BALLOONS LIKE UP, CUPCAKE WARS, AND CHEAP THRILLS

Whoa it's already Tuesday.

Hope you all spent the long weekend well- and had a chance to get outside! It was cold & rainy here the whole weekend, but I saw on Instagram  some of you had some nice sunny weather (jealous). 

Here's what's been going on lately:

The company I work for recently celebrated it's 50th year in business, so naturally they threw a big old party.   Here's them setting up in the atrium with hundreds of balloons (looks like UP, right??):

What kind of party did they throw, you ask? A CUPCAKE PARTY. Or rather, Cupcake Wars.

A bunch of employees submitted recipes- and over 60 across the company's 3 locations were allowed to make 50+ cupcakes to compete. I mean, you all know me well enough by now that you know I entered, right!?! 

I threw my salted caramel chocolate cupcakes in the ring and ended up winning one of the 3 prizes! Woo hoo!

 I'll be sharing the recipe for those on the blog tomorrow... but here's a sneak peek for ya. Hungry yet??

I took a little time this weekend to do some summer shopping, and hit the jackpot at Forever21. I tell ya, if you take the time to weed through the crap at that store, you really can find some good stuff! 

I found this AWESOME light chambray shirt dress, geo/aztec tank, floral lightweight maxi, and turquoise necklace for a total of about $60. And that necklace- kind of spikethepunch-esque right? But only $7, so a tiny fraction of the price and you don't have to wait months on end to get one!

So while I like having plenty of alone time, after living with Michael for the last couple years..I've become a total wimp staying home alone for a long period of time. Yes, go ahead and make fun of me, it's fine. I'm 25 and a baby. Michael was gone for 5 days camping up north MN without any service...and with it being a holiday weekend no.one.was.in.town. Gah. I may or may not have double locked and barricaded the door with a chair #oopsfirehazard.

Luckily I'm dating one cool dude who knew I'd be bummed out being in town alone, and did a few things to make me feel better, including a whole lotta flowers and Pitch Perfect (yes I'm a nerd).

 In addition- he left me notes ALL over the apartment. 

Makeup bag? Note. Under the pillow? Note. Kitchen? Note. Coffee table? Note.

Went to grab a mug for tea the first morning and found this one:

He'a a good one, folks.

And on that happy note, I'll stop babbling.

How did you spend the long weekend?

What are you waiting for? Go grab that turquoise necklace!

xo, lp

*pssssst: find me on Instagram here!

55 DEGREES? THAT'S SHORTS WEATHER!

Oh geez. 

Do you ever have one of those weekends that REALLY feels like a weekend? You weren't rushed, or working from home. You weren't too busy or bogged down with chores. Come Sunday night you feel refreshed and ready for the week ahead.

That was this weekend for me. It was the perfect balance of time with friends, family, and Michael. I even went to the gym twice. Boom. Champion.

Here's what's been up lately:

Word on the street is the weather is going to turn nasty again, so I'm getting in springy clothes while I can!

I came home from work the other day and Michael had gotten home early and cleaned the apartment & bought a bouquet of gorgeous flowers. He's a keeper, folks:

This weekend we did one of my favorite things: blow up the air mattress and put it in the living room with all of our blankets. Saturday night we watched a movie and Sunday afternoon we took cat naps and watched some hockey. Best. Idea. Ever.

In Michael's cleaning escapade he cleaned off our coffee table, which is usually overly cluttered with mail, books, cups, and other random things. I took the time to put out some of my favorite items to spruce it up. I give it about 2 days to stay this nice looking...

Sunday was GORGEOUS. We decided to walk around downtown Madison and a local tea shop had this sign outside:

It's true! There were people wearing shorts! 

We also walked around UW Madison campus (where we met-cue the "awww!")- and man I appreciate how gorgeous the buildings are so much more now that I'm not racing to class. 

 Finally, we had dinner at a restaurant I used to work at off the capitol square...and took the obligatory iPhone panorama of the empty square!

How was your weekend?

If you didn't camp out in your living room, I highly recommend it! 

xo, lp

** also- i'll be sharing my new favorite quinoa recipe tomorrow! quinoa is one of the worst looking, best tasting super foods- be sure to check back tomorrow! **

psssssssst: let's be instagram friends, shall we?

i'm @lpodlich- find me here!