Mrs. Lee to Be (Our Engagement Shoot)

Photo by Rachel Cook

Oh, hello there! So much has happened since you last saw me around here, but it feels really good to be back.

Clearly blogging has taken a back seat for the past few months because...

1) The obvious one – I GOT ENGAGED!!!
2) And I went on a European adventure!

Since then, the will to keep blogging just sort of stopped. I had so many aspirations to start blogging about wedding planning and my trip to Europe (which is still in the works!), but nothing came into fruition. I just felt lazy and uninspired. But honestly, stepping away from this a little bit was needed and it allowed me to just embrace the moment and soak up all of the goodness without dissecting it piece by piece through a social media lens. It was great to just take it all in and celebrate that momentous occasion together as a couple, with our family and friends. But now I'm ready to share all the exciting things that have been happening with you!

J and I are so incredibly happy with the way our engagement shoot turned out and we cannot give enough thanks to our amazing photographer, Rachel Cook. Plus, we share the same name, so extra points there. :) If anyone is looking for a wedding photographer in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, I could not recommend her enough. She's basically a wizard with a camera, because she makes you look ah-maz-ing. A million thanks, Rachel!!! You're the best!

...now onto the photos!

An Exciting Announcement

Hi guys! Sorry for the radio silence for the past couple weeks. I was just sort of drained at that point and I just needed to take a "creative retreat" if you will and step back from blogging for a bit to recharge.

But as you can guess from the title, this weekend has been such a whirlwind because...

I'M ENGAGED, I'M ENGAGED, I'M ENGAGED!

I was completely floored and 100% surprised when J proposed to me last night. I totally didn't see it coming (which was the only thing I kept telling him the entire time was that I just wanted to be surprised!) and it was such a precious memory that I will never forget.

Right now, I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that we're engaged and I'm going to be a wife! Whaaaat?! But I'm definitely excited to start digging into wedding planning and sharing details here with you!

Any advice is welcome, I'd love to hear from you!

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The Ultimate Super Bowl Party Lineup

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Super Bowl Sunday is the ultimate cheat day, so here's your free pass! I love scrolling through Pinterest, coming up with the most amazing spread that'll make us all say #yolo to any diet.

The key to game day eats is that they need to be easy to make ahead of time AND also easy to eat. Plus, most of these use pre-made ingredients or a Crock Pot (aka the greatest kitchen gadget of all time).

So now you have no excuse not to make at least one of these. Get to it!

The 10 Minute Meal You'll Want To Eat All Day, Every Day

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When I'm feeling really ambitious, I'll sit myself down on a Sunday morning and plan out my meals for the rest of the week. But let's face it, that doesn't always happen. And when that doesn't happen, I usually whip something up so I can just eat already and it's usually not always the healthiest or the most filling. Lately, I've been making this recipe when I'm in a hurry and super hungry and I've honestly eaten it for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner because it's that good.

My "No Shopping for 3 Months" Experiment

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A while back, I stumbled upon Unfancy (one of my favorite blogs of all time) and was introduced to this crazy-amazing idea of capsule wardobes. 

Definitely check out Caroline's blog if you haven't already, because she goes into more detail on what it is and her how-to guide. And you should also listen to her interview on The Lively Show too because she talks you through the steps and you get to hear her story on how capsule wardrobes sort of came to be. Can you tell I'm obsessed? LOVE HER.

Anyway, I digress. I followed her how-to's to create my capsule wardrobe and also to purge a good amount of my closet before I even got to this step. Annnnd this is where I landed for my first ever capsule wardrobe! Drumroll please...

Related: The Stress-Free Way to Downsizing Your Closet

7 Ways To Relax After A Long Day Without Netflix

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You know the drill. You come home from work, whip up something quick for dinner, and kick your feet up on the couch watching Netflix until you crash for the night. And as much as I love my Netflix binges, (um, can we talk about Making a Murderer?) I also know it's important to take a step back from the TV screen every once and a while.

Related: 5 Things I Want to Make More Time For 

Here are a few things that I'm subbing in instead of the usual Netflix lineup.

Budget DIY Desk Accessories (Out Of Kitchen Items!)

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An organized desk makes me grin from ear to ear and it's sort of essential for me to be in the zone when I'm working. So having a place for my office supplies is sort of a no-brainer. But I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg (no matter how gorgeous the Kate Spade desk accessories are), so I did a little brainstorming and found an easy solution to organize some of the things on my desk, while still looking cute!

Motivating Reads To Kick Start The New Year

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I decided not to write any specific resolutions this year, but there are definitely things I want to be more mindful of and make time for in 2016. And one of those is reading more books! But I also really want to be more cognizant of things I'm thankful for, living with less, being more organized, allowing myself to exercise creativity more often, and doing my best at work – no matter what kind of day it is.

So with that said, I rounded up a few books that I want to read that I'm hoping will start the new year off right and give me motivation to reach these goals and make it a lifestyle change.

How You Can Stay In The Know Without Watching The News

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I don't know why, but do you ever feel like you just don't have time to watch the news? I don't know why, but I just can't find the time to prioritize that. But being up to date on current events is important, so I've found other ways of being plugged in without having to turn on the TV at 6pm every night. And I've honestly found that I'm more engaged and can understand things happening more easily (like political talk, am I right?) than tuning into the nightly news.

The Best Kept Secret to Winter Layering

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Now that we've finally been hit with a ton of snow, I can officially say "winter is coming" without jinxing anything. Although, no complaints from me for the first snowfall being fashionably late.  And with winter kicking into high gear, I've been making a few changes to my wardrobe to prepare myself for what Minnesnowta has planned.

5 Invaluable Lessons I've Learned As A New Blogger

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I told myself from the beginning – if blogging wasn't bringing me joy, step away from it and take a break until I was in the right state of mind. I didn't want the comparison game to consume me, but surprise, surprise – it did and it still does. Honestly, I think know it's something that EVERY blogger goes through. (Even your favorite bloggers who've made it big!) We all go through this.

I've tried to find different avenues to avoid falling into this trap of feeling like I need to do it all and comparing myself to everyone else. I've racked my brain to come up with what I think are original ideas, only to find that someone else has done it better than I have. I've sat there staring at someone else's work thinking, "Well, I'll never be able to do that. So what's the point?" The green-eyed monster of jealousy came out and well, it made itself a cozy little spot in my heart.

But as I was fighting all of these frustrations, I reminded myself why I started all of this in the first place and I was able to ground myself in the passion that drove me to start blogging. So if you're currently feeling or have felt any of those things I just said, here are 5 REALLY important things that I learned about blogging and how to keep going when you feel like giving up.