Friday Favorites: A Week Away & Guest Bloggers

Hi friends. Sorry I skipped posting yesterday. I got a little bit busy and didn’t get around to writing a post. But I’m back today for Friday Favorites.

Tomorrow morning I’m heading out of town for 8 days to go house hunting in Seattle and a few days back home in home sweet home Chicago! Emily reminded me that I want to go to RMP Italian so I made reservations a little while ago. I’m very much looking forward to that! And of course seeing my family and friends! 😉 

I love that Reese is on the cover of Women’s Health this month. We all know how much I love her around here. She was one of the guests on my coveted (imaginary) dinner party 😉

Reese Witherspoon Is an Entrepreneurial Ninja with an Empowering Mission

I love little kids and this video is too funny.

Girl Scared of Her Own Shadow

I love all things British and this video put me over the edge. Little British kids and their accents are beyond adorable. If you guys haven’t seen this video, you have to watch it! I always joke with Dave that I want to raise our future kids in England for a few years so they can grow up and have British accents 🙂

How awesome is this seal surfing on a whale?! haha

In case you missed it, I got to guest blog on Wednesday, over at the Siberian American talking about how I plan my trips.  And speaking of guest blogging I want to thank all my girls who will be taking over my blog next week while I’m out of town. Shout out to my blogging friends: Lauren, Molly, Katie, Mattie and Katelyn!

Have a good weekend friends!

As always I’m linking up with these lovelies:

Hill Collection and Running 4 Cupcakes

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Who’s Coming to Dinner – Link Up

 

Today I’m linking up Andrea today for her Show and Tell Tuesdays and today’s topic is: Tell Us Who’s Coming to Dinner:

1) John F. Kennedy

I have a fascination with the Kennedy family. They have such a fascinating history and so many productive family  members that have done so much for our society. JFK was such an inspirational figure in the 60s and he got people interested in politics that normally weren’t. He and Jackie were so glamorous. He led such an exciting (although brief) life and I know he would have so much to say at a dinner party. And what a charmer with his Boston accent.

2) Kate Middleton

One of the main reasons everyone loves Kate is because she is a, as the English say, a ‘commoner.’ She didn’t grow up a royal in castles under the microscope. She has handled herself in such an impressive way and I’d love to hear how she deals with it all. And while we’re at it, I’d love some fashion tips too 😉 haha

3) Mindy Kaling

Mindy, Mindy, Mindy. Where do I begin? She is just perfection. She makes me laugh out loud, whether I’m watching her show or reading her book (Can’t wait for her next one to come out this month!) Everybody wants to be her best friend, and you’d better get in line, because she tells it like it is, is super confident, has an amazing sense of style, and just seems like so much fun to be around. And she’s a hard worker and is getting it done. #girlpower!

4) Reese Witherspoon

I feel like I always talk about Reese but I just can’t help it. She is so cute! She’s a great actress, supports other women, is a mom and a wife, and a sweet Southern bell. (She named her son Tennessee for goodness sakes!) Southern girls have impeccable manners, are so friendly, and are always dressed to the nines. Reese seems like she’d be a fun girlfriend to hang out with and drink some sweet tea.

5) Chris Harrison

He has been at the helm of the Bachelor franchise from day one. Can you imagine all the stories he has?! I could talk to him for hours-hah! He also is really funny in his blogs he writes for the shows and seems very down to earth.

This is such a fun topic and it’ll be fun to read who your dinner guests would be!

 

 

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

I loved this book. I couldn’t get enough of it. I wanted to know more after it ended. I wanted to know where she went next, how she transitioned back into real life in Portland and what lasting impact it had on her. (I know there are lots of interviews she has done since she completed the trail, and I have yet to see the movie starring Reese Witherspoon because I wanted to wait until I was finished with the book.) But those were my initial thoughts after I finished reading it.

As a woman one of my main concerns would be safety on the trail especially being by herself. So I was really interested to see how she dealt with that and how she told herself she wasn’t scared.

I really enjoyed hearing about the camaraderie she felt among the fellow hikers she met on the trail. She said they motivated her and lifted her spirits when she was feeling down or exhausted. It also must have felt nice to commiserate about the trials and tribulations of the hike.  For a while she was the only woman on the trail but later met other women. I felt a real sense of women empowerment and thinking how strong and courageous she and the other women were hiking this trail and taking on such a huge undertaking.

It made me really happy to see the kindness of strangers while she was on and off the trail. People gave her rides when she hitchhiked, offer to feed her and let her shower at their houses, and a free place to stay behind stores. It made me believe in the goodness of people. I, myself, would be quite nervous to trust people but it’s nice to see there were still good people while she was out there. (She hiked the trail in 1994 at the age of 26.) But there is one incident she talks about in the book that would have made me really nervous.

Being on the trail she was able to work through issues that she had been carrying around with her for years. Before she started the trail she had lost her mother to cancer at 45 years old, her family fell apart in the wake of her mother’s death, and her marriage ended. In the long hours and days she traversed the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) she had a lot of time to think about all those lingering issues and learned to make peace with them.

It shows real dedication and character that she hiked the 1,100 plus miles in the summer, mostly alone, when the easy thing to do would have been to quit and go back to her old life.  

One of my favorite things about her journey was that she was not an expert hiker to begin with. She had only done short hikes before. Not that this is something I would want to do, but it at least gives me and other hikers hope that they could do it. They just have to have to will power and desire to do it. I’m also super impressed that she and other hikers took on the PCT 20 years ago when hiking wasn’t yet that popular. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about reading it.

2015 SAG Awards Best Dressed

This year’s SAG Awards was pretty straightforward. Nothing crazy happened, it was a typical award show. Here were my picks for best dressed of the night. I think the little black dress ruled the night. My favorite is Reese Witherspoon as always! She’s so elegant, classy, and gorgeous. Who was your favorite?

Reese Witherspoon 

Amy Poehler

Julianne Moore

Naomi Watts

Sofia Vergara

Joanne Froggatt

2015 Golden Globe Awards Best Dressed

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA over the last few weeks. The holidays were super busy and I have a lot I want to blog about in the coming weeks, so be on the look out!

In the last month I went to Oahu, ran my first marathon, took a road trip from LA to Chicago, spent a few days in Colorado, and went cross country skiing for the first time in my life.

But first things first. Let’s talk about the Golden Globe Awards. I always love award season and seeing what everyone is wearing and what movies and shows are being talked about. Here were my favorites from this year. Who was yours?

Reese Witherspoon is my style icon. She always looks impeccable and so feminine. I have yet to read and see Wild, but I can’t wait to!

Jennifer Lopez always has it going on. She looks so glamorous and tan and toned. 

Amy Adams

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

 Jessica Chastain

Amal Clooney is such a classy lady. I’m so happy that George has finally settled down. They seem so in love and so happy.

Katherine Heigl has been out of the limelight for a while but now she’s back and she looks great! I love her hair, the dress, and the color.

Reese Witherspoon’s Impeccable Style

I’ve always been a fan of Reese Witherspoon. I love her movies, her impeccable style, and her Southern charm. I’ve done a post about her style before, but this year she has had some really memorable and glamorous looks that I had to share. These are a few of my favorites. Can’t wait to see what she wears next! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2013 Academy Awards Best Dressed

 

I realize that this is a wee bit late, but I would still like to put in my two cents about who were the Best Dressed at the Academy Awards this year.  These dresses blew me away. I think Reese Witherspoon wins it for me, that color and her old Hollywood style hair, perfection!

 

 

 

 

The Adorable Reese Witherspoon

I absolutely love Reese Witherspoon’s style. She is so petite and dresses accordingly. From her casual style to her fancy dresses she always looks great.