28 February 2014

a little snail mail

I think most people forget how nice it is to go to your mailbox and receive something other than bills. While I love the amenities we have all of the bills really are a downer. Whenever there's something personal in our mailbox I practically skip back to the house so I can open it.

To help spread that happy feeling I'm holding a pre-sale on one of my favorite notes! While coupon codes are nice, pre-sales are even better! As of now these notes are only available right here, so make sure to get a pack or two before they go up in the shop at the full price!

Until March 7th you can get a pack of 15 scalloped notes with kraft envelopes that read "a little snail mail" with an adorable snail on the flap as a special pre-sale price.


Regular price: $22 
plus shipping

Sale price: $16
plus shipping  

Shipping via 2 day priority mail: $5.60 

Are you curious as to what else is available in the shop? Click on "shop" up top and you'll go straight to my Etsy shop! Use the code "anchors" for 10% off anything else until the 7th!

Click here to order your set! Once your order has been received an invoice will be sent to you via PayPal. Happy shopping!

26 February 2014

Branching Out {My March Directive}

Oh me oh my, February is somehow almost over! I don't know how this month has flown by so fast, actually, how fast the last two months have flown by!

Kate & Trudy The 2014 Directive

How February worked out

I am so happy to say that my February directive went pretty! Thanks to my amazing husband I've been able to stay on track and work out even on the days that all I wanted to do was curl up onto the couch. In hindsight I wish I would have added a "eat healthier/don't eat as many cookies" clause to my directive. I've made cupcakes, homemade icing and chocolate chip cookies this month and have successful eaten half of them, but that's ok, at least I worked out.

I did run out of contacts last weekend and then ordered them from Vision Direct, paid $20 for overnight shipping and they didn't show up until over a week later which is just ridiculous.  It wasn't life or death but it but it did dampen my ability to workout since I'm blind as a bat without my contacts. Instead I got to chase two 80 lb dogs around our yard and also went on walks with my husband. We even got two bike rides in! Any activity is better than no activity!

My March plans

I was mulling over all of my ideas while Nic was making pancakes and my husband nicely blurted out that I needed to get out of my "cushy life" and try something new. Isn't he such a sweetie? But he's right. I do pretty much the same things all the time. Even my "branching out" and being adventurous isn't that adventurous. Therefore this months directive is going to be a little bit different. .  I'm challenging myself to step out of my comfortable comfort zone and do something adventurous. Nic's really excited about it so I can't wait to see what we manage to get into. His suggestions were sky diving, cliff jumping, surfing (the water's just SO cold here!) all of which are ridiculous and most likely not going to happen.

I also want to keep my February directive going. I am well stocked on contacts now so that excuse is gone!


One of my more adventurous moments swimming over Dean's Blue Hole on our honeymoon


24 February 2014

Weekly Wishes // 2

I am in love with weekly wishes. I was so nice to know that my to-do list for the week was up on the web and I therefore felt a lot more accountable for it. It's not as easy to brush something you set out to do when other people actually knew about it.

That being said we were blessed with a big 80 pound teddy bear all week which meant my priorities definitely in different places. This was our house for five days. Goliath definitely made me think about what our life would be life with another big dog (kind of easier).


Last weeks wishes:
[1] Start my Once Upon A Time sampler. I'm already almost two months behind! My stuff took a little longer than I wanted to come in, and since its all arrived I've just been putting it off. I want to sit down and at least start it this week.
[2] Continue working on my February directive. Nic has been such a help with my staying on track. We took the dogs for a run on the beach this weekend and it was so gorgeous and motivating in itself. I want to continue the run every other day, alternating with my other workout. 
[3] Try a new recipe. I tried TWO! I saw a recipe for a honey apple pork loin on Pinterest and decided to give it a go. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't something I'll be dying to have again. And strawberry cream cheese icing. Oh. my goodness. Now that was perfection. 
[4] Clean our bathroom. Sweet, simple, and doesn't need a lot of explanations.
[5] Finish doing our laundry because we suck at it. 

This week:
[1] I failed on starting my  Once Upon A Time sampler so this is sadly back on the to do list for this week. I'm really going to focus on making sure I start it! 

[2] There's only one week left in my get swoll  February directive  and I want to finish with a bang! 

[3] Create a custom sale for my Etsy shop held here on the blog. It's going to be a really really good sale featuring one of my stationery sets and y'all aren't going to want to miss out on it! It'll be up on the within the week! 

[4] Set up my blogging notebook! I'm so excited to be testing something by Kate and want to get my blogger notebook into check. I have quite a few printed pages that I'm working with for the blog and in order to save my sanity they really need to be organized. 

The Nectar Collective


19 February 2014

I love Love

I truly love love. That sounds so cheesy, but I truly do. I'm a hopeless romantic and swoon at the little things. Some people view that as a fault but my Nicholas doesn't seem to mind.

We were able to spend the entire day together, as in we didn't wake up until 10:30, which was a first. I'll be honest and say it was nice to not share him with the Navy on a weekday, especially a holiday.

We ventured to the farmers market where we had the most amazing pulled pork sandwiches ever and also grabbed a very large container of homemade guacamole. We stumbled upon the farmers market on accident one week and have gone back every Friday since. While I love the commissary it's so nice to get fresh picked vegetables and fruit. I love supporting local businesses and the quality and price can't be beat.

Originally we planned to go out to Ruths Chris for dinner but after some thought we decided to stay home, relax and just make dinner ourselves. And it was amazing. I love food, I truly do, and I also love wine. And being able to make dinner at home and just relax was nice. We didn't have to worry bout how wound up the dogs would be once we came home, or who wouldn't be able to drink because we had to drive back (it's always Nic which makes me feel bad). We found the most amazing lobster colorado recipe which I couldn't recommend enough, I made some pierogi potatoes and we have "fresh organic broccoli" straight from our garden. Pair that with some ridiculously decadent wine and we were happy as can be.

 

I also slaved over chocolate covered strawberries where the chocolate had a decent amount of Kahlua in them. We watched Nic's favorite movie Count of Monte Cristo. We hope every else also had a wonderful day full of their loved ones!


17 February 2014

Weekly Wishes // 1

The Nectar Collective

A few of my favorite bloggers have been participating in weekly wishes and I decided to join in. I'm loving being a part of the 2014 directive and feel like this will be another way of staying accountable and motivated! I'm also very fond of lists and make them to complete everything.

Without much more chatting here's how my week is shaping up.

[1] Start my Once Upon A Time sampler. I'm already almost two months behind! My stuff took a little longer than I wanted to come in, and since its all arrived I've just been putting it off. I want to sit down and at least start it this week.

[2] Continue working on my February directive. Nic has been such a help with my staying on track. We took the dogs for a run on the beach this weekend and it was so gorgeous and motivating in itself. I want to continue the run every other day, alternating with my other workout.

[3] Try a new recipe.

[4] Clean our bathroom. Sweet, simple, and doesn't need a lot of explanations.

[5] Finish doing our laundry because we suck at it.


11 February 2014

Cowles Mountain

A month or two ago Nic took me on a surprise date night where I had to wear work out clothes. I hadn't started my get swoll plan yet and I would be lying if I didn't say I was nervous and prepared to pretty much get a sneaky hardcore workout in. As was actually kind of annoyed about it. But he surprised me by taking me to a cool hiking trail right in the middle of San Diego -- Cowles Mountain. It's a pretty friendly trail packed with friends, runners, and people with dogs. You're rewarded with a gorgeous view of all of San Diego once you get to the top.

We decided to go back for round two but this time we brought our friend Amanda, Stella and Amanda's Great Pryanese Goliath.  It was supposed to be my "off" day but instead I got to stretch all of my sore muscles with a nice long hike.

If you're ever in San Diego and need something fun to do for a few hours I would definitely recommend it. I'm not sure if I'd really recommend running it but that's just my opinion.  Running past people walking on their own, and those with their dogs, just didn't look fun to me. Not to mention going down the mountain would just result in pain if you were to fall.  Also make sure to bring poop bags for your dogs, and water for yourself and them.  There were water bowls as well as two gallons of water at the top for the dogs to drink out of, but I'm not sure if they're there all the time.  We went during a windy day and the breeze was quite nice until the sun started to set and my inner Floridian started to freeze.



07 February 2014

Lately

I was doing so well with blogging and then I fell off the bridge and down into the abyss. Whoops. Life's been nicely crazy around here. Lots of changes are happening, lots of surfing, playing with the dogs, friends, and figuring out my camera. I don't think I can really complain too much because everything has been pretty great, and I've been able to spend a ton of time with Nic. Which is never a bad thing!

We've had some weird weather the last few weeks. Some dreary rainy days and I think everyone who's also in SoCal is ready to run away and cry. I'm not used to the rain anymore! At the same time, I'd like some real rain. The rain here is different from home. It doesn't pour, or thunder -- I can't remember the last time I actually heard thunder -- it just. . mists, with a few heavier mists mixed it. But anyways, when it hasn't be weird or when the scary fog hasn't rolled in, we've been spending our days outdoors. It makes us all happy when we're outside. Stella loves to fetch and Eevah gets to get her sunbathe on. I also get to keep my eye on the broccoli. I can't believe how fast they're growing! I'm so excited for when they're ready to harvest.




02 February 2014

Getting Swoll aka February's Directive

Participating in Kate & Trudy's 2014 directive has been so fun so far! I've felt a lot better about breaking our New Years Resolutions into monthly goals is making me feel like I'm going to not only accomplish more, but also stay on track.

That being said, my January directive hasn't gone as well as I thought it would! (haha) Setting a budget is hard work, and trying to set one for the month after Christmas proved even harder. Throughout December and January we had a lot of house guests. And with house guests comes higher "basic" bills, so, we've been feeling the effects of that.  I did sit down and organize when all of our bills are do, how our paychecks work, and we're sitting in a better position with that. I also learned that we can go somewhere and have professionals look at our budget and make us one for free since he's in the Navy. Needless to say if I can't get it organized enough in the next month we will be taking advantage of that.

For February I'm picking an "easier" plan: get back into working out. I was SO good at going to the gym before the wedding and I usually left in a better mood than I walked in in. I felt good, and didn't feel terrible eating another cookie or two since I actually worked out.

Anyways, it's easy to be like "I'm going to start working out this month" and leave it at that. And then I'll work out twice and hey, it technically fulfills my goal right? Nope. So thanks to my fantastic workout obsessed husband, I'm hoping to have a better plan. I also used to love to run. I loved loved loved it. And then I stopped, and when I restarted I naturally feel like I'm about to die after 5 minutes so I don't (makes sense), and I want to remedy that. I don't want this to be just a February thing, but instead I want this to be my reintroduction to working out. I hate going to the gym especially when I haven't been for a while. I hate being that girl who goes and is dying, but then again, at least that girl's in the gym. Nic knows this and has decided to make me workouts I can do at home to "reintroduce" myself to working out, and then I can get to the gym.

My plan:

- Run twice a week. As in get in my pretty running shoes,
- Get a yoga ball for the chair in my office. One it will help with my posture, two, so I can do mini workouts while I'm waiting for orders to print
- Do Nic's work outs for me, and therefore get into the gym by the end of the month
- Go for a bike ride up to the state beach once a week (it's a decent ride and also beautiful)

Here's to getting healthier!