Happy Birthday Cooper!

I wanted to take a minute today to celebrate the furry love of my life, Cooper! He turns 8 today which is mind boggling to me.

He came into my life at a whooping 3 lbs (mainly of fluff) and has been my best bud through lots of life's ups and downs.

He's been there through break ups, and the start of my relationship with MG. He won over my dad's heart when he was a puppy with his tail wiggles (that sometimes turned into whole body wiggles). He makes everyone who meets him pretty much fall in love with him (even people who aren't huge dog/animal people), because he's the sweetest pup there ever was. 

When I say he's my doggy soul mate, I mean it. I can't imagine my life without this little poof of white. The tail wiggles when I walk in the door after work. The dog who skips when he goes on his walks. The one who scrambles across the room when he hears the cheese drawer open, or goes into crazy dog mode when we put a new trash bag in the trash cans. The dog who drops to his back and shows you his belly, the second you even look like you might bend down to pet him. 

You've been with me through some really happy moments in life, and some really sad ones, and I've always found comfort in this little face who always knows when I need a cuddle.

Happy 8th birthday, Cooper! Here's to 8 more! We love you!!!

WHW {#55}: Currently

Hi friends--sorry for my absence. I've been keeping low key at home after some complications after my egg retrieval last week so I took a blog break. But I'm back today because it's Wednesday and you know what that means: time to talk about what's hap-"pinning"!

Reading ...
All the books! Ok, not all of them, but I've spent a lot of my last few days of Summer reading a bunch. Most recent was a recommendation from my friend Trish called The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes which has been awesome! That review, and ones from the others I've been reading coming soon!

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Watching ...
Bachelor in Paradise (love that dramatic show), and RHOC. I have to admit, it was interesting seeing Meghan's IVF journey as it coincided a lot with my own (as it airs anyway). I will also say that Jim Edmonds' reaction (and lack of participation in ANY part of the process) on Monday night at Shannon's dinner when Meghan said she was hopefully carrying two babies, and he put a finger-gun to his head...was appalling. I wanted to crawl through the screen and smack him. This process is difficult to go through on every level. I can't imagine going through it virtually alone, and with an a-hole by my side. Ew, just ew.

Eating....
This weekend MG and I went out to dinner with a friend of ours and tried out a new restaurant near us. I had the MAXX burger which has their special sauce, some delicious pickles (something was different about them) and onion rings on top. When I tell you this burger was mouth-wateringly delicious, it's an understatement. SO good!

Looking forward to ... 

Spending my last weekend of freedom at the beach house with MG and the fam. Give me my last dose of Vitamin D, Vitamin Sea, and Vitamin Beach :)

Wishing...
I could take Cooper and his little snuggly self back to work with me next week. I'm not sure how either of us will make it through the day without all of the cuddles!

Enjoying ...
the cooler weather we've been getting around here. And by cooler I mean the 80's and low to no humidity. I've spent two afternoons just reading on the deck in our zero gravity chairs, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. It's perfection.

Drinking...
last week, it was ALLLLLL the Gatorade I could get in my body. After my egg retrieval I had some mild-moderate symptoms of hyper stimulation which caused a lot of fluid build up in my stomach area. I was so bloated that the skin around my stomach was stretched and hurt, and it hurt for me to walk. Luckily the symptoms subsided into the weekend with my Gatorade and protein attack, but it was not a pleasant time.

Loving....
all of my friends for checking in on me with every step of our IVF process. And the friends who noticed my absence and sent me messages checking to make sure that I was ok! I've said it a million times and I'll say it again...I wouldn't have been able to get through this without the support of friends and family.

Wanting ... 
lots of positivity in the coming weeks!

Wearing ...
I'll show you my cool-kid outfit pre-egg retrieval last week. I've decided that blue hair caps are the new thing, and will be sporting mine all the time ;)

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Grateful For...
signs from my dad that he's around. It's been a while since I've really felt the pull that it's him, but when I was on the deck on Monday, I stopped reading and looked up at the sky and started thinking about my dad. When I looked away and looked back, there was a solid heart shape in the clouds. I tried getting a picture of it, but it started to dissipate by the time I unlocked my phone. 

Following that was another cloud that legit looked like an angel. Perhaps it was my imagination, but I truly feel like it was my dad's way of letting me know he's here and looking over me.

Now it's your turn to share what's hap-"pinning" with you! Remember, it can be about anything, it doesn't have to be from Pinterest!

Friday Faves

Happy Friday, friends! Another week in the books! This weekend's weather is looking to be cold and dreary which is a total bummer--but that just means more time to snuggle up inside right?
Enough about the weather (which has been nuts!) and let's get to some favorites from the week!

Friday Favorites // Friday Favorites // Oh Hey Friday// 5 on Friday

{1} Podcast

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I can't remember who posted about it last week (and I'm sorry not to give the credit out), but someone last week posted about the podcast Straight up with Stassi. Being a Vanderpump fan, I was all over it, and I've really enjoyed listening to it when I log my notes at work, or on my drives. If you like Vanderpump Rules, check it out--it's a fun find!

{2} Skype/Facetime
What would we do without technology? Skype is definitely a favorite this week since it's allowed me to see my husband who is overseas for work, every day. Seeing his face and being able to talk as if he's here makes having him gone suck just a little bit less. Thank goodness for all of these gadgets and gizmos that make staying in touch so much easier!

{3}Mira Bottles

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I've mentioned them before, but I had to re-invest in one because I left mine at my friends' place last weekend and didn't have time to go get it this week, so I just got another one. But now, MIRA bottles have expanded their designs from just gray, red, black and blue to these two new patterns. I debated it for a bit and got the leaf pattern, but the wood one is super cool too! For $19 instead of $35+ for the Swell bottles (and they are identical!) it's a good deal!

{4} Photo
I took this photo of Cooper on Monday morning. He was sleeping in MG's spot on the bed and when I went to go get him, he gave me those sad puppy eyes and the look that said "Do we really have to get up, Mom?" I love how tiny and cute and cuddly he looks here. Total fave from the week!

{5} Funnies
When your coworker asks how you're doing, and then goes on to share with you about how she didn't pee for 6 days in a row when she was out of work

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When your husband's away on business and someone rings the doorbell

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When you have the perfect comeback line to a rude comment:

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When I squeeze Cooper in a giant hug and then he runs away from me

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That's it for me today--hope your Fridays are quick and your weekend is fantastic!

Spring Weekending Snaps

Happy Spring! I hope it actually feels like Spring where you are, unlike here in NoVa where the first day of Spring had a high of 45 for the day, was overcast and snow flurries in the forecast! #gohomespringyouredrunk

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This weekend was pretty low key for me since MG was out of town at a Bachelor party, and lots of friends started their trips and vacations for Spring Break. The restful weekend was actually really nice, and gave me some time to just relax and be by myself.

My weekend highlights included:

~Celebrating the start of Spring Break with a little personal sized champs and pretty weather

~These yummy treats that my coworker brought in to work for me on Friday (they were so pretty I felt bad eating them....but that didn't stop me haha). I haven't eaten them all....yet.

~A relaxing night in catching up on all of my DVR shows, including RHOBH which I'd fallen asleep during last week (oops), and a super long, highly entertaining text convo with Brittany

~Saturday morning coffee date with my friend Lisa

~Watched The Best of Me with hottie James Marsden. It was good, but I wasn't expecting the ending. I also didn't mind all of the shots of James Marden in his tank tops #drool

~Lots of puppy cuddles

~An hour long phone convo/catch up with my bestie. Love that I get to see her next weekend!

~Watched our wedding video because I just wanted to see my dad, and I kind of wanted to do it while I was home alone

~Pizza and cheesy bread for dinner because it was mega rainy gross out and super cold and I didn't want to leave the house. And just because pizza:)

~Watched How to Train Your Dragon 2 which was still just as cute as the first one. I love Toothless!

~More puppy snuggles. Love me some Coop.

is there anything better??

~Funny texts from my husband. One of which included a text that they caught a "cab" on the way back from the casinos which ended up being a limo...only cost them $30 haha

~Seeing this incredibly beautiful painting that our friend painted. I told him we want one! :)

I'm so in awe of how talented he is and I'm obsessed with this painting!

~Waking up Sunday to 30 degree weather but thankfully no snow on the ground. I wouldn't be surprised if this was our forecast (saw this on Facebook):

~Did some laundry, and cleaned around the house, then ran errands for the week once MG got back home to kisses and tail wags (Ill let you figure out which ones I gave and which ones Coop gave :)

~Did some meditation with a new app I discovered, which was really calming and pretty incredible

~Started reading a new book thanks to Stephanie's recommendation the other week on her Show Us Your Books post (thanks, Steph!)

~Had a little sushi dinner with MG followed by finishing House of Cards before heading to bed. Oh my word, did the season end well!

And today I have a day date with my friend--lunch and shopping are on the docket and I can't wait! 

Hope your weekend was just what you needed!

Weekending Highlights

Happy Monday and first day of February, friends! We're semi-melted out here in VA, but somehow still got a delay this morning--not a bad way to ease back into work after being off for 7 days.

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We had a relaxing, but fun weekend--my highlights included:

~Attempted dinner at Cheesetique (was craving their mac and cheese), but the wait was too long, so we went for pizza instead at our favorite spot

~Stopped at Cheesetique to pick up two of our favorite cheeses for snacking--so yum!

~Had a low key night in, but stayed up to watch the Dateline special on Making a Murderer since they kept saying they had new info. They didn't. #liars

~Cleaned up the house Saturday morning from all of the snow and other crap that got tracked into the house; prepared for MG's best friend and fiance to visit

~Gave myself a mani with Essie's Bahama Mama

~Got a massage which was heavenly and much needed after all of that shoveling last week

~Gave Cooper a bath so he was nice and fluffy and smelled oh-so-nice

~Picked up our friends and headed to dinner at Virtue in Old Town; had some pre-dinner drinks at the bar and then ordered the amazing crab dip, and all got burgers. So good!

~Stopped for a photo op with all of the pretty lights

~Spent the night hanging out and catching up; always a good time when we're with these two!

~Sunday morning breakfast of blueberry pancakes, hash browns and bacon courtesy of MG

~Dropped our friends off and ran errands; we stopped at a Target we don't normally go to and saw the most beautiful display--I wanted everything

~Couldnt resist a new pillow for our downstairs couch and cute placements for our dining room table

~Went for a 4 mile walk around the neighborhood since it was in the 50s (you saw my excitement if you follow me on snapchat)...still a lot of snow around tho!

~Worked on our 1500 piece puzzle some more--getting so close!

~Thai food take out for dinner and the most gorgeous sunset

~Did some reading, and relaxed before getting back into "work mode" and watched Grease Live and Downton Abbey before bed!

What did you get into this weekend? Hopefully it was fun and relaxing!

Linking up with Biana and Meghan today for Weekending

Friday Faves

Happy Friday loves! This post somehow got deleted in the middle of me writing it, so this is my second attempt...let's hope Blogger cooperates this time!

Hope you've had an easy week, and if not, at least the weekend is right around the corner!

Friday Favorites // Friday Favorites // Oh Hey Friday// 5 on Friday

{1} My New Car

I know I shared this yesterday but it's obviously the biggest news of the week. After several weeks of researching and test-driving cars (and negotiating, ugh), I finally decided on the 2016 Nissan Rogue. It has basically every feature I could ever want (including that kick *** sunroof I shared on my snapchat Wednesday), so I'm super happy. And after Jonas the other weekend, the AWD option definitely has me feeling safer if we get anymore snow!
Not to mention, my parking skills have gotten much better, too!

(yes, that is the pile of snow I park next to in the left view of my car...)

{2} Snow Days

I've now had 7 days off from school due to snow. Luckily we've been able to get out and about, but the buses can't get through single-lane roads and kids have nowhere to walk to school than in the street which just isn't safe. I've enjoyed the time off to get some doctor's appointments taken care of, catching up on DVR (and other shows I never needed to watch) and reading, and getting in some snuggles with Cooper.

(my very own pillow pet :)
 Plus, MG had off 2.5 of those days which was the best part of the blizzard--some extra QT with my husband!

{3} Favorite TV show (this week)

This week, I looooooved watching Teen Mom OG with Caitlynn and Tyler's wedding. I feel like Ive watched them grow up through the tv series, and it was so touching to get to watch them say their vows. And speaking of vows...Tyler's were incredible-he gets major brownie points!

{4} Favorite Video

You may have seen this between yesterday and today, but if you haven't, you're in for a treat. If you didn't love Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell before, you probably will after this amazing video they made when they went to Africa (and have this awesome song stuck in your head like I've had all day).

Stephanie, this totally made me think of you on your recent Africa travels!

{5} Funnies
When you're off work for a week, you run out of tv shows on your DVR and all that's left to watch is Real Housewives of Potomac

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When your entire neighborhood is outside trying to help one another shovel out, and one family (of all adults) chooses to only dig themselves out:

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When you have to go back to work on Monday after a week of puppy snuggles

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How it feels peeling off all of the layers of clothes when you come in from shoveling or playing in the snow

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Hope your weekend is awesome!