a couple of fun things...

the fabulous becky of strumpets crumpets is hosting another craft swap. as soon as a saw her post, i made sure to sign up. anyone can participate, so you should definitely look into it if you're interested :) i've found that doing these kinds of craft swaps expose you to great people that you wouldn't "meet" otherwise. i can't wait to find out about my partner.

my friend mig tweeted about this site today and it is hilarious! just type in your twitter name and hit "get your next tweet" to see some hilarious combinations using your previous tweets. 

these are my favorites that i saw from my friends today. lol, i love how it included "cowbell" in my tweet. so good.

my weekend in photos

the last few weekends have been pretty damn amazing, and this weekend was no different :) saturday the family and i drove up to milwaukee for the cubs vs. brewers game. my parents and sister went to a game opening weekend, but this was my first cubs game of the season and i was excited. one thing i really like about miller park is that you can tailgate! and we did :) i felt like i ate my weight in pasta salad and brats, lol. one of my dad's vendors has amazing season tickets, right behind the visitors' dugout, and he's been generous enough to give us the tickets to a few cubs games. it's pretty cool to be able to yell at the players as they come in from the outfield and know that they can hear you.

unfortunately, the cubs lost (didn't even make a run), and ended up losing the series, too :( hopefully they'll get it together for the next series. one cool thing though, the kelly clan made it on tv! pretty awesome!

today (sunday), we were up bright and early for the shamrock shuffle downtown. my mom, my sister sarah, and sarah's boyfriend bradley ran the race...and my dad, sarah's roommate, and myself came out to support them. we were able to see them start the race, then bummed around the bean for a bit before meeting up with them at the buckingham fountain. it was a hot day in the mid 80s, which is pretty warm for chicago this time of year. it felt weird wearing a tank top, shorts and flip flops...but it was definitely a good idea. as always, i was snapping quite a few photos :) i can never resist photos of the buildings downtown, or of the bean. i always look like a tourist.

after the race, we all headed back to sarah's condo, freshened up, and headed out to bucktown for a late lunch at belly shack. my sister found this little gem a few years back and it is unbelievable! i recommend the korean bbq beef and the chocolate chip bacon icecream!

ha, and as always, i underestimated the power of the sun. didn't think i needed any sunscreen today, and now i'm nursing a sweet sunburn :/ yikes. lots of aloe in my future. hopefully it won't hurt too bad tomorrow.

hope you all had a fabulous weekend as well! what did you do? :)

~steph

for any new readers out there...

i just wanted to say hello to any new readers and thanks for stopping by! i just recently finished my about me page, but thought it would be fun to include some other facts about me.

1. i LOVE steak, bacon-wrapped filets are my fav.
2. when i was little i wanted to be an animator at Disney.
3. my top 3 favorite movies are "Jaws", "Man on Fire", and "The Dark Knight".
4. my go-to movie (that i could watch ANYTIME) is "The Dark Knight".
5. my guilty pleasure movie is "Practical Magic".
6. i really like denzel washington and bradley cooper.
7. i watch waaay to much t.v., and have about 5 favorite t.v. shows at a time (currently "The Chicago Code", "Law & Order: SVU", "Modern Family", "Grey's Anatomy", and "Jersey Shore". i'm exited for "True Blood", "Boardwalk Empire" and "The League" to come back, too).
8. i can get pretty emotional sometimes, and cry more often than i'd like to admit.
9. i'm a packrat.
10. i love to crochet and sew.
11. i love all kinds of music, and a few of my favorite musicians are: John Mayer, Ingrid Michaelson, Michael Jackson, Stars, The Beatles, and Bill Ricchini.
12. my favorite song is "Billie Jean".
13. i'm a tshirt-and-jeans kind of girl, and own a ton of Threadless shirts.
14. i have bizarre phobias, like not finding parking in a congested city environment.
15. i like to gamble. roulette is my favorite so far...i always play 20 & 23.
16. my family is extremely tight knit, and i love it.
17. my friends are like my second family, and i'm so lucky to have them.
18. i've been out of the country once, to peru with my spanish class in high school.
19. i've lived in illinois all my life.
20. i currently live with my two good friends from college, jon and jeremy.
21. i'm definitely a "mac".
22. my favorite animal is a great white shark.
23. i'm very protective of my loved ones.
24. popcorn and (anything) chocolate are my favorite snacks.
25. i still can't believe anyone actually reads these posts, haha. despite my blogger stats ;)

i'm pretty excited for this weekend since i'll be spending it with my family. my dad got amazing tickets to the cubs vs. brewers game tomorrow in milwaukee (2nd row, right by the visitors' dugout!) there will probably be another image heavy "my weekend in photos" post coming up, too. haha.

in other news, i just signed up for a  30 day premium membership over at pugly pixel, and scored some sweet downloads! i'm excited to use it in the new posts. it's really a steal, so be sure to check it out. she also has some great freebies as well.
(hopefully it doesn't feel like i overuse katrina's clip art on this blog :/ it's all gorgeous so it's hard not to spruce up a post with it.)


hope you all have a great weekend!

~steph

sponsor spotlight on pixie mama

the wonderful polly recently posted a sponsor spotlight post including ashley of after nine to five and yours truly. be sure to check it out here. and keep an eye out for some sweet giveaways over on polly's blog this month :)