Easter Eggs & Crazy Cookies

Hi all!

To those of you who celebrate Easter-I hope you have had a blessed and beautiful day!

I spent the weekend at my parents house and had a great time. It was so nice to get away from the city for a little while and enjoy some quality time with the fam. Mike, my dear friends Chelsea and Erin all came home with me-so it was a weekend full of laughter and fun! We colored eggs and decorated cookies which is something I haven't done the last couple of years. It's amazing how fast one can revert back to their childhood when doing such activities.

Here's a couple pics of our fun day of decorating:

Unfortunately, I've caught a bit of a bug, so it's time for some much needed rest. Exciting things are coming to the blog this week (including my first outfit post!) so stay tuned. :)

Lately...

Hi All!

This is my life lately according to Instagram. I realize that when you get to the point where you are posting pictures of your failing palm tree that it's time to take some new pics.... I'll get on that.

a) A picture of the reservoir Mike and I ran last night-so pretty!
b) a bunch of news trucks were outside of BC yesterday-I swear I didn't do it!
c) nighttime res pic.
d) do not try to tame the untameable....my hair is a frizzball nightmare today.
e) had a gilt city coupon to the copley mini bar and the drinks were delicious-especially my strawberry champagne-yum!
f) my poor failing palm tree, i'm taking it to my mom this weekend to see if she can restore its health.

In other news I am super excited because after I finish this post I'm running out the door to pic up one of my oldest and bestest friends, Chelsea!!! I'll be blogging about all of our adventures soon :)

Hope you all have a fab thursday!!

Linking up: Check it out, these ladies are amazing and have great blogs! (click for link)

Perfect City Date

Hi loves!

This weekend I went on what I consider the perfect Boston date with Mike. Intrigued? Check out my guest post over at the lovely Postcards from Rachel!

I'm also doing another sponsor spotlight over at Hunters of Happiness!-I'm so excited to be working with such awesome bloggers-they're amazing! :)

Hope you are all having a lovely Wednesday!!

Simplicty

Hi all!

Happy Tuesday!

I'm so excited to be doing another beautiful simplicity post this week as inspired by Emily over at Inhabit Your Moments.

Here are the simple things that I am finding beauty in this week:

a) Pinterest. 
Is anyone else completely addicted to Pinterest? 'Cause I certainly am. I made the (amazing) mistake of downloading the app onto my phone, so when I have trouble falling asleep at night, I pin pin pin!

Here are some of my favs from the week:

             
I love those quote inspirations and want that maxi skirt!!

b) a clean room
I did a massive spring cleaning of my room and made sure to make the bed and leave it tidy when I left this morning. I returned late this evening and felt WAY better coming home to a clean room than the disarray I usually leave it in the AM.

c) sun, sun, mr. golden sun
The sun finally peeked out of the clouds today and it felt absolutely glorious! I am desperately hoping it stays!

d) water
This weekend Mike and I went to the waterfront. After living in the city for a couple months, one of the things I miss most is being around water! It felt so nice to be by it and to feel the cool breeze (even if it was a tad chilly!)

What are the beautiful things in your life this week?

My Weekly Fashion Obsession

Peplum by lbinwonderland featuring tibi

This week I am loving peplum! I love the shape of it because it kicks out at the waist. Therefore, if I am feeling particularly bloated or tummy-shy that day, the material allows for room! I think all of these tops are super cute. I am getting to excited for spring and am going to have to find the perfect peplum shirt to wear!

Which one is your favorite?
Do you have any peplum?

Happy Monday, loves!

PS. Do you like the new blog header? I've been having fun trying new things out!

 

Learning to Be Happy

 Hi all!

I had a great weekend and hope you did, too! I went on what I consider to be the perfect Boston date (I'm so excited to be guest posting about it later this week!) And today I was able to see some of my fam at a brunch my sister and brother-in-law had.

This afternoon, I, in typical fashion, took a nap while Mike read. Before I fell asleep, though, I was thinking a lot about happiness. This weekend I felt blissfully happy-fuller than I have in a long time. 

When I feel this happy, I usually worry, which is pretty counter-productive. Ever hear that phrase, "waiting for the other shoe to drop"? Well, that is me a lot of the time. I worry that because I am so happy, that something in some area of my life is going to turn grey.

As I was laying there, sleepiness closing in, I realized-I needed to change my thought process. Why shouldn't I simply just be happy? Instead of worrying about my happiness, I just need to thank God for the blessing that it is and revel in the feeling of warmth it brings. Each day is each day. Whether it is a good or bad day doesn't depend on a single moment of happiness-it depends on a lot of things beyond my control. After all, this past week was horrible and look at what a great weekend I had.

So, this week I am making this my new mantra: Be Happy & Enjoy it. Simply live in the moment and throw both shoes out the window and go barefoot for a while.

Hope you all have a wonderful start to the week!!

Two Years

Today is Mike's and my two year anniversary. Sometimes, it feels like the time has absolutely flown and other times it feels like I have known this man for my whole life and two years just doesn't sound right. Either way, I am so blessed to have him in my life. I know this blog has been a little bit of love overload lately, but so many changes have been happening in our relationship that I've wanted to share about! :)

I thought it might be fun to share the ten things I love most about Michael.

1. He makes me laugh. Constantly.
2. He respects me and makes me feel cared for.
3. He communicates with me and always forgives me when I have freak out moments.
4. He's a great cuddler- and I demand a lot of cuddle time.
5. He makes just as many funny faces in pictures that I do.
6. He plans fun trips for us and honors our inner wanderlust.
7. He respects my faith and takes an active role in growing in our relationship with eachother and God.
8. He's shared in pivotal life moments with me, both the good and bad & I know he will continue to always be there.
9. He's a goof ball.
10. He loves me with his whole heart and not just a piece of it.

Happy Day.

My Spring Fashion Obsession

Maxi Skirt by lbinwonderland featuring long skirts

I have been seriously dreaming about spring and as I currently look out the window I see snow flakes coming down. Therefore, in order to not fall into a complete winter stupor, I am posting about my latest fashion craze..

The Maxi Skirt! Do any of you ladies own a maxi skirt? I want to buy one or ten. I love how flowly (so not a word) and comfy they look. Any suggestions on where to buy one? I am in the market!

What's your favorite spring look/inspiration?

Happy Thursday, friends! Friday is so close!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I am loving..

That it is the end of my school week! No more classes, only work. Which means I can focus a little more on blogging :)

I am loving cute rain boots! These boots from my mom gave me totally made slushing around in the snow/sleet/rain mix yesterday way better.

I am loving this BB cream! I had never tried BB creams before & I love the way it feels on my skin-totally natural and it gives a great glow. It comes out of the tube looking like lotion and then blends to your skins natural color. It's super easy which is good for me because I am pretty low-maintenance when it comes to make-up during the school week. (My other two beauty finds I'm loving are Smashbox blush and Tarte liptints.

I am loving that Mike's and my two year anniversary is tomorrow & that we will be able to celebrate in person.

I am loving that i'll be able to finally get a run in today and get to wear my new hot pink sneaks! :)

And I am loving this proposal story I found on pinterest!! So adorable.

Happy Wednesday, loves! Half-way there to the weekend! :)

What's on your Wednesday loving list this week?

 

Life Catch-Up & Bloglovin

Hi All!

I'm so excited to be back on the bloggersphere after a couple days hiatus. Sorry I disappeared but between moving and Mike's birthday I was on the go go go and am now just stopping to catch my breath (and share with you all!)

First off, the move went great. On Thursday Mike and I packed up his apartment and moved everything into the moving truck. It was just the two of us, so I was super proud that we got it all done. I even moved an all oak dresser down two huge flights of stairs- I felt pretty awesome. It really felt like the start to Mike's and my new journey together.

Then on Friday Mike drove the moving truck and I followed behind in his car. It was a tad hilarious watching him drive this sixteen foot monstrosity-but he did it in style. The moving truck couldn't go above 75 mph so it was a bit slow going, but we finally made it to Boston! Here's a few pics from the road and the bottom left is right when we got to Mike's apartment (can you tell I was a little excited?)

 

 

My parents came down to help move Mike in (thanks Momma and Poppa Fish!) Mom even brought some cookies and my all favorite buffalo chicken dip (I'll post the recipe on here soon).

Friday night we went out with some friends of mine from school and I had the most delicious cider. If you like cider try DownEast's cranberry cider. It's my friend Cambria's boyfriends company which I had no idea until I posted a pic on instagram-the power of social media at its finest, friends. :) So, if you like Cider, definitely give them a try-totally delicious!

Saturday was Mike's birthday! Happy Birthday, Huck! :)

We had a relaxing day. It started out by taking him to lunch where he literally had the largest nacho plate I've ever seen-both of our mouths dropped when the waitress brought it over. We then ran some errands at Target and headed back to Mike's for a much needed nap. For his birthday night we went to a Saint Patrick's Day shindig which was a ton of fun-check out my Shamrock ears! :) I bought him Red Sox tickets for a game in May-so I'm excited for that!

I am so excited Mike is finally in Boston. I keep waking up each morning excited and realize it's because he is so close by! But, alas, I'll stop gushing. :)


You can now follow me on bloglovin'! Just follow this link or the tab on the right sidebar.

Hope you all have a fab start to the week!

How were your weekends?

What did you do for Saint Patrick's Day?

 

I'm leaving on a jet plane...(Our LDR Story)

Don't worry, I know when I'll be back again.

Tonight I'm flying to Michael so I can drive his car back this weekend for his big move! I am so excited. No more constant traveling, no more tearful phone calls (on my part-if it gets past ten o'clock at night and I miss Mike a lot and talk to him, cue the waterworks) and most importantly no more long-distance!!

Mike and I have been long distance for a while now. He graduated a semester earlier than me and ended up finding a job in his hometown. After I graduated I had the big decision of where to go to grad school. Through many conversations Mike and I decided I should pursue my dream of moving to Boston and that he would eventually move north. It was a hard decision to make because I had been accepted to a graduate school near Mike. I knew I wanted to be in Boston, though, and Mike knew he would eventually want to move here.



It was painful to say goodbye after living the summer near the beach together. All of the sudden we were going to be back to long-distance.

Over the past few months (here in Boston) I have learned a lot about love, relationships, and us. I've learned to always have faith (even when it is incredibly hard to do so). There were so many times I broke down because I wanted to be close to Mike-he always reminded me, though, that every fairytale has a time in it when you're not quite sure if the couple will end up together and that that was the part of our story we were in now, but one day we would reach our happily ever after of being together. I am so glad I did, because that someday is finally here.

I believe long-distance really strengthened our relationship as well. Both of us went through some challenging things during the last year and we had to deal with them miles and miles apart. We got good at communication which has made all the difference.

I love this boy and can't wait to start our next adventure. For my LDR loves out there, if you ever want to chat about long-distance, let me know. Us gals have got to stick together! :)

So, I'm leaving on my jet plane tonight and finally getting my guy and bringing him home. Here's to our next adventure and hoping it will be full of love, happiness, giggles and lots of cuddles.

See ya'll in a couple days (I've got some boxes to move! :) )

Simplicity

source

Today I am linking up to Emily over at Inhabit your Moments. She just had a great post about how there is beautiy in simplicity and I couldn't help but totally agree!

With school being back in swing and only a few months left, I have developed the stress bug. This week seems to be a lot of work and no sleep. Reflecting on the beautiful things in life that make me smile makes me take a step back and simply,

breathe.

 

So here are some of the things I find beautiful and keep me smiling:

 

1. Cuddles! I am so happy this guy is moving here. It means I'll be able to get hugs and cuddles more than every couple of weeks! That  is sure to reduce my stress level. Something about hugs...they keep a person smiling.

 

 

 

2. Ireland. I studied abroad in Dublin and with Saint Patrick's Day coming up I am constantly reminded of all the beauty I saw there. Everything was so lush and green and the people were so sweet. I miss it every day!

 

 

3. New art work: I found this picture of Brigid (patroness of Ireland) on Pinterest and love it. I am hoping I can figure out who the artist is and hopefully buy a print of this. Brigid is a 4th century abbess and lived such an amazing and inspiring life. She's a strong, powerful woman who reminds me to be the same! I was able to go on a walking retreat while in Ireland and visited a bunch of her wells and places attributed to her. (As you can see I'm on a bit of an Ireland kick at the moment! :) )

 

                                                                                source

 

Hoping you have lots of beautiful, simple, inspiring moments this week!

 

 

 

 

Where/What is the beauty in your life ?

 

 



Monday Inspiration

Mondays are always a bit rough, but this time change really confused my body! I couldn't get to sleep last night which meant I was a bit of a zombie all day. For you LOTR friends, I thought this was appropriate:

source

I was interviewed this morning for a religious education video series-I'm hoping my acting career will take off and you'll see me at the Oscars next year, seated right next to Ryan Gosling...

Hey, a girl can dream, right?

In other news I am counting down the days until I fly to Mike and help him begin his treck to Boston! I absolutely can't wait! He's worth all the boxes I'll be hauling.

Here's some Monday inspiration from Pinterest for ya'll.

  

source 

Hope you have a great start to the week!

Do anything fun this weekend?

Any Monday inspiration to share?

Does anyone else feel like a zombie with this time change?

Linking up to GFC (yay for my first link-up!)

Why I'm loving blogging

I am brand new to this blogging thing. I just started lbinwonderland a of couple weeks ago and what I have discovered is simply terrific.

I've started following some amazing blogs-there are so many amazing women out there telling their stories-it makes me sad I'm just now getting into blogging! However, I am so excited to learn, grow and share in this community.

I in turn am loving being able to share my own stories, thoughts, etc. It's so fun to meet new people and I always jump with excitement when I see I have a new follower (someone wants to read about my adventures?! AHmazing!!!)

I hope you join me as I stumble around a bit and find my footing.

I am so exciting to be a part of the blogging community and can't wait to see where this adventure takes me!

To all you wonderful bloggers out there-thank you for making this so much fun!

Gargantuan News!

Today marks the end of spring break.

Which in turn means classes begin tomorrow. I can't believe break is over, it simply flew by. I also can't believe I only have two months left and I will be done my first year of graduate school! Time flies when you're studying, eh?

I much rather be here:

Dreaming of the Bahamas...

I can't be too sad the days of sleeping in and doing nothing are done, however, because Michael is MOVING here!!! I can officially announce it to the world-and boy, does that feel good!
Mike and I have been in a long-distance relationship for the past year and a half. It's been both beyond challenging and an incredible growing experience. I moved to Boston knowing that eventually Mike wanted to move here too. We just didn't know when.

So after months of worrying it may never happen and I was destined to have a Skype relationship with my beloved, I am over the moon. :)

The biggest thing I have learned throughout this experience is to keep faith. A lot of times I doubted and worried about all the small details constantly (okay, a bit more than constantly- a gargantuan ton). When in reality, all the small details where working themselves out as they were meant to.

So, for all you LDRs, my best piece of advice is to always try and keep faith (and believe me, I know that is WAY easier said than done sometimes!)

I'm flying down to Mike's later on in the week to drive his car up and move him into his apartment.

Yip, Yip, HOORAY!

I hope you all enjoy your Sundays and they include lots of good rest and sweets!

(Ps. Isn't the word garguantuan simply awesome?)

 

How about all of you? Anything exciting going on?

Any good long distance relationship advice?

Any fun words of the day?

Anyone else ready for spring? Cause I sure am!

To Women Everywhere...



Link

Happy International Women's Day!

I have been/am so blessed in my life to know sometruly remarkable and inspiring women. On this day that celebrates women everywhere I hope you remember how...

Beautiful,
Strong,
Courageous,
Intelligent,
Funny,
Caring,
& Loving


You are. To those women who inspire me and continue to do so (including all of you women readers!) Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Happy day my fellow females---I am so proud to be in your ranks. :)

Work it

on my run this morning (it started snowing! brrrr!)

Hi all!


I've decided to start a new blog update every Wednesday entitled "Workout Wednesday" (clever, right?)


I'm hoping that it will keep me accountable to actually being active, and that it will be a place for you and I to share our inspirations, favorite workouts, and that this can be a space of encouragement for one another! :)


So for my first Work out Wednesday I thought I'd share a bit of my own fitness story...


This January I decided it was time I really applied myself to being active. All throughout highschool and the beginning of college I was an entitled "bean pole." I could eat whatever I wanted and had the type of metabolism that kept the weight off and kept me at that bean pole stature. Fast forward three years and I managed to gain thirty pounds. I told my doctor it was my body's way of "becoming a woman!" Aka my metabolism finally slowed down and I developed curves for the first time in my life.


At first, I hated this. I was used to not having to work out and eating whatever I wanted. I wasn't used to being a larger pants size or needing to work out in order to feel healthy and be at the weight I wanted. I have struggled with the realization that I am no longer a "bean pole" over the last year and at the start of 2013 really decided I needed a mind shift.


Before I could become active, I realized I would have to do it for myself and not because I "needed" to lose weight but because I wanted to become healthier. I looked myself in the mirror and decided it was time to embrace my curves. I actively try to look at every person I come accross as a child of God and as beautiful. If I wanted to truly see others that way, I needed to see my own self that way.

And with this mind shift came a lot of freedom. I recognized my own beauty and also that if I wanted to get more fit and healthy-I should simply just do it for myself because it makes me feel good. And if my tummy shrinks while I'm at it-awesome.

Since then, I've joined the gym at school and sometimes am good at going, other weeks I struggle and put it off. My hope is that I keep trying and get better at making fitness a priority. And when I am feeling down or frustrated with the lack of immediate results to remind myself: Hey LB, you are beautiful just the way you are.


Try it yourself:


Hey, ___________, you are beautiful just the way you are.


I think that's a fact worth remembering.


Love,
LB
                                                                                                             What inspires you to be healthy?
                                          How do you encourage yourself? Especially when you feel frustrated?