it's the little things.

I've been trying to focus on the little things in my life lately, because I've found if I focus too much on the big things, I go to a weird place that isn't pleasant for me or those around me (think bugging your boyfriend about the fact that you want to get engaged, want a house so your dog can come back to live with you, etc..). While the big things in life are really great (obviously, or they wouldn't be big things), the little things can be pretty great as well.

Here are some of the little things that I've been loving as of late:


Our beautiful, simple Christmas tree. We didn't go all out on the ornaments this year, mainly because we don't have very many, but I honestly kind of liked it. Sam and I spent the last month just sitting in the dark with only our tree lights on...and it was glorious.

The fact that Sam's desk houses a picture of Bella, and that the last time I was in KC he asked me to send him a picture of our dogs. Adorable.

A well stocked pantry. This is something a lot of people would be grateful for, and I need to remember that.

Beautiful flowers.

A nifty trick I learned on Pinterest...Stick your candle in the fridge for a few minutes...

 And then the wax pops right out of the candle holder!

Another Pinterest trick my mom found: mix Dawn dish soap and white vinegar together in equal parts to scrub your shower with. This is amazing!

Christmas lights, Christmas lights, Christmas lights. 

These sheets from Target are genius and they tell you which edge of the sheet is supposed to be at the foot of the bed. Thank you again, Target.

Sam gave me this as one of my "stocking stuffers". Combining two of my favorite things: Starbucks coffee and ice cream. I'm not sure why people use drugs when something like this exists. Plus, how amazing is it that Sam knows it's one of my favorite ice creams (Please, you know I can't just choose one!)? 

What sort of simple things are you enjoying in your life these days?

eighteen.

I'm in KC today for a very special day.


My baby brother is 18. 18.


I remember the day this little dude was born. My dad called Zach and I from the hospital and said "You have a new baby brother!" and I said, "What? It's not a girl? No thanks.." and gave the phone back to my grandmother.

Despite the fact that Nicholas was in fact a boy and not a girl as I had hoped for ever since my mom told me I'd have another sibling, I'd have to admit he's one super great brother, and I guess I'm pretty glad that I got him instead of a sister :).

Happy 18th, little bro.

an open letter to st. louis drivers

source

dearest residents of st. louis,

I'm a reasonable person. I am.

Unfortunately, this reasonableness flies out the window when I am forced to deal with the majority of you on the road. Who taught you all how to drive?

The main issues I have while I'm out and about:

Tailgating. Today I was minding my own business on Highway 40, trucking along a few miles above the speed limit (I won't tell you exactly how much faster I was going because my parents read this blog from time to time). Apparently exceeding the speed limit by more than a few mph over wasn't quite fast enough for this gentleman (using this word VERY graciously), and he decided the best thing to do was drive so close behind me that I couldn't even see the tops of his headlights.

First of all, I have a new car. I inspect said car for scratches every.single.time I drive it, so you best believe if you rear-end me I will become your worst nightmare. Second of all, there are at LEAST three lanes on 40 when you're in the city. PASS ME if you think I'm going too slow. Don't continue to tailgate me after I've brake checked you (twice) and then proceed to use vile gestures and flail your arms around. I'm not impressed, and I'm definitely not going to go faster or get over to make your life easier.


The on ramp from Hanley Road in Brentwood. I need to find the engineer who designed this hell on earth and give him a piece of my mind. Imagine, for just an instant. You take two of the busiest highways in the city and intersect them. Then, you add a screwy on ramp from a busy little shopping area...and choose the next exit down the highway (about 1/4 of a mile down the highway) to end one of your lanes. Now, drivers of St. Louis, I realize poor design is not your fault. Do you know what IS your fault? The fact that you do not get over for people who are trying to merge onto the highway. In KC, we will practically run the car over in the next lane trying to get over for people merging onto the highway. I don't appreciate the fact that you glare at me while I'm trying to dodge your car because you can't be bothered to get over.

There is a speed limit. That means that you don't have to drive 35 miles per hour on the highway, you can drive 60.

Times when it is acceptable to slow down significantly (this is not a complete list):

• Accidents. 
• Blizzards.
• The roads are icy. 
• It's raining so hard you cannot see.
• Fog is so dense you can barely see the front of your car.

Times when it is not acceptable to slow down significantly (this is not a complete list):

• It is sprinkling.

The left lane is for passing. Now, I feel like I need to generalize this to the state of Missouri, particularly those who traverse the state on I-70. If you are going to drive 5 under, please allow those who don't want to take 6 hours to drive from Kansas City to St. Louis to pass you in the left lane.

Yellow lights mean slow down, they don't mean stop. Self explanatory.

Stop signs mean STOP. It's not a casual roll through! There is a four way stop in front of our apartment building and people blow right through it half the time.


While this is not a complete list of my grievances with you, St. Louis drivers, it is the majority. Please, go back to whatever driving school you attended and ask for additional lessons. It will save me from becoming a hermit and/or walking everywhere.


yours truly,
molly

wednesday ramblings

A mom at the hospital has told me twice in one week that she thinks my hair color is beautiful (I'm not lying, she emphasizes it like nobody's business). I am flattered. I told her she just needs to get it dyed about once a year and then be too cheap to go back and have her stylist dye it again. It also makes me want to obnoxiously toss my head back and forth like you see girls do in slow-mo hair commercials. You know exactly what I mean.

I did send this picture to one of my friends before the aforementioned mother complimented me on my hair color...so maybe I'm a little weird about my hair. Whatever.



Sam and I went to get a Christmas tree today, holla! My parents stopped getting real trees before I can even remember having them because they were lazy my mom didn't like vacuuming up pine needles in July. Whatev. Sam and I went the practical route: we don't have to store a real tree.

I apparently inherited some of my mother's laziness (and Sam got some from somewhere) because we definitely stuffed this tree into the back of Sam's Accord instead of tying it to the roof. It fit (almost) perfectly and we only had to roll down one of the windows to get it to fit. Winning. We also helped (or at least tried to help) an elderly lady who also went the baller route and put her tree in the back of her car, but she was on the ball and didn't really want need our help.



I'm like a year and a half late and about a million dollars short, but I recently discovered this blog

and I think I'm in love. Erin is hilarious and I may or may not have gone back and read her blog from the beginning.


I am voluntarily working New Year's Day this year. I'm involuntarily working Christmas Eve & Day, which means I'm working 3 of the 4 winter holidays. Super brilliant, right? At least I'll be getting paid for my time and effort (sort of, but I like my job so I'll refrain from ranting about it here).

I recently did two things in our bedroom: bought a new duvet cover and fashioned a headboard out of Christmas lights. Equally obsessed with both things. The only issue I am having though is I have no idea what sort of pillow shams to go with our new duvet. I didn't get matching ones because I thought it'd be too much grey/white chevron. What colors do you all think go with this color scheme? Obviously I'm not going to be able to leave my brown pillows from my old comforter set on my bed much longer, it's driving me nuts.

happy december!

Welcome, December!

You've been sorely missed.


Along with my favorite month of the year, I'm also welcoming several other things.

Exhibit A: Crazy unseasonal weather.

Um, hello MO. Where is your 30 degree temps? When I go pick out my Christmas tree, I want to wear a hat and mittens. Not shorts and a t-shirt. I'm sorry, this is ridiculous. 

Exhibit B: My biannual sinus infection.

I told Sam on Thursday evening, "My nose is running a little bit, I think I might be getting sick." By 2:00 in the morning on Friday my throat was killing me and it's been downhill from there. Unfortunately there is no rest for the weary, and since I'm still on orientation at work, I cannot miss a day. In fact, even if I wasn't on orientation at work, I'm pretty sure a sinus infection doesn't cut it in the "calling in sick" realm when you're a nurse. Unless you hemorrhaging blood and/or other bodily floods, you best be going to work. Or if you have pinkeye (I don't make the rules).

I blame Exhibit A for said sinus infection. I tend to get them when the weather changes (ie: beginning of spring and fall) but due to global warming I will apparently be getting them much more frequently in the future. Awesome.

 Another side effect of my sinus infection (which I will point out here is not contagious):

That's right. Sam is so afraid of getting sick that he has been sleeping on a blow up mattress in our spare room/his office. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if he said he was going to his parents to spend the night to ward off all infections. Apparently it's hard to take law school finals when sick? Who knew.



In other news:


We got a new kitchen rug, and I'm obsessed. I'm also obsessed with World Market. I'd never been in one until like a month ago and it's the bomb.com

My dogs are still the cutest dogs on the planet. You know it's true. 

Holiday cups at Starbucks make me irrationally happy. So do those nifty little desk organizers in the background. I so appreciate the fact that all ICU nurses seem to share my love of efficiency and organization. 

 I recently learned that my Grandmother (who is also the bomb.com) loves pictures of dead and/or leafless trees. I too share this love. I also love sunsets. And farm fields. And back roads (can you tell I'm homesick?).

Speaking of things that are the bomb.com, so are my brothers. I love them both so much.  Even if they would rather sit down in the basement and play xbox when I'm in town than hang out with me and watch grey's anatomy. I mean really.

 We were getting family photos done but really, I think we did just as good of a job (if not better, ahem), with our iPhones.

Well I think that's the end of this rambling post. If you stuck it out this far, let's just say you can color me impressed. Adios, amigos!

DIY Christmas wreath

Remember my Mizzou wreath? I used that inspiration to make another one!


Behold my Christmas ribbon wreath!

 Ribbon stock up at, where else? Michaels.

I really think it's adding a lot to the hallway. I know the door of 209 certainly appreciates it!

pinterest project {DIY holiday yarn letters}

 Have you seen these super cute yarn letters all over Pinterest?

{source}

I loved this the first time I saw it, but as with most things I pin on Pinterest, once it's pinned, I totally forget about it. I decided NOT to do that this holiday season, and I have been making a conscious effort to look at my boards before I make my weekly trip to Michaels (yes, it's weekly. depressing.).

I decided to make my letters spell out "ho ho ho" because honestly, I thought at least the "O" would be easy.. haha!

 I took some cheapo wooden letters from Hobby Lobby ($1 each, holla!),

picked out some yarn (side note, this was wayyyyyyy too much yarn. Anyone need some burgandy/ivory yarn?),

 and got to wrapping! The Hs were easier because you didn't have to cut the yarn to wrap it.

 

I love it! If you make the picture bigger you can see the corners aren't perfect, but honestly you can't really see them at all.

I put them in this super awkward place above our kitchen sink that needed a little something. It still looks a little bare so I may have to DIY something else to stick up there with it :).

What holiday crafting have you been up to?!

pinterest project {buffalo chicken roll-ups}

Have you noticed that food tends to go through trends? Yep, similar to clothing trends. I noticed it for the first time with avocado this year. Tons of recipes I found on Pinterest called for avocado, and then I even heard an advertisement on the radio telling people to use avocados for dinner. Then I noticed it with the pistachio commercials on TV. I mean, if Khole and Lamar do it...


Anyway. Another "food trend", which I have decided is definitely a real thing, is anything containing buffalo chicken. Buffalo chicken dip, salad, wraps, grilled cheese, tacos, seriously, anything with buffalo sauce and shredded chicken and there is a recipe out there for it!

I pinned these bad boys awhile back:

via What's Cookin' Chicago?

And man do they look delicious! The main problem I found with this recipe was that it called for you to make the dough on your own. I barely have time to think about dinner, let alone let dough rise for 2 hours. Maybe someday.






Therefore, I just invented my own recipe. We ate them as a meal with salad, but I think they'd be great as an appetizer, too.

What you'll need:
Shredded chicken, 1 cup or so (cooked my new favorite way, a post on that coming soon!)
1/4 cup or so of Buffalo Wing sauce (we use Frank's)
1/2 cup of bleu cheese crumbles
2 cans of crescent rolls
Optional: ranch or bleu cheese dressing for dipping.

You take one of your crescent rolls...

Add your chicken and bleu cheese (or whatever kind of cheese you prefer)...

Then roll it up!

Someday our kitchen will have better lighting and my pictures won't be totally blurry and dark. Someday.

Seriously, these are SO easy and so delicious!

We dipped ours in ranch and it was amazing! I highly recommend trying these either for an appetizer or as a meal.