Casual Summer Outfit

I've been loving the bright shorts, simple tops, and fun jewelry this summer!

I wore this outfit last week for Chris' birthday fun- going on a boat then to dinner. 

I wanted to wear something casual enough, yet pulled together and appropriate for dinner out

Top: NY & Co (Fall 2011). Necklace: Old Navy (Summer 2012). Shorts: NY & Co (Summer 2012). Wedges: Payless (Summer 2012)
{I later changed into flat sandals because I realized we would be walking a while in the city}

Want the look?

Check out a similar outfit I put together...

Casual Summer Day by alyssalianne featuring longchamp handbags

What is your favorite look for the summer?

Fun Filled Birthday Weekend

This weekend was so busy but a ton of fun!

Saturday was Chris' birthday. I love his birthday. I enjoy putting together the perfect presents, planning activities and taking him out to dinner! 

{Friday}

I took off work and had a nice lunch with my dad and made Chris' birthday cake.

I then yelled at UPS for not delivering Chris' birthday present. They said they wouldn't deliver it because I wasn't home to sign for it. I never asked for a signature requirement. Needless to say, I was very mad and ended up picking the package up at the distribution center- I didn't want to wait until Monday to give Chris his gift! 

After I got over the UPS debacle, Chris and I spent the evening in Baltimore. We rode the Seadog, which is a speedboat tour of Baltimore. So much fun!

After the boat, we went to Kona Grill where I ate this amazing salmon salad and Chris got the biggest burger I've ever seen. We were so hungry so of course I got no pictures of the food, but this was my extremely strong Cosmo-martini {made with passionfruit Bacardi- so good}

At the end of dinner I started to feel extremely sick... apparently the combination of a boat ride in the heat, strong drink, and seafood was not something I could handle. I'm officially old. I was disappointed because we were supposed to meet up with friends for drinks after dinner, but there was no way that was happening :( Sad!

{Saturday}

Chris' birthday!

There was a lot of cake.

Cake I made...

And the cake Chris' Mom made...

There were also many gifts and lots of fun! We went back home to swim and hang out. This is one of the gifts I got Chris (it was actually my back-up plan in case the already mentioned gift from earlier didn't arrive in time...)

I think he is picking the pub crawl! I'll be reporting back about that soon :)

I also got him a sunglass case for his Oakleys, etched with his initials 

{this was the barely-arrived package}

{Sunday}
My BFF Liz and her boyfriend Ryan, who live in the Keys, flew in to MD this morning. Chris and I had brunch with them before they headed off to the beach for a family vacation. It's been almost a year since I've seen her and it was good to catch up in person! It's so weird to live so far from someone you saw almost every day of your life from Kindergarten through high school.. I miss her so much and hope to visit her soon!

Later in the day, Chris' mom and I went shopping while the boys went to see Batman. I can't wait to share some of my finds on the blog this week.


Linking up with Sami, Dana, and Leeann for Weekend Update!





How was your weekend? I hope it was great!

Sunday Social

Okay, I can't promise a blog post every Sunday but this sounded like fun!

{plus there is nothing on TV...the one thing I'm looking forward to about the Fall!}

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

1. What is your dream job?Opening my own private practice to serve children and their families. That's my "career" answer, but I truly want to open a bakery of some sort. I've always wanted to open a cupcake shop, WAY before those were even heard of. Maybe that will happen someday!

{salted caramel cupcakes}
2. If you just won the lottery and didn't need to work for money, what would you do with your time?Donate any earnings to charity, travel, and stay home with my future children.
3. What did you want to be when you grew up?A teacher. Always wanted to be a teacher until high school when I decided on being a therapist.
4. What piece of career advice would you give to someone just starting out in your field?Don't take your work home with you {Practice what you preach, Alyssa...}Seriously though.. this one is hard. I have a tough job as a social worker and have become a little jaded about things I can't even talk about on this blog. You have to separate yourself from work or else you will literally go crazy...and trust me, I've been there. Yes, you will see and hear about horrible things you only thought existed in the movies but you can't bring this home with you for your own sanity. {source}
5. Biggest pet peeves?About my job? When other workers or parents talk about their kids in front of the kids, as if they aren't there. Horrible.
In general? Dishonesty, selfishness, people who are stuck up, people who can't stick to their own beliefs and change their opinions depending on who they are talking to
6. Biggest fearsAnything happening to any of my loved ones. 

High Five for Friday!

Thank goodness it's Friday!

And thank goodness I'm off work today = 3 day weekend!

What a busy weekend it will be... so excited!

Check back in on Monday for my weekend update.

Here are the best 5 things from the week:

{1} These fruit bars. 40 calories each.

 I could eat the whole box and still be under my calorie intake for the day

That may result in a major brain freeze, so I'll try to limit myself. 

These are seriously so good!

{2} Bath & Body Works spree

I went in search of foot cream 

(TMI? Whatever, it's summer and my feet need major love from wearing sandals 24/7!)

I came out of there with 2 foot creams (this one and this one) and a face mask.

This is the best face mask I have ever tried (and I've tried many!)

Plus, I look hilarious:

The foot creams seem good but I've only used them a couple days. 
I love B&BW spa line so I'm sure they will be amazing.

{3} I GOT MY CAR BACK! Finally.

It's been in the shop for 2 weeks after an accident.

I'm so glad to have it back- apparently so excited that I couldn't take a picture that was in focus.

You get the idea :) 

{4} I got to see my brother Zach this week! He's 18 and living in the same city as his college, which is about 45 minutes away from where I live. He's working full time this summer and took summer classes. He's pretty awesome.

 I forgot to get a picture, but we had a good time chatting and catching up :)

{5} This wine. I stopped by my favorite liquor store, which is by Zach's college. The wine is so cheap there and they have an awesome selection of everything.

This is a local wine made at Boordy Vineyards (north of Baltimore)

My 21 year old brother, Ben, introduced me to this wine. His girlfriend, Olivia, introduced him to it. We share like that :)

It's spiced and sweet at the same time, and is so delicious.

If you want to try it, Boordy ships to several states, just check out their website for more information.

I do know that they don't ship to Washington (sorry Dani, I know you are disappointed!) :(

That just means you and everyone else will have to come visit me and go wine tasting! 

DARN :)

Ok now onto the weekend!

This weekend will be fun-filled... let's just say it involves a special someone's birthday and celebrations galore to go along (Chris', not mine!)

I like his birthday better because it's in the summer and not Christmas Eve like mine.
So it's always a good time!

Linking up with Lauren @ From my Grey Desk, of course! :)

Also, a blog note! I updated my button so if you have my old one and would like to change it, please go ahead! 

I would love to swap with you so send me an email or comment on my button swap page!

Have a great weekend :)

Tequila

I must be living under a rock.

I just found out that it is National Tequila Day.

If you know me, you know that tequila is my liquor of choice.

The Corona-rita is my all time fav version of a margarita...

When I first started to write this, it was right after work and I was fully intent on enjoying margaritas tonight... instead, Chris and I went out to dinner and then to the mall in search of shoes for him. Then I got another headache. I guess margaritas will be postponed until tomorrow :)

I make some pretty mean homemade margaritas 

(and by "mean", I just mean strong. Very strong)

Did you celebrate national tequila day? :)

Much Needed Lazy Weekend!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Mine was... uneventful. Just how I wanted.
I spent most of it like this:

wearing the same old sweat shirt

watching fluff tv

Let's go back to Friday, though. I came home from work and the apartment was completely clean. Chris got home before me and totally straightened the place up- I mean, he went through my junk mail and everything!

Have I mentioned that he's a keeper?

Saturday was spent running some much-needed errands, including a couple kitchen purchases...

Colander that hangs over the sink and a cast iron pan (we've been wanting one of those forever). Yeah, I get really excited over this stuff!!
(both from Kohl's with 20% off coupon.. pretty good deals)

After errands, a migraine knocked me out for a few hours. Chris made me dinner and tea and I loaded up on the advil (I couldn't take any real meds since I'm on-call for work). Finally it went away and I was able to relax the rest of the night and finish a book. ("Somebody to Love" by Kristan Higgins")

I'm pretty sure I've read all of her books... they're fun, light reads and are cheap on the Nook store! (less than $5 each). Has anyone else read any books by Kristan Higgins? 

On Sunday I did pretty much nothing besides some work stuff.
We got pizza and garlic knots from a local pizza place.. so good

Then watched the Bachelorette, of course.
Am I the only one who is happy with Emily's decision?
Not to spoil anything in case you haven't watched yet, but I actually felt this was the most genuine "love story" that I've seen on this show. 
Or maybe I'm just a sap. 
I would have been happy either way, I think.
I also think that Emily and I would be BFFs in real life! She is my favorite.

Of course I am linking up with Sami, Dana, and Leeann for Weekend Update! <3




How was your weekend? :)

Friday Friday Friday

TGIF big time this week.

I can't wait to just do nothing this weekend {my weekend recap won't be very exciting- you've been warned!}

Here are the 5 best things from my week!

{1} I am in love with this nail polish from July's Birchbox!

{2} Food this week- I've been making some pretty bangin salads with fruit, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, and raspberry olive oil dressing- YUM

We also made a crazy awesome dinner the other night... I made re-baked potatoes, Chris cooked steak and served both with broccoli

(sorry about that picture quality... still learning how to use my phone's camera)

I also made a Mediterranean pasta (without a recipe) that I made up as I went along. I never do that. I've been horrible at cooking and am just learning. 

That was a huge step! 

I don't have pictures of that meal but I'm going to come up with a recipe and will certainly be posting it soon :)

And last night's incredible on-the-fly takeout sushi.....

They even gave us a free roll! I have no idea what was in it, but it was amazing. 

I've enjoyed all this amazing food this week and still counted calories. I am down 3 pounds!!! To be fair, I have no idea how many calories are in sushi. I need to look that up.

{3} Malibu Melon Rum- This is my new summer favorite to mix with seltzer, sprite or juice... try it. You'll thank me.

clearly this isn't the only type of alcohol we enjoy, judging by what's in the background. you can barely see my 1800 tequila but that stuff if the bomb in a margarita...or by itself ;)

{4} Thanks, Pinterest. Before you, I never knew that putting the green onion stems in a glass of water would make them grow into new green onions- but now I know.

And I know that it works!

I put that thing in water 3 days ago and all that green on the top is new growth. So cool!!!

{5} Most importantly... 

I can say that I am so thankful for the wonderful people in my life. I don't say that enough. 

To my family and friends: I don't even see most of you enough. Just please know that I love you and think about you all every day! and to my co-workers (they also fall under the friend category- lucky me!), I don't know what I would do without you lovely ladies!

To my amazing boyfriend: Thanks for sticking with me through thick and thin- you are the bestest and always make me laugh. For example, you like to change my phone to a background called "skull from hell":

That is horrifying. But I love you for it.

To my bloggy friends: I've had so much fun meeting and getting to know all of you! :)

Ok ok, enough of that. 

Of course, I am linking up with Lauren for H54F!!!

Also, a reminder that I would love to swap buttons with you so send me an email! I don't care if we've just met, I'm sure we will be friends :)


Have a fantastic weekend!!!!

On Dealing with the Tough Stuff

I don't have an actual post for today. 

I've realized a few things while dealing with some crappy stuff this week that for some reason, I feel like sharing.

I like being positive here, because in general I'm a pretty positive person. 

But for some reason, these things just have to be said today.

I have to compartmentalize the "bad stuff" in order to go on with my day, unless I will be completely wrecked. I am pretty calm in crisis situations lately (my job is full of these) and I am able to think fairly rationally. Depending what type of situation it is, I might get upset when things sink in but I usually am able to put it in another part of my mind to deal with later. Yes, I think this is a form of denial. But it also enables me to go on with my day. I'm not saying I do things right, I'm just saying this works for me.

Here's what I've realized, though. 

There's no use in getting upset about things that you have no control over. 

Don't neglect the things you do have control over.

There are some battles worth fighting, and there are some that aren't.

Things will always get better.

This is the case across the board, no matter how you deal with the tough stuff.

I'm not writing this as a therapist right now. I'm writing this as a real person who has had some pretty wonderful things happen lately, and also some pretty awful things. I'm also someone who is trying to make the best out of things and learn from each. I'm sure that some of my outlook is naive, but I really don't care. If it gets me through my day, and can maybe help someone else having a tough time, that's all that matters to me.

So, I'm wondering. How do you deal with tough situations? Do you feel you could do a better job with this? (I certainly do)

...Am I normal or completely crazy??? :)

Bloglovin

I found my blog on Bloglovin... so I decided to claim it and make an account. I'm not really familiar with Bloglovin, but am going to give it a try! Any tips?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

July Birchbox

I was super excited to open this month's Birchbox!

Like usual, it didn't disappoint.

These headphones are my favorite part of this month's box! So fun!

Love this nail polish- a little disappointed it is so similar to another polish I got a few months ago, but I'm not complaining. I'll definitely use it!

Hair masque... I haven't used this yet but it smells great!

Shimmer lotion sample on the left... I accidentally opened the sample and it's not re-sealable and then proceeded to squeeze it all over. It's shimmery but not something I would really use because it made my skin look too pink when I tested on my hand.


Love this perfume on the right. I don't think I've bought perfume since starting Birchbox- I just use the samples I get every month! I get sick of fragrances quickly so this works for me! 

Top right- those are packets of Suki skin care system. I haven't used them yet and will probably save them for travelling.


The larabar wasn't bad either! It really just tastes like a Kashi granola bar (my favorite kind) but was a little sticky. I don't know that I would buy them regularly but it was a nice extra!

All in all, I'm definitely pleased with this month's Birchbox!

You can visit the Birchbox website to find all these products and more.
If you are a member, don't forget to review your items for 10 points an item! 

100 points = $10 to use on the website!

If you would like to sign up for Birchbox, click here!

What did you get in your Birchbox this month?