Weekly Bits:: 3

Bought:: Industrial Garment Rack

• When I move, I plan to turn a small room into a cozy closet. I love the look of this industrial rack so much that I just couldn't pass it up. Stay tuned for more sneak peaks of my room transformation!

Tried:: Warm Lemon Water

• I read this post by Angela about the benefits of drinking warm lemon water in the mornings and had to give it a try. I'm only a few days into this routine, but I think it's one I'm going to stick with!

Wrote:: Robotics in the Food and Beverage Industry

• Have I mentioned that I work for a Robotics Company? Well I do! I've been trying to participate more in the company's blog posts lately, and this is my latest post. I can't take all of the credit though, my friend made the awesome infographic! You can find another one of my posts here if you are interested in reading more.

Explored:: The Kientzy Farm

• I wasn't aware that "arrowhead hunting" was a thing until I started dating Michael a few years ago. This weekend I went on my first arrowhead hunt. Needless to say, it wasn't my forte. Everything I picked up, he tossed back on the ground while letting me know that it was just a normal rock. He did find a few...some of which I think are "just normal rocks", but what do I know?!

A few of the arrowheads Michael found

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

Grandpa Pete's Toy Shop

How awesome is this jewelry organizer my Grandpa Pete made for me?! My jewelry was in a jumbled mess on my dresser before he gave me this. Now look how organized it is! All I had to do was ask, and he had it ready for me the next time I came to visit. Talk about spoiled!

Grandpa has been making us grandkids all kinds of neat stuff for as long as I can remember. When I was younger he made me a sleigh for my stuffed animals, and a rocking crib for my dolls. In college, he made my roommate and me ladders to climb up in our lofted beds. A few weeks ago he made my nephew this really cool sandbox! (Let's also take a moment to appreciate how cute my nephew is!)

Grandpa's woodworking talents have affectionately earned the nickname "Grandpa Pete's Toy Shop". He even has an adorable stamp that he places on everything he makes! I am already brainstorming more projects to send his way.

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

Bridal Shower:: #MuddMadness

Do you ever have those moments where you feel overwhelmingly thankful for the people God has placed in your life? That is exactly how I was feeling last weekend. I had such a great day celebrating one of my best friend's upcoming wedding this past Saturday.

We had the most adorable backyard venue and the weather ended up being perfect. The theme for the shower was country chic. There were mason jar drinking glasses, wild flower center pieces, a delicious barbecue bar, and too much giggling! I can't wait for her Nashville Bachelorette Party in a couple months!

Loved the decor!

The beautiful bride with four of us bridesmaids

Enjoying a spiked lemonade!

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

P.S. The dress I wore is from Target, and the wedges are from Kohl's!

Accountability Partners:: Week 3

Week 3:: May 25th - May 31st
Goal:: Run a minimum of 3 miles per day and give intermittent fasting a try.

Week 2:: May 18th - May 24th
Goal:: Try one new recipe and run a minimum of 3 miles per day.
Progress:: I tried a new recipe and logged 3+ miles six out of seven days last week.

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

P.S. Be sure to check out my Accountability Partner's goals for the week.

Weekend Purchases

All of the Memorial Day sales had me very excited this past weekend! How can you pass up 50% off?! Below are a few of my purchases.

J. Crew Factory 50% off:

  

Factory Ribbon Fedora $18.00

Factory Photographic Palm Collector Tank $20.50

Factory Skinny Ankle Jean in White $39.50

Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale:

Lush Knit Maxi Dress $38.90

Coach Outlet 50% off:

Coach Minetta Leather Crossbody $114.50 (similar here)

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

Weekly Bits:: 2

Bought:: The perfect maxi dress for my upcoming trip to Mexico.

• I've been on the hunt for a fun dress for the beach, and finally found a keeper! Can't wait to wear it in Mexico in a few weeks!

Read:: Girl Boss by Sophia Amoruso

• After hearing great things about this book, I finally started it this week. I am only about 40 pages in, but I'm already a fan! Her inspiring story about building a $100M company from the ground up has me hooked. I have a feeling it isn't going to take me long to finish this one so I will be sure to report back with my final review in a week or two.

Made:: Beefy Mexican Rice Soup

• One of my goals for the week was to try a new recipe. Let me start by saying this recipe makes A LOT of soup. I even cut the recipe in half and it was still so much soup! I am a pretty picky eater, so I had to slightly modify the recipe...and by that I mean that I skipped the onions and diced tomatoes. Anyways, he soup was good, but did not live up to my expectations. Will I make it again? Sure. Is it my new favorite recipe? Nope. 

Organized:: My closet.

• With my move quickly approaching (only a little over a month away!), I figured it was time to start going through all my belongings and pick out ones that I won't be needing in the future. I made some progress this week by giving my closet a good cleaning. I now have a big pile of clothes that I will be donating to Goodwill!

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

Grandpa Scott's Roses

Seriously, how gorgeous are these roses?! My Grandpa's house always has the prettiest rose bushes and my mom just shared a few pictures of this year's blooms with me. I love how big and vibrant they are! One day, I hope to have some just like this outside of my house.

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

Accountability Partners:: Week 2

Last week my friend Jess and I decided to commit to being each other's accountability partner. Check out her post explaining what an accountability partner is here. Essentially, we will be making weekly goals and checking in with each other daily to ensure we are staying on track with our goals.

Since I'm new to world of blogging, I missed my opportunity to post about my week one goals, so here is my week one update:

Week:: May 11th - May 17th
Goal:: Complete a morning workout everyday and log 10 miles in addition to my workouts.
Progress:: Complete! It was hard to get out of bed at 5:30 every morning, but I did it!
(Note: I made the 10 mile goal before I realized that my half marathon was included in my accountability week, so in hindsight, I should have made a 23 mile goal.)

Now on to this week's goals:

Week:: May 18th - May 24th
Goal:: Try one new recipe and run a minimum of 3 miles per day.
Progress:: I got my 3 miles in yesterday, and woke up early this morning to knock them out for today! As for my recipe, I'm thinking I might give this soup a whirl.

What are your goals for this week?

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

River Town Run Half Marathon

I completed my second half marathon yesterday! My friend and I decided to sign up for the River Town Run in Washington, Missouri, as an attempt to get in shape for our upcoming trip to Mexico. The forecast called for severe  thunderstorms all morning, but we lucked out and only got sprinkled on for a little bit.

A few miles into the run

I had never visited Washington before and immediately fell in love with the quaint little town. The scenery on our lengthy run was beautiful! We decided we needed to make another trip soon to check out all of the cute local shops and restaurants.

A train passed through as we were running along the river front

God's Country (as my boyfriend would call it)

The numerous hills made this a challenging run, but we hung in there and crossed the finish line in stride. It may be a while before we attempt another 13.1 mile run!

We survived!!

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

P.S. We knew it was going to be a good day since we both ended up with fun bib numbers (it's the little things)!

Denver!

A friend caught us taking pictures of this awesome view.

One of my goals for 2015 is to go on more adventures - to see more of the world and explore new places. My first step towards realizing this goal was taking a trip to Denver last month with a few friends.

Let me start by explaining how spur of the moment this trip was. My friends and I were at a bar enjoying each other's company one Saturday evening. Two of my friends had already booked their trip to Denver for the following weekend and were talking about their plans. Another one of my friends and I decided, in that moment, that we were going to join them! We got on our phones and bought our Southwest Airlines tickets while sitting at the bar! It was one of the craziest, yet best, decisions I have ever made.

Here is a little recap of our adventure:

Saturday:: 
We arrived early morning, and spotted a drive through liquor store. Have you ever seen a drive through liquor store?! We hadn't so of course we had to stop! We then headed to a local park to hang out and play volleyball. Later, we decided to check out a couple of the downtown bars before calling it a day.

Here are a couple of our purchases from the drive-thru!

Outside of Denver's Union Station

Sunday:: 
We started off our day with brunch, followed by a rainy hike at Red Rocks. The weather throughout the entire trip was a mix of rain, snow, and bits of sunshine. We bought rain jackets and didn't let the rain or snow slow us down!

All of us girls at Red Rocks

Another fun group picture at Red Rocks

Monday::
We woke up and headed to Estes Park to explore the Rocky Mountain National Park. This was by far my favorite part of the trip. The scenery on our hike was awesome!

Picture break at Rocky Mountain National Park

Look at all of that snow!!

Just hiking up the mountain!

The four of us decided that we need to make this an annual girls trip. I can't wait to see where next year's adventure takes us! And in case you were wondering if we had the absolute best time in Denver, I hope this one last picture helps answer that question!

Erika and I getting a serious giggle session in!

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

Weekly Bits :: 1

Read:: Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

• I have been reading this for a couple of weeks (finished yesterday) and just found out they are making it into a movie! I always love to read books and then go see the movie. For some reason, I almost always find the book to be better than the movie, but I am interested to see how this movie turns out!

Made:: 2 Ingredient Cookies

• This is the 3rd time I have made these cookies. They are so easy (and healthy)! I definitely recommend trying them out.

Listened To:: Frankie Ballard's Album Sunshine and Whiskey

• A few friends and I plan on attending a FREE Frankie Ballard concert in a couple weeks which inspired me to listen to his whole album. Although I love several songs on this album, Sunshine and Whiskey is probably still my favorite!

Watched:: Avengers: Age of Ultron

• One of my friends is a big comic book fan and I love tagging along to see all of the new movies. I really enjoyed all of the humor in this movie, and the fact that it had a little bit of a love story didn't hurt either!

Bought:: These Old Navy Shorts

• They were such a good fit, and with 35% off, I just couldn't resist!

Sincerely,

Emily Ann

P.S. I totally stole this "Weekly Bits" idea from my good friend, Jess. She has all kinds of neat stuff on her blog, Silex in the City, so be sure to hop on over and check it out!

Stitch Fix:: v.1

I keep seeing people post about receiving fun outfits from Stitch Fix, so I finally broke down and decided to give it a try. For those of you who don't know what Stitch Fix is, it is a personal styling service that shops for you and sends 5 items of clothing or accessories to your door, either monthly or on the date you choose.

During my lunch break yesterday, I ran home to grab a bite to eat and was so excited when I saw my very first Stitch Fix delivery sitting on my door step! I barely made it through the door before I was tearing the box open.

Here is a look at what was inside of my box:

• Mavi - Kalie Bleached Denim Jacket $98
• Moon Collection - Larson Pleat Detail Blouse $36
• 19 Cooper - Blanchette Tie Neck Blouse $64
• Liverpool - Rizzo Skinny Pant $98
• Zad - Dawson Hammered Layered Metal bib Necklace $36

I was surprised at how well everything fit. The sleeves on the jean jacket were a little long, but other than that, everything was a perfect fit. After much internal debate, I decided to only keep the floral blouse. I'm excited to pair it with jeans and wedges! 

Overall, I really enjoyed my first Stitch Fix experience! Another box will definitely be ordered in the near future. 

Sincerely, 

Emily Ann

Welcome!

Lately, I have been exploring a ton of neat blogs for fashion, health, and life inspiration. I love seeing what others post and using it in my everyday life. A friend of mine recently started her own blog, and encouraged me to do the same...so here I am!

I am a twenty something currently living in St. Louis. At the end of June, I will be moving to a small country town about an hour outside of St. Louis to begin a new chapter in my life. I am extremely excited to embark on this journey and look forward to capturing all of the fun (and maybe sometimes not so fun) moments in this blog.

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Emily Ann