happiness is...

I've been in bed for about 48 hours now thanks to a rogue Limeade from Topsy's. Sam told me he heard from his mom that there have been some recent E. coli breakouts, so I'm fairly certain that's the culprit, but regardless, I've been stuck in my bed all weekend, which sounds so great when you're out running around but is MISERABLE when 5 blankets (including one that is electric), some flannel PJ pants and your warmest socks still aren't making you feel better.


So what am I doing to make myself feel better? Showing you the things that DO make me happy.

 Puppy snuggles.

 Gourmet cupcakes, yum.

This picture.

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha (we're so close, so so close).

Down comforters.

My uggs. Don't judge.




What makes you happy? And hope you all had a better weekend than a bout with food poisoning! Wish me luck with the chicken my mom made for dinner...eek.

the weekend through the iPhone (and dslr, if you're counting).

Have I mentioned the love affair I'm having with Apple products? How about Instagram? Once or twice? Sorry, keep bearing with me. I'll never stop gushing about them.

Sam's fall break was this week so he came to spend a long weekend with me. The stars aligned and by some miracle I had Monday and Tuesday off from school, so we got to spend 4 days together! That's unheard of nowadays!

I know for a fact I've bragged on here that I have a nice fancy camera, but I ALWAYS forget to bring it with me! I don't know what my problem is. I did manage to snag a few pictures at my brother's soccer game so I'm sharing those as well. 

 My mom and I have a Vera Bradley obsession, so when she got an email saying that the East West Tote bag was on sale at Bette's Hallmark, she flipped out. I was appointed the super important job of going to buy two of them...because that's JUST what I needed. Another bag.

 After Sam arrived, we headed over to watch my brother play soccer. I always get super excited and weirdly emotional watching my brother play soccer. At his last game he scored both of his team's goals and I cried after each of them. I am seriously strange. He's #12 in the black right there in the middle. Also, excuse my camera, that's as far as it zooms.

 Sam's view was a little hindered by the wooden pole.

 This picture is so typical of my mom. Eyes are closed and the flash isn't even on. However, doesn't she look great!? Hair a normal length and everything.

 This picture is so typical of my little bother brother. He sleeps eve-ry-where.

 My cute cousin Mason, eating up a storm. My brothers eat basically nothing at meals, so he's the first "typical" boy we've seen--3 lunches is normal for him!

 Okay a few things about this picture. One, my posture is awful. Two, my hair is all up in Sam's face. Three, I love my mustard yellow sweater from Loft, but Sam and I are most definitely not coordinating.

 Shortly after the first picture, I used my hand to adjust myself and got a major splinter. Luckily my grandma was prepared with a needle AND tweezers and Dr. Sam was able to fix me up in a snap. I would have been able to do it myself except I injured my right hand and my left is like a wet noodle when it comes to anything dextrous.

My beautiful cousin Amanda (who insists my name is Ly (as in mol-LY) and that I call her Da).

 On Sunday Sam and I were going to head to the Truman Library & Museum, but instead decided to hit up the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum. They had a Monet that I don't remember seeing last time and I fell in love. If only I had a few million (billion?) dollars lying around. Sam told me that the StL Art Museum has all 3 of the "Water Lilies" paintings in house right now so we are most definitely going there next time I go to see him.

 They also had a Rodin exhibit at the Nelson. Here's Sam, thinking about the Thinker. Which, if you're into fun art facts, is not originally that size--it was originally only about 2 feet tall.

 We then headed to the pumpkin patch that we discovered last year with my mom and Nick.

 Sam's sporting his $2.50 pumpkin--SO CHEAP and his sunglasses that we found at Gordman's...originally priced at $12.99, they rang up $3. What bargain hunters we are!

 This pumpkin was amazing--very little on the inside, which is my favorite kind of pumpkin!

Yesterday we went to see the Ides of March (my second time, his first), which I highly recommend to anyone who likes politics, George Clooney, or most importantly, Ryan Gosling. I don't even want to describe it for fear of giving any plot points away!...

...and then we carved up some pumpkins.

By the time I took this picture, I'd finished cleaning my pumpkin, plotted out the face, and washed my hands for the 10th time (hate the feeling of pumpkin guts on my hand). Sam's was a stringy mess. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but they're outside on the front porch so I'll remember to do that before the neighborhood kids steal them to smash in the street (sad but true).


I didn't take any pictures of this, but we also spent a LOT of time watching baseball this weekend. If you live under a rock, the Cardinals are in the World Series, so we watched them all 3 nights Sam was here :).  Here's to hoping that Game 6 will be more like Game 3 and less like Games 4&5!

Lindsey's bachelorette weekend!

So as you may know, the last week has been pretty rough, but I'm sick of being sad, so I'm going to talk about HAPPY things for the next week (and beyond).

First up, a few weeks ago, my friend Abby and I headed to St. Louis to celebrate our friend Lindsey's upcoming nuptials with a fun bachelorette weekend. WEEKEND, you heard that right. It was just what I needed to get out of my school rut and have some fun with the girls.

I can show you better than I can tell you what all we did, so here we go...

Abby and I headed to St. Louis and went straight to Sam's apartment to get ready for the evening and took the ever typical bathroom pic before heading out.

Some of the ladies, and you can see some of the decorations there in the foreground ;).

Friends since the 4th grade :).

Abby with the beautiful bride-to-be.

Love you, my dear!

Modeling some of her gifts from Friday night :).

Lindsey's dancing on the stage at Jive and Wail in the background, but in the foreground is one of the other brides...I think she was about 13.

Stealin the show!

This photo is courtesy of The Four Seasons in St. Louis... we did some major pampering.

Ridin in style, duh.

The end!

Charlie, 2.0

Our precious, precious Charlie died last night in his sleep.

I think it happened around 12:30 because Bella sat up in bed and started barking for no reason (he was at the vet, not at home).

I miss you more than I could ever say.

Charlie

 Our baby Charlie is not doing too well right now. He's getting sort of up there in the years, and lately he's been having some trouble breathing and eating. My mom is taking him to the vet tomorrow, so cross your fingers it's good news! I was just sitting here thinking about him and realized I never tell stories about him, because honestly he's just not crazy like little Bella.

My parents brought Charlie home when I was 13. They had researched dog breeds for a really long time and found that Cavalier King Charles Spaniel's were really good with kids, particularly kids who were afraid of dogs. Zach had wanted a dog for-ev-er, but I was perfectly content with our cats after a vicious attack from a Chihuahua (one who I incorrectly referred to as a Rottweiler) when I was 7. And I have the scar to prove it. His name was Killer (not a joke) and he came out of the bushes at my great-grandma's house and bit my leg. Killer went to a farm shortly after. I was terrified of any and all dogs from that point forward. Enter Charlie.  I loved him the second I met him, and I love him even more today, which is why I'm so sad that he's so sick. So don't judge me for this blog post. 

Charlie is the best dog. Ever. I love Bella and I think she's so cute and so sweet, but she's frequently a pain in the you-know-what. Charlie NEVER is. He was potty-trained in about 2 seconds, and his favorite thing to do is comfort you when you're sad.

Dog-sitting in Columbia, where he did the one thing he does that is slightly annoying--digging through the trash ;). Usually it's too high for him.

 One of Charlie's favorite sleep spots is what we in our family refer to as "The Boat." "The Boat" is the crook of your knees when you're laying in a position like Nick is on the couch up there. Charlie crawls in there and then puts his head on your knee or thigh and takes a nice long snooze.

  He's super in-tune to when you don't feel well or are sad. When my mom first was diagnosed with cancer, he didn't leave her side for an entire year (when she was doing her first treatment). This is not too long after she got home from the hospital one time. I don't know why she's laying on the floor, but if you know my mom at all, you're probably not surprised.

This picture was taken one of the days when Zach was home from college after being gone for a few weeks. Charlie also misses people and ALWAYS knows when you're leaving him again. 

 He gets annoyed by Bella a lot, but mostly they're best friends. He lets her sleep with him on the couch every day when we're all at work or school.

Charlie is also a very inquisitive fellow. He tilts his head whenever you ask him questions.

   One of my favorite things about Charlie is how photogenic he is, and he's ALWAYS ready for his close-up.

A very regal puppy. Completely fitting for a Cavalier KING Charles Spaniel.

The white on his face has become more prominent throughout the years, but I think it makes him look distinguished.

Snoozing on his other favorite perch: The back of the chair. Also known as: Places Where Bella Can't Bother Me Because She's Too Little.

the world is a little dimmer

1955-2011

You all know how much this devastates me. I love Apple, and think Steve Jobs is one of the most brilliant people of the last century. His creativity will not easily be replaced.

weekend recap

As I mentioned in my cooking post yesterday, I went to St. Louis this past weekend to hang out with my main squeeze. We have done a lot of the touristy things in stl because we've been dating for almost 5 years (ah! can you believe it?!), which means I've made a lot of weekend trips, both when we were at mizzou and after. Now we do more every day type things, which I like, because I've learned I've started to prefer the things we go do in St. Louis to the things we do in Kansas City (shh, don't tell my parents...), which will make a move there someday an easier transition.

So anyway, I'm long-winded as usual. This weekend we (and by we, I mean me again) cooked, did some laundry, and cleaned up the apartment. I seem to be incapable of enjoying my free time (one of the characteristics of a Type A personality, awesome), so I always have to be moving.

Between all of THAT excitement, however, I watched Sam play some softball...

We also had some delicious Italian food with Sam's dad, brother, and his brother's girlfriend...

Went to a super exciting poker game...right Sam?....

Saw an a-MAZ-ing movie {seriously, loved it, despite the fact that anything and everything about cancer still makes me cry}....

And took a lot of medicine (me, not Sam). My mom has bronchitis but I'm maintaining I have allergies, so I refuse to go to the doctor. Interesting story, a nursing student that hates doctor's offices...

Who else loves these Mucinex commercials?

What did you do this weekend?


*One thing I didn't do this weekend? Take pictures.