i'll admit it.

I think it's nasty when women don't have their toenails painted.  (Ironically, mine aren't painted right now and it's been driving me crazy.)

Sometimes I feel really awkward hanging out with a group of people and their kids, because Ben and I don't have kids of our own.  Sometimes it doesn't make me feel awkward at all.

I'm not very good at apologizing.

I really, really love history and I desperately want to go to Springfield, IL to check out the Abe Lincoln museum.

YouTube videos put together with fart sounds make me laugh so hard I cry.  (Check this one out because it's a real gem.)  I'm immature.

I like to grab a handful of Hershey's milk chocolate chips whenever I'm craving something sweet.

You won't find leggings, chevron, or mint in my closet.  They're all too trendy, and I don't think leggings qualify as pants.

I'm a master blog giveaway enterer.  And winner.

I sold a bunch of wedding gifts that we've had boxed up for almost 2 years on eBay last week.

Pinterest probably sucks in too much of my time.  Same with Instagram.

I hate drinking water that comes out of a bathroom faucet.

Whenever I go to the mall alone, I always stop at a jewelry store and look at rings.  1) Because I want to see what's out there, and 2) they always offer to clean whatever jewelry you're wearing.

I realized that I'm not very open on my blog (For good reason. Some people share way too much on their blogs, and I don't want to be that person.) and this is my attempt at mixing it up.

The picture at the top of this post is two years old, but it's one of my favorites.

hanging out with dinosaurs.

This past weekend, we spent our Friday night exploring the St. Louis Science Center.  I guess every first Friday of the month they have a bunch of vendors/businesses(?) come and set up booths, they have speakers come, there's a stand-up comedy group that performs, and they show a free movie in their huuuuuuge theater.  It was pretty great.  And free, so that made it even better. ;)  I'm proud to say that I've now seen Back to the Future (typical movie that would be shown at a science center, right?) and we just might be on the hunt to track down parts 2 and 3.

Plus, we got a picture with some dinosaurs.

#ourweekendwasbetterthanyours

I joke, I joke.

a cookie recipe that will make you fat & happy.

Brown Butter & Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 3 dozen cookies

1 c. salted butter

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 t. vanilla

1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

2 1/4 c. whole-wheat flour

1/2 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

2 c. milk chocolate chips

sea salt for sprinkling

1.  Brown your butter by heating 1 stick of butter (1/2 c.) in a pan over medium-high until melted. (About 2-3 minutes.) Stir/swirl the pan constantly until the butter is dark golden brown and you can smell a nutty aroma.  Pour it into a bowl and allow to cool completely.

2.  Mix the other stick of butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes.

3.  Add the vanilla to the mixer.

4.  Slowly add in the brown butter, then mix on medium speed for another 2 minutes.

5.  Add the egg and egg yolk and mix.

6.  Add the flour, salt, and baking soda to the butter mixture and mix on low until the flour is just incorporated.

7.  Add chocolate chips and mix for a few seconds.

8.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, then cover and chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.

9.  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper or use a silpat non-stick baking mat and place dough 2 inches apart.

10.  Sprinkle each ball with some sea salt.  (Don't use too much! :)

11.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through.

recipe adapted from here

4 products i love {part 3}.

1 // Super-Softening Hand Lotion - Received this in my stocking on Christmas and I'll never use another kind of lotion again.  This is the stuff dreams are made of!

2 // NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder - I've been using this kit for the past few weeks, and I'm not sure how I survived without it.  The dark brown/brown kit has been perfect for me and I love running a tiny bit of wax over my brows each day to keep them in place.

3 // Revlon Photoready Color Correcting Primer - I was a little apprehensive when this came in the mail because I've never put purple stuff on my face before, but it is awesome!  I love using this stuff everyday and it doesn't make me feel greasy at all.  So, that's a plus. 

4 // Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor - I'll be honest.  I've only had this HRM for 2 days, but I'm head over heels, madly in love with it.  It's easy to set up, easy to wear, and easy to understand.

View part 1 & part 2.

What products have you recently discovered and loved?

a valentine's day themed "favorite things party."

*Note: I'm just going to apologize for the number of pictures beforehand.  Sorry!

I love parties.  You know that emoji with the two heart eyes?  That's how much I love planning parties, hosting parties, and going to parties!

My friend, Lauren, and I have been wanting to throw a "favorite things party" and invite a bunch of our friends, and with Valentine's Day coming up, we knew it'd be the perfect opportunity.

Here's how our "favorite things party" worked:  

1)  Everyone picked something that they love that cost between $1-$5 and they brought three of that item.    

2)  Upon arrival, everyone wrote their name on three slips of paper.

3)  When the time came, we went around in a circle and showed everyone our item, described why it's our favorite, and drew three slips of paper.

4)  The people whose names were read got to go home with that item.

Basically, you bring three of the same item and go home with three different items!

After deciding on a date, I began scouring the internet for some party inspiration and decided to base the feel of our party around this cute invite from Tiny Prints.  The mix of bright and light pink and the cute striped pattern on the back caught my attention, and wanted to incorporate them into the party somehow.  I customized the invite so that instead of adding photos to the card, I added different squares of pink that we used for a game.

Here's how our "favorite things" game worked:

1)  Since there were four empty pink squares, we asked four random questions.

(Favorite actor or actress, favorite movie, favorite vacation spot, and favorite jellybean flavor.)

2)  Everyone filled out their card without showing their neighbors.

3)  I collected the cards and read something off of a card.

4)  Everyone had to pick three people from the group who it could be.

("This person's favorite spot they've vacationed is...Paris.")

5)  I'd throw a small treat to everyone who guessed the right person.

It was so much fun to get to know other people's favorite things!

I'll admit... my favorite thing about parties (besides friends) has to be the food!  Nothing beats enjoying some treats and chatting with some of your favorite people. :)  I definitely begged my awesome friend to make her fabulous White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake (you can find the recipe here!).

I also customized these address labels from Tiny Prints to make a "thank you" tag for little gift bags.  To be completely honest, I had a lot of fun looking through all of the different fonts and came up with quite a few variations that I loved.

I'm already itching for another "favorite things party" and it hasn't even been a full 3 days since this one!  I just love hearing about new products that people adore, and I love getting to know new things about friends. :)

invitations (used as a game):  Tiny Prints c/o

address labels (used as a "thank you"):  Tiny Prints c/o

black & white striped table runner:  Floratouch

pink chevron paper straws:  SweetCarnival

white & black polka dot paper straws:  PetuniaCrafts

white platter:  World Market

red cake stand:  World Market

pink cake stand:  Michaels - painted it pink myself

the first ER trip of our marriage.

If there's one thing I try to avoid like the plague, it's a trip to the Emergency Room.

I. Just. Can't. Handle. It.

1)  Overcrowded seating - like the airport - but you don't want to sit right next to someone because, you know, they could have some communicable disease or something. They're in the ER for a reason.
2)  The loooooong wait time.
3)  Blood and other bodily fluids.
4)  People there are in pain.
5)  No one wants to be there - even the nurses at the desk and the security guards*.

*You have to go through security here in the city before you can get into the ER.  Crazy, right? 

As the title of this post states, we experienced our first ER trip of our marriage. (Yay for the fact that our lucky streak lasted 21 1/2 months!) Poor Ben slipped on some ice and somehow managed to get a good sized cut on his hand that would not stop bleeding. Fortunately, Ben stayed calm, I didn't freak out as much as I normally would have, and we got to the hospital safely in the freezing rain. Turns out, he didn't end up needing stitches so the nurses bandaged him up and sent him on his merry way and told him to go to Student Health Services on Monday for a Tetanus shot. I have pictures, but they're super gross, so you're welcome for not posting them.

Oh, and we're moving again in three weeks. We can't wait. :)