This whole week has felt off for me, especially when it comes to the blogging home front. To put it frankly, I haven’t wanted to be here. I’m not sure if it’s because it has just been a busy week in general, because the internet has decided to stop working for 98% of the time at my house, or because California is calling my name in less than 24 hours? Whatever it may be, I’m not feeling it. After some long hard thinking about all of this while laying on the couch in my office (best idea ever by the way) I diagnosed myself with vacationitis. It’s a legit sickness minus the snot, throw up, and other disgusting things that come alongside real sickness. To know if you have it or not, plan a vacation, wait for the week of it to arrive, write out a huge to-do list, and then see if you want to do any of the to-do list or not. If the answer is no, you my friend have vacationitis as well.

Saturday morning we had the honors of babysitting our nieces which resulted in Shawn saying “I mean I don’t get it. This is honestly people’s real life?!” repeatedly while we watched the girls jump on the bed, hit the Staples “that was easy” button twenty-six thousand times, and discovering the youngest on top of the kitchen counter after turning our heads for 20 seconds. It’s a good thing they are cute and that they like laying under the bed where they can not move for more than four minutes at a time. HALLELUJAH.

We then made the spontaneous decision to head up to make the two hour drive to Chicago to get some much needed afternoon cocktails with the sweetest girl Lauren, her boyfriend, and one of their friends at RPM Italian. Lauren and I have Skyped several times over the past year so being able to meet her face-to-face was incredibly fun. If I haven’t said this before, the real relationships that are born out of blogging blow my ever loving mind.

love all around

Remind me to tell you about the one time I overheard a girl talking to her boyfriend at dinner about my tattoo, how she wanted one on her wrist, and how she thinks she would like a baked potato. My eavesdropping skills may verge on the side of sucking. But seriously, I swear she was talking about my tattoo and not what she was ordering for dinner….

Sunday involved naps in my office (I had every intention to work, not sleep, but you know intentions can go..) and dinner with my family at mi casa.

 recipe coming soon to a blog near you 

This week has consisted of drinks with friends after work, lunch dates with new friends, date nights with my mom/sister/niece, a snowboarding outing with co-workers (I SURVIVED), and tonight photographing Craft Happy for my sister. And I’m wondering why my eyelids want to shut….

And on that note, I just remembered I need to pack.

Peace out and talk to you soon from Cali 😉

Erin Schrader

Founder and creator of LIY, Erin turned her dream of a hobby blog into a full-time career which she now runs alongside the LIY team! When not in front of her computer screen [with a La Croix or wine in hand] or in front of a mirror taking mirror selfies, you can find Erin spending time on the water, cuddled up with her two pups and husband most likely watching the latest Shark Tank episode, or getting lost in an easy beach read.