It's always the simple things in life...

I've thoroughly enjoyed following Joanna Goddard's Glamour blog, Smitten, over the past couple of weeks. In searching through its archives, I came across one about 5 simple pleasures in life, and thought it was the perfect morning post on this lovely Friday.

So, 5 of my simple pleasures in life are:

1. Walks with my Mom
2. A glass of red wine in the evening
3. Finding a great novel buried in a used bookstore
4. Reading through my quotes journal
5. Getting an unexpected card in the mail


What are the simple pleasures in your life that always guarantee a smile?

Dentist appointment...dun dun duuuunnnn!

To start, let me just say that I'm not a huge fan of the dentist AT ALL, but really, who is? (and if you are, I'm going to judge you as being slightly sick and twisted -- just FYI) Well, my morning started off with a bright and early 8 am dentist appointment. This would be the appointment that I have rescheduled countless times and just generally put off for the past year and a half. The one that my mom finally had to schedule and brow beat me into. Yep, my once every 6 months dentist appoitnment was working on a slightly different calendar this time around.

But, nonetheless, I made it to this appointment and despite my usual fears of a potential cavity (I don't have any as of yet) and bloody gums, the morning went well. I am an inconsistent flosser -- aka I floss the couple of days prior to an appointment -- and made sure to remind my favorite hygenist, Maryanne, of this character flaw the minute I walked in. As always, she just laughed at me and very sweetly reprimanded me for my swollen gums before tackling the task of cleaning my pearly whites. I really hate the sound of the tools scraping on my teeth, and always appreciate that Maryanne is very good at small talk while she scrapes away. I don't know why, but the sound gets to me just like the screech of nails on a chalkboard. *shudder* By the end of my appointment, my teeth had been gently scraped clean of plaque, flossed multiple times with minimal blood shed, polished to a smooth finish and praised as being "really great teeth"! All in all, it was a successful, pain-free trip and I made sure to make my next 6 month appointment while I was there; no excuses for me and my teeth this time!


I also left the dentist's office with 2 things of woven floss (non-waxy and actually kind of nice) and several reminders that flossing not only keeps my gums tight but prevents decay between my teeth where my couple of potential problem areas can be found. Gotcha, gotcha; I'll try my hardest to turn daily flossing into a habit!

A New Look

A new Thanksgiving-themed background was in order on this dreary first Monday of November. I'm still playing around with font colors, but so far I like the new look.

Just a quick post as I'm supposed to be diligently working right now, but check back later for my loooong recap of the past 6 days, photos and all!

Happy Monday, everyone!

I love Barnes and Noble New Release Tuesdays

Folks, here's my confession: I am a sucker for a good romance novel! While this is perhaps not my very best, nor most worthwhile trait, it is true and I'll wear it proudly. Sometimes all I want after a long day is to escape into a smut novel that requires little brain power, but never ceases to keep the smiles coming. Now, what is so wrong with that? I'm a hopeless romantic (despite being surprisingly logical and realistic in real life) and lover of a nice, sappy happily ever after; throw in some historical drama or a little mystery and I'm set!


Reading is a passion that I inherited from my mother, and reading a good romance is something I can directly link to her mother, my grandmother...at least I'm keeping it all in the family! When I was about 12 or so, I spent 2 weeks back in Michigan with my grandparents. The night before my departure, as always, Grammy pulled a few books off of her shelves for me to take back to Colorado with me. One of these books was The MacGregors: Daniel & Ian by Nora Roberts. It was right up my alley: love, Scottish men, strong-willed females and just one in a series. Needless to say, I was instantly hooked! From that day on, I was a romance novel convert. Since then, my tastes have changed and my horizons have broadened, but romance novels are always my "comfort food" so to speak, and Nora Roberts' books are my ultimate.

Well, my dear Ms. Roberts has a new book out today and I.WANT.IT! It's called Bed of Roses and is the 2nd in her new Brides Quartet; and considering how I devoured the first book, I can only assume it will be wonderful. As I've said before, I get the majority of my books from the library, but this is one I will absolutely be buying...this weekend...after pay day...when my justifications will be "stronger". I can't wait!



ps- my side table looks like this, which is another reason to wait until at least this weekend to give in to my book wants:

My Fabulous First Award

Courtney, my fellow fabulous blogger, friend from high school and person who inspired me to start blogging, nominated me for my very first blogging award last week! A big thank you to her!



I'm supposed to name 5 things that I'm currently obsessed with and then nominate other fabulous blogs. Since I am still new to the blogging world, and am just starting to get to know other bloggers, I'm going to hold off on the nominations for now.

So, without further ado, 5 things I am currently obsessed with:

1. Fashion. I've always loved clothes and putting together colors and outfits, but up until recently had never hit the obsessive level...well, I've hit it! I have this desire to look as good as I feel all.the.time! and to put the extra effort into getting dressed stylishly in the mornings. I know it sounds kind of snobby, but I want my coworkers and friends to notice what I'm wearing and to genuinely like my outfits. And then, I want to be able to tell them where I got it and what a great deal I got on said outfit or piece of clothing (because I'm a bargain-hunter extraordinaire) so they can go out and have as much fun fashion shopping as I have. I want to spread the wealth!

2. Jamie, my best friend in the entire world. She is currently living close-by in Denver, but come January will be heading back to Minnesota and then off to Australia for graduate school. I have several posts started about her heading to AUS and my feelings on it, but have kept them just for me so far. Eventually, I'm sure I will go into more detail here, but until then I will just say that I'm absolutely thrilled for her! I've known for a while that heading to AUS was her plan, but it didn't fully hit me until a couple of weeks ago that I'm going to have go from seeing her nearly every weekend to possibly only seeing her once a year if I'm lucky. Wow, can we say reality check?! So, now I'm trying to make the most of the time she has left here in CO and get my Jamie fill before she heads off on her next adventure.

3. Meeting new people. In line with the bestie leaving (and my other best friend already living in MD) and the fact that I feel like I've become an entirely new woman over the last year, I've been wanting to broaden my horizens by doing more things and meeting new people. I'm always jealous of people who can run out after work for a drink with work friends or are able to easily put themselves out there and meet people, but that's just not me (yet...hopefully). I am one of the youngest people at my job (and the youngest in my division), which makes it a little more difficult to really form work friendships. Luckily, I do know a couple of very outgoing gals in another division who have been on the job longer than I have and know more of the younger crowd than I do, and they've kind of taken me under their wing. These ladies are wonderful planners who really put forth the effort to get us 20-something year olds together for non-work related activities. It's been great! So, I'm slowly but surely getting to know more ladies at work and will, hopefully, start forming some friendships. As for wanting to be better at putting myself out there?...one step at a time for this gal. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day (gotta love the cheesy cliches)!

4. Re-decorating my guest room. In the beginning, my guest room was decorated with my at the time live-in boyfriend's 3 year old son in mind. It had a boy color scheme, not a lot of decorations and hardly any sense of Erin in it. Well, the relationship is over, I'm in a new apartment that is all mine and it's time for me to take back my guest room. I live on a budget, so re-decorating has been a slow process, but it's coming along and I'm loving it. The furniture was mine to begin with, and I've been collecting accessories here and there, so the guest room is starting to look and feel like a welcoming space with just enough "Erin" in it to fit with the rest of my apartment. Next up: recovering the throw pillows to better match my new color scheme.

5. Books. I'm a self-described book nerd and wouldn't have it any other way. I am a Barnes and Noble member, Library newsletter subscriber and cheap book-stalking fiend. I've had my library card number memorized for years due to the outrageous number of books that I place on hold. I would literally be broke if I purchased all of the books that I read, which is why I am such a huge proponent of libraries. I love the places that books can take me to and the characters I get to meet. Books have always been my safe haven and my quick escape if I need it. They bring me comfort after a rough day and provide endless entertainment on quiet, cool evenings. I've had a love affair with books for as long as I can remember, and plan to keep it my life's longest lasting relationship...I did warn you right off the bat of my nerdiness.

10 reasons why I love my life today:

1. Total jam sessions in the car on the way home from a long day at work
2. Coffee at Starry Night on a cold Fall evening
3. Hobby Lobby Christmas decorations that make my heart smile and my checkbook cringe
4. Warm, cute, stylish sweater coats with toggle buttons
5. Yellow Tail Rose wine.
6. Gossip with a fabulous friend.
7. A stellar performance evaluation at work
8. Planning a weekend phone date with my Baltimore bestie (and looking at creative invites for her wedding)
9. Starting a new book
10. And the best for last: Texting about jam sessions, sexy cops, TV addiction, wine addiction, smut novel covers and anything else we can think of with my best friend

Bright Star

I desperately want to see Bright Star...it looks absolutely stunning and the movie description alone makes the sappy romantic in me sigh and smile contentedly. Plus, I literally get chills whenever I watch the trailer.




How can any true romantic resist this:

London 1818: a secret love affair begins between 23 year-old English poet, John Keats (Ben Whishaw), and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish), an out-spoken student of high fashion. This unlikely pair begin at odds, he thinking her a stylish minx, while she was unimpressed not only by his poetry but also by literature in general.


However, when Fanny heard that Keats was nursing his seriously ill younger brother, her efforts to help touched Keats and when she asked him to teach her about poetry he agreed. The poetry soon became a romantic remedy that worked not only to sort their differences, but also to fuel an impassioned love affair.


When Fanny's alarmed mother and Keats' best friend finally awoke to their attachment, the relationship had an unstoppable momentum. Intensely and helplessly absorbed in each other, the young lovers were swept deeply into powerful new sensations, "I have the feeling as if we're dissolving," Keats wrote to her. Together they rode a wave of romantic obsession that only deepened as their troubles mounted.


When Keats fell ill a year later, the two young lovers faced no marriage but separation. In Keats' own poignant words, "forever panting and forever young."
(from imdb.com)