NO ONE TALK TO ME I'M CRANKY.

Happy Monday, people.

Let's get a few things straight this week:

If you're a SF 49ers fan, don't talk to me. Actually, if you're anyone other than a Packer fan, don't talk to me. Yes I am a sore loser...especially when it comes to football.

Now that I no longer care about what happens in the playoffs, my weekends are now free to drink coffee, read Martha, and get back to posting on this here blog. Cue the excitement from all of you! 

(find me on Instagram here)

Now, so I don't turn into a total Debbie Downer - there are a few good things I have to share this week!

Good thing 1:

I'm back to posting recipes every Tuesday, so get ready for the recipe to my delicious lemon bars tomorrow.  My goal is to find more things to bake that require a powdered sugar topping. Seriously.

Good thing 2:

Michael's aunt got me this cookbook for the holidays and it is absolutely one of the best I own. Now, I have to admit her show "barefoot contessa" is not always the easiest to watch, but damn Ina Garten knows what's  up in the kitchen. This cookbook is full of recipes that are... wait for it... foolproof, and I cannot wait to try some and share them.

(if you're looking to get one for yourself or someone you know, it's on sale HERE!)

Good thing 3:

I got my hair cut yesterday. I realize this is completely useless information for any of you, but I'm pretty happy about not looking like such a split-end scrub.

Good thing 4:

I watched the Golden Globes, and here are my thoughts:

1. JLo. What were you wearing. No.

2. Jessica Alba, you are a freaking perfect. Holy crap. Stunning.

3. Everyone should have an acceptance speech like Adele.

4. Not enough Tina Fey & Amy Poehler.

The End. 

Good thing 5:

I'm gettin' back to real blogging people. I've been here and there lately, but I've got plenty of recipes and DIYs up my sleeve for you pretty folks. In addition to that, I'll have a few posts that are a little bit more about me. Inspired by my girl {av} last week in her post about small victories, I've realized how most of my favorites posts by my favorite bloggers are the ones that serve as a window into their real world. 

Psssssst: Yes, for those of your who read long distance loving , {av}really is as amazing in person as she is on the interwebs. Here we are when I visited Rhode Island this summer- please ignore my pasty legs. Woof. 

What good things do you have to look forward to this week?

Or... for those of you majorly into pop culture: thoughts on the Golden Globes you care to share?

xo, lp

LABOR DAY MAKEUP SESSION.

I didn't post on Monday because I was busy...celebrating Labor Day?

Sure. We'll go with that. Thus, I'm making up for a Monday post here.

This is what last week looked like:

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This is my favorite shot from Labor Day. If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen this...but check out Michael blowing up my pool floaty-bed-thing. What a guy!

These perfect cards from River & Bridge came last week, thanks to Heather & Heather (confusing, no?). Please note the awesome WI "greetings from the Badger state" cards. Yup.  Go check out R&B, people.

 Almost as awesome is my Goodwill haul. Yeah. I said Goodwill. They opened up a brand new one nearby our apartment and I got all these goodies and some frames for $10. I see some DIY projects in my future friends. (P.S. Isn't our carpet just an oh-so-lovely shade of taupe? At least it's new. Thanks landlords)

 It's been hot here in Wisconsin, and yet I'm being stubborn and dressing for fall. Whatever.

I've never been someone who's fallen into the trendy category (understatement of the century), yet here I am with chambray, leopard, burgundy, and colored chinos. Oh, and anchors for good measure. Well done blogs and other forms of social media: you've officially influenced me. 

In other wildly exciting news, I love this sweater (seriously fall, GET HERE). 25% off too. I can get down with that. Any other takers?

How was your long weekend? Any pool floaties involved?

Next time give me a heads up, I'll send Michael to blow them up for ya.

xo,lp

on being selfish...and thank you

*disclaimer- i realize this is a lot of talking for a monday post. bear with me people.

** double disclaimer- if you're new around here see more of what i'm talking about here
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So as you all know, Michael and I are moving back to the Midwest.

We've been travelling for the past 8 days, hitting every single New England state on our way. Up until yesterday, it just felt like a vacation. We've been seeing so many new places and enjoying so much time with friends we hadn't really slowed down to realize we were getting closer and closer to home. While driving through Ohio and Indiana it suddenly hit me that this wasn't vacation, this was reality.

The selfishness sunk in then. Not all of me was ready to be back.

You know that feeling when you leave your phone/computer/etc at home? The totally unplugged feeling? At first it's unnerving because you're so used to having contact with everyone at your fingertips, right? Well I don't know about you, but after a bit it's so freeing. You don't feel like you need to respond to every text, tweet or email immediately, and it's thoroughly enjoyable. 

That's how it felt in Virginia. It was just Michael and me, on our own, enjoying time together uninterrupted. It sounds selfish, because it is. I have to say that every moment down there was like relishing the feeling of being totally unplugged. We didn't have any commitments/events to attend, and we didn't feel bad if we just spent the night in instead of seeing anyone. While I am beyond thrilled to be back to seeing our families and friends, I'll miss living in our little bubble. Although Virginia wasn't the right place for us for keeps, it was the right place for us at the time, I know that now. 

via

All of this being said, I will be [figuratively] holding my breath until we arrive back tonight. There are so many people I cannot wait to hug.

Thanks for putting up with the onslaught of Instagram pictures. I know, I got a little bit obsessed with the pictures of toll tickets (and that wasn't even all of them!). This blog will clearly go on, in fact tomorrow I'll have a recipe post I totally forgot to get up before we left! The next few weeks will be a whirlwind of camping, moving, and figuring out what the heck we're going to do with ourselves...and I absolutely cannot wait.

Have you ever felt that need to be unplugged?

I highly recommend it, it feels great...just don't be surprised if it's hard to go back!

xo,lp