The One Where I Have A Goal

My granddad is the coolest person I know. He fought in WWII, and was one of the first people documenting the destruction in Japan after the U.S. bombs fell. Unfortunately this experience likely contributed to the cancer found in his lungs many years later, and his passing. He died the night before he was supposed to start chemo - I guess he decided he just didn't want to go through all of that! His biggest passion was journalism. He worked hard to bring The Peabody Awards into existence, and my family has always been wrapped up in radio stations across Georgia. He was a favorite professor at UGA and spent countless hours at Georgia's football games. BUT. His main passion was gadgets. Lots and lots of gadgets. He LOVED flashlights, and when my dad bought my new computer with some of what granddaddy gave him - it was an obviously Worth move. That's his name, Worth. Anyways - before he passed away he gave our family one of these, and I confiscated it for my photography class. After he died we found out he had 2 more (WHY? no one knows), exactly the same, so I have kept mine, Dad has one and my cousin has one. Unfortunately I don't really know how to use it and I rarely take it anywhere. It has three different lenses and I'm not even sure what the difference is. During all my blogginess, I've seen so many people (here, here, and here) who take such gorgeous pictures. I'm hoping that if I get it in gear I can learn how to use mine. Any suggestions on places to look for advice? Wolfe Camera? Best Buy? Are there books on this? I'll let y'all know if I start taking anything worth seeing - I tried once at the end of the school year, I just need to get them off the camera and onto the computer! Maybe I'll do that tonight and put some up here. The to-do list just keeps getting bigger and bigger...

The One Where Asuka Finally Leaves

Asuka and I are NOT friends. I get a really funky, mildly skanktastic vibe off this chick. I'm pretty sure she's flirting with Nigel during her dances which is just nasty because he is a super dirty old man, and would probably do inappropriate things to her (even if he is the producer). So - that being said...look who HIT THE ROAD this week! Next week is going to be so fabulous, can't wait! GOODBYE Asuka.

Sweet Jonathan, I do love you.

The One Where I Plan For Retirement

I officially set up my 401k. I will officially be spending a large percentage of my paycheck every two weeks on my retirement. REALLY? I know I'll be happy about it in the years to come, when I'm old and wrinkly but I'm seriously going to miss that money every month. BOO. I just thought y'all might get a laugh out of that...let's hope that I don't totally screw it up and invest in something really dumb - like Asia - cause don't worry, that's on the funds list from my 401k people. I just invested in a whole continent, and some really delicious food. Sake anyone?

The One With The Day Trip

Re-cap saved from last week, it was written so I figured I'd post it, with some editing - because it didn't quite make sense anymore.


Last Friday (the 19th - which seems like a million years ago) the BF and I went out to the lake to have dinner with the Cooper family and play in the water which was so fabulous and uber-sweet of them! There were margaritas on floats, and Wiley skied on Wil's skis which was really precious. We had delicious fish on the screened porch, Dawson and I lit all the candles which I personally think made the whole dinner perfect, and then Wiley-man hit the hay and BF and I headed back into town. Such a fun afternooon, even if Alabama is 105 (million) degrees outside.

Yesterday morning BF and I headed to Ikea, where I bought shelving for the apartment and some other little things. I bought this ONE basket that fits perfectly in my bathroom but they were out of stock, so - with every intention of ordering them online - I headed home, only to discover that I can't order them online...I need to call the Charlotte store to see if they can mail me some. OH IKEA, I thought you were so convenient.

On the way home we stopped here for the best lunch EVER. I had a Frosted Orange and a chili-cheese burger and onion rings and pretty much devoured it right there at our table. Delicious, Delicious, Delicious.

When we got home the BF put together my shelves from IKEA and they turned out AWESOME, despite my moaning and groaning and some general bickering....I mean, who wouldn't bicker after a million hours in the car together, me roaming around IKEA while he pushed the cart, carrying the massive boxes up the stairs and putting together furniture.

He was great though. How nice to have a boy who is available (especially during moving time) to help with my heavy lifting. What would I do without him? Probably fall down my apartment stairs and break my back....

The One About Carly

I don't know if anyone reads this - but in case you do I did not fall off the earth. One of my best friends passed away yesterday morning, needless to say I am not only busy (still at work today, not tomorrow or Thursday) but sad - and blogging is pretty much the last thing on my to-do list. I, we, her family would really appreciate your prayers. I'll be back soon. All my love.

The One Where Tivo Fails

Let me tell you about the time that TIVO decided it would TIVO an old Grey's Anatomy over the results show for So You Think You Can Dance. Luckily mom caught it...just in time for the judges decision. SERIOUSLY? I didn't even get to see the solos, not to mention the dance choreographed my Mia (who's my favorite even if she is mean). Let me just tell you about being annoyed. I drove all the way over to the parent's house to watch it (about 5 minutes - HA), I'm all excited, and it DOES NOT exist. UGH. Oh well, my drive resulted in free dinner, so that's ok - and I think we fixed the TIVO problemo. Here's a little glimpse of the show - the show I didn't see.

The One Where I Have Thoughts

The Cloister on Sea Island (via Southern Accents)

1. This might be the first pretty weekend we have all summer (I probably just jinxed it). It's been HOT AS BLUE BLAZES all week, sunny and I haven't seen one drop fall from the sky. Hopefully this will continue until at least Monday!

2. The U.S. Open might be on this weekend but the BF and I are traveling to Atlanta to go to IKEA. I AM SO EXCITED, the BF is not. Oh well, I can't drive all the way over there by myself and the other BF (best friend) is studying for two tests next week. BOO school.

3. When I grow up I'm going to own my own business. My boss is leaving this weekend to go to the Outer Banks for three weeks. How wonderful! I would die to go to the beach. This picture is The Cloister at Sea Island - one of my all time favorite places, and the location of my mom's recent week long beach trip - child abandoner.

4. However, I am lucky enough to have two fabulous friends who have invited the BF and I out to the lake for the evening. Work is on the way out there so I'm hitting the road from there. We're going to relax, swim and play with their precious child.

5. Have a happy weekend! So far, mine sounds relaxing (well see...)

The One With The Problem With Work Clothes

Getting a real job produces lots of questions - 401k, benefits, salary, budget, WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR? The first 21 years of your life are spent wearing anything and everything - except for work appropriate attire. Not only do you need to buy a lot of new things, you need to FIND these new things. I don't know if it's just me but work attire is different from regular clothing in many ways. First - and most importantly, IT'S SMALLER, I swear I am so uncomfortable at work it's just plain cruel. I sit in a desk, already unfortunate, but I also sit in my desk is uber confining clothing. So awful. Secondly, work clothes are expensive. They're expensive anyways - better fabrics, etc. but you also have to worry about altering so that you look professional, and DRY CLEANING. It costs a fortune to dry clean clothes. My new plan is just to drop my things off at our cleaners and let dad pick them up with his things - hopefully if I just never ask, "Hey where is that uber confining previously tailored jacket I had dry cleaned?" my parents will never know the different. Do any of y'all have suggestions for some day-to-night type things? Or just day to hi, I'm comfortable. I think from now on I'm going to avoid pants all together....dresses are much better! Here are a few things I thought might work, but I need to go try them on.

from Anthropologie

This girl looks comfortable doesn't she? I think I could sit in this dress all day and not want to kill myself. Plus it's a really cute pattern/color and it could totally transition from work to dinner to a day at the beach (if I ever go to the beach again...)

from Banana Republic

For this one they're going to go ahead and have to get some more in - I am not a large. BUT, I think it's cute, I could dress it up with wedges and jewelry (I definitely don't work in a suit type of office) for work and then wear it with flip flops and a headband during the weekend. Any other suggestions? You other people that are working (Ryan you don't count because I'm not replacing my wardrobe and you'll want me to buy everything Neimans sells) what are y'all wearing. I'm so UNCOMFORTABLE.

On that same note....how many of y'all have considered this? Doesn't this look so much more comfortable than the typical "I have strings holding my clothes on" bikini?

from Anthropologie

The One With All The Shelving

There is very little storage in my apartment. There are closets and things - but no bookshelves, and the bookshelves in my room at home need to stay there. Unfortunately, I have a LOT of books. More than enough. Really I just have too many, but I'm not planning on getting rid of any of them so there you go. The most logical solution I can come up with is these shelves at IKEA. My parent's have them in the basement at their house and they actually look good! PLUS - you can mix and match which is perfect for my place because we have a TV we would like to sit on it. The way we could work it out so they everything fits how it is supposed to. Some of my other thoughts were....

from Home Sweet Home

from Domino, and High Fashion Home

I'm pretty sure High Fashion Home is my new favorite blog - I do a LOT of blog browsing while I'm at work. I'm less busy currently because my boss is in and out so much. I'm still in the middle of learning everything she does so if she's gone I generally just try to watch emails and hope nothing goes seriously wrong. Not only do I do a lot of blog browsing in general, but not that I have moved into my own apartment I'm looking at all of these beautiful homes with serious envy. One more option for the wall in my living room (aka prime book shelf space) is this -

Hive Shelving by Craig Varterian for Boom Design

This was designed for Boom, which is one of my new favorite stores. It's got some really cute things, and it's not very expensive. It reminds me a little bit of IKEA, but with some less practical - more beautiful things. It's fun to browse and it would definitely be a nice place to find some fun things if you were hosting a party. This blogging thing might turn out to be the most expensive thing I've ever done, I keep discovering these new places to spend money. I am not sure exactly how you put things in here but I think it is definitely pretty! It would look good in my situation because we have a whole wall to put things on, and that way it wouldn't look totally like storage - it would also have some visual interest all by itself (also good because we don't have tons of fabulous accessories to fill it with.) The only problem I see with it is that I think it's really pretty in this picture, but I'm much more traditionalist than this piece is - and I don't want it to look completely odd within other rooms of my future (larger, and perfectly decorated) home. Things to think about....

The One With Only One Dress

Is this real? My friend posted about this today and I just wanted to pass it along - amazing! Liz is amazing and fabulous and wants to open a high end vintage boutique so of course she's thinking about all the accessories...I'm thinking about how much money this chick is saving. 1 dress? That she made herself? And donations for everything else?? Plus, on the site she says that if designers want to send her things they can - what!? I pretty much think this girl is awesome, CRAZY, but very cool. What a good way to raise a little extra cash for her favorite charity. If I only I wasn't so attached to my clothes, that's a serious vice....

The One Where I'm Hoping You'll Pray

Most of you know, I'm not usually the one asking for things - especially prayers, but my boss is having a hard time. I absolutely adore her, she took me under her wing two years ago as a baby intern when I had NO idea what I was doing, she let me work on some major stuff last summer, and this year she fought and fought - in an awful economy - to get me my fabulous, full-time job. She's generally a superhero, she has a massive job and up until now she's been doing it all on her own. One of the major reasons she got an assistant is that she is PREGNANT!! I was so so excited when I heard the news, she and the hubs had been trying to have a baby and it finally happened, but this week has been impossibly hard for her. I can't even begin to comprehend what she's dealing with right now. On her "babymoon" this week she ended up in the emergency room 3 different times because baby wanted to go ahead and be apart of the world. Yesterday she went to the doctor and stayed home from work - rest, relax, recharge. On her way into work this morning the doctor called and told her to come in so they could check on "decreased fetal activity." I'm not a doctor so I really have no idea what that means or if it is as bad as it sounds but she certainly looked scared. SO. I'm asking that y'all be thinking about her today (and for the next 10 weeks), and the baby. I know she could really use some heavenly help.

The One Where I Pick My Summer Reading

In the summer I always feel like I have more time for reading. Remember when we were little kids and the library had the summer reading program. In Crestline you got to write down all of the books you read, they would stamp them, and depending on how many books you read over the summer you could get some really sweet prizes - like a watergun.

Now - I work everyday, so when I get home I eat, continue to move into my apartment (or watch mindless television - The Bachelorette is on tonight!) and sleep. This summer, I'm making a point to get some reading done. So - in order to force myself to do that I'm making a list (and checking it twice...). Feel free to offer up other suggestions. I pick books that a. look interesting, but b. (and most importantly) have pretty covers.

Case and point - I just finished this. Fun, pretty cover, it's no Ayn Rand.

1. Rising Tide by John M. Barry - I've already started this, I think I have the third of three parts left to finish and it's killing me. It's very interesting, but super long, and very detailed - sometimes you just need a little mindless reading, and this is NOT it.

2. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston - I already own this, and have every intention of reading it, because I just read an art book I might pick something else next - but this is definitely on the list.

3. The Kite Runner by Kahled Hosseini - My sister read this and couldn't get through it but one of my best friends LOVED it and claims it as one of her favorite books, so I'm going to give it a try. A girl at work turned me back onto it because she's in the middle of it and a little thrown off by some of the subject matter, so now I'm interested. Maybe if I like it as much as my friend did I'll add this to my reading list.

4. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski - It's on Oprah's book list and was chosen one of Amazon's best books of the year, so OBVIOUSLY it's probably fabulous. It just seems interesting. I read this last summer, and it has the same sort of vibe...weird and creepy (but sweet), we'll see.

5. Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles - I like new authors, and this guy has gotten some rave reviews. PLUS this book sounds histerically funny - so if it isn't perfect from a literary stand point, who really cares?

And sadly this will have to wait until September - but I'll be one of the people who preorder it (or convince my mom to...) I'm sure I'll find other books I want to read - my parent's house is literally overflowing, but I'm hoping to squeeze these into a constantly growing list. Maybe I can even get the BF to read something other than Drudge - something like this, this (he LOVES to cook) or this.

Bonus! My bedroom in the apartment has a radiator in front of the window, and my very handy brother has promised to make me a radiator cover. PLUS, my very handy mom is going to make a cushion and some pillows to match the rest of my room. It's going to look like this picture I found on High Fashion Home, and they found it in Domino (tear...). Doesn't this look like the perfect place to curl up with a good book. I'm pretty sure once this exists in my life I'll be skipping out on the mindless television and sitting alone in my room. Does that sound depressing??

The One Where I Fill You In

Friday

• Date Night - had dinner with friend and made fun of crazy waitress lady. Intended to watch movies (which I have now forgotten to return on time! crap), went to sleep.
  

Saturday

• Lunch with the BF and his mom - because power was out at his house and my apartment and no one wanted to cook.
• Dinner party on the screened porch, had revelations about my future life, am now going to be a top-notch seamstress.

Sunday

• Went to church where it thundered so loudly, everyone thought God was going to blow us all to smithereens. Church band acted a fool.
• Sat at my house, ordered lunch, looked for flashlights, watched DVDs on the computer - because my house lost power.
• Went to apartment - where we DID have power finally.
• Ate this at the BF's house with his whole family.
• Went to sleep.
  

Pretty uneventful if I do say so myself. At least a tree didn't fall on my head, or my car, or my apartment. And of course now that I'm at work for the week it's bright and sunshinny and the sister will get to lay out by the pool all day - while I blog about it.

The One With The Fun Dinner Party

The BF's sweet brother and sister-in-law had us over for dinner Saturday night. They just bought a brand new house and it's adorable! They've gotten so much done it's really just ridiculous. This was officially the first outings sans the BF's parentals so that was new and fun! We had lots of girl time (I'm assuming the boy's had boy time but I didn't participate) and eventually headed home to SLEEP.

The SIL is going to learn to sew with me which I am super excited about - how useful would it be if you could make your own cute pillows and things? I figure it'll save money too, curtains and pillows and things are EXPENSIVE! She's also much more domestic than me and has learned to smock little kids clothes, which she promises to teach me, but I might hold out on that (at least until my married friends have babies...I'm waiting on Wiley's future sister.) BUT, the pillows and things I can handle.

I've officially decided that my first project should be simple so I think I'm going to try to do a tshirt quilt. I have a million tshirts and since I'm a crazy packrat I don't want to give them away - sooo, tshirt quilt here I come. It doesn't seem that hard, just sewing together some pieces of fabric right? Probably just need a little practice - I figure sewing a million pieces of fabric together will be GOOD practice, I'll probably be a sewing genius after that!!

Anyone know anything about sewing machines? Are there good ones and bad ones? Where do you buy them? OH CONFUSING.

Am I going to look like this woman?

The One With The Weekend Plans

via GreenWellies

1. Starbursts are most wonderful candy in the entire world. Seriously, delicious - and perfect for hiding in your desk for a quick sweet.

2. Has anyone seen any good movies lately? We're doing date night tonight and I get to pick - I'm hoping I can pick something that isn't awful.

3. The fam is out of town for the weekend, and everyone is refusing to go to the grocery store - problems. I'm going to need someone to supply me with food.

4. I'm going to sleep this weekend - sleep on the couch, sleep in my apartment, sleep by the POOL. I'm so exhausted from this week, maybe this whole work thing is starting to get to me.

5. In my break from work maybe I'll go looking for some fun things for my apartment, there's definitely a wish list but I'm not sure how many of the cute stores in Birmingham are into the whole beg and barter system.

The One Where People Are Eliminated

We'll Tony and Paris were eliminated last night (whew, my guys are safe) which was good - I always hate when they eliminate people from different pairs. My one exception to this rule would be if they could keep Vitolio and get rid of Asuka ( it's amazing how obvious it is that she's still there because Nigel wants to get her into bed with him, sleazy old man). I loved the first dance, with all the contestants (Boom Boom Pow) and I loved Cat Deeley's dress - but other than that last night was pretty lam - o. Let's just hope everything get's better next week.

The One Where I'm Obsessed

If you have not been watching So You Think You Can Dance in the last 4 season then I'm not sure I really want to be friends with you anymore. These people are RIDICULOUS. So - without further ado ( is that how you spell that?).....the top 20 from season 5.

So, last night was the first night where the dancers were paired up and actually had to do a dance rather than their solos a million times. First and foremost, I'm not sure I really think these are all even choices. The people who get to do hip hop get it easier than the people who have to do ballroom or bollywood (with the exception of the ballroom dude who got to do ballroom last night with his former ballroom instructor as the choreographer, but that's another issue). BUT all of the people are freaking unbelievable and I'm sure will all be doing something amazing in the next few weeks. Now, because I am an expert I'm going to give you my expert opinion (and my favorites - which you should not take to mean that I think these people will win, just that I like them a lot).

Top 3 Girls

First, Randi Evans. Her hair was curly last night which I like, and she was AMAZING. I think part of the reason I love her so much is that the choreography was so fabulous, but I also think she's awesome. She got really freaked out about dancing up on her partner because she's MARRIED (at 23) but that's ok - she got over it.

Then there is Melissa Sandvig who is the oldest! She joked last night about being a grandma at 29, and she literally blew everyone else out of the water. She's a for real life ballerina which is cool (i.e. for her solo she actually work a FOR REAL tutu, circa Sam's birthday party II) and she can balance on the tips of her toes, which MUST hurt.

And last but not least - Caitlin Kinney who did the Bollywood routine last night. Her sister went home in Vegas, so obviously - both super talented. She's super tall (which I am not) and she and her sister look completely opposite. I just like that she's a rock star and seem genuinely surprised to be there (unlike some people...)

I feel like the girls are better this year. Last night I really didn't notice any of the guys other than the fact that they were lifting the girls a lot. That's not to say they aren't good, that just means that I really know very little about dancing and can't appreciate how hard it would be to push a girl up into the air, over your head, without dropping here and breaking her face. So...even if I'm not as excited about these guys SO FAR, I'm sure they're only going to get better and better. Based on last night's performaces (and mostly however much face time they got over the period of the auditions) here are the guys....

Top 3 Guys

Phillip Chbeeb has an amazing name. Chbeeb. Like Moe's - if you aren't having fun saying guacamole, you aren't saying it right. I loved him last year, I love him this year. If you've seen this guy there isn't any more to be said. He came in with a girl (who didn't make it) and was her partner for contemporary and he could do THAT.

At the end of Vegas the judges brought two brothers in and ONE of them got to the Top 20, Evan Kasprzak. How cruel is THAT? I like his brother too, they do Broadway, and were such good sports! He was great last night but mostly the is fact that the judges were mean to these guys just for the ratings. BOO YOU judges (and producers).

And CERTAINLY not least is, Jonathan Platero who I just generally rocked it last night (for the boys). I think this guy might have been able to take over his spot - the foxtrot was awesome, but he was a LOT of muscle. Jonathan's cute too, even if he is pulling his suspenders. Surely the photographer made him do it!

The One With The Confusing List

Check this out. WHAT IN THE WORLD? I think there was a computer glitch, there's absolutely no way. That's ridiculous. That is a #2 you're seeing, I didn't make this up. U.S. News and World Report's list is just silly, all around. People living in this town look like this picture - with the exception of my brother who is going their next year, only because they do happen to have a better engineering program that Georgia. Bummer. The list also included towns I've never heard of, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The only ones I really agree with are obvious - Austin, Texas and and maybe Durham, North Carolina.

The One With My Wish List

Have you ever noticed that if you have NO money, you generally have lots more fun things to do and lots more fun things that you need (or want) to buy. It's really becoming a problem because I sit at work, and while a lot of the time I actually do do some work, a lot of the time I play (shop) on the internet in order to maintain my sanity. With that said....here is my wist list. Feel free to send presents.

I'm always cold at work. Always. Don't you think this would help? It's small so I could cart it back and forth, and as much as I would LOVE to have the cashmere one, and I'm sure it would be worth it, its almost a smidge pricier.

This one is White + Warren, from Saks. This one is $88, comes in white, black. grapefruit and sand dune. The cashmere ones come in black, grey and tulle pink, and cost....WAIT FOR IT...$275. No thank you. They have more colors on White + Warren but I'm pretty sure black seems like the most logical choice. Let's remember that I don't really even have the $88. I guess the point of a wish list is to find things you wish you could have but never could, but that would just annoy me. This is more of a "To Buy" list (or a "Buy me presents:" list).

Also, I have been admiring these things for MONTHS. I'm actually in awe of my restraint that I haven't bought one yet. They're SO SO SO not me, but they're fabulous and could really make an outfit. I'm not the type to change my jewelry, ever, but I think I might actually do it if this what what I got to change into! They're so sparkly!!These are my favorites, their all from anthropologie, and they range in price from $98 to $248. Of course my favorite, the water lily is the most expensive but the price jumps are kind of ridiculous. The little elephant is $178 and I think he's precious!! I really like the sea star too (inexpensive...) but I've never seen it in real life. I LOVE the pearl with my little sea creature. There are tons more on anthropologie, in their "flora and fauna" category. They have an owl, an iguana, a bumblebee, an octopus, a butterfly to make Mariah swoon - they're all fabulous but in my person opinion these are the most fabulous (which makes perfect sense since these are the ones I want.)

And, last but not least, the thing I've wanted since LAST summer but have never gotten up the nerve to purchase for myself...The Kindle. This thing costs $359 - that's a lot of money, that's more than an iPod. I just can't decide if I would really use it. I think I would ADORE it. You can download books from anywhere, you can read at night without the lights on (in the car while my dad is driving) and its A LOT smaller than carrying around a whole bunch of books. My question is - does it really work as well as everyone says it does, would I miss the real life book action (I did JUST sign up for a membership to the library) and WHY did this not exist when I was about 8 and wanted to read on car trips. HUGE fail Amazon. Sadly, after much thought and internet research I have still decided that this is not the best way to spend my nonexistant $359. BUT, it you happen to have that amount of money on you....go ahead.

All in all I think this is a pretty good list. I think it's frivolous and amazing and just the types of things I will never buy myself because I do not have gobs of money - but I think they're great presents, just the kind of thing a girl could get really excited about. SO. People who read this - pass the word along to my parents, I think I deserve a "you just moved out of our house" present. Don't you?

The One With My First Step To A Budget

Guess what I did today? It's VERY cheap (as in free...), it's going to save ME a ton of money in particular because I spend wads of it on this very thing, AND I did it online. Any guesses? Go here....

Yep. I signed up for a library card. Did you know that you can get online, pick out books, and THEN just swing by the library and pick them up. They'll be waiting on you at the door. Sweet. Especially sweet because I live about a mile from the library, well at least the Emmet O'Neal one - there are about 20 libraries I can check out books from if I want.

But, there would be no need...my library will go get books for me if I want them, from any of the other 20 libraries. My library is the absolute BEST.

AND. Did I mention it was free? FREE!

Hopefully I'll be able to do this - I'm trying to avoid going to Barnes and Noble to browse and buy an absurd amount of books (in hardback, because they're prettier). That can really eat into a paycheck.

So - of course after actually creating an actual budget, I think this is a good step on the money saving road of life. And I desperately need to learn to save me some money.

The One With My Dream Life

In my future life I will have gobs of money and a mind reader with amazing taste to decorate for me. It's going to be gorgeous, perfect and require very little effort on my part. I could live in this house tomorrow. Oh My Gosh. Since moving into an apartment (with rent I pay on my own) I've become seriously jealous of people with amazingly perfect homes. Mine consists of a few special things, hand-me-downs and everything I bought 3 years ago for college. One day I'll get to go pick things out for myself...

I know someone came and made this table look fabulous, I also know that I could do this. That is what I want for my little apartment now, and my little house in the future, to be classic, simple, approachable, warm...insert other adjectives here.

I know, for sure, that whoever lives here has the greatest parties, the most interesting friends, and a personal chef. For this table you'd have to have amazing crab cakes or something.

The living room has such a wonderful crawl up and snuggle feeling. There isn't a (visible) TV, which I love in theory but would hate in real life. The sofas are neutral but yellow and green pops out and makes the room seem fresh and happy. The designer put this in the "beach house" category, seriously? Who can afford to make a beach house look like this? I guess people who end up in magazines.

PLUS. After you sit in your den, and before you eat your fabulous dinner, you have this lovely kitchen to work in. I mean, let's be honest, I would never need anything this fabulous because I barely know how to cook bacon without the help of the BF but how wonderful would it be to sit in this kitchen while SOMEONE ELSE made me dinner? I might even offer to do the dishes...or not.

The One Where I Move

I moved into my apartment this weekend, actually slept their two whole nights! I'm back at my parent's for the week probably (there's no food in the apartment and it's further from work) but hopefully by this weekend I'll have all of my clothes moved over and the GIANT boxes of trash out of the kitchen. My roommate hasn't moved in yet but I think she's planning to next week so I'm trying to get a little bit settled before all of her things start migrating in. I painted a dresser (with mirror) and made the BF hang the curtain rods and my headboard, so it's actually starting to look halfway decent. The roomie is bringing another chair and getting a couch, we still need some shelving (which I'm hoping my mom is going to pick up on Sunday at IKEA) and a TV, but after that it'll be almost done!! I'm going to brag a little bit - this place is FABULOUS, it's in the best location ever and it's super huge. You can all come visit. Please?

My apartment - real pictures (taken by me) to come!

Anyways, that's pretty much what the week has in store for me. I need to put one more coat of paint on the mirror, and make sure I didn't accidentally let brown paint get on the mirror itself but after that it's pretty much done. My mom is a superstar and it making me curtains and a slipcover for my headboard (right now it's dark brown leather - and because I'm crazy I want it to be dark brown linen) making a cushion for the radiator cover/window seat that my brother is making me and recovering a little stool that goes with my vanity. But that'll probably be a few weeks....

On the work front, I sat here for 45 minutes while my computer refused to turn on. Eventually I just unplugged everything. You want to know why it wouldn't come on!? The dang thing was trying to open from my time machine/backerupper thing. UGH.

And my boss is out of town all week. So blogging it will be. She's been super fabulous about giving me things to do and trying to teach me how everything works, I just hope I have enough this week to keep myself occupied.

Final thought : I'm running a fever. In June? Aren't you supposed to not be sick in the summer? I'm still at work, but I feel like crap. Trying not to breath on anyone...

The One About My First Party

**The word party might now actually apply here, but it was definitely a "get together," maybe even a gathering.

First ever party tonight in the new apartment. We have no furniture (and therefore nowhere to sit) but I do have LOADS of glasses for champagne, red and white wines, and margaritas. Prepared huh? It's been good though, forced me to do things to the apt that I might have put off until 6 months from now (organize all the boxes of books, and put them in the storage closet). Here's hoping I don't get in trouble for being loud...does that really happen in apartments? Off to finish cleaning and pick up my dress at home....

The One Where We Go On A Double Date

Guess where I'm going tonight!?

The BF is back in town tonight, and since he's especially grumpy and sleepy and has been driving a U-Haul since 9am, I thought this would be the PERFECT night for crazy downtown beer drinking (poor choice me...) Oh well, he'll be happy when we get down to Sloss Furnace and it's jam packed with crazy Alabamians and people wanting to give us beer. It's completely sold out so I'm going to go ahead and assume some of these people have been before and loved it. Recently Alabama decided we needed more ways to get drunk so Bob Riley signed a bill letting us sell beer that is over 13% alcohol, and now this is one major celebration. Since a few of my friends were poor planners and didn't get tickets enough in advance (by that I mean yesterday afternoon...) they won't be attending, but my best friend (Emmy) and her BF (Paul) are going so it kind of turned into an impromptu, super fun double date.

I'll be sure to take loads of pictures....I can't really imagine what kind of people are going to be at this shindig.

The One Where I Start A Blog

I'm starting a bit late, but this is the 11th day of my life on my own. In my opinion, exactly 11 days too many! So far, I've gotten a FABULOUS job, starting working, found a roommate, signed a lease, attempted to begin moving in, made a budget (with the help of my more mathematically inclined boyfriend), decided which stocks I wanted in my 401k (huh?), and learned how to paint furniture. I'm sure the list will continue to grow.

I'm working in an advertising agency which is pretty much my dream job (except for the one semester where I thought I wanted to be a lawyer) and I'm starting to get small little glimpses of what I might get to do in the future, all by myself. Right now their just trying to teach me not to lose millions of dollars for our clients. It's odd how much you DON'T learn about agencies in school. You would think college would prepare you for the real world. It doesn't. It makes you think you're prepared but when you get out it's really more like being thrown down a flight of stairs into some completely off world where you have to support yourself and worry about being homeless.

I'm starting this thing for two reasons. Most importantly, I sit in front of a computer all day and I need something fun to do. I guess that means if I stop blogging for awhile you can assume (probably incorrectly, but I'll let it slide) that I have tons of important work to do. Secondly, I went to school in Texas, live in Alabama, have friends in Missouri, Hollywood, New York, Nashville, Tuscaloosa, Virginia, Atlanta, St. Louis and I'm sure it is only going to get worse. I want to keep track of them, and let them keep track of me. I'm not very good at phone conversations, which I guess is surprising since I spent all of college dating a boy in Virginia, but I'm not. I'm not good at the actual conversation and I'm REALLY not good at remembering to call people back. So. This is it, at least without much effort.

I'm not sure this blog is going to be very entertaining. I'm sure there will be some funny posts, and I'm sure their will be some interesting ones, and I'm sure every once in awhile I'll come up with something relatively important BUT I don't think you'll enjoy this much if you don't know me. I'm pretty sure you won't think I'm very entertaining (not that the people who know me think I'm entertaining). But you never know, I might surprise myself (and you).

So, here we go.