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DIY Thanksgiving placemats

November 17, 2017 Randi

Is it just me, or is Thanksgiving the redheaded stepchild of the federal holidays?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas. But I think starting the holiday season before Halloween is absolutely insane.

It gets harder and harder every year, but I refuse to start celebrating Christmas until Black Friday. There are a few Christmas-related things I’ll do in November — mostly the planning-focused Type-A things — like picking out holiday cards and confirming mailing addresses, and gift shopping… but holiday decorations, festivities, parties, celebrations? Not happening.

Anyway, I actually really like to decorate my apartment for fall. I put out some garland, wreaths and foliage (which is a good buy at JoAnn Fabrics right now, just a heads up) at the beginning of October, and leave it all out through Thanksgiving.

While the garland, wreaths and foliage stay out throughout the whole season, I do a mini-redecoration between October and November. My Halloween decorations go back in the closet and my Thanksgiving decorations — like my sad woodburning attempt… haha — take over my apartment until just before December.

I made these DIY Thanksgiving placemats a few years ago, and they usually find a home on my little two-person fold-out table when I make that Halloween-to-Thanksgiving switch. I’ve had these photos sitting on my computer for a while now, but I just kept forgetting to share.

But, I finally remembered this year! So, here’s a quick little tutorial for my painted Thanksgiving placemats.

Most worn this fall, 2017

November 13, 2017 Randi1 comment

I know I’m not alone when I say that fall clothes are my favorite. I love playing with textures, and more layers gives more opportunity to do so. I’m really not a fan of summer color palettes, since I look terrible in whites and pastels, so switching to jewel tones and dark colors makes me downright giddy.

Throughout my mid-to-late (shudder) twenties, I’ve been working really hard to curb the fast fashion habit I developed in college. Instead, I’ve been trying more and more to add high-quality staples to my closet. I think it’s safe to say that it’s working. Of the dozen wardrobe pieces I’ve worn the most this fall, only five are pieces I’ve bought this season. The rest are well-loved items I’ve worn dozens — if not hundreds — of times over the past few years.

In fact, some of the items below are in last fall’s list, and even my list from 2015 — both of which feature items that I still continuously wear, even though they aren’t included on this year’s list.

So, without further ado, here are the wardrobe pieces my friends and coworkers have got to be sick of seeing me wear at this point.

Crazy Rich Asians

November 10, 2017 Randi1 comment

Alamak! You guys, can we take a second to talk about this month’s Entertainment Weekly cover?

I’m so hyped for the Crazy Rich Asians movie. I finished the last book of the trilogy on my flight back from Denver, and it definitely did not disappoint.

Life lately

November 8, 2017 Randi

Heya! I feel like the last two months have been busier than usual, but I sat down last night to write this blog post and then suddenly my mind was completely blank.

Does that ever happen? You feel like you’ve just been so busy, but you can’t figure out what’s actually been keeping you busy. I feel like it’s a lesson in prioritization.

Anyway! I wanted to take a second to share a few highlights of the last couple of months with you. After I took a second to unfreeze my brain and scroll through all my social media feeds and remember what I actually did do during September and October, I realized that — even though a lot of my plans got rearranged or canceled due to the NLDS/NLCS and work — I had a ton of fun.

Packing for a fall weekend in northern Colorado

November 5, 2017 Randi

Oh hey guys, happy Sunday! It’s 60 and rainy here in Chicago, buuuttt at least the weather is holding steady this weekend — unlike last weekend in Colorado.

When I started packing for my trip, I took a look at the forecast for Boulder. And… whoa. It had me flying out of 40-degree Chicago weather into 85 degrees in Colorado!

Then, that night, it was scheduled to drop to 20 degrees.

So… yeah. A forecasted 60-plus degree drop in temperature. Plus snow, and rain.

Alllll in a carryon.

Seriously Midwest, I will never knock your weather habits again.

Anyway, I wanted to share a little bit about what I packed, including what I didn’t wear, what I did wear and what I wish I’d brought.

A weekend in Boulder + (a little bit of) Denver, Colorado

October 29, 2017 Randi

Happy Sunday!

I can’t believe it was only 24 hours ago I departed Colorado, and only four days ago that I arrived! I’ve talked before about how much I love whirlwind weekend trips, and spending the past few days next to the Flatirons was no exception.

When my old coworker Sara took a new job out of Boulder this past summer, she asked if I’d be interested in visiting. No joke, I had my flight to Denver booked less than 24 hours later. I’ve always wanted to visit Colorado, so when I found a $92 round-trip flight that aligned perfectly with my work weekend, I jumped.

Fired up for college homecoming!

October 18, 2017 Randi

You guys, I had the most fired up birthday weekend ever.

I’ve made it a point to go back to Mount Pleasant for every single homecoming weekend since I graduated from Central Michigan University in the spring of 2012.

Granted, I was living in town for two of them while I was attending grad school and working for the local paper, but for the past three years I’ve been living in Chicago, I made it a point to make the trek back to Mount Pleasant every fall to spend time on campus and celebrate with friends.

So, when I saw that homecoming was literally on my birthday this year, my annual visit was absolutely non-negotiable.

Happy 28 to me… and the countdown to 30 begins!

October 14, 2017 Randi1 comment

I turn 28 today and the countdown to 30 is starting to tick.

Dijon maple grain bowls for fall

October 6, 2017 Randi1 comment

Grain bowls are my go-to weeknight dinner. They’re easy to make in advance and throw together, and they’re actually pretty healthy, depending on what you put in them.

Plus, it’s fun to switch out the ingredients for the season. I decided to mess around the other day and try something fall-themed, and I ended up with this farro veggie bowl topped with dijon maple sauce.

I was actually surprised at how good it ended up being!

I tried personalized shampoo and conditioner: My Function of Beauty review

October 2, 2017 Randi

So, last month, I did something I swore I would never do.

I bought a product from a Facebook ad.

In my defense, it was really hard not to! I’d been seeing ads for Function of Beauty forever, and had been on the fence for about three months before a friend excitedly Facebook messaged me to let me know that she had just bought a customized shampoo and conditioner set.

I immediately knew what she was talking about (thanks, Facebook ads!) and pestered the living hell out of her until she received her set and could give me an honest review.

Her review was glowing, so I took the plunge and ordered a Function of Beauty set for my own.