I Love Anthro

How do you unwind? Everyone handles their quiet, personal time differently: My dad hits the road on his bicycle for a good, 20-something mile trek. The hubs is a beer and old music DVD kinda guy (the more vintage the sound the better).

For me, it's perusing through some of my favorite design blogs, watching HGTV, reading, playing trucks with our little guy or becoming one with my beloved Anthropologie Web site. Nothing excites me more than browsing through the catalogued wares and imagining each and every occasion they'd best compliment. For example, the maize-colored Juliet Cardigan with the Kousa Berry Bag perched on the shoulder would be such a stylish look for the Saturday Farmer's Market. The dark grey Wrapped In Ruffles Jacket topping a cute swing skirt would make for a killer date outfit with my hubby. And Giada uses this very Lovin' Spoonful Measuring Set -- or so I hear. :)

So tell me, how do YOU unwind?

Things We Are Loving This Week

Prepare yourself... there are a lot of mentions:

• Practically an entire week of bonding with my little bro who was visiting from California. My day off this past Tuesday consisted of breakfast with him at Cafe Muse, perusing Detroit's own Eastern Market, investigating an enormous warehouse of an antique store (and laughing at finding the world's oldest hand mixer that resembled the one mom had when we were kids), Slow's BBQ for lunch, stalking the cast and crew of the Red Dawn movie remake being made inches away from my house, exploring downtown Detroit, and hitting the Kings of Leon concert. As you can imagine, it was a blast.
• Hosting Ross and his girlfriend Ryann for the weekend, who instantly captured my heart upon entering our house and declaring "so I was reading your blog and saw..." Awesome lead-in. Seriously awesome gal (love ya Ryann!). Is it too forward to say I'm planning for her to be around for years and years to come?
• Spending time (although it flew by) with Butch and Susan who also came for a visit this weekend. And watching Butch's endless patience with a 2-year-old determined to outrun him.
• The former Washington Street Show Choir member in me is just smitten with Fox's Glee. If you spend your nights dreaming up choral renditions of Journey's Don't Stop Believin', this show is for you. I giggled my entire way through this week's scene of football players getting down to Beyonce's "Single Ladies."
• This. Adorable. Bow. Bag. Bequeathed to me by my lil bro's girlfriend Nicole (who is also the amazingly talented designer behind Omelle shoes. Have you visited the latest collection? If no, get thee here immediately. If the Fancy boots suddenly appeared on my feet, I wouldn't send them walking. I'm just sayin'.

• UofM football is 4-0. Enough said.
• This week's new dictionary of HWB words and phrases: hela-cop-ee (helicopter), 'it's fy-eehn' (in reference to seeing an airplane flying), bidge (bridge) and gas-hop-air (grasshopper) and of course, when searching for something [enter item here] ware ARRRRR you?
• The fact that when Hunter sees the moon in the daytime, he raises his finger to his lips and declares "shhh, the moon is sleeping!" :)
• My growing obsession with design blogs. Like this one, Design*Sponge.
• The new bedroom lamp, courtesy of a seriously fantastic Anthropologie Sale rack find:
• Our new church. There, I said it. We've been secretly going to church. And I think it's revolutionized a new type of spirituality between us. Check them out.
• The Black Keys. Specifically their song "I Got Mine". It makes for a great late-afternoon gotta-bang-out-this-final-report motivation.

I'm Back In The Saddle Again

There's a scene in one of my favorite movies, Sleepless In Seattle, where Tom Hanks' character is asking himself: Date? Don't date? He walks into his 8-year-old son Jonah's room and sees Jonah hanging out with a girl/friend and realizes if his son is able to bide his time with Jessica (who, incidentally is a girl only capable of speaking in letters. Line please: "H and G" -- as in hi and goodbye.) then Tom would be damned to be the last man on earth sans dinner plans. YES, the time had come. Cue music ("I'm back in the saddle again"...) and off he goes to make that initial phone call.

I mention this because it's essentially that exact jumpstart that happened to me this weekend. Here I've been devoting time/energy/effort into my work, that I set aside some of the things I really like to do. Blog. Incessantly watch HGTV. Laugh. Play trucks with HWB. Chase Becks around the backyard. Talk to my husband. I'd become that very person I dread and feel sorry for: Those who live to work vs. work to live. And believe me, I work with a lot of those women. So here's me setting that stake in the ground (sorry proverbial earth). I'm content being a professional go-getter with an agenda for my family and my life. And man, 2.5+ weeks away stores up a lot of good posts. So stay tuned. I'm back in the saddle again.

Look Who's Two

Can't believe we're here... a 2-year-old officially lives in our house. An attitude-filled, tricycle-riding, 'bigtruckgoesBOOM'-shrieking 2-year-old. And it was only fitting that his birthday party be filled with the friends and family that have made the past 2 years with Hunter so worthwhile (save just a few). Thank you to all of you for your love and support in celebrating the good, the tough, and the life-changing moments. Hunter is 2!

THE DAY HAS COME

Christmas has arrived. No, don't second guess yourself into thinking it's December already and you Rip Van Winkle'd your way with last night's slumber. I refer of course to the dawn of football season.

The fam is decked out in my beloved maize and blue (except Becks who was promptly shipped off to doggie daycare), the Victors is ringing loud throughout the house and despite the little-to-no sleep I've had in the past 3 weeks there is a smile on my face this morning. A big one.

So do yourself the service: Click below and turn it up. Loud.

Let's Go Blue!