Are you betting on the ponies today?

I am! I'm definitely betting on Rachel Alexandra since she's not only the fav, but also shares mi nombre... :). Here I am at the "mudbug" otb in Chicago. Sketchy, huh? :)

In line at Stanley's

Officially the best and least expensive produce market in the city!

Skinny Girl Margarita Party!

Told you I'm obsessed with eating healthy lately. I had a couple of girlfriends over for dinner on Saturday, and we had a fab time! Everyone had some Skinny Girl Margaritas, courtesy of my favorite Real Housewife of New York, Bethenny (prob. butchered the spelling. Sorry!).

Isn't it so much fun to throw a dinner party? I love setting the scene, but I'm just learning how, as evidenced by my "beginners" set-up on the bar. I did love the colors, though, and had to share. What is your favorite drink to serve at a dinner party?

Spring has sprung!

This is right outside our buildings front door! I'm feeling all twitterpated!

Did he do it??

Ok, so Kate can definitely be a wench, but with the responsibility of 8 kids hanging over her head, I can definitely understand how being a little blunt becomes part of your personality. Regardless, I absolutely LOVE watching that show. I love watching the kids, and I'm so sad to think of the possibility that Kate and Jon would divorce! Kate seems to be one of those chicks who won't stick around if her man is a cheater, so I hope its not true. :( So.... do you think he did it?

Also obsessing over flowers in the house lately!

Isn't this a pretty way for your home to say "hi" when you walk in the door? :)

What I'm obsessing about these days

Does anyone feel that every time they discover something new it becomes an obsession for a while? I feel like my obsessions change often, and these days I'm obsessing about the following:

1. My new iPhone! The apps are INCREDIBLE! I downloaded one called "Lose it", and it allows me to keep track of my calorie intake and excercise output each day. REALLY easy, too - it already has most foods in it's system, and its really easy to add specific foods that aren't in there, like "Trader Joes Greek Pizza" for instance. It also tells you exactly how many calories you need to consume to meet whatever your goals are. I want to lose about 6 pounds, and I want to do it at a rate of 1/2 a pound a week, which means I can eat exactly 1,683 calories a day! SO fun and easy.

1.5 A natural spin off, due in part to the iPhone is a renewed motivation in terms of diet and excercise. As my wedding approached, I discovered that I really could lose weight by changing my diet, and now that I've gained it all back, I'm really motivated to get back to that wedding weight. This time, however, I'm also adding in excercise (I was too busy when planning my wedding to exercise and lost all the weight by not eating much).

2. (HEALTHY) Cooking and cleaning! My husband and I did a HUGE spring clean two weeks ago, and I'm trying my hardest to keep it up! It does not come naturally to me. :) Ask my Mom and all my former roommates. (By the way, I also downloaded the Epicurious app on my iPhone - it has all the same recipies as their website, and you can also make shopping lists directly from their recipe!) My major malfunction lately is that I clean the kitchen BEFORE I make dinner, and then I get too tired to clean it after. It's a vicious cycle.

so what are your current obsessions? Do you do this too? Become obsessed with one or two things in your life?

P.S. Funny pic, huh? ;)

Jen Lancaster's new book due out today! Get it while its hot!

Ok, so its always going to be hot - I mean, get it while its hot off the presses! :)

It is no secret that I have a platonic girl-crush on Jen Lancaster. You can read my previous reviews of her books HERE and HERE. I CAN'T WAIT to pick up the latest - "Pretty in Plaid", and YOU should too! Trust me, you're gonna love her.

Just got an IPhone!

This is my first mobile post... From my spare bedroom. I'm really venturing out of my little bubble here! Do any of you have the iPhone? What is your favorite app?

Our living room

Hi gang - been spending a lot of time decorating and perfecting lately. I'm going to post some pics and I want YOU to tell me what YOU would do to our apartment! Only catch is: you can only add to it, you can't take anything away. :) This way, we'll get some awesome decorating tips from a whole bunch of creative minds! Feel free to blog about this on your blogs so that you can add pics, etc - just be sure to leave a link in the comments! Thanks, and go nuts!

Updates!

1. BookWormz hit 100 sales on April 22! Congrats NotNessie and Shhh - I'm Reading! Please shoot me an email with your choices of BookWormz and address - pick anything in my store with the exception of Couture pieces and the "Flags of Our Fathers BookWorm"! :) My email address is rachelswormz@gmail.com

2. Went to see Britney Spears last night with some girlfriends! It was a good show, but I saw her Onyx Hotel tour and I have to say it was better. Her costumes were amazing, though, and the opening by Perez Hilton was so fab. :) My husband called me when we were on our way to the arena and sang "Ooops, I'm the oldest one there", which made me giggle. Surprisingly, my 30 year old girlfriends and I were NOT the oldest ones there (okay, so the older ones were moms. To teenagers... KIDDING), and there were lots of groups of girls around our age. I think if a single guy wanted to meet girls, there may be no better place than a Britney concert.

3. I took today and tomorrow off. Just for the heck of it. :) Off to enjoy! Talk to you all soon! xoxo

off to get my nails did

:) Sorry I've been neglecting my lil blog - I've been a VERY busy girl. This morning I'm going to get a mani/peddie with some of my girlfriends and then out to lunch, but I PROMISE this weekend I'll do some updating. I have a special announcement to make, so stay tuned! Hopefully my nails do not look this... artistic... when I'm done!

pretty spring Tulips

Just love this bouquet - I put it together at Crate and Barrel (they have a flower section in the one I go to), and I just think it is so simple and sweet and spring-like! :) Hope you enjoy like I do! :)

Book Review - Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster

(note, the full name of the novel is as follows, but if you'd like to buy it, you can just look for "Such a Pretty Fat" haha)

"Such a Pretty Fat - One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big" or "Why Pie Is Not the Answer" by Jen Lancaster - 5!!!!

Rating Scale: 1 – Didn’t Finish. 2 – Meh. 3 – Kept my interest, but probably wouldn’t read again. 4 – Would Recommend. 5 – LOVED IT! Added it to my list of favorites!

"Such a Pretty Fat" by Jen Lancaster absolutely lived up to my expectations. I've read a few of Jen Lancaster's books, and I laugh out loud on pretty much every page. This can be very embarrassing when you're in public, and it can also keep your husband up at night when you're reading and he's trying to go to sleep. :) You've been warned.

"Such a Pretty Fat" is a memoir about Jen's struggle to lose weight. Let me clarify - Jen is incredibly self-confident (as she should be! She's totally fabulous - I got to meet her at a book club in Chicago once. Loved her. If this were a Lancaster book, this aside would be a footnote at the bottom of the page haha) and while searching for her next book topic, decided to submit an idea to her publishing house for a book that documented her personal weight loss journey. If she didn't have to write about it, she wouldn't have felt it was necessary, because she knows how totally awesome she is as documented in the following: "My teeth are superwhite, my hair is bouncy, and if I saw me on the street, I'd totally think I was cute. If I were single, guys would want to date me because I wouldn't be the kind of pain in the ass who orders the lobster, takes a bite, and declares herself full. Clean-plate club, baby!" (p. 77). That's what you love about Jen, as you live through this gruelling, but ultimately triumphant, weight loss struggle. You just can't help but fall in love with her honest, quirky observations and experiences.

I think I also loved this book (and all Jen's books) because it takes place in my city - Chicago. I completely relate to her stories about public transportation (like the one where her adorable husband gets spit on by a homeless lady on the "El", which is our version of the subway, or the stories of people-watching in weird neighborhoods with her husband when they go to get gelato). Jen is a master at making the scene come alive, and as I read this book, I found myself involuntarily shouting "YES! I TOTALLY KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!" while laughing hard enough to make milk (ok, wine) come out of my nose.

Here are a few of my favorite passages:

(after explaining that she hated her recent trip to New York and being told she couldn't really blame the city for her bad trip) "Fair enough. However, this was the first time I didn't come home wanting to move there afterward. Loving New York has been such a constant in my life that the trip was weird. It's like I've had a crush on New York for years, and we finally hook up and I find out he still reads comic books, has skid-marked undies, and smells like summer sausage." (p. 185)

(talking about how her husband's closet is perfectly organized) "I bet he'd never shove his dirty wedding dress in a garbage bag and stuff it on a shelf in the back of his closet for five years until he just now remembered he should probably get it cleaned." (p. 177) (ummmmmmmmmm - awwwkwaaaarddddd......)

Honestly, there are so many passages that are hysterical. I can personally relate to these two, so they really stood out for me, but I can almost promise you'll end up in giggles every time you open this book. Overall, the theme of this book is that even though we all have things we can work on, we should be happy to be ourselves, and we should work towards being the best version of ourselves possible. I highly recommend this book - a lighthearted read with a great underlying message.

Celebrity baby name or computer virus - can you tell the difference?

Click HERE to find out!

What to do with a sick husband?

I've never had one before. He has a cough and the chills, and since I've never had a sick husband before, I'm not quite sure what to do with him. I'm forcing lots of liquids down, but he's just not cooperating...

*****fine print - this is not actually my husband. I googled "sick" and this is what came up. Awesome huh? :) The article that came attached explains that this is a bodybuilder named HUGO and that he wasn't feeling well and was debating whether or not to work out. Looks like someone needs to get to the gym to me... I mean, how out of shape can one man BE? ;)

Look into your crystal ball...

So I have 94 sales on ETSY right now. I'm going to run a contest for my blog readers - if you correctly predict the date of my 100th sale, I'll send you a free BookWorm! So warm up your crystal ball and get crackin on a guess, ok? Just post a comment below with your guess and your email address! Good luck!

Any Recessionistas out there?

You might want to check out Stuff Under Twenty - A Blog for Recessionistas. They're an a - dorable little duo that posts affordable products for home, to wear, to use and to impress your friends with. :) Coincidentally, they are also currently featuring my Hounds of Baskerville BookWorm, which is pretty fabulous. ;)

POLYVORE fun!

My first outfit created on Polyvore.com! Enjoy - all sorts of shopping fun without the buyer's remorse!

How To Use Polyvore by BookWormz featuring J Crew tops

Just a reminder

You can find a beautiful surprise in the most unexpected of places. :)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Give it a watch - I almost cried the first time I saw it. The looks on the judges faces are truly priceless. Sorry, I couldn't find an embedded link, so you'll have to click to see it. The surprise comes about 2 or 3 minutes in...