{GIVEAWAY} on According to Ashley!

As a celebration of my new blog (and for having comments that work, and not having to fight with Blogger any longer...), I wanted to share some of the things that make me smile. We all have our favorite little things, and I'd like to give you some of mine! These are a few of my favorite things...

Lilly Pulitzer Koozie to keep my drinks cold all summer long. A Starbucks gift card to keep me caffeinated throughout the workday. Essie Nail Polish to keep my nails looking fresh. Notecards to keep in touch with all of my out of state friends and family. A Chick Flick to help me unwind after a long day on my feet.

Be sure to head over to the new According to Ashley and enter to win all of these for yourself!{

Breaking Up is Hard to Do.

Remember all those times that I complained about me and Blogger not getting along?

Our relationship is officially over.

Head over here to follow my life's adventures!

And, be sure to follow According to Ashley on Bloglovin' so you'll get my daily posts!

5 on Friday!

Linking up with April & Friends for my favorite day of the week!

|| one ||

We have gotten almost 16 inches of snow this week. These things don't happen back to back in New York like they do in other places (honestly, I don't know how all of you mid-westerners survive!!!). I have literally been snowed in for half of the week. My poor little Jetta can't handle this snow & ice.

|| two ||

I had a great few days back from work after my vacation. Birthday Month continued into February with a delicious cake (vanilla cake & chocolate frosting -- my favorite), and the girls at work bought me a pair of sparkly Jack Rogers! I cannot wait for this snow to melt so I can sport those everywhere!

|| three ||

My Mama finally underwent surgery for her arthritic hip. For the last 4ish years, she has been struggling to walk, and was in serious pain. After being mis-diagnosed as a back problem, we finally got the answer we were looking for when a family friend recommended seeing her husband. Right away he saw what the real problem was, and x-rays confirmed that there was no bone left in the joint of her hip. Last night she received a total hip replacement, and we have finally begun the recovery process. I am so thankful that after only a few months we were able to get the correct diagnosis, and treat the problem. With her new hip, she will finally be able to enjoy the simple things in life (like a walk on the beach, not having to find the closest parking spot at concerts, walking the dog), and the new procedure that the surgeon did promises a quick recovery time with no restrictions! She will be able to walk on it right away and won't have to go to a live-in rehabilitation facility!!

|| four ||

THE OLYMPICS OFFICIALLY START TODAY!

When Mom's surgery was rescheduled to this week, she was beyond thrilled that during her time in the hospital she would be able to non-stop watch the olympics. I can't say that I blame her!!! I love watching everything, especially figure skating, skiing, curling, and hockey! Oh, and the bobsled, skeleton, and speed skating. Really all of it. What are your favorite sports to watch?

|| five ||

I am so excited to announce that this will be my last post here at Monograms and Margaritas! I have officially ended my relationship with Blogger and will be headed over to Wordpress on Monday morning. Once all of the design process is finished (only a few more finishing touches!!!), I will be sure to update y'all on the new url! I have already found Wordpress much easier to navigate, and I'll be able to do so many more fun things on there!

What are your favorite things on this sunny (FREEZING) Friday!?

I don't believe in resolutions: February.

|| february: running ||

Yikes.

I'm participating (I hesitate to say running because there is no way on this earth that I will be able to run 13.1 miles) in a half marathon t the end of the month with two of my best friends. I am looking forward to spending the weekend at Disney World wearing a tutu and a tiara, but the real goal of this is to get my butt into shape. If I can run the majority of the race (and by majority, I mean running every other mile), I will be a happy girl. Training really needed to be in full gear in December, but sometimes life gets in the way. I will be putting other priorities on hold during February for this goal. They say it only takes 21 days to form a habit, so that should be sufficient amount of time to set the tone for the rest of the year at the gym, right?

I'm hoping that by the time I return from Florida, I haven't scared myself out of running another half. I think I made an unwise decision with scheduling my first one in the middle of the winter so that my training months were plagued with frigid temperatures, snow, and rain. Treadmill miles are much harder to be motivated for, so looking ahead, I will aim for races at the end of the summer/early fall.

For now, I'll put in my headphones, and suck it up so I don't look like an idiot in Florida at the end of the month (well, once my back is better and I can breathe again...)

Someone please let me in on their secret to motivating themselves to hit the gym in the dead of winter!

"Wham Bam Kam" and other things that made me giggle.

While my hometown team didn't make it to the Superbowl (or the playoffs, for that matter.. or a winning season. I'm not bitter or anything...), I still love football enough to be super psyched for the Broncos & Seahawks to dominate at MetLife Stadium.

I was ultimately rooting for the Broncos (I mean, if I can't have a New York team in it to win it, a Manning family member will have to do), but I also had a little piece of me rooting for all of my alma mater players. Enter, Wham Bam Kam Chancellor. That boy is a beast. Bud Foster must be a real proud Papa this morning.

The game sucked.

It was definitely FOX's worst nightmare having two west coast teams in the game, and having a blowout. If it weren't for the commercials, we probably would have turned the game off at halftime. But, there were quite a few gems that were broadcasted between plays...

And.. added bonus? This Doritos commercial was written by a HOKIE!

What were your favorite Super Bowl Commercials!?

5 on Friday!

Linking up with April & friends for my favorite post of the week!

|| one ||
I think I pulled/strained/messed up some combination of muscles in my back yesterday at work. Radiating/shooting pains in my lower back have made for a very uncomfortable 12 hours. A long jacuzzi and ibuprofen have helped to dull the pain, but now the question is how long do I wait to go to the doctor? I can walk (not completely straight), and only get the shooting pains when I twist or bend. My next day off is Monday -- can it wait?

|| two ||
Long distance friendships suck.
Ever have one of those days/nights when you just want to lie in bed with tequila and yell about life? I had one of those days yesterday (the back issue didn't seem to help much...), and my best friend is in Puerto Rico! COME BACK. We need snuggles and college football replays on our iPhones repeatedly!

|| three ||
I have the best co-workers ever. I came back from my trip to an amazing cake from Buttercup Bakery in NYC! Needless to say, the girls and I have now eaten cake for lunch and dinner for the last few days. Birthday month doesn't end until 11:59 tonight, so I am owning all of those calories...

|| four ||
This cold weather is actually driving me crazy.
Groupon has me almost convinced to drop everything I'm doing and head somewhere warm and sunny!

{dominican republic} {cabo san lucas}

I mean, for under $600? Take.Me.There.

|| five ||
I need a new mattress. More importantly, my brother needs a new mattress, which means that I get a new one by default. The one I've been sleeping on since I got my "big girl bed" is almost 30 years old. Let's also say that there is a little bit of bad karma that goes along with it (it's got quite the baggage from over the years). I'm officially convinced that my mattress is giving me bad karma (yes, I know I'm crazy).

#mostrandompostever

Be sure to head over to April's blog and share whats happening on your Friday!

Sanibel Vacay

So, I had this big elaborate plan to recap my vacation today, seeing that I flew home last night, but, I took zero pictures worth sharing with the exception of a few gorgeous sunsets (they really are stunning on Sanibel).

It was chilly in Florida. I was still bundled in a sweater 4/5 days that I was there, so we spent a lot of time sitting on the porch reading our books. I had tons of time to catch up on blogging, e-mails, and emptying my Kindle of unread books. It did get to a point one day where Mom and I needed to get outside, so we bundled up and plopped our chairs by the ocean. It didn't last very long (it was seriously cold), but it was nice to get out of the house!

We did also get to hop over to Naples to do a little shopping one afternoon. I was dying to see the new Lilly store in the Waterside shops, and it was definitely worth all the hype. The store is a lot smaller than I thought it would be (even smaller than my store!!), but the girls there were so friendly, and their fitting rooms are to die for!

There was also a lot of family time (which, really, was the point of our trip). We skyped with relatives in Colorado, and had multiple dinners with our Sanibel relatives. We were lucky that quite a few nights the sky cleared up for sunset, and we were able to get some gorgeous pictures.

I love this place.

We also went through some old photo albums, and my aunt even brought a few vintage pictures over. Seriously, my fashion sense was on point in the 90's, and a few of them gave me a good chuckle. Can we tell that I've been a Daddy's girl since the day I was born!?

All in all, the last few days were just what the doctor ordered. Lots of reading, catching up, and relaxing. While I would have loved to spend more than one day catching some Vitamin D, maybe the weather was a blessing in disguise!