Weekend Snapshots

This weekend was one I'll remember for a lifetime. My brother got married! The ceremony was on Friday which meant I got to have an extended four day weekend. It was awesome. The entire wedding went off without a hitch and it was so wonderful being able to celebrate with friends and family. 

Saturday night was for relaxing and sleeping and I spent Sunday morning with my mom going out to brunch and finally seeing Les Miserables (which was amazing, by the way!). Sunday afternoon was dedicated to cleaning / doing laundry / catching up on life / watching movies on Lifetime. I'm headed back to work today but am looking forward to ringing in the New Year tonight!

Happy happy New Year's Eve! I hope you had a lovely weekend!

It's Wedding Day!

It's wedding day! Not my wedding, but my brother's. Obviously. I've mentioned it on here way too often lately. But if I were getting married, the above pictures are just some thoughts on how the wedding might look. In case you were curious.

 In other news, sorry some posts have been short lately and comments have been sporadic. I promise I'm not trying to ignore you and I also promise it will get back to normal next week. Pinky promise. Until then I'll be attending a wedding, enjoying the weekend and prepping for New Year's Eve. I hope you all have had a lovely holiday week and that you have a wonderful weekend ahead! Cheers!

images via

Ten Little Things (i'm thankful for in 2012)

As the year comes to a close, (only two more blog posts left until 2013! weird.) I wanted to do a little roundup of the things I'm most thankful for in 2012. As I was thinking of what I would put on this list, it shocked me to remember some of the amazing, wonderful things that happened this year. Sometimes life just speeds by so quickly and it's easy to forget all of the positive things that have happened. So in the spirit of remembering, here's a little recap of the things that made me happiest in 2012.

What are you thankful for this year?

Twas the day after Christmas...

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! What did you do? Did you get to spend lots of time with family and friends? That's my little Christmas tree in the picture. I think I'll probably leave it up a bit longer. Just because. I guess I like twinkle lights.

I'm off to work again today and then I'm ready for a marathon two days of all things related to my brother's wedding on Friday. My dress is good to go and I have a manicure and hair appointment set. It should be a good time and I can't wait to share pictures here! I'm also hoping to go see Les Miserables sometime soon. Has anyone seen it yet? If so, what did you think? I would love to know!

A Holiday Weekend

And with that, off to magical holiday land I go. I'm sure lots of you are feeling pretty excited that it's finally the weekend before Christmas and you get four + days off of work (unless you work in retail). I know. It's wonderful. I'm off to my hometown for the weekend and then off to see the extended family next Monday & Tuesday. One slightly disappointing thing for me this holiday season is that post surgery I still cannot eat food that isn't in liquid form. And my oh my it's a tough time of year to be on a liquid diet. Guys, let me be honest with you. The amount of food blogs I have discovered in the past few weeks is just ridiculous. And if you follow me on Pinterest (you totally can, by the way!) you've probably been starting to question why I've gone from pinning mostly clothes to mostly food. It's just ridiculous. Needless to say, I cannot wait for the day when I can eat whole foods again. Soon. In other news my brother is also getting married next weekend! Exciting stuff all around. 

Merry Christmas // Happy Holidays everyone!

What are you doing over the holidays this year?

images via

Holiday Attire

As Christmas gets closer and closer, I can't help but think of Christmas day and, naturally, what I'll be wearing. My family tends to be very laid back. Anything goes, really. I usually like to stick with something comfortable but cute (and okay maybe a little festive, too). When you know you'll end up eating way too much food and sitting on the floor helping the little ones open their presents, comfortable is key. These are some of my ideas for what I'll be wearing next week.

Madewell Chambray Top // Moto Jeans // Bibi Lou Loafers

Madewell Flannel Shirt // J. Crew Factory Denim // Steven Riding Boots

What are your go to looks for the holidays?

Midweek Thoughts

When I heard about the tragic events in Newtown last Friday afternoon I was at home and was just about to write the day's blog post. It took me hours and hours to finish the post because I couldn't focus. I felt like it would be right to skip the day's post and instead write a reflection on the events in Connecticut but I simply couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't find the words to match how I felt. And in all honesty, I still don't know if I can find the words today but I'll try. I feel like it would be wrong not to devote a post to that event. And to those teachers. And to those kids.

I think one of the reasons this is so difficult for me, and for everyone, to grasp and to deal with, is because we all know someone who makes us think of those children at Sandy Hook Elementary. I have a cousin who is in first grade. To even imagine the possibility of something like that happening to her is just too awful. You may not have a cousin, but I'm sure you have a niece or nephew, a grandchild, a daughter or son, a neighbor, or someone who you thought of that day. Shootings in the United States have become far too common in recent years. But the shooting at Sandy Hook crossed an entirely new boundary because children were involved. And children are supposed to be safe. They're supposed to be full of happiness and innocence.

As the days go by it's hard to know what will come of this. I'm hopeful that legislation will finally be passed to increase gun control across the country. But it's not just the guns. It's people who are mentally ill and never get proper access to treatment. It's the stigma attached to being mentally ill. But even that is only a part of it. Our country has deaths from gun violence that are staggering compared to the rest of the world. I'm no expert, and I don't know what the solution is. But I do know that this event has shaken me to my core, and it's made me think differently about the world. And I just wanted to take a moment to say that.

Your thoughts, please

I once again need to extend an open invitation to all of you for your thoughts and opinions. I'm in the market for a solid, quality pair of winter boots. I've been trying to escape the fact that it's the coldest, snowiest season of the year and that I walk everywhere. But it's time..I just can't ignore it anymore. Here's my issue with winter boots. They all seem so..ugly. Is it just me or are most winter boots just really unfortunate looking?

The four options below are those that I'm thinking of buying. I would love to know what you think of them and whether or not you have any better suggestions.

Sorel // Hunter // Sperry // Ugg

First up: Sorels. Sorels are really popular, at least amongst my friends. But here's my problem with them. Guys, be honest. Are Sorels..ugly? I asked my roommate this question and she said a very hesitant, "..no..but I can't see them on you." I'm still trying to figure out what that means.

This leads me to Hunters. My roommate followed up that statement by saying that she could, however, see me in Hunters. Hunters would probably be suitable for those rare 40-50 degree days when the snow is melting and you don't want your feet to get wet. But for the rest of the winter I know they probably wouldn't do. I just love them so much, though!

Next are the Sperrys. I don't think I love the style that much, but I do love the hot pink. Thoughts?

And lastly, the Uggs (that thankfully don't really look like Uggs). My last pair of winter boots were Uggs and they held up for four solid years. I think they're the most sleek, modern of the winter boot options, but the price tag is by far the least desirable. Hmph.

Anyway, thanks for reading this long (and super exciting) dialogue about winter boots. I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks so much everyone!

Snapshots of Late

How was your weekend?

Holiday Wish List

Let's all pretend that I'm a little kid again and it's actually acceptable for me to be posting my own Christmas wish list. Okay, good. Glad we did that. Now that we've decided this is acceptable, please take a look at the items on my holiday wish list this year. 

J. Crew Pumps // Tory Burch Wrap Bracelet // Gorjana Necklace // Stella & Dot Bracelet

Tory Burch iPhone Case // Essie Polish // J. Crew Coat // Cupcakes and Cashmere Book 

YSL Perfume // Sarah and Bendrix Print // Guitar // J. Crew Factory Headband

Marc by Marc Jacobs Percy & Natasha // Hunter Boots

What do you want for Christmas this year? Let's hear it.

Hello! And Happy Holidays!

Hi! Today I'm taking a cue from my lovely editor Danielle over at The Everygirl. Yesterday she did a 'get to know you' post on her blog. The intention was simply to get to know her readers a little bit more. I feel like I already know many of the people who read my blog pretty well (and you're all wonderful, by the way). But it's the holiday season and this time of year I would just love to reach out and get to know everyone a bit more. Tell me - who are you? Where are you from? What are your goals? Your dreams? Your plans for the holidays? Your favorite things? And leave me your social media links, too!

Okay, I'll start.

I'm Jackie. I work at a non-profit by day. I blog here & intern at The Everygirl by night & weekend.
I currently live in the lovely (and freezing at the moment) city of Minneapolis.
I love working out. Yoga sculpt is my addiction and I run marathons whenever I can.
I am a dreamer. I have the biggest imagination of anyone I know and the biggest goals, too.
I love everything about the Christmas season, and I usually start that season way too early every year.
This year the holidays will be even more special because my brother is getting married on 12/28.
I still have a Christmas party with my best friends from high school. I look forward to it every year.
Twitter @jackiesaffert
Instagram @jackiesaffert
Pinterest

Stay tuned tomorrow for my holiday wish list. Because I don't talk about things I want on this blog enough. Kidding. But still, it should be fun. See you then!

And lastly (just because I like to ramble) I have a feature up on The Everygirl today! Finally. It's been far too long of a hiatus for me and I'm so happy to be back. This one is a studio home tour and it's b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. Check it out!

Salina v Esther

It's the holiday season. It's the time to give gifts to others. It's also the time to get bombarded with e-mails from your favorite retailers that make it a requirement to buy gifts for yourself as well. Exhibit A. 

I was looking for inspiration for today's post, when - BAM! - I got an e-mail from ShoeMint that some of their best sellers were back in stock. Usually I would make myself delete such an e-mail before ever opening it, but this best seller just happened to be on my wish list. Darn you, ShoeMint. THEN I headed on over to Piperlime (just because) and saw that they were having their annual lime sale plus an extra 20% off everything on the site. Somehow I found myself clicking on the boots sale link which led me to this gem that I've had my eye on for quite sometime. Salina. And now after rambling to you about that series of events, I ask...which do you prefer? Salina or Esther?

Note: In case you were wondering, this post is not sponsored. I just happen to get really excited when Piperlime has sales and want to share all the details with you. 

Top Five

Tis the season in my apartment. The tree is up, (some) presents are ordered and there is an almost unnecessary amount of snow building up on our little balcony. There's just one more thing needed to make this season complete. The holiday movie. We all have our favorites. And it doesn't quite feel like the holidays until these movies have been watched. These are my top five, with a few favorite quotes selected by yours truly to emphasize why.

5 // 4 // 3 // 2 // 1

What are your favorite holiday movies?

Snapshots of Late

This weekend was once again devoted to lots of recovery time and I don't have enough photos to make a 'weekend snapshots' post worth your while. Instead I decided to show you a few snapshots from the entire week. Some of these have already been posted on instagram, so sorry to those of you (Elana & Clarissa) who have seen them there.

Life is slowly but surely returning to normal for me. I'm not well enough to go back to work yet but I was well enough to get back to interning for The Everygirl on Sunday. It felt nothing short of amazing to return to the internship that I love so much. Did you guys know how much I love The Everygirl? Okay, good. Just wanted to make sure. If you didn't, you can always read about it here. Again, thank you all so much for you sweet comments and well wishes as I recover from surgery. They mean the world.

How was your weekend? I would love to hear about it!

The Themed Gift

I can't decide whether or not themed gifts are outdated. Maybe it's because themed gifts are the only things I gave to people between the ages of 'when I started giving gifts' and 20. Why? Because some part of me felt like a whole package of things gave people more bang for their buck than one nice quality item. My thoughts on that have changed and I now prefer to give gifts that are higher quality but less quantity. Because really, that's what I would want to receive.

But sometimes the mood still strikes and all I want to do is hand over a themed gift. Maybe I'm feeling extra creative or I know a certain person who fits the bill. And when the mood does strike, these are a few ideas I have up my sleeve.

Coffee Date: Coffee mugs via Anthropologie & coffee. I feel like I've seen these mugs all over the blogosphere since I started blogging. And guess what? I love them. Maybe I'm just a conformist, who knows. I actually read this idea on a review on Anthropologie.com so I can't take all the credit. Here's how it works. Gift someone a few of the mugs with letters that mean something to them (their initials, the initials of their business, the letters of their name, whatever) and add a bag of their favorite or your favorite coffee. It's cheap and simple but I think it's absolutely adorable.

Movie night: This idea is just as old as the books, but I still love it. Again, it's relatively cheap, and it's an easy gift to personalize. Take a few of the gift receivee's favorite movies (that they don't already own!), add a container of nice popcorn, some boxes of candy, (preferably tied together in a bow) and voila! Movie night. You could add a pair of slippers in there, maybe a blanket, maybe a candle. Take some liberties! Movie nights are what you make them.

For the home: Anyone can receive a 'for the home' gift. Sure, it helps if said recipient has recently moved or redecorated. But if they haven't, that's okay, too, as far as I'm concerned. A for the home gift can include oh so many lovely little accessories, depending on your price range and depending on that person's taste. I happen to love frames, (preferably with thoughtful pictures in them) candles, trays or a fun print.

What do you all think of the themed gift? Thoughtful? Tacky? I see both sides but I would love to 

hear your thoughts!

P.S. Thank you thank you for you kind words on Monday's and Wednesday's posts. You all are SO nice and even though I know that already it still takes me by surprise sometimes. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

The Gallery Wall

Ah, the gallery wall. One of my very favorite elements of home design. Although, really, gallery wall is just a fancy way of saying a bunch of frames clumped together in a unique way. I've had one gallery wall in my bedroom for the past four years in four different apartments. It's a mix of varying frames in a neutral color palette with mostly pictures of friends. This is what it looks like at the moment.

In my apartment there's also this wall between the kitchen and the living room. It's literally screaming out to me that it wants to be a gallery wall. I mean, how could it not be? Just look at it, in all it's beige glory. It currently holds a lovely little mirror but has so much more potential.

Here's some inspiration for what I'd like to do to it, gallery wall style.

Thoughts? Comments? Have any of you ever done a gallery wall before? I'd love to know!

Images via

One Fifty

Today marks my one hundred and fiftieth post. What? How did time fly by so quickly? It seriously feels like just yesterday that I sat down at my computer and pressed publish for the first time. To commemorate, I thought I'd do a little round up of some things I've learned from blogging over these past seven months.

Put a Cap on It

Last week I highlighted some lovely bags from the magical land of J. Crew. Guys, I love J. Crew. Have you noticed? But the thing about J. Crew (and some of you seem to agree with me) is that I never actually buy most of the things I want. Sure, I could afford the lovely Edie bag if I really really wanted to, but it would take me forever to actually commit to the purchase because I consider it to be an investment.

Point being, this week I wanted to highlight a few other things I've been loving lately, and at more reasonable price points. Enter cap toes. I love cap toes, especially these versions via Target & ShoeMint. And hey, on the bright side, Target is also a place that I would consider to be a bit magical. Wouldn't you?

ShoeMint Koko Flats // Target Viveca Heels

Happy Tuesday everyone! I'm off to drink protein shakes and take short walks around the neighborhood. Exciting day? Absolutely.

Life Lately

No weekend snapshots for the first time in the existence of this blog. A little update from my end of the world is in order. I had jaw surgery last Monday morning, hence my absence from staying in touch with all of you last week. It has been a tough recovery to say the least, but the very best part is that I am finally starting to feel better. Every morning I wake up and the healing is a little further along and that's amazing to see.

Surgery is an interesting thing, really. I have been so blessed to be free of health issues all my life so I didn't realize all of the things I've been taking for granted over the years. I am generally a pretty optimistic person, but having surgery and being in the early stages of recovery was scary and it was sometimes difficult to keep the positivity going. I realized that in my everyday life I complain so much, I stress all the time, and about the tiniest little things. I have so much to be thankful for and there is just no excuse anymore for me not to see that on a daily basis.

Also, a note on your comments. A few days after surgery I finally had the energy to check my e-mail and blog and I was literally floored. Just floored by your continuous support and attention even though I wasn't there to respond and hadn't given any explanation for my lack of response. Every once in a while I question why exactly I blog. Do any of you question it, too? Why do we spend so much time and energy on it? But then I see your constant support, I remember just how much I am learning from blogging and how much fun it is and all of my doubts are swept aside.

So that's a little update from my end. I just thought you should know. As always, thank you thank you thank you for following along. I hope you have a lovely start to your week!