rules | coming up roses

Merry Day-after-Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy almost-New Year…and all that fabulous stuff. I swear this is the absolute best time of year. From seemingly endless QT with the family, to seemingly endless rolls of nut bread and cups of cinnamon-stick-laden holiday drinks, the spirit is unbeatable. I hope you all are enjoying the festivities and the true reason for the season!

This year I was SUPER STOKED, because I received my first ever pair of CHRISTMAS JAMMIES!

FINALLY! Christmas jammies to go rockin’ around the Christmas tree in…it’s love.

I’m definitely wanting to get on the Holderness family’s level with the jammies someday, but I’m sure that’ll just come with time, right? (Check out their viral vid here…)

With that, some exciting news from Coming Up Roses is coming your way…

First, make sure to “LIKE” Coming Up Roses on Facebook and get connected on social media to get the latest updates from the blog and beyond!

But the BIG news…

Coming Up Roses is for “blossoming happiness,” among other things. In the spirit of blossoming happiness, every day for the year 2014 – that’s right guys, every single day – I’ll be doing a shout-out on the Facebook page to someone who’s really awesome. Every day a different person, all for different reasons, and you never know which day will be your day!

More details to come, but in the meantime, make sure to “LIKE” the Facebook page for Coming Up Roses to keep up with the spreading happiness.

AND NOW, December’s top clicks. May the rest of your vacations be full of good food, family, friends, and fun, and some nifty reads and buys, too.

1. 25 beautifully easy up-dos. (babble.com)

Right in time for New Year’s Eve crazies. Chic, sleek, and sophisticated to the max!
Courtesy of: Babble.com

2. This graphic tee. I mean, it’s so true though, amiright? But in all seriousness, I just love being Polish. And this post touches on why. #polishgirlsunite (cafepress.com)

Maybe I'm a little bias, but I really think Polish girls have more fun. Photo courtesy of: Cafepress.com

Maybe I’m a little bias, but I really think Polish girls have more fun.
Courtesy of: Cafepress.com

3. This website that gives proceeds to a different charity each week. (sevenly.org)

Your biggest risk will be the one you don’t take.
Get this print here!
Courtesy of: sevenly.org

4. 40 ways to relaaaaaaax, and fast. (womenshealthmag.com)

All in 5 minutes or less.
Courtesy of: womenshealthmag.com

5. Positive energy is the key to happiness. #truth Santa, are you up for round two? (shop.nordstrom.com)

‘Whispers – Happiness’ Boxed Pendant Necklace, $66, shop.nordstrom.com

6. How to Get Flat Abs, Have Amazing Sex and Rule the World in 8 Easy Steps.

Enough said. You know you want to click on this one, folks.
Courtesy of: huffingtonpost.com

7. 26 Fashion Rules you should break immediately.

Time to update the wardrobe staples and re-imagine what you can do with your style.
Courtesy of: Buzzfeed.com

8. The most incredible, comprehensive love advice you’ll ever read.

Such wonderful, wonderful advice for anyone wanting the real deal in relationships.
Courtesy of: jamesrusselllingerfelt.wordpress.com/

May the rest of your week be festive and happy and cheery and bright, bringing even more of all of the greatest things in life your way!

You certainly did, December. You certainly did.

That’s it for 2013! Thank you again to you all – the people who check out this baby blog of mine on the reg. It’s been such a blessing thus far, and I’m so excited to see where it goes for 2014 and beyond. Keep sending ideas my way for what YOU want to see more of, whether it’s fashion or health and beauty goodies, or love stories and inspiration to spice up Hump Days of the future.

See you on the 1st for some New Year hype and the start of something new for added fun and happiness on Coming Up Roses.

lovelovelove,

When it came to dating, I was always supersupersuper picky. As in, if I didn’t think we’d end up riding off into the metaphorical sunset on a metaphorical white horse, labels weren’t going to happen. Once college hit, I found myself in the wonderfully sweet relationship in which I currently find bliss.

Said relationship. And it's pretty doggone blissful.

Said relationship. It’s pretty doggone blissful.

I had some not-so-storybook romances to muddle through throughout my past dating life. (It happens to basically all of us, right?) But, I held myself to a couple of “rules” to ensure that my happiness, sanity, and focus were always maintained to the umpteenth degree. And I’d like to think that they worked. Major props to Mom for instilling many (ok, most) of these puppies within my love brain.

These are a “Dear Self…” sortof collection.

Dear self…

If you don’t see it going somewhere long term, end it. Stupid for high schoolers, right? Because how many people are lucky enough to find their “one” at age 15? But everyone still holds on to ideals with people who just aren’t their ideals. Don’t wait around for people to change. Ain’t nobody got time for dat, and you have a whole heckofalotta living to do in the meantime.
If the guy doesn’t think you’re “cool enough,” then we’re not going to get past the second date. If the guy thinks you’re anything “too much” or “too less,” actually, you might as well say sayonara now. “Too smart” doesn’t actually mean you have too much intelligence. It just means it’s not the right guy. “Too ambitious” simply means the dude isn’t dreaming big enough for the two of you. “Too many shoes” means you should run now (in the cutest wedge booties you own), because you cannot marry someone who is not OK with a closet expansion or the occasional shoe haul.
Being turned off by your laugh. Dude. I squeak and sometimes snort and roll around on the couch and double over and can’t really control it. If the guy can’t embrace your little quirks, he probably won’t embrace your bigger quirks, and that won’t be ok. And besides, better to be laughing than crying, right?
If you’re not comfortable with how something is progressing physically, it’s probably time to stop. (Going with the whole “fairytale loviness,” a kiss does not turn every frog into your Prince). Physical things can come later when you’re with someone who you really trust and love. Like, really trust and love. Something that you probably, realistically speaking, don’t actually have when you’re 16 and “in love.” Waiting is ok. It’s not a weakness. It’s a strength. It’s your wild card. And it’s ok.
You need to be whole before you can find your other half. Embrace the single life. (Ironic in “Rules for Dating,” right?) If you’d be better off single than in this relationship, don’t get in the relationship in the first place. Focus on you. Focus on all of the things you’d do if you had 36 hours in a day and Beyonce’s confidence level. Focus on getting to know other people as friends – who they are as people, what makes their braingears turn and their blood boil – without thinking of how good of a kisser they are or if they could secretly be theone. Be completely, wholeheartedly, unabashedly content with the awesome human being that you are.