Coffee Talk :)

Linking up with Nat :)

1. When eating a taco, do you turn your head or do you turn the taco???

I don't eat tacos.  I really hate taco meat (though I have partially converted to the morningstar veggie crumbles as an alternative and have been known to eat those!), and I even more hate hard shelled tacos. 

2. Chocolate chip cookies or oreos??

Both.  I love cookies.
Also, have you seen that recipe on pintrest for chocolate chip cookies stuffed with oreos??  Gotta make those soon...

3. What's the craziest thing you've ever been asked to do and DID?

Probably when my friend Cat first asked me to do burlesque with her.  I still can't believe I'm capable of doing that kind of thing...but I do it anyway :)

yupp, c'est moi.

4. Never have I ever__________________.

written and sent a fan letter.  I have come close...I think I wrote six drafts of a letter to James & Oliver Phelps (ya know, the Weasley twins in the Harry Potter movies...) but ultimately never sent it out.

5. Would you rather be broke and happy or rich and sad?

Broke and happy. Every day.

Is it raining everywhere today??

Because it is pretty icky here.

Now don't get me wrong, rain is a good thing...but...

When the weather pendulum swings from negative 10 degrees one week to 65 and rain the next?  It equals migraine city for me.  So I'm not really a fan...

this is what it looks like outside today. lovely.

In other news...

I am going to be putting into effect some big changes for my blog!!  There are a lot of ideas that I've been kicking around for awhile, and I'm finally ready to take things to the next level!  I'm finally going to add more "pages" to my blog, including tabs for recipes and DIY projects (which I've been meaning to post for ages!), and I'm going to be starting to post money saving tips for serious shop-a-holics like myself!  I can't wait to reveal more updates and changes (like my upcoming domain change!), and begin posting about even more things I'm so excited to share with you all!

I have learned so many things since starting this blog nearly a year ago, and I am more than ready to kick this into the next level.  And I want to thank all of you readers who keep reminding me of why I do this.  You rock :)

Dear Weston.

{warning: this is going to be disgustingly adorable.}

{i can't help it. i love this man.}

  Hey babe.

I love you.

But I expect you already know that...after all, I do make it a point to tell you.

A lot.  Perhaps one hundred times a day is too often.

But I don't even think it's enough.

I love the way we laugh for ages when we go to bed each night.

I love the way you sneak quietly into the bedroom to give me a kiss goodbye every morning.

I love the way you can talk for hours, about everything and nothing at all.

I love the way you send me silly pictures from work.

I love the way you walk.  Nice butt.

I love the way you put so much effort into your friendships.  Your loyalty is amazing to me.

I love the way you love your daughter.

I love the way you spend more time on your appearance at times than I do.

It's worth it...you're a sexy beast.

I love the way you remind me how pretty you think I am.

I love the way you'll let me keep the Christmas tree up for longer than necessary.

I love the way you call me baby.

I can't wait to share your last name.

        

There are some things I have to say.

Being without the internet at home for the last couple weeks, I've spent wayyyy too much time playing on my iPhone.  Which means, I've spent a ton of time looking on Instagram, using my Pintrest app, stalking Facebook, and trying to catch up on some blog reading.  Clearly, not posting any new posts here, because lemme tell ya, typing on that thing is hard.  My texts even get all FUBAR.

But anyway.  The point.

The point is, that going through all of those apps, and reading all of these things, a few common threads started to pull at me.  The first being, holy shizzzz are we obsessed with our weight.

I mean really.  Half of the "hair & beauty" pins on Pintrest are about weight loss, or "motivational" pictures of girls who probably spend 98% of their lives at the gym {not that spending that much of your time at the gym is bad, just sayin'}
And that's just messed up to me.  Seriously.

What is with the lack of diversity??  And I don't just mean that it's filled with a lot of slender types instead of larger girls...there's definitely a lack of anything but caucasian women.  Is it because we're all so lazy we're just repinning other people's pins or what?  sheesh.

Anyway, on the topic of weight loss, I have decided that is also complete and utter BS.

Awhile back, I wrote a post on how disgusted I was with myself for weighing 190 pounds, and decided I'd bust my ass to get slim again.

Guess what?  It's a few months later and I'm still 190 pounds, with a fiance who tells me daily how much he loves me and thinks I'm beautiful.  Just as I am.  A few extra pounds and all.

I tried exercising regularly.  Which resulted in pain, thanks to being unable to find a sports bra that I could fit into and afford.  I began eating better, and keeping track of what I eat.  And guess what?  That weight just stayed right on there.  The only way I feel I'll really be able to lose any substantial amount of weight, is if I stop eating altogether, or someone chops off my boobs.

And ya know what?  I don't care anymore.  I liked myself anyway.  I thought I was pretty.  I thought my jeans looked awesome, and my shirts looked cute.  And I still fell into the trap of not being good enough, by comparing myself to all of these girls and women who are lucky enough to be that slender, whether by being able to lose weight or by simply having that body type.

And if I {I consider myself to be a pretty confident person, by the way} fell into that trap, what are we teaching the next generation?  That if you're not supermodel slim, you're worthless? 

I guess I still don't know where I'm going with this...

Except to say that I feel like punching every girl I see post something about eating a burger and feeling like a fatass.  I don't care if you look like Jabba the Hutt, you're still gorgeous to someone, somewhere.

Snuggle Saturday - Embarassment...

So over on my homegirl Sarah's blog, I have noticed this fab little linky.

AND today, we regained internet capabilities at my humble abode.

Which means...

Ya'll are now privy to my most embarrassing moments.

You are welcome.

I am a woman of many embarrassing moments.  Like, a ridiculous amount.  Probably at least once a week I'm doing something to make myself turn beet red and try to hide under a rock or something.  But, as far as lifetime embarrassments go, a lot of the moments of heavy embarrassment happened {as you might imagine} in high school.

Why?

Well, because I was a nerdy looking chick with glasses AND braces, and I was in chorus, and I got good grades...and I had hormones that wouldn't stop.

Legit.  I had a crush on every darn boy in sight.  

The guys on my bus, the cute guy in homeroom, the cute football players, the overly hairsprayed mohawked punk boys...they were all fair game to my heart.

clearly a woman of grace and beauty. how could she ever be embarrassed?

Let's begin with the story that earned me my nickname, "Grace".

The year was 2001.  I was 13 {ish}, and we were vacationing {for the weekend} in Niagara Falls with some family friends {read: people my parents were friends with who thought all of us children should be friends too, since we were all around the same age}.  Also, it was the middle of winter.  Also, the hotel had an indoor pool.  Being the age of 13, I was all awkward in a swimsuit {I had c cup boobs in 8th grade. yeah.}  so I didn't swim with my family for very long, and ended up returning to the room with one of the other parents to change and hang out, before going back down to the pool to round up everyone else for dinner.  Because I was the first one to reach the elevator, I would be the one who noticed at got all gawky at the gorgeous pair of guys who climbed out on our floor.  I would also be the one who tried to casually and flirtily get into the elevator...

Only to have my feet slip out from underneath me and end up falling flat on my ass.

My friend Nat and her mom came running..."Oh my goodness we heard a huge noise!" they exclaimed...while holding onto the railing in the elevator car to keep from falling over from their heavy laughter.

Lesson learned.

Never gawk at cute boys when attempting to enter a slippery elevator.

I'll throw in an extra one for ya too.

This one time, in high school, I was walking down the stairs with my friend Jen, and this kid Andy {who I of course had a crush on since the 4th grade}, when suddenly, I tripped and fell.  All the way down the stairs.

If that weren't bad enough, the stairs ended in a doorway that I then smacked my head into.

Again, the people I was with were too busy laughing to assist me in any way.

Sidenote, I am still friends with aforementioned Andy to this day.

Dear Friday...

dear this week: thanks for being pretty awesome.  double thanks for delivering me my missing Sephora package, and two of my wedding favors. and my spiffy "future mrs" thank you notes. major props.  dear baby nephew: could you be any cuter? i love you.  dear below freezing temperatures: stop snowing!! we can't shovel it away because it's too cold and i don't want my car to get stuck in my stupid driveway! just stop!  dear fiance:  thanks for pretending to pay attention to yesterday's shopping haul. much love.

...

&, here's some stuff that has happened lately.

or, things I took pictures of and felt like posting them because let's face it, no life.

so  yeah, it's a little cold outside.

yesterday's shopping haul. minus the six shirts from Old Navy for $18. heck yes clearance rack.

headbands. when you don't wash your hair...

on this day, some old creeper i work with told me my eyes looked awesome.  thanks, creepy old man.

my january glam bag!!!!

my eyes always wig out when a flash is involved

more flowers added to my expanding collection of skin art...

{yupp those are all on Instagram.  you can follow me with the link on my sidebar!!}

Coffee Talk...

Oh hi.Did you miss me?

Come on, not even a little bit?
Jerks.
But really. My home internet died. Died. Deader than a doornail.
Do you know what this means???????I’ve been unable to do anything. Well ok, I have my iPhone, but you can only do so much on your iPhone. At least if you don’t want to go blind…that shizzz has tiny letters!
So, I’m being all sneaky like whoa and typing this during work breaks. You’re welcome.

I bring you… Some more Coffee Talk with the fabulous Nat over at 23Seventeen. (BTW – do you love her? Cuz you should.)



1. Do you drink the milk after eating cereal or do you dump it out?I dump it out. Milk is disgusting…pretty much the ONLY time I even use it is in cereal…also mac & cheese…oh, and oreos. Or mashed potatoes… ok so I use milk a lot but it tastes nasty alone so I dump it out.

2. Do you share drinks/food?I believe a Friends quote is applicable here...

"JOEY DOESN'T SHARE FOOD!!"

Sorry.  I love my snacks.  If you didn't bring one, that's your own problem. 

3. How often do you replace your toothbrush?Like every two or three months. Depends on the bristles…once they start to bend I toss it.

4. How often do you wash your hair?Usually daily. I work in a machine shop…do you know what that smells like?? Coolant, metal, and BO. So, my hair gets stinky. And the stuff in the air makes it greasy. So I wash it a lot. It’s still mad soft though.


5. Do you use a dishwasher or do you hand wash your dishes?Hand wash. I *wish* I had a damn dishwasher!! And to think, when I lived with my parents I used to complain about having to do the dishes…and they HAD a dishwasher!!! #firstworldproblems.

There's something about a Monday...

Well, first of all...I totally answered all of last week's Coffee Talk questions...and then never posted them!  Um yeah. So, here's those...

So, I've missed coffee talk for a couple weeks...whoops.

Anywho, linking up with the ever fabulous miss Nat over at 23seventeen :)

1. Would you rather have a pen pal or an email pal?

In the last few months I've actually gained both!  I love any form of communication to pieces, I really can't choose a fave!

2. What are you wearing at this exact moment?

A reallllyyyyyyyyy uncomfortable strapless bra (because thanks to sexy new tattoo - regular bra strap hurts the fresh ink), but also jeans, an MSI tshirt, a big fleece sweatshirt thing, and my good ol' {read - feet murdering} safety composite toe sneakers.

3. When you are sick, how do you handle it?

by being a huge crybaby and making my fiance do things to cheer me up and make me feel better.

Like bringing me ginger ale and mcdonald's sweet tea.

And chocolate.

And backrubs.  Or tummy rubs, depending on what hurts.

4. I am _____________ [fill in the blank].

...determined to make 2013 the year of positive thinking.

5. Movie you are excited to see this year????

Django Unchained!!!!!  Hopefully we'll see it this weekend!

...

And then:
1 - We didn't go to see Django.
2 - We did go to a weird dinner buffett thing with my Dad and "key people" (apparently code word for important work people that you have to see every day and are sick of by the weekend but still have to interact with for these kinds of occassions...)
3 - I did go bridesmaid dress shopping with my ladies!!  And everyone found something they liked, and my {future} stepdaughter looks just stunning in the dress she found...seriously it's crazy.  She was 6 when I started dating her dad...now she's ten and such a little grown up already!! sheesh.
4 - I got to have two full nights of cuddle/movie time with my fiance :)  Not always the case on a weekend...
5 - Tonight we have a meeting with the caterer/planner to discuss the wedding! Food, timeline, setup...yay!

How was your weekend??

Books & Bloggers Swap!!

Clearly, I am addicted to swaps.

Addicted.

Yet again, I found a terrific swap hosted at Chaotic Goddess Swaps :)

This one's all about the books!

Oh yeah, totally up my alley.

Books, come to mama!

Insta-bits

watching friends in my room while making wedding invites - yes, my bedroom is bright pink. yes, that's an owl piggy bank.

and the wedding invites begin!  these aren't the finished ones...you'll see them later ;-)

love.

we're a bit bizarre. also, most comfy hoodie everrr, courtesy of my stepmom in law and american eagle. LOVE it.

gorgeously psychedelic candle from my MIL

his mouth looks HUGE for some reason

the quote from the guy we met with in SEPTEMBER came...in January.  Yeah, we found someplace better. UGH.

snowfall in my backyard. <3

Follow me on instagram!  @dearmisstraci

Wedding Inspiration...Rustic

You might be seeing a lot of these in the coming months...

I am gettin' hitched in May, after all :)

These are some of my top "rustic" wedding pictures I've come across on Pinterest.

Pinterest is the best and worst site ever...It makes me second guess everything!!

But I still think this stuff is lovely, so here ya go.

cake - originally {here}

gorgeous invites - {here}

how awesome is this?  better than just married.  buy it {here}

lovely photo of the newlyweds...

the perfect simple bouquet - {here}

the perfect sentiment - {here}

Swap Reveal!

Ok, I'm super late posting this probably...

Holidays are busy.

So remember when I was so excited about the CGSwaps 12 days of Christmas Swap?

I had to sign up for it!  Had to :)

My partner was Beth from Living a Goddess Life

If you don't know about her blog yet, you should go read it now.

{She's awesome, so if you get all wrapped up in her blog, and take awhile to come back to this, it's cool. I still love ya.  Sorta.}

So I stalked her blog, and sent her stuff {none of which I've taken pictures of, because I suck at that shizz} and she loved it all!

And then...

The post office thought my package from her was supposed to go to Philadelphia!  And then apparently Jersey City!

And back and forth that effer bounced until finally...

After Christmas...

It Came!

Yes, it came just the same.

{oh yes, nice Grinch reference eh? i thought so.}

Since I didn't exactly get it in time to open one a day like the people who didn't have their package bounced back and forth by the post office, {sadface} I kind of just went crazy and opened everything all at the same time.  On my tiny couch.  Which proved to be stupid, especially as I was opening at the same time as my stepdaughter, so I forgot to take pictures of everything.  And due to the bouncing around so long with the post office, some of the notes Beth left me to tell which gift was which fell off, so a few things got figured out after the fact.

But everything was awesome!  She got me some funky Christmas jewelry, a lovely handmade necklace, a pretty rose decoration made of wood/bark, a cute gingerbread man soap and loofah, some awesome smelling bath bombs (yay bathtime!!), a really pretty handmade beaded necklace, and bunches of other goodies.  AND a gorgeous dress, that unfortunately does not fit yours truly. {sadface}

Then, just because my package disappeared for awhile, Beth sent me BONUS goodies to make up for it, even though it wasn't her fault in the least!

Au revoir, 2012

Every year can  usually be summed up in a similar manner.

There were good times, bad times...

Some sad things, devastating even, occurred.

But some of the happiest times too.

In 2012...

I said goodbye to a beloved brother.

I became engaged to the most annoying and wonderful man.

I started this blog, and "met" some amazing new (albeit long distance) friends.
I welcomed a gorgeous baby nephew into the world.
I loved.


Here are some highlights from my holidays.
I look forward to sharing a very happy 2013 with you all!

Santa Stone in  his leopard santa hat...

and me rockin' my new "soft kitty" tshirt...LOVE big bang theory!

my brother josh, and sister nanci...Christmas morning.

josh, my love, and me.

saying goodbye to one of my favorite music venues...

where I was back to being a teenager for the evening, as I was too cold to run back to the car for my id...

but at least we got to watch one of my absolute favorite bands. Pentimento.

in a sketchy city McDonald's drive thru, post show.  We do this a lot.

the man, all tuckered out after a much too long night of New Year's revelries.