Look what I got!

My friend Kalyn is an artist and recently started an etsy shop. One of Kalyn's blogger friends did a giveaway of the beautiful piece above, and I won! I just got it in the mail the other day, and I love it! I'm so proud of Kalyn for starting her own business. She has a lot of charming (and affordable!) pieces in her shop, so go check it out.

Spring Break, Part Two

Britt and I headed back to Champaign on Sunday afternoon for a special ACU group gathering. Daniel's parents, who are wine connoisseurs, were in town, and they graciously agreed to host a wine tasting for our ACU group (oh, the irony). Daniel, Liz, and Daniel's parents prepared quite a feast for us, and we got to try 8 or so different wines. It was so fun, and I feel like I have a better grasp of the characteristics of some of the different types and a better idea of which "supermarket" wines are relatively good.

Erin and Liz

Monday, Britt and I did some shopping and then took it easy watching episodes of Scrubs on Netflix. That night, Darby and I introduced Brittany to Custard Cup (our favorite pastime!) and went to see The Adjustment Bureau.

Yum! (Notice my small cup--trying to be good; it's all relative)

On Tuesday, we went to this huge scrapbooking store about an hour away and then sat and read magazines in Barnes & Noble. For dinner, we went to Papa Del's and then came home for some chocolate chip cookie pie and game-playing.

Britt's flight home wasn't until Wednesday evening, so we got to enjoy a walk and lunch at the Courier Cafe before driving to Chicago. I am soooo glad she came. It was wonderful to catch up and have some extended "girl time." One of the hardest things about living up here is not being able to see my Texas friends very often or for very long, and feeling like I'm missing out on their lives. This was just what I needed.

Spring Break, Part One

I had a fabulous Spring Break with Brittany. I'm so glad she came to visit!

Her flight got in Friday night (to Midway, not O'Hare, which I very luckily realized just in time). We checked in to our hotel and then split some delicious cheesecake at the Grand Luxe Cafe (Weight Watchers was decidedly NOT in the picture this week).

On Saturday, we went to the Hancock Observatory where we enjoyed our coffee with a view.

After that, it was on to the Art Institute, then lunch at Pizano's Pizza (just so-so), wandering around Millenium Park, and a little shopping on The Magnificent Mile.

The obligatory "bean" photo

Saturday night we had dinner at a great Italian place, Topo Gigio. I highly recommend it. Then we went to see a comedy show at Second City. It was a really funny show and so much fun to do something completely different.

Sunday morning, we went on a walking architecture tour. It was very interesting, and I probably would have enjoyed it even more had it not started pouring about halfway through. We finished out the tour, then tried to warm up with some soup. We were hoping to go to the aquarium, but the line was really long, so we went to the Field Museum instead. After that, it was back home.

It was such a wonderful girls' weekend. Britt and I both have issues with asking people to take our picture, so we didn't get any pictures together (besides the fuzzy bean one above). But, Darby took one of us at my beloved Custard Cup, which I'll post in Part Two. :)

Spring is here!

One thing I enjoy about living in a colder climate is that the long winters really do make you appreciate nice weather more. Yesterday, it was around 70 and sunny and everyone was in such a good mood. During the first few days of spring, everybody goes outside and just walks around with huge smiles on their faces, saying, "It's warm!" I don't remember that happening on such a large scale in Texas.

Spring break starts today, and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! Brittany is coming in tonight and we're going to spend a couple of days in Chicago; then, she's going to come down to Champaign for a few days. It's going to be AWESOME! Just two more classes and a workout to get through, and then the fun begins. Yayyyyy!

Grown-Ups

I've always enjoyed sleeping in on Saturdays (until about 10 or so), but lately both Darby and I have been noticing that we feel really sluggish on Saturdays and often have headaches. We wondered if it could be the disruption in our normal sleep schedule. So, we decided to try getting up at 7:30 (just one hour later than normal). We've done it for two weeks now, and I really like it. I have a lot more energy, and I'm able to truly enjoy my Saturday rather than feeling like I've wasted half the day already. I think this means that we are officially grown-ups. :)

Also, I know I said I wouldn't give a weekly Weight Watchers update, but I can't resist. Even after a week in which I had: pizza (twice), dinner out at an Italian restaurant, and fettuccine alfredo at a friend's house, I still lost 2 pounds! I'm very excited but also amazed at how badly I must have been eating before this.

Weight Watchers

So, one of my goals before I turn 26 is to lose 5 lbs. Well, before last week, that wasn't going so well. In fact, it was going the opposite direction. I had actually gained a few pounds. I really was trying to eat healthier, but there always seemed to be some excuse not to ("it's someone's birthday"; "someone brought cookies to school"; "friends invited us out to eat"; or, let's be honest, "it's Monday"). So, I finally decided enough is enough and joined Weight Watchers. Most of my family has done Weight Watchers in the past, so I was familiar with the program.

And, after one week, I have to say, I LOVE it! Having a very structured goal was exactly what I needed to get my eating on track. I've been eating a lot more fruits and veggies, eating smaller portions, and not mindlessly snacking on pieces of candy here and there. I like that I can still basically eat whatever I want; I just have to decide if it's worth it. My true test last week was when some friends invited us to Texas Roadhouse. I got the grilled chicken salad and, here's the kicker, only ate one of those delicious rolls. And guess what? I didn't die. :) I was telling Darby that the strangest thing about being on this program is that I hardly ever feel full. I'm used to feeling full basically every day. I didn't really know how to stop at the point where I'm not hungry anymore but not full; it's nice.

Anyway, my goal is to lose 11 lbs. I weighed in this morning, and I've already lost 3! I'm so excited. I know that every week won't be such a drastic change, but I'm glad I'm off to a good start. And, don't worry, I won't bore you with an update every week or anything. Just had to share my good news. :)

I'm mean in my sleep, part 2

See part 1 here.

My sleep-talking has been pretty minimal lately, but I guess I've been kind of stressed because it's happened twice this week. And poor Darby has to put up with it.

On Monday or Tuesday night, I started whimpering and saying, "Should I have done something?" Darby said, "Should you have done what?" Then, I said, "There's a card I could have used." Evidently, I was dreaming about Dominion, a game Darby got for Christmas and we've played quite a bit. Not sure why I was crying about it, but I do take games pretty seriously...

Anyway, that was a little annoying but not mean. Then, Wednesday night, I started telling Darby, "Stop it. Just stop it." He said, "What?" I said, "You know." He said, "No, I don't." Then, I said, "You're such a self-assured (slang term for male anatomy)." I have NO idea why I said that. I've maybe used that term once or twice in my life. But I've certainly never called Darby that. Our conversation went on for a little while with me insisting I had a right to be mad at him. I guess I had a dream that he was being mean to me, but I can't remember that part. I do remember getting mad at him, though. Poor guy. I apologized in the morning; luckily, he has a sense of humor about it.