– a little morning time with my Lula… and these gorgeous white hydrangeas –

– a fresh batch of homemade granola bars for Christian –

– winning first place at a pizza-making competition at work –

(must be all that practice from this pear and gorgonzola pizza, margherita pizza, eggplant and tomato pizza, bbq chicken pizza and flank steak pizza…is it sad how much I love making pizza?)

– my first surf and turf burrito, hello addiction –

– farmers market Sundays with Bailey – and her best cobra impression –

– dangerously delicious coconut m&m’s –

We had such a fun and full week that I was snapping pictures left and night (Kathleen the paparazzi, that’s nothing new).  It was a little cooler this week and Christian had a surprisingly light workload, so we spent a lot of time outside which is always his favorite – eating outside, biking, farmers markets, riding around with the top down and keeping all the apartment windows open.  This is nothing for California locals who are used to these privileges, but we aren’t used to this kind of weather so we are obsessed! 

We spent last weekend in San Diego – thank you to those who helped us decide in this post!  It’s such a beautiful city and next time I need to do a little more planning beforehand to make sure we make the most of it.  

This weekend we are heading to Temecula for some wine tastings with friends.  After our fun anniversary weekend in Santa Barbara, we decided we should definitely take advantage of the wineries within reach, so I can’t think of  a better way to wrap up Easter Sunday after church than a toast in wine country with new friends.  

– new makeup brushes from IT Cosmetics –

– a birthday cake milkshake and fried pickles at The Counter with my beau (not pregnant, these are just my normal person cravings) –

– discovering this rubber band ball at Target – I had no idea you could buy these!! –

– mint manicured fingers and toes –

INPink ring (c/o) | Bip & Bop bracelet (c/o)

– perfect summer maxis c/o Windsor Store –

Happy Friday!  This week was extra sweet since I was able to take last Friday and Monday off to rest at home and catch up on what I’ve missed since my two week adventure in Chicago.  I loved getting back into the swing of things – taking out the pets, more follow ups with Queen Lula, cooking for Christian, the routine chores that I missed while living out of a hotel.

This weekend Christian and I plan to attend an Angels game with friends and are still debating between exploring in San Deigo or LA.  It still blows my mind that both of these cities are only an hour away. These Mississippi kids still can’t believe we live here.  Help us choose!  Which city would you pick and why?  And why isn’t there a Real Housewives of San Diego yet?

I hope y’all have a beautiful weekend!  Thanks so much for reading – XO –

– keeping warm on Michigan Avenue –

– beautiful chandelier upon chandelier at The Drake –

– enjoying the city scenery –

– birchwood displays along Michigan Avenue –

After two weeks in the city I finally said goodbye today and hopped on a plane back home to California.  It wasn’t nearly as cold on this trip as it was the last time we were here (think like…10 degrees), so 40 degrees in Chicago is practically beach weather in comparison!  I’ve really enjoyed spending so much time here, and I truly think one of the most charming elements of Chicago is the friendly people.

That being said, I still can’t wait to see my faves in Cali.  I’m thrilled to share that Lula has been having great reports from her surgeon and her wound is finally healing really well.  That means no more head cone!!!  I can’t wait to see my furry children and hug Christian’s neck.  While we live together, we really don’t spend that much quality time together because of our schedules.  Of course I’d rather be around him all the time but it makes our time together even sweeter.  Those of you who spend a lot of time apart from your significant other – how do you make it work?

I plan to do absolutely nothing this weekend, and I can’t wait.  What are your plans?  Thank you so much for reading – XO –

– Lula LaShonda’s version of helping me pack for Chicago…sleeping on my sweaters –

– amazingly delicious eggplant parmesan for my farewell dinner with Christian from our neighborhood’s Le Chateau Garden Bistro –

– home sweet home in Chicago –

– skillet mac & cheese from Local Root –

– purple tulips from our friends at Phillip’s Flowers & Gifts –

I’m making my way in Chicago and truly enjoying my time here.  Beautiful architecture, friendly people and delicious food – what’s not to love?  I have to say I miss my little family in SoCal, as this is the longest I’ve been apart from Christian since we got married, but I’m trying not to let that get in the way of soaking up the city.

Speaking of love, how cute is this feature from this post on the INPink blog?  A big thank you to the gals at INPink for this fun mention!

I’m trying to regularly hit up the hotel gym to attempt to counteract all of the amazing food I’m gobbling down like there’s no tomorrow.  What are your plans for the weekend?  Thank you so much for reading!  XO –

– spending the afternoon reading in the sunshine while this guy surfed –

– spotting my face in Modern Luxury Riviera –

– great seats to LA Fashion Week –

– breakfast and Glee on my DVR –

– pretty breakfast room blooms –

– playing with these new super fun Sticky9 jigsaw magnets –

– thinking of all of those matching for their medical residency this year and extra appreciative of our good luck –

I had so much fun attending some of the shows for LA Fashion Week last week.  My girlfriend and I were able to sneak backstage between shows and as I passed a line of tall, svelte models – I immediately flashed back to the episode of SATC with Carrie modeling in the runway show.  In the episode, the fashion show is split between models and “real people.”  When walking past these models backstage, I was very much the “real person.”

And then I got another cocktail.

Today is Match Day for all the fourth year medical students and it certainly takes my heart back to last year when Christian was matching.  Some of you may remember this post – but I know the nerves all those residents (and their hopelessly in love significant others) are feeling this year!  Christian interviewed in 14 cities between California and New York for a program with less than 300 available spots nationwide, so everything was on the table.  As long as I had my college sweetheart (and my (at the time) four-legged pets) with me, I was along for the ride.  I’m so proud of Christian for really putting himself out there and so thrilled for him that his hard work paid off.  Being so far away from home has been such an enormous team-building experience for us and I truly wouldn’t change it for anything.

In other news, this is my last weekend with my honey in sunny California before heading back to Chicago for two weeks.  It’s definitely going to be hard to leave my girl Lula LaShonda (and Christian and Bailey), but I know these three will look out for each other.  How on earth am I going to pack 12 days of clothes in one suitcase?  Any tips?  The last time I packed for this long I was going to Miss Teen USA…and that was a little different.  More sparkle, less thermal socks.

Y’all have a beautiful weekend and thank you for reading! XO –

– beautiful Vosges chocolates –

– realizing that the ends of celery hearts looks like little cabbage flowers –

– some new goodies –