Swap!

So I got a chance to participate in one of the coolest blog events.

What we did is each person interested in participating got paired up with another blogger.

Once we were paired up with a blogger,

We got a chance to connect and learn about the blogger and put together a fun little care package for a post New Year's gift. 

Isn't that such a neat idea?

I was paired with Megan from It's Good To Be Queen--

Not only is she super adorable but she is so much fun!

I had a great time emailing back and forth with her getting to know more about her.

I feel we have a lot of similarities and it's neat because we seem to share a lot of the same interest.

{Great job pairing us for the swap, Ladies!}

And guess what?

She totally lives in my area!

I've been wanting to find people who lived close by so we could exchange awesome little finds all throughout Columbus and right away I knew she had great taste.

Columbus can be a hard place to live in unless you know the right places to go.

She even recommended a new Thai restaurant that I am so excited to try!

Here a little look at my gifts-

She totally figured out what I like:

Fun little office supplies

An inspiration book

Amazing socks

A perfect mug for tea

It was so much fun getting an package in the mail for no specific reason,

It totally made my week!

And even more,

I feel like I have a new friend with impeccable taste.

Darn.

Jacket- gift
Dress - Kmart
Tights/Shoes/Watch - Target
Earrings - NY&C


Oh Monday,

You've found me again.

Isn't it funny how quickly the weekend vanishes and the next week creeps up on you? I feel like I never have enough time to enjoy the weekend; it's gone before I know it!

D's has one of those dreaded long work days going on tonight, so for right now it's the pups and I just chilling at our little homestead.

I'm eating a chicken-less chicken salad and the pups are fighting tiredness by slowly trying to destroy everything they get their little paws on, including my tights. They kind of destroyed them the moment I walked through the door thanks to Sky's claws.

::Oh joy::

A nice little treat though was walking into the door and seeing D. had deep cleaned all our carpets-

He's a keeper, that one.

Want a suggestion for fighting off the Monday blues?

Make a yummy cup of hot chocolate.

That's what I'm about to do.

Here's to Tuesday!

A little thing called Friday

Jacket - Abercrombie & Fitch

Shirt - Ross

Boots - Alloy

Watch/Pants - Target

Earrings- NY&C

What a busy week!

Every night since Monday D. and I have been going non-stop. We've had dinners, events, and classes to attend and getting home just in enough time to collapse. 

Thank goodness for Fridays & thank goodness for a chance to pause the craziness.

Tonight we're chilling out with some good eats and Wedding Crashers and I couldn't be happier.

Hope your weekends starting off just as well!

xoxo

Project Scarf Revamp: DIY!

If you haven't guessed by now, 

I love scarves and I'm always looking for ways to revamp what I have to make awesome scarves.

I found the inspiration for this idea at Kristina J.'s blog and I loved the fact that I had everything easily on hand in order to do this project!

{Plus I can finally wear a scarf and a necklace together}

What You'll Need:

• An old scarf
• A Necklace
• Scissors, Needle, Thread

Gather materials.

 Cut off straggly ends of the scarf and sew ends together to create an easy infinity scarf.

{I doubled the scarf because it was long and sewed a few easy stitches to keep the scarf doubled over}

 Figure out how long you want your necklace to look with the scarf on then sew the necklace underneath the material to give the appears of a long necklace.

 End Results:

I absolutely LOVE it!

Cafe Nights

A perk of your husband being a activities coordinator for a college?

Cafe Nights.

These are some of the top favorite things I enjoy coming to--

It's a nice way to get away, relax, and hang out with friends.
Plus,

The music is always awesome:

Tonight they had David Story play.

{check him out here}

Another cup of coffee in a day is never a bad idea either.
Well, with the exception that caffeine highs are never a good thing for one to experience when one is trying to get a well rested night of sleep.
But you know,
Sleeps really is overrated.

27 Girlfriends & Climbing

Last night I had this horrible dream that D. had joined a dating site. To make matters worse, in this dream,  he ended up admitting to me that there were about 26 other women he was seeing. Needless to say I woke up hyperventilating. It was so awful.

I can only imagine what individuals such as Sandra Bullocks and Elin Nordegren (Tiger Wood's ex-wife) felt like when they discovered they weren't just cheated on once but numerous times. In the dream, it all felt so real; it made me feel belittled and insecure and wondering why I wasn't enough. 

Ugh.

Thank goodness it was a dream. 

I woke up and pathetically went downstairs to D., hugged him, then thanked him for only having me.

{He was a little confused at first}

D. on the other hand had a wonderful dream.
He dreamed we had just purchased a beautiful home with an awesome patio space.
He even did a dance on the patio in this dream.
Obviously we were not in dream sync last night.

On a fun note,

D. and I are getting back into climbing and hoping to get to take a climbing trip this summer. We went out to the gym tonight and realized just how out of shape we really are. At least it will be some great challenges for when we start experiencing the winter blues!

What Weekend?

I feel this weekend was a whirlwind of events and by the time the weekend ended, I couldn't even remember where it went.

Saturday I was busy working on a trade show event we had in our area and that took up most of my day.

Sunday I spent all day in Dayton watching D. play volleyball. 

Next thing I know, it's Monday morning and it is yet another work day. 

Needless to say, I just may be feeling a little bit of the Monday blahs. 

Thank goodness for a hubby that had dinner ready when I came home.

I'm pretty sure he's what keeps me sane.

I love him a whole lot.

DIY Easy to make Beanie

I have a ton of knit shirts & sweaters that I can no longer wear thanks to the shirts being too small or  else unraveling. I was planning on eventually getting rid of them but then I found this tutorial & loved the idea of creating new beanie hats!

{Plus I haven't done a sewing project in a really long time}

::WHOOPS::

All you need to start is an old sweater or knit shirt:

 Find a beanie that you want to "re-create" and use it as a pattern for the project.

{Make sure you have both sides of the shirt}

It's helpful to keep the opening of the beanie where there is already a hem established-- To be frank, it's just an easy cheat.

Cut out your pattern & sew around the edge of the material {keeping the 2 sides together & keep the bottom open}

Flip inside out once you finish sewing around the edge

{Hides stiching}

 Wear as weather permits!

It's that time of the week...

Shirt/Skirt/Tights/Shoes - Target

Sweater - H&M

AWKWARD: 

• All the people honking their horns behind me in traffic this week. I kept freaking out that they were honking at me to only realize that they were honking and waiving at other people. Seriously people, I would much rather you yell than freak me out with all the honking!
• Baking sugar cookies and realizing you have no sugar.
• Kissing D and Tank randomly nosing his way into our kissing session.
• Empty kitchen cupboards - I just really hate grocery shopping!
• The basic fact that Ohio cannot make up it's mind whether it's the fall or the winter. 
• Watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix to only come to the end of the season. Netflix, why must you be so behind on the times?! How did he meet their mother?
• Realizing today that I have basically wore black, white, and grey all week long. I guess my wardrobe reflects the weather.

AWESOME:

• A profitable work week- Another successful class start!
• Baking yummy sugar cookies once I actually bought some more sugar {You'll want to try this recipe-- I'll post it later this week!}.
• Getting to spend time with my friend Kara this week- Thank goodness for Facebook statuses! I saw she was in the area and was able to touch base with her- I love last minute catch ups with friends!
• Taco night at the Hopewell household- Bien!
• The basic fact that my husband always takes the time to listen to my little rant and raves about this and that. I know it's not easy and I appreciate him for that.
• Quiet nights in. I love my little family and the simplicity that we enjoy together. 

You know it's love when...

You know it's love when you both know at the same time that it is in fact time for ice cream. 
Booyah.
Love,
Gansta Love.

Blog Remodel

Planning with the format of the little blog tonight,

Whatcha think?
{Blog is still under construction}

Rambling

Sweater - Ross

Shirt/Shoes - F21

Sweater Tights - TJ Maxx

Skirt - Target

Sweater tights are awesome - It's like you're wearing a sweater for your legs.


And these Veggie Burgers tonight?
Luna Bugers.
So good.
& Free!
{I won them}


"Life's most persistent and urgent question is,

'What are you doing for others?'"
- Martin Luther King Jr.   

Stressful Situations & Hopeful Promises

Have you ever felt the stress of buying an affordable plane ticket?

Yep,

That was our night.

Seriously,

Why does it have to be so expensive to travel?

Outside of that,

Today was really a great day.

Our church service this morning was absolutely incredible

&

I feel so lucky to be a part of such a great church.

This Sunday we discussed our vision for 2012 and the things we hope to achieve for the year.

It has me so excited for what is to come and the difference our church has the ability to make.

Recipe for a Perfect Night

Cold night 

+ 

Time in with the hubby 

+ 

Nachos 

+ 

How I Met Your Mother 

+ 

Relaxation 

=

Perfect Night 

Hey Snow, Thanks for the Weekend

Hello and welcome to my less than exciting night.

The weather is less than thrilling to travel in,

&

Frankly,

This week has just been exhausting.

[I'll once again blame the weather]

So tonight,

I'm laying low.

Happy Weekend Lovelies!

A little Awesome and Awkwardness

Sweater/Dress/Tights/Shoes/Clutch- Target

Belt - Thrifted

AWKWARD:

• Reminders from your boss that certain forms are due TODAY not TOMORROW. Talk about working in a crunch.
• A student comes in and see's my haircut and asked "Why did you do that?" What do you say at that point? Ummm, thank you? I use to kind of liked it...
• Trying to appear confident in heels and then trip.
• Moldy foods in the fridge. It's such a bummer to find moldy foods in the fridge.
• The fact that my clothes seem a tad tighter than usual. Oh Christmas, your divine foods were too good to me this year!

AWESOME:

• Girls Night tonight (+ Sam)! 
• Having a much needed date night with D. this week + Getting Jeni's ice cream. There is nothing better in my book then spending time with D. & having Jeni's ice cream- perfect date night.
• Having a dishwasher finally-- It makes life so wonderful! 
• Walking into a heated office after fighting the cold outside.
• My vacation in Florida- The beach brings peace and contentment to my soul, plus the time spent with people I love brings me so much joy. 
• Spending moments laying next to D. and as I look over at him I once again remember that there isn't anyone else in the world I would rather be laying there next to. 

Vegan-Friendly Cupcakes

So I actually stole this recipe from A Beautiful Mess,

But it is absolutely amazing!

What you'll need for the cupcake:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 2 tablespoons vinegar. 

What you'll need for the icing:

• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon of vanilla

FOR CUPCAKE:

Preheat oven to 350

Simply mix dry ingredients together, mix wet ingredients together, and then combine both together.

Bake for 22-24 minutes (or until a toothpick can come out of the cupcake clean)

FOR ICING:

Slightly melt butter, add vanilla, and add powdered sugar a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

To give it a little extra pep,

You can add fun things to the cupcakes.

I took a few poked a hole in the middle of the cupcake, added chunky peanut butter, and then sprinkled the top with chocolate shavings.

For a few others I put nutella in the middle and sprinkled the top with chocolate powder.

Mmmm so freaking good.

(Not too bad I must say for my first time cupcake making!)

OH & PS,

If you're first batch of cupcakes falls apart,

try spraying the pan and then adding a little powdered flour over the spray so the cupcakes won't stick.

Then make cake balls:

All you have to do to make these is smash the broken cake together, add a little of the icing to the mix, roll out small balls of cake mix, & then put in the fridge until the cake hardens a little.

Next,

Melt some chocolate chips in the microwave and add a little oil to the chocolate to keep it from hardening quickly.

Simply roll the cake balls in the chocolate then put back into the fridge until the chocolate has reached a solid consistency.

Have fun baking!

xoxo

Winter Blues

here

This is D reporting in. H let me kick her off tonight and write a lil bit.  It's been quite a week and when I was driving home today had a realization. I was hit by the Winter Blues.  I wake up at 6am. Walk the dogs in the dark and its 30 degrees outside.  I get ready and drive to work at 9 am and the Sun is coming up. It just so happens to be in my eyes the whole time.  I stay at work and until 4:30 and head home.  The sun is already going down, and I know that when I get home I have and hour till its dark.  This slowly leads into a small comma where all I want to do is stay in, watch TV, and do the same thing over again.
Some people call it seasonal depression, i just call the winter blues.

I called H and confessed that I needed something tonight.  I had a couple ideas of things to do around the house, but we needed to get out.  We gathered our minds and went to one of our favorite restaurants.

So the point.

Get out of your house.... don't let the winter take you down.  We have to remember the things that we love to do and do them.

step two:   The Challenge
When we were in Florida for christmas, I was challenged to spend more time in prayer.  I laughed to myself while driving a 95 nissan truck with no stereo.  I drove it around a lot and I had plenty of time not listening to the radio.  I briefly thought what it would be like to not have a radio in the car.  I thought it would be a good way to be intentional with my time in while in the car.  There are a lot of good things we can think about. That thought quickly faded.
We arrived home and I had not thought much about this challenge.  The next day after we came home, my car had died in the parking lot and I had to jump it with our civic.  I accidentally crossed the wires and nearly killed my battery.  I was really annoyed and by my stupidly and quickly fixed the problem.  I thought I needed a new battery but I let it charge for about 10 mins.  I tried the ignition one more time and luckily it started.  We began our journey home and i turned on my radio... much to my dismay... it did not turn on.... I had to laugh out loud... Its funny when you try to run away from something that you are supposed to do.  I decided to take the challenge.
this next year I am not going to listen to music while I'm driving....
To the extent, i was driving home on monday, and i pulled up Norah Jones on our ipad... after 2 seconds, i gasped and turned it off... I told God, that is how much i loved him.  If you know me, you know that this was a big deal.

well all in all; 1.  Don't let the winter blues take you.  2. Don't run away from something you are supposed to do.

All in a days work.

Shirt/Sweater/Shoes - Target

Pants - Roxy

I've spend a lot of time in the car today.

I was suppose to have an appointment about an hour away from my office & when I got there, there was a miscommunication and I ended up driving there for nothing.

Oh Joy.

Since the meeting ended early,

I came back to the office and it ended up being profitable, so I guess alls well that ends well, right?

Oh and check out the new shoes-

Totally in love with them.

As well as this new jacket my sister got me for Christmas:

I love getting clothes for gifts!

Another Weekend.

::This is what happens when puppy children do not want to go to bed::

Yesterday we got our dishwasher and mircrowave delivered.

You have no idea how much these items improve a kitchen.

It's nice to feel like our house is becoming more of a "home."

While D put things together,

I cleaned.

I also found punch cards for the Brown Bag Deli while cleaning.

This resulted in 2 free sandwiches;

Guess what we ate today:

Seriously,

This is some of my top most favorite foods in Columbus!
{D says "top most favorite" is not the correct way to phrase something.}
{ I said this is my blog, not his.}

On another note,

I found this today and the one question I have is,

WHY?

Brinner

Breakfast + Dinner = Brinner

::Oh, I love Fridays::