whoo-hoo!

last weekend my sisters were in town. it was great. we went to the apple orchard (photos to come soon, i hope, along with 231 other posts that i want to share), celebrated my sisters recent engagement, and....celebrated me finishing up graduate school! all around a big whoo-hoo weekend. lots of family time, and lets to celebrate. 

however. once they left, i realized something.

i have felt off beat for several months now and i realize now that  the reason why i have been in a funk and feeling so off lately is... because they aren't around.  my yin to my yang, the cream to my coffee. the sweetness.  i no longer have my best friends to call at any instant and say, hey, let's go to the mall, want to get your nails done? want to go walk around the lake? it is so sad. yes, i do have that great husband of mine. but, there is nothing that compares to girl time, especially when that girl time is with sisters. it is not the same. so i am coping okay over here, you know being the only one left in this great state of minnesota. well, the great state of minnesota that is only kind of great because the sisters are no longer here. and winter is coming soon. and that is all around kind of depressing. but let's not get ahead of our selves yet...

because chad and i are leaving on our super duper fun road trip tuesday evening. we're venturing out west! and sleeping in the back of chad's truck! (read more here)

but we are pretty ecstatic about it. it is one of those trips were we are living on the edge, not planning a whole lot, and hoping that is all works out. i mean, we're young enough right? it is no fun to plan out every last detail. so we are not. we are packing some tupperware bins for clothes and food and hitting the road. i cannot wait. this trip is the first trip of me basically being a fully graduated master degree student. yes, those two years spent working and reading a million different papers and research studies and venting on this little space, has almost come to an end. all of those long days and early mornings, filled with coffee and tears, is done. i am hoping that it is going to "hit me" soon. i still feel slightly crazy like most graduate students do. but, the other day chad say, hey you seem like your normal self again, and i thought, i do! i finally feel sane! finally! it is paying off. and we get to kick out the feeling of freedom with a cross country camping and hiking adventure. i would say that is a great way to celebrate.

not to drastically change the subject but, i recently was sent these new specs from firmoo and am slightly obsessed. they are going to be great on our trip because we will be spending lots of time in the car and in that time in the car i will be reading lots of fun books, not related to school. with cute glasses. so even if i have not showered in a few days.. i got the glasses to cover those eyes and help me feel cute. go check out their site because right now you can get your first pair free! yes! free! just pay for shipping. :)

back to what i was saying about our trip...if you are wanting to follow along on our adventure our west, we will be posting some photos and tweets  @heathermariebee & @ckirsebom, #LifeInTheRange (we are taking chad's ford ranger truck, aka, the truck/newly created camper)

wish us luck! 

outfit details: shirt// target skirt// madwell  shoes// nordstrom glasses c/ o // firmoo 

home inspiration

ever since we've moved... we have been on a hunt to find pieces to add to our space to make it more homey.

 a hard task to do if you ask me! we are on the newlywed budget, so we have made lots of trips to ikea 

and found a whole lot of things thrifting. it's been fun. one thing with marring a designer is, he has an

 opinion about every last decoration. so this whole decorating thing has been a "we" thing and not an

 "me" thing. i do have to say, he has a good eye! and our home is much more curated due to finding things 

that fit our taste, not just stuff that fills the space. decorating doesn't have to be expensive if you are

 willing to hunt. and little by little, we are making this house our home! 

get aways are a good thing for the soul

oooooh hi fall. you are more beautiful then ever. this past weekend chad and i snuck away up to the family cabin, which is three  and a half hours from the cities, a half an hour from good ol canada.  so when we made our way up there we were greated with  a beautiful sea of colors. the colors are just starting to change down here, so it was amazing to get a preview of what is to come! the best part of the weekend was that the temps were warm and even in the 80s. let me tell you folks who are not from minnesota, this is a very rare thing that northern minnesota is in the 80s, at the end of september! it was great. we got to see the beautiful lake by boat, in t-shirts, shine it's fall colors.

i am trying to be more active, so i did a couple runs down some dirt roads while we were up there. it is funny what getting away does to you. we were only three and a half hours away from home, but it felt like we were in another state. i can't lie, but i have been stressed these past few weeks trying to finish up my schooling (let's be honest, i have been pretty stressed working and attending school these past two years, but it is getting to the end, soon, i will no longer be a graduate student, nor be a stressed lady!! granted, some of my best baking as happened as i am a stress baker, but i am sure that i will still love to bake, despite not being stressed ;) ha!)

two days away, it was great for the soul. now back to the grind. only a few things to check off that to-do list that was pretty big a few weeks ago... now, it is looking real good. have a happy thursday!

jeans// paige shoes// minnetonka moccasins shirt// target hat// scarf// crochet this