behind the lens: iphone edition

my birthday outfit | dinner and some light reading after work | our little family on a hike | pretty sunset while driving to Mankato | prof show for my birthday | birthday flowers blooming

You guys....

BEST NEWS EVER. I am officially an owner of a Macbook Pro. Do you realize I've been waiting for this day for almost three years now? Ahhhhhh..... prepare for endless blog posts. 

12/12/12

It's 12/12/12 and I have a BIG interview today. So nervous, but hoping that this special day will bring me some luck. How are you guys spending this day? Did you know it's the last repetitive day until January 1st, 2101? Better take advantage!

More Announcements

Guys, I have some fantastic news.
For the last couple of years I've been complaining to just about everyone I know about how I cannot afford a new camera AND computer-two very vital (very expensive) things to me. After some (not so) subtle hints, I think may parents may have gotten me a camera for Christmas. This is a only a guess but if I know my parents well enough than its already wrapped and hidden under their bed as we speak. (Mom, if you're reading this and it actually is under your bed I promise I didn't snoop!) So, if this is true that is one step closer to true happiness for me.

Now, I just have one piece of the puzzle left: a computer. My cousin Vinnie (yes, really. No I've never seen the movie) currently owns a 17" MacBook Pro that is only a year or two old. He's been thinking of upgrading to an iMac and is willing to sell me his laptop at a great price! BOOM- Mission complete!

Anyway, the reason this is fantastic news is because I will finally be able to have all the necessary equipment needed to finally give this blog some much needed TLC. If my Christmas wishes come true, expect a whole makeover on the blog including some great new features I've been working on.

Things are looking up for Stella + Charlie.
(Ps- I wrote this post from my phone! Oh, technology....)

memories of august

Ms. Calli and I went out to take a some photos back in August. Here some favorites of mine. I love getting out there and behind the camera but I really need to invest in a better camera and more than just the free trial of Photoshop. The life of a broke college grad is not a fabulous one. 

A girl can dream, though......

forever fall

trail in my neighborhood

picking baby pumpkins

my friend's grandpa is so cute on his tractor

raspberry picking. Had to use the pick one, eat one method. 

Alvi carrying our pepers we picked

beautiful fall trees

another walk with Boyd in our neighborhood

Just thought I'd share some of my Instagrams to show you how I've been spending the beautiful fall weather this year. The grandparents of one of my greatest friends, Tom, own a farm here in Woodbury. They needed help picking pumpkins and other produce that they sell at local farmer's markets. So, obviously Alvi & I jumped at the opportunity. A big group of us gathered at the farm and picked pumpkins, gourds, raspberries, peppers, tomatoes, and apples. It was great and we were able to go home with a trunk full of goodies. 

Boyd and I have also been enjoying our walks, lately. Wish the trees stayed like this forever.  

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! I'm so excited that it's Easter because it's truthfully, one of my favorite holidays. Weird, right? Only because we make some of my favorite italian recipes ever. My grandpa always makes 

me my favorite pasta, Chicadil, which is like a handmade Gnoochi. (check out this tasty sweet potato version) My great-grandma used to make it for us kids and it is by far the best pasta I've ever tasted in my life - no exaggeration. It's a lot of hard work to make so my grandpa usually only makes it on Easter (but always makes an extra batch to throw in the freezer for me).
We also make what we call Easter Pizza. I'm telling you, there is no way to describe it to do it justice. You just simply have to try it. It's the most delicious thing ever and it's, of course, only made on Easter so naturally everyone fights for it. I'll try and take a picture and maybe even post some recipes for it later this week.

How will you be celebrating your Easter this year?

March an in Instant

March really flew by! I cannot believe that it's almost April.... when did this happen? I feel like I'm not prepared for spring yet. But then again, what is there to prepare for? I love spring for so many reasons: spring cleaning, colorful clothes, flowers, warmer weather, my birthday... and most importantly, it means that summer is right around the corner! 

1 Alv and I were able to enjoy our favorite view for the first time this spring

2 The beautiful view from Tom & Will's front porch. 

3 My new lunchbox. They're technically for kids but I couldn't resist! Get one for yourself at Goodbyn

4 Talking a walk with my boys

5 Why I love Minnesota

6 We went to visit the Falls in Mankato

7 How we celebrated St. Patrick's Day

8 The boys enjoying the view in Hudson, Wi

9 My favorite spot in Woodbury

10 Enjoying a pretty spring day at the St. Croix River, the border between MN and WI

11 Boyd napped all month long

12 Beautiful day spent on Sweeney's back porch for St. Pattys

February in an Instant

I may have been without a computer all month, but I have had my handy-dandy iPhone to capture some moments. February is always a great month: Valentine's, our anniversary, and spring is right around the corner. I've had a lot of new beginnings this month, which was very exciting. I'm anxious to see how the rest of 2012 goes. 

one boyd posing for a picture 

two we went to a Prof concert earlier in the month. As you can see, we were extremely close.

three boyd and I went to Indian Mounds Park, our favorite park which has fantastic views of St. Paul

four boyd and I on a walk

five had a small edamame obsession

six bought some new turquoise jewelry at Charming Charlie

seven made some hearty beef strew during the colder days

eight My cousin Vinnie (no, seriously) and his girl, Britni - we had dinner

nine Graduation celebration dinner at Mancini's, a fantastic restaurant in St. Paul. *

ten Currently obsessed with Crystal Light Mojito

eleven We had a going away party for our great friend, Max. He moved to Michigan for a new job at Chrystler! We're so proud of him

twelve I attended my first Timberwolves game

* fun fact: our great Aunt Mary Jane is a Mancini! We get spoiled there :)

* also, just noticed I never numbered a picture up there. It's the pair of TOMS. I've been working adding some lace to a plain pair of navy.

Work Wear + Apologies

Life has been pretty crazy for me lately. I started a new full-time job two weeks ago (that I LOVE) which has taken up a lot of my time. When I'm not working I'm sleeping or with Alvi which leaves little to no time for blogging. (A blessing and a curse) The other thing is, even if there was time I'm computer-less! My laptop has been around for quite some time and has decided he/she no longer wants anything to do with me. It started with keys falling off and not going back on no matter how hard I try, then the CD Rom Drive (is that it's name?) decided to quit working, and now I get just a black screen. Our (my laptop and I) last moment together is slightly funny, though. I was trying to show Alvi a video of old grandma and grandpa's trying to use computers. They were HILARIOUS. I, of course, thought they were a lot funnier than Alvi did, but that's besides the point. Anyways, right as the video was getting good my screen went black and after several attempts of fixing it, it has made no progress. So, I gave up.

Well, that whole ramble was basically to say that I'm sorry for my absence! I'm visiting the bearded-guy in Mankato this weekend so I'm finally getting a chance to use a computer and write these posts! Yay, technology!

It's been fun dressing all business casual for work. I've been finding ways to work my personality into my outfits, whether it's statement jewelry or a fun hairstyle. How do you find ways to stay out of the work-wear blues?

Day 14: The Story of Us Part 2

STORY CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST

All summer long, Alvi and I remained close friends but we couldn't hide the fact that it was slightly awkward now. He and our entire friend group were aware of my feelings. I started to question my choice of  telling him. In fact, telling him did exactly what we were scared would happen: it started to tear us apart. Alvi had never been the type to have a girlfriend and I think the thought of it really freaked him out. He started to distance himself because he didn't want to hurt my feelings. I started to distance myself because it was hard to be around him when I thought that he "didn't want to be with me". It was tough, really tough. I thought for sure that I just ruined one of the best friendships I had ever had. 

Finally, in August, while spending the weekend at a friend's cabin up north Alvi and I had a very serious and necessary talk. He admitted to me his fears and why he had been acting so different. I completely understood and told him that no matter what my heart might be feeling at that moment that it will never affect our friendship. I told him that eventually my feelings would fade and we would be back to normal. It definitely helped to get us back to where we were before. Now that we were back at school (in separate cities), we continued on as if nothing had happened. We talked on the phone, visited each other, blah blah blah.

Now fast forward the entire semester to Christmas Break. A group of us spent an entire week at a friend's cabin for New Years Eve. By now, Alvi and I no longer had weird tension between us. In fact, I felt like somehow our friendship was even stronger! One night, we were enjoying some adult beverages and he spilled his heart out. I won't go into big detail but basically the talk was about how he felt the same feelings I had but was too scared to admit it. Not wanting to ruin our friendship, he had been hiding his feelings this entire time. Honestly, I was upset by this. I had been embarrassingly wearing my heart on my sleeve for over 6 months, thinking that I was alone in this. I told him that I needed to continue focusing on myself and maybe we really weren't meant to be at all.

Well, long story short, we couldn't avoid what our hearts were telling us. From that moment on we were together 24/7 and a month later, we were official. BEST. DECISION. OF. MY. LIFE. We've been happily in love now for 3 years. I know in my heart that Alvi and I are, and always were, meant to be together. I would be nowhere without him. He has been my rock through so many hardships and I owe him a lifetime of thank-yous because of it. I now know what people mean when they say "you'll know when you're really in love." I thought I "loved" all of my exes.. but now? this relationship? THIS is true, unconditional love. This is what people search their entire life for and I'm lucky enough to have found it early. I will never, ever, ever let him slip away. I'm so happy that I took the chance to admit my feelings to him back in freshman year. Had I never done that? I wouldn't know what it's like to be this happy.

Day 14: The Story Of Us Part 1

Happy Valentine's Day, love bugs! Today is a slightly sad day because this is the conclusion to our 14 Days of Love feature. It's been so much fun sharing all love-related posts with you guys. I just want to thank anyone who participated in this feature, as well as all of you readers :) I hope you enjoyed at least some of the information I threw atchya.

Today's post is supposed to be about my plans for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, Alvi and I are currently in a long-distance relationship. Being that today is a Tuesday, we are unable to make it work for some Valentine's loving. School is much more important! SO, instead I thought I would share with you guys a little bit about us.

WE LOOK LIKE BABIES! (we pretty much were babies)

Alvi and I met while we were both attending separate junior highs in the same city. We had mutual friends and would often see each other on the weekend or at school events, such as football games. It wasn't until high school when both junior highs combined that our friendship really... flourished. We instantly became best friends. He would be the guy I would call when I needed advice and vice versa. We were such good friends that the thought of a relationship never really crossed my mind. I was always with a boyfriend and he was also that "I'm never getting girlfriend or married" friend.

During our senior year of high school and into freshman year of college, I found myself in a relationship that was slowly becoming very toxic. I was constantly getting my heart stomped on and it was Alvi who was there for me through it all. To be honest, I talked to Alvi so much that my girlfriends in college actually thought I was dating him instead of my boyfriend at the time. Once that relationship ended that fall, I told myself that I was going to be boyfriend- free for awhile. After being used, cheated on, and losing all of my trust and confidence, I vowed to focus on myself and no one else.

Alvi and I continued to talk on a weekly-basis and I even went to go visit him at college a few times. That spring break I was sitting poolside in Orlanda, Florida (rough life) reflecting back on my choices, mistakes, and regrets about past relationships. And it hit me: it's always been Alvi. How could I have been so blind? This amazing man right in front of me was exactly what/who I've been looking for. But, since I didn't want to get caught up in another relationship (or ruin my extremely close friendship with Alvi) I pushed it to the back of my mind.

Before I knew it, my feelings (and Alv) were ALL I could think about. So, impulsively, I contacted one of our mutual friends (who has also been Alvi's best friend since childhood). I told him that I thought I was falling for Alvi and his exact response was "Well, duh. We've been waiting for this to happen." WHAT? I was seriously so oblivious to the fact that our entire friend group thought that Alvi and I were eventually going to end up together.

I couldn't ignore this... I HAD to tell Alvi how I felt. I finally mustered up the courage after a couple days and spilled my heart out to him. His response was.... not what I was looking for. Naturally, he was worried about it ruining our friendship. We were such good friends that if "we" didn't work out both of us would be lost without each other. I, although sad and disappointed, agreed with him and dropped it.

But, my feelings never changed.

STORY CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

Craving Travel

I'm craving a vacation. I would accept a place ticket to ANY WHERE. I just need to get out of Minnesota for a few days and experience something else. Get away from all the chaos and hoopla that is my life these days. I've been privileged enough to get away at least once every year, whether a weekend road trip or a week long vacation. 

If you had the opportunity to travel any where in the United States right now, where would you choose? Me? It's a toss-up between a shopping extravaganza in New York or visiting the bay area in California.

As of late

Anyone else hate that dreaded two-week long cold during winter? I know I do! It happens every single year for me. I catch a cold and can't seem to get rid of it. I truly think this is worse than having the bed-ridden flu. At least that lasts a few days of hell and you're over it. This? This is fight through your regular activities with a heavy head, stuffy nose, weak body and scratchy throat. Terrible, I tell you! Just when I thought I was finally getting over this cold it got worse. I'm actually sitting here in bed writing this while unable to breathe out of my nose, missing out on a great get-together with my closest friends! So upsetting but I would never have been able to make it through the night feeling like this.

Bleh. Here's to Kleenex, my latest boyfriend.

Home Sweet Home

Boyd and I have enjoyed being home, especially when we had our warm weather last week. We went for walks through the neighborhood and some local parks, which he looooved. He gets to run like wild man while I chase after him (looking equally as crazy). You really take for granted your childhood home and all the luxuries you had until you move away into the real world. It's nice to be back but I need to get back into my adult, busy life. No more post-graduation slump for this gal!

12 resolutions in 2012

I understand I'm a little late on the whole resolution thing. To be honest, I completely forgot to write this post! So anyway, I don't usually make resolutions. I'm more of a "bucket list" type of person. Resolutions seem so intimidating like I'm setting myself up for failure. I decided, though, since this maybe be my last year of life (2012 reference, of course) I should make a list of 12 resolutions for 2012.

1. Quit a bad habit - I have a couple in mind. There are a few habits that if I would quit them, other bad habits would follow suit. If this makes sense at all.

2. Follow my fitness book - I recently read an article about a fitness book that you could purchase. It had you plan out a routine for 8 weeks and you would log your fitness, nutrition, goals and notes inside. I was inspired and created my own version. Maybe one day I'll set up a template and give you guys a copy.

3. Expand my blog - I'm still extremely new to the business so there is still a lot to learn and do. Preferably, I hope to learn html.

4. Read more - I have soooooo many books that are book marked and never finished. I get bored and distracted really easily and then forget about them. I hope in 2012 that I read more and finish some of those damn books!

5. Photo 365 - I read about this challenge on a blog a couple years ago and took a mental note. What you do is simply take a photo every day for an entire year. It will help all types of photographers, whether you're a beginner or advanced. You can learn to get creative and see things in a different way.

6. Get into art school - Fingers crossed.

7. Let go of past negativity - There was a lot of negativity in my life in 2011. I still have a lot of it resting on my shoulders, holding my down. I need to let go of this energy and move on, completely.

8. Drink more water. 


9. Learn woodworking from Grandpa - My Grandpa is always building things for family and friends - book cases, storage, arbors, etc. It's always something I wanted to learn from him.

10. Learn ceramics from Grandma - My Grandma is an extremely talented porcelain painter. She paints some of the most beautiful things! Her forte includes: florals and women... and clowns (slightly creepy but she makes them cute). My mom and I both have thousands of her plates. I use mine to store my jewelry! They're truly amazing. I'll post some pics soon.

11. Take a painting or photography class - Hopefully both.

12. Moisturize - Winter does terrible things to my very sensitive skin. I need to start moisturizing every. day.

What are some of your resolutions? Do you usually stick to them?

Weekend at Alvi's

Recently, Alvi and I began yet another long distance relationship. When we first started dating, he attended school in Winona, which is over two and a half hours away from where I was in Mankato. We handled the distance well and saw each other almost every weekend. In fact, I feel like it made us closer! We found new ways to connect and it showed us that we're strong enough to last through something that usually tears couples apart.

So anyway, this past weekend I drove down to Mankato to visit Alvi. I was so excited for a weekend of nothing but relaxing and the company of my bearded man. Boyd and I packed up the car and drove the hour and a half to my alma mater. Alvi lives with three other guys so I'm aware that their daily routine usually consists of video games, football games, more video games, and then drinking while gaming. SO, I always come prepared with plenty of activities to keep me occupied.

Above are some instagram moments that I captured over the weekend. From top to bottom, left to right: photo 1: Alvi and I had a nostalgic dinner of corn dogs and classic mac & cheese one night, photo 2: Boyd loves to disappear in the love sac, photo 3: my new journals that I picked up at Barnes & Noble, photo 4: my grocery list I compiled during the football game.

Saturday's Reading Material

Anyone else obsessed with magazines? I seriously live for them. To be honest, I'm probably solely responsible for keeping the magazine industry in business. I have so, so many favorites that I read every month. When I do sit down with my magazines I always bring along a pen and paper. You always find great ideas or things that you want to check out but never remember to. This way, I can ... take notes. I know, it sounds silly. I read so many magazines that I often forget which ones I've read and which ones I haven't. I even buy the UK Edition of some magazines just for some fresh material. (Or accidentally, thinking "Oh! New Cosmo!" and then I realize it's UK once I get home. It's happened on numerous occasions).

What are some of your favorite magazines?

wishful thinking

I'm always so jealous whenever an airplane flies over head. Mainly because I'm standing here in Minnesota, churning butter or cutting down trees (just kidding, we're not all stereotypical Minnesotans) and those people flying are probably on their way to some tropical location. In just a few short hours they'll be basting in the sun, with a fruity drink in their right hand. Complete with a bright paper umbrella, of course. Now, I understand not every one is traveling to some dream location. They might be on their way to Omaha, Nebraska but I like to imagine the latter. (note: no offense to anyone who enjoys Omaha, or Nebraska but I have beef with both the state and that exact city) 

I've done a decent amount of traveling throughout my life but I'm just not satisfied. There are so many great locations to see and people to meet! I love experiencing the different cultures and seeing how different their nature and landscape is from ours here in the North Country. 

I snapped the above picture on my iPhone the other day and added the label myself :) It's a quote that I love and agree with. Source of quote unknown. 

Winona, Minnesota

This Friday I went on a small road trip (just two hours, really) to Winona with some friends. Alvi actually attending college there for about a year and a half until he transferred to Mankato, thankfully. Winona is located in bluff country on the Mississippi River that borders between Minnesota and Wisconsin.  I took these pictures on my phone just two days ago and when I posted them on twitter I said: "isn't it crazy that it's january and looks like this in Minnesota? #cantcomplain." Well, what do you know, Father Sky and Mother Nature like to play tricks with us Minnesotans because as of yesterday there is now snow covering the ground. Well, I enjoyed this mild winter for awhile.