A Halloween Flashback

Happy Halloween!

We don't have anything crazy planned for tonight...just heading to Jonathan's parents' house to hang outside, enjoy a few glasses of wine and hand out candy. In my opinion, though, that is a pretty perfect evening to me.

I might not have a whole lot to say about my Halloween festivities this year, but I just had to show up to the blog world today and share this photo with you guys.

Me, my older sister and my brother

I came across this photo as I was packing up my house last month and it may me oh so happy. It cracks me up that I was dressed as Superman considering I was the girliest little girl. It's so funny to me. I love looking back on Halloween when I was a kid. Having all that candy at one time is so exciting as a child. One of the perks of being one of five kids: when we got home from Trick-or-Treating and all of us would empty our goodies onto the living room floor. We'd sit around bragging about how much of everything we got and proceed to trade each other for our favorite candies. We were all such pals. We still are. That's why this photo is just making my day today. That, and the fact that I am looking forward to seeing all the cute kids in costumes tonight as we hand out candy.

What are your plans for this evening? Are you dressing up or just hanging out at home? 

Someday I Will...

Happy Wednesday! I had every intention of linking up for Wedding Wednesday today, but then The Daily Tay announced her "Someday I Will..." link-up and that sounded like a better idea.

 

Someday I will successfully wake up at 5 a.m. for the gym for more than 3 days in a row.

Someday I will be a mother and I absolutely can't wait.

Someday I will volunteer at least once a month.

Someday I will stop quoting Friends on a daily basis. Just kidding..that's not gonna happen.

Someday I will figure out how to use a curling iron.

Someday I will finally start watching Breaking Bad.  

Someday I will attend a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.

Someday I will marry the man of my dreams...and that day is just 65 days from now.

Someday I will learn to be more patient.

Someday I will learn to sit still after I finish polishing my nails long enough for them to dry.

Someday I will write something that gets published.

What will you do someday? 

Fall Baking: My 3 Favorite Recipes

We may not get much of a fall season in Orlando. We don't get changing leaves and chilly days. We hope for even just a few cooler days so we can break out our boots, scarves and long sleeves. We may still be wearing sundresses in October while the rest of the country gets cozy, but that doesn't stop me from absolutely loving this time of year, especially the recipes.

Every year I seem to find a new fall recipe or two that I absolutely love and this year is no different. I've been baking up a storm lately and I'm loving every minute. My favorite part of baking is sharing the goods with family and friends. All this baking and I've been able to bring treats to family gatherings and dinners with friends, not to mention Jonathan who always has some delicious baked goods to snack on at home.

Today I'd like to share a few of my favorite fall treats in case you're looking for some new ones to try this season. I can't take credit for coming up with these recipes, but I'm giving you the link so you can try them out yourself.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
These might be one of my top 10 favorite cookie recipes ever. The smell of Snickerdoodles in the oven is absolute heaven, never mind the pumpkin spice and white chocolate chips for this recipe. These were a huge hit in our house. My only advice is to make them and give them away before you end up eating the whole batch yourself. You've gotta make these...so good!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
I hate to say I've haven't had the chance to make these yet this this year, but I'm sure an opportunity will come up soon! I did make these last year and they were so delicious. I loved the hint of cinnamon flavor in the cream cheese frosting...absolutely perfect. The actual cupcake was super moist and I can still remember the smell of these baking. I can't wait to make these again as they were a huge hit last year with friends and family!

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread
I'm warning you ahead of time: this bread is dangerous. Cream cheese, pumpkin, mini chocolate chips and a streusel topping...it's too good to be true. But it is true. What's also true is the fact that I've made 4 of these in the past week. No, I have not eaten them all (although it was tempting). The recipe makes enough batter for  2 loaves. The first time around, I made one to keep at home for Jonathan and one for his mom. I loved this recipe so much, I needed an excuse to make it again. Yesterday we were invited to a family dinner at Jonathan's uncle's house, so it was the perfect reason to run out for more ingredients. We brought one to dinner and it was a huge hit and of course, we kept one at home for my sweet fiance' to enjoy. I will absolutely be making this again next Fall.

I don't know about you, but I'm craving something sweet right about now. I hope you enjoy making (and enjoying) these treats as much as I do!

Annoying Social Media Habits: Moderation is Key

How many of you have that person on your Instagram feed who posts a selfie at least three times a week? What about your Facebook friend that seems to do nothing but complain? Her posts show up on your news feed and you can't help but laugh at the fact that she feels the need to post on Facebook about how terrible her day was because she was stuck in traffic and Starbucks was out of blueberry muffins...of course followed by Debbie Downer's favorite acronym, "FML." And of course, we all know a few hashtag fanatics. A simple Instagram photo of a palm tree and somehow that person was able to come up with 20 different hashtags for it. #aintnobodygottimeforthat.

Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that when it comes to posting on social media, too much of anything is just not good. I'm certainly not claiming innocence here. I'm guilty of posting a selfie every now and again when I'm feeling sassy. I'm just saying that maybe, if people kept the posting of these things to every once in a while, then maybe people wouldn't be so annoyed by them.

Selfies
This one is easy. I make an effort every day to look decent, but that doesn't necessarily mean I feel the need to document those looks everyday. To the ladies who post selfies on the regular: first of all, how do you always look so pulled together? Second of all, I totally get it. Sometimes you're just in the mood to snap a selfie and share it with the world. All I'm saying is, people won't hold it against you quite as much if you try to keep this to a minimum. Me, I typically only post a selfie if I feel like I actually resemble someone with a sense of style, if I'm doing something I find particularly exciting like drinking wine at work or eating , or if I'm showing off new sunglasses or something.

Exhibit A: This was one of those rare days where I really felt like I had my shit together. I was wearing the most adorable new top from LOFT and drinking out of my favorite coffee mug (which has the word "smile" written on the inside bottom of it. It appears as though I even have lip gloss on which is pretty uncommon. Clearly, I was on top of the world and needed to document.

Exhibit B: Drinking wine at work. No further explanation needed.

Exhibit C: Earlier this year right before I ran The Color Run. If you know me, you know I couldn't wait for this day to arrive. To say I was excited would be a huge understatement.

Cheesy Facebook Posts

People who post sweet updates about their family, significant other, how wonderful their life is, etc., typically get a bad rep on social media. I don't really think that's fair seeing how many people use social media to complain and argue about politics. With all that negativity, I personally like to see a little positivity. There is, however, a fine line with this one. A lot of times, it seems like if someone is constantly posting about how much they love life and how happy they are, I can't help but wonder if maybe they are compensating a little bit. Too much of anything isn't great and too much positivity can actually end up coming across a little braggy or disingenuous. Like I said earlier, I am absolutely guilty of a sappy post every now and then. I've been through a pretty serious illness in my life that totally changed my outlook on life and I've recently met the absolute love of my life and I'm getting married to him super soon. So yes, you could say that I've got some positive, cheesy, sappy things to say sometimes. But again, I try to keep it to a minimum. 

Exhibit A: 

Exhibit B:

Gym Check Ins/Selfies/Motivational Fitness Quotes/etc.
Alrighty now I can pretty much guarantee you'll never see me post a photo of myself while working out. It's not pretty. I get this "red in the face, is that girl about to die?" look going on and why would I ever want to share that via social media? I feel bad enough that Jonathan has to witness this when we work out together. I'm not about to put it on blast. Just recently I stopped following someone on Instagram because no lie, they posted at least one working out selfie AND motivational fitness quote per day. This is just out of control if you ask me. I hardly feel like I have enough time to work out as is, nevermind finding time while I'm there to snap a selfie of me doing squats and browse the web for a motivational fitness post.

To anyone who posts these, I need information. When do you look for the motivational quote/photo? Is it while you're at the gym or before you leave the house? Do you just have an album on your phone full of these so you can just grab and post one each day? I'm so curious. And how do you not burst out laughing at yourself in a crowded gym taking a mirror shot of you flexing your arm muscles? I can't even flex my muscles without laughing at myself in private. Tell me your ways. Anyway, I think you guys get my point. I can totally see how posting a progress photo on Instagram every now and then might be appealing. It will help motivate you and others, which is all good. I can even get down with sharing a motivational fitness quote on Facebook every once in a while, especially if you've gotten off track a little and want to get back into a diet and fitness routine. But with these, a little bit goes a long way.

"I wish more of my friends kept me updated on their gym visits." - said no one ever

— Amanda Tucker (@AmandaLTucker) August 21, 2013

And with gym check ins, in particular, I don't have a huge issue with this, although I don't know if it's really necessary to tell us every time you are at the gym. Even I will check in if I'm trying out a new gym or trying a different group fitness class at my yoga studio. When it comes to fitness apps like Map My Ride or Nike +, I say if you want to share those updates to social media, go for it. I think sometimes it's more the commentary you add to these posts that can get annoying to people. For example, if every time you share your Nike + stats after a run, you say "What did you today?" I can see how that would get annoying to your followers. Nobody wants you making them feel bad because all they did so far today was get out of bed to move straight to the couch and eat a carton of ice cream while watching "Say Yes to the Dress."

Hashtags
Maybe I'm just not very creative, or maybe I just already take forever to edit and choose a filter for my photo, but by the time I post it on Instagram, I'm lucky if I remember to include a hashtag. When I do think of it though, I do like to include a few hashtags that I think are (1) relevant or (2) funny (to me, at least). Hashtags are great. They help people find your photo, they come in handy for weddings so you can see all the photos your guests took by looking up the hashtag, they can be funny and add a little something extra to your caption. But 20 hashtags for a photo of your Starbucks coffee cup? That's just crazy talk.

What do you guys think? What social habits are you guilty of? Which ones do you think are okay every now and then?

We Can't Stress: a Miley Remix

I think we can all agree that planning a wedding is stressful. While we try to stay focused on the bigger picture and not let the planning and details stress us out, that is much easier said than done. There are so many times during wedding planning it seems you are really just planning the day for everyone else. Jonathan and I tend to be people pleasers by nature, so it's been difficult at times to accept that we can't please everyone and focus on the fact that it is our day.

On an unrelated note, I've been listening nonstop to Miley's new album and even though I hate to admit this, I kinda really love it. As I was running on the treadmill last week listening to "We Can't Stop," I couldn't help but think of my own wedding planning version of this song. This may be a sign (1) that I've completely lost it or (2) that I have too much time on my hands, but I bring you my wedding planning version of "We Can't Stop."

Feel free to play the music video as you read my lyrics below.

“We Can’t Stress”

It’s our wedding we can plan what we want
They’re our vows we can say what we want
It’s our day we do what we want
We can invite who we want 

We can serve what we want

It’s our wedding we can plan what we want
They’re our vows we can say what we want
It’s our day we can do what we want
We can invite who we want
We can serve what we want

Open bar and mason jars everywhere
Hands in the air like we don’t care
‘Cause they came to have so much fun now
 Bet somebody here might drunk now

If you didn’t get an invite
Can I get a “Hell, no”?
‘Cause space is gonna be real tight
‘Til the end of the night, alright

So la da di da di
We’re trying to party
Spending money on all the things
To make sure you’re all happy
This is our night
This is our life

And we can’t stress
And we won’t stress
Can’t you see this is our night?
Can’t you see where about to start our life?

And we can’t stress
And we won’t stress
We’re planning our wedding, not yours
Can’t please everyone and no, we’re not serving Coors
Yeah, Yeah

It’s our wedding we can plan what we want
They’re our vows we can say what we want
It’s our day we can do what we want
We can invite who we want
We can serve what we want

To our friends hurt by no invite
Mad about it like they want a fight
Remember the venue has a limit
If we didn’t want you there we’d just admit it
And everyone who didn’t get a plus one
Don’t cry at least you get to come
We’re so stressed out here
Getting so stressed out here

So la da di da di
We’re trying to party
Spending money on all the things
To make sure you’re all happy
This is our night
This is our life

And we can’t stress
And we won’t stress
Can’t you see this is our night?
Can’t you see we're starting our life?

And we can’t stress
And we won’t stress
We’re planning our wedding, not yours
Can’t please everyone and no, we’re not serving Coors
Yeah, Yeah

It’s our wedding we can plan what we want
They’re our vows we can say what we want
It’s our day we can do what we want
We can invite who we want
We can serve what we want

It’s our wedding we can plan what we want to
It’s our day we can do what we want to
They’re our vows we can say what we want to
It’s our life we can celebrate how we want to
Say yeah, yeah, yeah, ehh

And we can’t stress, oh
And we won’t stress, no
Can’t you see this is our night?
Can’t you see where about to start our life?

And we can’t stress

And we won’t stress
We’re planning our wedding, not yours
Can’t please everyone and no, we’re not serving Coors

Brides-to-be, please tell me you can relate to this. How do you keep calm and not let the stress get to you? I promise a Wedding Wednesday post next week giving you an actual update on our wedding planning!

Linking up for Wedding Wednesday

Our Weekend in Photos

I'm going to keep it simple today. I'm having a hard time staying focused, so here's our weekend in photos:

Friday we got out of work early and headed to Daytona Beach for a wedding. The weather was absolutely perfect and it was nice to get out of town, even for a few hours.

We were up bright and early on Saturday to participate in the Armageddon Ambush mud run. I have to admit, I'm a bit out of shape so running 3 miles was a challenge in itself, but add obstacles and stinky, wet, squishy mud to that and I'm just glad I survived. Jonathan was by my side the whole time, even though I definitely slowing him down quite a bit. I was a pathetic mess most of the way, but he was encouraging and patient with me. Love him. I did at least attempt most of the obstacles and it really was a fun day. I may have injured my knee during the race and the heat gave me a major headache, so needless to say I was in bed by 7 p.m. that evening and it was glorious.

Sunday consisted of marriage class, laundry and baking. It was the relaxing day I needed after a stressful and busy week. I love the days I feel like baking even though I don't have a particular occasion to bake for. I'm in no rush, I can bake whatever I'm in the mood to bake and it's just the perfect way for me to relax. I was in the mood to bake my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and we may have ended up with about 80 cookies when all was said and done. You can bet I'll be bringing cookies to anyone and everyone this week!

How was your weekend?

Linking up for Weekend Shenanigans!

What's making me oh-so happy lately

The last few weeks have been so wonderful. I feel a sense of peace and calmness I honestly can't put into words. There are a few specific things really adding to the joy lately, though. Things that are making me super duper happy these days:

{one} cooking dinner
I've been on a roll lately with my cooking attempts. I'm happy to say I've successfully made the following recipes in the last few weeks, not to mention the fact that I've also made chicken cordon bleu and chicken Parmesan without using recipes. The best part is, I'm really enjoying it! Who am I?

Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie 
Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake
Vidalia Pot Roast
 
(two) waking up with early with Jonathan so we can have breakfast together
This is such a simple thing, but it makes a big difference in my day. Jonathan typically leaves for work before I even get up. This means I'm usually rushing to get ready and don't get to spend any quality time with him before our day. We've started getting up together so we can cook and eat breakfast together and it's been so wonderful.

{three} barre fitness classes
Okay, this is a love/hate kinda thing, but I started taking barre classes once a week at the beginning of September and I'm actually liking it. If you haven't heard of barre before, it's an exercise method using the ballet bar. It's basically a combination of ballet, yoga, pilates and is based on small movements meant to lengthen and tone your body. If you're interested in learning more, I'd read up on it here. While you don't have to have been a dancer to take these classes, I'm sure it's a lot easier. I'm not very flexible, so while the workouts are really challenging for me, they are still super beneficial. I don't know, something about doing squats on your tip toes until your legs start to shake really does something for your behind. Anyway, it's a love/hate relationship...hate mostly because it's pretty expensive and I get really frustrated in class when I can't touch my toes as easily as everyone else seems to. Love, because it's something different compared to my typical gym visit and I can see the benefits after only taking a few classes.

{four} getting RSVP cards in the mail
We mailed our wedding invitations just a week ago and the RSVP cards have already started coming in. It's exciting because it means we are getting so close to the big day. I've been loving going through the mail every night which is nice because mail is usually not the most exciting thing as an adult. 

{five} counting down to Thanksgiving weekend
First of all, Thanksgiving is absolutely my favorite holiday. What could possibly make it better? One, the fact that my older sister, my niece and my nephew will be here for Thanksgiving this year. My sister hasn't been home for Thanksgiving in 7 years so I cannot wait to celebrate with them. Two, the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend is also my bridal shower and bachelorette party. I'm so excited to celebrate with the ladies I love. I honestly just can't wait to this weekend to get here!

What's making you happy lately?