Apology Love

I would like to humbly and sincerely apologize to readers of Sarah Loves Hearts for my recent unexplained absence.  Not to make excuses but I have been a busy bee.  Since we last spoke I co-hosted a birthday party in Chicago for my bestie Morgan, went to a lovely engagement party for Lisa that same weekend, traveled to Napa for Lisa's amazing bachelorette party and visited darling Sam in hipsterville, aka Portland, Oregon.  This week I taught a workshop Monday and Tuesday, Saturday morning I'm running a 10k and Saturday afternoon I fly to Florida for two weeks.  I fly back into Chicago on the 21st and am cohosting a bridal shower there on Saturday.  Sunday I'll return to GB.  Soooo, long story short I have had a lot on my plate and have put my blog on the back burner.  I plan to return to blogging upon my return at the end of June.  In the meantime, have lots of fun and I'll see you soon!  

Sticker Love

I have referenced my love for stickers numerous times but it bears repeating.  I love stickers!  I am like a five-year-old girl when it comes to stickers.  I want them all!  I'm sure that like most small children I enjoyed stickers but I didn't get really into them until middle school.  I do however recall that as a little girl my mom bought me the Aristocats sticker book.  Do you remember those?  They sold them at the grocery store and they were usually related to a movie.  Then the stickers with scenes from the movie were sold in packs and you tried to eventually get all of the scenes.  Anyways, I was so into the Aristocats (which is an amazing and under-appreciated Disney film and you should go see it immediately if you haven't) that I bought (or more accurately my mother bought for me as I had no income at that time) pack after pack of stickers.  Even then I was missing a few but my dear mother sent away for the missing ones so my book could be complete.  I think they messed up though and I am still missing one.  I have the book so I will have to check.  

This is what the book is like.  It is really cool!  Do they still make these? 

Commencement Love

Happy Monday friends.  I hope everyone's week is off to a great start.  I had a very busy weekend but it was nice.  Friday was my dear friend Jeremy's last day working here so his boss hosted a going away party. It was very nice.  Fortunately for me Jeremy won't be leaving the area until August so we'll have plenty of time to have lots of fun this summer.  Still it is sad to no longer have him as a colleague.  After his party I ran some errands and then babysat Cher's little people.  We had a great time!  

Twins reading

Closet Love- Part Two

Yesterday dear readers were given a glimpse into that most sacred of spaces, my closet.  Today the tour continues.  As I explained yesterday, I have two connected closets off my room.  The second closet holds skirts, dresses, shoes, and handbags primarily.  It was hit hardest (in a good way) by my recent organizational purges.  As you walk through the first closet into the second, to the right is a single clothes rack.  On the far side skirts are hung on four-tier skirt hangers, in rainbow order of course.  Next to them are dresses and on the near side, strapless dresses hung on skirt hangers.  

Dresses and skirts, nice and neat

Closet Love- Part One

I've mentioned several times my recent closet organization project and have promised pictures.  Well, the moment you've waited for is finally here.  There is so much to say I've decided to make this a two-parter!  First, some background information: I am very very fortunate to have a double closet.  Off my bedroom is a large walk-in closet.  When you enter the closet you face another door leading to a second, larger, walk-in.  Trust me, I need all this space.  Several years ago my mother painted both closets a lovely bubble gum-pink with glossy navy blue trim.  They are truly beautiful.  Today we are only going to look at the first closet.  This closet holds my shirts, tank tops, sweaters, sweatshirts, jackets and many accessories.  When I reorganized recently I went through every single item, trying on many of them and deciding which to keep and which to get rid of.  I also reorganized some of the storage so that it was neater and more effective.  Here is the finished result:  

To the left, to the left, all the shirts on the rack to the left

Railroad Love

One of the activities I devote my time to is serving on the Board of Directors of the National Railroad Museum.  The Museum is really cool because like the Smithsonian or the National Gallery, it is literally the United State's official Railroad Museum and it's located right here in GB.  I have been on the board for two years now and generally I really enjoy it.  My background in fundraising informs my viewpoint and I think I bring a unique perspective.  I am also the only girl and the only person under forty.  It's not exactly a diverse group.  

Scratch Off Love

I have mentioned many times my typical Saturday routine of developing a menu and grocery list then going to Woodman's but I believe I have neglected to ever describe what we do at the end of our shopping trip.

Love from Kentucky

Yesterday is always one of the saddest days of the year because it means it's almost an entire year until the next derby.  That being said, Derby 139 (well four for our group) was as a marvelous time. 

Me at the Oaks

Derby Week Love

The week that I have long-awaited is finally here!  I just have to get through 3 and 1/2 (well now only 2 1/2) days of work and it will be time to depart for the Derby!  I have made some last minute decisions that may shock you.  I am sticking with my French Connection Derby dress mentioned here and my hat I bought a few weeks back BUT I am going in a different direction with my Oaks dress.

Office Love

I am very fortunate to have an office I like very much.  I spend more waking hours in my office than any other one place so I'm glad that mine is so nice.  A big reason I like it so much is because I have done a lot to personalize it and make it feel like my own.  I've mentioned before that I have a darling Keurig in my office that was a present from my mother.  I use it every day and truly love it.  I had a little coffee serving area next to it and recently added another tray on the other side to hold tea fixings.  

My lovely Keurig set up, note the Tiffany mug a sweet gift from Linds.  The carafe holds water for the Keurig, not vodka, this isn't Mad Men!

 Another feature of my office I really enjoy is my desk chairs.  For my first two years I had the standard issue office chairs and I never really liked them.  I hold a lot of meetings in my office and I wanted chairs people could move around and roll up to my desk as well as something that was more aesthetically pleasing.  One day I found two fabulous tweed club chairs at SVDP for only $25 each so of course I snapped them up.  

beautiful chair

I also have a tiny bit of green in my office in the form of a bonsai tree, also from my mother.  I do not have much of a green thumb but so far so good. 

not a very good shot of my baby bonsai

In addition to the changes to my Keurig set up I also made some changes to my bookshelf today.  As you can see holding books is kind of its' secondary function.  Primarily it holds photos of my favorite people and other little knick knacks. 

lotsa babies

I've also decorated the walls to suit my personal taste.  I had an accent wall painted in a greyish-blue, borrowed a piece of art from the College's Collection and hung up corkboards for my own mementos.  

my office

All in all it's a pretty nice place to spend 40 hours per week (give or take).  Last night my mom made Blackberry Chicken for dinner.  It was delicious! 

                                         
I have a pasta dish cooking in the slow cooker to enjoy after zumba.  I'll post about it tomorrow.  Until then friends!  What do you think of my office?  How do you personalize your work space?                                                                                                  
                      

Closet Love

I hope your week is off to a great start.  This post is going to be brief but I promise I will make up for it later this week when I'm not quite so busy.  I had a lovely, productive weekend.  What about you?  Friday I finally finished Operation Pocket Square: 

the finished product

Welcome Back Love

Hi friends!  I've missed you.  Big apologies for my long absence.  As I indicated here I was attending a work conference and I don't really like blogging on my ipad which was all I had with me.  Please join me as we travel back in time.  We have so much to catch up on!  I briefly mentioned this past weekend in my last post but I wanted to share some projects I worked on as it was a very projecty weekend.  My dear friend Rachel recently had a baby and I wanted to make (bake?) a diaper cake for her.  I found very simple instructions here on pinterest (where else?).  I really wasn't sure how many dipes I'd need so I bought the biggest box I could find of size one, 128 tiny diapers.  It ended up being more than enough which is good to know for future reference.  Here's the finished product:

I put pieces of cardboard underneath the lower two layers for stability.

Love from Milwaukee

Hi friends! Apologies for the lack of a post today. I wasn't by my computer as I am in Milwaukee for a conference until Wednesday. Note the title. I do NOT love Milwaukee at all. I had a wonderful weekend. Got in two great runs with Cher, had a very fun birthday dinner at SALT and accomplished beaucoup projects (diaper cake, pocket square, presents wrapped, framing jobs), saw the amazing UW band AND on top of all that, took a nap. I promise to upload many pictures but can't right now as all I have is my iPad. I have recently received some friendly feedback to include more pics so will do. Dear readers, I always appreciate your suggestion and constructive criticism. And I can't stop singing Les Miz songs!!!

College Love

I was fortunate to go the best, most fun college in the world: the University of Wisconsin.  My senior year of high school I did not want to go there at all.  I wanted to go somewhere on the east coast, preferably in Boston.  Shortly after I got to Madison though, I fell in love with it.  Now that I am an alumna, I am an even more fervent Badger.  This weekend, for the third time, I'll get to enjoy the awesome UW Band here in GB with my mother.  It is so much fun!  This week has been very busy but productive at work and I am looking forward to a break.  Besides the concert tonight I need to run a bunch of errands and run an actual run with Cher (the weather has not been cooperating with us).  Tomorrow, my usual Zumba, menu and groceries and I'm having lunch with my cousin who's visiting for the weekend.  Then tomorrow night I'm celebrating my friend Theresa's birthday at SALT.  Yum!  Sunday, running again and preparing for a trip.  Next Monday-Wednesday I'm attending a conference in Milwaukee.  I also want to find time to complete my pocket square project, fix a broken umbrella and do some other small household tasks.  Think I can do it?  What are you up to?  Something fun I hope! 

Pinterest Love

I am completely in love with Pinterest.  I can easily while away an hour or two looking at pins.  Oddly I resisted joining for quite a while.  Cheryl and Jeremy told me over and over again how much I would like it but I had a weird aversion.  I really don't know why!  Back in December I finally broke down and joined and I'm very glad I did.  I am a very discriminating pinner.  During my four months of activity I've only pinned 309 pins and created 22 boards.  That may sound like a lot but many people have thousands of pins and dozens of boards.  I only pin things that I believe there is a high probability I will make or do.  My biggest board is recipes followed by sewing.  I've pinned 75 recipes and have tried exactly half of them.  I also have another board with recipes just for Snack Club.  And, like any single girl, I have a board for my future wedding (lots and lots of hearts).  I also have a few secret boards for parties I'm planning and gift ideas.  If you haven't joined the pinterest train I suggest you check it out.  But a warning, it's highly addictive!  Here are a few tips and suggestions for a successful pinterest experience.      

Pocket Square Love

In preparation for our upcoming Kentucky Derby trip (24 days!!!!) I am working on a project for my friend Dan, one of the people I take the trip with.  You may recall that last month I posted about some darling vintage fabric I found while looking for fabric to make Dan a pocket square.  I like the fabric very much but unfortunately the colors don't match Dan's outfit.  We decided to try recreating the pattern on plain white fabric in the pastel hues we were looking for.  You follow?  For a refresher here is the original fabric I ordered: 

Sooo charming!

Snack Love

Do you like to snack?  I do very much.  In no particular order here of some of my personal favorite snacks at the moment: 

1. fruit~ an oldie but a goodie, I often eat apples (Honeycrisp preferably) and grapes at work for a snack.  I like oranges but they are so time-consuming. 
2. anything made with hot cocoa mix whether it's hot cocoa itself, greek yogurt mixed with cocoa or oatmeal
3. baby carrots dipped in Laughing Cow spreadable cheese
4. Ry-Krisp crackers~ they're so crunch!  Also good with Laughing Cow cheese
5. Hi I'm Skinny Sticks~ Cher just turned me on to these and they are so delicious!  We had some yesterday for Snack Club along with Pineapple Whip.  Yum 
6. cereal~ I especially love Cheerios, not in a bowl with milk, that's gross but plain or with a glass of milk on the side so they don't get soggy.  I also really like Kashi hearts and Fiber One chocolate cereal
7. coffee, especially lattes made with skim milk and sugar-free syrup

Bridesmaid Love

My weekend was very fun and eventful and productive.  How was yours?  I always used to take Amtrak from Milwaukee (or Sturtevant) to Chicago but for the last year or so I have gotten more into taking the Metra from Kenosha.  For those of you not familiar, the Metra is Chicago's suburban rail system.  It has 11 different lines stretching out from Chicago in every direction.  Well, not east because that would be into the lake. 

Birthday Love

I didn't realize it until now but I am celebrating a lot of birthdays this week.  My grandma on Wednesday, baby C's first yesterday and my dear friend Lisa's this weekend in Chicago.  As I mentioned yesterday I stopped by baby C's house (well his parents' house) last night to give him his gifts.  His big brother, my darling godson, happily helped him open them and then fed me wrapping paper.  What a goof.  Then he put the ribbon from C's gift over my head and used it to lead me around his house!  It was very silly.  We played with trains which are his obsession.  I don't think I like anything in life as much as he loves trains and I have an entire blog chronicling the things I love!  We had a lovely time.  Today I am heading to Chicago to celebrate Lisa's birthday and shop for my bridesmaid dress!  Yay!  I can't wait.  The only part I don't like is driving down to Milwaukee/Sturtevant (if I take the Amtrak) or Kenosha (if I take the Metra) by myself.  What are you doing this weekend?  Did you celebrate any birthday's this week? 

Travel Love

Dinner last night turned out great!  The casserole was delicious and I would have to dub the Stevia experiment a success.  From what I read, for baking applications, Stevia only recommends you substitute it for half the sugar in a recipe as it's much drier than regular sugar.  We tend to think of sugar as being dry because it's um, dry but in recipes it lends moisture.