April in Five

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Nora

Another month come and gone, so you know what that means: recapping the entire month in just five minutes of writing.
(See the previous months here.)

Getting engaged, probably the one thing April 2011 will forever be remembered for. That and that pesky tornado that we survived. | Introducing Knight’s girls to my parents and in the process, learning how to be a better Bonus Mom. | Becoming super addicted to Greys’ Anatomy despite my better judgment. | Traveling to Seattle to see a bunch of a fabulous women and celebrate the launch of the Nintendo 3DS (and later receiving some more fabulous games to play on it!). | Group emails, text messages and notes that make me grin from ear to ear. |

Spending a weekend with Knight holed up in hotel by the wineries, realizing we’ve only had seven weekends completely alone and together since we met, and loving every minute of seclusion and phone ignoring that we could squeeze in. | Being greeted by Knight’s girls as they squealed and giggled and hugged me when I showed up over Easter weekend. | Staying strong and not devouring the Easter Bunny my parents gave me (even though it’s tempting me). | Amazing family dinners that seemingly last for hours. | Playing hookie with my dad from a business meeting and in doing so we discovered some of the best pizza in STL ever.

Starting the packing process as I prepare for the big move up north. | Looking into and at wedding planning with eyes wide open and ready to jump in. | Reconnecting with friends and making proactive plans for the summer. | Learning how to say no, even if it’s not what people wanted to hear. | Cardinals games, draft beer and a good hot dog. | Evenings spent at Barnes & Noble with my parents, hanging out, laughing and just enjoying their company. | Afternoons spent on patios at wineries and my favorite restaurants with good friends, lots of laughs, and sun. | Learning how to let go a little bit, enjoy the fact that life is a little bit boring right now because in a short amount of time, it’s all going to change.

What don’t you want to forget about this past month?

Friday Five

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Nora

Since my brain has been all over the place this week, it seems I’m not capable of “real,” posts yet I’m itching to write and so I present to you, today’s Friday Five!

1) I didn’t have to be at work until 10am today so I figured I’d sleep in until 8am or so (the office I’m in today is a bit farther away than usual so had to add in drive time). Oh no, I woke up at 6:30. I didn’t get up though; instead Iallowed myself to listen to the rain outside, run through the things I had to do before I could leave the house, and cuddle with Jack for a few minutes. It was a much more pleasant and less rushed morning than usual. If only I could do that all the time.

2) Pollen pods, though I’m sure that’s not the scientific name, are evil. The lovely rain brought them down and around the entire metropolitan area. That + wind? Bad combination. It’s also never good when your car is covered in yellow, as is the driveway and nearly everything you touch outside. Ah, spring. You’re something special.

3) Back in January Knight bought me some orchids. I’m not a green thumb at all and I thought for sure I’d kill them, and kill them quickly. But much to my surprise they have lasted since the second week in January! Flowering, growing, staying beautiful. Then last week, within 24 hours, all but one of the flowers fell off. I decided I’d keep watering it anyway, cause, well, there is one flower on it still. And this morning? I noticed that there are two new shoots that are growing orchid buds! I am so excited because this means I can keep the plant around longer and don’t have to try to figure out how to regrow them (apparently orchids are tough to bring back to life after they die). I am NOT a plant killer after all.

4) I started “Life as we Know it,” last night. I’m about halfway through and I really, reallylike it. I kind of can’t wait until I can finish it, hopefully this Sunday. It’s the right amount of comedy + drama, poignancy + silliness.

5) I went to Panera this morning to grab a quick souffle (they are to die for) and a bottle of water for the upcoming road trip today. I’m in a particularly fabulous mood cause it’s a short day, the sun was shining, I get to see my boyfriend at the end of it and I guess the lady at the counter could tell. She told me that I’m positively radiating and that I look beautiful today. It’s rare that strangers compliment you these days, so I took it to heart. Added a bit more of a spring in my step. And maybe I’ll go back to Panera more.

Care to share any of your Friday five, or perhaps the last time a total stranger complimented you?

Friday Five (and giveaway winner!)

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Nora

It’s Friday.
When I woke up it was sleeting/wintery mix and just generally gross.
So it’s a Friday Five kind of day a la Amber and others.

1. Dress Giveaway Winner. Here’s how it worked: if you tweeted, liked and told me what your favorite dress was, you got one entry for each. You were assigned numbers based on that, and it totaled to 80 entried. Random.org did the rest of the work and the winner is… Becky from Love Everyday Life!

Didn’t win? Don’t despair, now through end of April you can click on the Shappy Apple button in my sidebar, shop for anything you like and enter coupon code: walkingwithnora10ff and get 10% off your total purchase! Go forth and shop, treat yourself to a dress, or jewelry or anything else that you fall in love with on their site. (Oh, and no, I was not compensated to do this giveaway or post the coupon code.)

2. Lent. So this year for Lent I gave up a bunch of things and added some things. Gave up: soda, fried food, ice cream. Were any of these food groups/drinks things I had on a daily basis? Not at all but I noticed they were creeping back into my diet. With spring around the corner, just easier to ditch them, and stick with it. (The last time I did this for Lent, I gave it up for close to one year which is huge for me.) Added: exercising. I know, sounds silly but lately things have been… hectic, to say the least and making time or finding motivation to really work out has been tough. I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now and I already see and feel a difference. Pants fit looser or are too big in some cases, I don’t feel all gross from soda. It’s been good. I hope to keep it up.

3. Running! Going along with #2 above, I’m signing up for a few races this weekend. One which will be run with Knight and Lisa (well, not with them, as I’m sure we won’t run the same pace, but we’ll all be there together) and another one back in the Lou in September for Cardinals Care. I’m super excited to have a 10k and 6k on the horizon. Training plans are printed, dates have been set and the running shoes are ready.

4. 65 days. That’s all that’s left between and now when I move in with Knight. On one hand it seems like it will be forever; on the other, time is dragging. I’m in that in between stage you know, where you’re ready to get on with the show but also know you have a ton of stuff to do. That’s me lately. I’m so excited, I can’t wait!

5. Booked. So I was looking at my calendar the other day and, um, I have one big event every month now through the end of the year, plus a bunch of not-so-big events. It’s amazing how quickly weekends and things book up, isn’t it? Makes me super glad I got my Masters done last year.

What are your Friday five (or one, or seven) today?