Friday Favorites, v.8

Okay y'all, I KNOW I owe some posts on my trip to Orlando (including Harry Potter, EPCOT, and the marathon!) but I'm catching up on work and homework this week.  So instead, here are my latest Friday Favorites on the internet this week.

Wait a minute, you know these people (and cats), right?  This is the portrait that Michelle of Creature Type did for us, and here is the post she did about it.

I love the "This Girl Can" campaign, because I'm a curvy girl who just did a freaking marathon, baby!  It was born out of research that showed the women do less fitness activity than men in the UK, and that one of the primary reasons they didn't was fear of being judged, including for how they looked.  Guess what?  You can do it, no matter your shape/size.

This library in France is too cool for school...

Three of the ladies of Downton Abbey play Cards Against Humanity.  YES.

I want this dining room set.

Kittens, moving their little heads to the tune of "Turn Down For What"

+  You can now ship your enemies glitter.  This is genius and evil and awesome at the same time!

+  Cute story about how a flower girl and ring bearer ended up getting married later on down the road.

+  Want to cry?  Watch this Navy sailor surprise his 7-year-old daughter with his return home.  Seriously, not safe for work because mascara.

+  Because Buzzfeed is #winning: 12 Historical Women Who Gave No F*cks & 30 Things That Start To Happen When You’re Almost 30

+  Amy Poehler and Tina Fey's joke about George Clooney at the Golden Globes KILLED, calling out his wife's incredible resume and the fact that *he* was the one getting a lifetime achievement award that night.  I love irony!

+  Millennials don't care much about owning cars, and old people at car companies are scratching their heads about it.  Um, Uber much?

+  Flashback:  My very first half marathon, at Disney, the Princess Half!

My Latest GoodReads

I used to post the books I've been reading about every 6 months, but I've forgotten to do a post on this since February!  Oops...  So keep in mind that this is about 10 months worth of reading for me.  Because there are so many, I'm not going to give a summary of them all, but if you have any questions please ask me! :)  I've put a * next to the ones I recommend you check out.

FICTION: *Changing Course by Aly Martinez  (Okay, note here: I actually know Aly, and if you like romance novels you NEED to check out her books!) The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman Living Reed: A Novel of Korea by Pearl S. Buck The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman
*Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos The One (The Selection, #3) by Keira Cass

NON-FICTION: Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup *L.A. Son by Roy Choi *Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls *A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn *Yes Please by Amy Poehler

PERSONAL/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Sparkle: The Girl's Guide to Living a Deliciously Dazzling, Wildly Effervescent, Kick-Ass Life by Cara Alwill Leyba Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam *Daring Greatly by Brene Brown Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure by Tim Harford
Have you read any of these books?  Got any I should read?

My Life in GIFs (and pics): The Proposal

When you get engaged, everyone wants to know the proposal story.  The first problem with this, in my opinion, is that a proposal is a very intimate moment.  It's not all flash mobs and Jumbotrons, some of them are simple and quiet and, well, private.  Some of them don't make for great stories.  But at the end of the day, I believe they're all special.

That said, mine makes me giggle.  Not because it wasn't beautiful and special, but because it was absolutely, perfectly reminiscent of the kind of people we are... So here it is, not in sappy lovebird style, but in GIFs.
It starts with champagne.  We'd been apart for the holidays, so we decided to stay home on New Year's Eve and just be comfortable with the kitties.  So I splurged on a bottle of champagne, with every intent to get tipsy.

A photo posted by aubreyland325 (@aubreyland325) on Dec 12, 2014 at 6:07pm PST

Y'all, I was in sweatpants.  Because that's just the kind of people we are.

Dan was in charge of bringing food home, and he went out to grab some Five Guys burgers... and he even managed a pit stop at Cheesecake Factory for my fav Dulce de Leche cheesecake.  I mean, it was the last day before New Year's resolutions, so we figured TREAT YO' SELF.  Settling into my slippers and New Year's headband, we watched TV and enjoyed a bit of gluttony.  And I was tipping back the champs, natch.

We spent time reflecting on 2014, what with it being the end of year, and it was truly nice to just enjoy celebrating all we'd accomplished and how great our time together has continued to be.  We even talked about the "someday" future stuff, in a sweet way.  And Dan, who normally isn't super talkative, was really opening up.  I was so happy, feeling like it was such a perfect way to spend New Year's.  Perfect!
Then as we continued to talk, Dan reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring box, which I recognized because (spoiler alert) I was involved in the ring design.  But I had no idea he was going to propose that night.  So I was very much like...

Because that's exactly how it was.  He's the Ben to my Leslie, the Jim to my Pam, the Nick Offerman to my Megan Mullally, the WALL-E to my EVE.  It's just the way of the world, you guys.  Oh, and of course I was all like...

KIDDING.  I was more like...

I was so excited, I shared the news with my parents and sister that very night.  In the morning, I shared via text with a number of friends and family, then posted it a little bit later on Facebook and let the rest of the world know.
As it turns out, the reason Dan did not wait until midnight to propose, as he had planned, was because I was consuming champagne at such a rate that he was worried I'd end up like this before he could ask:

And he's pretty much right.  I WOULDN'T CHANGE A SINGLE THING.  He nailed it, we're super happy, and I'll probably omit the part about my champagne consumption from the story when most people ask.  But because we're friends, you got it in GIFs.