The One About Standard Bistro

Among the many things I did this weekend, including lounging around, organizing my apartment and throwing a wedding shower - my absolute favorite was our girl's lunch on Saturday.

My very best friends and I had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Johnson and Chloie for (a very long) lunch at Standard Bistro. The lunch itself was wonderful, and it was only bettered by the time we had to chat with the Johnsons. I know we each enjoyed hearing how life was going for them, and were blessed to feel completely wrapped up in the wonderful person that our friend Carly is. It was a great occasion to revel in how much she truly impacted each of our lives while she was here. I hope each of you spent as much time as I did this weekend truly appreciating the wonderful people that fill up your life.

The One About High School

This morning I stopped at Chick-Fil-A for a chicken biscuit before work (I know, this is bad for me, but I was running WAY early and it's Friday for goodness sakes). When I walked in there were four or five Briarwood cheerleaders grabbing breakfast before going to school. I still can't figure out why they were there around 8:30 - does Briarwood go to school later than us? And you know what I realized? They were in their uniforms because it's day 1 of high school football. You know what's depressing?

I'm not in high school anymore.

I'm also not in college anymore.

I think I might be old.

But I still look like a baby in all of these pictures (which are fuzzy because I don't have originals). I guess college made be act like ... look like ... and at least pretend to be an adult.

The One For Mom

I know my mother reads this blog, and I also know she loves to go shopping, and I'm pretty sure she is trying desperately to come up with a few gifts for her only child (I think "you never get to go to college again and all of your siblings just left you" should be a gift-giving occasion), so....

Top Ten Things I Want From J.Crew This Fall: The Work Edition
which means there will be a "non-work" edition coming soon

A great grey dress for the days I feel like being dressed-up

I need a few things to dress-up jeans on Fridays

This is just pretty adorable, and could go dressed-up or dressed-down

Great "Friday jeans"

To go under sweaters, jackets and all by itself
**In every color (obviously)

This would be fun over a cute dress, and I could wear it on the weekends too

I have a few of these for spring, but I need a black and a brown
** In every color

I love this color (and ruffles)

This is the perfect skirt to go with that black jacket, or any colored turtleneck.

more ruffles, and with a plain t-shirt, I could wear this with anything.

** You can click on the image if, perhaps, you're looking for a few things to purchase me online (or...I guess if you're online shopping for yourself)

Having a job is hard - and it's ever harder if you have nothing to wear. Since it's beginning to turn chilly (right James Spann?), and we've been discussing tickets to football games, I think it's time for a work-wardrobe shopping trip. Maybe we can do that this weekend...right about the time we go on a new car shopping spree because the one I have currently is EATING gas. Or maybe my job is just too far away....

The One About Nerdness

I'm about to tell you all something that I know you didn't know previously - but in the interest of entertainment (and having something to say today), I'm going to let you in on this embarrassing fact.

I am a HUGE nerd.

In case you didn't know - I have the best friends, and a few of them decided to meet me this afternoon for lunch (near my office). My friend Dawson has a baby, and is moving to London (tear) so she pretty much has a plan for now. My friend Liz on the other hand - is a dog walker and wants a real job.

And I want her to have a real job too, because let's be honest, it's annoying to be at work all day while your friends shop and bake in the sun.

We sat at lunch and talked about Liz's job hunt - at which point I got (a tad too) excited and explained that she should write a cover letter, print that and her resumé, put them in printed envelopes and mail them to everyone interesting in the phone book.

Apparently, I enjoy doing this kind of thing.

Hence the reason I just received Liz's resumé in my inbox - and am going to begin drafting a very compelling cover letter. I think this should be my new job. Why shouldn't there be someone out there to write cover letters and resumés for people, and to find places to submit these things to? Schools have career services. I would just be career services, and instead of an insane amount of tuition, you'd have to pay me a tiny (in comparison) fee.

Don't worry Liz - this is just in the works, I'm not going to make you fork over your dog-walking money for this ridiculously amazing cover letter.

Why hello friend....

the genius Louboutin, who sells shoes here

I'm sitting at my desk imagining everything I could wear with these (jeans, skirts, tights, dresses, anything I want to), and how tall I would be!

The One With The Review

This morning I woke up, brushed out my hair, threw on something reasonably professional, and then finished my book. It was WONDERFUL. It follows the rise and fall of the Riverses, and Queen Elizabeth (Woodville) of York. The best part of this book is the entirely new cast of characters. I didn't recognize a single name until towards the end of the book, Thomas Howard and Henry Tudor show up. Apparently, according to Philippa's notes at the end of the book, the book includes a much larger percentage of fiction than the previous Boleyn books, mainly because there are very few sources who discuss this period of history (before the Tudor reign).

The books includes as much historical reality as possible - and it is certainly enough to make the book beyond believable, by the fiction aspect makes the book entertaining and suspenseful. This new series of books, The Cousin's War, is certain to follow an even more entertaining group of people. My only question is where these people I do recognize fall into place. I'm not sure how Philippa is going to keep Henry Tudor off the throne for two more books, but I guess she's figured that out...I wish she would call and ask for my opinion though!!

So - onto more important topics. We only had 6 comments, from 5 people, so I've put you all into random.org (don't worry, I didn't count Emmy twice)....and here's what came out.....

2
1
4
3
5

So the winner's are...Sara Emily and Dawson.

So both of you should read this, and then pass it along (or force people to purchase it) because it is so wonderful. I'll send your addresses off, and your books should arrive shortly. (Dawson, you're going to have to give me an address). But in other good news, someone can borrow mine now...

The One About The Funny Blog

Sorry - it's crazy busy around here, no blogging for you. Click here to be entertained for the rest of the afternoon.

Need something to look forward to*? Final thoughts on The White Queen coming soon (and the MUCH anticipated announcement of the giveaway winner), today's your last chance at commenting...move quickly!

* If what you're looking forward to is on this blog, then you need to get out more.

The One About Nothing

via Pringle's Pics

Things I'm going to do this weekend...

sleep
catch up on things I've DVRd (new word?)
read my book
buy some magnets and coasters for my apartment
have a few people over for drinks Saturday night
and once I'm all rested...go to a wedding.

Things you should do this weekend...

comment on the giveaway (there are only 5 comments and two are from Emmy - that does not a giveaway make)

The One About Dinner

Today there was a fire drill at work and outside there was a fire truck (obviously) but there was also and ice cream truck waiting to give us free deliciousness! And guess where my boss is taking us all for dinner tonight?

I have the greatest job.

The One With The Giveaway (seriously!)

You all know I'm excited about this.

And you all know I'm tempted to force you all into a book club with me.

So - the lovely people who work with Philippa (remember, we're on a first name basis now) have given me the opportunity to start this little club of books, or at least give a few of YOU the opportunity to read this long-awaited (by me) book for FREE.

And I seriously mean amazing. I sat at lunch today (alone) and read this book while trying to eat at the same time - it did not go well, but I'm speeding through this book and will be ready to tell you all about it shortly. Don't worry, I won't giveaway the ending.

All you have to do is comment on this post, I'll do the "chosen randomly" thing - and when two people win, you'll receive your very own copy of The White Queen by Philippa Gregory in the mail! You have to tell me your name - and here's the kicker...

...a suggestion for the next book I should read.

You can live in Alabama, in Texas, or in China for all I care - as long as you're willing to comment and give me your mailing address when I ask for it. I'll let you keep commenting until the end of the week.

You can even follow The White Queen on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook. Yay for social media.

The One From Polyvore

I was playing on Polyvore, and this is what happened....

Can you tell I'm in the mood for fall? (and a very expensive shopping spree)

The One About Time Travel

This weekend my mom and I went to see The Time Traveler's Wife. We were trying to choose between it and Julie & Julia (don't worry - we're going to go see that one too) and somehow landed on Time Traveler. I already know Julia & Julia is good (thanks Dawson), so I'm glad we saw this one Sunday - we'll still have to go back for the other one.

It was REALLY good. Granted, I like movies and tend to enjoy them as long as the subject is pretty interesting, but I think people who are picky would like this one too. It's very romantic - but also very weird. There were definitely a few "huh - what is going on?" moments but by the middle of the movie you should have a pretty good handle on what's going on.

Parts of it are heartbreaking, and other parts are happy. I cried a few times (only little tears...) but it was totally worth it. It's a good Sunday afternoon with mom movie, not a very good Friday night date night movie.

I thought Rachel McAdams was wonderful. Eric Bana wasn't as good as his on-screen wife, but he's beautiful so it's hard to criticize him. He was by NO means not good in the movie, Rachel was just a little more believable, and for a large part of the movie he spoke in a very soft almost monotone voice, which was a little bit annoying.

Ron Livingston is in it and I love him. He's really funny (but I think it's impossible for him not to be) and adds a LOT of the comic relief.

This movie definitely lived up to the book (as much as movies can). Obviously, I'm a much bigger fan of books in general but I think this was a fairly good remake. Definitely worth seeing.

The One With The Excitement

This book comes out today...

You should probably go to Barnes & Noble right now and get it. I'm being serious. You can get this and The Physick Book at the same time and be SERIOUSLY happy for the rest of the summer (or however long it takes you to read two books). Seriously happy, delirious almost.

I know, I know, I need to stop talking about it ... and now I will, until I get far enough into it to let you know what I really think. If you want to know what I've BEEN thinking, before this book even came out, then you can check out this and this.

The Recap on Deliverance's Physick Book

A. Physick = medicine, so physick book = recipes for making medicine. Which, by the way, in the 17th and 18th centuries involved herbs and the sick individual's "water" - gross.

B. This book was amazing! It's a mostly historical fiction (my favorite) with a little bit mystery (another fav) and a little bit love story (who doesn't love a good love story?).

Don't worry, the people on Amazon are wrong. They gave this book 3 1/2 stars when really it should be 4 3/4 (right under The Help (5 stars), because nothing can top The Help). You should all head to Barnes & Noble right now and buy this book...have I steered you wrong yet? So far everyone LOVES The Help, so clearly I'm a book reviewing genius.

Even USA Today thinks it's wonderful -

"The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is a witch story that will leave you spellbound. . . . The author of the Harry Potter series may have written the world's best-selling series about wizardry, but Physick Book is a fresh and mesmerizing modern-day mystery of witches and witchcraft set in the real world — and that's what makes it so good. Once in a while, a new writer offers up a hypnotic tale of the supernatural that has the publishing world quivering with excitement. In 2005 it was Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian; in 2006 it was Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale. This summer, The Physick Book is magic."

The One With Work

Let me tell you about the time that the website I work on had someone attack the server and send my head into complete "I have no idea what you're talking about IT guy" - mode. I do not speak HTML code or understand rewriting our website to keep out hackers. Yesterday was incredibly stressful (to say the least) so I never got out my weekend recap or my very important thoughts on the movie I saw this weekend. My to-do list just got a little bit out of control...

It's still not fixed, BUT I have awesome guys who DO understand things like HTML coding and hackers to fix it so right now I'm just monitoring how many people send emails to the site (annoying bad-guys).

The BF's friends from school were in town this weekend so Friday night I had a VERY long dinner at Zona Rosa followed by Billy's for 8th Street. His friend Edward met a very interesting woman who proceeded to inform him that she liked to have...well I'm not going to say that, but let's just say it was dirty (and involved multiple people). And then my friends met another woman in the bathroom who had clearly been drinking too much and wanted some friends to talk to.

Saturday I slept late, had lunch with my dad, had a second lunch (don't worry I didn't eat again) with friends at Sam's Super Samwiches, and then played golf drove a golf cart. Carts are actually very fun - more fun when they're moving because then it's not hot at blue blazes, but definitely fun.

Saturday night we had one giant meal at Surin, and then everyone was so exhausted we went home. It was amazing. I slept late on Sunday, finished my book and then went to hang out at the 'rents house.

Mom and I went to a movie. The Time Traveler's Wife. I'll tell you more about that later.

All in all, it was a great weekend. It was fun, I slept a lot, I finished my book and started a new one - generally did nothing of any importance which is the main point of a weekend, right?

The One About The White Queen

Philippa Gregory's The White Queen comes out tomorrow and I think you should go get it. I'm super lucky and getting a jump start on it. Apparently, because I mentioned the book here, someone from Philippa's (I think we should be on a first name basis now) promotional staff sent me a copy last week and asked me to review it for y'all. I've started reading and it's wonderful, but I'll let you know the full scoop when I get finished. Maybe I'll even give you a few updates along the way. Something to look forward to...

In the meantime - a list of my top 5 Philippa Gregory books. Check off the ones you've already read, and go get the one's you haven't. Immediately.

The Other Boleyn Girl surrounds the life of Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary - you should actually read the book, not just rely on the movie, the movie doesn't even remotely do this book justice.

The Boleyn Inheritance is based on the transition between Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard - Henry VIII's 4th and 5th wives.

The Virgin's Lover focuses on the early days of Elizabeth I's rule.

The Other Queen illustrates the life of Mary Queen of Scots, her relationship with Elizabeth I and her time spent in exile in England.

The Queen's Fool delves into the lives and relationship of Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I through the eyes of a young girl.

I wish I had read them in order so if you're just getting started I would try to do that. There is also an entirely separate series beginning with Wideacre that she wrote prior to the Boleyn series. I have never read these, and I don't know if I plan to anytime soon, but they involve a separate cast of characters which might be pretty interesting.

On another note, I finished The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and I'll let you know what I think a little later, plus my thoughts on The Time-Traveler's Wife (the movie), and pictures + a recap from the weekend.

The One With Five

image via here

1. My sister comes home from Austria today! I know she's not all that excited...but I am! Too bad she's going straight back to school. I won't even see her until football season starts!

2. Two of the BF's pledge brothers are coming in town for the weekend, so we're going to come up with some really fun things to do in this super entertaining town.

3. I'm tempted to get up tomorrow morning and head over to Trisha's Treasures in Homewood. It seems like the coolest shop, and depending on how pricey things are, I could definitely use a few nick nacks and gizmos to make the apartment feel a little more "lived in." I'll let you know how it goes.

4. Do you ever get a craving for nothing in particular - just really good food? That's me now. I'll kill someone if they suggest eating at Billy's tonight. We may be going there to hear a band, but bar food is not topping my list of delicious things to eat today.

5. The BF gave me an iPod, because I said I really needed one. So hi! thanks for the iPod. When he played in the national championships for golfing they gave him a shuffle, and there's no harm in regifting if you know the person will really like it! I'm going to use it tomorrow on my run/walk.

The One About BBQ And Pigs

Completely ridiculous and random thought:

A friend of mine once told me that you can always pick out a really great BBQ restaurant because the sign includes a large, cartoon pig. There are a few that come to mind - Big Bob Gibson's and Corky's are both delicious, but maybe it's just that an abnormally large amount of BBQ joints have cartoon pigs. Now I know you Texas people won't understand this with all of your beef and sausage, but the others of you....is this true? There must be some exceptions. Dreamland doesn't have a pig, and our family favorite, Holcomb's in Greene County, Georgia, doesn't even have a logo (that I know of), but if you were driving down the highway and saw one restaurant with a pig and one without - which one would you stop and try?

The One With The Colorful Books

If you ever read this blog then you know that I really really like to read. Not only do I like to read but I also just like books in general. It's pretty obvious I get that from my parents...they have piles and piles (I mean piles literally) of books in our house. Most of those piles were actually piles of boxes up until recently. Lucky for me, I have loads of shelves in the living room of my apartment, and they're pretty full - but they still look pretty unorganized. At least unorganized compared to these.


I've seen this done all over the internet recently and I'm sure those people didn't go out and buy colored books for the occasion (although...maybe they did), but I am not. The only thing that I don't like about this is the temptation to remove the jacket. I'm thinking of giving it a try though. The shelves I have are all black so I think the juxtaposition of color would be pretty cool in our sparse little living room. It would also be good to add some visual interest (other than our curtains) in the space. Speaking of - maybe I should post some pictures of my apartment, I guess a few of you haven't actually seen it in real person. So far we don't have much on the walls and our furniture is pretty neutral, naturally. I'm planning on having a poster framed soon though! Ah...a little inexpensive artwork never hurt anyone. PLUS - it would (hopefully) be a big change, and I wouldn't have spent any money on it! I'm going to try to get that together this weekend...although so far this one is turning out to be pretty jam-packed.

STOP. Can't start thinking about the weekend yet...

The One About Exercise

I need to start exercising. (Don't worry - I'm aware I'm not all that large) but seriously...I can't just be lazy the rest of my life.

Yesterday, in a classic case of "great minds think alike," I walked out of my office and had received this text message:

"I think we should start going on walks in the afternoons when you finish with work."

And so Liz met me at my apartment and we walked 4.7 miles (Liz clocked it). That's a LONG way! It feels awesome to go exercise...except for the little bit afterward where I got in a hot shower too quickly and felt like passing out.

So - in an effort to keep up this new found love tolerance for working out, I've compiled a list of things I need want to buy. I figure spending money on things will keep me motivated. Maybe?

First and foremost - the best show in the whole world has come out with a series of exercise videos. Genius! The videos include a Cardio Funk version and a Tone and Groove version. Not only does this look fun - but it's also something to do while staying out of this muggy, stifling, Alabama heat.

Secondly - it is impossible to work out without cute clothes. I just can't feel cute and skinny in gross sweats. I have a pretty good supply of Nike shorts but I could always use more. They come in such cute colors!

but I could also use some other workout attire. A few things I would like for this fall, and when I'm inside doing my tapes...

And something like this to replace these...

There are gadgets and gizmos aplenty too. I have an iPod but I want a band so that I can run with it. Maybe I just need a smaller iPod, like a nano or a shuffle. I have weights that go around my ankles when I walk and they are surprisingly comfortable. I'm thinking about getting some like these for my arms - that way I'll have super toned arms too.

Also, a girl at my office is trying to loose some lbs. and she has been counting her steps. She is trying to walk 5,000 steps a day. I should do this. I'd get about a million just walking up the ridiculous stairs to my apartment.

I could always result to 5th grade too, we used to play with these and these ALL the time - and you know elementary school is the best place to get a good workout. HA!

And I definitely need new shoes. I'm thinking I like these...thoughts? I probably need to go discuss this with some type of footwear professional, good think I work next door to the trak shack.

So basically that is my new found goal - so let me know if you're interested in going walking with me (and Liz). We're really fun people.

**click the images to find this stuff online...online shopping is the best**

The One After The Lake

This weekend was the all-time best weekend ever (or at least of this particular summer). Liz and I drove up to the lake after work Friday, and spotted many interesting things.
There was a MASSIVE metal dinosaur on the side of I-20. I tried to take a picture while moving down the highway - and this is what it looked like, so while THERE WAS a large blinking question mark on the side of HWY-11, I didn't get a picture of that. Right past the question mark there was a church. I am not making this up. The sign in front of the church said...

"Don't give up -Moses was a basket case too"

And after all of that, we finally made it here...although I had to take this picture Saturday morning because when we drove in on Friday night we couldn't see a single thing...and we lounged around, and slept (for a few minutes) in the MOST COMFORTABLE beds.

South Carolina is a fabulous place. We had loads of fun. The house we stayed in was BEAUTIFUL, as was the lake it sat on. We were in the boat for the vast majority of the weekend and only had a few mishaps. We avoided running out of gas in the middle of the lake and (almost) avoided driving onto land. And we avoided anyone getting hurt as people insisted they jump off rocks.
We floated around in a cove with some other cool people, who apparently like to float around too. There was a waterfall, and a volleyball court, and a boat that really looked like a floating trailer. I definitely did not know that those existed....but they seemed entertaining.

Clearly I got sunburned because I already looked toasty in this picture and this is only halfway into Day 1. Oops. In the process of getting too crispy I did manage to develop some really cool tan lines though. I have never looked more like a raccoon in my life. Oh well, it was totally worth it. Did I mention that it was the all-time best weekend of the summer (so far)?

People skied and did some tubing...people that didn't include Liz and me.

There was more floating...by us and by the boat, which did not want to anchor all weekend and routinely had to be directed back in our general direction. Unfortunately Liz and I were zero help because neither of us have any idea how to drive a boat.

All in all it was an amazing weekend. I am so glad we decided the 5 hour (weirdly close to 4 hour) drive was worth it. The Burch's were beyond hospitable the entire time - they are the sweetest, most amazing people. Liz and I were both sad to give Burch his last huge hug for awhile...but this weekend was definitely the perfect ending to a far from perfect summer.Contented sighs all around...