Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Under Construction

Hey guys!! I am in the midst of getting my blog-over done by Allison at Green Tangerine Designs... so if you see a bit here... a tad off there.... or any other mis-haps, that's why!!

Can't wait to show off her talent with my lovely new blog-over!! Xoxo




Pin me baby!

Another day to link up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!! YAY!

Here are my top ten pins from the past week!

:: one ::
Wow... so many gorge dresses/gowns at the Oscars this past Sunday, but this is by far one of my top faces! Kristin Wiig in J. Mendel.
Pinned here

:: two ::
I love what they did with the flower arrangements in these different vases!
Pinned here

:: three ::
I hope this gets my fiancé to get started on our headboard already! I love the rustic vibe this one gives the room!
Pinned here

 :: four ::
We WILL be as excited as they look on the big day!
Pinned here

 :: five ::
These orange t-strap wedges have been on my mind!!
Pinned here

 :: six ::
One of my go-to blogs I read daily is A Beautiful Mess.... I adore her and the way she stacked the golden necklaces!
Pinned here

 :: seven ::
Gotta support my gooooorl, Lauren and her Paper Crown Spring line... love this fit!
Pinned here

:: eight ::
I would loveeee to have my window from roof to floor and open up as a door!
Pinned here

 :: nine ::
Funfetti cake... need I say more?!?
Pinned here

:: ten ::
Trying to live by these words one day at a time!
Pinned here

Link up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple for your top ten!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Still going with my bday month!

SOOOO... I got a birthday gift in the mail yesterday from my superb Step-mom, Tina (I call her Tay-NUH)!

It's one of my favorite things in life that makes me so happy.... BOXES!!! Except these Pottery Barn jewelry boxes are more than just boxes... they're adorable chests that are made of mango wood and silver medal... basically made from pure bliss!



My dilemma is where to put them... do I place them on my wonderful new desk? If so, where?


Or do I put them on my awesome-possom new dresser? The more I stare at this, the more I decide my dresser is the home for these newbies!


What do you all think?? Happy Tuesday!

Survey time!!

Today's the day folks!! Definitely an Educate ME Tuesday! My dissertation surveys were approved by IRB (Institutional Review Board for Protection of Human Participants)... which basically means they're good to go, and I can start collecting data!

Here is my invitation email that spills the details!

As many of you know, I am currently in my last year of a PhD program at Alliant International University.  I would like to invite you to participate in my dissertation research, which will explore employee perceptions of psychological contracts in the workplace. This research will help organizations identify effective ways to enhance their work environments and motivate their employees.In order to fulfill the requirements to participate, you must work at least part-time (20 hours or more per week), and you must be at least 18 years old.

The research will entail completing an online survey with 84 items, which will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes of your time. Additionally, to compensate your time, I am raffling off a $50 gift card to your choice of Starbucks, Target, AMC Movie Theatres, or Subway.

Furthermore, I would like to ask if you can provide me with names and emails for one to five of your peers you currently work with. Peers would entail any co-workers who you do not oversee or report to. For each peer you list, please indicate the length of time in months/years you have worked with each peer by including it in parentheses next to the peer’s name(s). These individuals will be asked about their perceptions of your behavior in the workplace. These will include actions that are not required or formally expected, but are directed towards helping further the success of your organization (Note: These individuals are not in any way evaluating your performance. All responses will be kept confidential, and will only be used for research purposes.)

If you would like to participate in the current study, please respond by emailing me that: a) you agree to participate in the study; and b) provide one to five names and email addresses for your peers. I will forward you the survey link and further instructions to participate in the  study. I will also contact at least one of your peers for participation in this study.

There it is folks!! I just need 15-20 minutes of your time, and one to five of your peers (co-workers) names and email addresses so I can reach out to him/her for participation as well!

I appreciate all the support from this bloggy blog world, regardless! In honor of keeping the motivation alive.. here are a few inspirational words!!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Happy Monday FUNday!!

Happy Monday my peeps! Hope you all had a superb weekend!

With Monday being FUNday, I thought I'd change it up a bit from not only including just DIY projects... I wanna blog about anything and everything that should make a Monday a fun one! Whether it be a new link-up with a fellow blogger, or talking about something exciting on Monday... we should look at the bright side of things especially on a day where most people drag going to work and/or school!

So today, I am linking up with Jessica at Lovely Little Things, and I'll blog about her Smell the Roses task. If you're new to this, it's a great way of appreciating the small things. We all get so caught up in routine and are super busy with work, school, and just life! So Jessica assigns a new task each Monday to help you slow down, and smell the roses ;)

Last week, the task was to try something new. This was something I was able to team up with my fiance, and we did something new together. We painted our kitchen table and chairs. We've been really into fixing up the house by sprucing it up a bit... one item and one room at a time. So this past week, we painted the kitchen table to give a fresh new look to it.

The only suckie thing is that I didn't get any before pictures (I kind of suck at this...I'm always excited to get started, I don't think about capturing the before, but I'm working on it!).




All we have left to do to complete this project is to put some new cushions on the chairs. We didn't get around to it this weekend as planned b/c I was feeling a bit under the weather (wahhhh). Anyhoots, when we get to it, I'll be sure to post those pictures so you can see the final look ;)

Want to share something new you did this past week? Link up with Jessica at Lovely Little Things, and stop and Smell the Roses.

Lovely Little Things

Sunday, February 26, 2012

I wanna MARRY the night!

What did a nap at 7pm do for me today? Made me wide awake at midnight, and probably will be for a bit longer!

It's been such a busy and productive day today that I haven't had time to blog about our wedding planning progress :( BUT... it's never too late!

We've been brainstorming about the invitations since we did our STD's. My goal was to get them done and out by end of February, and I'm still working on making up my mind with the design of them. We're doing these on our own, just like the STD's... so it shall be (and is so far) a fun process! Thought I'd share some of the the thinking we've been walking through lately.

So since we're getting married in Maui, I'm thinking something to go with the beach feel, but also something to go with the mood we are trying to set for the big day... we're trying to make things Vintage-Hawaiian... like an old classy feel of Hawaii. There are tons of inspiration I'm getting from Etsy and Pinterest, which has been a huge help, but I'm not completely sold on one style (as of right now). I like a few different styles from different invitations, so I'm thinking I can pull things from a variety of things, and come up with our own!

Anyhoots, here are just a few that I like. I'm not thinking so much of exactly the color, or font necessarily, but more so a detail from each of the following (which I noted in the captions):

Love the packaging
Simple with a cute decal


Clearly simple
Goes along with our theme of STD's

We'll be tackling this project yet again tomorrow. It's surely been a long process for us, but I'm sure it'll be well worth this time in the end. I'll be sure to keep you updated with our final decisions and post them on here!

Also, I don't think I've shared our wedding website, which is another FUN thing I've been able to partake in the whole planning process. You can check it out here!! 

Happy Sat night, and I'll meet you here in a few hours for LOL Sunday ;)

Friday, February 24, 2012

High Five Friday! Up HIGH!!

Happy FRIDAYYYYY!!! This week was ooberly productive... got our curtains up, office 85% done, bedroom switched up, work tasks doneZO, and cool school stuff! WHEWWW... Friday never tasted so geeewdddd!!

Linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk, here are my 5 faves from this week!

:: one ::
The sun was out long enough for the dogs to play on DRY asphalt!



:: two ::
We got our curtains up and goin' in the living room and bedroom!



:: three ::
I finally heard back from the human participants committee and had very minor changes to make... once I received this back, I felt (and still feel) like bursting through my body full of excitement to push forward! Each time I accomplish something I'm able to check off my dissertation timeline, I feel like I'm on top of the world... IF stress hasn't got to me first! (ATTENTION... SOON, I'LL BE ASKING FOR EVERYONE'S HELP FINISH MY DISSERTATION BY TAKING A SURVEY... more info to come!)


:: four ::
I had an awesome-possom birthday/birthweek!!

Source

:: five ::
Allison from Green Tangerine Design has been sending me over drafts of my new fancy blog designs, and I am tickled PINK!! I can't wait to show you all her ahhhh-someness when it's done!


Source

Link up with Lauren, and spill your fave 5 from this week! 

Photobucket

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Let's get Physical... Physical!

Happy Thursday Folks!! One day away from Friday, and one day from another shot at seeing the Vow yet again... I've given that movie two weeks now to show itself to the entire town, so there BESTA be seats and good ones!

Anyhoots, I thought I'd use this Free Fallin' Thursday to talk about something that has been a part of my life for a very long time. If I don't have a daily dosage of this, my positive attitude isn't as sky high, tired hits me to the tenth degree, and I feel incomplete! The must have that I crave for each and every day is my EXERCISE!!! That's right... the beads of sweat that roll down my face (and trust... sweat is fat crying, and my fat is a super sensitive cry baby!!!) makes my day sooo much better, and I don't feel as anxious and stressed about work and/or school.

I was one of those kids who HATED running in PE.... but I loved the fun stuff! Playing softball, roller blading, playing volleyball, bike riding... I was loving life while having fun being young (and still do!). As long as it wasn't labeled "exercise" it was all to the good for me! Then as I got older, and didn't have time for the fun stuff (this thing called reality slapped me in the face and I had to be on the grind with school and work), I had to find a supplement for the physical activity I was getting playing softball or riding bikes.

Which led me to the golden ticket to the good ol' gym... 24 hour fitness!! Love that gym, and the membership I had was oooooberly cheap (talking bout $20 a month)... and I was able to go to ANY 24 hour fitness facility I wanted to! BOOOM... no excuses!! I was diggin' the ENDLESS machines they had, the fancy rock climbing they offered, the single treadmill in a plastic box that had dreadfully hot temperatures, the fun step and cycling classes, the sauna and pool to dip into after you sweat your but off... and so much more!

THEN... the unthinkable happened. I moved to Oregon with the fiancé, and the closest (I think only) 24 hour fitness is in Portland... a 2 hour drive!! It was time to sadly break up with this cheap-OH membership I had at 24 hour fitness after 7 years :(

After settling into Oregon the first few months, I found myself in desperate need to release the tension I had from being home sick and from school being at it's peak! I was doing my old taebo workouts from home... then that got boring and repetitive, so I moved on to repeat a few rounds of P90X... then my dogs got in my way and it wasn't so stress-relieving to work out at home. What to do... what to do....

I searched online for gym memberships in this small town (super duper expensive)... I asked around for any type of fun workouts around town...and BOOOOOOM (again)- I found ZUMBA with Amy! OMG... I fell in love instantly.... twice!! Once with the fun Latin moves, and the second time with the instructor! Amy is the most positive, upbeat and energetic instructor I have everrrrr had!! AND... the girl has moves! She can Zumba with a cherry on top... and probably would win any salsa/hip-hop competition any day!

Source
From Zumba twice a week, I quickly learned Amy taught kickboxing early mornings once a week too! I fell in love yet again!! LOVEEEE kickboxing and punching and kicking my frustrations away! And it didn't stop there! I also learned that this amazing instructor held a Bikini Bootcamp where the workouts would be 4 times a week! That was almost 2 years ago, and I remain a faithful customer. Each month, workouts are different... they test you to push to new levels, and work out allll areas of your body!

Source
This has become a part of my every day life... it's like breathing for me... and if I miss a morning, I am in the worse mood ever (until I remind myself I can make it up that evening at her Zumba class)! If you're ever in Corvallis, OR, CHECK HER OUT!! You don't have to be enrolled in anything.. and you can pop in and have the funnest and toughest workout yet!

Source
Getting your daily dosage of fitness on is so important... in the mornings (my fave), afternoons or in the evenings after work. Whenever and where ever you are able to make your fat cry would help you out in the biggest way ever! Not only does it release tension or stress, but it's so good for your body to keep moving!!

Source

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Ohhhhhh, how pinteresting!!

Happy humppity- hump day-Wednesday! I ain't gonna lie... this Pinterest addiction hasn't lightened up with me at all... thanks to my iPhone app, when I can't sleep, I lie in bed in the pitch dark and pin pin pin.

Downside is that I'm getting the dayummm "404 Error" message when I try to access about 5 of my boards, one being my For the Home one... wahhhhh. Upside is I have so many pins to choose from to share with you all! With that said, here's my top 10!

1. A possibility for an addition to the wedding decor.
Pinned here


2. Weeeeeeeeeee... I started collecting photo poses that I want for the wedding!
Pinned here 


3. Looks like patience is required for this, which I FAIL at, but I've gotta try this!
Pinned here


4. My bestie, LC (don't judge us), has shared the cutest stackable rings from Catbird. 
Pinned here


5. I need these... like today... like maybe as a birth-month gift!
Pinned here


6. I smell summer, and it won't go away!
Pinned here


7. Infatuated with the fact that you can have your supplies mobile!
Pinned here


8. I loveeeee these shoes, and the outfit even though you can only see the details... important details! 
Pinned here


9. Another photo-op moment I want on the big day!
Pinned here


10. la la LOVE you guys!!
Pinned here
Link up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple and share your top ten!!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

On the "To Read" list!

Well helllllllooo there!! In honor of our new bookshelves we invested in from our Ikea Day, I wanted to share some of my FAV reads throughout undergrad and graduate school! If you're in school, the only time you have to actually read a book is when it's assigned for a class (unless you squeeze in some luxury reading time during the summer, which is dedicated for my magazines).

At some point (whether it be in the summer or after you graduate) I really think these are great reads, and they can go a long way in whatever field you are pursuing!

Flight of the Buffalo- James Belasco & Ralph Stayer
Discusses the types of leadership that can help employees excel in any organization.

Think & Grow Rich- Napoleon Hill
The author gives techniques and ideas of how to become successful in your current job, whatever line of work you are in. He explains how you can become positive in your every day life, and remain that way!


What Got You Here Won't Get You There- Marshall Goldsmith
Call me biased, but this honestly is one of the best reads thus far! Marshall Goldsmith is the founder of the I-O program I am currently getting my PhD from, and he's the epitome of leading by example.

The Four Agreements- Don Miguel Ruiz
Need I say more about this book?! You read my obsession with it here.

Do you have any must reads? Do share!! Happy Tuesday!!
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