Wednesday, February 29, 2012

What I Wore Wednesday

Hello Wednesday, we meet again!  As usual, I'm linking up with The Pleated Poppy today for her weekly feature - WIWW.  {You should check out some of the hundreds that do the same!}

{sweater: Gap; pants: Anthropologie; boots: Target}

{sweater: Gap; jeans: Nordstrom; shoes: Toms}

{necklace: Allora Handmade; tee: Anthropologie; pants: Old Navy; shoes: Toms}

{top: Gap; jeans: Gap outlet; boots: Forever 21}

And this week's Pinterest inspiration from the lovely Kendi Everday:



And my interpretation from items in my closet:

{scarf: NYC; dress + boots: Target; tights: Anthropologie}

pleated poppy

Monday, February 27, 2012

#febphotoaday Week 4





Hard to believe it'll be March in just a few days, but February { even as the shortest month of the year} still flew by. Here are the last week's Instagram photos:




+ Day 20 - handwriting
+ Day 21 - favorite photo(s) of myself {best day of my life in my favorite dress}
+ Day 22 - where I work




+ Day 23 - my shoes
+ Day 24 - bathroom cabinet
+ Day 25 - green {spinach from my MIL}
+ Day 26 - night {watching the Oscars}

If you'd like to follow along daily on Instagram, check out my feed here!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

A Day with Linnea





On Friday, Sam & I had the opportunity to spend the whole day with our niece Linnea, just the three of us. At only 9 months, this little girl kept us on our toes. Even though she's not crawling quite yet, she can definitely roll & scoot her way around {and pretty fast, I might add}. We read a lot of books and chewed on a lot of toys. We drank a bottle {and cuddled} and ate some homemade peas.










I'm hoping Linnea had as much fun as Sam & I did so that we're asked to watch her again soon!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Favorite Beauty Tools


To be honest, this week's Life Well Lived question stumped me at first.  When I think of beauty tools, I instantly think of makeup, which I don't wear a lot of {i.e. none}.  But then I thought of what other tools make me feel beautiful and lo and behold, several came to mind.

First, one of my favorite beauty tools has to be the hair straightener.  Just recently, I purchased my first "professional" straightener and I can't put into words how much better my hair looks & feels after making the switch.  My hair is sort of a mixture between straight & wavy - straight in some parts and wavy/frizzy in others.  So in order to get one consistent look, my straightener is a must have wherever I go!

Second on my list of favorite beauty tools is my face moisturizer.  My morning face routine is actually pretty quick - wash, dry, & moisturize.  Out of those three steps, the third is my favorite because it leaves my face feeling hydrated & healthy, which in turn makes me feel like a hundred bucks!

Lastly, and maybe surprisingly, my toothbrush falls in the top three of my favorite beauty tools list.  As someone who had several years of braces and still is a frequent visitor at the dentist, my teeth are very valuable to me.  So taking the time to brush every one of them is very important and when they sparkle, my mood instantly picks up and I feel beautiful once again!

To check out other's favorite beauty tools, head over to Life Well Lived Beauty BlogHer page & read the comments.

And don't forget to enter the Life Well Lived Sweepstakes for a chance to win a Kindle Fire!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The Rules of Inheritance #BHBC


In my experience, death is never an easy thing to deal with.  It almost always opens up feelings and memories that may have been forgotten for one reason or another.  And the part that some do not always remember is that the process of grieving almost always takes longer to run its course than expected, which is demonstrated perfectly by Claire Bidwell Smith’s memoir“The Rules of Inheritance”.

Claire Bidwell Smith’s account of the five stages of grief that she experienced from age 14 to 32 over both her parent’s deaths touched me deeply.  From denial to acceptance, each chapter felt like a complete story in itself, yet in the end they all created one larger story.  Each personal account that was shared was so open and honest that I often found myself going through the emotions with her as I read on.

One of my favorite parts of the book was how Claire Bidwell Smith organized and wrote her story.  Even though it jumped from one time in her life to another with each chapter, it still flowed well and really kept my interest throughout the entire book.  I often found myself just wanting to read to see what was going to happen next, which is usually a sign of a good book when it comes to me.

If you’d like to hear more, check out BlogHer’s Book Clubpage to see what others had to say about “The Rules of Inheritance” and even join in a few of the discussions!


While I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review, all opinions expressed above are my own.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

What I Wore Wednesday

Hooray --- I managed to get a few more outfit photos in this week!  And while I'm still trying to get a little more creative with my closet, I am still proud to wake up each morning and put something {most of the time, pretty basic} together rather quickly, instead of looking at my closet and saying "I have nothing to wear!".  I really hope some of you will stick with me while I try to be a little more inventive with my wardrobe :)

{sweater: ShopRuche; jeans: Banana Republic outlet; shoes: Toms}

{scarf: NY street vendor; top: Gap; pants: Old Navy; flats: Land's End Canvas}

{tee: Anthropologie; jeans: Nordstrom; shoes: Toms}

And here is my Pinterest inspiration for the week:



And my interpretation:


{scarf: Target; sweater + jeans: Banana Republic outlet; tee: Anthropologie; flats: Clarks}

pleated poppy

Monday, February 20, 2012

#febphotoaday Week 3


This week was harder for me in regards to this challenge.  I wasn't feeling very creative when it came to the prompts, but I powered through it!  I may not post the best pictures on Instagram and that's okay with me.  I really am just proud of myself for sticking with this and posting each day.


+ Day 13 - blue {pillows on the couch}
+ Day 14 - heart {dinner @ home}
+ Day 15 - phone {@ work}


+ Day 16 - something new {Valentines Toms!}
+ Day 17 - time {for pizza}
+ Day 18 - drink {hazelnut hot chocolate}
+ Day 19 - something I hate to do {setting my alarm for Monday morning}

If you'd like to follow along daily on Instagram, check out my feed here!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

What I Wore Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!  So a little story --- I really tried to be better this week and take a few more outfit pictures than last week, but for some reason, the outfits I was selecting were just not working out as well in real life as they were in my mind.  Some of the blame is due to the lack of creativity I've been feeling lately and some is just me falling into my usual rut of wearing the same thing over & over again.  When I start to feel like this, I tend to want to go shopping, but maybe with the help of Pinterest I can find some new ideas using what I already own {and save some money!}.  I'll keep you all posted :)

I did want to share my little Valentines outfit from yesterday, featuring my new DOTS shirt I picked up just for the occasion:

{sweater: Eddie Bauer; tee: DOTS; jeans: Nordstrom; shoes: Toms}

As for our Valentine's Day plans, we spent the evening at home and made homemade macaroni & cheese for dinner {my favorite!}.  It definitely wasn't anything extravagant, but just right for us!

How was your Valentine's Day?

Monday, February 13, 2012

#febphotoaday Week 2


Another week down!  This week, I had a friend {hi Sherlai!} who mentioned how much she likes seeing my 'photo a day' and that honestly made me happy!  I know I'm doing this little challenge for myself, but with each like + comment I receive, I smile a little bigger.  So thank you to all those who enjoy my photos too!


+ Day 6 - dinner
+ Day 7 - buttons {on my way to a meeting}
+ Day 8 - sun{less day, of course}
+ Day 9 - front door


+ Day 10 - self portrait
+ Day 11 - makes me happy {wrapped gifts for my SIL that I know she'll appreciate}
+ Day 12 - inside my closet

If you'd like to follow along daily on Instagram, check out my feed here!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Love... Valentine TOMS!

{here}

Most people around me know that I'm a big fan of shoes.  And lately, TOMS have been my shoe of choice.  So when I saw this pair, I had a hard time keeping my online-shopping trigger finger away from the 'buy now' button.  But gosh, I can't stop thinking about them!

Happy Friday everyone!


Edited to add - Thanks to the best husband, these shoes are now on their way to me!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Our Story {Link Up}

One of the {many} blogs I follow, I Love You More Than Carrots, shared a link up yesterday that I couldn't resist - What's Your Love Story.  And since I don't recall sharing a lot of these details on the blog, this hopefully will be new information to most of you!  Enjoy!



1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Sam & I officially met back in the Fall of 2004, but didn't start really dating until March of 2005, so that would make it almost 7 years!


2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Sam & I met in college, through mutual friends.  He was a senior and I was a sophomore.  He lived in a house on-campus with a few of my guy friends and since my roommate and I found ourselves over there often, Sam & I eventually met.  At first, I didn't really notice him, but thanks to the power of IM {instant messenger}, we slowly got to know each other better.  And before I knew it, I was going over to see him more than my other friends.


3. If married, how long have you been married?

This June, we'll have been married 4 years!


4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We were married in Bend, Oregon at Aspen Hall {a place I had wanted to get married at years before meeting Sam}.  We had about 250 people at our wedding and it seemed just right for us because we had everyone we loved their in attendance with us!


5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

I think Sam has more nicknames for me than I do for him, but one that he calls me often is 'Meag-train' and I  usually reply back with 'Sam-face'.


6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

*His devotion to his family + faith.
*His sense of humor.
*His ability to fix almost anything.



7. Tell us how he proposed?


Two years {to the date} after Sam officially told me how he felt about me, he got down on one knee to ask me to be his wife.  We had decided to spend Christmas together early, since we'd be apart for the actual holiday, and we went up to Portland to spend the day together.

I knew he had picked out the ring a couple months back, but had no idea when he was planning on proposing.  Before the date, I had mentioned to my roommate that she should take her phone with her "just in case something happened".  Little did I know that my roommate was already aware of Sam's plan the whole time.

After a drizzly day in the city, my apartment was our final destination for the night.  This completely threw me off because I was sure if Sam was going to propose, he would have done it somewhere during the day.  But once we were on our way back to my apartment, I was sure it wasn't going to happen that night. {But I was wrong!}

When we got to my apartment, Sam asked if we wanted to exchange gifts.  I gave him his present first, which included Seinfeld season 7.  Then Sam gave me mine - a new Bible engraved with 'Meaghan Grable' {my name-to-be}, which oddly didn't give me any clue whatsoever.  At least not until Sam turned to me and said "there's more..." and got down on one knee and pulled out the ring!  I was shocked and before he had completed "Will you marry me?", I had already said yes!



8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberrieschampagne, and rose petals?

I'd say he's definitely a 'flowers' guy.  Even when it's not Valentine's Day, he'll still surprise me with a pretty bouquet of my favorite flowers!


9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Hands down, I'm a 'pop a move in and relax on the couch' kind of girl.  Nothing makes me happier than being cuddled up with Sam!


10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

Sam & I didn't get the chance to go on a real honeymoon after our wedding, so one thing I'd love to do with him is go on a trip, just the two of us.  All of our other travels have been to visit family and friends {which is great!}, but I dream of a vacation where we can just just relax and enjoy each other's company no matter where we decide to go.


11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

I don't know of any plans for Valentine's Day, so my guess is we'll probably just treat it like any other night.


12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

I did drop the hint that I'd like 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 1', but I may just end up having to get that for myself.


13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Remember to be open & honest and not let the little things get you mad.  Also, laugh a lot!



14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

What I Wore Wednesday

Well hello Wednesday... you kind of snuck up on me.  Since my mind was elsewhere this week, I only have two pictures this week.  Hopefully I can catch up {and take more pictures} before next week rolls around...

{sweater: Anthropologie; shirt: J.Crew; jeans: Gap; flats: Clarks}

And here is my Pinterest pick for the week:



And my inspiration using items from my closet:

{sweatshirt: hand-me-down from Kristi, shirt + jeans: Nordstrom; shoes: TOMS}

Monday, February 6, 2012

#febphotoaday Week 1


I'm back with February's photo challenge!  {to read more about this challenge, check this out


+ Day 1 - my view today {morning meeting}
+ Day 2 - words {from my 'Truth' board on Pinterest}
+ Day 3 - hands {perfect fit}


+ Day 4 - strangers {in a coffee shop}
+ Day 5 - 10am {kicking my feet up before my day begins}

If you'd like to follow along daily on Instagram, check out my feed here!