Last night as I was laying in bed writing this post, I showed Adam the picture I was putting on my Instagram and asked him if he thought it was cute. His response, "...super cute." I asked why he paused and he said, "You usually don't wear any color, so it's nice to see you in bright yellow." Welp, there ya have it people, even my husband recognizes how much I love black, and how much I need to branch out.



And, per my new years resolution, I was trying to wear more color this year, but apparently I'm failing. Resolutions start over every day right? I'll try again tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday! Today, I walked in the office and said Happy Wednesday to my co-worker and she looked at me like I was nuts and said, "Uh, Kristen, it's only Tuesday." Damn! Isn't that the worst feeling? I seriously thought it was Wednesday, which now means, my trip to Omaha and the weekend is one day further away than I thought this am.

When I was first approached by Ellie Kai, I was pumped! I love their stuff and I was so honored they wanted me to model their shirt! PS. Disclosure: I got this shirt for free, but my love for it is 100% authentic.

I love a good tank that doubles as a work shirt and a going out shirt. Today, I'm showing you some of my favorite ways to style this shirt. Please remember, 1) I am an attorney, so pencil skirts are my go-to and 2) black is my favorite color. When I wore this to work the other day, my boss said, "yellow uh?" This all black thing seems to be a problem.


I heard something on the radio the other day and the guy talking said, "Why is is so easy to degrade people, diminish accomplishments or be rude, when it's so much better to be good?" Whoa. Right? Like, why is it easier for me to complain that the barista messed up my americano, than to grab a manager and compliment the barista when it's super delicious? Why do I follow girls on Instagram that drive me nuts, when there are tons of others to follow that will inspire.

Maybe it's our self-degrading nature. Maybe it's sin. Maybe it's us. Today, I'm focusing on the super good and the super important things in life. I'm making it my goal to pick out the good, not bad. Remember, we are in control our of own happiness. Let's start acting like it. Let's check out all the good stuff going on in the world. Maybe, if just for a minute, we can forget the bad.

4. Bloopers are the best. This weekend my dear friend Ryann took hours out of her Saturday to take pictures with me. Ryann is a mama to a 6 month old, wife, lover of Jesus and a great friend. I am so grateful for her and her picture taking skills. I'm lucky for Ryann and all my best girls.

5. The cutest little lady named Winnie, living in England was celebrating her 100th birthday with no family. However, thousands of strangers sent her birthday cards, 16,000 to be exact. A radio station sponsored a surprise birthday party for her, complete with gifts refreshments and cards. What a jem. PS What do we think about Winnie for a baby name? Too Wonder Years?

6. Three years ago today I passed the Iowa Bar Exam. Thanks to Facebook I get to remember some amazing memories. THAT is a great memory. I remember, it was three days before we moved to Colorado and I was in my in-laws home with my mother in law. I was using her ipad, watching GMA and I kept refreshing the page. When it clicked, I totally skipped my name and assumed I failed. Then I got the text from B that all three of us (my best friends and I) had passed. My mother-in-law poured the champs and that was the first of many glasses that day. Oh, what a day.

7. A North Caroline Sheriff's deputy was challenged by a young boy to a dance off. It was a running man dance off and is the cutest thing you'll see all day. You can watch the video here. In the same spectrum as cops, a little 7 year old boy with an incurable brain tumor got initiated at the Dallas Police Department as a detective. He was greeted at the station with the full royal treatment. He received a uniform and a badge. Be still my heart.

8. My brother-in-law is getting married this weekend. Is there anything happier than watch two people commit their lives to each other? I am so excited to be a party to their day. PS. Follow me on Instagram Stories to see all the behind the scenes and some of my favorite Omaha spots.



Dear friends, happy Tuedsay. I hope this post made you smile and made you remember all the good things. What are some of the good things in your life?

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a fun weekend, can you believe it's fall! That just seems crazy to me, it feels like just yesterday we were celebrating New Years and here we are, the end of September!

Life gets busy. Life is busy. Sometimes life moves so fast that it's hard to stop and look around and enjoy it. For example, it's 75 degrees and sunny in Denver. It's time I stop, take a walk outside and enjoy a little bit of the day. Because lets be real, before you know it, it's gonna be 20 degrees and snowing. Today I'm taking my cue from Ferris Bueller's Day Off:

Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. 

Today I am all about celebrating life and the things I love. I've written posts like this before and I love them, because when I'm having a bad day or just need some loving, I look back an am instantly reminded of how good life is and how #blessed I am.

20 Things I am loving right now:

1. Being able to walk around for 7 hours yesterday and my knee still feels great. Granted I had to ice my knee like 7 times today, but it's the little things. 
2. Birthdays, see below! 
3. Henry, so fresh and clean after a bath. 
4. This device that will help me take selfies with Henry. Except Henry doesn't fetch...or take selfies. 
5. Productive Sundays that prepare you for Mondays. 
6. The glass of red wine I'm enjoying right now while watching the Broncos and writing this post. 
7. Skyping with my nephew this morning. 
8. Taylor Swift making this little boys dream come true. 
9. My hubby getting us Starbucks this am so that we can both be #basic with our fall lattes.
10. All my upcoming trips! Omaha (I'm coming for you Taylor Swift), Michigan, to celebrate love and then a Denver holiday with some of my best girls (& their husbands!) 
11. My new office!
12. The chicken casserole I'm sharing on the blog tomorrow, get pumped, it's delicious. 
13. The Pope saying this about 9/11 during his visit to the States. How incredible it was to have such an incredible man in our county. "Here, amid pain and grief, we also have a palpable sense of the heroic goodness which people are capable of, those hidden reserves of strength from which we can draw. ... This place of death became a place of life too, a place of saved lives, a hymn to the triumph of life over the prophets of destruction and death, to goodness over evil, to reconciliation and unity over hatred and division."
14. That fall is technically here, but Denver is still giving us some taste of summer. 
15. Pentatonix's cover of Where are U Now. 
16. Blog friends! I recently met Carly via the blog world and I guest posted with her and she guest posted with me. I love the relationships I'm building through this amazing blogger community. 
17. Football - this is a suggestion from my husband. But I agree, I am loving football weekends. 
18. Tori Kelly. If you have not heard Tori Kelly, stop everything you are doing and go listen to her. Here, I'll give you some suggestions, listen to this, this and this. Oh and this... and this. 
19. The Great American Beer Festival. I went this weekend and will be sharing all about it on the blog on Thursday! 
20. That all my shows are back on TV. Cue a huge date with my DVR in the near future. Grey's Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Law and Order SVU, Big Bang Theory... I could list more, but it's start to sound a bit pathetic. 

Last Saturday was more continuation of my recent bad luck. I tore my ACL. Bleh. Please save your condolences, because I've already thrown myself a pretty big pity party. I'm happy to report, the pity party is over. The sun is shining, it's 70 degrees in Denver and there are so many amazing things going on.

I find my inspiration in other people's joys. So, please instead of condolences, please leave things you're currently loving.  Like I've said (blogged) before, sometimes life is hard, but it takes looking at the bigger picture to realize all the incredible things around us. Here are 8 things I'm loving right now.

A lot happens in life that can make a person cynical. There are a lot of 'why me' moments and a lot of them are rightly deserved but what happened to the little, daily things that are there to be happy about? Those little things that put a smile on your face and make you excited to wake up in the morning. I found this website called, "14000 things to be happy about" and its inspired from the book (I want the book!) written by Dr. Barbara Ann Kipfer and I absolutely love it. It makes me excited about the little things. Maybe if everyone took the time to write out their list, they'd find happiness is the small, minute things and for one minute it would take their minds off the rest of the 'horrible' things going on.

So, here is my list of 50 things to be happy about (in no particular order):
1. Henry waking me up in the morning.
2. Coffee dates
3. Having breakfast with my mom every morning.
4. Going to church with my dad.
5. BBM'ing & text messages.
6. Arizona summer nights
7. Clean sheets
8. Lazy Saturday nights with my family.
9. Birthday dinners.
10. Driving alone.
11. Arizona sunsets.
12. Florence, Italy
13. Disposable cameras
14. Salt-water, preferably in Ocean form
15. Socks in the winter.
16. My entire (extended) family spending Thanksgiving together.
17. Tom&Camila.
18. Green M&M's
19. Hot yoga during Arizona summers.
20. The excitement of the unknown.
21. Freshly vacuumed carpet.
22. Speed-dial.
23. Movie nights with Coti
24. When Henry sleeps next to me while I blog.
25. Sitting on the patio at night
26. Chicago.
27. Coffee table books.
28. New CD and song recommendations from friends.
29. Pepperdine.
30. The smell of fresh paint.
31. Arizona sports fans.
32. Pedicures.
33. Cold pillows.
34. The bridge of your favorite song.
34. Studying with Whitney.
35. Erin's laugh.
36. Encouragement from Lauren.
37. A phone call from a long-lost friend.
38. Watching Gracie and Henry play.
39. A good youtube video.
40. A stiff drink.
41. The smell of my dad's cigars.
42. Tom's sense of humor.
43. My mom being better than Martha Stewart.
44. Breakfast at Sunnyside.
45. The smell of the rain.
46. Ironed shirts.
47. Adventures with Kate & Kate.
48. Disney movies
49. Faith.
50. God's grace.

Some of those might not make sense to the average reader, but to me those are a few of the many things that make me happy. Now all I have to do is look back at that in times when nothing else seems to be going right and remember the little things.