“Planning” a Pregnancy

On January 21, 2020 By casualinclevelandIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

When it comes to my life and what I want in my life, I am the biggest planner (probably to a fault). If you couple that with my extreme impatience, you can only imagine how tough it is when things don’t go as planned or don’t follow a certain timeline.

My husband and I got married in 2016 and I was READY to be a Mom. I was lucky enough to find my “person” in my twenties and couldn’t wait to take the next step into motherhood. It’s something that I have literally thought and dreamed about my whole entire life. And then BAM! I got pregnant on our honeymoon. Honestly it couldn’t have been more perfect…until it wasn’t.

As a young, first time Mom, the thought of losing this baby NEVER crossed my mind. And honestly looking back at it, I am glad I was naive and ignorant at that time. I bought all the goods to announce the pregnancy, we told my Stepson the good news, we started talking about genders, names, etc. I even announced it on social media to A LOT of people (if you’ve been following me for awhile now I’m sure you saw that post). Then, one day, I started bleeding and all the dreams came to a halt.

One Google search lead to thousands of Google searches, and countless hours of stress and sadness. I NEVER knew miscarriage was so common. They didn’t teach this in school. Nobody in my family experienced this. I was in the dark, completely. I was devastated to say the least. Luckily I was able to naturally miscarry without much complication physically, but the emotional strain was almost unbearable. It put pressure on my relationship with my husband and just made the process moving forward much more stressful and less fun.

Flash forward 6 months (and many ovulation strips and planned “sexy-time” dates with my husband, which was actually not so fun at all), I was pregnant again and SCARED SHITLESS. But I didn’t care. I was determined that this would be “the one”, but obviously very hesitant until I got to see my little nugget. I honestly think the happiest time in my entire life was seeing that heartbeat for the first time, realizing that this pregnancy was absolutely real and absolutely happening.

I had an amazing pregnancy. I wasn’t sick. I was SO happy. My husband still jokes to this day that I was my nicest, best self while I was pregnant with Lucas. I enjoyed that time so much, I cannot even put it into words how happy and excited I was to see and feel this little boy that was growing inside of me. It was absolutely magical. I was induced after a week past my due date (he was a stubborn fella and did NOT want to leave mommy’s belly). My labor was miserable, my epidural didn’t work, and I am pretty sure I told my Mom and husband that I wanted to die. But here I am – almost 2 years later, begging to feel that way again LOL.

Lucas was an angel baby. I am serious. I don’t think we will ever have a baby like him. He NEVER cried, he slept so well…it made being a first time Mommy a lot easier (and inherently made me want to have 300 more babies). The first year flew by and we were starting to have the baby itch again.

We have always talked on and off about how many kids we wanted. I always said 2 is plenty for me and my husband continued to fight for 3 (he is 1 of 3 and I am 1 of 2…so I guess that makes sense). But even talking about these kind of conversations gets me a little sad, but also kind of mad. As a woman, who has a very stable life and is able to provide for a stable family, I feel like I should be able to have as many children as I want. And the reality is that’s just not how it works. This goes back to the “planning” part of pregnancy and how that just hasn’t worked for me thus far. I digress – let’s move on.

Close to a year after Lucas was born, Sean and I decided to start trying again. This was March 2019. We weren’t sure how long it would take considering our previous issues, so why not… then BAM! First try, pregnant again. This one kind of took me off guard. I was excited, but I think a little more nervous. We had just moved into an apartment because we were building our house and the due date for this baby would’ve coincided with our big move…lots of GOOD things happening!

I decided not to do any “early” testing (e.g. hormone level blood draws, early ultrasounds, etc.), I wanted to treat this like a normal, every day pregnancy – mostly for my mental health. I should’ve known something was up because I literally had no pregnancy symptoms, other than maybe a little tiredness. I chalked it up to just being lucky and moved on. We went in for my first ultrasound at 9 1/2 weeks and I honestly (looking back at it) was far too optimistic. Sure enough, no living baby, no heartbeat. The baby stopped growing at around 8 weeks and our world crashed once again.

Honestly, I never thought after actually having a baby that I would go through this trauma again. I figured that my body was used to this and it was ready and prepped to go!

The doctor suggested I go and get a D&C (dilation and curettage, yes it’s as disturbing as it sounds) since I had no signs of miscarrying naturally. A day later I was put under, my unborn fetus was aborted (yes, the official surgery documents classified this as an abortion), I went home and ate a shit ton of pizza. The healing process was quite fast for this one, which was kind of nice. But let’s talk about the cost. It cost me over $2K to NOT have a baby. Kill me, seriously just kill me.

I took a little “break” from trying to get pregnant and enjoyed some time with my 1 year old. But then we were back at it. Ovulation strips were stocked, all the apps were downloaded, I was ready to rock and roll 😉

A couple of unsuccessful months passed (bringing on a lot of impatience) and then finally I received a positive test in November 2019 – the week before Thanksgiving. YIPPY! I was definitely more reluctant than happy, unfortunately. BUT I did feel so many pregnancy symptoms from the start this time. Naturally this brought on a lot of hope. I decided to do some early tests to make sure my HCG levels (pregnancy hormones) were rising accordingly – and they were! Another YIPPY!

We were set to have our first ultrasound right before Christmas. Going into this appointment both Sean and I were very excited just because I was feeling SO pregnant (my boobs grew a full cup size, I was extremely bloated and tired, and for the first time I was nauseous a lot). As soon as they put the camera on my belly I knew we were going to receive devastating news. Here we go again.

Sean took this one extra hard. I, on the other hand, was just numb. Literally, completely numb to all of it. And to be honest it’s just not fair.

Since this was a very early loss, and since it was right before the holidays, I elected to just not think about it and get through the holidays with the support from my family and friends. I didn’t want to deal with it AT ALL, so the doctor told me we would talk about next steps after the holidays. I enjoyed SO MANY glasses of wine and spent SO MUCH time with my family that it really did help with the bad news.

Luckily (I guess?), I started bleeding on the day before NYE and was able to naturally miscarry. Naturally miscarrying can be scary, but I believe it’s the best on your body – even though it takes a month to become “unpregnant.”

This takes me to present day. I just finished bleeding and all my pregnancy hormones are gone from my body. It’s crazy to think that we are going to try to start this process all over again. It’s crazy to think how much my body has gone through in the past 3 years. It’s crazy to think about all the mental / emotional trauma we have had to deal with.

Nobody EVER talked about miscarriage before I started trying to get pregnant. I had absolutely no idea how common this was nor did anyone openly speak about it. I knew as soon as this happened to me I needed to reach out. I needed to tell my story and I desperately needed to find people who have gone through / are going through the same things I did.

It is insane how many women I have spoken to that are going through the same hardships. It has brought on new friends, new acquaintances, and new perspective to my life. In a weird, fucked up way, connecting with these women has given my life a little more meaning and has made me a lot more grateful. I will not stop this fight. It might take more physical trauma, it might take more mental anguish, but us women are STRONG. I look at my perfect (not so baby anymore) boy and realize that this fight is SO worth it. I am really hoping 2020 brings us some luck as well as everyone else fighting this good fight!

2018 “Guidelines”

This is the first time I am writing after a very long, much needed hiatus. I am not all about “New Year’s Resolutions” because I NEVER stick with them and because of that they really just don’t mean anything to me (kudos to people who make them and stick to them). Instead, this year I have a list, or guidelines if you will, on how I want to live my life differently in 2018. We all get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our every day, monotonous life and I feel like we miss the most important thing – managing ourselves and our well-being.

I’m going to make sure I treat myself. We all start the year with “I’m not going to eat anything other than vegetables, I’m going to exercise every single day for 3 hours, I’m not going to spend any money, etc.” While the intentions are good when it comes to these aspirations (and I know those were extreme aspirations lol), and some people even champion these goals all year, it is more important (strictly in my opinion) to treat yourself every once in awhile. I’m not saying go ahead and let yourself go or anything, but some days one must eat a pint of ice cream and not feel bad about it, sit on the couch all day and binge watch Ray Donovan (this is my life right now), and buy that designer bag you’ve been eyeing for the past 6 months. We deserve to treat ourselves every now and again, I truly believe it is KEY to our happiness and well-being.
I’m going to be a better friend. This past year had so many ups and downs and I feel like I have lived under a rock for most of the time. I have some really close, amazing friends that I feel like I have neglected in 2017 for purely selfish reasons. These relationships are extremely important to me. Sure, we are all in different stages of our lives & we don’t live within walking distance like we once did, but that should not be an excuse to let friendships fade. If anything it should make our conversations more appealing and exciting, I love hearing the stories about my single friends going out on a weekend…it’s a lot more appealing than my boring, married, pregnant life! It will be a little more difficult to see my friends (most live further away) with a baby, but I have no intentions of staying in the house all day everyday, you better believe I am packing that child up and making the trip to Columbus, Athens, Chicago, and Houston!
I’m going to be a better homeowner. If it were up to my husband, this would be number one on my list. Literally my whole life I have been a slob (yes, this is real life), I really can’t deny it. Not a slob in the sense of being “dirty” per sé, but just really bad at putting things away. I wasn’t born with the “OCD – everything must be spotless, in its place, gene” unfortunately. I am really nervous about this one, especially with a baby on the way, but I am vouching to make this a top priority! It really is funny though, because every time I have a big cleaning day (this is probably like 3 times a month) I feel SO GOOD and rejuvenated afterwards. Cleaning is good for the soul…I think it’s time to buy a Roomba.
I’m going to try breastfeeding, but refuse to let it ruin my life. There. I said it. I have read way too much about “breast is best” and if you feed your child formula he will surely get sick a lot more than breast fed children…blah blah blah. Like I said in the title of this section, I am committed to breast feeding, but I am not going to kill myself over it. I know of many new moms that let it drive them crazy and quite frankly drove them into a really bad postpartum depression. I am going to listen to my body, listen to my anxiety, and listen to my baby…if it isn’t working, it isn’t working and I am not going to drive myself insane over it. With that being said, I am looking forward to those amazing, intimate moments with my baby. It is truly surreal to think about. I CANNOT WAIT!
Lastly, I am going to live in the moment. This is such a broad, generic statement and everyone’s “in the moment” can be very different. When I look at this, I see it as cherishing every single moment possible with our new baby and with my little family that is slowly growing. I don’t want to worry so much about the future, or outside, unnecessary noise that I feel like keeps interrupting our life, or think about all the “what-ifs” that comes with the stress of having a newborn while working full time and supporting a family. I want to be present as much as possible. I would say “I want to be present all of the time,” but I also think that it’s just unrealistic. I do and will need some time to just “get away” from it all and look at funny videos online, check up on my news, scroll through my Instagram looking for a new trend, or binge watch Breaking Bad for the 3rd time (or else I’d probably lose my mind). I would just like to be more present than I am now. Things are going to change drastically that will ultimately force me to be more present in the moment and I am really looking forward to it! Don’t worry, I am going to be so annoying with posting baby pictures all over social media…can’t stop, won’t stop.

Please don’t get me wrong… I admire people who make resolutions and stick to them all year and also those that make them and fail, but they are just not for me. I would much rather just try my hardest to be a better me & learn from the areas I fell short the previous year. I will not follow all of the above guidelines, I guarantee it, but at least I am trying to hold myself accountable. I hope everyone’s 2018 has started amazingly & continues to be kick ass in the months to come, we all deserve it!

On January 24, 2018January 25, 2018 By casualinclevelandIn 2017Leave a comment

Shop CLE. Shop Local.

On June 8, 2017January 22, 2018 By casualinclevelandIn 2017Leave a comment

As you are all aware, I am all about representing my city and all it has to offer. So what better than partnering with a company that not only represents my city, but also appeals to my fashion / clothing addiction?

CLE Clothing Co. was founded in 2008 (smack dab in the middle of those wonderful college days) and has been representing the heart and soul of Cleveland ever since. Their story is awesome and their clothing is even more awesome so make sure to visit their website. Check out some of their stuff below!

USE PROMO CODE: CASUALINCLE FOR 20% OFF YOUR ORDER!

**Shirt here:** Cleveland Repeat Unisex Raglan

**Shirt** **here**: CLE College Hardcourt **Hat here:** CLE “Dad Hat” **Socks here:** Cleveland Stripe

**Shirt here:** Believeland Women’s Game Day Jersey **Hat here:** VarCity 2017 “Dad Hat”

**Shirt here:** Cleveland Script Ballpark Raglan **Hat:** above **Socks here:** Skyline Sock

Life Throws You Curves.

On April 24, 2017January 22, 2018 By casualinclevelandIn 20173 Comments

Life is crazy let me tell you! A lot has happened in this unpredictable life of mine since the last blog post. Speaking of blog post, it has been awhile since my last one and I refuse to wait this long again. In my defense it has been a pretty action packed end of 2016/ beginning of 2017 thus far and I haven’t been able to push myself to write it all down.

Let’s start on a high note, I got married (December 3rd, 2016) to the absolute love of my life at the very cool Happy Days Lodge in Peninsula, OH. It finally happened, after 5 years of craziness. You read so much about finding your “soulmate” and that everyone has a “person”…and for so long I would laugh at the mere sight of the word “soulmate”. That is until not only had I managed to find mine in a world full of interesting men (billions), I also got to marry him. When they say “you just know”…it’s so incredibly true, I just knew. My wedding day was literally the most amazing day of my life, with all of our closest friends and family there to witness it. The love, support, and happiness that embodied that room was so overwhelming. It was my ultimate high, it trumped ALL the lows we had ever experienced. We triumphed. Together.

Next, another high, came our honeymoon. We waited a couple weeks to embark on that journey due to the holidays…which landed smack dab in the middle of our wedding and honeymoon. We visited the ever-beautiful Cancun, Mexico. It is a place that holds a special place in our hearts (and to be honest, it’s the best bang for your buck)…all you can eat, all you can drink, endless sunshine, zero humidity, clear blue ocean….sign me up!

This brings me to the meat of this post, (trying to) start a family. That’s the next step in the process, right? Marriage (check) , buying a home (check), stable jobs (check)…the only next thing to do is have a baby, right? Well, naturally, before the wedding I weaned myself off birth control…after being on it for 13 years (my body was mortified). It’s actually quite funny and ironic, I spent many years making sure NOT to get pregnant. I wanted to do it all the right way, on my terms. It just makes the whole process even more exciting (and stressful). Of course all the horrible thoughts run through your head “can I even get pregnant?”, “what if I can’t get pregnant?”, “is my body ready for this?”, “am I ready for this?”, etc.

Needless to say, I never received a period after my honeymoon. I started feeling really funny and then there it was…a positive pregnancy test! Wow, that happened fast. It was the most incredible time. The baby research started and I was immediately in mommy mode. I made my first doctor’s appointment, I told my family & closest friends, I WAS SO EXCITED. I waited one day to tell my parents because I wanted to do it in a cute way, it was the LONGEST day of my life. We were celebrating my Dad’s birthday at our house and we bought him a cliche grandpa t-shirt and a really cute onesie to announce the news. We all cried. Later that evening I broke the news to my immediate family. It was amazing.

Funny side note…I sent one of my very best friends a picture of my pregnancy test (because naturally I HAD to tell someone the day I received that amazing news) and she told me she was pregnant as well! It just made the moment so much more real, and exciting! I imagined a maternity photo shoot with her and I with our big bellies, and our babies growing up to be BFFs just like their moms.

Everything was going well with the pregnancy so I decided to announce to the social media world that we were pregnant. It was extremely hard to wait all those weeks, but I couldn’t hold my excitement in anymore. I had read many articles online about telling people too early (before 12 weeks), but I was so confident and happy that it didn’t matter. I figured that if something were to go wrong, I would have that much more support through that time. Nobody goes into pregnancy thinking they are going to have a miscarriage, especially their first pregnancy. I mean, I am a healthy 27 year old what the hell could go wrong!

Not even one week later I started bleeding. I was at work, I went pee (which was definitely happening more frequently throughout the day) and I saw a brown spot on my undies (sorry for the details). I didn’t freak out too much because I read many articles of brown spotting during pregnancy, many were nothing to worry about. So I went about my day as I normally would. I asked one of my co-workers about it and she said that this same thing happened in her first trimester and not to worry. I didn’t worry until the brown spotting turned to red bleeding. This, again, happened at work the very next day. I freaked out, left work, and made an ultrasound appointment for later that day. Nothing conclusive came out of it, we would have to wait 2 more weeks to have another ultra sound, but unfortunately we never even got to go to that appointment. Soon after, everything spiraled downhill. More bleeding (LOTS), then cramping. That was it. I knew it was happening.

At this point the only thing the doctors could say was to “wait it out…it will run its course.” Run its course…ugh that is just absolutely horrible. After days of waiting and a couple of blood tests, the doctor finally confirmed the miscarriage. Every week I would have to go get a blood test done to see where my HcG levels were (this is the pregnancy hormone, it is the reason your home pregnancy test shows positive) and every week I would have to be reminded that I am still pregnant. My levels SLOWLY crawled back down to zero. It took me a month to stop bleeding, a month for my hormone levels to be normal. It was the worst month of my whole entire life. I must say that it was the most bittersweet moment when I took that pregnancy test and it FINALLY showed a negative. It was my proof that I was able to get through the hardest time of my life, and it was the hope that I was able to start fresh, a blank canvas.

There are a couple things I learned throughout this whole terrifying process. 1. I am not alone. I have connected with a handful of amazing women, strangers & friends, who have gone through this. It is not uncommon, it is WAY more common than I had ever expected. But again, nobody goes into a pregnancy researching miscarriage, well at least not me. Which brings me to 2. Stay off the Internet. I cannot tell you how many hours a day I spent on the Internet reading about miscarriage. Reading about the color of my blood. Did I pass the baby yet? Or will I get an infection and die? Will I ever be able to have a baby? Did my anxiety cause this? I mean, it got to be absolutely ridiculous. I legitimately scared myself shitless. My last valuable lesson 3. It really helps to talk about it. I realize that miscarriage is an incredibly personal thing and not everyone is able to talk about it. But for me, I found it best to be extremely open about it…it helped me get through that time. I never want to make anyone feel uncomfortable about it, but I also wanted to make sure everyone knew I was okay and that they didn’t have to walk on eggshells around me. Case and point, my BFF is still pregnant with a healthy baby girl and I am SO HAPPY for her, but I can only imagine how uncomfortable it was to be around me at first…and I hate that! I am not the type of person to be pissed at everyone who is pregnant on the Internet and curse at everyone who has kids. I will get there someday.

This brings me to present day, almost 3 months post miscarriage. I am starting to think this will be the hardest part yet, especially when you’re as impatient as I am. They say you’re allowed to start trying as soon as the miscarriage is over, so that’s what we did. Until I received a period (a really bad one). To be honest, I am glad that I had a normal period again, it made me feel like my body was okay…that it was back to normal and ready to try this again. You could only imagine my excitement after this period to try again. I obviously didn’t have a problem getting pregnant the first time, so my hopes were high! This brings me to today. For the past week I have been very confident in my symptoms…thinking that this might be happening again! I have been spending way too much money on pregnancy tests, every morning waking up to disappointment. I am now 2 days before my missed period and I am feeling every symptom of a period you can feel, I can just feel the inevitable happening. UGH.

This journey hasn’t been easy, and I just feel like we take one step forward and 12 steps back. It’s like mine and Sean’s M.O. I intend on keeping you updated because it will help me through the process, but I hope my story can help others…because I now know I am definitely not the only one going through this. We are lucky to have such a strong support system in our life. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you all for being there. Sometimes just being there is the best medicine.

Chili Time.

On October 9, 2016January 22, 2018 By casualinclevelandIn 2016Leave a comment

Fall is the best time of the year. Football season begins, colorful leaves arrive, boot & sweater weather is in full force, and tailgate chili is a weekend essential. I have found an amazing recipe that satisfies both me and my fiance; spicy & filling for him and healthy for me. It also takes care of lunch for pretty much the whole week, gotta love leftovers. Take a look!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb 99% lean ground turkey
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce
2 (15 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained
2 (15oz) cans red kidney beans, drained
1 (16 oz) jar deli-sliced tamed jalapeno peppers, drained
1 cup frozen corn
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Cooking Instructions:

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place turkey in the skillet, and cook until brown. Pour turkey into slow cooker.
Add the onion, peppers, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans, jalapeños, corn, chili powder, and cumin. Stir and season with salt and pepper.
Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Serve with toppings, if desired.

Note-I use a 6 quart slow cooker.

Cleveland Made Me.

On September 14, 2016January 22, 2018 By casualinclevelandIn 2016Leave a comment

Growing up Cleveland was ~~nothing~~ to me. It was the place my parents made me live, but really I dreamed about living in Laguna Beach with Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari. But seriously, the Flatts took a crap, the water was polluted, our sports teams were garbage, everyone was trying to leave the city. We weren’t doing anything to make this city with SO MUCH POTENTIAL better. Naturally, after high school I left with no hesitation. I needed to get out and experience life outside of Cleveland. Sure, I decided to go to Ohio University, in the absolute middle of nowhere, but there were so many students from a lot of other big cities in the Midwest (Columbus, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Chicago, etc.). The stories of their growing towns really made me anxious to get out of Cleveland permanently.

Unfortunately (well that’s what I thought at the time), after college I came back to Cleveland. The job market sucked so I decided to spend $60K to get my MBA at Cleveland State University and move back in with my parents. Although it wasn’t the ideal situation, it saved me a lot of money and strengthened the relationship with my parents. I am obviously very happy I made this decision. 1. because I would’ve never met my soon to be husband and stepson, and 2. because I wouldn’t have been able to experience the BOOM in Cleveland during the best times since…well…arguably ever!

When I knew I had no choice but to stay in Cleveland, it made it a lot easier to see all the positives in the city. In college I never paid any attention to all they were doing to make the city great again (and no, that wasn’t supposed to be a Mr. Trump reference). I never paid attention to the renovation of the Flatts/downtown, or the parks, or the cool, new trendy restaurants popping up on every block, or the booming housing market. Those were the articles I skimmed over while looking at local news…mainly because I knew we had a reputation of being all talk. But this time I was wrong, this time Cleveland actually listened to the people and took advantage of our great space. And now, ever since moving back & becoming a permanent resident (p.s. buying a house is scary and quite permanent) I have reaped the enormous benefits of the ever-growing city; from the opening of a casino, to hosting the Republican National Convention, to winning the freaking NBA Championship. Cleveland truly has made me. I experienced a lot of the struggles (about 25 years to be exact) but have seen so much good. The people, the city, the atmosphere has really made me a true Clevelander through and through. And now a days, that is something to be proud of. Before I always had plans to leave, now all my plans reside here.

Home Sweet Home.

_hue1205 — We love Cleveland so much we just bought a house in Lakewood, which is just 5 miles outside the city. The Lakewood housing market is absolutely insane right now! We looked at dozens of homes, were outbid twice, but scored the perfect house on the perfect street.

The charm of the old, authentic Lakewood homes is tough to beat.

Parks and Rec.

_hue1117 — Lakewood park has spectacular views of the city (and is a great place for engagement pictures and Pokemon go-ing). This is just minutes from our house, within walking distance.

We also have the pleasure of having this in our backyard. The Rocky River Reservation and Metroparks run all throughout the city.

Restaurants. Bars. Breweries.

: Many great restaurants, breweries, and wine bars have populated the city. We have made it a point to try a different place every other weekend for date night. I have yet to be disappointed.

Great Lakes Brewing Co. = delicious seasonal beer and the best mac n’ cheese around.

The Cleveland Flea.

Downtown Activities.

1ee10f56-20c2-4038-b233-3c17f1e4cbde — Remember when I said the Flatts were horrible growing up? Well they have done a spectacular job reviving this once scary neighborhood. It finally looks like it could compete against other popular cities on the lake. My parents used to party in the Flatts growing up and it has carried over to our generation. Similar dress here.

Champions.

c6f5aa5c-b32a-4c9e-ac52-4f0c7028eb8f — Let’s face it, this has been the best year in Cleveland ever. After many, many years of consistently losing in every sport possible, the Cleveland Cavaliers brought home a championship. I can’t even describe how much impact this had on our city. I am so proud to call it home.

Cleveland Made Me.

I will leave with this. As much as Cleveland made me, I think I (my generation of Cleveland diehards) made Cleveland what it is today. We fought for our city and wanted it to be a place for people to stay, not go. We felt the sadness of the lows and the happiness of the highs, together. It is a long-lasting, mutual relationship.

Homeownership.

On May 15, 2016January 22, 2018 By casualinclevelandIn 20164 Comments

When I think back to about 9 years ago, I was just exiting high school and entering into the college realm. I had my life planned out; I would be married and own a home by 23, have two kids before 28 and be the biggest, baddest #girlboss around. I am chuckling as I type these words. While ~~NONE~~ of those events happened quite like I thought they would or in the timeline that I had wished, I am so glad for it. At 23 years old there is ~~NO WAY~~ I would be ready to be a wife or a mother or a homeowner. I would’ve never enjoyed it as much as I do now.

With that said, I am reflecting because 1. We just bought a home and 2. We are getting married this year…both at 27 years of age…and later than expected. I am going to focus on the homeowner part in this blog post, because I have learned an enormous amount during this process; about myself, about my relationship and about the physical move itself.

Choosing the location was, by far, the toughest part. So, I got a new job 45 minutes south of Cleveland, in a new, foreign city to the both of us. Sean is from the east side and I am from the west side. As you can imagine, this created a confusing conversation on where we should lay our permanent roots. When we first started looking for houses, I naturally wanted to be closer to work, but that is not what Sean wanted. We compromised on Lakewood, just west of the city, because it had amazing houses with character, it has a lot of great restaurants and night life to keep us young, and has an increasingly better school system for our future kids. Picking a location for a house is a hell of a lot different than an apartment, but I think we chose the most perfect location, in the most perfect neighborhood! Compromise was key in this one 🙂
You think you know exactly what you want, but believe me, you don’t. At least in our case this deemed to be true. I wanted to build. I wanted brand new, but in Lakewood you don’t get brand new…you get character and charm. The first house we ever saw was completely flipped with modern touches. We didn’t even have enough time to put a bid in before it was gone, I was heartbroken. We searched and searched and nothing hit for months. We put a couple bids on other houses that I didn’t fall in love with, boy am I glad those fell through! The moment I walked into our home I knew it was the one. My realtor looked at me and was in shock! It has old school charm, dark woodwork, and was nothing like I said I wanted. I can’t even describe the feeling I felt when walking through this home. Trust your heart, trust your feelings, because they were clutch in this process. Be open to everything!
Just because you qualify for a number, doesn’t mean you should spend that much. I am not going to lie, we applied for a mortgage just to see how much we would be able to get. I never thought we would actually be able to buy a house, or at least the kind of house we wanted, at this point in our lives. When we realized that we would qualify for what we wanted and more, the temptation of buying a bigger, better house taunted us. After running the numbers, if we went bigger or better we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the city, eat at the great restaurants, or have a baby for that matter! So before you go ahead and buy a house at the top of your budget, make sure you are able to live the life you want while making that mortgage/tax/pmi payment.
Hire movers. I don’t even think I need to expand upon this. It is is worth EVERY PENNY. I did not realize how much we have acquired in these past 3 years until we put all of it in a house. I thought for sure we would have enough room for everything, and we do, but there isn’t much room left!
Last, but surely not least, decorating is the BEST part (obviously), but also the best form of stress release. As you can tell via my Instagram, I am having a really great time making this house our home! While it will always be a work in progress, I am ecstatic with the outcome thus far. You can see some pictures below of some of the rooms that we have completed. Some advice when decorating, go to Marshall’s / TJ Maxx / Homegoods. I have found SO MUCH cute stuff there and at great, budget prices. There are also really cute vintage boutiques here in Lakewood that I have wanted to get my hands on. Garage sale season is upon us and I can’t wait to see what cool things I can find. I am thankful for all my fellow home decor bloggers who have given me so much inspiration! But in all seriousness, putting our touches on this house has been my favorite part. Home decorating is the greatest form of therapy after the exhausting act of moving and buying our first home.

Good luck to all first time home buyers. It is/was seriously the most gratifying, exciting, fun time in our lives. Remember to not let the stress get to you, embrace the exhaustion and appreciate all the fun things to come! Now onto wedding planning!

Vacation Essentials.

On March 21, 2016January 22, 2018 By casualinclevelandIn 20161 Comment

Vacation/Spring Break season has arrived and I am sure many of you are excited to shop for it! We just went on the most wonderful, relaxing vacation to Cancun, Mexico. I don’t think I have ever been so prepared for a vacation like I was this one. I was on a work trip to Vegas the week before so I had no choice but to be prepared. I am extremely OCD about packing for trips and constantly think I am forgetting something. It always ends up that I have packed incredibly too much.

With that said I want to share with you my ESSENTIALS when packing for a vacation.

SUNSCREEN! SUNSCREEN! SUNSCREEN!. You can never have enough sunscreen.I prefer lotion over spray, except for my feet. Always start off with SPF 30. You WILL get tan.
SUN HATS. Anything that will protect your face. For the first couple of days it’s nice to feel the hot sun beating down on your pale skin, but believe me you will eventually want to hide. Plus, you don’t want to be all wrinkly do you?!
AFTER SUN LOTION. Everyone goes on vacation thinking they aren’t going to burn, well it happens, to everyone…especially in Mexico. It is essential to have some sort of after sun care, I choose the soothing aloe lotions.
READING MATERIAL. I don’t normally get the chance to read a good book with my busy life, so I bank on vacations to be able to do so. I purchased the book #girlboss, I highly recommend it to my female friends. I also love a good romantic novel or a mystery!
PRACTICAL SANDALS. No one ever thinks about this one. I am not necessarily a “flip flop” fan for some reason, so all the sandals I own are cute gladiator sandals that aren’t necessarily the easiest for throwing on and off to go to the bathroom or the bar. I invested in some Nike slip ons and they were clutch during my vacation.
FUJI INSTAX CAMERA. This camera was a huge hit on vacation! It takes mini polaroid-like pictures. This camera is a cheap, fun way to capture the vacation. I bought mine off of Amazon for $50. The most expensive part is the film, but it is so worth it.
SUN DRESSES. LOTS & LOTS. I don’t even think I need to expand on this one! Before vacation I went sundress crazy. I purchased a good amount from Forever21, H&M and Express. When it comes to sundresses I’m way more about quantity than quality. If they last one summer, I am good with it!
EXFOLIATION. With sun, sand and saltwater comes a lot of dead skin and unwanted remnants on your face. I took my Clarisonic MIA 2 and I don’t know what I would’ve done without it. If you don’t have an exfoliating brush, I would suggest St. Ives blackhead scrub. It will get your face looking bright and refreshed.
LEAVE IN CONDITIONER. Again, with sun sand and saltwater, weird things happen to your hair! Mine tends to dry out therefore a leave in conditioning treatment after being in the sun and water all day is a must.
SUNGLASSES. I absolutely love sunglasses, they are obviously great protection for the eyes, but they can also be a great fashion statement. You can never have enough!

Lessons Learned in 2015.

On December 30, 2015December 30, 2015 By casualinclevelandIn 20152 Comments

2015 was a very interesting year for me. There were some very high ups and some very low downs. All in all I would say it was an O.K. year. I have taken some extremely valuable lessons away from 2015 that I will absolutely carry into 2016. I will start with lesson #10 and work my way up.

Lesson #10. Changing jobs is a very scary thing, but don’t be afraid to leave your job just because you are comfortable. If it involves more money and you’re actually going to do something you enjoy, do it. I changed jobs this year, it was scary, still is, but it has been worth it.

Lesson #9. There is no such thing as too many articles of clothing. Thanks to lesson #10, I think I have shopped more in 2015 than I have in my entire life. If this is my only vice, I will take it. It makes me happy to shop and as long as you keep your finances in check, all is good in the world.

Lesson #8. To piggyback off the last lesson, keep your finances in check. I paid off all my credit cards this year and have a very good start to 2016, but believe me, it has taken 10 years to do this. Growing up sucks.

Lesson #7. Not everybody is going to understand you, and that’s okay. You shouldn’t have to explain yourself to anyone, if you’re happy, others will be happy for you. If they aren’t, then they shouldn’t be in your life anyway. This year has been full of “let’s agree to disagree”‘s and that’s okay.

Lesson #6. Trim the fat. This can be taken in a couple different contexts. Trim the fat physically from your body and figuratively from your life. Life is too short for the bullshit.

Lesson #5. Go red. This year I died my hair red, like bright red… and I was scared to death to do it. This lesson isn’t necessarily telling you to dye your hair red, but more like do something a little scary. Step out of your comfort zone and do something that maybe you’ve always wanted to do, but never had the balls to do it. Like I said before, life is short (& red is really hard to get out of your hair).

Lesson #4. Pick your battles. This is true in all the relationships you have in life. Some things aren’t worth the fight and sometimes you just have to swallow your pride. On the other hand, some things do require a battle, and I am always ready for those times. (I will be working on this one for the rest of my life haha).

Lesson #3. Wine is absolutely necessary. 2015 was a year of wine discovery. I was never really “into” wine, I would have it if offered, but would never buy it myself. Well, I am officially in love. I have a glass of wine almost every night, and let me tell you, it is the best thing to do after a long day of work. I encourage everyone to explore the tastes of wine, it will change your life. It will also change the way you taste your food (they say “a glass a day will keep the doctor away!”…okay I made that up).

Lesson #2. Families are weirdly understanding. I am not going to lie, I (actually we, me & my fiance) have put my family through hell and back this year, but they continue to stick right by our side. I have incredible family & friends, I just can’t thank them enough for everything they do and continue to do for us. Your love and compassion does not go unnoticed, I love you all!

Lesson #1. Love conquers all. I know, SO CLICHE!!! But in all honesty, this is truly the biggest lesson I have learned this year. We often tend to let outside factors effect our relationships, and in my case it almost ended my relationship with the one person that I love most. Once we really started to focus on each other and our happiness together, as a couple, everything else seemed so trivial. And now we are engaged (again)! 2016 will be the most memorable year for us because not only are we getting married, but it also will prove that we can get through anything (I mean anything) together.

I am so looking forward to 2016 and I am ready to leave 2015 in the past! Cheers and Happy New Year to you all! I hope 2015 taught you some valuable lessons like it did to me 🙂