Paris

I'm on vacation dream mode right now.  I've been going through a lot in my personal life, and some major changes have occurred lately.  Changes that have been hard, but that I'm hoping will turn out for the best.  But between these changes, work, and all the construction going on in my house, I'm dreaming of a far away getaway.

I am dying...absolutely dying...to go to Paris.  It is the most magical place to me, and I just have to travel there.  The language, the city, the architecture...they all hold such a foreign appeal that I find just magical.  Hopefully I can save my pennies, and this vacation can someday soon be more than just a dream.

What is one place in the world you're dying to visit?

I Need Some Help!!

To all you moms out there...I need some help!  This week I start my pediatrics clinical rotation, and as part of our paperwork for the class, I have to do a teaching project on a child.  I'm using my boyfriend's neighbor to teach, and I'm teaching him about the importance of brushing his teeth (as identified by his mom...he hates brushing)!  He's 7 years old...and I want to make it fun so that he actually will want to brush his teeth.  Here is where you come in...any suggestions that you have done in the past to help inspire your kids to brush their teeth?  I have been looking online everywhere, and I'm not finding any great ideas!  Let me know if you have any!!

Best Email Ever

I was cleaning out my email inbox tonight, and came across one of my favorite emails ever.  Normally, I automatically delete chain emails, but for some reason, I opened this one and just love it.  I read it again and was seriously cracking up.  Here's for your reading pleasure:

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target.  Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out.  Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse.  Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target.

Dear Mrs. Samuel,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store.  We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store.  Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Samuel, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares.  Get on it right away'.  This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money.

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'  EMTs were called.

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose. 

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were..

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.

12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but not least:

15.. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.'  One of the clerks passed out.

Need Suggestions!

This weekend is the boyfriend and I's 4-year dating anniversary.  We started dating my senior year of high school, and have been together since then.  Right now, we don't go to the same schools, but we live close enough that we usually get to spend weekends together.  He's coming to spend the weekend here with me, but due to the fact that we both have huge tests on Monday, I don't think we will have a very exciting weekend.

Anyways, we are both free the following weekend, so we're going to postpone our special date until then.  And now I need suggestions...what is your favorite, creative date idea?  I want to do something fun that we haven't done before...so what is it that you and your husband/boyfriend like to do on your date nights?!

The earliest picture I have of us on my computer...about a year after we started dating.

At my birthday party, about a month ago!

Escape!

I wish I could escape to this tree house right now and be in my own little world for a while. I've been having a rough couple of days, and those bright quilts hidden among a forest with an unexpected tree house sounds pretty perfect to me right about now.

Image via Bloomingdale's Lookbook via Elle Decor

Lightening

I'm sitting in the kitchen on my apartment right now looking at the crazy lightening storm outside. There is some occasional thunder but no rain yet...just tons of lightening. It is making me miss the summer night when we sat outside in my friend's garage for hours and just watched the storm and talked. It's a perfect night to curl up and be lazy. Whats your favorite thing to do when its storming and you've got nothing to do?

Image via

Plan for Tonight

Its only Wednesday? This week has been seriously exhausting! I'm still not totally used to being back in school, and then having two days of clinicals kicked my butt. Like I said before, I'm on an adult psychiatric unit this semester, and its very tough to deal with. We've all heard about people with diseases such as schizophrenia or bipolar, but I've never actually known anyone with these disorders. Talking to these people and listening to their stories at the hospital is really eye-opening, and has given me a whole new perspective on things. So tomorrow is Thursday, meaning I don't have class! woo! Here's my plan for tonight:

Take a trek to UPS to pick up my package since I missed them early today. I finally bought:

Yes, yes, I finally gave in and bought it. For some reason, I usually don't buy books, but I couldn't resit any more. Can't wait to finally get my hands on my own copy. After the trip to UPS will follow:

A delish dinner. I get almost daily emails from Kraft with dinner ideas, and this one has been sitting in my inbox for a few weeks and I've been dying to try it. It's called Capellini Caprese and you can get the recipe here. I'll let you know how it is tomorrow!

And finally, my roomie and I planning on having a totally lazy night and watching my favorite movie ever.

Titanic! I can't wait. I hope everyone else is having an equally relaxing night!

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program...

So...school starts tomorrow. WHAT?! I'm in serious serious denial. Normally I am all planned out, have my folders ready with my syllabuses printed and highlighted, my planners marked with everything, lunch made...set to go. Fast forward to this year...and nothing. My syllabuses are printed, literally that is it. Not even stapled together or anything. Yikes. I don't even know my whole schedule tomorrow. Class at 830 and I think I'm done at 3. Ouch.

But being back in school essentially needs being completely back in the blogging world. It gives me a great excuse to procrastinate everything, and since my computer is literally on and by my side all the time, its much easier. In my posts early I was talking about all the big changes and events that were coming up, so here are my quick recaps.

1. Moving. ALL MOVED IN! Well, almost. I still have a small piece of furniture to bring down and the last bit of unpacking and setting up, but we are essentially all moved. All my DIY projects from over the summer and completed and set up, so I will have lots of exciting posts this week!

2. 21st birthday! How exciting this was for me. I had a wonderful birthday night at Carnivale in downtown Chicago with my family (and plenty of drinks were had by all) and a get-together in the new apartment the next night with friends. Feels great to finally be legal.

3. Mom's surprise party...it was just last night, and it went FANTASTIC! I could not be more thrilled with how everything turned out, and I cannot wait to share my pictures and everything. She was completely surprised and honestly today was still in shock, she just could not believe it. And I'm so relieved that it is all over.

So now I'm off to maybe staple some syllabuses together, make a lunch, and hopefully hit the hay. I have to be up at 630 tomorrow which is going to be a major shock to this girls system, so wish me luck! Lots of exciting posts to be shared, hopefully starting tomorrow if I survive the day!

Unexpected

Its already Sunday night, where has the weekend gone?! :( I ended up not being able to move this weekend, which was terribly disappointing. The person who lived in the apartment before us ended up leaving for Cali accidentally bringing the keys with him, and they couldn't get new keys made in time for us to be in or something...it has all been a bit of a mess. I can move in this week, but I won't really be able to until Friday because of work. Maybe Thursday if I'm lucky. AND the lease on my old apartment ends this Saturday, which means I literally have 2 days to be completely out. Its going to be chaotic to say the least.

Luckily, it was nice enough outside today for me to finally get some of my projects done. I have a pile of stuff that needed to be spray painted, but I haven't been able to work on any of it because of this dang heat! So i spent a few hours today getting a good amount of it done. Pictures frames, drawer pulls, lamp: check. Still needing another coat or two are some black frames and my bar car, which I'm beyond excited about. Pictures of everything to come when they are moved into their new home. Also got to work sanding down a chair that I'm going to be repainting and a few mirrors that I had previously painted about a year ago and am now repainting to match my new room. Finished the day with the last and final coat on my new nightstand and on the drawers of the desk. PHEW!

I got an unexpected phone call from the lady that I babysit for saying that she decided last minute to take tomorrow and Thursday off of work, so I only have to work two days this week! Woohoo!! This seriously made my whole week. And now I'm off to make a list of things I need to get done this week before moving day and before mom's party. Why does everything have to happen at the same time?!

Difficulties

Why oh why is it so hard for me to stay on top of blogging during the summer? I keep trying to remember because I have all these great projects right now that I want to share, but I keep avoiding it. Bad me. But anyways...I seriously have about 20 different DIY projects going on right now, and I have pictures and things to share. I've only just completed the first one, and it was probably the easiest of them all!! Some of them are as simple as a few coats of paint to a frame or something, while some are complete furniture redo's, which have shown to be quite time consuming!! I signed a lease for my new apartment for next year, and should be moving in in 2 weeks. YIKES!! That means I have a lot to do before then. I'm planning on uploading a ton of pictures from my camera to the computer tonight (I've even been avoiding that...I'm terrible lately) so hopefully I will have pictures and stories to share soon!!

Bad Blogger

Its been over a month since I have posted last, and I know that this makes me a very bad blogger. :( When school got out I automatically assumed that I would have more time for everything, but that quickly turned into being very wrong. And I think I was so sick of constantly having things to do that I decided to forget about blogging for a while and just have fun. But now I have almost caught up on all my fav blogs, and am ready to jump back in with both feet. :)

MIA

I have been MIA from the blogging world since summer has begun. And here I thought I would be free to do whatever I want, and I sort of have been busier than ever. Not really busy doing anything important, just busy doing fun things. We ended up taking a long weekend to Wisconsin last weekend to see a friend from home, then spent the last few days recovering and sleeping. Other than that, I have been running lots of errands that I have been behind on, finally able to start catching up on some scrapbooking, and starting to plan my mom's surprise party. I start work (babysitting) in a few weeks for the rest of the summer, so I'm trying to make the most of my free time right now!! But I am finally going to start my A-Z of household things that I love, once I search for some pictures...

Oprah Rich

Favorite line from last night...as we were talking about scratch off lotto tickets.

"I know if I'm going to win the lotto I'm only going to win once. So I don't waste my time with the little stuff. I want to win to get rich. Like...Oprah rich."

Best thing I've ever heard. Don't we all wish that.

Neglect

I have been a bit neglectful of the blog since May has begun. Finals are finally over and it is officially summer!! I literally packed up three quarters of my apartment downtown and moved it all back home to the 'burbs, where I will be staying this summer. So now I am deep into the tedious task of putting everything back into place and reorganizing and throwing out and trying to get everything in order. Hence...lack of blogging. But starting on Monday, I am planning to do an A-Z of household things that I love! I have quite the list going...so stay tuned, it should be interesting!! I hope you all have a wonderful relaxing weekend (and hopefully are enjoying some weather other than the unsightly Chicago weather where its currently only 40 out!!). See you Monday!

D.a.d.

I have a secret. I had my final in my women's health class today, and I was a bit nervous about it. I was borderline with my grade, and before class I figured out I could only get like 6 wrong to keep an A. Out of 70. And going through it I was getting nervous because there were some tricky ones I wasn't sure about. But then on the last page there were three questions. And the answers spelled out dad. I knew then I would be okay, he was going to make sure. And I was! I got a 95% on the rest and kept my A in the class.

So thanks daddy...I miss you everyday!

Dinner in the Sky

My roommate shared something with me tonight that seems to be becoming a new trend. Its called Dinner in the Sky. And literally...you eat dinner while you are floating in the sky.

Personally, I would be a little terrified to try this out, and I think I would have a difficult time actually eating but hey, whatever floats your boat. They have different areas around the world where this is offered, in the US it is currently only available in New York, Miami, and Las Vegas. Apparently, they also have similar packages where you can do business meeting or weddings. Could you imagine?! Check it out here and enjoy!!

Dresser

Paint this white and send it my way!! I love it. Anthropologie has tons of wonderful stuff right now that I seriously want...I'll show yall some pretty goodies tonight! Until then I must seriously try to get some studying done.

Sex and The City

In exactly one month from yesterday...this will be playing at the big screen. I cannot wait!! I may just have to pull out all the seasons and watch them in honor of this upcoming event. Schools almost over, so why not?

Charms

I got a Pandora charm bracelet this past Christmas, and while I love it, its looking a little plain. I was looking through their booklet of charms this weekend, and came across this stunner. Too bad its $210 for one, and I really would like two of them.

Rings

So after a very entertaining lunchtime conversation, I now feel the need to post my dream engagement ring....

Ahh...so beautiful!! I saw this in a Cosmo magazine ad a few year ago and I have been in love ever since. So now all I have to do is keep my fingers crossed that maybe some day this pretty little thing can be all mine :)