Thursday, January 31, 2013

What I Wish I Wore


Since coming home from the sunny, warm Caribbean, it's been a whopping 30+ degrees here...as a HIGH. My tan is quickly dissipating as my hibernation skills come back into play. With that in mind, I thought I would put together a pin board of items that I wish I had to wear during this long, cold winter.

*Links to all of these are at the bottom of the picture..and PS - everything is on sale!...minus the Patagonia Jacket :(

Old Navy/Gap/Madewell/Madewell/Nordstrom/Gap/Madewell/Amazon/REI

Monday, January 28, 2013

We're back!


Why is it that work weeks d.r.a.g. on, but a week of vacation speeds by in the blink of an eye? Not the way I would prefer it! 

But anyway, we're back from our belated honeymoon, tan...ok, sunburned, and stuffed with too much food. 

It was very nice to cuddle with our puppy though, we missed her so much! And sleep in our own bed. The snow that's coming down at the moment isn't quite so welcoming though, after spending the week in a tropical 80 degrees with lovely moisture in the air. Hello soft skin and cuticles with no cracks! 

I haven't uploaded our pictures from the camera yet, so I'll just share a few from my phone. I had my phone turned off all week (since we were out of the country and roaming fees are outrageous!) so I don't have much to share from that either. 

But our first night was spent in New Orleans, LA where they were just beginning to celebrate Mardi Gra! Here's a snapshot of the fiascos that were going down on the famous Bourbon St.


From the top left: 

The temperature when we left Flagstaff.

Heffelfinger's on a plane.

The Mississippi River.

The ladies on Bourbon St. From the left: Di, Steffi, Courtney, Me.


From the top left:

Sam and I on the Mississippi River.

Gettin' my Mardi Gra on!

The ladies.

Our ship.

The trip was fabulous, I can't wait to share more pictures with you, but in the meantime, these will have to work. Have you been anywhere neat lately? Maybe around the city you live? Or another far away destination? We're always looking for inspiration for our next trip!


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Workout # 8: Tabata Abs

Since NAU has been out of session for the past four weeks for winter break, I took a lazy stance on exercising...and it's kicking my booty now. Monday was the first day back to teaching classes for me, and man oh man... am I sore. This is half the class that I taught this morning for a class called "Core Strength". We only did the workout once for lack of time, but I suggest going through the four rounds at least twice for a good burn.



And since we're headed out of town on Friday, I wanted to link up with Life Rearranged today for InstaFriday...InstaWednesday... :)


life rearranged

It's brisk here. Luckily our evenings have been spent snuggling by the fireplace, watching Downton Abbey (if you aren't on this bandwagon, get on it! So good!). Lots of layers, blankets, and slippers, hot tea, and popcorn. Brrr!


Even Kona gets her own blanky which she likes to snuggle with.


At least I have lots of warm scarves (thanks Grandma!) to keep me cozy at work. And cute earrings too! (Thanks Mom!)


We have a few weddings on the calendar for the summer months. One of which I get to be a bridesmaid, I'm so excited! And after searching high and low for the perfect pair of nude pumps in the right price range and heel height, I came across these on MAJOR clearance online at Target. I'm happy that they have such a chunky heel so I don't sink in the grass.


As if you wanted to see another picture of my feet. Sorry. Since I'll be donning my flippy floppies this weekend, I thought I'd treat myself to a pedicure...on the coldest day of the year...yikes! I'm digging the bright purple color, which I'm hoping will either distract people from my pasty white skin, or make people think my toes are frozen...

Sidenote: this was the most awkward pedicure of my life. Suggestion to all pedicurers...pedicurist...people who give pedicures....please wear tops that cover your ta tas...and don't let my toes touch said ta tas...please and thank you.


Since Sam and I are working all week, we decided to attempt packing this weekend, so we wouldn't have to worry about it the night before. We were successful at putting bikinis and trunks into a suitcase, then we said, nah, we'll do it later...so, we'll see how that goes, it's basically a recipe for me to over pack. (I'm a notorious over packer...are you?)


I snapped this cute photo of Kona with our good friend, Eli. I think Kona was trying to sweet talk her way to a sip of his beer. She must get her sweet talking abilities from her mama ;)


And so, the only things between us and a sandy beach are:

  • Our first ever 30th birthday party - Happy Birthday Clay, thanks for making us all feel old...even though you're the oldest of us all :)
  • A large green suitcase.
  • My first ever bikini wax..WAHHH!
  • One more workout class.
  • A 2 hour drive.
  • And a 3 hour plane ride.

Happy Hump Day!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Work Out #7: 100 - 10 Reps Sweat - a - thon

Are you ready to get sweaty? I stumbled up this workout on Pinterest this afternoon and decided to make a few changes. It's pretty self explanatory, so here ya go!

{Original Source}

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The big brown dresser.

My list of things I want to do around the house is growing. Unfortunately it's too cold to paint. I'm too indecisive about fabric choices to start a quilt. We're going out of town. And the list of excuses just goes on and on.

But really, the biggest project that I want to get started on is the dresser. I love painting furniture so this is just screaming for me to start sanding!

Did I mention it's a high of 46 degrees today. Not ideal for being outside sanding and painting.

But it is ideal for brainstorming, so I thought I'd pull some images from my Pinterest board (if you want to follow me, click HERE) that are inspiring me to get out my palm sander and get to picking out colors. Maybe you guys can help me choose a color or some idea of how to paint indoors without dying of inhaling fumes.

Here's the original dresser, exactly how it is now:


Seriously, it's screaming for attention! It has 9 drawers, and 15 drawer pulls.

What!?

Unnecessary.

Here's my inspiration photos:

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Only the peacy color and the gold/yellow in the top of the photo.

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Basically, I really like BRIGHT colors. And I'll for sure being replace the top 2 drawers on the right and left sides with these great baskets I found at Marshall's. Sam will be doing some work on the dresser to make a nice platform for the baskets to sit on while still maintaining the structural soundness of the dresser. 

What do you think? Consider the fact that this is my coffee table:


What color wouldn't overwhelm the teal coffee table, but bring a punch of something else to the room. Without making the room seem too overboard with color?









Friday, January 4, 2013

InstaFriday

life rearranged

It's InstaFriday again! Woot Woot! I'm linking up with Jeanett from Life Rearranged. InstaFriday is just a place to post all those lovely phone pictures that otherwise would never be seen except by me...unless you want to follow me on Instagram, I'm LeahHeffelfinger!

With a few days off from work, Sam and I finally got around to rearranging some furniture in the house. We had a large dresser that was stationed against the wall as you come in the front door, but we thought it would be better put to use as a TV stand. So the book shelf that was home to the TV is now by the front door.

The goal for the dresser is to remove the top two drawers on the left and right sides, and replace them with these awesome baskets (barely visible to the left of the dresser). And of course, spruce up the entire dresser with a coat of bright and cheery paint. I'm picturing a minty green or goldish yellow. I'm also in the market for a pair of spectacular lamps to dress up the top of the dresser. But the biggest problem I'm facing is hiding the cords to the TV...any suggestions?


This is the old home of the dresser, now home of the Ikea bookshelf. I actually really love this little setup, but the wall is much bigger than it appears in this picture, so it looks a little... sad all by it's self. I'd like to do a nice gallery wall with some larger prints and photos and maybe switch out the bookshelf for a bench.

{Print by Pen and Paint}

We also worked on this area next to the front door. We swapped out an old beige lamp shade for this fun pop of yellow from World Market, and hung up some photos. I'm scouring the interwebs for a great deal on curtains for this room. I found these yesterday, what a steal! But not sure it's what I want...what do you think?


Next up on our agenda this week was the celebration of New Years Eve! We had some fine folks over for spinach dip. pigs in a blanket, and The Game of Things. It was a swell time. We mosied on over to the Museum Club for the count down, and were in bed by 1:00am.

...and we might have lite sparklers in the house.

It's ok though. Sam used to be a firefighter.




Tuesday morning after recovering from NYE, we went with our good friends Jamie and Eli to shoot our bows. I lost two arrows... apparently I need to practice more often. But it was only 28 degrees outside, so we decided to pack it up early and warm up with some yummy...you guessed it.... Frozen Yogurt!


Tuesday night was spent cuddling on the couch, finally watching Downton Abbey (It sucks you right in!) and playing with Kona.


Oh, and what's that little painting above the stove, you ask? Why it's a pinteresty thing-a-ma-bob that my Mom and I threw together over Christmas. Still on the fence as to whether I should keep it. It didn't quite come out the way I'd hoped. 


And finally, back to work I went on Wednesday morning. And the only good thing about going back to work was witnessing this pretty sight on the way there. Sights like this make you catch your breath and count your blessings for living in such a beautiful place. 

...Disregard my SUPER dirty windshield :)


 And that, my friends, is InstaFriday! The weekend is almost upon us (Thank the Lord) and I've got ZERO plans. Anyone want to hang out?

Oh and PS - I went over to Kohls yesterday to look for some dresses to take on my cruise (cause I'm super cheap like that) and I found two dresses, perfect for relaxing on the deck, for under $9.00 each! Plus a necklace to match for $7.50. Their clearance sections are all an additional %25 off, so go shopping!