Thank you ...

It's no secret that blogging has not been at the top of my to do list lately. It's not that I don't like it anymore, or even that I don't have the time (although that's surely a contributing factor), but I'm lacking the main ingredient to awesome blogging: inspiration.

The last thing I want is a blog that's lackluster ... dull ... boring ... uninspired.

In an effort to turn things around I've put together a short survey. I'd love if you could take the time {I can't imagine it taking more than a minute or two!} to provide some feedback.

You, readers, are the reason I keep at it :)

Thank you so much!



Please click here if you'd like to participate.

I need help..

I have a problem.

It's a big one.

This self proclaimed entertainer/baker/cook ...

cannot make a chocolate chip cookie ...

to save her life.

Chocolate chip cookies are

quite possibly one of simplest recipes.

I can rattle the ingredients off the top of my head ...

butter, brown sugar, white sugar,

eggs and vanilla extract,

flour, baking soda, salt,

and chocolate chips, duh.

I've tried refrigerating dough,

and using less flour,

I've tried a variety of baking sheets,

and cookie sizes.

And they're rarely good.

And they're never perfect.

And sometimes they are too thin,

or too hard,

or too burnt,

or too something.

And I just want to be able to cook an awesome

chocolate chip cookie, goddamnit.

Is that too much to ask for?!

So please help a girl out and tell me your secrets.

Please?

and thank you.

Hello, blog. I've missed you.

It's been a while since my last post. Sorry about that. Life and laziness got in the way.

My trip to New York was just what I needed. Family time, family time, and more family time. I pretty much have the best family in the world ... seriously.

The weather was so gorgeous in New York that we decided to have Thanksgiving dinner outside. It was such a nice change from the formal dining room. We set our table on our patio, lit a fire in our pit, and bundled up just a tad to keep extra cozy.

We watched many friends episodes, played a lot of bored games, cuddled/tortured Reese plenty, and ate our fair share of goodies.

We returned to our Chicago and were reunited with our pup late Saturday night. We missed her terribly but I did my best not to obsess {a big challenge for me}. We spent Sunday running some errands, stocking up on healthy foods, and getting our Christmas tree! It's the perfect little guy - about 5 feet tall, nice and plump.

Now I'm in search of a new tree skirt... that doesn't cost a fortune. Suggestions?

Hope you all had a lovely holiday!!

funny, but true.

this card would be a lot funnier if it weren't actually true. 

when people say that couples put on a few [lbs.] after their wedding, 

they are 100% correct. 

and by a few, i mean a few more than a few. 

but i'm kind of accepting the rounder version of me

for the next couple of months

because what fun is the holidays if you don't 

eat, drink, and be {very} merry?

right?!

at least that's what i'm telling myself. 

:)

_______________________________________________________________________________

this weekend: an old co-worker is actually getting married at our space. i know this wedding is going to be a beauty and i cant wait to see it all come together. saturday night i'm going to try to make it home without hating the plethora of tourists {who will undoubtedly be hogging the sidewalks to watch the michigan avenue lighting ceremony} ... and have a few friends over for a little homemade greek food, wine, and girl time. sunday will be spent doing all the fun stuff that needs to happen before a trip -- laundry, packing, and giving my pup enough extra kisses to last our 5 days apart :)

hope you all have a lovely weekend! 

so soon!

I haven't seen my family since my wedding... which was approximately six months ago. It's insane that I a) got married six months ago and b) haven't seen my family in six months.

Well, good news ... I'm headed home to New York on Monday, which is just four short days away. I've been looking forward to this trip for some time, and I can't believe it's so close to being here! A BIG THANK YOU in advance to Miss Christy - the awesomest coworker ever for taking care of our {nutty} dog while we are away :)

In addition to hanging out with these lovely people, here's what else I'm looking forward to over the next 10 days:

1. $25 dollar mani/pedis with my sisters .... > $50 mani/pedis alone
2. Watching Home Alone and Love Actually {after Thanksgiving, obviously}
3. Front Street Bakery
4. New York pizza and bagels
5. My mother's stuffing
6. Bagels topped with said stuffing {I know it sounds gross, but its so good}.
7. A girls night with a few friends I've missed dearly
8. Lots of cuddles on the couch with everyone
9. Laughs and giggles over family memories
10. Spending Thanksgiving morning in yoga pants, temporarily changing into nice clothes for dinner, immediately changing back into the comfy {expandable} pants
11. Making my list of things I'm thankful for & reading everyone else's list {my dads usually makes me cry}
12. The first Saturday off from work since August!

signs of the season.

I love the Starbucks Red Cups. They are a sign that the holiday season i justttt about here. Every year when I get my first red cup of coffee, I text one of my friends "Happy Red Cup Day!" because its kind of like a holiday in itself and we like to recognize its arrival. It seems that I'm not the only one who feels this way about the Red Cup as I saw a ton of instagram pictures, tweets, and facebook posts of people holding their favorite starbucks beverage in a jolly Red Cup.

I like to ease into the holiday season. While some retailers {hello, Crate and Barrel, please slow your roll} start to push ornaments and christmas lights and trees before we've even made it past Halloween, I like to tackle one holiday at a time. First Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and theennn Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years.. 

I don't waste too much time though: my plans for the weekend after Thanksgiving include watching Home Alone & Love Actually with my sisters {its a tradition}, returning to Chicago and promptly buying a Christmas tree and adorning the home with lights, seasonal candles, and blasting Christmas music while doing all of the above. Oh, yeah - and I throw up a Menorah because ... I'm Jewish :)

So friends, my question for you ... Do you rush the holidays a little or do you like to take your time?

Either way, I suggest you head to Starbucks and treat yourself to a Red Cup drink :) and as their seasonal slogan goes "rekindle the joy".

under the weather.

Being sick is completely annoying. a) its really difficult to sleep when you can't breath b) coughing every 30 seconds takes quite a bit of energy c) you feel kind of icky and don't want to do anything or see anyone. 

Unfortunately, I'm sick. While I had a whole day of fun planned for yt and I yesterday, we wound up spending the day stocking up on meds, on the couch with books and tv, and resting up {yt isn't sick but he didn't mind the relaxing day}.

Things seem to be getting worse, not better, so I'm home for another day. Working in a shared office space is not the type of environment where you want to come in with a cold... While I'll be working from home most of the day --- here are the best ways to spend any sick day. 

 //chicken noodle soup {recipe} // cozy blankets {west elm} // 

//a book under the covers {currently reading} // hot toddy {recipe} //

happy happy happppppyyy.

Thank you to everyone who read yesterday's post. So many of you reached out via the comment section on my blog as well as personal email - and it means so so much to me. I appreciate every suggestion, personal story, "good luck" and "keep us posted".

As promised, I'm back with some happier and lighter content today. 

I don't know if I believe in divine intervention, but I feel like someone from above was watching over me yesterday and threw me a bone {no pun intended}. 

I came home to walk Emory during lunch and after our walk and a quick play session had to head back to work... this is typically the second worst part of my day {second only to leaving her in the morning}. The crying, howling, cage banging ensued and I had to will myself out the door. 

Just as I was about to turn toward the elevator, I noticed our new neighbors standing by their door. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to introduce myself and apologize for Emory's incessant noise making throughout the day. Here's a little recap of our conversation:

me: Hi, I'm Lara. I live next door and I'm not sure if you can hear our dog all day long, but if you can, I'm sorry. We just adopted her a couple months ago and it seems like she has some pretty serious separation anxiety. We're working on it. 

neighbor: Yep, we can hear it all day long. It's ok. 

me: All day?

neighbor: Pretty much.. from like 10am on.. 

me: Yeaaah. I leave at 10am. Sorry. 

neighbor: It's okay. We actually really love dogs, and work from home, and we miss our dogs.. We'd love to watch her sometimes while you're at work if you want.

me: Really? I mean... I couldn't ask you to do that... 

neighbor: No, really. We'd love to. 

lapse in time - 20 seconds... a slight pause to consider this amazing offer.

me: okay sounds good! Are you around today? Let's go meet her. 

lapse in time - 5 minutes... introductions, oohing and awing over Emory.

Emory gets dropped at neighbors {who I literally just met} with toys and a leash {which they reminded me they might need...} and I give them complete and full access to my apartment. 

me: 100 thank you's via text. 

During the afternoon I got a few text/picture updates from new neighborfriends who told me Emory was happy/napping/content and then they said "we want your dog. jk, but seriously" which brought the biggest smile to my face and confirmed the fact that she is the best dog and just hates being alone.

While this is not a permanent solution, it is a really wonderful temporary one that seems to have fallen right in front of me when I was this close to having a bit of a breakdown {even though I was trying my very hardest not to}.

We still have a trainer coming next week and hopefully can work towards a calm Emory, who is happy and confident enough to be alone. But having one blissful afternoon where I did not have an image of Emory melting down in the back of my head all day was glorious.

Thank you neighborfriends, for saving me.

My mom is a funny lady and thought this whole situation was a bit "too good to be true". Our conversation went something like this:

me: Insert entire above story
mom: That's weird. are they normal?
me: Yeah, they seemed normal enough. She's a nurse and works nights.. he's.... something where he works from home. I didn't catch that in the 4 minutes it took me to hand over my dog and access to my apartment. 
mom: Remind me to move closer when you have kids. 

Desperate times call for desperate measures peeps. 

Thank you again for your love and advice and HAPPY WEEKEND. I will continue to post updates about Emory and her progress. 

doing my best.

I usually keep things upbeat and happy around these parts, but sometimes life throws you shitty situation. While I'm not one to air out my misfortune, this particular situation has me kind of down and I thought that writing about it {and eventually hitting publish} might be a bit therapeutic. Perhaps some of you have dealt with or overcome a similar situation, have words of wisdom, or can just send a virtual hug... 

As many of you know, we adopted a one year old rescue dog about two months ago. After begging yt for a dog for about two years, he finally gave in and agreed to take home this darling mutt, who gave him just enough attention {but not too much} at the shelter. 

She is the best. She loves to play, and is just as content in front of the television in her little spot on the couch. She mastered sit, and down, and waits by the curb until I let her know its okay to cross the street. She lets us sleep through the night, and often sneaks on the bed for a cuddle session the last few hours of the night. 

She has the most adorable white paws, and a tiny white tip on her tail. She has the floppiest ears, and a wrinkled forehead when she makes certain expressions. She melts my heart with her cuteness.

________________________________________________________________________________

She is perfect... except we can't leave her alone. 

She cries, and whines, and pants, and has a complete meltdown the second she is left alone. It doesn't matter if it's 30 seconds, 5 minutes, an hour or more. It doesn't matter if we're taking out the garbage, doing the laundry, or heading to work. We've made the experience as happy as possible, with treats, and toys, and music, and television, and clothes that smell like us. Yesterday she broke out of her crate. 

It's breaking my heart.. 

This was supposed to be a fun and happy next step in our life and its come with some major challenges. We have a behaviorist coming to offer her expertise next week. Em miserable home alone, and I'm miserable leaving her alone knowing what is going on in my apartment....

I am trying not to let my emotions get the better of me, and remain positive. I believe that we can both be happier and I'm going to do everything in my power to get us there.

I debated posting this ... there are bigger problems in life, tougher situations, and things that are so much harder to face ... I'm fortunate that this is not one of those problems. But right now it is my problem. yt is also super sick of hearing about this every day (understandably) so hopefully he misses today's post. 

That is all.

Tomorrow I'll be back with happier and lighter content :)