I love...birthday weeks.

I am typing this while curled up on my couch in a leopard print Snuggie, thinking of the birthday week that was last week. I know, a birthday is only supposed to be for a "day", but this year there was a lot that happened, so I used a week: I aged. I wore leopard print. I was on TV. I ate pizza...lots of pizza (I love pizza).
"How could all this activity have been packed into one week?" you ask.
Well, I'll tell you. Let's start with Monday...

*****

 

DAY 1: Scarf
 

MONDAY
With my birthday quickly approaching, my sister Lisa invited me to join her for pizza and beers at our favorite pizza spot, Edison's in Tremont. We ordered a pepperoni and banana pepper pizza plus several beers. As we were winding down the night I decided to use my newest addiction to record the night: Instagram! Then I realized I was wearing a leopard print scarf and since the week was leading up to my leopardy birthday party (see "Saturday" below) I decided to wear a dash of leopard print everyday for the rest of the week, Instagram it, and call it "7 Days of Leopard Print".

*****

 

DAY 2: Bracelet

TUESDAY
Tuesday, September 25th, was my actual birthday. I woke up feeling older, wiser, and ready to take on the day! My friends and family sent me birthday wishes. My office bought me a cake. My birthday was off to a great start. Not only was I aging on this day, but that evening was the premiere of a new season of one of my favorite shows...New Girl!!! I planned a watch party for the event at Rivergate in the Flats. This watch party was to serve several purposes: 1) so I could watch the show and hang out with friends at the same time; and 2) because there was a possibility that I would be shown during the show as the New Girl Fan of the Week (an honor I had applied for several weeks earlier)! So there we were, I was wearing a pink boa (cause why not), the show was playing on several TVs, I had my friends around me, we were eating calzones, and the sound for New Girl was on full blast. Then...BAM...during a commercial break: "Jenny is the Fan of the Week"!!! I nearly fell off my barstool. This was the icing on top of my birthday cake. (And aside from all that, the show is laugh-out-loud hilarious! I laugh every time I watch and re-watch it. If you don't already watch it, you should!) Then I went home and ate half of a leftover slice of pizza.

*****

DAY 3: Sweater

WEDNESDAY
Still high off my New Girl moment of fame, I woke up ready to celebrate my post-birthday day. That evening I finished the other half of my pizza slice for dinner, then headed to the Winking Lizard for bowling league. My team entered me on the scorecard as "bday" and my first game started out awesome, with spare/strike after spare/strike. Then that ended and the rest of my game was...eh. But the popcorn at the Lizard tasted great.

*****

DAY 4: Headband

THURSDAY
Some friends and I went downtown to watch the Cleveland Browns game. While the game didn't end as we might have liked, our night was a good time. We ended the game at Map Room, where a friend and I split...pizza! Surprise! Someone jokingly asked me if I'd had pizza every day that week. I laughed that I hadn't. Then I stopped and thought about it and realized I had indeed had pizza every single day of the week. Awesome...and oops.

*****

 

DAY 5: Shoes

FRIDAY
For lunch I had leftover Map Room pizza (I couldn't stop myself). Then that evening I went with a coworker to a candle party. We ate some yummy food, smelled some yummy candles, drank some yummy white sangria, and made it an early night. I was home and in bed by 11p.m., and I loved it.

*****

SATURDAY

DAY 6: Dress

I woke up early and decided to immediately go to the gym before I could change my mind. After a week of eating pizza and drinking birthday drinks, a gym visit was needed. That evening I had plans to gather with friends at the Speakeasy in Ohio City to celebrate my new age, and in doing so I asked that everyone wear a dash of leopard print (because, well, I love leopard print). My friends didn't disappoint. One by one they walked in with scarves, shirts, shoes, dresses...Ohio City was oh so fashionable that night. We spent the night drinking, dancing and just being leopardy! As the night ended, I did not eat any pizza - but I did get Taco Bell, which is an excellent second choice in my book.

*****

SUNDAY

DAY 7: Hat

After sleeping in, I met friends for brunch at Southside. Bloody marys and mimosas flowed and I pointed out every leopard print item that people we didn't know were wearing. After that my friend Niki and I started walking home, then got sidetracked by hot chocolate and a two hour walk around the pretty streets of Tremont. The weather was perfect, the trees were Fall-ish, and you couldn't NOT be outside. I didn't eat any pizza on this day, but I did pass by Edison's, so I was hugged by its delicious smell. Finally, I was ready to head home and spend quality time with my couch, and that's what I did.

*****

 

YAY: Snuggie

Now I'm nursing a leopard print hangover with my leopard print Snuggie and feeling very thankful for a great birthday week, great friends & family, great TV shows, great pizza, and a great year ahead in my new age.
"What is going to happen in the year ahead?" you ask.
I don't know for sure - that's what makes it exciting.
However, I'm sure it will be filled with dashes of leopard print - that's what makes it Jenny.

I love...Christmas.

You've probably been thinking: "What did Jenny do for Christmas this year?!"
Well, relax, I'll tell you.

The long holiday weekend started early, with me being sick. Thursday I woke up not felling well. I'll spare you all the details, but I spent some quality time with my bathroom that morning. I then proceeded to sleep...all day. Not exactly sure what was wrong, but I didn't get my appetite back until Saturday evening, so I have decided to call it a "Christmas Diet"!

After a long Thursday nap I was feeling well enough on Friday to venture out and finish my Christmas shopping. I visited Room Service in Ohio City, the new shops on East 4th Street and Big Fun in Lakewood. Then I stopped by the grocery store to pick up ingredients for a dip I wanted to take to a Christmas party that evening. The recipe included cream cheese and pepper jelly relish all mixed together in one bowl of yumminess. However, I blanked on the ratio of relish to cream cheese, so once I mixed it together it came out bright pink. And I mean pink as in Pepto-Bismol pink. Or as in kinda scary looking to eat with a cracker pink. I was running late, so decided to still take the dip and hope for the best. The party was a great time. It was a gathering of the Hunt Club Pool Rats - a group I managed to sneak my way into during college when I met my good friend Rachel (aka: Moose). She brought me around enough that the Hunt Club friends she grew up with couldn't get rid of me. I should also note that one of the Pool Rats, Ryan, managed to earn 1,000 From Chalk With Love bonus points by mentioning my blog a gazillion times throughout the night.

I then spent Saturday-Monday in Columbus where my sister Susan and her family live. The rest of my family met up there for the weekend, too. We laughed. We ate. We rationed Great Lakes Christmas Ales. My dad made some repairs to my slowly dying car. My 2-year old niece taught me that the word "mine" can be used to answer just about any question. And I was given the new nickname of "butter pockets" (I can't remember exactly why, but it was funny).

For Christmas I got several great items, including a crockpot and pink leopard print mixing bowls that I'm sure I'll eventually use while wearing my apron. I got Tina Fey's book "Bossypants", which I've heard a lot of good things about and can't wait to dig into. I also got Shel Silverstein's newly released book "Every Thing On It", and as I've previously stated - I love Shel Silverstein - so this was especially exciting.

All in all, it was a great weekend (minus the opening Thursday sick-nap scene). I hope you all had a great holiday weekend, too!

Now that the Christmas weekend is over it's time to focus on planning a 2012 NYE celebration for this weekend! I know I'll be with some good friends downtown, but need to pick the place(s), the props (like last year's drink hangers), and the outfit.

Are you ready, 2012?

I love...leopard print.

My obsession with leopard print started in college.

First I got a leopard print purse. Then a tank top. Then it was my bed sheets and comforter. I found a leopard print dress that I wore for a birthday. Then I'd borrow my roommate's leopard print pants. I found some sweaters, a lamp shade, gloves, a scarf, an address book, jewelery, a cute winter hat...

Turns out you can find pretty much anything in leopard print.

Over time I have learned an important lesson about leopard print: Less is more. You don't need to wear a pair of leopard print gloves, hat, purse and jacket all at once. Try just the gloves. Or just carry the purse. Maybe just a jacket with some small leopard print detail.


Some of my original leopard print belongings are no longer with me, like my comforter that was outgrown by my bed. And my tank top that got old and worn. And my leopard print halter dress that I never should have owned (oh, did I not mention that it was a halter dress? um, yea...college?). Then other items have been updated, like my original purse that was given away and eventually replaced with a small leopard print clutch. Or my scarf that I eventually lost and replaced with a new leopard print scarf.

Tonight as I changed my clothes before heading over to a friend's house for dinner, I realized the weather had gotten just chilly enough to wear my comfy, leopard print sweater. This reminded me of another lesson I've learned about leopard print: Every day should have a little bit of leopard print in it.

I hope your day is full of love, laughter and just the right amount of leopard print!