FALL in Love

Almost everyone has a favorite season.  Hands down, mine is Fall.  

Top Ten Reasons I love Fall

1.  Semi-sandal weather.  I can still get away with wearing sandals or open toe shoes without my toes freezing completely.

2.  Candy Corn.  I seriously printed a recipe the other day for rice krispie treats with candy corn.  For the other Candy Corn lovers, I bet you want me to make you a batch.  

3.  Scarves or Pashminas.  Oh how my neck misses you during the Summer.

4.  Layers.  T-shirt & Hoodie or Tank & Cardigan or Tank, Cardigan, Scarf.  Endless options for layers I tell ya.

5.  Boots.  All 5'1 & 3/4 of me can rock a fierce knee-high boot and skinny jean just like the models in Banana Republic. Ha. 

6.  Fall TV season premiers.  Don't judge.  I love me some quality TV.  You know, Dancing with the Stars, Grey's Anatomy, and pretty much anything Bravo has to offer.  

7.  Orange.  I love the color orange but I feel like it has to go dormant during Spring & Summer.  Welcome back Orange.  Let's create some fabulous outfits, home decor, and food accents. 

8.  Pumpkin.  If there is pumpkin in it, I'm pretty sure it is going to be awesome and I'm going to be obsessed with it for the next 3 months - lattes, scones,  butter, sweaters, home accents.  Just like with the layers - endless options!

9.  Cold Air Smell.  You know what I'm talking about - that smell that the air has once the temperature drops below 60.  Gone are the familiar summer smells of cut grass, meat grilling, or bug spray.  Back again are the smells of treats baking, freshly raked leaves, and autumn-scented candles burning. 

10. Twilight Saga.  Don't Hate.  Twilight movies have traditionally come out during the Fall and on a weekend when Brad is hunting.  This November, Breaking Dawn Part 1 comes out.  I will be pre-ordering my ticket and ironing my various Twilight attire for the big premier.  

Why do you love Fall??

4 things and maybe a few more

Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to hear one of my favorite authors/bloggers/women speak - Shauna Niequist.  Tonight, I had the opportunity to hear her speak again in Naperville.  This time I took my sister wife Sarah with me.  Shauna's books are the gifts that keep giving.  The book was given to me as a gift and I have bought it as a gift and those who I bought it for have the books for many others.  The topic tonight was Connections/Relationships Women have with each other.  Shauna stated that there are 4 essential that shape friendship: time, vulnerability, conflict, and being able to rejoice & mourn with others when they are rejoicing or mourning.  These are my thoughts combined with Shauna's nuggets of awesome insight. 

Time...

"You have to prioritize the friendship to be as important as we say they are."  I couldn't agree more.  You can't say that someone is your best friend but you never talk to them or only know the surface level stuff going on in their life.  Pop quiz - what's been going on in my life in the last 6 months?  If you can't answer this other than what's on Facebook, you may need to reevaluate the priority you are giving this friendship.  True friendships are built minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.  Shauna said it best - "True Connections are not built in the cracks of life - you make real time for them."  

Vulnerability...

"Am I leading the way to vulnerability or waiting for them to jump first?"

Vulnerability is truly an essential part of my genuine connections.  There have been times when I have held back for various reasons yet expected the other person to be completely open with me.  Not fair.  I have learned that being vulnerable and letting someone in to the not so pretty, dark, and even scary parts of life is actually liberating.  By being vulnerable "first," I'm inviting someone for a genuine connection.  Vulnerable does not mean weak, negative, or needy.  Vulnerable is ballsy.  You have to be willing to be more than just "makeup friends."  Makeup friends are not just friends that you have never seen without makeup - it is friends that keep it on the surface, keep it pretty, keep it nice.  Those are okay in some situations.  But everyone needs the friends who have seen you with no makeup, possibly no bra, a dirty house with paw prints everywhere, and no food in the house to offer to a guest.  

Conflict...

You have three options with conflict - run away, pretend, or engage in a difficult conversations.  Most solid connections have had some form of conflict - good & valuable conflict.  You have to ask yourself, "Am I willing to risk conflict to deepen this connection?"  If you are, you will come out on top.  Sometimes conflict for me has been as simple as telling someone they hurt my feelings.  

Rejoicing & Mourning Together...

Shauna refers to different periods of her life as seasons and I think it is the great way to look at life.  Thinking of life as a series of seasons helps me to keep things in perspective.  There are going to be good & bad seasons, favorite seasons, dreaded seasons, long seasons, short seasons etc.  When I think about this part of connections, rejoicing & mourning together, I think about the seasons we all go through.  We aren't always going to be experiencing the same type of season at the same time.  Sometimes we may be in a season of celebration while our best friend is in a season of mourning.  The true test of a friendship is whether you can mourn with your friend in your season of celebration and more importantly if you rejoice with your friend when you are in a season of mourning.  I have been tested on this concept in more times than I would like to admit.  Some times I do a good job but not all the time.  I have come to learn that the greatest work often occurs when we are the most broken.   

At the end of the night, I realized that I'm lucky to have some really great connections that have all these essential parts.  Shauna talks about the concept of having a "Home Team" in her book Bittersweet and tonight's discussion highlighted it for me again.  My take away from that is that you can't have 47 best friends and 23 family members knowing every aspect of your life.  You have a home team made up people that are your go-to.  They know your real story - past, present, and would-be future.  My home team has changed throughout the seasons of my life and I know it will change again.  The home team I have right now is the one of the strongest I have ever had.  Blessed.  Thankful.   

If you haven't read Shauna's books or blog- what are you waiting for???

Cake anyone?

Just like name banners, diaper cakes have become a staple when it comes to new babies in my life.  This latest diaper cake is for Amy, Tony, & baby Harper.  Amy has decorated Harper's nursery in light pink & light green with hints of birds.  I'm sure the cake won't stay intact for long once Harper comes along but in the mean time, it will look cute in the nursery.  

365: Week 35

 Start of 30 Day Photo Challenge for month of September

 Day 1 - Self Portrait

 Day 2 - What you wore today

 Day 3 - Clouds

Day 4 - Something Green

Green, Orange, & Fabulous

As I mentioned a few posts ago, my friend Kristin is expecting her 2nd son in just a few weeks.  At her Sprinkle last week, she gave the final word on the name they selected - Leo.  I had the design ready to go for the banner but was waiting for the green light.  Can't wait to see Leo's name banner hanging on the door to his swanky green, orange, and jungle-inspired nursery. 

September Happenings

I have been hearing the last few weeks how sad people are that summer is coming to an end.  I do agree to a certain extent but I absolutely love Fall.  It is my favorite season and is always leaves my social calendar jam packed.

September has lots of happenings and will be a great start to Fall...

In keeping with my commitment to Project 365, I'm doing a 30 day Photo Challenge.  Another photog friend of mine has been doing it and I thought it would be fun.  I got a list of photos to shoot for every day for the next 30 days.  The Photo Challenge includes everything from self portraits to something pink to what you wore today.

My dear friend Nissa just came in town for a few weeks with her 2 1/2 year old Evie and new baby boy Gus.  She is enjoying the last month of her Maternity Leave with her Chicago family & friends.  Although the distance between us is great, it has no effect on how solid our friendship is.  I'm looking forward to squeezing in visits with her & the kiddos whenever I can. 

This week (9/6 - 9/9) coming up at work is Suicide Prevention Week.  I have events planned throughout the entire week for staff & Veterans.  This is in some ways my Super Bowl at work. 

On 9/10/11, one of Brad's oldest friends, Orion, will be getting married.  Brad is standing up in the wedding and I can't wait to snap some great pics at the wedding & reception!

On 9/15/11, Brad & I will celebrate our 4th Anniversary.  Hard to believe that we have already been married for 4 years but I love Brad more now than I did 4 years ago.  Look for a special blog to reflect on this special day.  My gift to Brad will be that I won't be mad at him that he is going hunt that weekend. 

On 9/24/11, I will be attending the Civil Union ceremony of a good friend & co-worker Lorri.  It was a honor to be invited to this special occasion and I can't wait.  Also, I will be taking photos at the ceremony & the celebration to follow. 

September wraps up with a trip down to Bloomington to see the Vedra Family in their new home.  The weekend will start off with a trip to Reality Bites - an awesome Tapas restaurant in downtown Bloomington - with Jodi & Anita.  I'm looking forward to celebrating Landon's 2nd birthday and doing a family photo shoot!

Like I said, lots of happenings in September.  

You don't even want to know what my October looks like ;)

I just Sprinkled & I loved it

When someone has their 2nd child, you wonder what can I do to help celebrate this blessing? You may think, I can't do another baby shower but what else can I do? My dear friend Kristin is lucky to have a sister Kim and mom Cathy that decided to through her a Sprinkle. No registry, no formality - just a small group of ladies celebrating all that is Kristin's motherhood while enjoying an amazing brunch at Winberie's in Oak Park.

I was thrilled to be able to contribute to the favors. The photo worked perfect!

Sisterly Love - Kim & Kristin

Kim, Mary, Kristin, & Cathy

The Sprinklers

BFFs :)

My favorite part of the whole morning was when we all went around the table and told Kristin what we admire about her as a mother. Kim had sent us all an email earlier in the week so I came prepared with a notecard. Only Kristin would appreciate my plan ahead nature. Here is what I wrote:

Kristin and I are a lot alike so I'm sure she is not surprised that I came with a notecard. Kristin is exactly the type of mom that I think I will be but more importantly the type of mom that I hope I will be. I love how Kristin focuses on the small things to show Milo that she loves him. It's the small things like getting out the Christmas train in July because he loves it so much. Kristin has raised Milo to be so loving and sweet. A few months ago, when he was leaving he gave me a hug and said, "I love you." It is in these moments where you see how she teaches Milo how to love but also how to make someone feel part of the family. And finally, the thing that I really admire about Kristin is her style! She makes curly hair look FAB on a little boys, has Milo in the latest fashions, and has decorated some amazing bedrooms for her boys. At the end of the day, I just want my kids to be as cute as hers.