Elf on a Shelf

Let me explain.   We had an "elf on the shelf" challenge at work.  Our team had to scramble to put together  our scene and then email the picture to the coordinator.  Turns out the only way I could get the picture to rotate to the portrait position was to save it on a social media site so that I could then copy and paste.   It was a time crunch thing.

We've got progress!

Remember that painting project I started around January of 2015?  Well, what do you know?  I am finally (almost) finished!   

The before was a very dark beige color with fairly dark accessories.  Here's my before:

And here's my after!

Light warm gray walls, crisp white trim with navy accessories.  And I'm thinking of adding teal to the mix.  I've got new drapes, new pillows, new planters, etc.    I'm still working on accessorizing which I have to say is my favorite part!

I'm looking forward to posting more afters as I make my way through the kitchen and great room! 

Stay-cation Prep

Outfit planning for vacation, or stay-cation in our case, is always so much fun for me!  We are going a four day stay-cation and I have all outfits planned out and documented.  Everyone does that, right?

Day one - travel:

This is a cute jumpsuit that I got on clearance last year at Old Navy.   They carry similar sets this year so I'm thinking I'm still in fashion with this one.   It's super cute on and I'm adding minimal accessories:  Roman sandals and a long necklace.

Day two - relaxing by the pool:

Old Navy cover-up, an electric blue swimsuit from JCP and a floppy hat that I've had for years!  I'll grab some flip flops and a beach bag and I'll be all set. 

And because when I see something I like I always grab two:

We plan on hanging out by the pool a couple of days so I bought the Old Navy cover-up in black too and am pairing it with my black swimsuit because it's a good match.  

Day Three -- two events

I bought this split neck shirt dress from the Gap a few months back and thought it would  be great with the pink Kate Spade crossbody that Sweetheart just bought me from Vegas.   The dress is pretty basic but I really wanted to wear the Kate Spade bag on day three and this dress makes a good pairing.    I'm wearing it to my nephew's First Communion mass and celebration and then later to a festival that my sister and cousin are going to.   I wanted something that I could wear to mass and then be comfortable in for the rest of the day. 

Here's the cute bag: 

I found this necklace at Old Navy and I thought it would add some flare:

And these Steve Madden roman sandals at The Rackroom:

And I think it will look pretty good:

Day Four - our travel back home:

Double duty on the sandals and the necklace which is always nice when packing is involved.   

I also have a black swing dress that's being delivered on Monday that I will take with me to wear at dinner on Friday night.    I'm so excited about our mini trip!

I am Grateful for: My Job

This started as a "work from home" post but it quickly turned into my weekly "I am grateful for" post.   I have worked for Laureate Education for eight years now.   It's a great place to work and I am very happy there.    I work as an Enrollment Advisor for the Doctoral programs in the College of Health Sciences and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.   It's a challenging job but very rewarding as well.   I truly love my job and I know that sometimes that's not always the case with some people.  Sometimes a job is just a job.  For me, it's my passion.   I was recently given a promotion and I feel so very grateful for that.    It's a great work environment with great benefits and a great leadership team. 

A few weeks ago I was given an opportunity to work from home two days a week.  I was totally onboard with that when it was presented.   I read a stat the other day that indicated that one in five Americans work from home at least one day a week.   Something like 3.2 million Americans.   And now I am one of them!  I feel so green! 

I am currently on week three of this new schedule and I have to say I'm loving it.    It really does boost productivity; there's less interruptions involving co-workers and office chatter.   I love that I don't have to wear makeup or do my hair on those work from home days.   I love that I can wear my PJ's to work on those days.    I love that I don't have to battle traffic on the 202 on those days.   It really is ideal.  

I always thought that working from home would be so glam.  I pictured this:

 

Nice and neat and in control.

In fact, I find it's the opposite.   I decided to use our office as my work from home space.  There's a TV in the guest room (pictured above) and I didn't want to be enticed into turning that thing on.   So I set myself up in the office.   This is the reality of what my work from home looks like:

It's not glam at all.   I have my work laptop sitting on a box so that it's up high.  I have a mouse and a keyboard and a headset plugged into it.  I have my iMac on too so I can listen to music and have google at the ready.     If I was full time work from home I would definitely put more effort into creating a glam space.  But for now, it works for me.  

 

Yep, the room is currently the catch all room too.  I'm quite sure you noticed the mess in the background.  If you didn't before I'm sure that made you look.   We're prepping for a possible move so we are painting and consolidating and everything that gets moved out of one room ends up in here until we decide what we are doing with it.   Totally glam, huh?

While I love the work from home, I am also happy to work in the office.  I love to dress up and see my co-workers and be part of the office environment as much as I love the work from home.   So very grateful for the opportunity to have those options and to work for such a great company!

Gratitude

I saw a post yesterday on a friend's Facebook page.   He said he was starting a new habit where he would write down one thing that he is grateful for each day and keep a growing list.   What a wonderful idea!  I have SO many things to be grateful for and keeping a journal of it would allow me to take a look back every now and then and revisit those things that are so meaningful to me.  

So I too am starting a new habit:  a weekly post entitled  "I am grateful for".   

Today, I am grateful for...... My Sweetheart.   

I could write about this sweet man for days and days and days.   But I'll keep it to what happened this week.  I am grateful for how thoughtful and chivalrous he is.   

Thoughtfulness 

 I got this email from him on Monday:

Hi Sweetheart,
Did you make it to work today?  I miss you.  Thank you for the food
I love you very much so.

He makes my heart happy.

Chivalrous
He blocked the sun for me while we sat in church on Sunday morning.   I sent him this email:  

I forgot to thank you for blocking the sun for me when we were in church yesterday.  You are such a gentleman, Sweetheart.   Thank you.
xoxoxox

He replied:  

Yea, that was a rough start but it went away fast enough.  I was able to sleep....I mean close my eyes and listen.

I never asked him to shield the sun that was shining through the stained glass windows.  I didn't make a fuss, it was just there and my concentration would have been on the mass.   But as we sat down he saw the sun was shining directly on my face and he asked to switch seats with me and then leaned forward so the sun was not on me.   It didn't last long, the sun moved quickly enough and when it did I saw him sit back and relax.  See why I call him Sweetheart?? 

So very grateful for this man.  

And thanks J, for the inspiration. 

Kate Spade Valentine Day Treats

Sweetheart showered me with gift on Valentine's Day.  It's a day where we usually don't make a big fuss.  If we do get gifts it's very low-key.   But this year Kate Spade happened to be having a 65% off sale on select items.  So naturally, I emailed the link to Sweetheart along with a picture of all the items that I would like.    I didn't mean for him to order everything on the list, just a few choice items.  I guess he figured at 65% off he could splurge.

I got three bangles, three sets of earnings, a charm bracelet and a ring.  

The charm bracelet was not part of the 65% but I really, really like monkeys so he picked that out on his own.  Boy, was I surprised when I opened the box!  The tag line on the series is "how charming" and that it is!  I just love it!

It's not your usual charm bracelet with links.  This one has beads with spacing in between so charms can be added.  I love stacking the bracelet with a bangle and my Kate Spade watch. 

Hello little monkey!

I also got the Hole Punch Spade Hinge Bangle in gold:

And the Take a Bow ring in gold:

And the Take a Bow studs in silver:

And in gold:

Also, the Knotted Rope Bangle in gold and an open hinge bracelet with a white spade:

He also bought me the matching Knotted Rope studs in gold.    I was touched by how sweet he was and how much he loved watching me squeal with excitement with every single box I opened!

A Cupcake Party

During a recent visit with my cousin she comes up with the idea of having a cupcake decorating "party".   She pulls out a cupcake decorating book and tells us that she wants to try the Cupcake High Heel.    My sister and I looked at her like she was a little crazy because we didn't think we would be able to pull it off.  It looked complicated.  It looked like work that should be left to the professionals.     But my sweet cousin had complete confidence in us.  We decided to have the party at my house in Phoenix.  Was I excited!  We set a date and assigned to-do tasks (for all the different ingredients that make up that little shoe)  and then got ready to have fun!
 
This was my cousin's shoe cupcake; it's a peep toe heel:

Is that not the cutest thing ever???

This is my second attempt at a shoe.   That's my cousin's hand, she took the piping bag from me when she realized I had zero skill.   She cleaned up my mess:

The shoe on the right is round one.   When we got to round two she was really getting the hang of it:

The shoe on the left is my 'round one' shoe.  It was a hot mess.   But we had SO much fun!   We laughed and laughed and then laughed some more!

I didn't take as many picture as I wanted to because my hands were full of icing during most of the process.   Not that it's supposed to be that way, I just figured out a way to get the icing all over me and anything I touched.   

Oh and my sister and my sweet grand niece stayed the night.   She is just the sweetest little girl in the world!  We had a such a good time, I miss her!   And she misses Grievous -- she kept saying "he's mine".   And she hugged him and followed him everywhere!   

We are already planning our second cupcake party.  Next on the agenda:  cupcake purses!