South Bend As Told By My Phone

4.29.2014

You all know it happened... at least, if you follow me on the gram you know. Last week I was in South Bend visiting that sweet man of my man. It was all a whirlwind. I didn't think I was going to get to visit him for awhile because flights are expensive and work is busy. But I am having a hard time with him being gone this year and I just couldn't take it anymore. On Tuesday I asked my boss if she thought I could maybe go and we looked up some options for dates. On Tuesday night I mentioned I might try and come. On Wednesday I showed the dates to my GM and she approved instantly because, "I need to see my husband." And within an hour the flight, car, and hotel were booked by Adam while I watched the Easter pageant. And within a week and a half this happened...


I was SO excited to see Adam. I got to fly in Easter Sunday night. That meant I got to spend a very special holiday evening with Adam. In fact, one might call me the Easter bunny as I strolled in with jelly beans and a new button up.

Monday night's game was cancelled due to rain which meant EXTRA time with Adam. But not until after I had explored South Bend while Adam was at the field. I bought a book and I got m eyebrows threaded... which was SO painful but my eyebrows are a ten. Best they've ever looked. Once the game was cancelled Adam and I went and explored some and Adam played Easter bunny buying me my new fave lippy. More on that later. And a movie night, with popcorn. Duh.

Tuesday was a double header. 5 hours straight of baseball to makeup for a rain out the night before. Also. And it was freezing. Just as I am getting used to this AZ sun I get tossed to the tundra. Lots of NCIS was watched while Adam had to be at the field and I waited at the hotel for game time. Also, lots of selfies were taken during that period of time. Those two sentences of hotel time can be applied to every day but Sunday.

Wednesday I got to watch Adam pitch! 7 innings pitched. 4 hits. 0 runs. 2 walks. 6 strikeouts. ERA 0.92. Yeah, you could say I was proud. Plus the team ended up winning with a walk off single. Go Hawks. Oh.. earlier in the day we played tourists. We went to Notre Dame (awesome) and took a photo with Touchdown Jesus. Also, Adam pointed out that everyone looked like Rudy. I died laughing. Okay. I didn't die. But I laughed.

And Thursday was just time together. Sitting together before the game. And after three innings, popcorn, and a hot dog (aka my body hated me) I headed to the airport to leave.

And now here I am back in AZ. Missing Adam terribly. Going to see him was the best choice but also made me realize how much I miss him. I cannot wait to see him again. And I love him so much. South Bend, treat him well. But Adam, keep working hard and let's get you moved a little closer. Love you babe.

P.S. When can I go back?

Remaining True To Yourself in Blogging

4.21.2014

A few weeks ago Brooklyn asked me if I wanted to join in her series for Spring Cleaning your blog. One of the topics she mentioned was remaining true to yourself. And once I read that, I knew I had to because that has always been a sensitive and important topic for me. In fact.. so much so that I started Fashion Fits Everyone and I have another project in the works all about being you and being confident in yourself.


1. Remember why you started. Everyone starts a blog for one reason or another. For some of us the reason was to keep a journal of our life happenings so our family could be up to date. For others it is a creative outlet so we can post fashion and crafts. Someone said to me the other day, “It still makes me happy just to have a place to share my thoughts, ya know?” Yes. I do know! And that is refreshing to hear, because at the end of the day… having that place is the best reason for blogging.

2. Know your strengths. This ultimately comes back to why you started. None of us started a blog to share the things we weren’t good at. We started our blog to share things we think our worth sharing with the people around us. Let me give you a quick example from my own life. Sometimes I like to do crafts… but at the end of the day I am extremely impatient and within an hour of starting I try to figure out a crafting shortcut. By no means is crafts a strength for me… so while I will share little things I am doing sometimes, I don’t put focus there because no one wants to see instructions on how to craft a craft that is only halfway done. Ya dig?

3. Focus on your blog and not how you can achieve another blog’s status. The moment I started worrying about how to grow and how I could be like (fill in the blank) and her blog… I lost all sight of what I was writing about. It was more of, what can I write that will get readers over to my little corner of the internet? And at that point not only did I loose myself, but I lost the readers that had been extremely important to me in the first place! The ones that had supported me since the very beginning. They are more important than a million of trendy followers.

4. Be honest. Don’t pretend. From day one I made a promise to myself that I would never sugar coat my life. I have had some really awesome times but I have had some really sucky times too… and I do not want to be the person that makes other women feel like their life is less than perfect because they are not living on cloud nine all the time. So I share how hard it is to be away from my husband, but I also share how wonderful he is to me while we are apart. And I share that I lost my job, but I also share when I get a job I love. Don’t pretend your life is hunky dory. Because eventually that will carry from blog life to real life and you will miss out on some of the greatest lessons in life. Which takes me to my next point…

5. Don’t be too hard on yourself. There are a lot of people out there that do withhold information. They only tell you the great things. They only tell you the positive moments. They will never ever tell you when something goes wrong. Because as a society, that isn’t what we do. We want our house to be clean. Our clothing to be wrinkle free. And our hair to always be perfect. But in reality, that isn’t how it is. For anyone. So don’t be hard on yourself. You are normal. And you have a good life.

6. Build relationships. Some of my greatest friendships have come through blogging. Through people commenting on my blog and through me taking the time to go comment on other’s blogs. It is a really great opportunity to get to know someone and to build relationships. And those relationships will take you far when you are going through a “blogger rut” or when you are going through real life trials. These relationships will always be there to help build you up. I cannot tell you how many supportive texts and messages I’ve gotten over my years, and they are very special to me and helping me become the woman I am now.

7. Live in the moment. Don’t hang on to that one time no one commented on your post. Don’t hold onto that tweet that no one responded to. And do not worry if you don’t get more than 4 likes on your instagram post. When you dwell on those moments you miss out on really awesome things happening RIGHT in front of you. Today is for living and celebrating.

8. Make sure you can laugh at yourself. Being able to laugh at yourself is going to break down all the walls that are keeping you from being you. People want to see you as a human, not as a robotic princess. When you can laugh at yourself, the world laughs with you. And at those moments you will be able to show your true colors more than ever before because it digs up the realist moments in your life.

9. Let your personality shine. Once, a long time ago, my brother and sister in law asked me, “What do you want people to know about you?” I was a little confused what they were asking… After awhile I found out they were referring to my blog and facebook. They said online I was one thing and in real life I was slightly different. At that very moment I realized I was using the internet as a front to be the person I wanted to be… That isn’t cool. So I let my personality come through and gained confidence in myself. Now my online personality matches my face to face personality. In fact, my online peeps probably get more of it because no one can filter me here.

10. Have fun. That is that. HAVE FUN! Now get out there. And even if this is your job, have fun! No one said work had to be boring.

I can tell you from my own time blogging that I have learned a lot about myself because I followed these steps. And I have fallen into the trap of keeping up with the next big blogger more times than I care to admit. But at the end of the day, the choice is up to you if you want to live a life for yourself or live a life to impress others. And the only way to become confident in the person you are, is to remain true to yourself… in your writing and in your life.

My Husband

4.10.2014



After how these last few weeks again I would feel incredibly embarrassed if I didn't publicly thank my husband. So if you aren't into reading about other people's marriage, I would say steer clear of this post.

Most of you know that my husband plays professional baseball. And that he is on the road, in a different state from April until September playing baseball and pursuing a dream that he has worked so hard for. Some of you have sent me encouraging notes and told me things like, "You are so strong." Or, "I don't know how you do it." But this week on one of the most boring and sad nights since he left, I had a realization... the only reason I am able to be so supportive is because of the person I am supporting.

Adam is the most wonderful man and he takes time every day to show me how appreciative he is of me and of our marriage. He takes time to show me support in the job that I have, the same way that I show him support. Last year was a learning experience for us. We learned what things were not helping a long distance marriage.. and while I was nervous going into a second year of baseball, Adam has calmed all my nerves. He remembers what things were hard for me last year and he has done everything in his power to make it easier for me. Every morning I wake up to a call or FaceTime from him. Every night ends with scriptures and prayer over the phone or through Google+. And the moments in between are never dull. They are filled with plenty of selfies, short phone calls, random photos, tweets... you name it and he does it. He lets me know every day how much he loves me. Sometimes I wonder how the heck I got someone so wonderful! Because let me tell you something, I really lucked out.

And because of the man I am married to it is easy to be strong and supportive. It is a lot easier to live those months apart when he makes me feel special states away. It is a lot easier to live those months apart when I know he is working so hard and that this journey isn't in vain. It is incredible what you can accomplish when you are supporting someone you love. I certainly never thought this would be my life, but I am lucky it is... because this time apart is making us stronger. And I love Adam more and more every single day.

Floral Palazzo Pants

4.02.2014

Now, this is the story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down. And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there. I'll tell you how I became obsessed with floral pants, a palazzo pair. That works... right? Nope. Sort of. Well... either way. I need to your introduce you to my newest obsession. Palazzo pants. And we can take that one step further with adding another word in front. Floral palazzo pants. Ever since last summer I have been looking for a light weight pair of pants that were good for moving and weren't leggings. I spent nearly the entire summer looking for linen pants and the closest I got was my cotton blues. Which worked. But then I saw these beauties at Jane.com. I knew it was love.

I was a little bit iffy on floral. And by a little bit iffy I mean a lot. But... I figured why not? And so I did it. And the week I got them I wore them to the R Birthday Bash as my denims and diamonds outfit. They were a hit. And they made me easy to spot in a busy crowd at work. Now besides how incredibly awesome they are and all that let me tell you why you can't go another day without a pair of these pants...

They are made of spandex so they are lightweight, yet not see through. And by lightweight - I mean lightweight. I am not going to DIE wearing these pants in the Arizona heat. They also never wrinkle. And they fit to your body perfectly. The move with you no matter what. They also have a top that can be worn high or folded over so it hits your waist - so no matter what look you are going for, they get the job done. And, get this, they are LONG! For us tall girls, that is a big deal! Finally. I can wear a pair of these palazzo pants with heels and the pants still hit at a good point. But, if you are short, you can cut them to where YOU need and they don't fray. Win. Win. Win.

So if you are looking for a lightweight pair of pants for you summer adventures. THIS IS THE WAY TO GO! Like... really, I don't lie and I feel like you will not regret this purchase. Jane.com has about 30 different styles too. Sequins, patterns, solids, and ALL sorts of colors. And I am obsessed. Next on my list? A sequin pair!


Palazzo Pants: Jane.com c/o
Statement Necklace: Jane.com
Chambray: Gap
Shoes: Payless (similar)

Linking up: Plane Pretty


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