Happy Valentine's Day!

I know you either hate or love this holiday, but I happen to love it. Whether you're single or taken, you should always have a reason to love something whether it's your love for endless seasons of TV shows on Netflix, the wine Costco sells by the case or your significant other. My heart is overflowing with love these days since I can enjoy ALL of these things and more. Doesn't it just make you sick? I'm posting my Valentines I made below so if you feel nauseous already, for the love of God, look away now.

Happy Valentine's Day, hubs! You've been my Valentine for almost a decade now and I wouldn't have it any other way! And we're married now....so you're stuck with me fo' life. :D

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!!! xoxoxo

Hello Beautiful!

The first whole weekend home felt SO good and the weather finally cooperated after Mother Nature unleashed one last "eff you" to Chicago as it SNOWED toward the end of the week. Snowed....in May...what the crap?

Saturday morning was spent attempting to unpack...and by unpack I mean taking things out one by one as I needed them and then jetting off with Josh to look at a few homes! We can tell already that it's going to be quite the process jumping through all the hoops to get the proper loan that we need.

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We found the best first place for us already and really want to put in a bid on it!! Pray to whoever and whatever you worship that we land it!!

After we were exhausted from visiting our lineup of homes, Josh got ready for a friend's birthday party and I snuggled up with The Fault in Our Stars (omg I can tell I'll need a Kleenex box worth of tissue at the end of this one). I then ended the night with watching Grease and The Breakfast Club. John Hughes is a genius.

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On Sunday, my sister and I finally took my mom out for brunch and a day of shopping and fun in the sun on Sunday since work and airplane delays got in the way of Mother's Day. A perfect brunch always starts with mimosas.

 

And then cupcakes....of course. SweetPea Cakes has some mean cupcakes. Mint chocolate, mocha, salted caramel, hot fudge sundae...hot damn it's a good thing I didn't skip out on my morning run. 

 

All in moderation...I only had one I swear...zero self-control in this photo.

After brunch and picking out our cupcakes, my mom managed to STILL spoil her daughters on HER day. Such a mom. I love her. She got me this adorable case for my iPad Air.

 After we all got caught up, listened to some tunes and soaked up some sun, we all parted ways and reunited with the hubs. Life just seems a lot better on a bench swing outside on a sunny day all snuggled up to your other half. (Sorry if you just spewed all over yourself from all of the mushy gushyness.)

 

Sunday was so good, I completely forgot that Monday was looming ahead! DOH! The only good news is that I have the option to put myself into a chocolatey, cupcake coma at my desk. I'm willing to put in the extra miles later on...

How is everyone else holding up this fine, Monday morning?? Need a cupcake?

Love, Laughter & Wine

 Friday night was the start to the weekend and I couldn't have been more exhausted and stressed. So what does my future hubs do? He makes me an ice cream sandwich cake and gets Frozen for us to watch. Yes, this man opted to watch a Disney movie with me AND made me a cake. Best future hubs EVER.

Although my weekends are jam packed with wedding events and planning, I'm loving it. ESPECIALLY when I get to see all of my favorite people in one day. Saturday was my second bridal shower that two of my aunts hosted for me at an amazing French restaurant, L'Eiffel Bistrot & Creperie. All of my bridesmaids were there and while I wanted to just talk to everyone, I HAD to rush on over to my family who traveled from Minnesota. I rarely get to see them so it was basically like Christmas all over again. Crap, if it snows again don't blame me for saying that...

I had way too much wine (of course) and the food was to die for. I'm a salmon snob.

After the food, we ordered dessert...nothing could have prepared me for it either. I wish I could have grown a second stomach for it...I could only eat a third of it! Helloooo long distance run tomorrow.

 Wine AND this dessert...I didn't even know what to do with myself. It's times like these where you just forget about logging anything into MyFitnessPal.

 

 During lunch and dessert, there were a couple of games, one of which I definitely got a kick out of. Out of a whole list of Facebook statuses, everyone had to guess which status was posted by me or Josh. 

After dessert and chatting with my favorites, it was gift time. I must say, everyone outdid themselves. I am so blessed to have the most thoughtful friends and family. One of my bridesmaids painted this for me! Stunned.

 

Once again, everyone insisted on playing the ribbon game and counted how many I broke...luckily there was only one that I couldn't untie and had to cut....dang it!! You can see how excited I am about this whole situation. 

Bags are good...that means, no ribbons. I swear, my fam and friends want Josh and me to be the next Duggar family.

Oh and might I add that Josh and I are now stockholders in Starbucks and BP now? Josh might be screwed with his stocks in BP since they're spilling oil all over the damn place, but Starbucks?! Hellloooo retirement! Go ahead entire high school population, get your matching Starbucks fraps! I'll no longer eye-roll at you. You're helping a girl out.

After all of the gifts were unwrapped and set aside, I could hug and thank the hell out of everyone. I love my bridesmaids more than anything and this is actually the first time they could all get together at once! #bigbridalpartyproblems.

The best thing about all of these ladies is that they are all unique and awesome in their own way. I met each one at a special time in my life and I can't wait until I say "I do" with them beside me! I can never get enough time with my family from out-of-town too.

My cousin also had these amazing shirts made. If you don't already know, I'm obsessed with pandas (who isn't?) Team Emily for the win.

The back of each shirt is unique too with their role in the wedding and relation to me. I'm in love with these shirts and I'll be wearing it for the next 32 days. It goes well with a blazer right?...Yes, that's what I thought. Totally will.

After the bridal shower epicness, I went over to my Aunt's place where we had quality family time. Oh man it doesn't get any better than this. We celebrated my aunt's and my grandmother's birthday as well which meant more cake...and spiced rum on the side. Damnit, let's add on another mile to that run in the morning.

Team Emily- with some missing of course.

 After I said goodbye to my Minne-SO-ta fam, I headed home, unloaded everything and hit that pillow so hard. On Sunday, I definitely kept my promise to myself and hit that pavement hard early in the morning. It was glorious. The sun was shining, it was warm and holy shit...it felt like SPRING. After my run, I worked my behind off until it was time to meet Josh and his fam to celebrate his mom's birthday at Kyoto...one of the best Japanese restaurants EVER. It's the type of place where they cook right in front of you and try to flip things into your mouth...in which the food always just ends up hitting me in the face....After that seven-mile run earlier, my body was screaming for protein. Hellloooo shrimp dinner.

 

Josh's parents are also wine aficionados, so we shared a bottle of "Kung Fu Girl" wine...it's a type of Riesling and I just had to try it. Definitely a fan.

It was the perfect end to an amazing weekend. 32 days until this guy is stuck with me forever!

 

Also, the Mindy Project comes back on this week...and I feel like it's the most underrated show EVER. Does anyone else watch it??? I'm obsessed and can't wait to see it!!!

 

Showered with Love

On Saturday, my future mother-in-law threw me an amazing bridal shower! I'm seriously so blessed to be marrying into such a loving and caring family. After getting some work done in the morning, I got my hair done and slipped into my dress and glittery rose gold flats that I'm totally in love with.

The shower was Paris-themed (my favorite place ever) and I was obsessing over everything that she made down to the Eiffel Tower cookies! Oh and that's a cupcake cake next to the cupcake display. Say whhaattt??? Amazing.

The cupcakes were infused with strawberries and they were absolutely delicious and flippin' adorable. 

And did I mention that she also made a specialty drink?? Josh and coined it "Wodka" since it was a mix of pink moscato and vodka. Holy crap, it's amazing and exactly right up this bride's alley. The boys stayed downstairs in the basement for the most part and Josh made an appearance a couple of times. I obviously just loved the wodka a little too much. Who needs a glass?

This bridal shower was for Josh's side of the family and it was great spending so much time with all of the ladies and totally indulging in my favorite veggie pizza that Josh's mom makes. To die for. She is SO very thoughtful.

I'm personally not a fan of playing games, but they organized two that were really fun! One was a quiz about me that each guest had to fill out to see how well they knew the bride. It was a lot of fun and of course my sister won that game. After the winner was announced though, we called Josh up to answer the questions to see how many he got right. It was confirmed that he definitely knows his bride! 

Next, it was time to open the mountain of gifts! I don't know about anyone else, but I always feel uncomfortable opening presents in front of a lot of people. I never want anyone to think that I like another present over what they got me because of my reaction. At this point, I felt a little less anxious though. Thank you, Wodka! Everyone was SO very generous and I never knew I would be so excited over a cocktail mixer and shiny new ice bucket. #Signsyourgettingold. Josh's cousin got us this beautiful personalized frame and coaster set that I'm obsessing over.

Josh and I were beyond spoiled! Well...mainly me since I don't know when he'd use the Kurig (hell to the yes). Josh's mom put together the most adorable honeymoon tote for us and another gift set adorned with Paris things of course. I'm not obsessed...what are you talking about? 

Now for the hilarious part. So to preface what is about to happen, while Josh and I were registering for things, he came across this frog bathset meant for kids. I was like, wait what? That's ridiculous. He fricken loved this thing and he absolutely insisted that we add this frog towel/ bathset to the registry. I relented...now fast forward, Josh's mom calls Josh upstairs to help unwrap the last gift....and yep, you guessed it. It was the damn frog bathset. He was elated.

 After we all had a good laugh, it was dessert time! Cathy busted out a chocolate fountain with strawberries, pineapple, preztels etc. HEAVEN. The take home cookies were also adorable! 

I'll say it again, I am SO lucky to have such an amazing mother-in-law. I also only ended up breaking THREE ribbons while unwrapping the gifts. MUAHAHA. Apparently breaking any ribbons represents how many kids you will have. I can deal with three...but that is my fricken MAX. I absolutely can't wait until I get to see my family from Minnesota for my bridal shower part two next weekend! All of my bridesmaids will be there as well. I can't wait! There's nothing better than surrounding oneself with your favorite people.

39 DAYS. To quote Ke$ha...tick tock on the clock!!!

This bridal shower definitely left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. With my bride anxiety taking over a lot lately with the planning, it's time like these that make me feel SO good about the wedding day and ensures me that whatever happens it'll all work out perfectly! One step closer to tying the knot!

Also, the invitations are all sent out! No turning back now!!!

 

Once Upon A Birthday Weekend

This weekend was full of birthday fun once again. Josh's birthday is officially today, so we celebrated it over the weekend. I took him out to the iPic Theater to see Pompeii in 3D since he's never been! It's the best going there even though it's a wee bit pricey. It's totally worth every penny. If you get premium plus seating, you get to sit in a comfy recliner with a pillow and blanket and order dinner and drinks right there in the theater. Not going to lie, it kind of makes you feel like a big deal. Thank God I ordered a glass of wine before that movie too because whoever thought it was a good idea to cast Kiefer Sutherland as a Roman Senator should be thrown into that active volcano that destroyed Pompeii. Seriously. Not only that, but I thought I was watching a bad remake of Gladiator half the time.

Josh's expression in this photo could very well be due to my blinding camera flash, the hilarity behind Kiefer Sutherland as part of the Roman Empire or because he was so excited about the Chocolate ice cream brownie sandwich he ordered for dessert...of course I warned him that I would be stealing some of that deliciousness.

But back to the amazing iPic Theater experience, Josh ordered off of the three-course menu and I ordered their firecracker shrimp flatbread for dinner. Amazing.

On Sunday we went out to dinner with his fam at Mongolian Grill (my sweet baby Jesus, I absolutely canNOT miss a workout this week) where you stack your bowl full of items for them to cook into a giant stir fry. It's delicious and probably has enough sodium to resolve Chicago's salt shortage...hell throw in New York City's too. I'm not complaining though...it was delicious and I will punish myself accordingly this week for indulging a bit too much. I saw a Girl Scout skipping around in front of a store this morning and I swear she dangled a box of Thin Mints in the air RIGHT when we locked eyes. What kind of sorcery is this?! Luckily I stayed strong and just stuffed my face full of stir fry for Josh's birthday dinner. My muscles will actually be thanking me for the extra protein later anyway since I did a killer kettlebell workout after my run this morning.

As another part of Josh's birthday present, I made him his favorite pumpkin spice cookies that I make from scratch. I pride myself on making these cookies for him since he's never ranted or raved about ANYTHING else I've made as much as these. The recipe is a secret too. I'll take it to my grave!

The best part is seeing his face when I bring him a plate full of these round pieces of heaven. Makes my day. It also restores the faith I have in myself that I won't starve my future family because I can't cook...at least I can bake cookies? That's one of the major food groups right? Yes? That's what I thought.

 

I can't believe that we've officially celebrated our last birthdays until we are hubby and wife! We're officially at 67 days my friends! Don't mind me..I'll just sit here and FREAK OUT a bit in excitement!!

 

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