End of My Twenties Night Out

The end is in sight. The end of my twenties that is. 

Saturday night, I got to celebrate the final weekend of my twenties with friends, including the lovely Vee. I even honored the decade by drinking like I did 9 years ago! 

I'm pretty much dreading having to face the fact that I'll be 30 tomorrow, but then I gain some perspective and reflect on all the people and events that have brought me to this age. I look at my marriage, my home, my friends, my career, and I can't help but think "If this is what my 20s have given me, how much more awesome will it get in the next decade?" 

and a pre-dinner OOTD:

Dress: TJ Maxx, Cardi: Target, Shoes: Target, Flower pin: Burlington Coat Factory

Signing off on my last post in this age bracket. See you on the other side! 

Love List: June 2011

Every month I'd like to post a Love List, otherwise known as "Products/Merch I Think You Should Know About." These won't be groundbreaking products, but it may get you to pull the proverbial trigger on something you weren't sure about.

1. Clarisonic

I'm sure most of you own - at the very least know about -- the Clarisonic. In the fall I bought a knock-off, the Pretika. Bad idea. It didn't do anything to my face, but make it feel like I faceplanted a jute rug. I had test-driven a friend's Clarisonic Mia before, so I knew I would most likely love it. And I do. I want to cradle it and sing it lullabies. I want to take it out to eat and braid its hair. I've been using it twice a day, and in just two weeks it's decreased my pores, given me a more even skin tone, and is slowly minimizing the tiny white bumps on my forehead. I'm just mad I didn't get this sooner.

2. Proactiv

While we're on the topic of skin, I need to declare my utter gratitude for this acne system. I started using it around November, and it's done something no other topical has done for me -- totally cleared up my skin! I had horrific breakouts, especially on my cheeks which has caused years of scarring. Now? Maybe a tiny whitehead on my jaw once a month. I'm only using the last step right now nightly, but I seem to be doing well with just that little jolt of benzoyl peroxide to keep me clear.

3. Walmart Smocked Trapeze Dress
Yeah, I know -- a dress from Walmart? I ordered the turqouise last month and fell in love. The neckline is high enough and the hemline is low enough, and the smocked waist is wide enough to be comfortable and create a nice hourglass shape. I liked it so much I ordered it in black too!

4. Greek Yogurt

I was slow to move in on this food trend. I heard raves AND rants about this dairy product. But because I'm trying to get back on the healthy (err... healthier) bandwagon, I gave it a shot. Much to my surprise, it wasn't bad. In fact, it has the thicker consistency of yogurt I favor! So far, I like the Dannon brand more than the Chobani, but I'll be sampling other brands and flavors. Greek yogurt eaters - what's your favorite?

5. Nars Orgasm Blush

I've always been a blush fan. I love the color and vitality it brings to a face. For years I've read about the amazing universal love of Nars Orgasm. And the reviews are not unfounded. It's a great pigment and has just enough shimmer to not be teenybopper. But the best part? It stays on all day -- even with no primer applied! There is definitely something to be said for good quality makeup. The price tag was difficult to swallow for this  girl. But now I can't see every going back to drugstore blush! 

Okay, Okay, Okay

While I would normally side-eye these types of blogger award chains, I'm in need of something to blog about. So, thanks Casey (align my heart, my body, my mind) for giving purpose to an otherwise random-filled day.

It appears the chain part is to talk about seven things about myself. 

* I am usually the first person to rattle off a list of the season's trends, but that doesn't mean I'll wear one-third of them. One thing you'll never seen me in? Harem pants. Gross.

* I ate my first brussel sprout Sunday. They're not all that horrible. I'm not a diehard fan, but I think brussel sprouts get a bad rap.

* I love blogging and other forms of social networking, but I am growing tired of censoring myself. Sometimes I'd like to talk about something possibly polarizing or even something TMI, but I don't because I would hate to think I would offend anyone. So I stick to the safe, shallow things. My friends always told me I'm a people pleaser. I thought that was a positive thing; now I'm not so sure.

* I often wish adult life was more like "Sex and the City." While mostly single (and obviously I'm not), these women were wealthy, fashion-savvy, and got to see their friends a hell of a lot more than I do.

* I played in the band for eight years of my life, four years of which were in competitive marching band. The clarinet was my instrument -- pretty much decided by 11-year-old Amy because it was most like the recorder taught to us in elementary school. What can I say -- I've never been one to take risks. 

* I follow a decent amount of decor/DIY blogs, but it just makes me sad that I am so un-crafty. One of my goals for the future is to buy a sewing machine and teach myself how to make a dress or learn how to knit a beanie hat.

* I live my life in Clueless and Mean Girls quotes.

I'm supposed to tag others. Consider any of my followers with blogs tagged. :)

2010 Year in Review

{I'm dorkily excited to blog the SECOND annual year in review post - yay for my first blog tradition!}

2010 was a weird year. A lot of things happened, both good and bad. Enjoy some of the highlights of my year:

I kicked off the new year at my best friend's house, where we drank champagne and wore funny hats and glasses. Also in January the hubs and I started house hunting.

In February I made a cake. Still more house hunting.

March was pretty epic. Not only did we find and go under contract on our first house, but four of my favorite girls came from all over the country to have a crazy fun get-together. Best. Weekend. Ever.

March also means our annual trip to the Finger Lakes Wineries

In mid April we closed on our house! My bank account cried.

In May I coordinated Lindsay and Austin's beautiful wedding.

... and attended a Betty White Hosts SNL party

June marked our first anniversary. We celebrated with cake and grilled cheese.

June was also a great time for romance for Tory and Dale's winery wedding

July was another big change when I quit the job I had for five years. My former colleagues threw me (and my friend Kristen) a going away party complete with balloons and bubbly.

September I co-hosted my bestie's baby shower and lost my Ikea virginity.

In October I coordinated another wedding, hosted my SIL's baby shower, and contemplated buying a rake.

November consisted of playing with my bestie's baby, Raegan

In early December I got laid off. Somehow we got through the holidays despite the bad news. At least it gave me the opportunity to finish up all my Christmas tasks earlier than normal.

My husband surprised me with this adorable Basset hound puppy we named Sam. Secretly I think it's a ploy to get me to agree to a breathing version. :)

OOTD: Maximista

This OOTD is actually from a few weeks ago. For those who actually tune in to my blog to see the clothes, I hereby apologize. In all honesty, I've been feeling like my standard dress + flops are so simple and boring that I often forget to snap a pic and are so not blog-worthy.

I've been completely lusting after black maxi dresses this summer. But since most maxis have such itty bitty low-cut tops, I have to pass on most of them. Fortunately I found this one at Fashion Bug.

Granted, I still have a good bit of cleave going on, but at least I can slide by without a cami underneath. 

And I'm reaaaaaally hoping that this dress looks, uh, less maternity, on me in person. No, I'm not pregnant. Just weighted down (ha, pun!) with almost fifteen pounds of newlywed weight. Yesterday I finally took the plunge and stepped back on the scale for the first time since last May. Eeep. And there's the downfall of THE DRESS, my friends. When worn right, they're usually excellent at camoflauging gains because you don't have that pesky muffin top problem like you'd have with pants. 

Lesson learned. :-/

Is it a misnomer to call this an award?

Thanks to my awesome friend Casey (Casey & Chuck), who nominated me to participate in the Beautiful Blogger Challenge. Casey and I "met" through The Knot's month boards last year and now talk every day via our many forms of social media. :)

Rules are:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award
2. Paste the award on your blog
3. Link the person who nominated you for the award
4. Tell 7 interesting things about yourself
5. Nominate 7 bloggers or less
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominated

* When I was little, my ultimate career objective was to become a junior Danielle Steele type and write romantic fiction novels.  Now my only outlet of writing are these stupid blog posts.  Ambition fail.

* I'm pretty sure my Nestie friends know 5x more about my daily life than my real-life friends.

* I have super weird hangups about certain foods. Like cheese. I love pizza (it's one of my favorite foods in life) and quesadillas and those little cheese nip crackers -- but you put it anywhere near a sandwich, and I'm done. I also loathe macaroni and cheese, which has elicited many dirty looks from people through the years. I'm also convinced 95% of condiments were made by the devil himself.

* People's crappy driving doesn't anger me. Cut in front of me with your large SUV all you want but use the wrong form of your/you're or throw in an unncecessary apostrophe, and I'm homicidal.

* The only part of my body that I can't find a flaw with are my ears.

* This talent used to be a lot stronger, but I have a slight photographic memory of actors names and a brief collection of their IMDB resume. You would think this would make me an ultimate winner in the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game, but no.

* I'm insanely snobby about photography. I'd rather melonball my corneas out than look at some schmuck's idea of fancy portraiture with their godawful studio backdrops.

I'm tagging:

D at it's just d & y

Andi at Saltwater Dreams

Sara at North Shore Newlyweds

Heather at Heather's 101

Megan at megan and kevin

New hairs

Oh hair. Sometimes the bane of my existence and sometimes my shining glory. It's been said a woman's hair will change every seven years, and also with pregnancy and menopuase. In the past couple of years I've noticed my hair evolving from fine, straight, thin, and limp to thick, wavy, and frizzy. I'm still learning how to tame it since this texture is so new to me. After my wedding I really contemplated chopping it, because holy crap, I've had this long mane for about eight years now! And a dirty confession: I don't have a real stylist! I go to a cheap chain where I have a different stylist each time. I tell myself it's not a big deal because you can't do much to screw up long hair.

So with the decision to keep my hair long and just learn how to wield a flatiron and (per the recommendation of the lovely Andi at Saltwater Dreams) Paul Mitchell Quick Slip serum (pending arrival), I decided to be more vigilant about giving my head some shape. Though I only had .5 inch taken off the length, my stylist added in lots of layers. I'm also in the process of growing out my sideswept bangs (AGAIN).

2009 Year in Review

I'm stealing this blog idea from my friend Colette at Modern Wife. Because frankly I need something to blog about, and I haven't been too inspired lately. It's too frigid outside for me to want to experiment with any OOTDs that don't involve sweatpants, fUggs, and a Snuggie.

Okay, so 2009 started off with a NYE party and a bottle of wine.

Also in January some girls from work had a Golden Girls party. Check out my ode to Rose Nyland. She wore Uggs, right?

February marked our city's annual Mardi Gras festivities. I'm appropriately festive in the blue cardi. And beads. (Not earned honestly)

In March it looks like the only exciting things to happen were eating leprechaun cookies and starting my Macy's wedding registry.

Oh wait! I'm leaving off our annual trip to the Finger Lakes for the Cruisin' the Tropics two day wine tour! 32 wineries in two days is exhausting.

In April my grandmother turned 90 years old! Look how cute she is. She is in slouched/hand on hip position to show her exhaustion at all the picture-taking, but I like to think it's to show off her Italian sass.

In May I had the first of my bachelorette parties and my bridal shower, where I got to open lingerie from my future grandmother-in-law -- every girl's dream.

That night was the bachelorette party. Yes, I was that bride who made her bridesmaids wear matching BM tanks. And yes, my top had the word "Bride" emblazoned in rhinestones. Judge on.

Also in May: I got laid off (well, semi laid off) from my job.
In mid-June I had a small bachelorette #2/birthday party. I turned 28 but it went by basically unnoticed. PSA: do not plan a major life event within a week of your birthday. Because no one cares.

Something else happened in June. Crap... what is it?
Oh yeah. I got married.  Best decision ever.

We took a mini-moon to the NJ beach. The "Jersey Shore" you might say. But less skeevy. No guidos in sight.

In July we went to Pittsburgh to hang out with one of my besties. We caught a Pirates game while we were there.

Also in July I found another excuse to put on my wedding dress by doing a Rock the Dress session with my new hubs and my bff. Check out our "Bride Wars" homage.

Also in July I said farewell to my '00 Sunfire (first ever car) and said hello to my pretty '09 Honda Civic.

August and September were pretty lame. I used this time to hone my wifely Donna Reed/Martha Stewart skillz. I even made chocolate chip cookies.... from scratch!

In October, I returned to my job full-time. Then there was Halloween. Everything else was a blur.

November went by without much fanfare. I did get to visit with one of my oldest friends who on this night asked me to be her matron of honor! I bet she's hoping I won't be such a zilla when it comes to a wedding not my own.

December was busy and stressful per usual. But we got to celebrate our first married Christmas. Yay!

Evolution

While going through some old pics, I happened upon one of the first pictures of me with two of my best friends from 11 years ago at my sister's wedding. For some reason this sparked my imagination to create a quick collage of the three of us (Triple A) over the last decade to email to them.  I'm all about before and afters and "my, look how they've changed/aged/declined/etc" comparisons. Naturally, creating these little collages is right up my alley.

Anyway, after finishing my little project, I stared at it for a little bit, contemplating my own personal aging and look. Simply coincidental that the first and last (2009) pics are both from weddings - my sister's and my own -- just FYI. I must admit I was pleased that I'm not 'declining.' While some people are at their peak of their looks at age 17-18, I was a freakin' mess. The dress was my sister's old formal dress from the previous year, weird grimace, wretched straight bangs.... gah. In 2004 you see a much plumper and rounder Amy -- but at least the hair was 85% improved. 2006 still brings the chubby, but you'll note I wasn't afraid of the smoky eye. Finally I seem to have it mostly together in 2009. I could attribute this to an expensive dress and pro hair, but for now, I'm going to bask in the fact that I'm not declining. I'm like a fine wine getting better with age! Or perhaps I've hit my peak at 28, and it's downhill from here. Either way, I need to roll with it and start appreciating myself. It's been a long time coming.