steppin' out saturday- valentine's date

dave & i decided to have our valentine's date on saturday- grammy and grampy were available to watch the little beans boy, so we made a date of it.  we started out our evening by going to see dave ramsey speak.  it wasn't the cut up your credit cards now fest that i was expecting, but i still really enjoyed it.  we followed that up with dinner in the cute little downtown area by where we live.  we started off with a wonderful appetizer and then i had a delicious heart-shaped pizza topped with artichokes, prosciutto, tomatoes, arugula, mozzerella, lemon- delightful.  dave had a fabulous pasta dish with italian sausage & goat cheese.... nom.  our plan was to go across the street afterward for dessert & drinks- but we stuffed ourselves silly, so we took a trip to target to walk dinner off a bit.  after we had settled down- we headed back for an appetizer, dessert & drinks at what's becoming my favorite restaurant in the area (and i've only had apps and dessert from there).

dress: modcloth, tights: target, shoes: swapped

big valentine's day plans?  i'm pretty excited about tomorrow- it is my favorite holiday! 

i resolve... april

not to make stupid resolutions this year that i will have forgotten about by... yesterday.

instead.  my "resolution" is to make a short list of attainable goals each month- and to share them with you.

i'm getting earlier with my posts... that's good.  let's review my goals for march.  i feel like i kicked some serious tail this month!

• go to bed before 2 AM ---maybe i did this 3 times...
• list clothes on smashion --- boo.  ya.  smashion is like ebay in that listing stuff takes for.  ev.  er.  it probably took me 4 hours or more to upload all of this stuff- and i don't plan on keeping it all up for months until it sales.  if it's not gone by a certain point- it's off to goodwill.  so, buy this stuff.   seriously- i want it out of my house.  shop
• seriously, clean your house, it's a disaster. --- we tried to take on a "project" per weekend on top of making extra efforts to clean.  our 4 projects:  1.  dig out backyard jungle weeds for future garden.  2.  fold and hang 6 weeks months of laundry that we i had lying around.  3.  clean out from under our bed (how did that stuff even get there?!).  4.  organize, try on and pull clothes & list them on smashion.
• finish something else on the 30/30 ---while i was unable to mark anything off the list, i did print more  pictures (#9) and started getting serious about date nights (#11).  ok, wait.  we did FINALLY pay off the hospital bills from having Ian (#14), but now we have hospital bills from the er visit.  i'm conflicted about whether or not this can be crossed off the list. 
• read 2 books --- yes!  (although i just finished the 2nd last night).  i finished butterfield 8 and another book having to do w\ my 30/30.  it's a secret.
• have 2 "date" nights with husband.  one where we stay at home and the other where we actually pretend like we have lives and we leave our house without our child (we will leave our child with someone, not alone if you were wondering).  --- we did have our at home date night.  we made a special dinner together and snuggled together for a movie.  we never got a chance to go out b\c dave's parents were on vacation during our free weekends.  we did have more than one at home date night. 
• see to it that the first day of spring arrives in the midwest.  i curse you snow, i curse you with 1000 curses. --- even i can't make the seasons change and that groundhog is a filthy liar.  it snowed at least twice this month.  40 degrees is not spring.
• win march madness (or my husband can win... what's yours is mine...) --- talk about the fail of the century.  i don't watch college bb, but i love march madness- this year's tournament was totally whack.  dave & i finished in a tie for 2nd to last place out of 24 brackets.  the pool was decided before we even got to the final four b\c everyone's teams were eliminated except for the winner who had 1 final four team.  sad.  i don't wanna talk about it.

and now for april!

• finish 2 more books
• finish 2 more 30/30 items.  
• don't spend any extra money on crap this month.  approved items are:  tv with tax money (planned ahead), lunch this weekend w\ friends we haven't seen since october.  easter basket goodies for ian.  out of the house date.  trip to milwaukee to see the braves (tickets are $0.75).  all of this total (not including the tv should cost less than $100).  
• 2 date nights.  1 at home.  1 out.
• lose 2 lbs.  i didn't bother with this in march, but i'm coming back to it.  it's been 8 weeks now- the weight has got to start coming off.  i'm busting my butt.  
• figure out how to spend/save the remaining tax money.  we could pay off ian's hospital bills in full, but would like to save some money as well.
• cash in my bonds.  they're earning about $0.25 a year.  ridiculous.

we'll check back to see how i did in a few weeks!!

i resolve... march

not to make stupid resolutions this year that i will have forgotten about by... yesterday.

instead.  my "resolution" is to make a short list of attainable goals each month- and to share them with you.

ok, so we're a little over a week into march, but again i already have goals in place.  first, let's revisit february's goals:

no, first let me say what a wretched month february was.  my son acted a fool for 3+ weeks, we had a blizzard, my child went to the hospital and dr's office 800 times, and i basically just wanted to move to a desert island...

ok...

• lose 5 lbs.  i'm telling you- my scale must be broken.  first it kept telling me i GAINED 5 lbs, and now it says i've gained 2 lbs.  i can't figure out wth is going on.  did i mention that i'm working out 6, yes, SIX days a week (this is week 4) and i have GAINED weight?!?!  this is why i don't work out.
• finish reading that darn book already  notice i crossed it out, yet kept it bold?  i did not finish THAT book, but i read 2 other books.  i will get to that book one day. 
• complete 2 more items on my 30 before thirty list  i feel like i have been doing this list long enough to say i've accomplished at least one of these things:  #21: eat healthier by cooking more at home
• go to bed before 2 AM (to most of you, this is probably crazy, but i have a lot of trouble winding down- this is a HUGE deal for me)  once again, a little of both.  some days i succeeded and some days i was up until after 3.  i need ambiens. 
• start listing clothes on smashion  i thought about it.  really i did. 
• start implementing the cleaning plan  see above...

and now, my goals for march (where i promise not to be such a slacker):

• go to bed before 2 AM (it's 2:15 already...  le sigh).
• list clothes on smashion
• seriously, clean your house, it's a disaster.
• finish something else on the 30/30
• read 2 books
• have 2 "date" nights with husband.  one where we stay at home and the other where we actually pretend like we have lives and we leave our house without our child (we will leave our child with someone, not alone if you were wondering).  
• see to it that the first day of spring arrives in the midwest.  i curse you snow, i curse you with 1000 curses.
• win march madness (or my husband can win... what's yours is mine...)

a date night in my future?

i honestly cannot remember the last time that husband and i went to see a movie... sadly it may have been winter 2008- we caught 2 movies with husband's best friend- gran torino & the curious case of benjamin button.  or maybe it was public enemies.  who knows.  sad times.  i'm not really into movies much anymore.  most movies seem to just be remakes of others with few new original ideas.  i live for classic film though.  i can safely say that most of my favorites were made prior to 1970- most way before that.  there have been a few movies that have caught my eye lately- so i'm hoping to somehow finagle a date night in my near future!  here's what's on my list of "like to see" movies.

love & other drugs:  i am wishy-washy on the rom-com genre.  some i like, and some are just way to much cheese for my liking.  this looks like it could have potential.

burlesque- i love singing and dancing and costumes and flashy!  i'm hoping this has modern-day moulin rouge potential.  plus, kristen bell is just so cute and little!

and finally

black swan- a psychological thriller (more up my alley) about ballet with gorgeous costumes by rodarte.  if i could see one of these movies, this would be my choice.

what about you?  do you make it to the movies often?  have you seen any of these movies- or are any of these movies on your list?  if not, what's on your list?

what to wear to the wedding

so the wedding we are attending is just 2 weeks away, and after spending the last month searching the internet high & low, i have narrowed it down to 14 lucky finalists.  yes, 14.  ugh.  i'm suffering from a case of abulia!

so excited about this weekend, but a little nervous too.  the wedding is on a friday in the late afternoon, so we will be dropping ian off with...?  and not picking him up until the next morning.  *i was just joking w\ my mil about how they need to consult with us before making plans- we were going to have them keep ian on our anniversary, but they were out of town.  now, we wanted them to keep ian this- and guess what- out of town.  we can't bring him to the wedding, so now we need to enlist an overnight babysitter.  aaaaaah!*

so excited-  1.  i get a pretty dress to wear, and it can be any kind of dress i'd like b\c it doesn't have to be made to allow for breastfeeding (!!), 2.  we get to go downtown to a beautiful church and a reception at the chicago history museum, 3.  we get to stay at a beautiful hotel downtown (i'm pretty sure we're splitting this hotel with at least 2, if not 3 of our single male friends- this should be interesting). 

so, onto the dresses.  i did a lot of searching on a LOT of sites.  so i hope i've picked some things that are cocktail wedding appropriate.  my goals are to keep the girls intact, keep my butt covered, look awesome, and not attract unnecessary attention.  duh.  without further ado...

photo cred:

Bright Young Things Dress- ModCloth

Ascending Pleats Dress- Ruche

Sleeveless Tulle Neckline Dress- Loft

When the Night Falls Dress- ModCloth (thanks, girls)

The Dress I've Been Telling You About- ModCloth

Berry Abstract Print Dress- Loft

and...

Chocolate Souffle Dress- Lulu's

Lost In Your Eyes Dress- Lulu's

Andalusia Silk Dress- Lulu's

Mesh Insert Bandage Dress- asos

Folded Flower Dress- asos

Frill Front Slinky Dress- asos

aaand..

Celebrate Good Times Dress- ModCloth
Kirigami Craft Tube Dress- Ruche

so, how did i do?  did i pick anything out that's early fall cocktail wedding appropriate?  anything you love?  i have some definite faves, and some that i'm on the fence about, but would love to hear your opinions.  so opine away....  

change of a-dress

har.

husband and i have been invited to a fancy wedding in october.  it's an evening wedding with a cocktail hour and the reception is here ::swoon::  it's going to be all kinds of fancy, and i want to look really nice as it will be a night out without baby.  i've already started looking for dresses, and i'm searching high and low on the internet for the dress. 

so where are your favorite places online to shop for dresses?