Hugs + Kisses From the Mrs.

I've been a little MIA this week. It's been a busy week so far (which is good) but I am exhausted already (the late night Olympics are killing me!). I've also been in kind of a funk, especially yesterday. Here's hoping I can snap out of it soon. 

Mostly, I've just been missing this guy.

The main reason is that sometimes medical school sucks. It's hard not only on Zach studying/working/learning constantly, but also on the wifeys! As you know, Z is in his third year of medical school (over half way there!). For year three and four, the students do month-long rotations throughout the year. His first rotation was in Issaquah, so that was great - pretty close to home (most of his rotations will be around the Seattle area). For the past two weeks, Zach's been in Pendleton, Oregon working at the hospital there. The students are basically unpaid interns that get to meet patients on their own and then report back to the attending and discuss what should happen next. He's learning a ton and getting to see so many different things (his first two rotations so far have been in internal medicine, next is general surgery!). 

So, for the past two weeks, I've been a single mama to our furry little boys, and I've finally hit the wall. I do not like this being apart thing. It's been 10 days since I've seen him (although Z would say it has only been 8;) and I'm not liking it at all. I need to see my husband! I miss him so much it's kind of ridiculous.

We did the long distance thing in college (for three years!) and it worked out great. But now, we've been married 4 years and it's totally different. And I don't like it. I want my best friend next to me every night (I may or may not be sleeping with a piece of his clothing because it smells like him). I want my partner in crime back to so we can watch the olympics together and cheer/make jokes together throughout the whole thing.

I definitely have even more respect for single moms out there too (and I only have two dogs - imagine two kids!). It's hard being the only one there and having so much responsibility on you and you alone. 

Anyways, I think you get my point (and sorry if that was a tad whiny...) He comes home TOMORROW! WOOT! I'm so excited! I can't wait, and I think that's why this week has been harder than the first. It's so close, yet time is moving so slowly. The first week went by pretty fast since I kept busy with lots of projects (I'll be sharing some next week hopefully!). But this week is dragging...

So I think you all know that I love to bake (and the husband loves to eat whatever I bake). Last week I pumped out some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (my favorite!) and decided to send my mister a little care package to help him remember his awesome wifey. :) I had seen this idea at weddings before and loved it! So simple and cute. I made a little card to go in there too. 

I bought a bag of Hershey's Kisses, a bag of Hershey's Hugs and a bag of Snickers (because those are his favorites). I was going to put some fishies in there too, but ran out of room after I added the cookies. 

I miss you so much Zachary Michael! Can't wait for you to come home to me! 

P.S. Happy 32nd Anniversary to my amazing parents! We are so lucky to have such great role models! Love you guys!

Gettin' Quirky at Target

It's pronounced tar-get. You knew that right? On my weekly (yes, weekly) trip to Target last week I happened to come across some unique finds in the home section. Apparently Target is trying to jump on the hipster train too with all sort of quirky knickknacks. I was kind of loving it and probably spent a good twenty minutes checking out every little thing they had. For instance, who doesn't need a Buddha Butter dish?

Or a Solar Queen (there's a solar panel on her purse that makes her wave!)

What about a gorilla piggy bank? Is it weird to anyone else that it's still called a "piggy" bank even when it's another animal?

For those of you that don't know me that well, I have a small collection of Salt + Pepper shakers (some from my grandmother that she used to collect too). So naturally, I was all over these salt + pepper shakers. Salt & Pants. It says: The most fun you can have with your pants on. Yep. 

Salt + Magic. These were particularly awesome. 

Then there's the classic Chihuahua with hipster glasses.

Welcome to the mustache section. 

I liked this little guy. He just wants a cookie.

Can't forget the irony.

And my personal favorite, the ninja-bread-men cookie cutters. I totally should have snagged these up, but there were around $10 and I was being a cheap-o. Aren't these sweet though? 

They had a ton of other stuff too. It was pretty entertaining. I didn't end up getting anything since there was nothing that I couldn't live without, even though I am still thinking about those cookie cutters (they're cut out for action!) 

Do you ever find anything unexpected and quirky at your favorite stores? It was a nice little surprise for me! Oh, and if you need even more quirkiness, check out the Queen of Quirky, Zooey Deschanel on SNL. 

Happy New Home Gift Idea

Last week as part of the wedding festivities we met up at Meghan and Eric's new house for a little get together. They have cute little home with a great yard (and garden!) in Seattle and it was so fun to see it with all the new paint and furniture (last time we saw it they had just bought it). As a housewarming gift I used this inspiration from, where else, Pinterest!

I love this idea. Especially since jars are so big right now. Plus, you don't have to deal with all the wrapping, but instead they have a jar they can still use (not that I don't love a pretty bow or two). I shopped around and found some cute stuff to plop in the jar.

Since Meghan and Eric's new kitchen is gray/white/yellow, I thought I'd keep with the yellow theme for all the goodies. First, at Target I picked up a yellow candle, a yellow cow creamer and yellow kitchen towel. Then I stopped by Ross and got the two soaps. 

Then came the fun part... putting it all together. I thought I had it planned out but the poor little yellow cow didn't stand a chance. He was too awkward to fit in the jar.

Everything else fit quite nicely though.

I added a little scrapbook paper and voila! A cute and functional housewarming gift. The whole package cost about $20 and was the perfect way to welcome the happy new couple. 

What fun gifts do you like to give as housewarming presents?