Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!

We are celebrating by going to the gym, turning off our porch light, and watching Dexter.

(No kids ever come to our street so we have given up buying candy)

Hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday!

First Day of Vacation

This weekend I'm off on vacation with my mom and sister in Cambria.

And since this is posting on Saturday, but I wrote it on Thursday, I'm going to guess that I'm having a great time!

For the drive there, I wore this interesting little number.

I wanted to be comfy hence the leggings, but also I wanted to be cute.

And you know...a bit weird.

It is me after all.

I shouldn't be allowed to take my own photos.

Top:  J.Crew

Leggings:  Kmart

Shoes:  Gift, Clark's

Necklace:  Gift, Windsor

Two For the Price of One

Mike looked extra cute yesterday.

So I forced him to be part of my outfit post.

Especially since I wore a pretty boring outfit.

But, I told you polka dots match everything so...expect to see them a lot.

Also, how cute is my husband?!

Enjoy your two for the price of one shoddy outfit photos!

Mike's Shirt:  Banana Republic

Mike's Pants:  Gap

Mike's Tie:  Ben Sherman

Mike's Shoes:  Heutchy via Gilte
Val's Dress:  Target
Val's Cardigan:  PacSun
Val's Belt:  Ummm No Idea Too Lazy To Go Look
Val's Necklace:  Premier
Val's Shoes:  Arturo Chiang via Dillard's

I Heart My Body 2012

I stumbled upon the I Heart My Body 2012 Link Up last night via two of my new favorite bloggers.

And I couldn't resist linking up.

So here goes.

"Body love" to me is a rough thing.

I'm pretty hard on myself.

I wrap myself pretty tightly in the comforting blanket of humor and embracing the word chubby.

Which I'm not really.

But sometimes I can't see anything else but chubby when I look in the mirror.

So I self-deprecate and joke and eat some cheese and call it a day.

But, in the honor of the I Heart My Body 2012 Link Up, here are three things I like about my body:

My boobs.  I mean really, these things rock (thanks mom).

My eyes.  Does that count?  Eyelashes too.  I get a lot of random compliments on my eyelashes.

My legs.  The more I get into running, the stronger and firmer they get and I love every inch of them.

So, be nice to your body today lovelies.

Look in the mirror and find something...or three things...to love about yourself.

And then have some damn cheese anyways.

Want It Wednesday

It's Wednesday today!

Which is confusing because I have off of work until Monday.

But yeah for all you sad people, it's Wednesday.

HA!

(I'm so sweet)

This Wednesday I am wanting pretty hard a perfect little Cape Cod with the forest in the back and room for a boat and a finished basement and tons of land for the pups to run on.

Like this one.

Want to buy it for me?

Please?

(Also I want my hair back.  Why the hell did I cut it off?!)

Chambray (And Also That Skirt Is So Tight It Makes Me Physically Ill)

Everyone should own a chambray shirt.

It should be a law.

Dudes, chicks, old people, babies, everyone.

I wear mine A LOT.

Casual, work, over leggings, over dresses, you name it.

Today, I wore it with a skirt that is so tight, it makes my organs hurt.

But I looked cute.

I mean, not in these pictures, but in reality.

At least I think I did.

Anyways, go buy a chambray shirt.

Now.

Such a pleasant face in this photo...

Top:  J.Crew

Skirt:  Forever21

Necklace:  Premier

Shoes:  Arturo Chiang via Dillard's

Similars all down below:

Chambray At Work by valerie-giroux 

Scenes From Our Sunday

Do you have any idea how awesome it is to have a weekend with no homework?

It's super awesome.

Add to that that your boss ends up being too busy to need you to come in on Sunday.

And this is what our lovely little Sunday looked like.

Mike ironed.

Hmmm what to clean next?

I made french toast.

I got to cook for Mike, for once!

This is how we chill our champagne...

He really wanted some french toast

Breakfast while we watch HGTV...we're old people.

I looked homeless all morning.  And like a dude.  A homeless dude.

Tuffy is the best beggar ever

Adult sized mimosas

We did eventually shower, leave the house, do some organizing at my mom's, make dinner, and like you know, act like "normal" people, but that morning...oh that was a good Sunday morning.

High Five For Friday

I started writing this post on Sunday of last week because I was in such a good mood.

And as I write this right now (Thursday night) I'm STILL in a good mood.

I mean...I'm not going to lie...there have been some bad moods in between, but this has been a pretty darn good week.

Here are my 5 favorite things about it!

(1)  The obligatory autumn blogger outfit and then I didn't blog about it.  But I felt very bloggery and very autumny all day.

(2)  Boots!  The first day back in boots!  It's very hard to deal with how much I hate wearing jeans, but love wearing those damn boots.

(3)  Oktoberfest and goober Oktoberfest shirts.

(4)  Quilt season is finally here.

(5)  Accepted for graduation.  Wahoo!

Check out From My Grey Desk Blog for more H54F Posts

The Little Things

Sometimes, all it takes to make a perfect little night

Is a pair of jean shorts that are a size too big to make you feel smaller

A happy little shirt

A walk in the park

An updated spreadsheet

And dogs wrapped in quilts handmade by your mother-in-law

It really is the little things

Normal

Today, I had to interview my replacement at work.

I've never done that before, it was weird.

I just wanted to hug her and tell her what to say.

She did fine without my weirdness though.

But to prepare for my fancy interviewer day I wore normal clothes.

Which is different for me.

So much so that my boss announced it in our staff meeting.

Random segue to..."And Valerie is dressed normal today, look."

Cue laughter.

Not in a nasty way mind you, just a funny oh Val you're weird kind of way.

Just the way I like it.

I also walked into the kitchen and found my husband hand cleaning something I had gotten period blood on earlier this evening.

Aren't you glad you just read this blog?

Gross, right?

But I mean, what kind of dude does that?

I'm pretty sure I crumbled a little bit inside with embarrassment (I had warned him not to go into our bathroom and/or look in the sink, thank you) and yelled, that's so gross!

He responded with, "Why, it has to be cleaned?"

Oh dear, I love that little weirdo.

Sorry I'm gross.

This blog was pointless.

Are you sad you're friends with me yet?

Pointless picture of me drinking a cocktail.

My eyebrows look really good in that picture.

I'll stop typing now I promise.

Polka Dots Are The New Black

How obnoxious is that blog title?

But seriously...

This shirt matches everything.

Casual, work, fancy, blue, brown, black, yellow, red and on and on.

I'm a little obsessed with this thing.

And I probably wear it too much.

Get used to it everyone!

Top: NY&Co Outlet, Similar

Skirt:  Gift, Windsor, Similar

Shoes:  Payless, Similar

Necklace:  Gift, Etsy, Similar

Belt:  Thrifted, Similar



We're Really Moving

I came home for lunch Friday and Mike had started packing the house.

All of our books were packed away, bookshelves moved, and the entire guest room was broken down and packed up.

I was shocked.

One thing about living with a highly productive person like Mike is that things get done fast.

And with no warning.

And for a highly emotional person like me, that is sometimes not awesome.

Especially when it dawned on me that my silly little house tour posts were over for good.

Because our house is never going to look the same again.

Which sounds like a silly thing to be sad about, but I was.

I burst into tears this morning when I saw him packing our coffee mugs up.

I'm not doing great with this whole thing.

Your one and only tour of the guest room.  It was cuter before, I promise.

No more bookshelves and no more books.

30 seconds before this picture I was crying like a B over coffee mugs.

High Five For Friday

For the first time in a long time I actually had too many pictures to choose from for my H54F post.

That never happens.

Because...I'm kind of a whiner and Negative Nelly.

Not this week bitches!

Here are my five favorite things about this week.

(1) Turning off my week day alarm because I actually got Monday (Columbus Day) off.  That felt gooood.

(2)  Old friends coming to visit...it's been too long!

(3)  Spending an incredibly lazy holiday in pjs on the couch cuddling with my husband.  This never ever happens you guys.

(4)  Cocktail party success!

(5)  Realizing I can just curl my new short hair.  Duh.

Head on over to From My Grey Desk Blog for more H54F posts and have a great Friday!

val

Bloody Mary's

Last weekend we had another cocktail party.

And I was a really bad blogger and didn't take pictures of any of it.

Including one of my favorite parts: our party favors.

Mike had the great idea of making Bloody Mary's for people to take home as party favors for the "morning after".

They turned out pretty darn cute.

Because I'm too lazy to recreate what they actually looked like, here is the one I have saved for me.

I love mason jars.  And they sell them in packs of 12 at Walmart for like 4 bucks.  Score.

And here are the tags we tied on with rope.

Rope also from Walmart.  We're thrifty people.

And here is the recipe to make your own Bloody Mary mix.  

Delish.

Easy.

Cheap.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 lbs. fresh tomatoes

1 lb. fresh carrots

6 fresh celery ribs

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 Tbs. horseradish root (freshly grated if possible)

1 tsp. celery salt

1 tsp. finely ground Maldon or another sea salt

 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

3 oz. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

3/4 tsp. green Tabasco

1.5 tsp. red Tabasco

Tools

Sharp knife

Cutting board

Grater

Blender or food processor

Fine strainer

Wooden spoon

Large measuring glass

Instructions

Coarsely chop the tomatoes.  In batches, blend with any accumulated juices until completely pureed, and fine-strain into a large measuring glass pushing through all liquid with a wooden spoon.  You want about 2.5 cups of tomato juice.

Grate the carrots and coarsely chop the celery (leaves included), reserving any liquid.

Blend the shredded carrots and chopped celery in two batches with the reserved liquid and 1/4 cup of water per batch (if necessary) until completely pureed.

Fine-strain into the same measuring glass as the tomato juice, pushing through all liquid with a wooden spoon.

Transfer the veggie juice into a large glass jar, add remaining ingredients, secure with a lid and shake vigorously to combine.  The mix will keep refrigerated for up to two weeks.  Shake before each use.

*We doubled the recipe and it made enough to fill 10 of the mason jars.  We gave each away with a little vodka mini from the liquor store.  Cute, boozy, and homemade.  Perfect!

Recipe via Imbibe Magazine