Around Bellewood – Billiard Room

Let the home tour continue! We haven’t done any major updates to our pool table room (right off the kitchen) in some time, but have been perfecting the look since we moved in! A piece of artwork here, some booze there, and a newly stained 1970’s tall top table! This table has been everywhere from my parents basement in my childhood home(s), to multiple apartments of my sister’s as well as all of my apartments and now my home with Max in Grand Rapids. I love this thing! I don’t know why… maybe it’s because I love tall tops at the bar… ether way the color used to be a lighter colored oak… but last weekend Max and I transformed it into a statement piece of the room! I love the pop of color that now exists in this space.

Other than that… we love a good bar cart, gotta have the games and lots of room to entertain and host. This room tends to be the huddle room when we have people over (as it should!). I hope to continually add memories to this awesome corner of our first home. 

Friday Five!

{cuddling with my newest best friend}

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You know when you have those weeks where on Monday you wake up and you just tell yourself that nothing will go wrong in the next five days, because you can't remember the last time you had 5 perfect days in a row... then of course you put so much pressure on those days that there is no way they will EVER meet your expectations? Had one of those weeks... but oh well, life goes on and there's always another Monday right around the corner to try again!!

Anywho, whatevs, happy Friday everyone! On another note, last Monday I started a “No Spend Month” for myself. Basically, I’m trying not to spent any unnecessary monies… groceries, birthday presents, etc were not off limits, only things that are seen an unnecessary spending. Instead, I’m logging all of the things that I “think” I want to buy throughout the 4 weeks (for example, I really wanted a mug that says something about just staying home with my cat…) in my Wunderlist app. I am very interested in seeing how many of these “wants” are on this list at the end of the 4 weeks. So far I’m almost halfway there and have 6 things… at the end of this trial I'm going to allow myself to buy one of the things on my list. Not only am I tracking money saved, but also I’m tracking all of the things that I’ve made note of and no longer want after 4 weeks. Fun experiments indeed!

I must admit, I did have H&M money to spend from Christmas, but I spent less than $4.00 total (after gift cards). So maybe that helped with my itch, but hey, still minimal money out of our pocket!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Friday Forte:

{meow}

{baby girl Jessalyn graced us with her presence last week and I couldn’t be more excited to finally meet her a couple of days ago! She’s a beauty! Mama, baby and daddy are adjusting great J}

{we also made this corner of our house even more cozy J}

{visited the Waldron Public House}

My FitBit Story

For years, I’ve been curious about my heart rate. I’ve been back into a fairly consistent workout schedule for a while now but never once did I think about investing in a tool to track my heart rate because a) I didn’t want to wear a strap around my chest (I honestly used to think all monitors work this way), b) I never thought they would REALLY be accurate and c) I just plain old didn’t feel like spending the money. I had read about lots of cheap ones you could get that got terrible reviews, so ultimately just never took the plunge… until NOW!

A few weeks ago, I finally decided enough is enough and I invested in the FitBit Charge HR (in purple of course!). This little device is able to do so much!! Not only does it track heart rate, distance, steps, calories burned and floors climbs, but by connecting it to your phone you’re able to track sleep patterns, caller ID and more! I don’t have my Bluetooth constantly turned on so I simply reconnect once or twice a day to check stats that don’t automatically show up on the device’s screen (like how often I woke up last night... it was 4). 

I must admit it’s kind of addicting! I find myself staring at my wrist CONSTANTLY. So far I’ve noticed that I walk way more than I thought I did… and, to my pleasant surprise, jump rope counts as steps (so even more of an incentive to get your cardio on)! I am also WAY more aware of how many flights of stairs I climb. Granted, each floor counts as two flights (something I was unaware of) but I now make a point to get that number up to at least 20 everyday! I have been scheduling meetings on different floors for this sole purpose… something my colleagues aren’t always pleased with but hey… GOTTA STAY ACTIVE!

NOTE: This device DOES NOT have a GPS tracker on it. Some might have an issue with this and not trust it’s accuracy, but I have found it to be quite accurate! Happy moving!

Valentine’s Day 2016

Call us cheesy, but for Valentine’s Day Max and I made a heart shaped pizza! I know I know we’re lame, sappy dorks, but it combined both of us perfectly… he loves to cook and I love being sappy (and who doesn’t love pizza). Enter heart shaped pizza! We picked up all the supplies on Saturday then Sunday afternoon (after MSU basketball) went to town on the dough! He (and obviously myself) had never made homemade pizza dough so it was an experience! A messy experiment if you will… 

All in all it turned out GREAT. So delicious. We topped it with 3 kinds of sausage, pepperoni, mushroom, green pepper and onion, fresh mozzarella and (jarred) marinara.  It was so good! Bon appetit!

Happy 700th post Chat + Clink + Repeat!

Friday Five - Rosie Lu Edition!

{nuzzle sessions every night}

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I just can’t get enough of my little nugget! I’ve been wishing for a kitten for years now and it just will never get old that she’s here and she’s mine! This week was cold, work was busy blah blah blah. But who cares about all that nonsense when I have my fluffy little bundle of joy waiting for me at home every night!

This week’s Friday Five is dedicated to her! Cause let’s be honest…. She was my favorite things this week!

Friday Forte:

{warming up to her hammock}

{waking up to Rosie every morning makes my heart happy}

{work-from-home Wednesday’s are even sweeter now… }

{bonding with Fat Cat… and her Amazon boxes}

Rosie Lu – Part II (02.17.15)

I love her so stinkin’ much! This week is dedicated to my new baby girl! She currently loves sleeping in Mom’s arms, her fleece string toy, hiding in the box spring, running on the top of the couch, jumping in and out and out of delivered Amazon boxes and being dangerous with the railing… she is warming up to Fat Cat and poops 5 times a day. 

She’s my favorite!