Top Nine

I'm loving the Top Nine trend on Instagram as a way to capture the highlights of the closing year.  Although, I do mine a little bit differently.  Instead of featuring the nine pictures with the most likes, I select my nine favorite pictures that best reflect the year I've had.

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen these pictures already.  But I thought it would be fun to share them here with little descriptions of the top nine events of my 2018.  Here we go, in chronological order:

New Year's weekend I learned how to ski.  A hobby that I look forward to sharing for years to come with my future husband who loves to snowboard.

In February, Justin and I took a trip to Orlando, a place that we've both loved individually and can now visit together.

The Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, JUSTIN PROPOSED!  This is obviously the biggest highlight of my year.  I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with this man!

The morning after Justin proposed, I ran my longest race yet- the Bayshore 10k (a little over 6 miles).  I fulfilled my goal of no walking, only running and finished in under one hour and 15 minutes.

I took a gigantic leap of faith in June when I left teaching, my job of ten years, to start a new career.  I now work in logistics (not necessarily the direction I saw myself going) but I really enjoy it and am excited to see where my job takes me.

These furballs continue to be the little lights of my life.  2018 brought a closer bond between the two of them as they grow more and more used to being brothers and living together.

Sometimes it's the simple things in life that mean the most!  This fall, Justin and I discovered the Rockford, MI Farmer's Market, and from now on, you'll find us there most Saturdays from May to October.

Earlier this month, my parents, Justin and I took a holiday trip to Chicago.  While the boys explored Michigan Avenue, my mom and I went to BHLDN where I tried-on wedding dresses for the first time.  Friends, I might have found the one!

Also in December, Justin and I took engagement photos.  I'm so happy to have some professional photographs that represent how much I love this man and how excited I am for what 2019 has in store for us.

Cheers to a Happy New Year!

TBB Asks: All Things Cozy

Hey, y'all!  Happy Labor Day!  What are you doing to celebrate?  My handsome fiancé and I are sleeping-in, heading to a local hot dog joint, and then spending the rest of the day relaxing. 

As I'm easing back into blogging this month, I thought it would be fun (and easy) to participate in this months TBB Asks which is about All Things Cozy.  And I'm happy to talk about this topic because I'm one of those girls that's ready to switch to everything fall as soon as September begins!

1.  Slippers? Yes!  I'm not a big fan of socks so I love having cozy slippers to wear around the house.  My favorite pair feature a grey cat that looks just like my little guy, Izzo!

2.  What is your favorite blanket?  Favorite blanket?!  How about ALL the blankets?!  I suppose my favorite is whichever is closest when I'm feeling chilly or like napping...even during the summer!

3.  Thin or thick pillow? Two medium pillows stacked together, to be exact.

4.  Favorite warm beverage? A vanilla latte with oat milk from Sweetland, a Grand Rapids coffee (and candy) shop!

5.  Robe?  Not really.  I like the idea of robes but usually end-up reaching for cozy cardigans or big sweatshirts instead.

6.  Favorite comfort snack or food?  A bowl of chili with some cornbread!

7.  Movies or TV series binge?  TV series binges all the way!  Justin and I just finished reading Ordeal By Innocence by my favorite author, Agatha Christie, so we're ready to binge the mini-series on Prime!

8.  Actual PJs or leggings?  I like leggings for hanging around the house but I do prefer some big, comfy pajamas for sleeping.

9.  Do you cozy-up on the couch or a chair?  Couch all the way!  We recently purchased a new couch with a section called a cuddler.  Need I say more?!

10.  Hoodie, t-shirt or sweater?  Most definitely a Michigan State hoodie!'

TBB Asks: All About Love

Enjoying a post-Thanksgiving dinner walk in Colorado Springs.

Happy Monday, friends!  I'm back today with another round of The Blended Blog Asks.  And since it's the month of Valentine's Day, our questions are all about love.  To make my post just a little bit cheesier, I'm peppering it with my favorite picks of my handsome guy and me!

Kisses or Hugs? Hmmm, well I do love both, but I will have to go with hugs!  Whether it be from my boyfriend, my best friend or my mom, a good hug will always help me to feel just a little bit better about life!

Candy or Flowers? Again with the tough questions!  I'm a sucker for romantic gestures and enjoy either kind of gift, but my cat will eat any flowers that come into our home and I do love a sweet treat now and again.  So candy!

Baking or Cooking?  My boyfriend and I both enjoy cooking over baking.  One of our go-to meals to cook together is breakfast burritos!  We have them for dinner every Tuesday night.

5 Reasons to Plan a Monthly Hike

On the first of January last year, my best friend, Nicole, and I went on a brisk, refreshing winter hike. It was the perfect way to start the new year.  We inhaled the cool, fresh air and talked about what we wanted for the coming year.  We decided that one of these things we wanted was to make our hike together a monthly ritual.

Some of my Blended Bloggers and I are talking about Fashion, Food, Friendship and Fitness Goals today, so I've decided to share five reasons why you should make the friendship goal to hike together monthly.

Reason #1: The most rewarding part of hiking every month with Nicole was the peaceful, quality time we got to spend together.  In spite of our hectic schedules, we made sure to carve-out time for each other once a month.  While hiking, we had great conversation without the distractions of everyday life.

Reason #2: Hiking is free!  So many social gatherings require you to spend your hard-earned cash.  It was so refreshing to have a regular friend get-together where I knew I wouldn't have to spend any money.

Reason #3: Hiking doesn't involve consuming food or drinks.  To go along with the inexpensive nature of, well, nature, hiking also doesn't involve eating big restaurant meals or guzzling lots of wine.  While I do love eating and drinking, so much of what's on my calendar involves going to restaurants with friends.  My stomach and my wallet thanked me for getting out of the house and not consuming a gigantic plate of pasta.

Reason #4: Since we hiked once a month, Nicole and I experienced our local nature during all kinds of weather.  We found that, even when hiking in the rain, there was something beautiful to be appreciated during every season.

Reason #5: Hiking is a fun and stress-free way to move your body.  Our monthly hikes didn't feel like a work-out but it did feel good to stretch my legs and raise my step-count for the day.

Nicole and I are proud that we completed our goal of hiking once per month during 2017!  We got so much out of the experience and are planning hiking dates into our friendship again this year.

So what do you say? Would you make a hiking goal this year?  You have a few more days to squeeze in your January hike!

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Resolutions: Intuitive Eating and Running Races

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?  It seems like there has been a lot of buzz in the blogging world this year about making goals instead of resolutions.  In a way, it seems like we're just giving resolutions a new label but I do see one rather nuanced difference.  I think that goals are more definable, they are actionable whereas resolutions might be a bit vague.  Although you can set actionable goals to your resolutions and voilà, we have the same thing!

When creating resolutions or goals for myself this year I definitely went at it from the perspective of setting-up things I could actually do as opposed to an undefined wish.  Every year it seems that my resolution is to lose weight, but this year I'm focusing on my health in more specific ways.  I'm also calling these things resolutions because it's January, but really these are goals and concepts that I've been thinking about for a few months now.

Resolution #1: Intuitive Eating

I tend to have two modes when it comes to eating:

Mode #1: Be on a strict diet, follow rules very closely and lose weight.
Mode #2: Eat all the things and gain weight.

I so very badly want to fall somewhere in the middle.  I don't want to constantly be thinking about weight loss, diets and calories.  But I also don't want to be binging unhealthily and gaining weight.  That's where a concept called Intuitive Eating comes into play.  At it's core, Intuitive Eating is about eating when you're hungry, stopping when you're full and eating what your body feels it needs.

I am at the very beginning of this Intuitive Eating journey.  And it is a journey!  There is so much to learn and you really have to reset your way of thinking about food.  I've found some really helpful resources to help me along this path and am thinking about chronicling my journey here at Whitney à la mode.  What do you think?  Are you interested in learning along with me?

Resolution #2: Running Races

This past year (with the help of my boyfriend) I went from being a non-runner to having finished eight 5k races.  I'm so proud of the progress that I've made but I have so many more running goals that I want to accomplish!

This year my running resolutions are two-fold.  First of all, I want to run at least twelve races this year.  I've already signed-up for my first two!  A Frostbite 5k in a couple of weeks and an Irish Jig 5k in March.

My second running goal this year is to finish my first (and hopefully not last) 10k.  I've already signed-up for one in May and have started my training schedule.  This is also something I'm thinking about blogging in hopes that I can help other non-runners to see that yes, you can do this!  Let me know if you are interested!

Make sure you stop by and visit the other Blended Bloggers today to learn about their goals and resolutions.  Also, link-up your own with us today so we can form a nice, big support group for one another!

TBB Asks: The Holidays

Happy December, y'all!  I absolutely believe that the most wonderful time of the year is here!  As I type, I'm sitting in front of my sparkling Christmas tree, sipping hot cocoa, and feeling quite festive!

My awesome blogging friends at The Blended Blog have had a fun questionnaire series running the first Monday of every month called TBB Asks.  This month we are talking everything holiday.  Join us in sharing what makes your holiday season special and link-up with us below!

1.  Real or Fake Tree? Real!  My boyfriend and I had tons of fun at the Christmas tree farm picking-out our first tree together this year.  We are looking forward for making this a tradition for many years to come.

2.  Favorite Christmas Cookie? My Grandma Marge is the queen of cookie baking and I always look forward to the goodies she bakes for the holidays.  I suppose my favorite Christmas cookie would be her traditional sugar cookies, decorated with a tasteful amount of colored sugar and not too sweet.

3.  Home on Christmas Morning or Travel?  I would prefer to be home on Christmas morning but now that my sister and I are grown-up and starting our own traditions, one group or another of us will have to travel.  This year I get to be home on Christmas morning!

4.  Clear or Colored Lights?  I actually love the different vibes that each give!  This year we decorated our home with warm white lights.

5.  Send Christmas Cards?  Yes!  This year I went with a company that I just heard about, Simply To Impress, and I love the cards we got for a great price (because Christmas cards can be ridiculously expensive)!

6.  Favorite Christmas Present Received?  This is such a hard question because I've received so many thoughtful presents over the years.  For some reason the present of my childhood that stands out the most is a little, hand-held Beauty and the Beast video game.  I loved that thing!

7.  Favorite Christmas Present Given?  Oh wow, this is even harder!  I love picking-out the perfect gift for each of my loved ones.  Last year I purchased all gifts while I was in Beijing, China.  It was really fun to think about all of my favorite people while I was on the other side of the world.

8.  Stockings or No Stockings?  Definitely stockings!  Grandma Marge also knows how to knit a mean stocking.

9.  Christmas PJ's?  Yes, please!  My family has matching plaid pajamas that we wear when we're together on Christmas morning.

10.  Favorite Christmas Carol?  Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas performed by Judy Garland in the movie Meet Me In St. Louis (a must-watch Christmas movie for me)!

11.  Favorite Holiday Tradition?  Can I say all of them?  I just love this season so much and every activity that comes with it!  But hmm, if I have to pick one, I would say that it's decorating the Christmas tree and reminiscing about all of the ornaments.

12.  Early Shopper or Last Minute?  I would call myself a gradual shopper.  I start early but I don't rush.  I spread it out so I can find the perfect gift for each person.

13.  Favorite Christmas Movie or Show?  Oh lordy, the list is long.  My favorite movie of all time is Love Actually which I consider a Christmas movie.  But in terms of classics, I love Miracle on 24th Street.

14.  Favorite Holiday Beverage?  Hot cocoa with whipped cream!

15.  Cookies and Milk for Santa?  Of course!  Plus some carrots for the reindeer!

What about you?  Tell me about your holiday traditions!

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An InLinkz Link-up

The Blended Blog Asks...

I've got something a bit different happening here at the blog today!  Instead of a style post, I'm participating in a fun little interview with a few of my Blended Blog favorites.  If you are stopping by from Sheila's blog, welcome!  And make sure to hop on over to visit Katie when you're done!


1.  Favorite animal: cat (particularly my cat, Izzo).
2.  Wine or beer: red wine, please!
3.  Socks on/off while sleeping: off anytime unless I'm wearing tennis shoes.  I'm not a sock fan.
4.  One piece or two piece swimsuit: two, although I'm not opposed to a cute one piece.
5.  Cooking at home or eating out: I enjoy both but I guess my favorite would be eating out.

could he BE any cuter?!

6.  Pepsi or Coke: nothing beats a fountain Coke!
7.  Regular or electric toothbrush: I actually just purchased a disposable electric toothbrush.  So both?
8.  Candy or chocolate: candy!  Old school Dots are my fave.
9.  Coffee or tea: coffee, coffee, coffee! #butfirstcoffee
10.  Music or talk radio: as much as I try to get into talk radio, I prefer music.

fountain Coke, the way to my heart

11.  Chick flick, action movie or documentary: chick flicks!  Although I prefer watching TV series.
12.  Regular or mechanical pencil: mechanical pencil.
13.  Swimming or laying out: laying out!  Does anyone actually swim at the pool or beach??
14.  Dog or cat: I'm totally a crazy cat lady!
15.  What do you drive?  An SUV, van or sedan: none of the above...a coupe!  A cute Honda Civic!

I only get in the water to cool off

16.  Early bird catches the worm or night owl: umm, neither?!  I'm best during the afternoon, haha!
17.  If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be: strawberry pie.
18.  While you're sleeping- phone in your room or out: on my nightstand (I use it as an alarm).
19.  Singing in the shower: nope, not really. But in the car, most definitely!
20.  Orea cookies: whole, apart or dunked in milk: I do a combination of all three!

strawberry pie > birthday cake

Now that you know some fun, random facts about me, I want to learn a little about you!  Write a post answering these questions and link-up below!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Spring Bucket List Update (And My New Summer Bucket List)

As of today, summer is officially in full swing!  Around the world, people are celebrating the solstice and I'm enjoying my first week of freedom from school.  What a perfect day to take a look back at my Spring Bucket List to see what I accomplished!

1.  Buy fresh flowers for my apartment.  Okay, so I didn't actually buy fresh flowers but I updated the faux bouquet that brightens my desk.  That totally counts, right?!

2.  Watch a Lansing Lugnuts (the local baseball team) game.  Check!  A bunch of teachers from the high school where I work enjoyed a Friday night at the ballpark complete with spring weather, beer and hot dogs (of course)!

3.  Drink a cup of coffee or a glass of wine on a patio.  Technically this is beer, but again, who is paying attention to the details?!  In any case, the patio at The Peanut Barrel is my favorite place to have an outdoor beverage.

4.  Go on a weekend getaway.  This really handsome guy and I went to Traverse City, Michigan and the surrounding areas for my birthday weekend.  He ran a marathon and we sampled lots of delicious wine.  It was the perfect weekend!

5.  Read a book in the courtyard of my apartment complex.  I actually enjoyed a book outside on three separate occasions this spring.  It might just be the best way to relax.

6.  Try a meal ingredients delivery service.  We cooked three awesome meals from Blue Apron and will definitely be trying some more.  The one pictured is a Smoked Trout Salad with Asparagus!

7.  Find a new hiking destination for #ourmonthlyhike with my best friend, Nicole.  We tried a couple new hiking trails this spring, Woldumar Nature Center being my new favorite!

8.  Purge my closet of clothes I no longer love.  Nope, I did not accomplish this one.  I've been weeding things out here and there but I didn't do the the full closet purge that I intended.

9.  Buy a pair of fun sneakers for the warmer weather.  Yes!  I'm loving my new Adidas sneakers (and twinning with my boyfriend).

10.  Experiment with a more advanced yoga class.  I twisted this one a little bit, too.  So I didn't actually try another yoga class but I did take up running again and feel great about my progress.  I'd say that's an even swap!

Nine out of ten ain't bad, huh?!  Plus I really enjoyed checking these items off my list and the enjoyment each activity brought to my life.  Now I'm excited to tackle my Summer Bucket List:

1.  Run a 5k.
2.  Go camping.
3.  Take a boat ride.
4.  Try a new grill recipe.
5.  Spend a day at the beach.
6.  Get a pedicure.
7.  Try a new hiking trail (a repeat from my Spring List but you can never explore too many trails!)
8.  Buy fresh fruit at a farmer's market.
9.  Watch a sunset.
10.  Explore a new-to-me city.

If you have a bucket list you would like to share, please link-up with us below!  And a big thank you to Leslie for organizing our bucket list posts!

An InLinkz Link-up

Spring Bucket List

Happy Monday, loves!  I have a different kind of post for you today.  There are no outfit photos involved! You see, my sweet blogging friend, Leslie, proposed the idea of writing a Spring Bucket List and, because I'm to-do list obsessed and so ready for spring, I knew that I had to join her!

Here are the things I'm set on doing to make springtime a little bit sweeter:

1.  Buy fresh flowers for my apartment.
2.  Watch a Lansing Lugnuts (the local baseball team) game.
3.  Read a cup of coffee or a glass of wine on an outdoor patio.
4.  Go on a weekend getaway.
5.  Read a book in the courtyard of my apartment complex.
6.  Try a meal ingredients delivery service.
7.  Find a new hiking destination for #ourmonthlyhike with my best friend, Nicole.
8.  Purge my closet of clothes I no longer love.
9.  Buy a pair of fun sneakers for the warmer weather.
10.  Experiment with a more advanced yoga class.

What's on your to-do list for the new season?  Do any of ours match?

If you are looking for more springtime inspiration, check-out the Spring Bucket Lists from several amazing bloggers:
Leslie of Once Upon A Time and Happily Ever After
Michael of Out and Back
Danielle of Family.Love.Inspiration
Tamara of My Retirement Project
Ashley of Perks and Ponder
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5 Ways to Be a Better Dater at The Blended Blog

Well friends, I have been out in the dating world for a couple of months now and let me tell you, it's not easy!

If you are looking for ways to maintain your happiness and to continue to feel at peace with yourself while navigating the crazy dating world (or perhaps you want to be able to provide support for your single friends), check-out my post, 5 Ways to Be a Better Dater, at The Blended Blog today!

P.S.  If anyone has a single, eligible Prince Charming on hand, I wouldn't mind if you sent him my way!

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Styled by Someone Else

Happy Tuesday, loves!  I'm currently savoring my last week of freedom before heading back to school for teacher meetings on Monday.  Although our first football game is this week, so coaching season is already in full swing (I coach cheerleading, not football if you were confused for a second).

So I took a little break from being a style blogger today...but I still have pictures to show you!  How does that work, you ask?  I invited my mom, sister and niece into my closet to create some new outfits for the Styled by Someone Else series with The Blended Blog!

Let's start with the outfit that my mom created!

My mom was so thoughtful in helping me with this post!  She read up on current trends online and kept her eyes peeled for fun street style inspiration.  When she came over, she was envisioning cowgirl boots, a shorter skirt and a long cardigan.  My closet didn't yield the exact pieces she had in mind so she used her inspiration and some fun color combinations to create this outfit!  You guys, I love this outfit!  I can't wait for the weather to cool off so I can wear it!

My second outfit today was the creation of my 18-month-old niece, Eloise!  Didn't she nail it?!  You may be wondering how an almost-toddler put an outfit together so well.  First of all, she's a style prodigy.  Secondly, she did have some help.  While my mom was picking out her outfit, Eloise started carrying these shoes (that actually belong to my mom) around my apartment.  This was clearly a sign that she wanted me to wear them.  From there, my mom chose two outfits that went with the shoes.  We held them up for Eloise and I wore the one that she ran to first!  I liked this outfit so well that I kept it on for an evening of cocktails at the local art museum.

As for my sister's creation, you will have to wait to see it on Friday!  Without knowing it, Kayla put together an outfit that worked perfectly for my upcoming Blogging Besties prompt!  I decided it would be fun to extend the "styled by someone else" fun all week!

Eloise and Izzo get in on the styling action!

I am the luckiest to have these three in my life <3

Where I'm linking-up!

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A Peplum, A Special Guest and Thursday Moda

Well friends, I've got some fun things happening on the blog today!  First of all, I'm co-hosting the Thursday Moda link-up with Ada of Elegance and Mommyhood.  But before I get into the details of our collaboration, I would like to introduce you to my niece, Eloise!  Isn't she the cutest?!

(She wore a strawberry dress because strawberries are my favorite.  And those tiny Converse?!  My heart is melting!)

I spent last week at my sister and brother-in-law's house outside of Nashville.  My mom and I got to watch Eloise while Kayla and Brad were on vacation!  I loved having a whole week of niece snuggles and kisses.  Eloise is so smart and can say and do all sorts of things already.  She is really good at pointing to her various facial features when you ask her "Where's your nose?" and so on.  While I was there, I started asking her, "Where's your heart?" and I'm proud to say that she now points to her chest when you ask her.  SO cute!

Since I'm co-hosting with Ada today and Ada always posts cute outfit pictures with her adorable daughter, Vivian, I thought it would be fun to have a photo shoot with Eloise for our collaboration!  Her red and white strawberry dress matched my peplum perfectly and we are even wearing matching shoes.  I really love these pictures of us and will always cherish them.

When Ada invited me to co-host, she mentioned that we both own this red and white striped peplum top from Old Navy (on sale for less than $9, by the way)  and that it would be fun to show it styled in two ways.  I love that she threw in a little bit of pattern mixing and that she is wearing a fun pair of shorts for the summer.  Ada is always bold in trying the season's latest trends -- is she rocking those fringed sandals or what?!

The last time I wore this top, I styled a pretty and slightly more dressed-up look.  This time I wanted to go in the opposite direction with a super casual and comfortable outfit.  My distressed boyfriend jeans are about as casual as I get (unless I'm in my yoga pants #teacheronsummervacation) and I love my Converse for any comfy look!  The peplum is so breezy and I love that it's cute enough to stand on its own without adding too much to the ensemble.

What I'm Wearing:

Peplum: Old Navy (exact)

Jeans: American Eagle (exact)

Converse: DSW (exact)

And now on to that link-up I know you are itching to participate in!  Eloise and I thank you for stopping by today!

Conquering the World One Drink at a Time

Welcome to the last of my birthday weekend review posts!  Thanks for  celebrating my birthday, visiting the Magic Kingdom and exploring Harry Potter World with me already this week!

After visiting Harry Potter World on Sunday morning, we headed back to our rental house to freshen up a bit and then ventured over to Disney's Epcot!

My sister made these fun t-shirts for us to wear as we visited the different countries featured at the park!  (She even created my own hashtag)!