it’s the weekend, it’s the weekend. while i most certainly look forward to the arrival of every friday, saturday, & sunday, i’m particularly excited about what these next three days have in store. tonight after a much-needed hair appointment (momma’s got some roots!), S and i are meeting up with our favorite newlyweds for dinner at their new pad for dinner. tomorrow it’s class and errands and date night! and sunday, of course, we’ll be honoring our favorite ladies with visits to celebrate both S’ momma bear and my own. after a long week (but good) week, i’m so ready for a fun weekend with family, friends, and my love.

enjoy your weekend, spoil your momma, and check out the half-dozen things that had me swooning this week:

one || dinner & a movie. as i just mentioned, S and i are treating ourselves to a good old-fashioned date night. dinner & a movie style. seeing as the last movie we saw in the theatres was last fall’s gone girl, we are more than overdue. thanks to a gift card we got from S’s parents for christmas, we have two leather recliners with our names on them at cinepolis’s matinee showing of last weekend’s blockbuster hit, avengers: age of ultron. the location of our dinner date has yet to be determined but there has been discussion of sushi (which i don’t hate). at any rate, i’m just so excited for a date night with my boo. we tend to err on the side of pajamas and takeout for most of our weekend meals so it’ll be fun to change out of workout clothes, put on a little makeup, and maybe wash my hair for a change. i can’t wait!

 

 

two || rug-gedly handsome. after MONTHS of searching for the perfect area rug for my living room -one that would of course compliment my new furniture and go with the neutral palette i’ve chosen for operation redecoration, i finally found one –at home depot of all places. it recently went on sale and i was able to snatch it up for a fraction of its original price. it’s currently on its way to my front doorstep and i’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s as lovely in person as it appears on the website.

 

 

three || second time’s a charm? speaking of that new furniture…after wednesday’s couch debacle, S and i went back to living spaces yesterday to find a replacement sofa. we did a little research on the store’s website before our trip so we were able to identify the top contenders once we entered the showroom. having been intrigued by its similar color and design to the thompson model, “the ramona” (which only really makes me think of her) also caught our eye in person. after testing it out and running around the showroom with fabric samples, we decided to order it in the featured chaplin grey with two solid pillows and two featuring the black and ivory striped pattern. the great news is that we saved $60 with the return of the old couch and the purchase of the new one (this one is slightly less than the original thompson model), the not-so-good news is that we have to wait another three weeks before we get it. but looking on the bright side, at least there’s plenty of space for both of us on the chair and ottoman!

 

 

p.s. we measured twice to make sure this couch will definitely fit up the stairs.

four || adventures in craigslist. i read a little blurb on one of my favorite blogger’s site this week about her recent experiences with craigslist. being new to craigslist myself, i found her story especially amusing. it’s such a strange process, honestly. but seeing that S has sold a ton of stuff lately -everything from plastic jugs to a vintage motorcycle, i know the process works. anyway, i showed the post to S, who laughed and agreed that sarah’s (the author) account was pretty much accurate, and with what little experience i’ve had thus far in trying to sell my couches, i can attest to the fact that there are a lot of arkeviuses out there.

so if you’ve ever tried your hand at craigslist or plan to or if you’re just looking for a good chuckle, here’s sarah’s story:

So, I’d kind of been wanting to try my hand at Craigslist. (I just realized that sentence sounds sketchy. To be clear, I meant for selling things. Non-human things.)

 

Anyway, I have a bunch of stuff at my house I need to clean out. And while I’ve found that if I leave something on the curb of my street it disappears almost instantaneously, I thought it’d be nice to get a little extra cash out of the deal. (Seriously though, what is it with the disappearing thing? Last week I put a small wine rack on the curb and went back to the back yard to grab a little side table to put with it. By the time I returned to the front yard, all traces of the wine rack were gone. It’s like there are scavengers just watching my house.)

 

So, I had an old TV that was in perfectly good shape, but I no longer needed. I posted it on Craigslist for $30. And proceeded to begin dealing with the most bizarre forms of humanity.

 

My favorite is Arkevius. Twenty minutes after I posted, he emailed “I want ur tv. text.” and gave me his number. I ignored Arkevius’ request and emailed him back that I’d be happy to sell him the TV. I could leave it on my front porch and he could pick it up and leave the money. (The risk of losing $30 seemed better than the risk of meeting Arkevius in person.)

 

This was where things got fun. Ark emailed back and asked if the TV worked. I said yes. Then he said ok, he’d pick it up. I said fine. I didn’t hear from him for 24 hours. Then he emailed back again: “is there really nothing wrong with it.” I assured him there wasn’t. He emailed back again “can u send some pics to show it works.” In addition to being a shrewd businessman, Ark must be a very important person because he’s clearly too busy to ever spell out “you.”

Unfortunately, while Ark has been working through his trust issues with me, I’ve met Charles. Who is buying the TV today and not making me take photos of it. So, I got to deal with Ark AND someone actually purchased the TV. All in all, I’m really enjoying my first Craigslist sales experience.

 

 

five || a very special guest. last sunday i subbed the 4:15 p.m. class for another instructor who is currently recovering from surgery. on the weekends, the 4:15 p.m. class is the last one of the day, so i figured it would be a good class to invite a very special person to attend. but not “attend” in the traditional sense, you see. despite having been an instructor as long as S and i have been together, i’ve never been able to wrangle him to take one of my classes (he’d probably blow everyone away with his impeccable form anyway). but i have always wanted him to at least see me in action so he could have a better sense of what it is i do five times a week. so on sunday, he dropped by a little after 5 p.m. and sat in the boutique to watch/listen to me teach the last fifteen minutes of class. as i spotted him through the french doors, a part of me thought i would have been nervous, but quite the contrary, in fact. once i knew he was listening, it made me calm. inspired, even. to work a little harder, speak a little louder, motivate the clients a little more. i assured my class that it had not been some random stranger who had been watching them, but my loving boyfriend who had come to see me teach. later he told me that i was a different person in there. clearly once i put on the mic and turn up the music, my alter ego comes out. “she’s far more aggressive and sassy,” he said. we then decided that this alter ego should have a name. after a few moments, i answered, “angelica.” it sounded exotic and he agreed.

anyway, angelica and i were both very happy to have had S come see us in action last sunday. it has always been so important to me that my partner supports me 100% in everything i do, and having S there and also knowing how much time S puts into helping me study new choreography on a monthly basis, only solidifies in my mind that i have the best possible teammate in the whole world.

 

 

six || mom lottery. as if you didn’t know already, i hit the mom lottery scoring this one as my mother. she is hands-down the most giving, selfless, loyal, encouraging, loving, hysterical, genuine, spirited, stunning woman, no human, i have ever known. it is a privilege and honor to not only share a gene pool with her but to also have her as one of my best friends. i constantly ask myself what i ever did to deserve a life under her care, just like i also ask myself how i’ll ever be half the mother she is when i have children of my own someday. until that happens, i’ll just soak up all of her goodness and pray that something sticks. so to the woman who is my hero, my person, my best friend, and giver of life, happy mother’s day. thank you for the innumerable things you do for me and our family on a daily basis. thank you for embracing the man i love most in the world and for celebrating and supporting our love. you are amazing, you are hilarious, and i’m so glad you’re mine. i love you to the moon and back.

and to all of the other mothers in my life, thank you for everything you do. you are inspirations to not only me, but to everyone around you. i hope you feel so loved, appreciated, and celebrated today!

 

 

so on that note, call your mother, or if you’re lucky enough to live close by, stop by with flowers and a hug. she deserves everything you can give her and more.

have yourselves a wonderful weekend and i’ll try to be around more next week. as always, thank you for reading and following along in my daily adventures. i like you a lot!

p.s. S and i are OFFICIALLY booked for san fran. let the countdown commence!

top image a piece of toast

image credits: one // two // three // four 

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