Chicago & Wisconsin trip

This past week I got to visit Chicago and Wisconsin for the very first time.
Talk about an awesome trip.
And it even helped to knock of a goal from my 25 before 26 list (visit a new state....but I overachieved with two)!

 Steven and I spent the first half of it in Chi-town visiting his sister and their family and then the last part of the trip was spent in Wisconsin visiting more of Steven's family. It was the first time I had met almost all of them and I have to say, I already love them. They are some amazing people.

Between the awesome people and the awesome adventures, I almost didn't want to come back. 

We went sightseeing, kayaking, saw a Red Sox/Cubs game, went on a boat tour around Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and ate a lot of really awesome food.

So here are some pictures from the trip (although not even half of what was taken).

And now we are finally home. Resting up for work tomorrow. 

xoxo

kel

pinterest project #1

One of my "25 before 26" goals was to create 5 things from pinterest. I figured that this would be a good way to actually get crafty instead of just "pinning" pictures. 

For the first "pinterest" project I decided to make a jewelry holder, which I found here.

 Like any girl, I had some already, but I felt like they weren't adequate and they also seemed to hide what I had, meaning that I often times forgot about them. This idea (which paired well with the framing my necklaces) seemed to be the perfect solution and even saved space).

 

Making it was super easy too!

I bought a large plate (pizza size), bowl (smaller), and a candle stick. I also needed glue (I used "Dots" which are really used to easily adhere pictures to paper) and paint. 

 First, paint.

Then once it dries put glue on either side of the candlestick and attach it to the large plate (bottom) and bowl (or smaller plate) on the top.

Let dry.

Add your jewelry!

 

Volia! 

I put braclets and watches on the top, earrings with hooks on the edges, and rings, necklace pendants small earrings, and broaches on the bottom. 

Now I can see everything and I can more easily pick what I want to wear from day to day.

 If you make one, please share pictures, I would love to see your take!!!

-kel

restaurant #3 (and a lot of rambling about bubble tea)

So remember those "Stellie points"??

                                     (A/K/A Steven and Kellie's guide to fine dining in Jacksonville). 

                                                                       Too much?

Last night Steven and I tried a new place down the road, Bowl of Pho. Never personally having had Vietnamese or Pho, I was excited. The place was actually really cute and what totally made my night was that they offered bubble tea!!

(Nerd moment......).

So a couple of years ago I caught onto this bubble tea phenomenon and decided I had to try it. I'm not really a big fan of tea, but I was hoping this would change things. So I went online and looked up places that offered bubble tea. There were only 3 places in Florida and one was 6 hours away, but happened to be my hometown. So a few months later when I travelled home to Pensacola for the holidays, I went on my search for this new craze. Of course, by the time I got my entire family there to try this amazing new delight, I found out it had closed. Talk about major let down.

So then, a couple years later.....bubble tea is everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Maybe this was a lesson in patience, I don't know.

But last night, I got my fill of bubble tea for the week. And I was ecstatic.

Oh and it was also cool that we got to try a new place. I feel like this 25 before 26 goal is helping Steven and I to be a bit more adventurous as a couple. At least when it comes to food.

And the Stellie combined point for this new place? 7.05 (you know, in case you were wondering).

-kel

Ps. in case you want to follow along, I typically post pics up on instagram, so follow me. (kelzify)

stellie

We're a very ambitious couple.

For real.

We spent Saturday night dancing the night away (in Steven and Kellie fashion....which others might deem "embarrassing", but we see as fun/entertaining). Hey- we even got our picture taken (see above).

Sunday we made a "fort of sorts" in the living room and watched tv all day on an air mattress. That was also the day we decided we should start rating movies. The new Rogers and Ebert if you will. Only our rating system will be called "stellie points". (Which is also the name of our restaurant rating system...see below).

Again, we are very ambitious.

One of my 25 before 26 goals was to try (at least) 25 new restaurants.

Steven agreed to help and this past weekend he sweetly offered to take me to a new place. We chose Big Dawgs (which is the 2nd new restaurant on my goal list so far). Then he had a brilliant idea to rate the new restaurants so we'd know if we ever wanted to go back.

So the "Stellie" point system began.

(By the way, Big Dawgs (in case you were wondering) got a 5.2 combined score from us).

Other than making crazy/awesome career choices this weekend, we also got to hang out with Steven's sister and boyfriend, who were here for a day or two. I'm pretty sure this weekend would count as one of the best in a long time. And I needed it. We caught up, ate and drank too much, danced, ordered late night food, watched tons of tv and movies and just had an amazing time.

xo

kel

25 before 26

Last year I made my "24 before 25" list.

 Looking back on what I accomplished from this list, I only got about half of them done. Which kind of  disappointing because the year before I didn't accompish all my goals either. So this year, I put some of them back on in hopes of this year getting them marked off.
The ones I did do: travel to a new place (Tampa, FL), finish the Kellie and Steven year 1 minibook, go on at least 1 photoshoot (i did 2), go on a bike ride in riverside, make a minibook out of paintchips, have a picnic in the park, let go of grudges (still working on this, but I've come a long way), declutter home, save monet, finish Lost seasons, bike more, and fingerpaint.

Now for this year's list...... my 25 before 26 list:

As you can tell, most of my goals are oriented around the numbers 5 and 25. I thought it would make it funny and more fun this year.
And I already started....last night I went to a new exercise class with a work friend. I loved it too, can't wait to go back tomorrow!!

xoxo
kel