motivated wednesday

since i couldn't seem to catch up last week, i'm attempting to make up for my lack of blogging this time around. 

there's no theme to this motivated wednesday post, just a big photo dump of things that have caught my eye and related back to my 30before30 list somehow. i had fun putting it together, so hope you like it, too!

motivating me to accomplish #14 on my list: start a sunday night supper tradition

fancy ice cubes: 3 ways. perfect for (extremely) hot summer suppers.

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home-made aguas frescas

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motivating me to accomplish #12 on my list: master taking photos the way i picture them in my brain

amazing self portraits taken by an 18 year old. yes, 18.

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motivating me to accomplish #13 on my list: decorate our "forever" home to reflect both my husband and i perfectly

this house is absolutely gorgeous and airy...it might fit in better near a lake or beach, but i'll take it in the city!

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motivating me to accomplish #9 on my list: plant a thriving vegetable garden

this is perfect for small spaces! i would love to have some basil, mint and cilantro (i put cilantro on everything) a few steps away from my kitchen!

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motivating me to accomplish #17 on my list: become crafty

a cute, easy chevron leather cuff. 

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motivating me to accomplish #21 on my list: start a regular yoga practice

my bikram yoga classes (that i mentioned here) are going so, so well. my body got used to the heat about 2 classes in, and i can see a huge difference in my flexibility from class to class. although the membership is too expensive (like, $109 a month!), i'm going to figure out a way to keep going to these classes once my Groupons expire.

and these pictures definitely keep the motivation up for me!

see my full 30before30 list here

blogosophere round up

in lieu of a belated motivated monday (wednesday) post, i'm just going to throw together a super quick "round up" of things i've seen & liked on the blogosphere lately. i promise that next week i'll post not once, but twice! hopefully. (i was in pain all day yesterday with a ridiculous migraine, so this post didn't happen when it was supposed to. unfortunately the migraine is slowly creeping back in today, so this will be a bit of a random post)

perfect patio re-do!

before:

& after:

i love the colors, love the chalkboard, the brick walls and the comfy pillows.

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freeze black coffee as ice cubes and toss in a glass of bailey's. um, best idea ever, no?

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a pretty little ombre necklace DIY:

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and also from emily, a perfect list of summer eats with recipes:

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perfect summer hair. i'm going to try to do this in the bahamas:

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bourbon cream rootbeer floats?!

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good tips on packing light with your cosmetics:

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again - i promise i'll be back soon and will post a ridiculous amount of posts once work slows down in 5 weeks. promise.
i'm struggling a little bit and feeling more than a tiny bit burned out.
so if you have any motivating words (or alcoholic beverage recipes!) feel free to share.

motivated wednesday: travel edition

i'm a little bit in denial about the fact that today is june 6. i'm not quite sure that i really believe that, because i feel like it should still be april. but that just means i've got to work really hard to accomplish more on my list in the next 6 months. 

since my birthday trip is now officially less than a month away (we leave on july 5!) and one of my most favorite people in the world has decided to join in on the trip last minute (yes!!!!), i'm feeling like i should put together a travel post. so i've split this post in two:

1. romantic vacations that i'd love to take with the husband - you know, waking up late, coffee on the terrace, midnight dinners with lots of wine, etc etc.

& 2. vacations that i'd love to take with the husband + my other favorites - you know, packing your own liquor bottles in your luggage, waking up late for a very different reason, afternoon lunches with lots of wine, etc etc.

i subscribe to daily candy and every now & then i get an email from them that either leaves me super jealous or super motivated. recently, i got an email describing the dream vacations of the daily candy editors, and i gotta say - they're dead on. these editors picked some amazing places that i would certainly put on my dream list, too.

here are a few pictures + places that i'd deem perfect for those romantic, recreating the honeymoon type of trips. as usual click on the source link at the very bottom for the entire article. trust me, you'll want to look at it.

hoshinoya karuizawa, japan

nicaragua

palazzo margherita, italy

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as far as the vacations with friends, here's what i picture:

 

i have no idea where this picture was taken, but i'd love to do a camping trip to the redwood forest with several friends (also, starting a camping tradition is on my 30before30 list!)

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this crazy hotel has a glass roof in every room to allow you to see the northern lights (also on my 30before30 list!)

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nyc!

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what's your dream vacation?

solo, romantic or family trips?

 

(see my 30before30 list here)

motivated wednesday

All day yesterday, I was thinking that it was a Monday instead of a Tuesday, since I had Memorial Day off from work. Isn't that the best surprise ever? When you realize (over & over again throughout the day) that you're one day closer to another weekend than you realized. 

I'm done training my eight week new hire class, and another eight week one starts this coming Monday, the 4th. So I'm trying to really enjoy this week of having a normal work schedule and not too many obligations at work - so far, so good. It helps that I had a fantastic weekend. It was filled with a little niece and a little nephew, basketball games, pulled pork sandwiches with friends I haven't seen in too long, and patio time. It didn't feel like 3 days, but that's ok. I'll take it.

I had a lot of fun putting together this Motivated Wednesday post...hope you enjoy it too!

starting a garden is #9 on my 30before30 list, but i don't want to start one in my current house since we're moving in a little over a year. so this DIY hanging basket garden seems like an easy, logical way to get some practice in before we're in our "forever home"...and it would count as a craft project, since becoming crafty is #17 on my list! it's a twofer.

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also, a handy "tutoring session" on gardening, seen here.

i love this cute compilation of "travel essentials"...as if i needed more motivation to cross off #1 (visit santorini, greece), #15 (visit barcelona and madrid, spain) & #19 (visit maui again).

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on my quickie summer to-do list, i said that i'd take more photos this summer. this is mostly so that i make sure that i accomplish #12: master taking photos the way i picture them in my brain. this is a really hard task, but shops like this encourage me to keep trying. i've been reading her blog for a couple of years now and love looking through her work. some examples:

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this isn't really aimed at any of my 30befo30 goals (except maybe hosting sunday night suppers?), but i'd like to make some flavored waters to have around the house when we have guests. since our backyard has been done (and finally has, you know, grass! and places to sit!), we've had a lot more guests over and it's been a blast. i want to keep enjoying our backyard this summer, so here are a few random motivators/ideas:

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backyard s'mores

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i mean, i could definitely handle adding this swing chair to our current or future backyard

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aaaand i would definitely not kick this chair out of bed either. oh, it's $500 you say? for a simple hanging chair? i'll just stare from afar.

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and lastly, for me.

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i'll be back on friday!
(see my full 30before30 list here)

motivated wednesday

Hey, guess who went to a 6am bikram class this morning? Yeah, that's right...this girl. I looked and acted like a monster this morning when I woke up at 5:20, but dammit, I made it to class and it was even better than the first class on Sunday. My breathing was a little more steady and I didn't even consider leaving the room once! That's progress, my friends. I downed some coconut water immediately after leaving the class - I think I chugged the whole container without taking a single breath. But still...progress.

Anyway, on to the real reason for this post: motivation! 

motivating me to accomplish goal #14: start a sunday night supper tradition
how awesome are these banana pops? they may be aimed at children, but i know i would personally love to make these at a casual dinner party.

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these are made up of 4 things that i cannot live without, and could easily eat every day. cheese, tomatoes, olives and cucumbers. perfect.

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plus, a whole beautiful blog dedicated to sunday suppers!

motivating me to accomplish goal #17: become crafty
geode bottle stoppers! we have enough wine/liquor in the house to warrant making some cute bottle stoppers. whether that's good or bad, i don't know. but i'm making these regardless.

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motivating me to accomplish goal #22: sleep in a tree house
this place looks incredible!

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motivating me to accomplish goal #1: visit santorini, greece with husband
i can't get over how amazingly beautiful this home is in greece. click the source for more pictures, of course.

Also, there's no photos for these two motivators, but I am:

 42 days away from the Bahamas &

 199 days away from my first half marathon

So with that being said:

(click here for my full 30before30 list)