BEAUTY & THE BEARD: February 2016

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

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

Monday, February 8, 2016

A POST ON VALIDATION: SOMETIMES IT FEELS GOOD TO WIN.

We all grew up with the phrase "winning isn't everything". As kids, it's supposed to make us feel better when our T-ball team comes in last place. As adults, it's supposed to calm us down when we start to freak out that our kid's T-ball team came in last place. #circleoflife.

And it's true.

Winning isn't everything...but that doesn't mean that winning isn't awesome when it does happen.

I've been running this blog for 4 years, and over those 4 years I've been trying to get better at photography to make posts more appealing- as well as to up my instagram game. I've been lucky enough to have been re-grammed by big name bloggers and companies like A Beautiful Mess, Martha Stewart, One Kings Lane, and Target. Those re-grams ROCK; every single one of them feels like a small win. Knowing my picture, out of thousands, was noticed by those people (or at least their social media managers ;-) ) and liked enough to be shared with their followers leads to some feelings of serious pride.

Recently I entered a photo contest through the Cranberry Marketing Committee for the Cranberry Friendsgiving Contest...and I won! (See the Press Release HERE! ) After doing some serious happy dances I realized that while winning the monetary prize was amazing, just the sheer validation that the work put into learning to take better photos and the time to continue to create was all totally worth it is a prize in itself.

If you need me, I'll be celebrating my win by baking another one of these cranberry galettes :)

Thanks so much to the Cranberry Marketing Committee & their PR teams for this opportunity- so happy to take home a win for Wisconsin!

xo, lp

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

12 CARDS FOR A VALENTINE WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR!

I love Valentine's Day. Honestly it's probably because it's so close to my birthday. I know all the other kids out there who grew up with their birthday near a holiday can understand...you don't really have a choice but to embrace it.

Here are 12 awesome cards for Valentine's Day that offer up a bit of wit or humor!