A few words of wisdom to get over the middle of the week...

Shakes... always a solid advice giver

from my current treadmill read: Ahab's Wife

And because no words of wisdom are complete without the undyingly beautiful, wise, and creative words of my favorite Mr. F. Scott....

The Great Gatsby

And because he was not only lovely in literature... what every girl should have said about her

... i die.

Happy, Happy rest of the week!!

xx C

(c) all graphics property of Splash of Color 

"Crazy is a relative term in my family!" - Anonymous

I really liked that quote so I made it my blog title.

Many say that I should write a book [on my family and my life]. I will, and in fact many times have begun to write said memoir, but the thing is that as funny as it is, I don't know if I will ever have the chutzpa to share! If I did have said memoir, it would be called one of two titles:

You Can't Make This Stuff Up (... but, sometimes, I wish I could say that I did.)

It Takes a Village


The latter will more likely be a chapter in the book. Or a sequel. I have a lot to say about that famous, insanely accurate (and adequate to my upbringing) African proverb.

Anyways, if you can't tell, I went home for the final two and half weeks of May. It was a glorious two weeks filled with a lot of organizing and packing up work clothes to bring back to Milwaukee for the summer, social calendar events and hanging out with friends, visiting with family, and simply hanging out. A few pictures of my trip are below!

Baby bro's prom night! He was too cool to smile...

Impromptu Trip to Fenway with my dad and brother to meet up with my uncle and cousin!

Lunch & Desserts with Mom and my sisters at Via Quadronno on the UES

Tomas Saraceno's City in the Clouds
on the roof of the Met!

Momma and her girls!

A final day at the beach with the fam!
Dad at his favorite place

 I'd say summer is off to a great start!

MIB: Missing In Blogging

Oh hey! Remember me?

Hi, my name is Colleen and I fail at blogging.

I had all of these great ideas (excuses) piling up in my mind like waiting until finals were over. Well finals came and went, as did my dad and aunts to pick up my sisters (real life: my sister and her friend but it's easier this way...) from school and help move their stuff out to my friends' house for the summer. My dad heckled the fact that the beer we served him was warm and bad beer in general, we played cornhole and hung out with my friends on our porch with the parents, went to dinner, moved my sisters out of their freshman dorm, shed many tears, had lunch (breakfast? hangover cure?) on the Milwaukee river with my dad and sister, groceries, a final farewell beer at the campus bar and then had a few days in Milwaukee on my own.

Dad & his girls

The Marquette Sisters, the Aunties (can you tell they're sisters?! so alike!), & Andrew

The (now) Seniors! Where did time go??
{P.S... We're missing 3 girls who were working/not at home... but this is the
original crew that has been friends since we met on the same wing fresh year!}

Then, I thought to myself, then I could post a catch up blog! I'll have so much to write about (and I did-- still do, but it's being saved for my future memoir) and I'll be by myself, in my apartment (all of my girlfriends were home for Mother's Day), so I'll clean (I was so excited-- NERD ALERT) and write my blog post. Yeah, that went out the window when a friend called and said, "let's get margaritas and lunch!" Anytime tequila is involved with the human race, the rest of the day's plans go out the window. After practicing my Spanish, indulging in mango margaritas and some nachos, I took a nap and read a book. No blog.

Margarita Paradise
.. no really that's the name of the restaurant

So I decided I would write on the plane ride home. Until I was diagnosed with peritonsillar cellulitis and spent most of the flight trying to drown out the screaming toddler and utter pain I was in with the magic of Bruce Springsteen. It worked! My blog post, sadly, did not.

Touchdown in LaGuardia! Couldn't be happier!

Then I just gave up and decided I would get to it when I got to it because my two things at home consisted of few things: real food made by mom, seeing family & friends, and the beach.

A calm day at FBC

jacks & my puppy... helllooo summer

new roof at FBC!!! even better is the beautiful view!

fresh fresh fresh food!!

So that's where I've been... and now I'm beginning my next few posts.... but actually I am!!

xx C

Mother's Day

Mom, my chubby munchkin self, and my sister Molly
Summer '93 

Growing up, my mom's friend taught us to say, "Mommy dearest, best mommy in the whole wide world" every time we had to ask for something-- literally everything from being excused from the dinner table to asking to have a sleepover with a friend.

Mom & her mom (my Grandma) looking all dolled up
for a train ride to Florida (from CT!)
Spring/Summer circa '64/'65

Since I go to school in Milwaukee and my family lives in Connecticut, I have not been home for Mother's Day in a few years. I've usually sent my mother a card, because--let's face it-- I'm a poor college student, and called my grandmother, but this is the virtual gift guide for Mother's Day gifts. It's based off of my mom's pinterest board (ha!) and my general knowledge of gifts I know my mom (and her friends) would love!

{1}{2}{3}{4}{5}{6}{7}

1. We all joke about how my mom may love our dog, Snickers, more than she loves us... which isn't exactly true, but she does love him a lot. While I would probably consider this gift to be a joke, she would actually cherish it. She even has a watercolor of a dog on her pinterest board with the caption, "I think Snickers may need one of these!"

2. The usual Mother's Day gift for my mom is a trip to Home Depot where she picks out all of the flowers she wants to plant in her gardens, followed by her four children and her husband planting them while she relaxes on the patio. I'd say it's a pretty good deal on her end. 

3. The Design Bible via Deborah Needleman, former editor in chief and founder of Domino Magazine and now editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal. 

4. Monogrammed Jack Rogers. My mom loves JR and she loves monograms... it's a natural fit! 

5. Quality time with mom. Enough said.

6. Monogrammed beach hat. She loves her floppy brim beach hats, and this is just too cute!

7. Sunglasses. Every year my mom buys a few new pairs and every year she loses them. These are cute and on the accident-forgiveness side ($16 from Target!!)

Crazy Week!

This week was insane, what with the last classes and preparation for next weeks exams!

Tomorrow is my sister, Tara's, 14th birthday! We {my sibs and I} all tell her how her 21st birthday is going to be so much fun because it's on cinco de mayo and she's the youngest so it will be a special rite of passage for her. But I don't want to wish away time, so that day can wait!!

Happy Birthday TT! Stay your strong and very sassy self!

I'll be back soon with a more regular blogging schedule! I have so many cute things I need share with ya'll! 

Be sure next week to check out The Everygirl for Wedding Week!

{here}

Have a happy weekend!! xx

A Few Fave Things

You know how they say girlfriends share their best secrets? My friends and I have followed that motto for a while... before we knew it, we were all using Bare Minerals after one girlfriend tried it and couldn't stop gushing about it {sidebar: if you haven't already tried it-do! it's affordable, good quality, and you get rewarded for using it!}, Neutrogena grapefruit face wash is also a consumate favorite, a girlfriend and I {the east coasters of the group} introduced others to Sperry Topsiders and Vera Bradley bags, and let's be honest- one cannot go wrong with either of those! Anyways, since a girl always shares her best secrets with her galpals, here are a few of my current fave things:

Music to My Ears: I came across The Lumineers by chance, and I can't stop listening to them. My two fave songs? Ho, Hey and Classy Girls... Take a listen {here}

{source}

Sparkling Cupcakes: Check out {these} fabulous cupcake toppers and other delicious products that just leave one itching to throw a party {here} at we love citrus.

{source}

Taco Loco: While perusing mint {the next blog on my buzz list}, I came across {these} Chipotle Sweet Potato Tacos via thefauxmartha {buzz as well}, who encountered the recipe {here} on Naturally Ella. Tell me they don't look and sound delish!

{source}

Blog Lovin'

mint: A blog on design, art, fashion, and weddings by Ellie Snow. Check it {here}

thefauxmartha: a kitschy foodie's delight. everything looks yummy {here}

Why, hello there lunch and dinner for next week!: I love, love, LOVE The Everygirl, and they have so many perfect posts on everything from fashion to food and beyond. Check out Alaina and Danielle's "10 Entree Salads For Less Than $50" ... Five recipes, ten servings, less than $50-- sign me up! 

{source}

Check out all of the recipes {here}! I'm currently writing down my grocery list whilst simultaneously posting this...

Any recent favorites that have caught your eye?? Let me know!

xx C

Weekend Wrap Up

Remember Me?!

It's embarrassing how off kilter I have been these past few weeks! Finals time is right around the corner {I can't talk about it} so I obviously have plenty of work that I should be doing/ have been doing/etc and because I'm always one to get in way over my head, I somehow found myself usurping {against my wishes} the job of running an extracurricular collegiate activity that might involve a sunny day, some beer, and a bunch of lovely junior and senior ladies but I digress... This week was insane! Insanely fast, jam-packed, and all that jazz. Here's a bit of a weekend wrap -up:


I made a schedule for myself that I have not followed since Thursday. Procrastination at its finest!

My best friend tapped into my {NERD ALERT} love of paper editing and I was therefore honored with nine pages on the U.S.-China trade relations. I am now an expert on trade relations and actually understood most of it {if only that understanding could have come to bat in Econ... but there's a reason I'm not an econ major ;) ha!}

one of two pictures we have together. seriously it's pathetic

I was hit with a spring cleaning bug {can I get an amen, because my room really needed this cleaning...}. You have to understand that I never fully make my bed like this because let's be honest, I value sleep over time to make my bed in the morning.

a made bed! {and a beauty-full milwaukee day in the background!}

a clean closet! you can clearly tell that my shoes
are the most important as they are most definitely the
most organized area of this closet

everything in its place! {Go sox!}

I spontaneously decided--at the request of some lovely girlfrans-- to go out to dinner and we went to a hole-in-the-wall burger joint that is the brainchild of the former chef at Sobelman's {a Marquette/Milwaukee tradition that is beyond unbelievably, amazingly delicious} and therefore obviously had high expectations-- which it lived up to:

{source}

There were a few {or so...} drinks with some good friends, a surprise party, and a ladies night out to the local country bar where we rocked out to Blake Shelton's rendition of Footloose {complete with the moves we have all memorized from the dance...} We relived this story which, no matter how many times it is told, causes all of us to fall into fits of laughter complete with tears and very real threats of wetting our pants. Pictures that were taken were not the loveliest, due to excessive dancing, and therefore are being withheld from this blog. 

But the most important, awe-inspiring, best, most phenomenal part of this weekend was the root of my waking up abominably early at 6:30 in the morning, only to wait for three and a half hours, highly caffeinated, shaking with excitement, counting down the seconds on my clock, praying the rosary, all in order to wait forty-five minutes in three virtual waiting rooms for tickets to....

AT WRIGLEY FIELD

My life is complete!

.... Except that there is so much more to do! Papers! Tests! Brewers game! Skype sesh with friend studying abroad!

Here's hoping I get another post in this week.

We shall see! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

xx