Halloween photo diary

I love Halloween! It's probably my 2nd favorite holiday, besides Christmas. Recently though, I've been waiting till last minute to think of a costume (I usually plan it wayyy in advance). Luckily Brian is able to think of costumes last minute! We ended getting everything we needed the afternoon before we went out. Seriously, last minute! This year I went as Dora the Explorer and Brian went as Swiper the Fox. Brian's sister Jenny hung out with us too, she went as a zebra. Her costume was so cute! 

To start off the night we went to a party that one of his resident friends was having in Wigleyville. She made some appitizers that were tasty, but her costume was kind of lame. All she had on was cat ears and a black dress, no whiskers or anything. It kind of bugged me for some reason, I mean it's Halloween, try a little. Ok, sorry mini rant... overall we had a pretty good time, but it's always a little uncomfortable at first when your hanging out with a bunch of people you don't know. However, I did learn a new way to play high-low card/drinking game, so it was worth it! 

After about 2 hours there we headed back to Bridgeport where we went to our local go to spot, Bernice's. The last time we were there we made friends with Bernice's son Mike. It's so cute he always get so excited when he see's me and Jenny! We spent the rest of the night there dancing to music from a live band. Afterwards, we went to a Mexican restaurant across the street and ate nachos and tacos. It was delicious! I love late night Mexican food :) 

Happy Halloween!!!!

Here are some photos from the night 

Dora the Explorer (sorry about the random lamp on the floor)

Swiper the Fox

Jenny as a zebra

Classic

Soft blur

Lucy and Desi

The live band

Brian loves taking photos with random people!

And of course a photo with Mike!

Good as Gold

I'm really into gold nails right now. It's kind of funny, but I use to hate the way gold looks. I thought that that it looked somewhat tacky, but now I LOVE IT! I really don't know what changed my mind.  I think I tried on a gold bracelet once and realized that it went really well with my skin tone (which has gold undertones). I use to think that when i get engaged that I did not want my ring to be gold, but I'm seriously reconsidering ;)

So anyway, to go along with the gold theme I recently bought essie good as gold. This color is from their mirror metallics line. There isn't any glitter in it so it looks like I'm wearing liquid gold on my nails. It's so pretty. So yeah, if anyone wants to buy me a pretty gold bracelet to go along with my nails, I wouldn't object ;)

*side note: I'm obsessed with the essie mirror metallics line! Each color is so beautiful! I also have the color penny talk which is a rose gold/bronze color. Seriously, these colors will not disappoint! I haven't tried the other colors, but I can't imagine why they wouldn't look good.

Essie Mirror Metallics in Good as Gold 

via: polish and pearls

Bad days

Sorry this post is going to be kind of a rant. So I started my new job and all, which is great! However, there is this one child that gets on mine (and everyone elses last nerve). He serious is horrible! He hits, pulls, kicks, bites, etc. all the children around him! When you explain to him why this is wrong he seems to understand, because he says that it hurts others when he kicks, bites, etc. so you think all is good... until 10 minutes later he does it again! It's like really kid...REALLY!!!! It's so bad that the toddlers are scared to death of him. We just had a toddle transition over into our classroom and she pretty much cried the whole day saying that awful child's name because she was deathly afraid of him. I guess that's when you know it's bad... poor kid. Though, what's really bad about this situation is that I have to deal with him for 8 hours of the day 5 days a week. This is only my second day and his behavior already made me cry :( I think I just felt overwhelmed because a lot of the children in that class don't think for themselves and follow this child's behavior. It stresses me out because I have no idea how to deal with this problem child. 

The kicker is that once I'm moved up to lead teacher in the 3-5 classroom (I'm the 2 year old assistant right now) he'll be in my class. I'm not sure if I'm just having a bad day or if this is how I'm always going to feel. I guess only time will tell. 

Another thing I found strange about today was at the end of the day I went in the infant room to help out but the owner said she didn't think I should be in there because she wasn't sure if I'd feel comfortable talking to the parent's about the infants. I said I was but she decided against it. It was sooo strange! I was like WHAT???? I do know how to interact with other adults you know... Grrr. Anyway, hopefully tomorrow that child will be medicated or something.

 One can only hope! 

It really makes me miss my class back in Minnesota. Here's our class picture from last fall.

Mercadito

Last night was a blast! I went out with my sister Kristi, her boyfriend Mark, and Brian to Mercadito. It is a Mexican restaurant in the river north area of Chicago. It's very hip inside and their drinks are very good. I had this one drink that came out literally on fire and another one that was spicy and had something like a blueberry mash on top. Sooo good! 

The guacamole and tacos are also really tasty. We had two types of guacamole, a spicy sautéed chili guacamole and pineapple guacamole. I think the pineapple guac was my favorite, i seriously could have eaten huge bowl of it ;) As for the tacos we tried various kinds including fish, pastor, molé, and mushroom (this one didn't taste vegetarian at all). 

Once we finished eating we headed over to a martini bar for some yummy cocktails. I had this delicious raspberry martini and pineapple martini. 

It was so much fun to catch up with Kristi and Mark! I wish I could see them more often, but they're both working full time and in school. We did make plans for a fun game of shuffleboard for this Friday. I've never played before, so we'll see how it goes. 


Flaming Drink

Black Sand 

 Aren't they cute?!

new gym

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It's starting to get cold here and it's making me want to stay indoors and cuddle with my kitten in my down blanket and watch TV. 

I get so lazy when it gets cold out and this is bad for my workout routine which mostly consists of me running outside. I basically just stop doing it, which is really really bad. However, to combat this I'm going to join a gym! I've never joined a gym before, I mean I've used a guest pass at a gym and occasionally used the University gym In MN, but I've never actually held a membership. I'm going to use my 3 day free pass at LA fitness and see what it's like. They have so many group fitness classes I don't think I can go wrong! 

I'm also thinking about training for a marathon this spring or fall. Possibly the Journeys or Madison marathon. I haven't fully decided if I'm going to do it, but I'm leaning towards yes.

Tonight I'm going out to eat at Mercadito with Brian, my sister Kristi, and her boyfriend Mark. I'll take some pictures and blog about it soon! 

 

Beachy Hair

My hair has gotten pretty long, so I love to play around with it.

I want to teach myself how to french braid. For some reason I never learned :( 

My favorite braid is a fish tail braid. Something about it looks so unique. I definitely want to learn how to do this, too!

photo via: maximesalon.com 

My hair is pretty straight, so I like to curl it occasionally. 

How I got my look: 

Before blow drying I used a heat protectant like smooth infusion from Aveda. I also used "0" calorie root lifter spray by Samy to give it some body. After blow drying I used a 1" curling iron and left about 1"-2" of the ends out to give my hair kind of a beachy look, which I think is a fun everyday look. I switched between curling my hair away from my face and towards my face. To give it some texture I used mega whipped marshmallow hair texturizer  by tigi bed head. Then I sprayed lightly with hair spray.

Here's my before. See my hair is pretty straight when I blow dry it

Here's my hair after

View of the back 

    

New Job

Today I found a job in Wicker Park. The people and environment seem really nice. Eeee so excited! Brian and I celebrated with beer from Maria's and meat pies from Pleasant House Bakery. Their meat pies are soooo good! The crusts are so light and flaky. I swear the crust must be made with lard. They are worth the calories though. Definitely a MUST have if you ever find yourself in the Bridgeport area of Chicago.  

Doesn't that look delish?! 

photo via: babcc.org

Fitness

 I really enjoy a good workout. I always feel really great after (unless I've broken a bone, which does happen to me). As I've mentioned before I really love running by the water. I find it very peaceful and I am able to just zone out. Sometimes, if I feel like running faster I find a person ahead of me and try and pass them. I can get kind of competitive with sports :) But really it's a great way to pick up the pace when you're not on a treadmill. Running is probably my favorite workout of all time. 

I find that if I do just one type of workout I get bored. That's why I add other things, such as group fitness classes, workout DVDs, and youtube videos. I really like group fitness spin and zumba. In spin class it's really fun to pedal fast and pretend like you're beating everyone. See I'm competitive, I told you! Zumba is really fun! I'm not good by any means, but I really enjoy dancing and it's burning calories, so I don't care. As for workout DVD's I love doing P90X, especially the kenpo x, plyometics, and ab ripper x. I also use Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. Each workout it about 20 minutes long, so I do two of them. As for youtube videos, I pretty much just search for different exercises that I feel like doing that day. However, I do really love Blogilates. Blogilates is a blog that was started by a fitness instructor. I found her fitness videos on youtube a while back, but now she has her own website. She basically does pilates to pop music, it's so much fun!

 Check it out by clicking here

Every time I'm at the computer Phineus always sits in my lap. He's such a sweet cat. 

My make up

I love make up!

 I'm a self confessed product junkie. I guess you could say I'm borderline obsessed. Okay, okay, you get it. I bought my first eye shadow (it was blue) in 7th grade and I've been hooked ever since. Obviously, my tastes have changed a little since I was 12, but I still love how make up can accentuate a persons face and help them go from pretty to gorgeous!  Here are some products I'm obsessed with right now:

 

This really gives you a nice photo ready look, hence the name PhotoReady 

photo via: makeupgeek

bareMinerals matte gives a nice light coverage while keeping you shine-free. Perfect!

photo via: mineralmakeupreviews

Arbonne blush in blossom. Such a pretty color! 

photo via: stylezilla

 

Mulch by MAC is such a pretty color! It has red and gold undertones so it works really well with green and blue eyes. Though, I feel like it would be pretty on any color eyes 

photo via: chicbeautyblog

Covergirl in Champagne is a perfect allover color and highlighter. I think I might have used this one back in 7th grade, too ;) 

photo via: realsimple

Maybelline master drama eyeliner goes on really smooth, which is great because I hate when my eyeliner skips. I love the colors midnight master (black) and coal commander (darker grey) 

photo via: amazon

I swear by this stuff! It makes my lashes sooo long!

photo via: covergirl

This is such a pretty light pink color, it's my go to lipstick 

photo via: allure

Fall and Football

Yesterday I went over to my sisters to watch the Packers kick some Texans butt. She bought this take-n-bake pizza by HomeMade Pizza Co., which was really good. It was loaded with mushrooms--which my younger self would have refused to eat, but as I got older I realized mushrooms weren't so bad. Before I came over she asked me to make something for dessert and I knew exactly what I was going to make. 

Caramel corn!!!

Caramel corn just reminds me of fall and football. About 2 or 3 years ago whenever I would go home to my parents house my Mom and I would make caramel corn to snack on while watching football. I feel like ever since then it has become a tradition to make it for any football game. 

Believe me, this stuff is to die for! It's kind of like the Pringles saying "once you pop, you just can't stop." Seriously, one year I made some to bring back to Brian and I ended up having to make another batch, because my Mom, Dad, Chloe (the dog) and I ate ALL of it! Whoops... It's so easy to make too, which is the best part! 

Basically all you need is: 

2 sticks of butter

2 c. loosely packed brown sugar

1/2 c. light corn syrup

1/2 t. salt

5qts. popped popcorn (3 bags of microwave popcorn)

1/2 t. baking soda

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over low heat. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt to pan; mix well. Increase heat to medium-high; bring to a boil. Boil mixture for 5 minutes.Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Place popcorn in a large roasting pan. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn, stirring to coat. Bake uncovered in 250 degree oven for 1 hour, stirring ever 15 or 20 minutes. Turn out onto wax paper to cool. Break into small pieces. Store in an airtight container. 

What's really neat about this recipe is that it comes from a cook book my Mom helped put together for Central School, my old elementary school, back in 1995 in Plainfield, IL. This was one of many recipes she contributed :) 

Here are some pics at my sisters (sorry they're basically all cat photos) 

Bobcat

Doing the blanket dance

Giving him some love