Kate Spade

How I Spent My Summer

~ reallifesparkle ~ Leave a comment

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White Pants | Shoes | Purse | Earrings | Bracelet 1 | Bracelet 2 | Lipstick

Good news, guys, I’m still around! My Labor Day weekend has kicked off with a trip to the Minute Clinic to find out my husband has a sinus infection and bronchitis, so I thought it might be a good time to explain my absence while he hopefully sleeps those antibiotics into his system. You may notice a bit of a change of scenery there in the background there, as we’ve started redoing our bedroom this summer! I’m obsessed with the changes so far, but that’s a post for another day.

I said awhile back that I needed to press pause, and at the time, it was because I was just too overwhelmed with work, training for the half-marathon, and just general life stuff. Although my training ended, work didn’t start to slow down until very recently. I was so exhausted by late nights (the kind where your husband asks if he was dreaming or were you actually on the phone with your coworker at 1 a.m. – yikes), deadlines, and everything else we had going on this summer, that the idea of getting back on my computer and blogging was just too much. I missed it and still took lots of pics though; my phone is basically an “I should blog about this” graveyard.

I’m excited to say that things have finally slowed down enough that I think I’m finally able to make my return. I’m ready to share outfits, recipes, and all of the other stuff I’m excited about again. To make up for a complete lack of posting all summer, and in honor of the time-honored tradition of starting the school year by sharing all of the details of your summer break. I figured why not finally share some of my photos, so get ready to scroll!

Run 317 Circle

My cousin and I ran a 5k through downtown Indy less than 2 weeks after the Mini Marathon. The Run 317 series goes through Indianapolis neighborhoods, supports local charities, and comes with two beers at the end from Thr3eWiseMen! This one started and ended on Monument Circle – so fun!

Indy 500

We went to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. It was an awesome day with our friends and family. It was also HOT, so this one is me in all of my sweaty, unfiltered glory.

Colin-Liza Wedding

We celebrated the wedding of one of our oldest friends (Colin, my chili-adoring bestie)…and thought we were still young enough to close down the bars in Bloomington like college kids (we’re not). If you’re ever in B-town, check out The Big Cheeze! True love is your husband surprising you with a grilled cheese at 2 a.m.

Happy Camper

We spent a weekend in Chicago catching up with old friends and celebrating one of my best friend’s baby shower. The picture is a little blurry, but the look of pure joy on my face is because the Happy Camper is a bar with tire swings. Beers with friends from high school, pizza, and tire swings made it basically the best thing ever.

Run 317 Mass Ave

We did another Run 317 in the Mass Ave area of downtown Indy, and this time my sister joined us for her first ever 5k! It was the kind of ridiculously hot and humid day where you sweat just standing still, so they had to turn it into a non-timed “fun run,” which was just fine for us. We have one more Run 317 left in October, so hopefully my sister will be joining us again!

My very favorite weekend of the year every year is Dave Matthews Band weekend with my husband, brother-in-law, and our friends. Dave plays two shows in Indy, and each night is a totally different show and setlist, so we go both nights. Our first night was up-close and personal in the pit so you can really see the band, and then the second night is on the lawn and dancing barefoot on our blanket (although that part is more just me…). It was SO HOT – are you noticing a theme here for this summer in Indianapolis?

Alyssa Wedding

August kicked off with my cousin’s wedding and an after-party at our house that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. I have a lot of cousins, and I LOVE hanging out with all of them. It was so much fun, and will definitely be a night we remember for a long time.

First Anniversary

Speaking of weddings, we celebrated our first anniversary on August 15th! I cannot believe it’s been a year already, time truly does fly when you’re having fun. I honestly planned to do so many wedding-related posts about how I got ready for our big days (we had two weddings: one on 8/15 at a church with just our family, and one that was a great big party with our family and friends on 8/21), but we’ve already been over my lack of posts. Now that we’re getting ready to ramp up planning my sister’s wedding, I fully plan to share my tips, tricks, lessons, and memories from ours as we go, so stay tuned!

Speaking of our anniversary, Kendra Scott just happened to open a store in Indianapolis the weekend before. My sweet husband knew I’ve been lusting after this necklace forever, so he played detective to find out when exactly they’d be opening, and he even figured out that if we went on opening day, I’d get this (perfectly Colts blue) bracelet for free! Isn’t he the best? Did you know that if you go to Kendra Scott during your birthday month and show your ID, you get 50% off of a piece of jewelry? August just happens to be his birthday month, so it was even more of a bargain. You can guess where I’ll be heading in October!

So that was our summer in a nutshell. Can you believe it’s already September? I love summer, and it’s my favorite season, even when it gets ridiculously hot. I have to say though, I’m ready for the calm that comes with fall. Fall means calmer schedules, bonfire and chili nights with our friends, football Sundays (and the snacks that go with them!), and so many other great things. I love my sundresses, but I also love the fashion that comes with the cooler temperatures.

Thanks for bearing with me while I took some time to re-group, and I promise to be a much better blogger in the weeks and months to come.

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OOTDs and De-Christmas-ing

~ reallifesparkle ~ Leave a comment

Chistmas Mantle 2015

We took down all of our Christmas decorations today, which means we’re officially counting the days until the warm weather returns. The house feels naked, so I guess that means I better start getting my decorating and DIY on to fill our very blank walls and mantle. Projects and results, coming soon.

I also had every intention of finishing up some grocery shopping today, but after a New Year’s party at our friends’ AMAZING Cajun restaurant, the only thing we were ready for was a nap. Winter officially hit Indy with our first “big” snow of the year, and what better way to spend a snow day than with a tummy full of hush puppies, red beans, and shrimp étouffée. After all of that, we weren’t exactly feeling like a trip to Trader Joe’s or Coscto like we’d planned, so a nap was necessary. If you’re ever looking for good Cajun/Creole in Indy, hit up Mudbugs in Carmel. You won’t be disappointed!

Luckily, my husband has tomorrow off and volunteered to take care of the rest of the shopping, so look for recipes to start making an appearance. Until then, I have OOTDs that I had every intention of posting this week, but as can happen around here, the week got a little too busy, and I didn’t get a chance to share.  OOTD 01072016

Thursday was a glimmer of warm hope before the cold hit, but those are sheer tights with a little bit of texture, not bare legs. My skirt is an old find from the J.Crew sale room, but you can find the same style either at J.Crew or J.Crew Factory pretty much year round (I linked one that’s almost identical – and on sale!). I’m OBSESSED with J.Crew Factory, and when you sign up for their emails, you can often get things for 50% off, so there are some pretty great bargains.

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My office doesn’t do casual Friday, so the closest I can get are skinny black chino-esque pants (I promise they aren’t leggings) that were another amazing J.Crew sale room find last year. They don’t seem to be around anymore, but searching the J.Crew website for the “Dannie” style leads me to these, which makes me think they’re the replacements. Watch for them to go on sale or buy at full price, because if they’re anything like these, they’ll become staples in your wardrobe (I also have mine in navy). My top is a tunic from J. Crew Factory that I loved so much, I also bought it in cream. It also appears to be on clearance right now. My camel blazer was another sale find at Gap a couple years ago, but luckily a good camel blazer never goes out of style. The Kendra Scott earrings are such go-tos, I’m very seriously thinking about investing in another pair, because you’ll notice I wear them A LOT. My other jewelry staple you’ll be seeing a lot of is my monogram necklace from Marley Lilly. It’s so much of a staple, I had this one with my married initials ready and waiting to replace my old one literally as soon as we walked down the aisle.

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Freezing cold and snow today meant I was back to my beloved Pixie pants in charcoal and a cozy sweater from Old Navy. When it comes to finding things at a great price, I’m a big fan of Old Navy. And of course, there are my Kendra Scott earrings again. The one thing I don’t wear my heavy earrings like these without are these little guys to help take some of the weight off of your lobes. They make a HUGE difference in keeping me comfortable when wearing a statement earring, and help protect your lobes from tearing.

I’m starting an experiment with trying to get away from washing my hair every day. My hair is baby fine, so it’s always seemed like if I didn’t wash every day, I just felt like a big greasy, stringy mess. My hope is to cut down on the static and dryness this part of winter seems to bring, so we’ll see how this goes. My hair on Thursday was actually my first time intentionally wearing day 2 hair to work, and I feel like it was a success. I’ll share my results and products used soon.

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