Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a great Halloween!

I didn't have time this year to put together a costume (although since we didn't really have any plans, it didn't matter). So today I'm wearing one of my husband's old costumes that I made for him a few years back. At least I'll be dressed up from the neck up for my Skype work meetings today!

Can you tell what I am?

Does anyone have any exciting plans tonight? I think we'll just be handing out candy between working on the bathroom. I might make myself a Halloween cocktail I saw on Pinterest though, apple cider and champagne, with a sugared pumpkin pie spiced rim!

 

It Was Rad!

I survived the 5k Color Me Rad on Saturday. It was seriously so much fun! We are already planning more elaborate outfits for next year's race.

I started out so clean that morning.

At the start line, everyone looking all clean in their white shirts.

Self portrait taken after jogging though the second color bomb station.

Happy Friday!

I can't believe this week is over already! Between starting tennis lessons, working around the house and several trips to Lowes, finalizing the decor proposal for an upcoming charity event (basically feels like the pressure of planning a wedding!), and, you know, actual work, this week has gone by in a flash. And we've got a busy weekend planned too, I'm running jogging a 5k tomorrow, my husband has got a soccer game, and we'll be making some really good progress with our bathroom renovation.

With everything going on, I still haven't gotten around to narrowing down all of the photos from our whirlwind Florida trip last week, but I couldn't resist sharing what I think is going to be my favorite of the trip!

I got to hold the softest little baby alligator at the park where they film Animal Planet's Gator Boys! Definitely one of the highlights of the trip, although I kind of wish we hadn't done a 15 mile bike ride through the Everglades in 90 degree weather right before, so my hair and makeup would have been cuter for the photo opp. Oh well, I'm sure the baby gator didn't mind my disheveled look. :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend planned. Is anyone doing any Halloween activities?

Floor Grout Options: Opinions Welcome!

I'm going to be spending Friday night grouting our downstairs bathroom floor tiles (exciting Friday night, I know!), so things will be dry enough for us to install the beadboard wainscoting Saturday afternoon, paint it, and finally be able to put our toilet back in place on Sunday. I can't wait to have a toilet on the main floor of our house again!

But that means we need to make a decision on what color of grout to use ASAP. For our shower surround tile, we just went with a standard white grout, which went very nicely with our white-with-light grey-marbling tile.

But for the floor, I'm torn between two options, either slightly darker grey, or slightly lighter grey than the tiles themselves. We're using Spectralock epoxy grout, which is a bit more expensive than standard grout, but you don't have to come back and seal it later, it is stainproof (coming clean even after weeks of being soaked in cherry kool-aid), and it lasts longer and just holds up better than regular grout. But the downside is that there is a limited number of colors it comes in, so we can't get an exact match to our light slate grey floor tile.

Really, that's OK though, because I want a tiny bit of definition with the tiles, I just can't decide if we should go lighter or darker. So I made a little tester board with scrap pieces of tile, and I'd love to get your opinions!

Here is a zoomed in photo, under indoor lighting conditions. The slightly darker on the left (Slate Grey), lighter on the right (Silver Shadow). 

And the same samples, in shaded, natural lighting. Our bathroom has a quite large window, so it will be getting a lot of natural light in the daytime, through the plantation shutters we plan on installing.

I think I'm leaning toward the lighter option, considering we'll have white baseboards, white beadboard and all of the white tile in the shower. But the darker the grout, the easier to clean/shows less dirt. I'm so torn!

Which grout do you like best with our grey tiles? The darker on the left, or the lighter on the right?

 

October Photography Challenge: Week 3

 

I'm participating in the October Photography Challenge by Our Wired Lives this year, to push myself to try to take a photo each day, and learn some new things on my camera. For more details on the challenge, go here.

Here are my photos from the third week of October. Some of these were taken out of order, since we were traveling, but close enough!

Accomplishment
 

Wonderfully grouted shower tile. This bathroom project, especially the tile part is my baby. Lets just hope it doesn't take a full 9 months to complete though!

Autumn Decor: Probably Enough For This Year

We finally had a break in the rainy weather, so I could put out the rest of our autumn decor. As tempted as I am to buy or make more, this will probably be it for this year. Gotta start planning/saving for Christmas, since this will be the first year we get a tree, and we hardly have any ornaments.

But I'm happy with the extra color the additional pumpkins give our front steps. And I couldn't resist putting some corn stalks on our handrails. I also want to put the leftover cornstalks on either side of our mailbox post, and wrap it with orange ribbon, but I haven't had the chance yet.

How To: Over Plan a Vacation and Be Uber Organized When You Get There

I always love it when bloggers share their tips on how to pack for trips. I've gotten some great tips over the years on ways to save space and bought handy products that were recommended in the posts.

But you know what I never seem to see? Blog posts on how to actually plan the trips, and even more importantly, tips on how to be organized when you're on the trip. Maybe nobody cares about this, but whatever, I'm going to share it anyway! :)

It's no secret that I love to plan trips. LOVE. It's like, 40% of the fun of travel for me! And while I've shared some sample trip itineraries with budget breakdowns, I thought I'd dive a little deeper and walk through how I actually plan out trips. These days, anyone can be their own travel agent, it's all just a matter of doing a bit lot of research, keeping things organized, and having the tools you need when you get there.

So here are the steps I go through every time we go somewhere:

October Photography Challenge: Week 2

 

I'm participating in the October Photography Challenge by Our Wired Lives this year, to push myself to try to take a photo each day, and learn some new things on my camera. For more details on the challenge, go here.

Here are my photos from the second week of October.

Close-Up

Grain-free cheesecake swirl brownies with orange food coloring, which were amazing. Melty and gooey when warm, and like fudge when cold. And I didn't notice it until I uploaded this photo, but doesn't it look like an eye in the middle of the brownies?!

What Am I Getting Myself Into?

Or alternate title, I Really Hope I Don't Die!

I mentioned last week that I'm planning on running a 5K in December, and have been doing the C25K program to get in shape for it. Well, now I've been talked into running another 5K. One that is coming up much, much sooner!

Source

I've been dying to do a color run, so when a friend of a friend asked me to join her team, I only took a little convincing. But it's in only 2 weeks! I definitely won't be done with C25K by then.

But who can resist being pelted with colored corn starch, while running in a crowd?

Source

Fingers crossed I don't die trying this. At least the race isn't timed. And I've heard that things are usually so crowded, it's hard to run fast anyway. Yes, I think that's the answer. If I need a walking break, I can just blame the crowds!

Have you done a color run like Color Me Rad or The Color Run? Were things really crowded? And was it fun anyway?

Fall Fashion Splurges

Now that I've been working from home for a year and a half, I find myself buying a whole lot less as far as clothes and shoes go. With a whole closet full of business attire and 4 inch pumps, just awaiting the day when I might need to look professional, I've become a lot more picky about what I'm spending my money on.

So lately, I've only been stocking up on a few essentials every season, and I've been leaning toward spending a little more on quality items that will last, rather than going for quantity like I used to. Last fall I purchased three new pairs of boots, a bomber jacket and an Anthropologie coat, all of which are still in great condition. But there have been a couple of new fall items I've splurged on lately.

First up, slippers. I gotta have them. In the cooler months, as soon as I get out of bed or come home, slippers are on my feet. Otherwise my feet are freezing. But I always seem to buy really cheap slippers from Target, and they only last a month or two before the bottoms have holes in them. So this year I spent some time actually shopping around. Let me tell you, it is actually really hard to find slippers that are both cute and won't wear through on the bottoms in a matter of weeks (sorry, not an Ugs fan!). But I finally found some cute ones. They look like ballet flats, but are so soft and fluffy on the inside!

Source for above three images

I ordered two pairs, and hopefully with the more rugged bottoms of the soles, they will last me at least through the winter, if not longer. I definitely think these were worth spending a little more than I would at Target, for something that will hold up over time. Or at least hold up longer than a month!

October Photography Challenge: Week 1

 

I'm participating in the October Photography Challenge by Our Wired Lives this year, to push myself to try to take a photo each day, and learn some new things on my camera. For more details on the challenge, go here.

Here are my photos from the first week of October.

Self Portrait

Cell phone picture, while on one of my walking breaks from jogging. I like to think about my 'to do' lists while jogging, and of course I remembered I needed a photo for the challenge after I messed up my hair and didn't have on much makeup!

Another Healthy Recipe Review Post (With Calorie Counts)

So, my calendar is trying to kill me.

I can not believe how much we've got going on over the next few months: an impromptu out of state vacation, meetings and creating all the decor for a charity auction, concerts, running a 5K in December (and doing C25K so I don't die), 2x per week tennis lessons starting soon, my aunt is getting married in California, my husband's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and all of the activities and travel that come with holidays, plugging away at our bathroom renovation (we've got the shower tile all up and floors prepped for floor tile this weekend), and oh yeah, it's the start of my busiest few months of the year at work. And probably 40 other things I'm not even going to think about until a calendar reminder pops up.

But all of that aside, I'm still committed to cooking us dinner nearly every night and eating healthy. I'm going for a lifestyle change, and no matter how busy life gets, I'm determined not to slip back into the pattern of just eating frozen dinners every night. And I'm back with a another recipe review post--reviews of the meals we've eaten over the past few weeks. There were some definite home runs this time around, and a lot I will be making again!

If you remember, this was the meal plan:

And here are my notes on each, the links to the recipes, photos and even the calorie counts. I've started counting calories, since going on this low-carb diet I was finding that some days I wasn't eating enough (good news, I've lost a few pounds). So I've been adding up the ingredients for each of these meals, so I can accurately account for what I'm eating. So many of the paleo/primal/healthier eating recipes don't include calorie counts, so I thought I'd share. Obviously it will differ depending on which brands you use, but at least it's something to reference!

Autumn Decor: So Far

After being inspired by autumn decor last week, I was able to sneak away last night from our continuing bathroom renovation and get a few decor items up on our porch!

It's just a first pass at decorating though--I've got more I'll be putting out, but it got dark too dang quick last night for me to finish. I hate that it's starting to get dark so early, it's one of the only things I don't like about fall!