dftba

{via my photo blog}

don't forget to be awesome.

my friend just texted me this.

and it made my day.

sidenote: thirty is looming. help.

i left my heart in...

dear chicago,

you are my favorite.

dear over grinder,

i would be fat and okay with it

if that meant i could have your flatbread every day.

dear michigan avenue,

husband is really mad at you.

dear chicago water,

my hair is just not the same without you.

dear lou malnati,

if you wanted to move to atlanta

i could be okay with that.

dear martinis at every chicago establishment,

i am still in recovery from you.

dear oprah,

i am sorry i missed you...

but i'll be back soon.

i love chicago.

{caits and me....chicago '97}

and now i am off to my very. favorite. city.

with my very. favorite. ladies.

see you all on sunday when i am 10 lbs heavier,

and have a much cuter wardrobe.

xo.

{via i can read}

it's sunday again...have a great week y'all.

anne benjamin appreciation day.

this was my bridesmaid card i sent out to my girls.

it was created by anne benjamin who designs mok duk.

and whom i love love love...

a. because she lives in chicago and

b. because she totally got what i was looking for...

i told her that i love doves, banners, midnight blue, and the saying,

"who do you want standing next to you..when all your dreams come true"

and she made this beautiful image.

anne also designed my save-the-dates, the header of this blog, and did our silhouettes which was the basic theme throughout the wedding. visit her here.

notes

so of course, right on the tails of a wonderful week,

comes one that runs you over like a freight train.

life is funny.

as i work to get out from underneath a less than dreamy mind frame

i think i will take a minute and share with you all what's really good right now.

so that i can remind myself too.

1. golfers.

mikie has been promoted to head pro....

and on sunday he leaves to go down to sunny florida for the last part of his pga program.

passing this final test will be the end of a long and challenging road for him and i wish i could be there to see the exhale he takes when it is all finished. what a great moment that will be.

2. chicago.

this is one of my favorite places in the world. every year myself and three of my favorites, including my mom make this trip to say hello to the city we love, and pack on a few lbs of lou malnati's pizza. some of my favorite memories are from this trip and and seeing as i leave for it on wednesday...it could not come at a better time.

3. thirty.

on the 29th i will be thirty. i have long dreaded this event and the fact that in the past year alone my body has shouted loudly that it is moving right along has not helped. but i believe i am finally coming to terms with this occassion and it's because i am right where i want to be. not everything is perfect. but i am happy. i am married to the man i am madly in love with. i have a job that although made me want to drown in a sea of red bull this week, i love. my family, my friends....they are the best and growing and doing amazing things in their own lives. and most importantly, i am learning and growing in my own. so bring it on thirty...i am ready for you.

xo.

mom

i love her, thats all.

(happy mothers day)

i want a house.

i want a house. a house with a chalkboard wall.

a house, a chalkboard wall, and these so so cute wall decals.

{wall decals by shanna murray here}

thx thx thx

thx thx thx is leah dieterich's daily exercise in gratitude. it is the cutest idea and having my own cup of gratitude feeling especially full lately it could not come at a more perfect time.

i mean...don't you just love this idea? here are my favorites:

happiness

{husband}

this week something really wonderful happened.
mikie was promoted to head golf pro.

I A M S O P R O U D O F H I M

its really amazing to see someone's dreams coming true. especially someone that has worked really hard and that truly deserves it. and i promise, i am not just saying that because he is my husband, he really does deserve it you guys.

wwtd

stands for what would tory do.

it might be my new motto.

i love her.

everything on my birthday wish list is from her store. help.

smile booth

last sunday we went to serenbe...my new favorite place in atlanta.

it is a beautiful sustainable living farm community...

very green ideas, very cool houses and artists galore.

while there we stumbled this smile booth.

we are 'travelers.' it's obvious, right?

{via lulovesyou}

“I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle! If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”

Lewis Carroll