this weekends wedding. Might have to be a game time decision. What do you think?

*Left: Shoes- Vera Wang from Kohls, Dress- Banana Republic Factory, Earrings & Bracelets- Target

*Right: Shoes- Target from at least 6 years ago, Dress- Target from 1 year ago, Necklace- Sparkly Crystal Bead Necklace from Zara (otherwise known at the Kate Middleton Zara necklace)

If I don't post again until next week... HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

>>> As a side note... I am definitely still working on my gallery wall. Still in the planning out stages.. but almost there. Maybe next I will try and share some ideas for what's going to be IN the frames. ha

XO Jess XO

Picture This

I have definitely been all up on Pinterest and one of the first things I would like to do is.... put up a gallery wall in our bedroom. Above our tv and dresser. I had made some art for right over it when we moved in and immediately disliked it. We shall call it a Pinterest Fail.

The inspiration was something like this:

 

with amazing artistic painting penmanship and very original... however I had some issues and kept messing up so I thought, grey is in our bedroom decor.. I can have a grey background and wah-la. This is what I ended up with:

Needless to say...  I am embarrassed to even post this. I have hated it from Day One. The dimensions in the space, my handwriting, the coloring, everything. And I did not do a single thing to fix it.  EYESORE!!  (also, sorry for the terrible pics)

SO last trip to Ikea, I stocked up on a few cheap frames. I have a few old ones and a few from Target. Definitely need some more and of course to figure out what I want to put IN them... BUT here are some of my new inspirations for our bedroom. A nice little gallery wall :)

 

Debating which style of frames I like best.. should I stick with photos or also add phrases/quotes/etc? Should I keep it all picture frames or add a canvas (because I have a cute small one from our engagement photos)?  Ahhhhh who knew a gallery wall would have so many decisions? 

I think I like first one best... but maybe because that one is actually around a tv so I can picture it better.... What should I do?!

Home Sweet Home?

Definitely still evolving style wise for the home.  We are about to renew our lease at our current apartment and after 2 years, and about to start year 3, I think I have lived here long enough to finally call some spaces complete.
Sometimes I find it hard to decide between what I love, what I like, what I need.... I've tried where I only walk out of the store with something if I LOVE it. If I don't get it, it is still on my mind and it is still there next time- it's fate and I guess I like it more than I thought and I should have it. HOWEVER this can sometimes result in a modge podge (not always a good thing) of items that don't really flow together.
Currently I have been putting a wish list together of things I would like to do around our apartment. But before I do, I am definitely taking a few quizzes and using Pinterest for some 1) affordable 2) semi-easy 3) cohesive changes for our spaces.
Here are a few quizzes I took (and my results):

HGTV Style Finder Quiz
Your style is Classic Casual
AKA Transitional. A mix of contemporary and traditional. Usually updated, graceful, enduring.


Stylish Home Design Style Quiz
You most resemble a "Bespoke Classic".

Center hall, formal dining, stately living. To cook a grand meal in an elegant kitchen is your joy. A bedroom with distinct character - warm and charming. Your decorative canvas stretches to the property lines. Set your table in a festive fare. A cool refreshing drink - and often more than one! Pre-war, upper east side attitude. At the end of the day… you don't take things too seriously..

Suspected "Bespoke Classic": Princess Diana, Fred Astaire, Ralph Lauren

HomeGoods Stylescape 

You are BOHO and a touch Classic

 Boho isn't just carefree. She's adventurous and passionate, loving color and new and unusual uses for things. She's into the Revamp, Reuse, and Recycle, and she can't get enough of foraging for a good deal while mixing and matching silk-and-knit textures and vibrant colors anywhere she can.

- Classic knows there's a place for everything—and everything belongs in its place. And she imbues her sense of structure with a graceful elegance, an undisturbed calm, and of course, an irrefutable beauty.

 So definitely some similarities... "classic"- which is a word I definitely have found myself choosing when I was planning our wedding and with trying to plan a wardrobe or space. So  Time for some Pinterest and further planning my to-do list. I will share it when I have some game plans!

Anybody else feel like it was at least Wednesday today? Just me?

Food. Yum.

Holy Cow- Day 2, Post 2. I am proud of myself already.

So Today is Monday. Which often means Burger Monday! (drool) There is a place just down the street from us-  Old Oak Tap -that has $5 burgers with fries on Monday as long as you buy a drink.  This is from a girl who did not really eat burgers ever growing up. I have eaten more burgers in the last two years that I have been married than I did my entire life. All thanks to a 2am burger! When you add bacon and an egg (sometimes hashbrowns) to your burger. If you have not tried it, do so now. It's life altering.
Anyway, back to the $5 burger deal.  More times than I care to admit, we don't tend to plan dinners on Monday because this is our back up plan. It is easily one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants. If coming to Chicago...maybe make your way over to the Ukrainian Village. I will fill you in on some of our favorites!!

But when we are planning dinners, these tend to be our "Top Go-To Dinners" at the moment:
1) Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Pepperoncino-- this is actually a decently healthy option. We definitely saute the garlic, olive oil, and pepper flakes together before mixing with the pasta- and even though we like hot foods... definitely cut back on the red pepper flakes a bit! We also tend to add chicken and a have tried aspargus in it too. Can't go wrong!
2) Crockpot Chicken Tacos-- three ingredients + 1 crockpot =amazing! Plus leftovers! Make chicken salad or nachos, etc. We love when we make the Chicken Tacos on a Friday in the fall and then have nachos for football on Saturday- it is a crowd pleaser! Plus allows for a little variation based on what salsa you use or if you do add in ingredients like jalapenos!
3) Spicy Crunchy Chicken Wraps-- Obviously you can vary your chicken choice or even what dressing you use. Maybe make them into a buffalo chicken wrap.
4)  Turkey & Colby Panini-- We tend to go very basic with our panini with meat and cheese from the deli, and occasional add ons to our preferences. But these panini recipes jazz it up a bit! Bonus: a pasta salad that I am loving as a side (or main) right now is from my sister.  Farfalle noodles (cooked according to box), with peas (room temperature), bacon (cooked and crumbled), and mixed with buttermilk ranch. Chill in the fridge and serve. BEYOND GOOD!
5) Chicken & Asparagus Penne-- and one that will soon make it into our regular line-up. It seems to be just what we are enjoying these days! Made easy and relatively healthy!

These are definitely the easy recipes we just tend to have the ingredients for in stock at home.
I have put the links to the recipes, because at this point I would be kidding myself taking pictures of food.

Happy Monday!!!

As my dad would say answering the phone: " Yello"

So.... I'm finally doing this. I have wanted to start a blog for some time now. I have been following multiple blogs for years and have always been interested in it. Not that our life is anything extraordinarily interesting... but we are happy. Even if this ends up only as an update to friends and family on what's going on in our life OR get me (and the hubby) to try new things and get out of our comfort zone= it has served a purpose.
I'm sure in the beginning, posts will be minimal and hop around as I think of them... but I hope to evolve and grow with the blog as we do with our life. From food, home, style, DIY, life.... it's pretty much going to be hanging with the lemons :)