Friday Five!

Good gravy this was another long week. I am so pumped to spring forward this weekend. I don't think I've ever been so excited to lose an hour in my entire life. It's just that when it's dark, or just about dark, when I get home from work ALL I WANT TO DO is go to bed. Like, we're talking pep talks to stay up past 8:30 every night. It's bad man. 

NEW LOOK! Guys, I wanted to mix it up a little, so I installed a new theme here. What do you think? At first, I was a little worried, because I loved it so but the example was very grayscale. We all know grayscale really isn't my jam (well I did paint all of the walls in my house gray. but that's different.) What do you think? I'm in love.

Books books books I did it. I joined the Book of the Month club. If you want to use my referral link, you get three books for $9.99. Let's be real, three hardcover books for $30 is a STEAL. I received my first book in the mail on Wednesday & I can't wait to dive in. I plan on finishing Big Little Lies this weekend (because it's supposed to rain!) and starting Dead Letters after that! Are you part of the Book of the Month Club? It makes me feel fancy, if we're being for real for real. 

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST I am so excited for next Thursday I could just about die. When I bought my ticket, I got a free download of the song. I love it. I feel like I'm betraying Angela Landsbury a little by loving it, but que sera sera. Also, check out this Belle inspired cocktail! Also, are we all in agreement that LaFou has always been gay? I always thought he was in love with Gaston, so I don't understand why anyone is up in arms about it. 

Albus & storms We had a pretty loud storm last night, around 3:45AM. Albus isn't usually afraid of the thunder, so I am assuming when he jumped up in the bed and laid on top of me, he was worried about me right? Just making sure you're okay and not scared momma!

Instagram themes If you've noticed, I didn't gram all week, until yesterday. I've been overthinking what my "theme" should be after Helene's post on Monday about how it's key to a successful campaign. So I've been really worried about what mine should be and how I should start planning. I have decided on one, so we'll see if you can figure it out once I get into it!

That's all I have right now, how was your week? Anything to share that I missed?

Five For Friday!

WE MADE IT GUYS. This week was a long one, I really wasn't sure we would make it to Friday. It was one of those weeks when Tuesday felt like Thursday and you just couldn't catch up. I wish that today was Saturday though, because it's supposed to be sunny and 80 degrees today, but rain tomorrow. Can I just get a sunny Saturday please? 

1// Hot. Yoga. Y'all. yesterday I took a FIVE THIRTY AM hot yoga class at be yoga. It kicked my butt, but it was awesome at the same time. My core is still sore today. Remember that time I did 30 days at the barre?! I don't think I could do 30 straight days of this, but I think I might stick to once a week or something...

2// We're getting SO CLOSE to Beauty and the Beast. I'm seriously considering buying this shirt to wear to the premiere. I need everyone's input please. It looks so soft and comfy! But also I'm allegedly an adult, so does that make it a frivolous purchase?

3//Wanderlust. I subscribe to all of those travel deal e-mails and it's killing me. I want to buy one of the trips that are on flash sale and just jump on a plane. I confess, I enter all of the sweepstakes that they tease me with too. I know the odds of winning are about the same as winning the actual lottery, but you can't win if you don't play, right? Turns out heavy planning for Ireland & Scotland next summer isn't tiding me over. Have you been anywhere exciting lately? Can I go with you next time?

4// House of pups. I've been dog sitting this week, so there are more dogs in the house than humans. I mean, there's just Albus & Little Bear, but still. Albus was so stressed out about a dog being in his house while he was in his crate, that I've been letting him stay outside of the crate. We're 2 for 2 on days out of the crate without destroying anything, so hopefully we make it a perfect three for three today.

GUYS. Little Bear is here + that means I don't have to stay in my crate while mom is at work! #albusdpup

A post shared by Albus Decker (@albusdpup) on Feb 22, 2017 at 11:25am PST

5// Kroger. Flowers. I bought the manager's special daisies on Super Bowl Sunday, they're STILL pretty in their little vases all around the house. I don't know if we've ever talked about my obsession with daisies, but they're my absolute favorite flower ever. They just make a room so happy and bright and I just love them. Not that I'm too picky about any flowers that are beautiful, but feel free to make it a drinking game every time my instagram features them. I think this one yesterday makes at least three since I brought them home...

What were the highlights of your week? Do you have your Beauty & the Beast tickets yet? 

And Now For Something Completely Different

I'm about to give you five completely unrelated updates about the world. Are you ready? READY? Okay. Here we go. 

carpe vinum || #lemmewineaboutit #winenot #winesday

A photo posted by Kasey Decker (@kdsmoove) on May 20, 2015 at 2:45pm PDT

one // I don't subscribe to the "quantity over quality" school of thought in anything, especially something that is my brand. so if I ever miss a day, it's because I genuinely couldn't put together a quality post and I don't want to waste anyone's time (mine included) that being said -- I'm not sorry. So. there.

two // Sunday is the Q&A call for our #AllStarSlimdown !! So if you're thinking about it, if you've ever though about the 24 Day Challenge or anything AdvoCare related -- you should totes mcgotes join us!

three // I have a super fun, fancy pants wedding to go to this weekend. SO I did Rent the Runway (if you click that + haven't used RTR, we both get $20!) + I ordered this show stopper that runs way. too. small. I almost cried. I put it on in the bigger size than I usually wear + it wouldn't fit. like. a half size bigger would have been perfect. but oddly enough it didn't come in anything larger than a 6L. SO I called, their customer service kicks. ass. they over-nighted me a new dress + it. is. perfect. I can't wait to share pictures! 

four // Jude is all better! Thanks for all the concerns. Apparently it was leaking coolant. We don't know where from, but they put a new cap on the "reservoir" + put in new coolant for me. The AC is colder now. so that's cool!  (heh heh heh...)

five // SHORT WEEKS ARE ALWAYS LONGER THAN NORMAL WEEKS. Have you noticed that? Anyways, here are five of my favorite posts from this week!! Kati with some instagrams that make me think maybe Minnesota isn't part of the North Pole ;; this sauce that Melissa has, I don't know what it goes on -- but it made my mouth water ;; Jen's TUNESDAY playlist ;; I love a good "currently" post -- PLUS Lindsay's has a giveaway with it! ;; and you know I'm constantly putting on car concerts -- so check out what Anita's car concert jams are! 

Ta-da! That was fun! I promise once I get my dumb apartment out of boxes, I'll be more present. Something about all of your stuff being everywhere makes life more difficult than it should be. I'm linking up with Meagan for blogger love!! What are you up to this weekend?! Anything exciting? 

Friday Favorites!

Can we go back + just make yesterday Friday? The weather was soooooooooooooo pretty + it was warm + sure felt like Friday. Today it's all cold + gloomy. How did it even get so cold? Like. what's up Mother Nature? I thought we were good. 

OKAY BUT HAVE YOU HEARD KACEY MUSGRAVES NEW JAM? She's basically my spirit animal. Mad props to Jen for making me listen to it that first time. 

I've been playing along with Melyssa for #TNCLovesSpring on the Instagram + I'm really digging the excuses to post like, nothing but flower pictures. I'm particularly proud of this one: 

" I must have flowers -- always + always " -- monet || #TNCLovesSpring

A photo posted by Kasey Decker (@kdsmoove) on Mar 24, 2015 at 10:18am PDT

SPEAKING OF INSTAGRAM. I'm pretty sure St. Patrick's Day didn't even happen because Sarah didn't instagram it, (oh hey, and neither did I...) Caroline pointed out that we've fooled them , and Helene hit it on the head about why she follows you on Instagram. Now I will shamelessly embed another insta because I can. Sorry 'bout it.

"and forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet + the winds long to play with your hair" -- kahlil gibran ☮ || #TNCLovesSpring

A photo posted by Kasey Decker (@kdsmoove) on Mar 26, 2015 at 2:06pm PDT

The Around The Horn linkup is over (big sad face here. this is not a favorite) BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS everyone loved it + I had SO MUCH FUN -- so I'm brainstorming a new linkup with Allison! Any ideas? Anything you want to write about? Anyone wanna go to a Braves game this summer?! HEY BASEBALL SEASON IS LIKE NEXT WEEK GUYS.

Last but noooot least, five of my favorite posts from this week: 

1. Jen will convince you that you, too, can run a marathon + subsequently the world. 
2. Michelle tries out pins + tells you whether or not they really work (yeah this is from last week, so what? what are you going to do about it?)
3. Kati Rose shares probably the best "welcome spring" playlist ever. Spoiler alert, it has Hanson on there. 
4. Kerri has all sorts of fun new lipstick shades you should totally be excited about. 
5. Kristin made what promises to be a fun + super easy spring grapefruit cocktail. I mean, if it has fruit in the word it's good for you right? 

That's it! That's all I have today! It's five things so I'm totally going to play over at Karli's place.  What are your favorite things this week??

5 Reasons You Should Go On An EF College Break Tour

**update** First of all, thanks so much everyone for reading and appreciating my honest words. We did so well that EF not only cancelled my referral code, but took away all of the credits I had earned from actual people I knew and this post. They even updated their terms of service. I see that while I was trying to figure out a solution, someone else was sending their referral code, which apparently hasn't been cancelled, so I can't earn credit for my opinion, but someone can use my opinions to make money off of, real cool EF. real cool. I'm going to leave this up, because I genuinely enjoyed the trip, and you know, apparently still want them to make money off of my honest opinion. More so because I do want there to be an unbiased, very much so not paid for review of the trip. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, but I can no longer provide my referral code. For what it's worth, they never contacted me regarding this post, asking to take it down or anything, because it's clearly driving people to take the trips, they didn't tell me they were cancelling my code, and they took away what I had already generated. **

Okay, up front. I was zero percent compensated by EF College Break for this. I am more than willing to share my referral code with anyone who wants to book a trip (I'm not going to include it in this post because I have a feeling it's against the rules I agreed to when I booked my first trip. side note, does anyone ever actually read the "terms + conditions" or do we all just agree? Do you ever wonder if we're like, unknowingly signing over our first born because we didn't want to read them?)

ANYWAYS. When I first stumbled upon EF College Break, through a Facebook ad of all places, I googled the crap out of it. I couldn't find a single trip review that wasn't on their blog. Not that I don't buy those opinions, just that it seemed weird that nothing was on the regular Internet, you know? Positive or negative. Then I vowed that I would blog the living daylights out of my trip so the Internet would know. It's my duty, right? So this is what I got out of my trip + why I will absolutely be going again. 

I 100% stole this picture from facebook. please don't sue me.....

Traveling Solo for maybe just the flight over // I didn't have anyone to travel Europe with me. When I booked the trip I was in a bad place + just needed anything to look forward to. I read all of the posts on their blog about "50% of our travelers sign up alone, 0% travel alone." I thought that was the corniest thing I had ever heard, until I got off the plane in Amsterdam. I literally made friends when I found the people waiting for the bus. That's it. Granted, I can talk to a wall, but I didn't feel like I was forcing anything + I was so pumped to make new friends. We even still chit chat on Facebook today (hey guys, glad you're reading this!) about how we're going to try to go on more trips. I think it helps that we all obviously had that wanderlust gene. 

BOAT TOURS IN AMSTERDAM

Fantastic day-to-day events // To be honest, I wouldn't have known where to begin if I was planning the entire trip by myself. I made a list of things that I absolutely had to see, then followed the planned excursions + optional add on adventures. I could not have possibly found the tour guides that we had on my own. From what I understand, EF is really serious about the people that they hire, and they're great about it. I've talked about our tour guide in London (remember? "what the front door?!"). We had equally fantastic tour guides in every city. Super knowledgable, fun, + not afraid to go off the beaten path. They were great. Honestly. I couldn't say enough nice things about all of our guides. I never once felt like I was drudging through a history class with a monotone professor who lived with the dinosaurs. 

Monthly payments for the win // Oh, you have three grand to drop on a trip today? Well, good for you, want to take me too? I know I didn't have a cool couple grand laying around when I decided to go. I did make a bigger down payment (because last year I didn't owe the IRS money...) then I had totally manageable monthly payments. So I paid off my trip month by month rather than magically being good at money management. It's super empowering to be able to pay something like that off, by the way. It's a steal too. My entire trip was less than I would have paid for a flight to Amsterdam and back. 

this has nothing to do with our tour director because I didn't plan this post while I was there so my photos don't reflect it.

The Tour Directors are the bomb.com // Along the trip we crossed paths with a couple other tour directors, obviously none of them were as kickass as ours (his name was Adam. he's fantastic! I would take a tour 100% just because he's the director.) They are amazing. Just like with the tour guides, they are super selective + only hire the best of the best. I'm sure that if we had a lame tour director who wasn't all about, well I don't know anything but us having a kick ass trip, we wouldn't have had a good trip. Adam wanted to make sure we loved it + had a blast + I don't think we could have had a better director if we tried. 

BECAUSE YOU WANT TO TRAVEL + YOU NEED TO TRAVEL // I have the bug. I have the wanderlust bug bad y'all. I want to go again yesterday. Obviously since I've blogged about wanderlust at least once a week since I've been back. I bet you're tired of hearing it. I wouldn't have been able to realize that dream without the folks at EF + so I cannot say enough good things about the trip. They recently bumped the max age to 27 -- so GO! OH BETTER -- LET'S PICK A TRIP + GO TOGETHER! 

Have I convinced you yet? Do you want to talk about it more? You should totally shoot me an email or stalk me on any other social media outlet (you can see some of my favorite pictures on the instagram machine...) Have you picked out a trip yet? I'm daydreaming of Greek Isles or Thailand or you know, a casual month in Australia + New Zealand. Again. 100%. EF didn't ask me to write this (guys they didn't even pick my pictures on insta to regram, that kinda made my inner blogger sad. I thought I instagrammed awesome pictures. #kaseygoestoeurope.) I just honestly think it was the best decision I have ever made. Hands down. Are you ready to go on an adventure with me?

ALSO. Did you miss my Europe posts? Catch up here:
London
Paris one || two || three
Amsterdam

5 Companies Who Should Sponsor Kasey At The Bat

I've seen Sarah do this post more than once + I think that I've said out loud more than once "you know, xyz should really sponsor my blog, because I love it + I bet I could convince my blogpeople to love it too."

TRAVEL COMPANIES // Hey guys. I love to travel. I just went to Europe + I have the bug bad. I took a bunch of pictures + they're pretty good. So you should send me on your trips, then I'll take quality pictures (that you can totally have the rights to in exchange for sending me on adventures) and be honest about how fantastic your company is and how it's totally worth the money to take your trip over company b. 

JOSE CUERVO (or a new tequila trying to steal my affections) // see here, here, and all of these here. (side note, I have a "tequila" tag + it goes for more than one page of posts. that in itself should let you know that I am a connoisseur + definitely worth hiring as a brand ambassador.)

HAIR PEOPLE// hi hello yes I have a lot of hair, I get a lot of "oh my god your hair is so long + thick + beautiful" which is all very true (super humble about my luscious locks, obviously.) but it is also a nightmare. 98% of the time it's in a sidebraid or a little wavy from being taken out of pigtails. I go through shampoo + conditioner like it's my job already, so if you have a product that you think is fantastic for hard to manage hair, I AM YOUR GIRL. 

RAIN BOOTS// I love jumping in mud puddles + I have to say, I look kind of adorable doing it. So, if you think your boots can live up to a grown person jumping in mud puddles, I'm your girl. Coincidentally, the rain boots I wore yesterday didn't quite cut it... 

if all the raindrops were lemon drops + gumdrops -- oh what a rain that would be ☂

A photo posted by Kasey Decker (@kdsmoove) on Mar 5, 2015 at 11:30am PST

BASEBALL TEAMS// Because we had so many people show up for the first round of Around The Horn yesterday, and because my post on going to MiLB games, even if you don't like baseball, is one of my most read posts, and "baseball" is one of the biggest search terms leading people here. (shortly after "bats wearing sweaters" so, there's that...) So you should definitely give me tickets + tours of your ballparks so I can tell America why they should be coming to your games.

I think I would make an outstanding salesperson for all of you. So the line can start forming now. I'll be anxiously watching my inbox for your inquiries.Who wants to be first?? PS. HAPPY FRIDAY GUYS! WE MADE IT!

Oh, Heeeey Friday!

This week has been such a weird week. With all the snow days and half days, I have to be honest, I kind of thought yesterday was Friday so I might have forgotten to put together a post for today. Whoooops. Anyways, here are 5 things from this week, ready, GO!

Softball Free Agent :: So, a couple of weeks ago, at the Oyster Fest, I saw all these people with super cool koozies. If you know me, you know I'm all about a good koozie. So I walked over to the booth where they were giving away, and said "hi! what do I have to do to get a koozie?" usually it's "just give us your e-mail address!" which I'm totes fine with. NO. I had to spin a prize wheel. I didn't win a koozie, I won free registration for Atlanta Sport + Social Club. So I'll be playing softball this year + making new friends... Anyone else playing this summer?

those were the weird half hats for ponytails. also I'm 11 years old, how cute was I?

THIS IS THE LAST FRIDAY WITHOUT BASEBALL:: Spring training games OFFICIALLY start on Sunday. SUNDAY! This is is better news than the forecast saying it's going to be 70 degrees next week. (and raining. 70 degrees and raining. BUT STILL 70 DEGREES.) Don't forget to join us for the Around the Horn linkup to countdown to Opening Day!!!

happy dance

Facelift? I'm really seriously contemplating a facelift for this fun place. What do you guys think? You would tell me if it was terrible, right? Okay. Okay. I'm probably gonna do it. HEY PS. I'm opening up sponsorship options SUPER soon. So follow me on the twitter, you just might get to hang out on my sidebar fo'freeeeeeee. :)

I'M GOING TO SEE WICKED AT THE FOX ON SUNDAY + I'M SO EXCITED I COULD JUST DIE. That's all. There doesn't even need to be any more explanation for that. I'll probably recap just how much I loved it next week.

ENTER ALL THE GIVEAWAYS!! I'm currently sponsoring two at once! LIKE WHAAAT?! Anyways. You can enter to win $300 to Anthropologie here (and use it to buy me a pretty sundress, right?) Also. You can enter to win $105 IN COLD HARD CASH. Right down below. You know you wanna. Then you can head over to Karli's place + see what everyone else is up to this Fri-YAY! 

chelsea | karli | vicki
tawnya | sydney | kasey
samantha | kaelene | chelsee

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 Things About Spring I Want YESTERDAY + A Giveaway!!

I am so 4652348% over winter. I'm over it. I don't want it to be cold anymore. No one looks cute in that many layers. No one. Not even like. Kate Upton or whichever super models Princess Taylor is hanging out with. Once you put that third layer + puffy coat on, everyone starts to look like the stay pufft marshmallow man. So instead of being miserable about the 10 degree weather, here are the five things about spring I want like, yesterday.

baseball // I mean, duh. Pitchers + catchers are reporting to Spring Training. It's so close I can taste it. I need more baseball in my life. 

flowy dresses // gimme all the sundresses. ALL OF THEM. I hate wearing tights, I'll even trade having to shave my legs every day (sorry, overshare...) for not having to wear tights with anything flowy.  

sundress up

flowers EVERYWHERE// Even Mother Nature doesn't like winter. Everything is dead and sleeping and saaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. I'm ready for green and flowers and sunshineeee. 

he can call me flower if he wants to

sleeping with the windows open // okay, so I live on a really loud road, but it's nothing leaving the TV + fan on can't make up for. the smell of spring is fantastic. oh especially if there's a little thunderstorm. 

DID I MENTION BASEBALL? // okay. well I'm mentioning it again. I'm ready for baseball season and beers and hot dogs and those giant pretzels and even the heartbreak that comes in September or October. I'm ready for all of it. gimme. 

hey ladies we got two cy young winners over here!

You know. I'll sit here + wait impatiently for it to be in the low 70's + everything in bloom. I'm almost looking forward to the pollen y'all. In the meantime, you should enter this giveaway so that you can buy all the flowy dresses for spring!!!!!!!! What are you most excited for this spring? It's baseball isn't it?

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $300 Anthropologie Gift Card

Co-hosts: Jenn's Blah Blah Blog ♥ To Hell in a Handbag ♥ Becoming Fab ♥ Lush to Blush ♥ Taffeta & Tulips ♥ Tide & Bloom ♥ Livin' Like Larz ♥ My Rose Colored Shades ♥Laura Jane Atelier ♥ Orange Marigolds ♥ Butcher's Niche ♥ Deliciously Savvy

Giveaway organized by: Oh My Gosh Beck!

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter daily. Giveaway ends 3/13 and is open worldwide. Winner will be notified via email.

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog? Click here to find out how you can join a totally awesome group of bloggers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Was Going To Tell You About The Superbowl

I had all of these great plans to blog about all of the things you needed to know for the Super Bowl. Then people beat me to it. So today I'm totally going to cheat. Ready? Okay!

5 Things For Sunday

Questions I Still Have About #deflategate

Sarah tells you everything you could possibly need for Sunday.

Why Marshawn Lynch Doesn't Like Interviews

Bill Nye The Science Guy on Deflated Balls.

PUPPY BOWL. DON'T FORGET THE PUPPY BOWL.

*bonus* Marshawn wins the internet: 

4 Things You Need to MAKE for Your Super Bowl Party
Shameless plug for my kickin' buffalo chicken dip.
THIS SAUSAGE CREAM CHEESE DIP OH MY GOD.
Beer + Cheese Dip
Tequila Sangria, obviously.

3 Drinking Games To Play
Sarah, again, with the best one.
Commercial Bingo!
Puppy Bowl Drinking Game!

2 Party Jams You Need On Your Pregame Playlist
Uptown Funk -- because I cannot get enough of this one right now.
Don't Tell 'Em -- because I really like to sing it "you ain't eatin' don't tell 'em"

1 Commercial You Gotta See

but seriously is this farmer single? all the heart eyed emojis.

And there you have it! All of the things I think you need for the game this weekend! Linking up with Sarah + Karli! Are you having a Super Bowl party this weekend?

5 Questions I Still Have About #Deflategate or #Ballghazi

HELLO FRIDAY. I thought you would never get here. Did you get stuck behind a parade or something on Monday? Anyways. In case you missed it, which I don't know how you could have, the Patriots allegedly illegally deflated the balls for their game against the Colts because it was rainy. In case you're wondering, here's how balls in the NFL work -- QB's pretend they're not as superstitious as baseball players, but that's not true. Each QB has a specific way he likes the ball to feel, so as long as it's within regulations, they can have the ball the way they want it. THAT leads me to question #1.

source

If Tom Brady is such an elite QB, how did he not notice that the balls were different? Okay. Now, I used elite in a sassy way because international super model Tom Brady + various other NFL QB's who don't have his hair like to argue about who is the most elite. ANYWAYS. If he's so great (which, obviously he's pretty good, this is his 6th Super Bowl appearance...) how did he not notice the balls were different? If a guy on the Colts DEFENSE noticed it when he intercepted the ball, surely someone who handles it a lot more often would also have known. 

source

Why didn't the referees notice? This is actually a bigger one to me than the Tom Brady one. I mean, it's cold, he's wearing gloves, he could make plenty of excuses. The refs though, their job is to make sure the rules are followed. THAT'S YOUR JOB. How are they not in question here? Seriously. One job guys. Why didn't they do anything about it before it was officially a scandal + the game was over? 

What is the NFL going to do about it? I mean. They're all over the board right now with their punishments. It's like they can't quite figure out what the right thing to do is. It's probably in your rule book, guys. You have a lot of rules, maybe someone's only job should be to make sure the punishments are by the book. 

source

When is the NFL going to hire Olivia Pope? They really need to. I bet she could fix this entire situation for them. I'm assuming she would start with "TOM. Don't say things like "I'm not squeezing them" because the American public has the collective maturity level of a 14 year old boy, and will giggle. While we're at it, dress like you're giving a press conference." Seriously, what was Tom wearing in that press conference? His comfy Saturday afternoon raking the leaves jumper? 

safety dance

Why is the NFL instead so focused on being a bully to Marshawn Lynch? There is probably nothing that makes me more uncomfortable than watching someone who doesn't like to be in the spotlight be forced into it. Beast Mode just wants to do his job and not have to answer the media's dumb questions. The NFL keeps fining him, which he seems to have no issue with + seems like a fair trade to me, but now they're talking about making bigger sanctions on him for only giving the media one-word answers? C'mon man. 

C'MON MAN

So, Mister Commissioner, if you could get me the answers to these questions, I'd greatly appreciate it. I mean, mostly the one about Olivia Pope. It does sound a little like Tom Brady already hired the handler who got Bill Clinton through the Monica Lewinski thing.. Also, if you're wondering why it was all but one ball that was underinflated, it's because the kickers need the ball to have all the air so they can kick it further. Okay. That's as long as I can talk about balls without giggling. Who am I kidding, I did a lot of giggling. Linking up with Sarah + Karli! 

huh huh huh

What do you think about this? Do you think the Colts should go to the Super Bowl instead? Or do you think the NFL will be soft about it + only give them a slap on the wrist? 

Currently.

Oh I always feel like when I do a "currently" post it's because I literally don't know what to write about, oh wait, that's exactly why I'm doing it... Anyways. The sun is out today and I'm only working a half day so obviously this is going to be short + sweet because I HAVE MISSED THE SUNSHINE. Weather induced depression is real, y'all. 

reading // Sherlock Holmes a Study in Scarlet I started it in London because I didn't want to leave yet. Can I go back yet? I want to go back. 

eating // goldfish crackers. because it's 9:30 am + that is a reasonable snack. 

drinking // McDonald's coffee, which is actually really decent coffee, but they HAD THE NERVE to make it to where not all sizes are $1, which really bummed me out. It's just about time for a cocktail.

planning// for someone else to make my birthday plans. I don't wanna do it. I just want them to be done. But I also don't want it to be a surprise. I don't like surprises. 

jamming // Cold One, by Eric Church. Because I wish it was summer y'all.

See? Short, sweet, 5 things I'm currently doing. Bonus: being incredibly lazy today. Sorry... What are you up to today? ALSO HAVE YOU SEEN THE BUZZFEED ARTICLE ON RON WEASLEY BEING ADORABLE? go on. here's a sneak peek. 

Five Things I Learned From Traveling Alone

HEY GUYS GUESS WHO'S BACK STATESIDE? This girl. I did it. I leaped outside of my comfort zone, apparently completely overcame my issue with flights, and went to EUROPE for nine days and didn't know a soul. I did it. I wasn't scared. I didn't cry. I didn't even get homesick. WHAT. Okay. Here's what I learned about myself: 

my kinda obnoxious sense of direction is worldwide :: It drives the people around me a little crazy how good I am at figuring out how to get places + how to get back. Apparently this is worldwide.

I really can make friends with a wall :: okay, so not literally. I've always said that I've never met a stranger, but being plopped down in Europe not knowing a single person put that to the test! I totally made all sorts of friends.

wanderlust is real y'all :: I had zero desire to come back. I mean I was walking through London planning on how I could start applying to grad schools + get my MBA there. I'm still leaning on that idea. Also I'm ready to pack my bags + travel other places.

I'm really bad at stairs :: so in Europe the stairs are steeper than America. maybe they're more coordinated or more focused on managing space. either way, our last night in Amsterdam I tumbled down the stairs. hit the floor face first. didn't break any bones. it was a miracle. and it was hilarious. 

the more I enjoy a place/activity/adventure, the less pictures I take :: Paris was my least favorite city of them all [I know, the horror! ] but the city I have the most pictures from. I was too busy enjoying the experience to take too many pictures everywhere else. I think that's a good thing.

So that's what I learned about my life! Did you see my instagrams? I found that I had to make a conscious effort to take pictures with my phone, not just Ringo the Rebel. Are y'all ready for never ending recaps of my trip? Because I could talk about it forever. Happy happy Friday (it is Friday, right? I'm not really sure what's going on yet. I tried to give the drive thru lady at Einstein Bros pounds instead of dollars.) I'm off to call FEMA about the disaster area that is my room where my suitcase exploded.............

Five Christmas Things That Freak Me Out

Since everyone is writing all about the Christmas things that they love and look forward to, I thought I'd march the other way and talk about the stuff that really creeps me out. Gives me the holiday heebie jeebies if you would (oh man, that probably sounds so much funnier to me than anyone else..) 

Elf on a Shelf okay, maybe this is because I don't have kids or whatever but a tiny elf reporting everything back to Santa is just weird to me. Plus they look SUPER creepy. I probably would have had nightmares about them if I had one when I was a kid. 

so many inappropriate elf on the shelf things here

that line "say, what's in this drink?" in Baby, It's Cold Outside I mean, hey buddy, what is in her drink? Why you gotta put something in your lady's drink at Christmas? Or ever? I'm sure she just means it's stronger than she realized, but still. What's up with that? Actually. You know what, just the whole song. It seems a little aggressive. She said she can't stay, lend her your coat + let her go home bro.

this is a little better.

those "Elf Yourself" videos or really any of the videos where you put your head on something/someone else's body. I don't know why. It just freaks me out. Probably because your face isn't going the way the rest of the body is and it could totally be like a horror movie. 

the Grinch // okay. I know it's a popular Christmas story but MAN does it freak me out. I don't know why. The cartoon one gave me nightmares as a kid, but then I got over that just in time for them to make one with real people which is even more terrifying. It doesn't help that the people at the front of my dad's neighborhood make + sell wooden cutouts of him.

SEE HOW SCARY IS THAT

mistletoe // this could go either way. I mean, if you're caught under the mistletoe with someone you want to kiss, okay, but what if it's someone you don't want to kiss? what if it's that creepy guy who followed you near it, just hoping you would get close enough for him to say "hoo ohh look who's caught under the mistletoe!"

awkward mistletoe moments

Honorable mentions: eggnog, because what even IS eggnog? are you drinking eggs in rum? it sounds gross ; that song about grandma getting run over by a reindeer, like did she die + we all just think it's okay? it sounds a little like she hit the eggnog too hard + didn't make it home ; he knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake do you ever feel like somebody's waaatchin' you?

What things about the holidays make you uncomfortable? I'm linking up with Sarah + Karli because I'm a fan of awkward situations at Christmas and because I named five things! HEY FRIDAY!