i believe in unicorns!

I recently went to Rochester, NY for work and I think it was my favorite work event I have done so far. One of our awards is a lecture that features a famous children's author or illustrator to give a speech about their life/work, etc. I won't go into detail but you can read more about the May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture here if you are ever interested. : )

We stayed just outside of Rochester in Pittsford which was very cute, small, and ritzy! They have little restuarants, (expensive) shops, a local dairy farm, and a river walk. It would be a very romantic place to go for a short weekend trip. Here are few pics from my Pittsford adventures:

main street...beautiful weather!

dairy farm...moo

river walk

This year the lecture was given by Michael Morpurgo, you've probably heard of that Steven Speilberg movie, War Horse, well that movie is based on Michael's book, War Horse. He is also the author of other amazing children's stories: An Elephant in the Garden, Kensuke's Kingdom, Private Peaceful, The Butterfly Lion....I could go on forever.

I had a chance to visit with him a few times and he told me I was the first person he has ever met from Oklahoma! Michael then went on to say how much he loved the musical Oklahoma...it was very cute. ;)

At the end of his wonderful lecture he read one of his stories to the audience but didn't tell us what he was going to read. When he started to read I knew what story it was and I was sooooooo excited, I almost jumped out of my seat!

Hearing Michael read I Believe in Unicorns out loud was such an amazing experience and I will never forget it for as long as I live. I was able to get a pic of just us after the lecture and I was so nervous and excited, haha. It's pretty blurry but so happy I have it.

sean's bday celebration

In our little family (me, Sean + Cami) we like to stretch out celebrating birthdays since we are both so busy with work and Cami is always busy being cute and lazy. Sean's bday was on May 7th and I thought it would be fun to make a Sean + Caroline's Chicago themed celebration for him.

I visited my favorite place in the world, Paper Source, and found some manly looking materials to make this banner and present. I then printed out pics of our little family and hung everything up in Sean's mini man cave area in our dinning room. He was working late that night so when he came home I was already asleep and he was so surprised! It was cute when he woke me up and was all excited. :)

As little side gifts I got him this frame because he is always saying "I love you more" to me (he's amazing right!?) and then of course got him his favorite treats from Trader Joe's. He LOVES pesto so I made him a pesto dinner for his bday, which is one of the hearts on the banner. Then our two week celebration included going to our fave restaurants, shopping, going to the dog park, watching basketball (go Bulls!) and baseball (go Sox!) games, and seeing STAR TREK (best ever)!

Cams and I love this guy so much and he works so hard, he definitely deserves it!

that's right......

.....time to get effing skinny! Florida vacay is 6 weeks away!

Happy Friday!

go white sox!

My dad and stepmom came to Chicago for a short weekend visit from OK. They rode the Amtrak train all the way here from Kansas! How fun right!? 

Saturday we took my dad to a White Sox game and I have to admit...it was a blast! I'm pretty sure we have converted to the big black and white of Chicago! The crowd was so fun and chill, a whole lot less d-baggy than that other team up north. :) The train stop goes right to the stadium and you can tailgate in the parking lots my friends! Very, very fun (& cold) night with my dad and Seaner. Go Sox! 

Bookapalooza!

Work had me MIA again the past 2 weeks because...it was Bookapalooza time! 

Every year after the book awards are announced our grant committees select 3 schools or libraries who apply to receive all the year's submissions of books, videos and audiobooks. 

This was my first year sorting and packing the books for the 3 libraries because I'm still a new-bee! buzzzzz....

Anyhoo, I packed over 80 boxes and it was exhausting! But it is gratifying to know that all these wonderful books are going to good homes! 

This is a shot from the FRONT section of the hallway. There were way more boxes further down! They ended up being 3 rows of boxes after I was done and I only got injured once! From the packing tape teeth...

 

baby shower & cupcakes

Happy weekend! I have been dying to post pictures from the baby shower I co-hosted for my sister back in February for her and Emery. We wanted something super girly and simple and I researched the web and found this cute place in OKC called Cuppies & Joe. I never set foot in the place until the day of the shower but from the website, pics and talking with the staff it seemed like the perfect place for the baby shower...and it was PERFECT!

Once we had the location booked I wanted the invitations to have a little bit of a cupcake theme but not too much. I went to Etsy and found these super cute ones from A FINE TIME INVITATIONS where the designer customized them for me and they turned out so adorable. Everyone just loved them! You can see from the pictures below we incorporated the invitations into labels for the food, drinks and diaper raffle prizes...SO CUTE!

Everything went smoothly, our hostess at Cuppies & Joe was so amazing and I can't wait to visit again when I am back in OKC. The cupcakes and coffee were so DELISH! My sister raked in the gifts and diapers for the diaper raffle. I even made her some cute "cupcakes" made out of onesies, baby socks and cups...it was so fun! She is definitely set through the spring with cute outfits and diapers for sweet baby Emery. :)

I love my beautiful sister so much! xoxo

floods & CFs

What a wild and crazy week this has been. Sean and I returned to Chicago on Tuesday morning at 4am and immediately turned on the news. We listened to CNN almost the entire drive home from Oklahoma. So awful and sad. 

We also drove through the craziest lightening and rain storm once we hit Illinois and came home to floods and floods of rain. It has been raining nonstop since Monday night. My commute home today was just nuts! The Chicago River was flooding into our neighborhood streets and traffic was a mess! 

Here is a photo I took on the way home of the river. Usually you have to lean over the rail to see the water like this! 

I then came up to the high school and the sidewalk was completely flooded! There was no way to get through so I had to walk up the high school's lawn, crawl over the wall and climb the stairs on both sides! Luckily there were other ladies doing the same thing and we all helped each other. 

You can see the stairs on the left and a cop trying to direct traffic. It was all a major CF and I am so lucky I walk and ride the train for my commute. 

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday! Xoxo

burrrr...onto OK

Blurg...I'm all for cold weather but not in APRIL! Our trip to Oklahoma to see baby Emery could not have come at a more perfect time. It has been in the 30s all week! 

Who is baby Emery you ask? She is my sister's new baby girl and she is the cutest girl in the world! I can't wait to hold her and smell her and kiss her! And she is already so stylish and into animal prints and cardigans (just like her auntie)! 

Yes, those are little bunnies on her dress for her first Easter. Aaaaaadorable! 

I will have to post pics of the baby shower I threw Elizabeth and Emery, it was so cute and girly! Happy Friday! 

 

running jams

I've been getting into running more than I ever have this year. I love it. You get such a big high of happiness right after a good run and it's the best medicine!

I'm up to running 40 minutes without stopping (haven't done that since high school!) and I've made the BEST list of jams for the ladies out there. 

All of these songs are fun, girly and will pump you up! And yes Starships is on this list twice, 1st time to get you going and the 2nd time to get you through the last leg of your run. 

There are two songs on the list from the HBO show GIRLS. You must purchase this album! Great mix of tunes and Icona Pop's I Love It and Santigold's Girls are the BEST workout songs, you'll feel badass and just want to rock it! 

Happy running! 

beach hat

I've been on the hunt for just the right beach hat...nothing too big and not a tacky fedora one! I was checking out the new City Target last week during lunch and saw this hat...cute and cheap! So excited I snatched it right up!

Even our little fashanista approved.

Bring it on summer! 

chill out

"My posts might dwindle over the next few weeks..."

I said this almost one year ago and I have been at my new job exactly one year this week.

I had NO idea what I was getting into when I applied and scored this new gig, that it was going to completely take over every inch of my life, that I think about it when I am not at work, that I actually want (and need) to stay late most days, that I would ever question authority or realize that I am a lot smarter than I thought I was, that in real life common sense is the one thing most people don't have, and that the phrase "chill out" would become my motto for LIFE. Not going to lie, it has been HARD work but also very stimulating, gratifying, amazingly exciting, nerve-wrecking (in a good way) and self-confidence boosting. Let's see what the next year will bring, shall we?

This little penguin could sum it up most days....