going back to the start //

This past year has been the most eventful year of my life. 

A few highlights:

• I birthed a new little life into the world. He arrived two weeks earlier than expected, and has stolen my heart since his arrival. 
• I celebrated my first Mother's Day, Hubby celebrated his first Father's Day. 
• I turned 30. Hubby turned 30 {5 months before I did. Booyah.}Though it was rather uneventful, superseded by the birth of my son, I have enjoyed being 30.
• Hubby finished graduate school.
• Our little family moved to new apartment. We moved out of my family's home and into our own apartment again. 
• I learned to accept the balance of working motherhood. I can't have it all, but I can have quality time with my family and an engaging career.
• I updated my professional license, and will hopefully never have to take a standardized licensing exam. Ever. Again.

Goals for 2014:

• Blogging: I miss this part of my life. Where I share the things that are going on in my life with the cyber world. It was such a fun part of my life in years past, and I miss it. 
• Working out: like many things in my life, this has been on the back burner for most of 2013. I'd like to change that for 2014 and get back into my old, good habits of running and exercising regularly.
• Photography: Something else I miss from my "former" life -- taking photographs. Though I have thousands of my adorable child, I'd like to take another class and get some photo editing software to further develop this skill. 
• Being kind to myself. 
• Re-engaging myself and my family into our faith community.

8 weeks

i start all of these updates the same {or similar} way: "it's hard to believe ..." BUT it is hard to believe how much our little dude has grown over these past weeks - he's officially outgrown all of the newborn sized clothing, and now in 3 month sizes though they're a little big in the legs. his cheeks kill me. levi now coos and says "goo" {so now i keep saying he will someday be the CEO of Google}. he's more alert, tracking objects and faces with his eyes. it melts my heart when hubby sits next to him and plays the guitar during tummy time, or makes up a song and sings to levi about "milkies".

he's also growing more interested in his bouncy chair / rocker where he hangs out with his "friends" aka the animals hanging overhead. now that the weather has been better, we've been getting out for more walks, and trying to get a schedule going for our day. it pretty much starts around 6am - 7am, and then he snoozes every 2 hours for 30-45 minutes until the afternoon when he naps for 1-3 hours.

these last two weeks have been a bit challenging as levi's periods of fussiness seem to have increased - and a few really difficult overnights with him waking every 1-2 hours to nurse and/or waking because of gas. we've tried gripe water, gas drops, and now trying some probiotics to see if it helps. we also have to burp him frequently. he's just a gassy guy. i've also cut dairy out of my diet completely to see if that helps at all. so far, i can't tell - but i'm going to give it a few more weeks and then see how he responds to it. these past few nights, he's done better - and last night he slept in his longest stretch so far: 7.5 hours. i almost cried.

even bleary-eyed in the middle of the night, i can't help but smile when i see this little guy who needs his mama. it's a feeling that is hard to describe, and i wouldn't trade it for anything.

xoxo,

PJ

PS: hubby dressed levi for the day ... cracks me up mostly because he's wearing little socks that look like high tops and a  onesie that says "mommy rocks" {and he knows how i feel about the cheesy onesies ...}.

PPS: it was extremely windy today, hence the hand on the head and the fly-aways. but levi's facial expression in the second photo is my favorite.

a few things you've missed ...

Since I'm back from an unintentional blogging hiatus {like, the entire month of May}, here are some iPhone snaps of the last few weeks ...

{a tour of the new hospital with mom, dad, and hubby}

{the cinco de miler with friends j & b}

{mother's day with momma, aunt c and cousin i}

{a lunch with Hubby in his scrubs}

{new summer sandals}

{lennon made a trip to the groomer}

{summer arrived: denim cutoffs, espadrilles were necessary}

As much as I would love to say I'll be back to regular blogging, I make no promises.

xoxo,

PJ

CBN Rent the Runway Event

Last night, after a horrendous day of work, I did not feel like taking photos {or having my photo taken, either}. But I forced myself to stick to my plan and meet up with B to attend the CBN Rent the Runway Event at Maxine's. I threw on my favorite jeans, top, blazer, and was out the door in 20 minutes.

We had a great time chatting with other bloggers, catching up and meeting new people. Maxine {the owner of the salon} opened up her ah-mazing home to host the party. It was absolutely gorgeous. Quite possibly the most beautiful loft I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I didn't snap many photos due to aforementioned circumstances. I will, however, post links to additional photos as they are available. You, too, need to see the beauty of the loft.

{Lori of glorioffood.com and friend}

{A terribly shadowy photo of B and I - it was either no flash or red eyes}

Thank you again, Chicago Blogger Network, Rent the Runway, and Maxine for being such generous hosts. Thank you to  Vosges, Rent the Runway, Freshii, Pink Papaya, Kind, Pop Chips for stuffing our bags full of goodies!!



After the party, we headed to a favorite neighborhood spot to grab some grub. Hooray for a weeknight Girl's Night Out!

xoxo,

PJ

Financial Fitness: Debt

As discussed here, when Hubby and I moved in with family, our focus was to pay off all of our consumer debt within our timeframe of 12 months. We set a specific dollar amount goal to have paid off by May of 2012. For this installment of "financial fitness", we're on to discussing our debt payoff plan.

Step One AKA “the eye-opener”: We took stock of all of our debts from various places including general credit card debt, department stores, medical statements, etc. We created a spreadsheet with all of our debts and included the following:

• The debt source {name of department store, credit card, etc.}


• Current balance


• Interest rate {if promotional rate, the date that the promotional rate ends}


• Minimum payment due

Step Two: We then organized our debt from smallest to biggest. We did not pay attention to the interest rate. This is a philosophy I was very skeptical about when we first started. I thought it would make the most sense to pay off higher interest rate debts first. However, it proved successful as we maintained our motivation to pay off debt. The results are fast, as it is easier to knock out the lower balance debts.

Here is an example of debts from least to greatest including balance, interest, and minimum payment amounts:

Debt	Balance	Interest	Minimum
One	$350.00	11.00%	$35.00
Two	$500.00	7.00%	$30.00
Three	$500.00	10.00%	$40.00
Four	$700.00	7.00%	$35.00
Five	$700.00	10.00%	$30.00
Six	$850.00	7.90%	$35.00
Seven	$4,000.00	9.99%	$30.00
Total Debt	$7,600.00		$235.00

Note: To add all the columns together, simply apply the "sum" formula to give a total for all selected columns.

Step Three: Now that debts are arranged from least to greatest, we tallied up the minimum payments for each card. Then, we took the amount that we set for debt payments from our budget, minus the minimum payments. This gave us the extra amount to apply to our debt. It ends up looking like this {this example uses the debt breakdown above}:

$900 {debt budget}

- $235 {minimum payments}

= $665 {extra debt payment}

Step Four: We then add the “extra” to the minimum payment of the first debt {the smallest debt}. Repeat every month to knock out debt from smallest to largest. This creates a “rolling” effect that accelerates the debt payment process.

An example of rolling debt payments:

Debt	Minimum	Extra	Revised
One	$35.00	665	$695.00
Two	$30.00	665 + 35	$730.00
Three	$40.00	665 + 30 + 35	$770.00

If “revised” amount is greater than debt owed, simply apply to the next debt. As debts are paid off, we continue to roll the minimum payments from the previous debt to achieve a greater revised payment for the current debt.

{Rinse. Repeat Step Four. Every Month.}

Note: This is a series on the blog to share our path to financial fitness. We are no experts in personal finance. We are, however, on our way to becoming smart{er} consumers.

Weekly Gratitude

{via Pinterest}

Things I'm thankful for:

• I had a great time in Michigan with my sisters and momma last weekend. So fun for all of the girls to be together!!


• Gloves: I forget how cold my hands get during these months. I'm so grateful for my fingerless gloves {so I can still text, of course!}


• Dinner with friends, cracking up and spending time catching up on life


• Good girlfriend telephone call


• Receiving a letter in the mail from a long-distance friend {yes, we are old-lady pen pals}

Things I'm looking forward to this weekend:

• Running with "B": We are on track for our 5K training, running 4 miles!


• Sleeping in on Saturday morning {and cuddles with Lennon}


• Saturday afternoon event {see below} and seeing some of my newly found blogger-friends


• Saturday evening Chick Flick night


• Sunday brunch

xoxo,

PJ

CBN Tribute Party: Darkroom Demons

One of my favorite parts of the CBN Tribute Party was seeing Mr. Tyler Curtis snapping photos. Here are some of the photos that he took. Be sure to check out Darkroom Demons and the event photos in their entirety at the Chicago Blogger Network Tumblr . Tyler was the perfect mixture of hilarity and honesty: I appreciated his advice about keeping the chin level and standing up straight. Again, a huge thank you to Tyler of Darkroom Demons, Tribute, and Chicago Blogger Network!

 



xoxo,

PJ

CBN Tribute Party Recap: Food Demo

Wednesday night, I had the opportunity to attend the Chicago Blogger Network party hosted at Tribute. Prior to the main event, myself and three other food-lovers participated in a behind-the-scenes demo from Tribute's own Executive Chef: Jared Case. Chef Case prepared a Tribute speciality: The Big Nasty. Complete with homemade cheesy biscuits, fried chicken, sausage gravy, and cheese. Can you say "heart attack"?! We had a blast learning new techniques to achieve perfect sausage gravy and fried chicken. Chef Case is charming, hilarious, and was so kind to answer questions about what he was doing, and more importantly, why he was doing it. It was one of the most delicious of culinary treats I have ever laid taste buds on!

{Executive Chef: Jared Case}

{Pastry Chef making the biscuits}

{Fellow bloggers: Kelly, Lori, and Christina}

{Building The Big Nasty}

{Still Building The Big Nasty}

{The BIG Nasty}

{Chef Case and The Big Nasty}

{Tasting Time!}

Unfortunately, my photos of the actual CBNTRIBUTEPARTY were terribly blurry and dark, not even salvageable by Instagram. I had a blast hanging out with fellow Chicago Bloggers, and noshing on the tasty treats provided by Tribute.

A huge thank you to: Chicago Blogger Network for the tote bags. My tote bag was stuffed with these goodies:

• Blackhawks beanie from New Era: NewEraCap.com


• Bottle opener and a pair of sunglasses from Loopt: loopt.com


• A snack bar from Kind Bars: kindsnacks.com {one of my personal favorites!}


• Chips from Pop Chips: popchips.com


• A gift certificate to Freshii: freshii.com


• A hand scrub/hand cream kit from Pink Papaya: pinkpapayaparties.com

Last but certainly not least, any readers interested in checking out Tribute and their delicious contemporary American fare, show them this photo below on your visit, and receive 10% off of your bill!

xoxo,
PJ

Chicago LunarGlide+ 3 Event

On Saturday, I attended the launch of the NIKE LunarGlide+ 3 event at AKIN. Who better to take with me than my dad {the 6x marathon runner himself}. He's running the Chicago Marathon next weekend, and I thought this would be right up his alley. I was correct!

We had fun perusing the merchandise - scoping out the new shoes and t-shirts designed by local Chicago artist Tara D, and noshing on the free food. I did not  snap a photo of my favorite t-shirt which said 'Run like El'. Get it? Run. Like. El. {I thought it was very clever. Haha}

Here are a few snapshots of the event {I only had my iPhone, so I apologize for the quality}.

{The CHI LunarGlide+ 3}

{Dad checking them out}

{I want them!}

{Tara D. working on some art}

{Dad complimenting Tara D. on her work ... haha!}

{Dad wanted to wear the helmet ... I discouraged it}

{In front of Tara D.'s mobile galleria ... such a cool truck!}

A HUGE thank you to Chicago Blogger Network and Kelly Ryan O'Brien for the invitation; and to AKIN and NIKE for hosting the event!! I seriously had a blast.

xo,

PJ

Disclosure: In exchange for sharing the invitation and blogging about the event, I will be getting a pair of these sweet new sneaks to replace my awfully old pair. See ya later, old lady shoes!

What I Wore: Book Signing

Wednesday night Jessica Quirk of What I Wore was downtown for a book signing and shop crawl event. Jessica's blog is one of the first that I started following when diving into the sea of personal style blogs. She seems so sweet and down to earth on her blog, and I'm very happy to report that she's just as sweet in real life as she is on her blog. When she announced a book tour earlier this year I could not wait for her to book a Chicago stop, and I'm so glad that she did! I was impressed that she actually sat down with each person who waited in line and spent time chatting with us one to one. SO sweet. As I waited in line, it was fun to chat with other Chicago ladies who love her just as much as I do!

Because I came straight to the event from work, I just transitioned my dress by removing the cardigan. Easy-peasy. Note: it was 95 degrees yesterday and I was a hot sweaty mess when I arrived.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to spend more time chatting and noshing on the goodies at the event. But I'm so glad that I was able to meet Jessica.

xoxo,

PJ

PS: Jessica was also on WGN! Click here to see her remix segment.

Chicago Blogger Meetup

{Me, Delane, Britt via Deliciously Vintage Blog}

This past Saturday I trekked to adorable vintage shop in Pilsen to browse and chat with some fellow Chicago bloggers. It was so much fun! I love meeting new people, but was nervous to meet a bunch of other bloggers. I love that we were all from the City and surrounding suburbs. We chatted about life in the City {and the suburbs}, favorite restaurants, and shops.

I forgot my camera, and didn't snap any photos on my iPhone, but click the link above for a post by Deliciously Vintage, our generous host for the meet up. A huge thanks to Lisa at Archives Vintage for coordinating the event and scoring incredible gift bags {to boot!}.

I already feel so inspired to continue blogging, to add a few things on the blog, and to keep on over-sharing on the world wide web. And I might {just might} throw in an outfit or two for good measure. We'll see.

xoxo,

PJ

Alphabet Soup

{via my pinterest}

Ambition: to love wholeheartedly, laugh genuinely, and live simply
Bad Habit: biting my nails
City: chicago
Drink: sparkling water
Education: finished grad school one year ago
Food: cheese
Guilty Pleasure: reality television
Hometown: the midwest
Ice Cream: phish food
Jonesing for: a vacation {somewhere warm, exotic, with my love}
Kryptonite: mean people
Look-a-like: my sisters
Movie: empire records
Nickname: peej, PJ, pillar, P
Obsession: kombucha
Perfume: marc jacobs daisy
Quirk: i'm a stickler for spelling
Regret: not going to a state-school
Starbucks: venti iced green tea, unsweetened
Thrift Find of the Year: a vintage bag with rosary beads hiding in the zippered pocket
University: i've always loved the wolverine
Vacation: paris, please via Oh Happy Day Goes to Paris http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris
Wine: pinot grigio
X: x-men, i love the series
Years: 27 {almost 28}
Zen: the smell of the ocean & the sound of the waves

*I found this via one of my favorite blogs: Smart and Sassy with Sprinkles.

The Next Chapter

When Hubby decided it was time to go back to school {to get a Master's in Nursing Degree}, we talked about the sacrifices we would need to make. I took on a twice/month weekend job to help make ends meet with Hubby's inevitable switch to a part-time job.

Any married couple {or long-term relationship couple} knows that over the years of being together you learn to problem-solve together ... it's much easier this way. We discussed moving into a studio apartment, selling off a majority of our belongings, having roommates, moving out of the City ... exploring pretty much every option imaginable. After deciding that the City still fits our goals {PJ's job, Hubby's school}, the next thing to decide was where we were going to cut our living expenses.

My parents {who live just a few miles from our apartment} offered us a room in their home to save money on rent/expenses while Hubby was in school {insert sharp inhale}.  We talked about it: agreed, disagreed, analyzed, and ultimately came to a conclusion {after about 6 months} that it's an incredible opportunity to hit the reset button and prioritize our lives. So that's where we're headed at the end of May. We will be moving in with my parents to save money, pay off debt, and shed the extra stuff in our lifestyle to be better prepared for the future.

Follow along as the next chapter unfolds ... as we reflect on our experience of living with our family: the good, the bad, and the yet-to-be-determined.

xoxo

PJ

New Blog: PJ & HUBBY

Hear ye, Hear ye!

I've moved. 

Blogging platforms, that is.

Find me {and hubby} at our new blog:

PJ & HUBBY

xoxo

Re: Launch

I first started "blogging" in college when everyone was obsessed with Xanga. Do you remember Xanga? I was obsessed: constantly updating posts, featuring photos, quotes, song lyrics, etc. Fast forward a few years to when I have completely forgotten about Xanga, but suddenly blogs are everywhere: blogs dedicated to shoes, bags, clothes, home design, kitchens, homes, bathrooms, children, and pets. Woah. Blog overload. Enter Pilar, looking for a way to re-join the blogging community. I love shopping, fashion, and clothes. I should blog about these things, right? Wrong. It's not really "me". So I've taken stock of the things that I do blog about: my life in this city, my husband, our dog, recipes, food, photographs, an occasional outfit that I adore, etc.

I'm starting over, folks: relaunching, if you will. I'm launching myself (and Hubby, too) forward into a different direction, a blog that better represents myself and my life. 

More updates coming soon.

xoxo

Weekend Update

A few photos from brunch at our favorite spot (m. henry): delicious eggs benedict, and the best potatoes in the city. In other news, I finally upgraded to the IPHONE this weekend. I'm already loving all of the incredible apps! (All of these photos were edited using Instagram.)

Lots of changes are coming up for me over the next few months, so I'll be sharing those soon! The first switch that I'll announce is that I've slowly been making the switch to Wordpress. I've been working on adding all of the archive content of this blog, to the new platform. (Wordpress really is pretty amazing, so I would recommend checking it out.)

Stay tuned!

xoxo

Weekend Update

A few photos from brunch at our favorite spot (m. henry): delicious eggs benedict, and the best potatoes in the city. In other news, I finally upgraded to the IPHONE this weekend. I'm already loving all of the incredible apps! (All of these photos were edited using Instagram.)

Lots of changes are coming up for me over the next few months, so I'll be sharing those soon! The first switch that I'll announce is that I've slowly been making the switch to Wordpress. I've been working on adding all of the archive content of this blog, to the new platform. (Wordpress really is pretty amazing, so I would recommend checking it out.)

Stay tuned!

xoxo