Instagram Life – September 2014

Is September REALLY over?! I can’t believe how fast that month flew by. I mean, I know we had a lot going on but SERIOUSLY! Is it just me or does it feel like we barely got Summer in the Midwest. The realization of cold weather to come has me nervous. I am ready for Fall, but I’m NOT ready for another polar vortex. In any event, September was a cold month (until this past week), but it was a great month! Here’s why:

** Electric Cheetah with Mom & Dad to kick off another great wedding weekend

** Kisses and smooches happened all over the Leelenau farm

** Sunday morning beach stroll up North

** Bridge Run 2014 with a PB!

** Iron and Wine live in Kalamazoo

** Calm before the storm during our bar crawl (literally and figuratively!)

** NOLA brewing visit

** David Gray live @ the Saenger!

** New Orleans at it’s finest

October is upon us, and it will be an awesomely jam packed month, starting off with a long weekend up north to celebrate our one year anniversary, then a gymnast weekend in Chicago, a  little East Lansing trip and SO MUCH MORE. Man, I just love October. It’s my favorite (as long Michigan doesn’t experience any of the S-word)! I know I know, I’m just like every other girl out there, but I can’t help it. Some cider mimosa’s, football, burnt orange & red leaves beautifying my view, bonfires, chili and boots??? How can you not like that! Oh yeah, don’t forget about #PSL… 

Friday Five!

{sister lovin’ from the second I landed!}

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I’m in NOLA! Court and I are reunited and oh how sweet it is! I’m gonna keep this short and sweet cause I have things to do, like eat some beignets, sip coffee anywhere we want, take walks in parks, check out breweries and GET READY FOR DAVID GRAY!!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone. I know we will!!

Friday Forte:

(in honor of tonight’s concert!)

{leopard gloves gifted to me by an older woman at work who thought I could match them with my shoes; I immediately felt a warmth in my heart as these gloves remind me of Grandma Helen, as does the woman at work. She’s a very special lady}

{ArtPrize 2014 has officially kicked off in Grand Rapids; see 2012 and 2013}

{mantle prettiness)

{curling up the on the airplane with a cocktail & fresh reading material}

Just an Epic Fall Day in GR

This past Saturday we hosted a few friends at our house for the MSU game (complete with a bloody mary bar and taco dip!) and then hit up the Eastown and Downtown parts of Grand Rapids. The entire day was even more fun than I expected. Not one moment passed without laughter. It was great. Kinda like we relived college for a day (whoops).

Once we left our house we took Uber to Eastown for our first stop, Brewery Vivant, the old Church on Cherry Street. From there we took the brand new Beer City Runner downtown to Hopcat for dinner and Grand Rapids Brewing Company (where we had our rehearsal dinner) as our first stop for after dinner drinks. Let me real quick go back to the runner… ummm BEST INVENTION EVER! The Hoptimus Prime just started only a couple of weeks ago in this city. It’s designed to have a set schedule to drop people off from brewery to brewery all over the city, and for SO CHEEP ($5 on Friday’s and $8 on Saturdays… for the whole day!). The guy who started this company is a life saver and hope it lasts. 

I must say there were about three stops after this, honestly, not all necessary, but each had their own unique story that we all laughed about the next morning over leftover taco dip and champagne. 

This is what Fall Saturdays are made of!

{rough outline of our original plans for the day/evening}

Monday Motivators!

[I'm thinking this will happen a LOT this coming weekend...]

Happy first week of fall!!!

While it might not feel like the fall I know and love with long sleeves, jeans and socks, I am starting to feel a shift in the weather here in NOLA. For instance, I can finally sit outside for longer periods of time without breaking a sweat. This means more meals on the deck and reading on the balcony.

The change in seasons always seems to bring out exciting new habits, but the thing that is pumping me up the most this week is seeing my baby sister!! Meggie is coming to NOLA for 3 full days straight! I have so much planned for the two of us..I just hope we can fit it all in!

[New fall flavor in the morning]

[Elizabeth's, here we come....Friday brunch with sis.]

[David Gray concert Friday night!!]

[Is he making faces at me?!]

[Choppy waters on the lake early Sunday morning]

[Grilled veggies. Nailed it.]

The Bridge Run 5K

Another 5k down in the books! With a PB to boot (look at me using runners lingo!)! This race was GORGEOUS. The weather was a perfect crisp 54 degrees, the sun was shining, I was running with my best girl, and I figured out how to put that loop thingy on my shoe lace. All was right in the world! But the gorgeousness did not just come from the weather, the race itself was incredible! The course took you through all of downtown, across two bridges a through two parks. Since it was such a perfect day and so early in the morning, the water looked like glass! My appreciation for this city grows every day.

Funny story, when signing up for the race I SWEAR I saw the options being 5k run/walk and 10k races. Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s a damn good thing I didn't sign up for the “10k” because I learned once I arrived downtown EARLY Sunday morning (after the Perrin Backyard Beer Bash! Dumb idea…) that it was in fact a 10 MILE race. No gracias! I think I would have cried right then and there. Good thing I didn't expect too much of myself and signed up for the shorter race. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever do a 10 mile run. I’m just not mentally there yet. Maybe I’ll take some tips from my sis THIS WEEKEND when I see her!!

I think this will end up being an annual race for me (and probably Jenny). The scenery is too hard to pass up!

{typical pre-race Instagram shot}

{27:13 each.... our personal best :)}

{standard...}

{yay us!}

Friday Five!

{thrifted gold tray to house my pretties}

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You know, I’m not usually a fan of Mondays, I despise them in fact, and now the seasons are shifting and moving our way into colder and darker mornings, I like them even less. BUT, I’m here to tell you, friends, there is light at the end of the Monday blues tunnel! A few weeks ago, I read an article from some random blog (that I can’t remember for the life of me now!!) which stated that great way to combat the Monday blues is to make fun plans for Monday evening. Whether that be dinner & a movie with girlfriends, a romantic evening with your special someone or anything else that you would look forward to. Even though Mondays are the day that I would love nothing more than to come home and veg out, the fact that I had fun plans (see here) to look forward to after work made Monday quite an enjoyable day. I was excited! I was excited on Sunday night to get the week started and that feeling gave me a positive vibe for the Monday workday and (most of) the rest of the week. I think I'll try this tactic more often... 

Anywho, tomorrow is going to be epic. Per this post, in a sneaky attempt to get some friends to move here, we threw together a plan last weekend to have the most amazing day in Grand Rapids! A day filled with good friends, good food, good drinks and MSU football. Let the games begin!!

Friday Forte:

(new collaboration with Dallas Green & Pink! This is the first song released… the rest of the album is available for pre-order and will be released in October!!)

{notes of appreciation from my one and only... scattered all over the house when coming home one evening this week}

{paying homage to some very special people!}

{new iPhone case that i'm obsessed with}

{engagement & wedding scrapbooks for my special corner}