Life Laid Bear

Month in review - October

My goal in October was really just to make it through the month. Our weekends were so packed full, but we made it and now we are almost on to my favorite month of the year. So as our heads are swimming with the thought of Thanksgiving right around the corner, let's review the past month. 

We did a lot of Christmas shopping, we are about 1/2 of the way done. 

I had the lovely Emorie from Oh Whimsical Me on the blog. 

I finished the Paris Wife and wrote a review here. 

I also finished another book which I will talk about next week. Goal from last month met!

We went to two out of town weddings over back to back weekends. So much love in the air. 

We spent a lot of time with the pups. 

We spent a lot of time resting and just chatting about the holidays. 

I started wrapping gifts. I have one adorable nosey husband. 

Ella from Paper Umbrella wrote a great fall cocktail post for me here. 

I went on a bachelorette weekend to Miami with the girls. What a great weekend!

I was guest blogging over at Swell and Stylish about my fall essentials here. 

I also got a little personal talking about our quest for a new car. We are still on the hunt. 

1. Working on an invitation for a bridal shower. 2.Baby Chase. I am in love with those cheeks. 3. The handsome hubs and I at our good friends wedding. 4. Waffle house coffee with my main man. 5. Another great wedding from this month. 6. Miami beach you are beautiful. 7. TIlly not wanting me to leave. She liked to sit on my clothes while packing.  8. First fire of the season! 9. Waffle House dinner with the best guy. 5:00 dinner is like ghost town at WH. 10. The bride to be. 11. My office girls looking fine. 12. The lovely Carrie looking stunning as always. 13. Till loves her morning Frosty Paws. Haven't heard of them? All I need to say is ice cream for dogs. 14. Catching a sweet moment with Lucas. Those are hard to come by. 15. Lucas and Tilly watching Killy intently. 16. Weddings with this guy are so great.  

around here

     

This month is so close to being over. Where has the time gone? It was mid October just yesterday right? I guess the days do go faster as the holidays grow closer. I just can't decide if that is a good or bad thing in my book. 

What have you been doing around your neck of the woods?

1. First fire of the season. I will savor you. 2. A silly dog who wanted some homemade pancakes. 3. The dogs are obsessed with Killy lately. They love to watch her. I think they secretely just want to eat her. 4.Tea tea and more tea over here. 5. A mid day nap with the cutest cutie out there. 6. Planning a bridal shower for a dear friend. So excited for this weekend. 

want vs. need (car edition)

I have mentioned a couple times over the past months that our household is car shopping (we are a one car family at the moment). Well that wasn't really true, I was actually being stubborn. Yes, I said it. I was being stubborn. Copy it, save it, print it out. You won't see it again. I was actually telling myself that I wanted a certain kind of car, and that I was not going to look at anything else. That was foolish of me. I now see that. You ask why? Well because five months later I am still without a car. So for the past two weeks I have been kicking myself. It is one of those "Oh, I have seen it and now I don't want anything else" hissy fits that I know everyone has. 

Need - something you have to have 

Want - something you would like to have that your brain tells you that you need

Those definitions sometimes get tangled in my head. Especially when we are talking about car shopping. When I started looking around I pictured a newer midsize SUV with navigation (you need it to get around), sunroof (you need it to get a tan while driving), leather (you need it because it is pretty) and low mileage. Of course, I didn't think this would be difficult to find in our price range. Boy was I wrong! I could have easily told Kyle that we would work it out, and we could afford the more expensive car, that we could give up some of the other things fluff things in our budget. But instead of over extending ourselves into a car payment we aren't comfortable with I began to scale down my picture perfect car. 

This brings us to real time and the issue of having to wrap my head around being an adult and giving up some of those expensive luxuries. My husband knows my weakness when it comes to money, when I hesitate to buy something, he always asks would you rather have the money or the item. So I am trying to bring that thought process to this gruesome situation. Who else out there dislikes car shopping? I sure do. 

Does that mean that I should only buy a junker of a car? No, I still need something automatic because well I can't drive manuel. Life is meant to be lived, not survived. I believe you should treat yourself to some wants along the way, but do it to the point you can afford it and still enjoy it. 

The question I get to now ask myself is "would I rather have a top of the line vehicle or spend that money on my family and our experiences together?" When you look back, will you remember what you drove or that fantastic vacation to Bora Bora (I wish). 

Anyone else have any situations that require you to think about it being a want versus a need? I would love to hear how you handled it. 

 

Floridians and cold weather

 I cannot speak for the other 19 million people in Florida but in my neck of the woods when the cold hits, it is a lot like what I would expect a zombie apocalypse to be like. The stores are stocked with cold weather items and people stock up on scarfs, coats, boots and socks. The heat goes on, coffee sales go up, and it looks like we live in the Arctic.

I am no exception to this rule.  I wore boots for the first time yesterday, turned my heated mattress pad on, and even decided to invest in a small space heater for the bathroom. It's sad I know, but so true. I am not ashamed.

When the weather shifts here, it is sudden and unexpected. If I watched the news more I wouldn't be caught off guard, but what can you do. I could have sworn to you it was just 90 last week and now we are expecting nights of 30. That is a difference of 70 degrees guys. 70! 

So for those of you who are up North in the frigid cold, I commend you for doing this. My blood is too thin. 

Despite all of the complaining about the cold mornings, I am really enjoying being able to dig into my cold weather clothing and doing some night biking this weekend. We also plan to have our first fire tonight. So looking forward to all of the "firsts" of this holiday season. 

So the point is have a safe, warm and cozy weekend everyone. 

thankful

I am thankful for quiet Waffle House dinners with this handsome man. 
I am thankful to come home after a long week to a nice clean home. 
I am thankful for someone to start my bath when my feet hurt after a killer weekend in Miami. 
I am thankful for some slightly colder weather this month.
I am thankful that we have a free lazy weekend ahead of us.
I am thankful for my darling brother who is about to turn 18. How is that possible?
I am thankful for my loving pups. Their love is endless.
I am thankful for my heater at work! (On here every week) 
I am thankful that I am alive today.
I am thankful that I have today, tomorrow, and a future ahead of me.

 

Guest Blogging with Swell and Stylish

Today I am over at Swell and Stylish chatting about my 6 fall essentials. Head on over to Rachel's blog and say hi!

 

Miami - you win

Oh Miami, what a wonderful weekend we had in your city. We had a weekend full of great food, great drinks and great people watching. Everything was great except the lack of sleep but don't they say ypu can sleep when you are dead? They must not have known how grumpy I am when I wake up. My sleep cycle officially hates you and so do my feet. So I would say it is Jessica - 0 and Miami - 1.

This past weekend, four of the wedding party and one beautiful bride to be made the trek down to Miami for a bachelorette weekend. My dearest friend Lauren is getting married in January and we wanted to take a long weekend and celebrate her. Celebrate her we did! She was decked out in bride gear from the get go. So many people were nice enough to say congratulations! Thank you citizens of Miami for that. 

We stayed in a great location right on the main strip in Miami. The beach was just one street behind our hotel. Which made it so easy to walk everywhere (leading to the feet hurting issue stated above). 

 

Miami will forever be known now as the best place to people watch for me. Almost all of the resturants have outdoor seating so that you can look out at the beach or just watch the enormous amount of people pass by. We watched this batman guy dance for our restaurant for a good 15 minutes. He was definitely the highlight of my morning. Of course, you can't forget the beautiful bride. 

We went to some great places and danced our little hearts out. Now we are on to the wedding. 

Weekend Getaway

Sorry for the silence this week, me and the girls are heading to Miami for a long weekend to celebrate a fantastic woman and her upcoming wedding. Happy weekending to you all and we will be back to business as usual next week.

Tilly did not want me to go so she decided she was going with me.

wedding round up

The weddings are over and the new Mr. and Mrs. are both at home and settling into wedded bliss. So here are some not so great quality photos of the past two weekend weddings. Love is in the air ladies and gentleman! 

I was not looking at the camera, but everyone else looks adorable. These are my great co workers. 

1. My dress and his tie matched, how cute right, well I think so at least. 2. Hairstyle that I wore to both weddings, because well.... that's really the only updo I know. 2.5. And introducing Miss. Seahorse, she has been with me many years. You may see her occasionally.  

Second wedding weekend, and more awesome co workers. 

1. The man of the hour and handsome groom. A Dub I miss you. Denver needs to send you back to us. 2. Carrie Link for you all. She is fabulous, enough said. 

Please disregard the squinty eyes. It was mega bright outside.

This past weekend we not only got to see one of our good friends marry the love of his life, but we also got to spend some much needed time with my mom at the beach. The last part of the month is going to have to be really rad to beat these two weekends.

P.S. Dress one is a Guess dress found on sale at Dillard's and dress two is actually a romper found at Anthropologie.  

wedding weekends

 We are finally done with the wedding weekends in October. I love a good wedding, don't get me wrong, but I think for the time being I am wedding'd out. Two out of town weddings in a row has been a lot. I am ready to get back into my "do nothing Saturday" routine. I will be back tomorrow with some more pictures from the festivities.