Birthday Weekend!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes!! I had a wonderful weekend, despite having a million things to do on top of celebrating my birthday ;)

I am not a huge fan of roses, so Aaron got my a gorgoues bouquet of tulips, lillies, and I'm not sure what the wide lavendar colored flowers are - but they were my favorites. I love hydrangeas (one of my all-time favorite flowers) but unfortunately, they are not good for dogs if injested. And with our luck, Deedee would find a way to eat them!

On Saturday night we went out to Cantina Laredo, a fabulous Mexican restraunt in Columbus with amazing food. It's kind of a birthday tradition, Aaron takes me there every year. They have great margartias, and fresh guacamole made right at the table for you! And my favorite part, dessert - hot apple pie with cinnamon ice cream on a sizzling plates of brandy butter {YUM}.

We were a bit let down this year though...not by the food, but by the atmosphere. We went late, about 8 pm, and were dressed up because it is a nice place. But, apparently since last year, they have incorporated a kids menu, and every family in Columbus decided to take their kids out to eat that same night. We were sat in a room full of families which was quite annoying. Don't get me wrong, I love kids...but it was obvious we were on a date and I don't think it was very professional to seat us next to a screaming baby and toddler watching noisy cartoons on his ipad. Not romantic. Oh well, we will pick a different place next year ;)

What places to you ladies go for date nights??

Forgot to get a picture of us all dressed up for dinner, but once we got home we changed into pjs and snuggled up for drinks and a movie. Perfect night to me!

On Sunday {my actual bday} my best friend Michelle and her fiance, Jeremy stopped by and treated us to lunch! It was so great to see her...we have been best friends forever, but she is one of those people I just don't get to see enough. We realized it had been a year and a half since we last saw each other!! We are planning a lot of time together coming up soon, though since her wedding is in May!

We didn't get around to buying my succelents {that I wished for in my last post} but that will go down this week for sure :)

I did get a new winter coat though! I've been wanting a high-quality down jacket for winter since it gets so cold here. Criteria - matte black (dislike the shiny ones), long (knee length, butt covered), and no fur hood, bonus if it has a removable (non-fur) hood. Oh, and decent brand since I want it to last a long time. 

All the ones I've seen have been so expensive or not quite what I was looking for...but we stopped in Macy's since they were having 50% off outerwear, and I found a perfect Calvin Klein jacket! Then, using your Macy's card, you got an additional 20% off...so an almost $300 jacket went down to about $120 after tax. Win.

Couldn't find a picture online, I'll post one later this week :)

Finally, if you follow me on Instagram {emiliestorey} you know that this little sassafrass has been a bit naughty, and been caught regulary biting at her cast - so on goes the cone. It is hilarious, but she is instantly a super grump and follows me around endlessly, bumping me with it, trying to get me to take it off. 

Did you do anything fun this weekend?? xo

Five on Friday 1.10.14

Hope you are all staying warm! It has been such a cold week here...like step-outside-and-want-to-die-cold.

We actually had two "snow days" on Monday and Tuesday - which is amazing because Ohio State almost NEVER closes. Just to put it into perspective, they have only closed for weather 9 times in the past 35 years....until this week. It was nice getting an extended weekend and having those two extra days off, but for some reason this week has still felt extremely long! But I'm happy it is once again the weekend :)

1} Breathe.

Because after tonight I have completed my first week of grad school and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be ;) Still a bit intimidating, but I'm sure in time I will get more comfortable and confident during class.

2} Celebrate.

 I turn 26 this weekend! My birthday is Sunday - so I'm excited to go out with Aaron and then see by best friend, Michelle, and her fiance...she is coming up from KY just to see me and I couldn't ask for a better present!

Fun fact: her bday is July 12th - so we are exactly 6 months apart and have half-bdays on each other's birthdays!

Holy throw back! Pretty sure this is 2006 (senior year of high school) - and is the only picture I could find of us. We have been best friends for almost 20 years and barely have any pics together! It is a crime really.

3} Read.

 This technically isn't out yet, but you better believe I already pre-ordered my copy on Amazon. She is hilarious, and I've read all of her other books within hours, so funny you can't put them down!

4} List.

Clutter stresses me out, majorly. So, I've had enough with all the useless crap laying around our house and cluttering the basement, especially when none of it gets used. Speakers, bike racks, motorcycle stands, snowboarding jackets, endless pieces of technolgy, etc etc.

So...the goal this weekend is to get rid of it! And how will I do this? Ebay, of course! Why not make a little seed money in the process of de-cluttering?? Genius plan, me thinks.

5} Plant.

I got a fabulous wooden {indoor} planter from Aaron for Christmas...because he knows I love succulents and thought it would be fun for me to have them inside. For my birthday, I asked that we go to the local nursery and pick out some things to fill it with :) The planter is super modern, like a wooden puzzle - hard to describe, but I will take picutres once it has plants in it!

Side note: this is totally adorable and such a creative gift, he got major points for this one. I never would have even though of it myself. 

If you don't know what succelents are...see below.

Basically, the cutest little rubbery plants - I love them :)

As always, thank you so much for reading ladies!! Will you be linking up for Five on Friday? I always love reading everyone's posts at the end of the week :)

Sosie Picks

I stumbled across this website the other day...not even sure what got me there - but I fell in love! 

I get excited when I find a new store to check out, as I get tired of always shopping at the same places/websites over and over again. Added bonus - their prices are great! Have any of you ever heard of it / shopped there before??

I made a quick collage of some of my favorite things I found on Sosie...I ended up ordering the beige maxi skirt and off-the-shoulder lace top. I'm excited to get them, and will let you know how the quality is once they arrive. They were both on sale, and with shipping the total only came to about $36. If I like the items I ordered, I will probably order the white 3/4 sleeve basic tee and maybe the gold cuff!

If you want to check them out, the website is here --> Sosie

**not a sponsored post - just a website I stumbled upon and thought I'd share :)

January Favorites - Beauty Edition

Linking up for January with Emily and Kylie for My Favorite Things!

Over the holiday, I got a lot of new beauty items (some purchased / some given as gifts) and so far I am loving everything!

So, for this month's favorites I thought I would share... 

1) Capricorn / Garnet Necklace from Etsy (find it HERE)

These are so adorable! She has all the Zodiac signs, and I choose to also add my birthstone (everything comes in either silver or gold).

2) Naked 2 Palette - Urban Decay

This was a Christmas gift I asked for...I have the Naked 1 and have used it a ton over the past year, so I thought it would definitely be worth it to have another. 

I liked the look of the shades better in 2 instead of 3 (I don't look good in rose-shades), so that's why I picked this one over the newest release. Honestly, I have literally used this everyday since Christmas! You can easily do a day or night eye with the perfectly pigmented and silky shadows.

The Naked 2 on top, Naked 1 on bottom.

3) Clarisonic Mia

Another Christmas gift, and a life-changer! I don't know how I went so long with out this...

It has made my skin feel cleaner and softer than it has in years. 

4) Bath products...

You can never have too many lotions, face and body washes! I love the Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit line, but I'm most excited about trying the Lush face scrub and Aveeno Lavender products - lavender is one of my favorite scents! 

5) Victorias Secret products...

These all came as free gifts / bonus items with a clothing order I placed recently. I'm excited to try out all the sample size perfumes! I know I love Dream Angels Heavenly, Bombshell, and Noir Tease...but this has 3 others for me to try too. 

Will you be linking up for January favorites??

I always love reading everyones different posts!

Christmas 2013 (better late than never!)

**WARNING: Pic Heavy!

Well, I'm a bit late on this...but thought I would share anyway!

We had a great Christmas :) I took vacation time - took the entire week off, which made the whole holiday so much better and relaxing! I haven't had time off since last summer, so I was due for a break to recharge.

On Dec 23rd, my parents and sister came to our house to celebrate. We had a nice dinner and Allison (who works at a bakery) brought a gorgeous Yule Log cake that her friend had made. I had to snap a few pictures before we devoured it!

I also snapped a few pictures of some of our decorations around the house...

My favorite nativity (gift from Allison last year!

 

On the morning of Dec 24th...we opened gifts like it was Christmas, and then decorated our traditional family cookies. I LOVE them...they are my grandma's recipe and we have been making them since I can remember.

My dad getting the icing on Santa - there is a specific way we decorate him and I can never remember...and I wanted them to be perfect :)

The final result...wintergreen trees with red hots and peppermint Santas!

Later in the day, Aaron and I found a home for the awesome artwork my sister got us. She is an art history major, who knows so many interesting local artists...and there is nothing I love more than having interesting, one-of-a-kind pieces! I was SOO excited about this gift! It's done on a piece of real wood and we hung it in the living room.

One of Aaron's favorite gifts...a print I got him of all the types of beer and some specialty beers sent from his friends in California...what a dork.

And I wanted to share this too...Aaron and I have a tradition where I get him goofy socks every Christmas. His feet are always really cold, so I started buying him big chunky knit, character socks. But they are SO hard to find for men! 

So, I took my search to Etsy this year and found a girl that makes hilarious baby booties. Naturally, I had to ask her if she would make a men's size 12 (bahahaha) for an extra fee. She agreed, and I was so excited about them! And Aaron absolutely loves them :)

 I didn't get a picture of him wearing them yet, but here is a shot from her Etsy page.

(She makes adorable stuff - go check her page out!)

Now picture a grown man wearing these ;)

My parents left the evening of Dec 24th and Aaron's family came over on Dec 25th.

We started by decorating some more cookies...

And then opening gifts in the evening (in our pjs of course), and Aubrey and I got the obligatory picture in front of the tree, American Girl doll included ;)

I loved reading all of your Christmas recaps and seeing your family photos - sorry I was so late on getting mine posted!

xx