THAT ONE TIME I TURNED 28: 4 RANDOM FACTS

It's my birthday today, so I decided to do a post that is completely random and completely about me. Because when it's your birthday you can be self-centered like that, duh.

(If you don't feel like learning more about me, then fine, I guess it's fine if you just go follow me on Instagram HERE)

If you're still hanging around, here are 4 completely weird facts about ME:
(yes 4, not 5. please see point #1 to find out why)
(and yes, I've added completely random colorful pictures to keep your attention)


1. I'm a total weirdo about numbers.

I just had to get that right out there. I hope I'm not the only person who is this neurotic, but if I am I'd totally believe it.
I am strangely obsessed with even numbers.

Radio in the car? Volume at an even number.
Alarm in the morning? Set and an even time.
Volume on the TV? You guessed it! EVEN. NUMBER.
Favorite number? 16   (hurray for 2016!)
Favorite months? 2 (february)  10 (october) 12 (december)

Beyond that I love even years and ages more than odd years. I was born on 2.16.88, so every year I turn an even age, it's an even year. This year I turn 28 on 2.16.16, so it's basically the best year ever. I've already declared it to plenty of people, because hey...why not share your version of crazy with everyone else, right?!

2. I'm super picky about foods based on texture.

Bread pudding? NOPE. SQUISHY.
Cottage cheese? OH HELL NO.

I'm so obsessed with cereal being crunchy that I don't eat it in a bowl with milk. I drink a glass of milk on the side and eat my cereal dry. Yup.

3. I get nauseous really easily.

Seeing needles. Being the back seat of a car. Too much motion/spinning on tv/in movies. Sometimes heights?
Of course the worst is hearing anyone else vomiting. I basically run from the room.
Can you tell I'm going to be a suuuuper  great mom someday? Have fun dealing with our puking children, Michael!

4. I get pretty panicky when I'm home alone at night.

I mean, I definitely blame this on all the Law & Order SVU marathons I've watched. Whenever Michael is out of town I legit barricade the door with the dining room table. If there's ever a fire I am SO in trouble. I should have prefaced this with the fact I live in a super safe neighborhood, but that fact is completely lost on me when it's 11 pm and I hear a door slam from down the hall in my apartment complex.



Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go spend my birthday in the way everyone dreams (spending the day at work, duh)
xo, lp

MAY BIRTHSTONE: EMERALD

Oh May birthday girls- you are some lucky ladies to have Emerald be your birthstone. Y'all must have been throwing a party back in 2013 when it was the Pantone color of the year. 

Whenever I think of emeralds I think of pirates treasure of gold and gems...which according to Wikipedia is a pretty dumb thought since most of them in the world are in Colombia, which is less pirate-y and more drug lord-y.

If you love emerald things- it's nearly impossible in May to find something that is in that color family. I don't know who decided birthstones, but clearly they were drunk the day they put a fall/winter color as a birthstone for spring/summer. #justsayin.

All that aside, it still is possible to find some awesome emerald-like jewelry [like these] or phone cases with varying deep green hues [how great are these?]. So while they're few and far between, just be thankful you have such a glamorous birthstone!

Here's the May favorites:

This month's picks include:

That cocktail ring is insane but fabulous, right? [more emerald-y jewelery HERE]

3 stellar phone cases with assorted green hues [shop them all HERE]

A green clutch, good all year long [more green pouches HERE]

This Tory Burch keychain- the best of the dark-emerald-meets-summertime combination. [find the TB keychains HERE]

Tassel green shoes, because...why not? [shop green shoes HERE]

Happy Birthday to all you May ladies!

Hope you find a great emerald gift to yourself out there!

xo, lp

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Missed your birthday month?

Go back in the archives! 

March: Aquamarine

February: Amethyst

April: Diamond

BIRTHDAY AFTERMATH

Happy Monday everyone!

Hope all of you are staying warm- looks like most of the country has been cold or snowy lately... yuck. If you're in a place that's currently warm and sunny- send some our way, okay?

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Here's what's good lately:

Oooooh birthday flowers. Honestly, getting flowers at work is my FAVORITE.

Michael and his parents BOTH sent me bouquets this year- and they brightened up my desk all week.

Can't someone just send me fresh flowers all year 'round??

Speaking of brightening up my desk- my coworkers threw me a rainbow themed birthday party! They got wind of my #everythinginrainboworder posts...and outdid themselves with decorations and food. The star of the show? 

This INSANE rainbow fruit pizza. Unreal, right?

THIS. IS . THE STORY. OF. MY LIFE:

All I have to say is MARTHA STEWART GLITTER. 

Later this week I have one ballin' recipe for you. Be prepared to make 'em and eat them alllll.

What's new & good with you lately, friends?

If you'd like to sign up to send me flowers- just email me and we can work it out ;-)

xo, lp

PSST: Let's be Instagram friiiiends, shall we?

You can find me here ---> @lpodlich

so THIS is 27!

I won't even be bashful about it - IT'S MAH BIRTHDAY!

I've always loved my birthday, and I have no problem being THAT girl sharing that fact.In addition to it being my birthday today- it's Michael's birthday tomorrow!

This of course means we'll be celebrating... so this is the last post you'll get from me this week. 

Here's what's been good lately:

A couple weeks ago Michael & I went to a Frozen themed event for the Clean Lakes Alliance- everyone was told to wear silver, white, or blue... and I ended up finding this AWESOME silver dress with some killer beaded sleeves:

Obviously I had to make Valentine's cookies...aaaaaaaaaand put them in rainbow order. Like usual.

Onto more Valentine's cheesiness... I had to bust out my heart sweater too. :)

 In other Valentine's Day news- this marked 6 years of my favorite tradition. Want to hear about it? Read more HERE!

Okay. Saving the best for last, everyone.

So on Valentine's Day, Michael and I had a great dinner at home, and were just relaxing with some drinks and Scrabble (yes we're nerds). We're sitting on the couch when Michael insists he really wants some good beer for the night - and since it was 8:45, we had to rush to the grocery store across the street to grab some. After complaining like crazy about having to go out- I went along with it and went with him. He went to go "grab beer" and I went to the candy aisle, obviously. I turned around and realized he was...watching me instead of getting beer. I yelled at him to go grab it before 9pm  came around ... and then... my sister walked out of an aisle a little ways down. I was completely shocked. There she was...in all of her cute, short, puffy black coat glory. Naturally I squealed and we hugged and hugged and hugged. 

She drove all the way to Wisconsin to spend less than 24 hours with me for an early birthday gift. Oy it was good. We watched Pitch Perfect and went out to get food and gossiped and hugged. Besides giving me the gift of her presence- she also gave me this adorable penguin she made (she sells ceramic spirit animals in her shop!) which is lovingly named Gladys. 

Whew. Talk about emotional. THANK YOU LOU! 

Okay.

Enough blabbering. I'm gonna go enjoy my day at work now & my night in with a bunch of girlfriends!

If anyone feels like sending me belated birthday presents, you just let me know ;-)

xo, lp

PSST! follow along with birthday festivities on instagram!

Find me here ---> @lpodlich

FEBRUARY BIRTHSTONE: AMETHYST

Each month I'm going to start rounding up some favorite items that tie back to the month's birthstone.

Wouldn't it have been lovely if I had gotten my act together and started this in January?

Sure it would've. 

Oops.

Hindsight is always 20/20, ya know?

Instead, I'll start with MY birthstone: Amethyst. 

Here's the deal with me & amethyst: as a kid, I haaaaaaaaaaaated the color purple. I blame it on being a Packers fan in a Vikings state...

As I've gotten older, I've learned to love all of the gorgeous shades that this stone comes in- and am pulling my old amethyst jewelry, dusting it off, and getting it some use finally!

Here are 9 gorgeous items that are in the perfect shades of purple:

THE DARKS

NIXON WATCH // MICHAEL KORS TOTE // OVAL PAVE EARRINGS

THE MEDIUMS

PASSPORT HOLDER //  FERRAGAMO RILVA BAG // FERRAGAMO BOW BRACELET

THE LIGHTS

KATE SPADE SQUARE STUDS // REBECCA MINKOFF MINI MAC // FERRAGAMO WALLET

Any fellow February birthday girls out there?

Anyone else grow up not loving their purple birthstone?

xo, lp 

it's my party and i'll cry if i want to.

It's my birthday in a few weeks, and I am fully on the "treat yo'self" train nowadays. 

I don't think there's anything wrong with getting yourself something shiny and new on your big day, so here's what's in the running for a good old gift to myself:

1. New Printstagram Prints from Social Print Studio: These guys & gals are just the best. I have prints, a calendar, heck- even stickers from SPS. I haven't ordered anything in a while, and I think some new prints with new Instagram shots I've taken recently might just be what the doctor ordered.

2. The First Snow has the most gorgeous prints. I have one in my bedroom and this beautiful quote about The Compass would make a great addition!

3. Michael is pretty spot on when it comes to buying me jewelry, but that doesn't mean I can't still grab something for myself- like this ladylike bracelet!

4. I'm a bowl hoarder, I've turned into my mother. But I mean, these West Elm bowls are pretty fantastic, right?

5. DUDES. Have you seen Gap's new line of shoes? Just yes yes yes and yes all over again. I think these would be some pretty nice birthday kicks.

6. When I lived in Peru I read Pablo Neruda's Love Poems over and over in Spanish. They are poetic perfection and I don't own the full book...so this is currently the front runner in my "treat yo'self" birthday gift. I love (hah. punny) how Anthropologie made the cover of this book- just as romantic as what is inside!

7. I love the Pine Sophia studs I got for Christmas, and the Coral version are just as lovely. Loren Hope-you do good work, lady! 

If you feel like sending me something off this list, you just let me know and I'll send ya my new address. Kidding. But seriously.

So tell me: if you were to treat yo'self on your birthday- what would you get yourself?
I expect some fabulous answers here, friends!

xo, lp

QUARTER LIFE CRISIS

Oh man. This weekend was lovely. My birthday was Saturday and Michael's was Sunday- and we both made it through turning 25 without having a crisis. Success!

Let's rewind though and go back to Valentine's Day. How did you all celebrate? Michael and I got Papa Murphy's and watched Parks & Rec. Roooooooooomance. I did look festive at work, wearing a sweater with a big heart on it and these necklaces:

Moving forward, Friday was an AMAZING day at work. My incredibly thoughtful coworkers completely decorated my desk- isn't the bow on the mouse cute? In addition to that they were sweet enough to give me flowers, a card, and brought in veggie-themed foods. Everyone should be so lucky to have such awesome people to work with!!

For our birthdays, we spent the weekend with Michael's family. Lunch was accompanied by present opening, which I'll never turn down. Among other gifts, I got a Kate Spade book, champagne, and penguin slippers. They just know me so well! Then I put on some overly large earrings and we all went out for a fancy-shmancy dinner. After that we stayed over at M's aunt & uncle's house- playing board games and watching SNL. It was a night full of ridiculous conversations and laughter- and I wouldn't have had it any other way. 

Since we did a dual all-out celebration Saturday- we relaxed for M's birthday Sunday. Ending the day with dinner on the capitol square was a perfect way to bring the birthdays to a close!

To make everything better, Badgers KILLED Ohio State yesterday. Perfection.

Thanks to all reading this who sent love on my birthday! Every package/card/email/message/tweet/shoutout completely made me smile.

How was your weekend?

Anyone have a special Valentine's Day??

xo, lp 

Oh, and all images via Instagram (quote via Kate Spade)