The One with Ramblings

Thought: I am the worst blogger in the history of the world. Apologies.

Things I've thought about today ... clearly I'm in a funk.

A. buying a puppy (rescuing a puppy...stealing someone else's puppy...)

B. picking up everything and moving to a foreign country - I could probably handle that right? If I could magically speak other languages...

C. how I could redecorate my office, including painting it a pretty shade of peacock blue, without my boss noticing

That's all I've got for the moment.

I think this blog thing might be wrapping up. 2011 - the year of the non-blog. or the revised blog. something!

The One About A Few Things

WOW. The lack of blogging is getting out of control. I really apologize to all of you people who are hanging on my every word (Mom).

Just to keep you updated.

1. Two of my best friends ever are getting married!! WHAT? When did we grow up? Sara Emily got engaged a REALLY long time ago (June), but with the lack of blogging I'm not sure I ever mentioned it - and Taylor got engaged on Friday!

2. I wish Birmingham's J.Crew was as big as Northpark's and involved the "party" dresses, all of the handbags and more bathing suits. Random thought.

3. The last couple of weekends we've gone to a bar called Bourbon Street and afterward it takes two shampoos for my hair to stop smelling like cigarettes. WHY do people purposefully subject themselves to that heinousness? Ok, stepping off the soap box now...

4. I really really want a puppy.

5. We have feral cats that live in our yard and they're absolutely disgusting. Last night I had a dream I was pinned to the ground so that I couldn't move and apparently my ability to scream was gone too. A feral cat was trying to eat my face. I think I need to see a therapist.

6. I think I'm going to start cooking. I need suggestions for recipes to try. Oh, and also some lessons. I know you've heard this all before - but I think I'm serious this time. Yesterday I wrote down a list of ingredients for three meals this week. That's a start right?

The One About Everything

Brace yourself for a very convoluted post. Sorry in advance.

First and foremost, one big huge apology for the radio silence this week and last. Last week I had a pretty good excuse, which we'll get to in a minute - but this week there is none...other than that three-day-weekend thing.

OOPS!

Last week, my best friend's boyfriend called to inform me that he would be PROPOSING to her over Memorial Day weekend. That's a good reason to not be blogging, right? Basically - I couldn't come up with anything to say that didn't involve my best friend GETTING MARRIED!

I'm finally leaving on my girls trip to Vegas tomorrow - I know y'all are excited to not have to hear about it anymore. I'll hopefully have loads to tell you when I get back. Twelve girls all in Vegas together - I literally CANNOT WAIT. I'm going to spend all weekend laying by the pool, eating (and drinking) deliciousness and spending time with some of my favorite people in the whole world. People I haven't seen in MONTHS.

Have y'all been over to The Brightside Project lately? It's so much fun to look through all the fun things people are loving (and giving away).

Also, I signed up for Pinterest. It's pretty amazing. Similar to ffffound, only better (and prettier). It's been so much fun to play with...and now I won't forget where I saw things.

We were at Paul's house last night (previously mentioned, newly engaged) and one of the guys brought his brand new silver lab puppy. OH MY WORD. He was so adorable - and named Ernest. I kind of want one right now.

AND - My little sister moved up to New York for the summer this morning.

Ok - I think that is all.

The One With The Dog Clutch

I would like to meet the person who thinks it's a good idea to spend $5,795 on a crystal bag shaped like a dachshund. Click on the image for the link if you have that kind of cash laying around.

The One At 26

Last night a few of my girlfriends and I went out to dinner for a birthday celebration. We had heard great things about 26's Happy Hour so we decided to give it a try.

I learned that while Happy Hour definitely keeps things LESS expensive, it also tricks your brain into thinking it's reasonable to drink more. Kind of like buying things you don't LOVE just because they're on sale.

After dinner we walked across the street to the Blue Monkey, where I found out that people from the East coast wear sunglasses at night.

Actual conversation (semi-paraphrased) -

Guy in Bar #1 : Dude, you have sunglasses on in the bar.
Guy in Bar #2 : I'm from the East Coast

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?

Now I'm going to spend tonight on the couch - reading my book and catching up on the DVR - including Grey's Anatomy (which I hear is GREAT, apparently my roommate cried through the whole thing).

I'm also going to pack boxes, which in general sounds heinous.

The One From We Heart It

Bliss.

from We Heart It via the lil bee

The One About Spilt Milk

How stinkin' cute. (from the MOMA Store)

The One About Sporcle

What can we learn from this? (you can click to make it larger)

Sporcle is amazing.

Texas dominates.

Mississippi, Arkansas and Kentucky fail.

A Texas suburb (or four) have higher populations than Jackson, Mississippi, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Louisville, Kentucky. Whoda thunk it?

And now that I've given you the answers...take the quiz here.

By the way, I scored in the 95th percentile, so boo-yah Sporcle - too bad I underestimated Texas.

What was I thinking?

The One About My Birthday

In case you didn't know (or had forgotten), my birthday is one week from today. My list has grown and then shrunk and then changed all together. BUT - don't worry. I do, in fact, have a list.

I think Toms are great, and I do not have a pair, so...I would LOVE to have a pair of these but also think these are cute, and these are just ADORABLE.

Obviously, I would like someone to buy me my puppy. Thanks in advance. Or - someone could just go ahead and get there own puppy for me to play with. As long as I have a puppy to hang out with on my birthday (no mom, Peaches doesn't count because she's not entertaining) I'll be a perfectly happy person. Emmy - maybe you should get Paul a puppy for HIS birthday. That would work.

I also want this skirt, and almost everything else that J.Crew is selling at the moment. Given the opportunity, that store would suck all of the money out of my bank account. I also want this, these, this and this - one day. And some sequins (this and this) which I totally do not need - although...there's always Vegas.

And I guess something practical wouldn't hurt - so what about this? I guess that's practical...right?

Ok - back to the unpractical.

I could SERIOUSLY use some new cowboy boots. I wore boots A LOT in Texas, and my current pair have been hanging around since freshman year. I think it's time for an upgrade. I like these, these and these. Oh, and while we're talking about Frye - these are good too.

Also, we're moving into a house (the roomie and I - have I mentioned that?) and I think some fun things to make it a little bit homier would be nice to have. We both love having flowers around, even if it's pretty infrequently, and I think these are adorable. They come in a precious beaker shape too.

I think that's my list. Pretty good, huh?

Oh...and a glass of wine with a slice of cake. Thanks.

The One About Google

There is a blog...called The Bloggess, which is 85% inappropriate but 115% rolling on the floor, tears streaming down my facing laughing so hard I'm going to pass out. She makes this point about the absolutely ridiculous things Google suggests you search, so of course I tried it...

and this is what I came up with.

I also got - on a search beginning with 'where'...
Where is Santa? and Where is Santa right now?

but really...why CAN'T I own a Canadian? It seems like a perfectly acceptable question to me...

The One About The State of The Union

This might be the funniest thing I have EVER seen. A million thank you's to Jamie at ISuwannee for the seriously entertaining blog post on this very long afternoon. You've made my day.

The One For Winter

by Toshio
I'm over you. Bring on the flowers and the sunshine. Many thanks.

The One About The Jersey Shore

I know you're all slightly depressed that I don't look like this in real life, and I know I am personally depressed that in order to have on this slut-tastic hoodie - I had to cover up my fake tattoo. The only one I could really even comprehend was the lovely little bracelet. Lovely? In comparison to the scorpion MTV wanted me to permanently stain on my inner thigh.

I do not understand this show, but it was kind of fun to look at all the horrific hair and the absolutely mortifying (for all human beings in the entire world) clothing options. Link here.

The One About Lonny - Issue 2

Lonny is back out, and they have an awesome story (and the images...oh my word) on J.Crew, one of my all-time favorite places. Go take a look.

The One About Valentino

As my boss would say: "Can I get a what-what?"

Valentino.

The One About Ten Things

I was tagged by Dawson at Wake Forest Mama, so here's my little list.

Also, check out Liz's list who has graced the blog-world with her presence one more time...maybe she's back for a short stint on Little Interruptions?

1. obvious: my family, and our very rare meals together. Last night all five of us went out to dinner - we're a pretty fun bunch.

2. my amazing, fabulous, wonderful, incredible, could-not-live-without-you friends. we've been through more than is really fair - but we're still together. i love y'all. (and Wednesday night take-out + horribly funny television)

3. Texas, and all the sweet people that are far away from me. I'm so looking forward to Miami, Phoenix, Pasadena? A girl can dream.... (and on a related note - TCU football makes me really happy, especially when Georgia football is making me so sad)

4. Caramel Apple Cider at Starbucks (doesn't everyone have a warm drink that makes them happy, and toasty-warm inside?)

5. Dresses. Specifically of the cocktail variety. I LOVE new dresses. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

6. Books. Books I've read, books I haven't read. Old books, new books. Book shelves filled with books. Bookmarks. Stacks of books on my bedside table. My future Kindle with all of it's future e-books. You get the point.

7. This blanket from Restoration Hardware. We have one in my apartment, and one at my parent's house - it's amazing. The absolute best thing to cuddle up in when you're cold, or tired, or sick, or all of the above.

8. Mexico Lindo Zona Rosa, and the fact that we've been eating there (at least) once a week since I was a little kid. It makes me really happy that everyone who works there knows my whole family, and their queso cheese dip is really yummy. It also kind of ties into another one of my favorite things - margaritas (specifically from Yucatan Taco Stand in Fort Worth).

9. Winter clothes. Sweaters and scarves and coats and mittens and boots and earmuffs (if I had anywhere to wear them).

10. Pictures. Some by really fabulous professionals...but mostly my own. Some of the funniest things show up on my camera!

The One About Work

I'm exhausted.

Work is killing me. Long story short - our client moved the deadline for our proposal up from April to December 9th. HUH? I literally feel like a work-a-holic. Am I a work-a-holic?

But other than that...

So You Think You Can Dance is the bomb this year, and I love Cat Deeley.

My little sister is turning 21 on Saturday, and then my best friend turns 23 on Tuesday - and I'm old.

I'm still trying to find the time to take down our Halloween decorations (say goodbye to the glitter skulls) and go shopping for winter. I'm into sequins lately, so I'm pretty sure we're going to go with a silver and white theme. Sparkles, sparkles and more sparkles.

We've started planning our first ever grown-up Christmas party.

My Christmas list is growning, and when you're living on your own for the first time and trying not to be broke at all times the list is a little depressing. So far the things I've come up with are a set of sheets so that I don't have to wash/dry and remake my bed all in the same day, and to have my parents pay to have my hair colored. DEPRESSING.

Anyway, that's about it for life right now.

It's finally starting to get cold around here - it was in the 70s this weekend, so I might actually have to break out my winter coat soon. That's good!

The One About Voting

I hope everyone's weekend was wonderful. Mine was...

Image from here. By Matt Coffelt

image from here. By Jim Hipple.

But enough about football...

I just spent more time than I care to admit voting for the People's Choice Awards. I don't know why...I guess it's interesting. I'm less concerned about the actual awards and more hopeful that the shows/actors that I like will win. Does it feel like more shows end up cancelled than actually stick around? Maybe it's just a lot of shows that I personally watched, but I feel like I have pretty good taste in television. It's not like I was pinning all of my hopes and dreams on The Ex List.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Privileged
Dirty Sexy Money
The Black Donnellys
Pushing Daisies
October Road
Samantha Who?
K-ville
The Starter Wife

And if we really want to get into then we should probably talk about Everwood and way back in the day, Gilmore Girls.

Anyway, back to the point...y'all should all go vote for The People's Choice Awards. I figure if my shows win, then the big bad money-making machines can't cancel them.

My personal favorites? So You Think You Can Dance (obviously), Big Bang Theory (all-time funniest show ever, both the show and Sheldon are up for awards), Mariska Hargitay for Favorite Actress in a Drama, and The Good Wife, Accidentally On Purpose, Glee and Modern Family (you'll have to vote a lot because those last three are in the same category).

So - go vote. I'm sure if you're reading this blog you're running out of things to do on the internet anyway.

The One Where I Stopped Blogging

Sorry - I have been completely swamped at work. Not to mention, I'm babysitting for a family the first part of this week so I'm headed there every afternoon. Generally, I'm just out of free time.

But - in an effort to keep you up to date, here's the rundown.

Friday night our friend Grant came in town and brought Jack. We made our way to Oasis and Rare Martini and then I stumbled upon our next-door neighbors' zombie party, which was...interesting.

Saturday morning we woke up in the middle of the night early to head towards Tuscaloosa for the Alabama - UT game. Grant had tickets and was sweet enough to let Liz and I tag along with them. We did all the things I love about Tuscaloosa: tailgating, football (and hotdogs), Gallette's, and band parties. I'll admit - I felt VERY old, but that's easy to get over. It was wonderful, and I was exhausted on Sunday morning.

Sunday I was asked to babysit for the next few days, so that's what I've been doing since then. This morning I got all of the kids up and tried to get out the door a little bit early. I was taking the dog by the vet before heading to work - so I figured a little extra time wouldn't hurt.

Well....all of that time got eaten up after the dog VOMITED on the master bedroom's bedspread. A VERY EXPENSIVE bedspread. After that was cleaned up I added dry cleaner's to my list of things for this morning and piled everyone in the car.

Eventually I did make it to work where it was only more hectic, and stressful, and made me want to go back to the babysitting.

So - that's where I am, and I'm hoping that this blog title doesn't actually come true...but as the week get crazier and crazier I may just fall off the map entirely. I guess I'll have to come back and beat you all over the head with the giant "I'm going to Texas on Friday" stick.

The Second One About Rain

My rain boots came in last night and they look AMAZING. They do have some blooming - but no scuffs, and wiping them down made a gigantic difference. I can see how if I spent $115 on a pair of rain boots I would be a little bit ticked at their less than perfect appearance when they arrived on my doorstep, so I guess that's why they get sold on eBay through an outlet. Either way - I'm super happy. I have a problem - sometimes I buy things on sale just because I think I'm getting a great deal. Saving $80 on something I wanted anyway is great! I might be trying this eBay thing more often.

click the image for Flickr link.