A look back at 2015.

Looking forward to 2016... But first, time to wrap up the year.  Just like 2012, 2013 and 2014.

What did you do in 2015 that you'd never done before?
Sold my house.
Moved in with a boy!
Went to a NCAA Tournament.
Had a dirty martini which immediately became my new favorite drink.

Did you keep your new year's resolutions and will you make any for next year?
"For 2015 I'd like to send more mail to friends and family."  And I did!  I subscribed to A Beautiful Mess Happy Mail and received cards in the mail every month.  I used these to send along to friends and family and it's been so nice to have an eclectic stash.

For 2016 - I'd like to really work on my flexibility and strength.  Yoga, perhaps?

Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sister did!  I was living with her family when she found out she was pregnant and was still there when she gave birth to Caroline Day.

This was also a year that many friends had kiddos.  Margaret (Mara) and James (Abbey) being the most notable to me.

Did anyone close to you die?
Grandma passed away earlier this year.  I miss her.

This year we had to put down Squirt, Mr. Louisville's pup of about 14 years. His last few months were incredibly sad.

What countries did you visit?
I'm changing this question to all of my trips in general.

Started off with a January trip to California.
JAMAICA in February. Such a fun trip.
Charleston and Savannah over the summer.
Colorado for Andi's wedding.
Austin, Texas.
San Diego and Vegas.
Portland and then back to San Diego.

Whew. A fun year for sure!! I did go to Knoxville to visit Andi in Tennessee and Norris Lake for the 4th of July so I'll count those too.  Lots of trips to look forward to in 2016.  Travelling is my favorite!

What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?
A consistent love for running.

What dates from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
The above mentioned trips and birth of my new niece.
The NCAA Tournament this past March in Louisville because it was SO FUN even though KY didn't go all the way.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I nailed a creme brulee recipe on Christmas Eve.  Also, I'm rather proud I finally upped and moved to a new city.

What was your biggest failure?
I failed to keep up consistently with my fitness. I truly hope to work on that this year since I have a more free time.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope.

What was the best thing you bought?
Technically M bought it but we got a Casper mattress and it has seriously improved our relationship!

Where did most of your money go?
To pay off a credit card.  Woo hoo!  30 and finally getting my finances in check, yo.

What did you get really excited about?
Moving to Louisville. Family dinner with the Normans. Friends giving birth.  Travelling.  Live music.  Rose.  Pool days.

What song will always remind you of 2015?
Hey Mami.

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer?
I think I'm just as happy perhaps a bit fatter and quite a bit poorer.

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Play with Charlotte when I was her roommate.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Spent time worrying about anything.

How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas eve with my parents, Mr. Louisville, my Uncle Mike and cousin Raquel.  We had steak and lobster and lots of good wine.  I made creme brulee for dessert and it turned out so good.
Christmas brunch at the Normans!

What was your favorite TV program?
Transparent, Mad Men, Top Chef, Master of None.

What were your favorite books of the year? 
I re-read Fall of Giants and am currently working on the second book in that trilogy.  That story hasn't left my mind since I first read it in 2012 so I figured it was time to finish it up.
I also listened to The Andy Cohen Diaries and really loved it.

What was your favorite music from this year?
Sylvan Esso and Alabama Shakes.
This was also the year I invested in Spotify which has changed the way I listen to music.

What were your favorite films of the year?
James Bond: Spectre, Inside Out, Trainwreck, Amy.

What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 30 on January 26 and decided I needed to get out of town! I went to California to visit family and CHILL.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I'm not sure that anything could've. I'd say I had a very satisfying year.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015?
Nordstrom and Madewell is where it's at... still! Neutrals for life.

What kept you sane?
Long walks in the Norman neighborhood.  Listening to podcasts.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015.
Budgets are necessary.

Where I ate in San Diego

I tagged along an yet another work trip to San Diego with Mr. Louisville. We stayed downtown and it was pretty low-key.  Got to work in a few visits with baby bro and Uncle Eddy in North Park but otherwise just chilled and explored the downtown area a bit.  So in lieu of another timeline I'll skip straight to the good stuff - where we ate!  Our hotel had a free hot breakfast and happy hour that we hit up a few times which is why I don't mention breakfasts below.

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We arrive fairly late and grab a snack and drink at Kansas City Barbeque.  Ew.  Cold fries, okay wings.

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Lunch with Eli at Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria.  We split a big pie with pepperoni and elephant garlic.  It was so good and the guys working there were so cute and gave excellent service.  Always a plus in my book.

Fancy dinner at Water Grill. Give me all the seafood!! 

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Lunch again in North Park at Swami's Cafe. I had a tuna fish sandwich which was quite good.

We had a reception in the evening with wine and cheese so we had a fun dinner at Barleymash afterwards.  Excellent bar food and a fun time!  Highly recommend. 

After dinner drinks at some bar in the Gaslamp district.

Heyyy...

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Lunch at La Puerta for some super delicious Mexican food.  Everyone in our group loved it.

Afterwards we went on a little walking brewery tour to Half Door Brewing (small and super chill), Mission Brewery (dog friendly and lively) and Ballast Point (too crowded for my liking and I was craving a cocktail over a beer at this point).  

Shuffleboard at Mission.

Pre-dinner drink at Entrada mainly because Ballast Point was crazy busy.  Had the displeasure of ordering two of the same cocktail which tasted completely different from each other.  Not good.

Dinner at Civico 1845 in Little Italy for a nice little Italian meal.  The meatball was the tastiest thing I ate.

Little Italy with my Italian.

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Lunch before we leave at Zanzibar Cafe. Okay kale salad and a strange chili to end our trip.

We'll be back to San Diego yet again this March for a wedding so until next time!

Portland, another timeline!

I've been to Portland once before but since M earned a Companion Pass with Southwest Airlines I'll be tagging along on every trip I can!  He was going for work and I was going for play.  My favorite kind of trip!

Friday
We arrived in Portland around 3pm and headed straight to our hotel to check in and get settled.
Our friends met us downtown at the Oregon Historical Society and we perused the WWII exhibit. Casual Friday night, you know?

Feel high winds for 2 dollars!

Followed by drinks and addictive popcorn (prepared with tōgarashi, honey and butter) at Clyde Common and dinner at Sauce Box.

Saturday
I took myself to brunch at Mother's and it was packed!  I was able to snag a spot at the bar and enjoy the most delicious brunch.  A perfectly fluffy omelet with thick, crisp bacon, caramelized onions and swiss cheese.  A classic combination but so perfect.

Later I walked to the Portland Saturday Market and resisted the urge to buy anything.
I took a walk around the city up to the University and into Canoe (needed everything!).
A trip to the Portland Art Museum capped off my day.  LOVED this museum.

Inside the Kenny Scharf: Cosmic Cavern exhibit.

David Hockney, a favorite of mine.

That night we dined at Andina  for a delicious Peruvian experience.
Capped the night off with drinks at our hotel bar.

Sunday
I began with a breakfast sandwich from Brunch Box.  I went with the Black & Bleu on wheat with bacon, sausage, grilled onions, a fried egg, blackening spice, blue cheese and mushrooms. A little lot decadent but I was planning to work it all off.  (Fun fact: M ate at Brunch Box 3 times this trip!)

My ready to explore outfit!

From there I picked up a bike at Cycle Portland and hit the town!  So fun exploring.

View from down the trail along the river.  Nice escape from the city.

Stopped off at Bushwacker Cider for some beer samples and then went to Cascade Brewing for a few more samples and some chili.
After all that bike riding in the cold I needed a doughnut so I braved the line at Voodoo and picked up some goods!

I decided to crop out the 30 people in line ahead of me.

Blueberry cake, a cream-filled delight and maple bacon.

Sushi for supper at masu and night caps, again, at our hotel bar.

Monday
Lunch with some actuaries at Imperial.  I flipped out when I saw Doug Adams in the kitchen cooking!  I'm a huge Top Chef fan. :)
After a little rest we Ubered to the Clarks for some hang time.

Entertaining the babe.

We picked up some groceries at Whole Foods and proceeded to make Cincinnati Chili with all the fixin's.  This recipe from Saveur is so legit.  Highly recommend!!


Tuesday
Slept late then scooted off to lunch at Tasty N Alder.  We split a steak sandwich, bim bop bacon and eggs and baked beans.  Possibly my favorite meal of the trip.  A very unexpected and delicious experience.

Until next time, Portland!

Thanksgiving 2015

My Thanksgiving was perfect.

Mr. Louisville and I traveled up to Cincinnati the night before and stayed at the Hilton downtown which worked out wonderfully.  We ran the Cincinnati Thanksgiving 10k in the morning and I had personal best time of 1 hour 31 seconds! It's a great tradition to feel better about all of the great food later on and I hope to keep it up.

After the run we cleaned up and headed downstairs for lunch with my family at Orchid's.  It's the most wonderful buffet and my favorites were the seafood (crab legs, crab claws, cold shrimp, freshly shucked oysters) and the cheese plate I made for myself in lieu of too many desserts.  It's arguably my favorite family tradition!

I miss my little BFF!

Group photo minus baby Caroline.

After lunch M and I headed back down to Louisville to stop by his Uncle's for an Italian feast.  Sauce, spaghetti, meatballs, rolled beef, pork, bread, salad.  It was a nice change of pace and absolutely delicious!

Following dinner we stopped by Tia's for a visit which was a perfect ending to our holiday.

San Diego and Las Vegas... a timeline!

I hardly had time to unpack before jetting off for a quick trip to San Diego and Vegas with Mr. Louisville. Thus, another timeline.

Thursday 
We caught an early flight to San Diego and arrived around noon.  Eli picked us up from the airport and we went to Neighborhood for lunch and beers.  The company was better than the food.

Afterwards, Eli took us to Aunt Lois' where we'd be staying with her and Uncle Charlie.  Uncle Eddy was there waiting for us so we had a good time sitting outside and catching up.
Aunt Lois made chicken tacos for dinner with fresh pico. Raquel stopped by for a bit and we all got tipsy and had a little dance party.  

In bed by 8pm.

Friday
The next morning Mr. Louisville and I went on a little walk/run with my Aunt.
Later Charlie made us a delicious breakfast with scrambled eggs with the leftover pico and cheddar cheese, crisp bacon and skillet potatoes.

We headed to Uncle Eddy's apartment and tried out his electric bike.  SO FUN!

Later he took us on a walk around Balboa Park.

We went home for a quick nap then headed over to my Aunt Celeste's and Uncle Karl's.  The whole gang was there and Aunt C made a feast of grilled jalapeno's stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon, fresh pico, cheese enchiladas, beef tacos and all the fixings.  Can you tell we love Mexican food?!
So good to see everyone though I didn't many pictures. :(

Saturday
M and I left first thing for VEGAS and stopped at In-N-Out Burger along the way.
We arrived at the MGM Grand later that afternoon and quickly freshened up to meet up with our friends.
We had reservations at China Poblano in the Cosmopolitan for dinner followed by the Britney show at Planet Hollywood.  I've been looking forward to seeing this show for so long and it didn't disappoint!
Later we gambled a bit back out our hotel and then called it a night.

Sunday
The next morning we went to America for brunch in New York New York and then napped since the boys were running the Rock N Roll half marathon later that day!
Around 3pm Melissa and I hit the strip while the boys headed to the start.  We stopped for shops and drinks along the way and cheered on our men around mile 4 and at the finish.

After the race the birthday girl was craving Italian so we went to FiAMMA at the MGM and had a great meal.  Charcuterie, calamari, caeser salads, steak and spaghetti.

Monday

We had a bit of a late start so we began with bourbon and Sprite in our rooms before hitting the strip.  We moseyed down to the Venetian and ate at the Grand Lux then gambled a bit.  Roulette for life!  I doubled my money so I cashed out immediately and was quite pleased with myself.
Afterwards we walked over to Zara and Topshop for a little shopping.
The Bengals had the Monday Night Football game so we placed some bets and went to Tap in the MGM to watch the game.  Bengals lost so we did too.
Later we walked over to New York New York for a bit more gambling before calling it a night.

Tuesday
M and I slept in late and checked out around noon then went directly to 800 Degrees for pizza and salad. Since he's been to Vegas many times (as have I) I convinced him to go see the new James Bond Movie to kill time before our flight.  We both really liked it!
As luck would have it my Uncle Eric was in town on business so we met up with him for a few drinks before our flight.

Finally, I caught the end of the Kentucky Wildcats game at the airport and a win over Duke was the cherry on top of the trip.

Hello Louisville!

It's official.  I quit my job and moved to Louisville.  I feel excited, stressed, sad, happy, hopeful - all the feelings!  Since Louisville isn't very far I didn't want to make a big deal about it but I was able to have quite the sendoff.

Dinner at Sotto with the ladies.

Thursday night Bengals football tailgate with lots of friends at the West Sixth party.  Bengals are 8-0!!  Such a fun time to be in the city!!

Quality time with my little BFF.  I'll miss her the most!  Such a special time living with the Normans...  So thankful for them and sad to be gone.  I was part of their family for 8 months and I'll cherish that time for the rest of my life.

Anyway, excited to start a fresh new chapter of my life with Mr. Louisville!!  Wish me luck!

Welcome Caroline Day!

My sister had another baby!  Caroline Day was born while I was away in Austin but everything went well.  We love her!