Happy Friday!! I hope you have all had a great summer. I can't believe we are already past Labor Day and summer is coming to an end. Let me apologize for going dark on you all, I promised new content this year and then went radio silent. Blogging and I have a complicated relationship. It provides me with a creative outlet but is also the first thing I put on the back burner when times get busy. 

I had a quiet Labor day weekend at home though while my husband was out of town and I spent a lot of time brainstorming for the upcoming months so stay tuned for more content! Until then, here is a five-on-Friday to catch you up to speed on our summer!

ONE. In June we attended a wedding in McMinnville, OR and had the opportunity to go out a few days early to explore the area. It was STUNNING! The weather was cool and refreshing and the scenery was just unreal. Definitely will be on my list of places to return to when we have some more time to spend. 

TWO. Farmer's Markets. One of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday morning is easing into the day with coffee on the deck then heading to one of our local farmer's markets. We are lucky that we have quite a few close to us and I have been trying to take full advantage. 

I also ordered these Debbie Meyer GreenBags to help keep my produce fresh longer and they really work! 

THREE. I turned our breakfast nook into a "coffee bar" room and also storage for our serving dishes and I am really happy with how it turned out. It was one of the rooms I really didn't know what to do with, but it's one of my favorite little nooks now! I've been trying to make specialty coffee at home now and cut down on my Starbucks runs :) 

FOUR. I welcomed in my 29th year! My husband always spoils me on my birthday and if you live in Kansas City and haven't been to Cafe Providence, I HIGHLY recommend it. I love French food and this probably now is my favorite restaurant in KC. 

FIVE. This one is maybe the most exciting, meet our new four legged son, Chief! He is a golden retriever pup and is now 10 weeks old! He is just the cutest thing but is quite the rascal. He has been keeping us busy and up at night! 

SIX. I know it's "five-on-Friday" but I found this "Pumpkin Spice Everything" tank at Target this past weekend and you need to get it before its gone! I love their graphic tanks, they are perfect for lounging, working out, and I think this one will be cute with a cozy sweater this fall! 

I hope you all had a great summer!

XOXO, Jenny 

Dear 2017

(Link here for full outfit details)

There is something about January that always excites me. The start of a new year, a blank slate, a new chapter. The motivation of new goals, new aspirations and a full 365 days to make the most of. 

There is always a sort of nostalgia that hits me too. Another year has passed by, and another one is upon us that will flash by even quicker. 

I know some people don't believe in resolutions, and I do agree with them to an extent. I believe that you don't need a reason to start over, or make a change, why not start now? However, I do like the idea of re-evaluating the last year and setting some concrete aspirations to make the next year even better.

So for me, I am aiming for the following:

Continue to focus on health and wellness. This is always my biggest goal. I consider myself to be a fairly healthy and active individual but my goal for this year is to focus on eating real, whole foods and less processed/ convenient foods and to be active everyday. My mom always told me I only get one body and I better take care of it. So this year, I want to continue to learn more about the foods I am putting in my body and where they come from. I want to focus on making things at home from scratch versus buying processed items filled with chemicals. 

A steady morning routine. This ties to health and wellness but I want to settle into a morning routine of waking up slowly, enjoying a morning workout & meditation, then preparing a healthy breakfast all before I check my e-mail and mindlessly scroll through social media. I deserve to give myself that time to focus on me before tackling the to do's of the day.

Be present and enjoy each and every moment. It is far too easy to be walking through each day heads down staring at my phone or worrying about something in the future. This year, I want to focus on being present. I want to talk to strangers at the coffee shop instead of blankly staring at my phone. I want to enjoy dinners out without documenting everything on social media. I want to fully soak in each and every moment, and  try to always remind myself to take it day by day. 

Saying no to be able to say yes more, without having to give an excuse. This is a hard one for me and always seems to make the list. I have a tendency to overcommit and overextend myself as to not disappoint anyone. What happens though is that I end up  frazzled and only being about to give a part of my attention, my time, and my focus to numerous things. So my goal for this year is to learn to say no without feeling guilty and feeling the need to have an excuse. 

I will keep you updated as the year progresses but 2017, I have a feeling you are going to be a good one. 

What are all of your resolutions?? I would love to hear!

XOXO,

Jenny 

Five-On-Friday

BUSY. That pretty much sums up our life lately, but I've come to terms with that's just how our life is. Busy is our normal, but I guess it beats sitting around, right? We have the next few weekends at home and I couldn't be more excited to slow things down as we head into the holiday season.

Here's a quick five-on-Friday for you!

{ one } Two weekends ago I went down to Branson, MO with my husband's mom, sister, aunt and cousin. We spent the entire weekend Christmas shopping. It's their annual tradition, and my second time participating. I went down so unprepared- I mean it's only October so holiday shopping hadn't even crossed my mind. But, I'm happy to report we are now more than 1/2 way done with Christmas shopping and now I'm counting the days until Christmas!

 {two } Speaking of Christmas- my mind has also started brainstorming for the holiday season. What do you guys want to see on the blog for the holidays? Gift guides? Recipes? Christmas decor home tour? Table decor ideas? Let me know in the comments below!

{ three } When I find something I love, I want to share it with all or you. That was kind of my whole intent/ goal of this blog was to share all of my favorite things. In the spirit of that, I HAVE to tell you about my new favorite dry shampoo. I'm quite certain that I will never find one that works as well as the Living Proof Perfect Hair Day. I'm not kidding. I typically go about every other day with washing my hair, but still feel like on day 2 my hair doesn't look great. The dry shampoos I have used in the past help a little, but it still looks like I need to wash my hair.

I've heard so much rave about this shampoo so I decided to give it a try. Life changing. I went 4 DAYS without washing my hair, and probably could've gone another 2 if I really wanted to. Seriously guys, try it. It also has great fragrance in it which I loved! Oh and don't worry, I still shower everyday- just don't wash my hair :)  

{ four }  Another great find lately has been a product called Head Ease. It is a blend of essential oils: peppermint, lavender, wintergreen, frankincense, marjoram, and rosemary. The blend is specifically designed to reduce inflammation that cause migraines and headaches. I am someone who has suffered from migraines my entire life, and I probably depend on ibuprofen/ excedrin migraine more than I would like to admit. I've been trying to cut back on that and find natural remedies to treat the pain so I ordered this off amazon. The other night I came home from work with a tension headache/ migraine and instead of taking medicine, I rubbed this on my temples and on the back of my neck where the tension was. I was overcome with such  tingly feeling and within 30 minutes my headache has subsided. I was thrilled! I am now ordering like 5 more of these little bottles to stash in my purse, my desk, my car, you get the picture. I highly recommend it if you too suffer from migraines and tension headaches.

{ five } Last weekend Tristan and I went down to Baton Rouge, LA for the LSU VS. Ole Miss game. I've always loved football and have always been intrigued with football in the south. We had the opportunity with Tristan's work to travel down for the game and we were both so excited! The stadium was insane- holds around 100,000 people. The biggest stadium I have ever been to. Everyone was so nice and welcoming and the game was a blast. I can now cross a football game in the south off my bucket list!

What are you all up to this weekend? Hope you all have a great one!

XOXO, Jenny

Travel Diaries: Camping in Colorado

Traveling is something that both Tristan and I love to do. We are lucky that we both are willing to make sacrifices elsewhere so we can set aside funds to use for traveling. There is something magical about getting away together, exploring new places, and making new memories. I always come back from vacation feeling refreshed and renewed. 

For Tristan's 30th birthday, he decided on camping in Colorado once the Zika virus had pretty much scared us into staying in the US (no, I am not pregnant, but still don't want the virus :) ). We decided we would make it an adventurous trip and bring Moose with us.

Typically I do all of our trip planning, but I let Tristan take the reins on this one. The itinerary we decided on was stay the first night in Colorado Springs, camp 2 nights outside of Salida, then stay our last night in a hotel in the town of Salida.

My responsibility was finding 2 hotels that allowed pets. Not only did they have to allow pets, but there also couldn't be a weight limit. A lot of conversations ended with the 50 lb. weight limit, but I was successful in finding 2 hotels!

We left early after work on Wednesday and made it to Colorado Springs in decent time. Although we were apprehensive, Moose did amazing in the car. He slept most of the time. It was about midnight when we checked in so we pretty much crashed (Moose loved the king size bed).

The next morning we woke up early eager to hit the road and head to our campsite. Tristan knew that the campsite was about 10 miles on a dirt road off one of the main Salida highways so we figured it wouldn't take us too long to get there. WRONG.

As we pulled off the highway, the dirt road started out fine and we were cruising. The further we went, the rockier the road started getting, and the wiggle room between the road and the edge of the mountain was diminishing. I was starting to get a little nervous.... 

Long story short, the road was probably meant for off-roading in Jeeps- luckily we had my 4Runner and made it fine but it took us 2 HOURS to drive 10 miles. We also lost service about halfway there- which I expected but it made me a little apprehensive. The views were definitely worth the drive though, they were beautiful! 

Once we finally made it to the North Fork campground I was in awe of how beautiful it was. We were at about 11,000 Ft elevation and the campsite was right next to a beautiful lake. But, we were the ONLY ones up there. Now, I didn't expect the campsite to be full, but I always imagined a few other campers. I was counting on them if Tristan got attacked by a bear and I had to get us to safety. But, it was just Tristan, Moose, and me.....

Tristan could see that I was starting to get a little nervous but he assured me that we would be perfectly fine, so we committed and set up camp and explored around. As the sun started to set we started a campfire, made dinner, and enjoyed some wine next to the fire. There was something so relaxing (and terrifying) being in the middle of the mountains without cell reception, and without anyone else around. 

(Moose is such a tough pup that we had to get his bed out of the car because he kept circling around and wouldn't lay down...)

Unfortunately mother nature didn't cooperate with us and after a full night and morning of rain and really cool temps, we decided one night of camping was enough. Luckily, the rain stopped long enough to fish and hike around the lake for awhile before we packed up and headed down the mountain.

Again, so tough... 

The drive down the mountain was much more enjoyable since I knew what I was getting into, so I really enjoyed the views and we stopped quite a few times to take pictures. Photography has always been an interest of mine, so I always love opportunities to try improve my skills. 

The last day Tristan biked down Monarch Pass and I explored the town of Salida with Moose. 

The trip went by too fast, as they always do, and I am already wanting to go back. If you haven't been to Colorado in the fall, or to Colorado in general- I highly recommend it. It has always been one of our favorite places to vacation but being there in the fall took my love to another level. 

Now to plan the next trip... 

Thanks for reading- hope you enjoyed the pictures!

XOXO, Jenny 

Black & White for Fall

Shoes: Jessica Simpson | Jeans: Old Navy Mid-Rise Rockstar Skinnies | Flannel: Forever 21- Similar here | Purse: Kate Spade- Old by similar here 

The weather here in KC is finally starting to feeling like fall! The morning air is getting cooler and you can actually be outside without sweating. While it still isn't cool enough to whip out scarfs and run around in boots, I am starting to incorporate some of fall favorites like flannels. I love look of an over-sized flannel button up dressed down with leggings and boots (for later in the season) or dressed up with skinny jeans and heels for a casual date night.

This flannel is from Forever 21 and I just ordered a few sizes up so that it would be a bit larger and allow me to tie it at the waist. 

SHOP OTHER FLANNELS (Click on the picture to take you to the link):

What are your fall favorites??

Thanks for reading!

XOXO, Jenny