The Cure for Writer's Block

Introducing: Puppy Love

2012-01-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all! I know, I know. I suck at blogging regularly. It's one of my New Year's Resolutions to be better about it, though, so hang in there with me! Things have been INCREDIBLY busy. NTP got a job, lost the job (agency lost some big clients and had to make cutbacks - last one in, first one out kind of thing so keep him in your prayers please!), had a great Thanksgiving with the family in LaGrange, planned and threw an awesome, if I do say so myself, office Christmas party (for 200 guests), managed to make it home for Christmas after a wreck on the way to the airport (bummer, I know), and survived the remaining days of 2011 with... wait for it... a PUPPY!!!!

Yep, that sweet little face you see is my new little man, Mason. We named him Mason Rhett because it kind of looks like he has a dark mustache, just like Mr. Butler. :) He's a sable cockapoo, half cocker spaniel half poodle, and we love him. The bestie would tell you that I have my pulling out my hair moments because he's definitely a handful (thanks for listening to all my whining Ky), but the sweet cuddly moments make all the peeing on my carpet and biting my brand new J.Crew sweater worth it.

Here's some more photos of the little nugget. Bear with me, they're iPhone photos so they're not the best quality ever, and we don't have very many because we're too busy trying to keep him from eating everything in sight. But more to come, I promise! And if any of you have any awesome training tips we'd be more than happy to hear them! The potty training is going pretty well. It's the biting that we're struggling with right now. And when we say "NO!" he seems to think we mean "Oh that was so fun, keep jumping at momma's face and biting her hair!" Sooo yeah. Help please.

Hope everyone is doing well and that your New Years' Resolutions stick!

War Eagle Weekend

2011-11-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend I had an awesome girls' weekend with my momma. She's an Auburn alum and I've been a lifelong fan (although I do bleed garnet and gold) so we thought it would be fun to go to a game together. Turns out her old roommate from AU has season tickets (the good kind with free food) so we got some great seats. Here's a few of my favorite pics from the game. Check out that Auburn sunset!

And the night was made even better by a great win for the Tigers (and FSU). We stayed at my grandparents' house in LaGrange on the farm and I got to eat at some of my favorite LaGrange comfort food, see my grandma at the nursing home, and get a ride around the farm with my daddy. The leaves were all bright oranges, yellows, and reds and it was just so gorgeous. Now I'm looking forward to heading back for Thanksgiving and doing some target practice. :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend and are almost halfway through a great week!

Good News & Good Friends

2011-10-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

It's been busy, busy, busy as usual, but I'm so happy to update y'all on a few things. First off, NICK GOT THE JOB HE WANTED! Champagne for everyone! Well, we had champagne. Y'all can celebrate as you see fit. Second, I got the results back from my last girly doctor's visit and everything is back to normal! Double yay! Third, saw another doctor yesterday about some ridges I have on my fingernails and she thinks I just have a simple circulatory problem (no autoimmune diseases - but she's doing another blood test just in case it's something hereditary - momma has the ridges too) and that I just need to keep my hands warm! She turned the AC wayyy down in my examining room and sure enough the tips of my fingers turned blue. I never noticed it before, but I HAVE noticed my hands are always cold. Now we know why. So she told me to stop stressing (I think I've heard that before...) and lay off the coffee. Ummm... we'll think about that one. So anyway, GOD IS GOOD!

Now on to my fabulous weekend with my two besties, Ky and CBK. We had a BLAST going to the FSU vs. Maryland game, watching FSU kick butt, then going shopping and out for margaritas, obvs. Here's a breakdown of the weekend.

Hope everyone else had a fabulous weekend as well! I'm trying to catch up on all of your posts! Be patient with me!

Love, hugs, good news and good friends...

WDE Weekend

2011-10-17T10:24:00.001-07:00

Back when NTP and I decided to move back to the South from California I resolved to go to as many FSU and Auburn games as possible. So far this season we've been to two FSU games (headed back to Tally again this weekend!) and went to the Auburn vs. UF game this past weekend. We obviously had to meet up with a few of our favorite twitter friends and indulge in some amazing tailgate food!

The weather was perfect, the tailgate was right across the street from Samford Hall, the food was AMAZING (_grits pulled pork sammies are off the chain!), and Auburn won! War eagle! Now I just have to recover from last week so I can get ready for girls' weekend with my two besties in Thomasville/Tallahassee this weekend!

Anyway, here's a few of my favorite photos from the weekend. :) Please excuse our boys. They're out of control.

Love, hugs, and WDE!

GA Official

2011-09-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in over a month (Ahh!), but I've been super busy with my wonderful new job (woohoo!), moving into my fantastic apartment in Sandy Springs, and becoming an official resident of Atlanta, Georgia!! I'm so incredibly thrilled with how everything is falling into place for me. I truly feel God has led me right where I need to be and I'm so thankful. Now we're just hoping that NTP finds the perfect job very soon. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated!

I promise to catch up on all of your blog posts ASAP. I've missed y'all!

Love, hugs, and new beginnings...

A Porch's Story

2011-07-18T08:37:00.001-07:00

For those that don't know this, we have a large farm here in West Georgia. About 700 acres of hay, cattle, a granite quarry, a small kitchen garden, and about 22 rental properties. So as you can imagine, there's no lack of things to do. I don't weigh enough to operate the tractor to bale hay so lately I've been working on the rental houses. One of which was my great-grandparent's house, built in 1900 by my Great Grandpa, fondly referred to as Daddy Cooley (James Brinkley Cooley). And like any 111 year old house it has its issues. A few cracks in the doors (all original) and unfortunately the last renters didn't treat it as well as it deserved. Let's just say I gagged when I walked in for the first time. (Think non-pottytrained animals and pests.)

Anyway, I've been put in charge of turning the house around and getting it ready to rent again. And wouldn't ya know it, we already have renters ready to move in August first! So between replacing the floors, cleaning, and completely renovating the porch, I'm a busy girl. The porch has been my favorite and most time-consuming because porches just hold so much meaning. So much happens on a Southern porch. It's simply a part of life here and this porch has always been special to me. It has seen many births, deaths, marriages, parties, cookouts, and even served as a bedroom for Daddy Cooley before AC found its way to LaGrange. Yep, he slept on the porch. It served as a place to shell butterbeans, shuck corn, tell exaggerated stories, pull pranks, and watch the sun set while rocking in a handmade rocking chair. It's where Mama Cooley rang the bronze dinner bell her momma used and where the "kid table", made of plywood on top of sawhorses sat every Sunday. My grandmother was born in this house and my grandfather proposed to her on the steps of this porch that's seen it all. It still has it's original wood and banisters and I've seen so many pictures of my mom as a little girl sitting on the steps grinning and holding a different animal in each picture. Oh, and the clothesline out back is still the same one that my momma's pony ran under and knocked her off with when she was about 8. So needless to say, I love this porch and I love this house. And I hope I do it justice.

Bridal Shower! (As Promised!)

2011-07-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

Look at me on top of things! I've been running around like a crazy person getting things ready for the meeting with the recruiter tomorrow and I just received another e-mail seconds ago informing me that a recruiter is also reviewing my resume for a position at Emory! Sweet! I plan on staying in GA for about two weeks so I don't have to drive back and forth over and over. So if any of you lovely ladies are in LaGrange, HOLLA! Momma and I also plan on making a trip over to her alma mater, Auburn, (WAR EAGLE!) for the day sometime while we're up there. I'll be sure to post pics from Toomer's. :) But without further ado, here are some of my favorite pics from the bridal shower we hosted last weekend! I literally made all the decorations, favors, and a majority of the food. It was a blast. I should totes do it for a living. Who wants a party planner!? Ok I'm done rambling. Enjoy! (P.S. Not posting a ton of pics of the guests because I don't really know many of them. Respecting some privacy.)

The lovely bride with her sister and mother.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful week so far! I'll try my best to keep y'all posted on interview/job updates. I have a feeling something is going to come up very soon! Feeling oddly calm... but I'll take it!

It Just Don't Slow Down!

2011-07-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

Wow. I suck. I don't know how all you lovely ladies lead such awesome and exciting lives AND still have time to blog every day. It blows my mind. Obvs I don't have those kinds of time management skills. Anywhooooo...

Things have been, ohhhh just a wee bit crazy. Not too long after I posted the last post I sent my resume to my bestie's father, who then sent it to an old co-worked in Atlanta, who then sent it to his company's marketing director, who then sent it to a recruiter. Whew. Anyway, the recruiter called and we had a great phone interview. Half an hour later, she asked me to come in the next day for a face-to-face interview with both her and then the marketing director of this GINORMOUS international company. Umm, yes. Of course I'll be there. Nevermind that means waking up at 4 am to drive 8+ hours back up to Georgia to be there in time. I totally did it. Me and my giant coffees. Long story short, not sure it went so well, but who knows. Like my mom said, if anyone doubted how much I want a good job, they don't doubt it anymore. After the interview I then drove 2 and a half hours to LaGrange to spend the night at my grandparent's house and then headed back to Florida the next day. On a holiday weekend. You can only imagine the traffic. But again, it was an experience and I'm better for it.

Since then, my mom and I managed to throw a BOMB-A** bridal shower for a girl I grew up with. Pictures to come ASAP because for real, not to toot my own horn, but toot toot! Not only that, but today I was asked to make the bride's veil. As in take her mother's old veil, sew on new lace, and attach it to a comb. No pressure or anything.

But the fun don't stop there folks! Guess who got ANOTHER call from a recruiter today!? That'd be me! That's right I'm heading back up to Georgia after my post op in Gainesville Wednesday and meet with the recruiter Thursday afternoon to discuss a marketing position with a manufacturing company in Kennesaw. Should be interesting. Fingers crossed!

And that's about it for now. I promise to put the bridal shower pictures up as soon as I can - hopefully tomorrow. So stay tuned for some eye-candy!

Hope all of you lovely ladies are doing well!

To Do List

2011-06-27T07:20:00.001-07:00

Okay, so things are FINALLY starting to settle down a little. My ear surgery went well, thank goodness and recovery has been soooo much better than the last one. We're all very thankful for that. I spent a week in Georgia at my grandparents' house doing work for the farm (not manual labor, just paying the bills, taxes, collecting checks from renters, stuff like that), but now I'm back in Florida and have the house to myself so I can crack down on my to do list.

1. Find a job.

2. Finally finish unpacking so I can stop living out of boxes.

3. Find a job.

4. Get majorly crafty to prepare for an upcoming bridal shower Momma and I are throwing.

5. Find a job.

6. Wash my car.

7. Find a job.

Yeah that pretty much covers it. Hope y'all have a wonderful Monday! (I'm sure that's possible, right?)

P.S. If anyone knows of any jobs in the Atlanta area please help a sister out! E-mail me! alyson.m.hart@gmail.com Thanks lovelies :)

I'm Alive... Barely.

2011-06-14T05:09:00.001-07:00

This is exactly how I feel right now. I'm exhausted! Since I've been MIA for the past few weeks, let me catch y'all up.

I shipped all my stuff home and flew to Orlando on a red-eye flight on which the man behind me proceeded to kick my chair the ENTIRE four and a half hours. I tried to lean my chair back, he'd push it up. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep. Oh, and I lost my earplanes in the middle of the flight, so decent was super fun on my poor ear.

After I landed I was reunited with my mom and dad (tears from mom and me) and we headed to Tiny Town, Florida. Not 10 minutes into the drive my dad was hounding me about graduate school and the first argument began. Sweet, right? But we survived and made it home, where I immediately went to sleep for... 30 minutes. Long day of errands and then I headed off to Orlando with the bestie for her Bachelorette Partyyyy! We had soooo much fun, even though the minivan (that's right, kickin' it in the minivan!) we all squeezed into got towed during dinner and when we called the police dept. to find which towing company took it they didn't have on record anyone towing it, so then we thought it was stolen and they sent a cop out to stay with us until we found something out, and one of my ex boyfriend's (who is the sister of the bride's good friend) came and picked us up to ferry us back home. Awkward and hilarious at the same time.

Then after that it was off to Blue Ridge, GA for the wedding which was stunning and super fun. I have an amazingly gorgeous best friend and that's all there is too it. Sorry I don't have any pictures up. I was so busy running around setting things up that I never had much time to take some.

Then it was back to Florida for a multitude of doctor's appointments. One of which almost stopped my heart completely. I think I posted a little vague somethin'-somethin' about some "girl" issues I've been having. Well on my last pap, it came back abnormal and they've detected what looks like precancerous cells on my cervix. I'm 22. I FREAKED. Went to the Dr. the next day and she said this isn't anything to get too worried about yet. It's treatable and cervical cancer takes decades to form. So, with God's help and y'all's prayers I should be just fine. It was immensely terrifying at the time though. And speaking of health, I go in for my THIRD ear surgery this Friday. We drive over to Gainesville Thursday for my pre-op and then surgery is Friday morning. Bleh. Hopefully this one will go much better than the last one though.

And to cheer myself up over all of this I had a garage sale this past weekend to get rid of all my old stuff. AKA clothes from middle school, old boyfriend's clothes, old stalker's weird presents, etc. I made a pretty penny and now I'm going shopping. Which actually means I'll just be keeping my friend company while she shops since I'm unemployed and all. But hey, it's all good!

And if you made it this far, bless you. I promise to not be such a Debbie-Downer anymore. I really am feeling much better and am just ready to be past this speed-bump in my life. MOVING FORWARD!

The Big Move... back.

2011-05-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry again for not posting as often as I should. Things have been pretty crazy. I'll start where I left off and try to keep it as short as possible...

1. I sold my wonderful car. And cried like a baby. I listed her on Craigslist (sketch) and within minutes my phone was ringing off the hook. I convinced NTP to do all the talking just so they didn't get any girl-all-alone creepy ideas. Long story short, we ended up selling her to the first people that came to look at her. They made an offer right on the spot and I took it. I made more money than I expected to, so that was good, but I was still so sad to see her go. It was time though.

2. I've been on a packing rampage. Since I just sold my car I'm obviously not driving across the country back to the Southeast. Soooo I've been slowly shipping stuff home for the past month. But now it's crunch time. Unfortunately, I'm not a very smart packer because I keep packing/shipping things I end up needing later. Side note: you should have seen me trying to help NTP carry a giant heavy box down the stairs in my heels. He was laughing so hard he almost dropped the box. Twice.

3. My emotions are all over the place. One minute I can't wait to go home and hug my parents and the next minute I'm clinging to NTP like I'll never see him again (we'll only be apart for 2 months - but it still sucks). I'm ready to finish this job, but at the same time I hate the thought of going back on the job hunt. Plus it was really nice that NTP and I got to work together. However, we've had a lot of problems with work that will be nice to be rid of. Also, I'm so sad that I JUST made a wonderful friend, Amy over at Sweet Home Amy, through Twitter and now I'm moving away from her! I'm REALLY going to miss our Taco Tuesday margaritas at Cabo Cantina! So like I said, a lot of mixed emotions... however I do have one thing to look forward to...

4. MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING! The lovely Miss Kyla is getting married to her handsome high school sweetheart whom I adore. I board a plane in LA Friday night and I arrive in Orlando Saturday morning, just in time to scarf down some Dunkin' Donuts (oh how I've missed it!), get a much needed hair cut, scarf down on Sonny's and some sweet tea (this goes without explanation), and then prepare for Bachelorette Party festivities! It's going to be a blast and I can't wait to be reunited with some of my favorite girls! Then after a couple days of staring at my momma (I miss her something awful) I'll be making the trek up to Georgia with the always awesome and adorable CBK for the wedding! I'm so glad I'll have a bunch of exciting things to take my mind off of the tumult of my life.

Things will work out. They have to. Besides, God has it all figured out already anyway. :)

Old Faithful

2011-05-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

I've officially listed Old Faithful for sale on craigslist. :( Sad day. I've already had one phone call, but I completely chickened out that I wouldn't know any answers to their questions that by the time I shoved the phone in NTP's hand to answer we missed the call and they didn't leave a message. Lame.

I have two weeks before I leave California to sell her and if I don't (or I get offered under $1500, then I'm giving her to charity so someone that really needs her can enjoy her as much as I have.

I've been completely emotional about selling my sweet car. We've been through so much together, ya know!? I got her from my mom when I was 16 and we've been together ever since. We made it through high school and endless trips to the beach, through a rear-end collision on a bridge one rainy night after the bestie's birthday celebration in Orlando (with only a scratch on the back bumper! Hello super safe Volvo!), we went to college together and enjoyed driving through tree covered canopy roads in Tallahassee, and then we drove across the country together to California! She's a trooper and I love her dearly.

I'm going to cry buckets when I sell her/give her to charity, but it's time. Time to move on to a new chapter in my life. I'm trying to think of moving back to the Southeast as a fresh start and not a step back. It's time for a new car, in a new city, in a new state, to make new memories in for the next 13 years.

I love you Old Faithful. I hope your next owner loves you as much as I have.

Keep Calm and Carry On

2011-05-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that things have been rough over the past year. From moving across the country, 6 months without a job, eventually getting a job where I'm constantly frustrated and cry in the car at least once a week, deciding to go back to school and then realizing I can't for at least another year or two, and now moving back to the southeast and practically starting over. I'm having abnormal girl problems (I won't go into detail, but we'll just say I feel like I'm drying up), that have had me constantly concerned for about 5 months now. My dad, a nutritionist and prior professor of anatomy and health, has told me over and over that what's happening is natural and he doesn't think anything is wrong. I've seen a doctor who says I'm fine, but I'm getting a second opinion when I get home just to make sure. Who knows, maybe it's just the BC the last doc put me on. I want to have kids someday and this kind of thing really scares me. I also have to have another ear surgery in the middle of June. I'm not as concerned about it as I was the last time because I at least know what to expect. It's going to hurt, and it will be rough, but it could be worse.

Basically, I'm struggling to put all my faith in God. I know he has a plan and I know he won't give me anything I can't handle. In my heart I know that completely. But my head won't stop worrying. A year of constant stress is probably what's causing half the health problems in the first place! I'm physically and emotionally exhausted and I'm so so so ready for things to work out and fall into place.

But there's only one thing to do. Take a deep breath, say a prayer, and carry on.

Sunshine yellows!

2011-05-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

I'm still royally obsessed with the Royal Wedding and also overwhelmed with all the other news events that have happened in the past week. So I'll keep this short...

1. God bless America and God bless our troops. (I can't consciously celebrate the death of another human being, no matter how evil, but I'm so grateful for our troops.)
2. My prayers continue to go out to everyone affected by the tornadoes. Our farm in Georgia amazingly had very little damage. My momma said you can actually see where the tornado lifted off the ground, traveled over our farm, and touched down on the other side of our property where it then took out a barn and our cousin's cement garage. My parents are busy helping friends and family get everything back in order.
3. The Middleton girls are hot. Period.

So on another note, I thought I'd spare y'all another post on one of those three and decided to share the happiness I'm finding in the color yellow right now! Bright, happy, fun, and soooo summer. Gotta' love it.

These bad boys are in my closet right now and I LOVE them! And once again, another shocker coming your way... They're from Payless!

I adore this Lilly dress. It looks so flattering.

And I extra adore this Lilly dress.

Can't remember where this beauty is from, but I love the yellow and cream canvas together!

Hope you're all recovering from the craziness, late nights, and early mornings of the past week!

Napa Valley Dreaming

2011-04-28T11:08:00.001-07:00

As promised, I've got some gorgeous (at least I think they are) pictures from our trip to Napa this past weekend. NTP got a hold of my camera and was semi-paparazzi all day so I apologize that there are quite a few photos of me. I guess he likes me or something. Who knew?? Also, I'm warning you, there are a LOT of photos! And these aren't even half of what we took! Anyway, here's some eye candy! Hope you like them as much as I do!

This was definitely my favorite vineyard. The majority of photos come from here. The people were so nice and laid back and it was absolutely gorgeous. I highly recommend visiting this vineyard for anyone thinking of making a trip to Napa!

The BBQ made my day, if you can't tell.

Had to include a photo of the deliciousness.

The sun came out and it got a little toasty so I changed into my new Lilly frock. :)

This is Beringer Winery.

This is inside Castello di Amarosa, where The Bachelor is filmed.

That's the last one I'll bore y'all with. If you made it this far, yay! I hope your fingers aren't too tired from scrolling. Hope you enjoyed the photos and if you can, go to Napa ASAP!

Nautical(ish) Lovin'

2011-04-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Yet again, I've been horrible about blogging. Sorry! I really do intend to get back into the swing of things.

NTP and I went to Napa Valley this past weekend and had an AMAZING time! Wine tastings, exploring, photo-shoots, and Easter! It was truly gorgeous and I actually had to hold back tears when we started the drive back to LA. We must have taken at least a hundred photos and I plan on uploading them tomorrow on my day off so HOPEFULLY I'll have a post up with those very very soon! Stay tuned!

Until then... I thought I'd share my OOTD! It's definitely spring here in Cali and I love seeing all the roses this state is known for blooming everywhere I look. And with spring comes dresses! Yay! Here's one of the outfits I'm loving now!

That would be me ready to take on the day!

My handy-dandy monogrammed Lands End tote!

I LOVE a good wedge and these beauties are from Payless! Can you believe it!?

I hope y'all are having a wonderful week so far! Less than a month until I move back to the Southeast! YYAAAYYYY!!!! (I'm a tad excited in case you can't already tell.)

Channeling my inner Farrah Fawcett

2011-04-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Y'all know how I've been raving about my love for high-waist jeans. Now I'm not talking granny pants, mind you. Well I was feeling very 70's today so I decided to channel my inner Farrah Fawcett, who I used to LOVE when I was little bitty. My mom was a fan, which of course meant I was too.

Here's my OOTD!

And here's a couple photos of the lovely and much-missed Farrah back in the day.

Love, hugs, and the 70's...

Sprite and the Bridge to Nowhere

2011-04-01T14:13:00.001-07:00

Dear Sprite,

I'll be depending on you for the next couple of days. You know who is coming and she's already rearing her ugly head. So to avoid the nausea and hold me over until I get my appetite back (does anyone else LOSE their appetite when it's that time of the month or am I abnormal!?). Also, I'm going camping tonight so I'm really, really, REALLY going to need you to work your carbonated magic. Got it? You're the best.

Sincerely,
The girl that really hates this time of the month.

Ok, sorry about that. I'm struggling today. But on the camping note... we're going on an adventure to find the Bridge to Nowhere! Not the Sarah Palin bridge - the SoCal bridge! Here's a picture.

From what I hear, the Governor of California back in the 1930s ordered a bridge to be built in the San Gabriel mountains. The bridge was obviously meant to connect to a road on each side creating a mountain pass. However, for some reason the road was never built and now there is a bridge in the middle of nowhere! So of course we feel the need to go hike to it, and... ummm... bungee jump off of it! I'm not even crazy about roller coasters so I am definitely not jumping off a bridge while attached to a cord. No thank you. But of course, NTP is. "It's on his bucket list" which is another way of saying, "I really want to do this and I know if I say it's on my bucket list you'll let me." So tonight a bunch of us will be setting up camp in the wilderness and tomorrow morning, bright and early, we'll trek across the mountain (unless my "visitor" decides to incapacitate me), cross a river multiple times, and I'll tape the crazies jump off the bridge.

"And if they told you to jump off a bridge would you do that too!?"

Apparently yes.

Loving White Pants

2011-03-31T12:07:00.001-07:00

Spring is here! Time to break out those white pants/shorts/skirts and give them some fresh air! It's no secret I love vintage fashion and right now I'm loving high-waisted white pants. They're so flattering and show off your girlish figure perfectly while being very modest and classy at the same time. Who doesn't love that!? So I thought I'd share some of my favorite looks. I have no idea where to find any of these - I'm on the hunt for a pair myself, so if you see some, LET ME KNOW! Thanks beautiful ladies. :) Hope y'all enjoy the eye-candy!

I know these are shorts, but how cute are they!?

Sigh...

And the changes continue...

2011-03-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Welllll... apparently MBA programs require a minimum of two years, post-grad, full-time, professional experience before admittance into their programs. So now that I've paid over $300 for the various entrance exams, have been studying my butt off, and have been freaking out non-stop over which school, online or on-campus, etc... I can't go for another year or two anyway. I talked to an FSU admissions officer yesterday and they want FIVE years minimum experience. I'm crushed. I would like to think I'm strong and that this is just another thing I can bounce back from, but I'm exhausted. From moving cross-country to California, to spending six depressing months looking EVERYWHERE for a job, to deciding to move back to the southeast and all of the unknowns that come with that, like where am I going to live, what am I going to do, is it going to take that long to find a job again, how long will I go without seeing NTP, oh yeah, and ANOTHER flipping surgery... I'm simply worn out. I obviously do not handle change or stress as well as I thought. I just want to know what I'll be doing in two months. I want that stability back. I thought I'd get it by going back to school. I'd be studying and working towards a goal. Instead, I'm studying for pretty difficult tests just so I can wait however many years until I have enough experience. And what really stinks, is by then I would like to think I'll have a full-time job and be married or close to it. That's not the time I want to be going back to school. Unfortunately, that's how these programs are designed.

I'm sorry to go on and on ranting. I have a lot to be thankful for. I really do. I'm just seriously struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

NTP walked in on me crying last night. He grabbed the car keys, told me to put on a jacket, and took me to Chili's for my favorites - a strawberry margarita, skillet queso, and a chocolate molten lava cake. It's the little things, right?

Big Changes

2011-03-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, where to begin. Well I guess I'll just get down to it. I've decided to go back to school and get a Master's Degree. SURPRISE! I'm hoping to get an MBA. Another surprise coming from a girl with communications and poli sci degrees. I just figured that with my two bachelor's and with a Master's in Business, so many more doors will open, the potential for advancement will be greater, the PAY will be better (although just about anything would be more than I'm making now), there will be more stability, and I'll be more marketable! Plus, I'm a nerd and I miss school. I like learning. Sure, I complain as much as any other student, but I do enjoy it. Not sure how I'm going to enjoy accounting classes, but we'll see.

Unfortunately, I made my choice a little late. A lot of deadlines for my top schools have already passed. However, I think I've got it narrowed down to three choices.

1. Kennesaw State University outside Atlanta. From what I can tell this looks like a great school with a great program and the best part is I can finish in 18 months. LOVE that. I'm waiting to hear back from an admissions officer on exactly what they're looking for in an applicant. Website just says professional experience, undergrad transcripts, and GMAT scores. Since I was a business major in college, I'm just wondering if I need to take prereqs or anything.

2. FSU!! GO NOLES! Of course my alma mater is still in the running. I missed the deadline for their accelerated program on-campus, but I can still make the deadline for their online program. Only problem is it takes 28 months to complete because they only allow you to take 2 classes each semester. Boo. We'll see if there's a way around that.

3. And lastly, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. This school would be great if I got a certain job that may or may not happen in Blue Ridge. (This job would include my own cabin in the mountains rent free!) However, I'm not putting all of my eggs in this basket (haha Easter reference. ok corny).

So that's how it's looking right now. I'm studying like crazy for the GRE and the GMAT and I won't lie, all of this math is super intimidating. I'm so lucky to have a math-genius mom and boyfriend.

Say some prayers for me! I'm really praying that everything works out just how it's supposed to and things FINALLY start falling into place. I'm so sick of instability.

Love, hugs, and getting my nerd on...

Kiss Me! I'm (part) Irish!

2011-03-17T10:43:00.001-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day lovelies! I'm excited about today because it's one of the few days being fair-skinned and covered in freckles is celebrated! Woohoo!

I'm a little Irish on both sides. Daddy-O is half Irish, half Cherokee Indian. Yeah, crazy combo I know. He's super tan, black hair (before he went bald), and then bright green Irish eyes. I took after Momma - fair, freckles, and blue eyes. My aunt did some genealogy research a while back and discovered that my ancestors on my mom's side came to America during the potato famine in Ireland. The rest are French, although according to my VERY proud grandfather, "We're American, dammit." Gotta love him.

So kiss someone Irish today! And now I'll leave y'all with a wonderful Irish blessing.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Prayers and Santa Monica Sunshine

2011-03-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

The texts and phone calls started rolling in around 4:30 a.m. this morning from concerned friends and family. At the time I had no idea the destruction that hit Japan and was just trying to sleep. After about the third call I realized what y'all on the east coast already knew. A huge earthquake hit Japan and a tsunami was headed my way.

I realized that my apartment is far enough away from the ocean, with a mountain in-between, so I stopped worrying that I would be swept away. However, where I work is about 200 yards from the beach in Santa Monica. I got online and reports said there should be little to no damage in SoCal, but that they were evacuating the beaches just to be safe.

Going to work this morning felt a little strange. It just felt wrong to head towards the beach when I knew there was a tsunami coming. Thankfully, by the time I got to work the waves had hit and caused no damage. It was about a seven foot surge and as far as I know, no one was hurt and nothing was damaged. Whew!

Our Friday intern is from Japan and we anxiously waited for her to come in to see how her family and friends are back home. Everyone is ok! We let out a big sigh of relief and are now sending our thoughts and prayers to those less fortunate.

I thought I'd share a peaceful picture of the Santa Monica Pier. I think we've all seen enough images of destruction and it might be nice to see something beautiful.

Love, hugs, and prayers...

A Journalist's Red Carpet

2011-03-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

I've got some exciting news for y'all! Well, it's exciting for me and I'd like to think y'all want to celebrate and share in an interweb toast with me. Anyway, I'm a finalist for an Associate Press Award! Woohoo!!! (Insert happy dance.)

Apparently my mentor from college, a news director in Tallahassee, submitted one of my sports reporting features to the AP, which has a big awards ceremony each year for tons of different categories. I didn't even realize I had been nominated, let alone a FINALIST until today! Myself and my amazing editor, Alyse Danikowski, are up for "Best Sports Feature of 2010." Pretty sweet huh!? And what's even cooler is that we're up against another FSU alum! 'Noles are sweeping the board baby! So regardless of who wins, the Seminoles rock. :)

However, I would really like to win so fingers crossed! (I'm a little competitive if you can't tell.)

The video in question is below. Please disregard the awful stand-up. It was about 10 degrees with super strong winds and the athlete kept flirting with me so I was little awkward. But the rest is awesome!

Have a great Thursday y'all! (Insert one more happy dance for good measure.)

Fat Tuesday!

2011-03-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone! For all of you in NOLA today, I'm incredibly jealous. I hope y'all get plenty of awesome beads (without showing your goods, of course) and eat lots of yummy cajun & creole food! I'm craving a cupcake today so I thought I'd share some fun Mardi Gras cupcakes I found. :) Enjoy!

On the hunt...

2011-02-25T16:23:00.001-08:00

Ahhh! I know I keep apologizing for not blogging more regularly, but in my defense I've been very busy and need to work on time management. So with that said... I'll fill y'all in on what I've been obsessing over lately. Well not really obsessing. I would just like to find this and rock it to work, oh I don't know, every day.

However, I do NOT want to pay the $1,000 Bergdorf price tag. No way Jose. So if y'all know of anywhere a poor girl can find some awesome high-waisted pants (that don't look like your grandma's) please help a sister out and let me know!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I'm contemplating heading over to the Academy Awards to see if I can get a glimpse of anyone! If I do, I'll be sure to take some pictures for y'all! Bye now!

Oh Lilly...

2011-02-04T12:25:00.001-08:00

Lilly Pulitzer, you're making me drool at work. Not a cute look. I love all holidays, including the love-filled Valentine's Day. If I was single, I went out with my single girlfriends. If I had a date (or two - that was only once though and didn't end well) I enjoyed being wined, dined, popcorned, movied, or whatever. This year will be my second Valentine's Day with NTP and I have no idea what we'll be doing (besides going to work). We do plan on going snow-skiing and snowboarding the weekend before and the weekend after is our birthdays (woohoo!), but I think I'm in for a surprise on V-Day. Which is fine with me! I sure love a surprise! And, yes, I realize it's over a week away, but I get excited. Don't hate.

So in a moment of weakness I looked at Lilly Pulitzer online to take a quick break from work. And oh. my. word. I WANT IT ALL! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but imagine some of the adorable Valentine's outfits you could create. Sigh...

Love, hugs, and Lilly...

Valentine's Crafts (bookworm style)

2011-01-30T11:29:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies! As most of ya'll are in the Southeast and I'm the lone transplant out in sunny California (not for long!) please forgive me when I say my morning is just getting started. At 11:00. I'm just not a morning person. But I can already tell today is going to be a great day. I made my coffee just right, caught up on Twitter and my RSS Feed, and plan on reading and sewing most of the day. (My momma is paying me to bind her quilts for her!)

Anyway, I got a little crafty the other day and decided I needed to make a Valentine's wreath. And being the bookworm that I am, I thought I'd give this a try! Here's the finished product.

I get lots of books as presents (because everyone knows I'm a total book nerd) and I happened to have multiples laying around so I took one of the and cut the pages into circles (which was kind of heartbreaking to do at first). I cut them into different sizes and shapes. Some have scalloped edges, others are just round. And then I pushed the centers down into a point so the pages formed little flowers.

Then the hot glue gun came out and I glued the hundreds of them onto a flat wooden wreath I got at Michael's for like $2. After I managed to cover the whole wreath, I added little embellishments like the different sized pearls and colorful paper flowers. I also thought I should add some color to the pages of the wreath so I took some scrapbook paper to the pages I already glued on to make it pop a little.

And to wrap it all up I added this paper mache heart I got at Michael's for $2. I LOVE the color and shape and I think it really ties the whole thing together. Besides, my last name is Hart so there HAD to be a heart in there somewhere. :)

I hope ya'll have a magnificent Sunday!

Dress LOVE

2011-01-25T15:09:00.000-08:00

Big news ya'll. I finally found the PERFECT dress to wear to my best friend's summer wedding! I'm so over-the-moon with this dress that I think NTP is actually jealous. Here it is, courtesy of the always lovely ModCloth!

Love. Love. Love.

Birthday Wish List

2011-01-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while I was eating lunch I decided to give my mom and NTP some birthday present ideas. (It's a month away, but I like to be prepared.) I asked Momma for the Jack Rogers that I've been lusting after for years. (Plus I'm the only one of my friends that doesn't have any yet, which is never cool. Duh.) NTP got an e-mail with a link to the adorable top from ModCloth (which I've been obsessed with for a couple years now.) And since I have access to wonderful photoshop at work, I decided to make a little somethin'-somethin' with a few pics of my "wish list". :)

Top: ModCloth.com Vase, monograms, and mugs: Anthropologie.com Napkin holder & weight: Mariposa.com Flowers: Hopefully courtesy of NTP :)

Happy New Year! (4 days later)

2011-01-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

Holy smokes I've gotten really bad at posting regularly! I blame it on a whirlwind of festivities that have taken place in the last month. I flew home for the holidays, spent time at both our Florida home (where the friends are) and our Georgia home (where all the family is). I absolutely LOVED being home! I can't even explain how much I loved it. I ate more BBQ than I knew what to do with, I hugged my momma and daddy a zillion times, and stared at the bestie until she was sick of me. If ya'll can remember, a while ago I mentioned throwing her a bridal shower while I was home for the holidays. Well... I did just that and it was quite a success, if I do say so myself. Here's a little photo collage I stole from her (please forgive me Ky), but for all the lovely details (including a DELICIOUS quiche recipe) head over to her fabulous blog! :)

Quick update on me: I'm currently in my second week of having my first post-college big girl job and I love it! It's busy, fun, and different every day. I'm kind of a jack-of-all-trades at a full-service advertising/marketing and media production company. I work with NTP so we get to carpool, which is fun and relieves the boredom of insane traffic.

That's about it for now! For my New Year's Resolution I resolve to post more regularly! Hope ya'll haven't completely forgotten about me yet! :)

Boyfriend AND boss...

2010-12-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't blogged in over a month! Ah! I'm sorry! With the holidays and the job search in full swing it's been hard to find time. But I do want to take a minute to share something exciting/crazy with ya'll. I'm working for NTP's company this week (as long as they need me - fingers crossed for full-time employment!!). He called from work yesterday and said they were overwhelmed with stuff to do and asked if I could come in to take care of social media for all the clients. So I rode to work with him this morning, worked my butt off all day, and now I'm waiting for him to finish up some of his work so we can head back. It has been so funny having him as a "boss" today. (He's having the hardest time telling me what to do bless his heart.) I love that I'm FINALLY getting paid for something and really hope this turns into more than just a weeklong thing!

I'm hoping to have some Holiday themed posts coming soon, so be on the lookout!

And on another note... only 8 more days until I board a plane headed home for Christmas!!! Woohoo!!!

Love, hugs, and a bit of excitement...

Time for a haircut...

2010-11-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a haircut in so long that I'm embarrassed to admit just how long it's been. Let's just say it's been a very long time. However, I have an appointment with the greatest hairstylist/friend ever as soon as I get home for Christmas. So to prepare, I've been looking at some pictures for a new 'do. I can't decided whether to keep it long, go longer, medium length, or just chop it off into a cute little bob. I don't think I'll chop it off simply because I want to have long hair when I get married and I'm hoping that's within the next couple of years. And my hair grows fast, but not that fast. But I really do love a few of the really short styles. Here's a couple pictures of my hair now.

And here's some of the styles I'm considering. Let me know which are your favorites!

Lots of layers and I really love Carrie's full side-swept bangs.

Short and curly like Miss Applegate. I used to wear my hair like this and LOVED it!

Medium length with some teasing at the roots J. Simpson style.

Super short and choppy bob.

Or my hair idol, Reese Witherspoon's wavy 'do.

So many choices for someone that hates making decisions.

Love, hugs, and please help!

Halloween and Dress Hunting

2010-11-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! Reading through ya'lls blogs it looks and sounds like everyone did! As you can (or can't) tell, NTP and I were San Diego's favorite anchors, Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone. As CBK over at Plan Acourtingly said, we were channeling a time when the local anchorman reigned supreme. :) I think the costumes came together pretty well. It was super inexpensive and very easy, so we were happy since we're both on such tight budgets!

In other news, I'm on the hunt for a great dress to wear to my bestie's May wedding. I know, it's a LONG way off, but I like to be prepared. At the point, it's down to a cobalt blue simple dress and a floral strapless dress that I already own, or these pretty little numbers.

This beauty is from the always awesome Anthropologie.

I love this nautical number from ModCloth!

What do ya'll think!? And be on the look-out for tomorrow's post! I'm in need of some new haircut advice and will be posting a few picture ideas!

Love, hugs, and Happy November!

Potential Halloween Costume

2010-10-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

I've been a little slow on the Halloween costume this year. Normally I'm ready to go in September, but this year it has come down to the wire. So I thought, "Who or what can I be that doesn't require buying anything new (I'm broke) or doing anything extravagant?" Then NTP asked me to come up with something for him as well. So then I started thinking of couples costumes and came up with... drumroll please...

Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone from Anchorman! Nick just has to slap on a bushy mustache and a suit and I just have to... well... dress like I did for the past three years of on-air reporting. However, I think I'm going to visit Goodwill and try to find a cheap pink suit because the only suits I have are black or navy. Or I may end up going with my black and white tweed skirt and a black blazer. I think we also have some mics hanging around (you can tell we've been in news, huh?) so I don't need to make those. What do ya'll think? Good enough for a last minute costume??

Love, hugs, and smelly pirate hookers...

New Favorite Ballad

2010-10-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

When it comes to Southern music, the ballad is the foundation. It's meant to make you think, strike your emotions, and pull at your heart strings. I came across this song today and can't stop listening to it. It may seem a little morbid, but I think it definitely has a deeper meaning and I'm completely smitten with the sound of this band. The girl's voice is un-be-lievable! I hope ya'll enjoy it as much as I do. P.S. You may want a box of tissues nearby just in case...

Oh how I adore my Noles

2010-10-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

I would just like to take a moment to revel in the way this fall football season is going thus far. The Noles are on FIRE! (We may not have played super super well this past Saturday, but hey, a win is a win.) Ponder is just as beautiful as always. AND Auburn is undefeated! (and never fails to keep fans on the edge of their seats the whole game.)

Fall football is making me very happy this year. :)

Love, hugs, and the end zone...

Sneak Peak!

2010-10-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

Guess who's been a good girl and working diligently on her novel! ME! All you authors know that some days you may think everything you've written is absolute crap and other days you're on cloud nine just knocking out beautifully worded paragraph after paragraph. Today is one of those cloud nine writing days for me. :) The windows are open, a cool breeze is floating through, my pumpkin spice candle is burning next to me, and words are flowing like white water down the Ocoee River. See? I'm on a roll.

So in honor of my cloud nine writing day, I thought I would give ya'll another snippet of my novel in progress. Let me begin by saying that I STILL need some hilarious dating misadventure stories from all you lovely ladies. There are short diary entries between each chapter highlighting some funny dating misadventures, all based on true stories, like the one I'm giving a sneak peak of today. So ladies, please comment or e-mail me some of your funny dating stories! I can't wait to hear them! :)

Dear Diary, November 10, 2009
The girls next door that I share my dorm bathroom with have a friend in town. A guy. I met him today. He’s pretty cute, I guess. Not really my type. He was wearing lots of black. I’m more of a colorful person myself. Anyway, the girls gave him my number for some reason and now he’s been texting me and calling all day. He even invited himself over to my room for coffee tomorrow morning. Is it just me, or isn’t that weird? Regardless, I decided to be nice and give him some coffee. I will have my pepper spray readily available, though, in case he turns out to be a psychopath.

Dear Diary, November 12, 2009
Turns out the reason he wore all that black is because he’s dark. We sat in my room and had coffee yesterday morning and he informed me that his favorite color is black, he’s a socially liberal atheist, and loves insanely dark movies and books. I thought, ok fine. This obviously won’t work out because I’m a socially conservative Southern Protestant that likes wearing Lilly Pulitzer, watching chick flicks, and reading Jane Austen.
Apparently those huge differences meant nothing to him and he was heart-broken by my rejection. So he smashed some poor girl’s windshield in, thinking it was my car, with a fake Star Wars Jedi sword he keeps in his trunk.
Good thing I had the pepper spray handy. He was a psychopath.

Love, hugs, and life's misadventures...

Oh Regis and Kelly

2010-10-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I'm obsessed with Live with Regis and Kelly. And it's also no secret that I want to be Kelly Ripa. Or at least have her job. And a beautiful husband named Mark Consuelos. Moving on...

The past couple days I slept in too late to watch the show live (which I guess isn't really live since I live on the west coast right now, but whatever) and my TV was in the living room instead of my bedroom, which houses the DVR. So I had to get NTP to move the TV back into my room so I could watch the past couple recordings of the show. Well the TV wouldn't work. I started to freak out a little. My breathing was short, I got all clammy, my mind was racing... I'm pretty sure those are withdrawal symptoms. Luckily NTP finally got the TV up and running and I'm currently taking care of my Reg and Kelly fix. Whew.

Love, hugs, and close calls...

P.S. Dear Kelly, if you ever feel like retiring please give me a call. I would be happy to entertain Regis for you. :)

Updates, Updates, Updates...

2010-10-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

I realize I haven't blogged in almost a week, which in the blogging world may as well be 10 years. However, my momma has been here so I think I deserve a break, right?? Glad we agree. :)

Anyway... I had an interview for yes, ANOTHER unpaid internship this past Friday. It was with a very prestigious PR firm in Beverly Hills. The interview was certainly not what I expected. It turned out to be a group interview. We're talking about 14 girls from all over the world (I met an Aussie girl and LOVED her accent!) and 1 guy. Anyway, we were instructed to hand in our resumes and references and then take notes on a movie made by the owner of the company. It was all very interesting. It seems the owner is a very inspirational man and I did take a few wise remarks away from the video. My favorite - "No one said life was easy, and it's certainly not fair, but it's win-able." I like that. Anyway, I'm not really sure if we all got the internship or how that works, but we were supposed to e-mail the assistant with our availability. We'll see how that goes.

Also, I got in touch with a friend of a friend of a friend (oh networking) who is in PR out here and we're going to meet for coffee next week sometime to talk and see if I may be a good fit for her firm! She also gave me info on other companies in the area that are hiring and said she'd pass my resume along to a VP of a firm that she works with! I'm praying a paid position comes from this networking connection. Wouldn't that be swell!

In other news, the weather here has started to cool down (thank goodness!) and we've got the windows open enjoying the cool valley breeze. I'm definitely missing a Southern fall though. BUT... drumroll please... NTP and I have decided to move back to the east coast!!! Probably in the Atlanta area. It won't be until April or May, but I'm still very excited to be closer to my family. I'm a homebody, and while this has been and will continue to be an adventure, I'm ready to go home.

AAANNNDDDD I'm looking forward to my first care package from the bestie! Whoop whoop! I can't wait to see what's inside and will definitely post pictures when it arrives!

Now if you've made it through this novel, thank you very much for listening to my boring life stories. I appreciate the love. :)

Love, hugs, and surviving...

Momma visits!

2010-09-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

I am literally about to leave the apartment right now to go pick up my mom from the airport!!! If you can't tell, I'm really excited to see her. When you've had five weeks of major growing up to do and feel really depressed about not finding a job and whatnot, sometimes you just need your mom and I'm so thankful that mine is more than willing to fly across the country to hug me.

Love, hugs, and wonderful moms...

Why hello Fall! Welcome back!

2010-09-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

Happy first day of Fall! It's feeling rather crisp here in Southern California, but I'm dreaming of the reds, oranges, and yellows of the South on this fall day.

Isn't Fall lovely!? In other news... my momma is coming to visit Tuesday for a whole week! I'm SOOO excited! :)

Love, hugs, and the most wonderful time of the year...

Bridal Shower Ideas

2010-09-21T16:36:00.001-07:00

Good afternoon lovely readers! As ya'll know, my best friend recently got engaged to the love of her life and as her best friend I'm super excited to throw her a Bridal Shower. However, I am in need of some prep-tastic ideas. Here's the happy couple!

I have a couple ideas about a shower, but since she reads this blog I'm just going to post a couple of ideas I got from these pictures. The shower will be around Christmas so I'm not sure if I should have a bit of a Holiday theme or a theme more catered to her interests OR a combination of the two. Any and all suggestions are highly appreciated!

The Men's Guide to Love

2010-09-21T13:41:00.001-07:00

One of my good friends works for the Men's Guide to Love website and sent me this video this morning. Two adult identical twins finish each other's sentences and give other men advice on love. Enjoy!

The Man's Guide To Love #210 from themansguidetolove on Vimeo.

Love, hugs, and funny boys...

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

2010-09-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

First off, Congrats Regis Philbin on your new world record as the person with the most hours on U.S. television!

As most of you know, I've been on the job hunt for a while now. Unfortunately, all I've been able to find are more unpaid internships. So I have finally decided to go ahead and go with another internship. I found one at an international advertising and marketing consulting firm called 360 Creative Inc. that I'm pretty excited/nervous about. It's a three month social media marketing internship with the intent to hire full-time after three months. I also interviewed for another one that I really want, also social media marketing as well as the chance to cover red carpet events, but I haven't heard back from them yet, sadly. I'm trying to look on the bright side of things and have decided that I'm simply going to do the best I can and work as hard as I can to move up and succeed. How am I going to pay the bills for three months? Good question. It's super tough to get a serving job out here. You have to have quite an extensive serving resume in order to get a job. On a funny note, I was searching through Craigslist trying to find a part time job that would help with the bills, and I accidentally clicked on a janitorial job. I immediately starting laughing hysterically because as it turns out, I'm not even qualified for a janitorial job because I don't have any experience! It was one of those times where you either laugh or cry. I'm praying for faith. God always delivers.

Also, today I plan on writing ALL DAY. It is time to buckle down on my novel. As NTP so wisely said, my dream of publishing a novel will never come true if I keep putting off writing. I do that because sometimes I read over it and hate everything I've written and then get into a mindset that I'm a terrible writer. So I'm fighting that demon today and I'm getting on track.

Wish me luck!

Love, hugs, and pushing through the pain...

Dear Noles...

2010-09-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Seminoles,

Let me begin by saying I love you dearly, but you hurt my heart today boys. I woke up ready for an Oklahoma upset (I mean, what exactly are Sooners?) and even after the first touchdown (seriously refs? I'm blaming you for that one) I still had faith that ya'll would fight back and we'd go back to Tallasnazzy with a win. But letting them score on every possession? Boys boys boys. But not to fret, there's always next week. And C.P. I love you like puddin n pie, so please don't force me to defend your manhood and respond to an obnoxious gator's comment by remarking on his mullet while I'm minding my own business trying to leave the sports bar. K thanks.

Love always,
Your loyal fan Ally

P.S. Sorry to all my gator readers. I'm sure none of ya'll have mullets, but you should have SEEN this guy's. Wow.

Big (and I mean BIG) news!

2010-08-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

So like the title says, I've got some big news, but I think I'll save the biggest for last. So first off, we made it to Hollywood. We saw a lot of lovely and gorgeous things along the way. I'm always amazed by God's creations (like Zion National Park). Thankfully we only encountered one problem, which is now just hilarious. NTP's car got a flat tire on the very last day only two hours away from L.A. We were stuck in the middle of the desert and the temperature coming off the pavement was a toasty 136 degrees while him and his dad put the spare on. We managed to get the car to the nearest town (Barstow, CA) and into Walmart. The auto people at Wally World informed us it would be about two hours before the car was done. So we wandered around for two hours and then went to check on it. They had JUST gotten it down off the lift when the power went out. Apparently a little rain in the desert is a big deal and shuts the whole town down. So they kicked us all out of the store and locked it up. With NTP's car in the garage. Then started sending workers home. To make a long story short we finally did get the car and made it to L.A. five hours after we planned on getting there. Frustrating then, funny now. But anyway, we're working on getting settled in and I'm trying not to hyperventilate every five minutes.

Next on the news agenda... I'm about to revamp the ol' blog. I'm continuing to write (and maybe SOMEday I'll actually finish), but I think it's time for a new theme. So since I uprooted from the South I love so dear and moved to Hollywood, I think I'm going to share my adventures in figuring out how to be an adult, finding a job, and bringing a little of the South to this town.

And now for the biggest news. Drumroll please... MY BEST FRIEND IS ENGAGED!!!!! I'll let her tell ya'll all the adorable details on her blog Have Your Cake and Eat It Too. I'm so so so incredibly happy for her. She's marrying a wonderful man that takes very good care of her and I'm so excited to see what the future brings them. I'm also very sad that I can't be there to share in this with her. Lord knows I love throwing parties. But I'll find a way to help and share in as much as possible with her. She's the greatest friend a girl could have and I love her very much. Ok, I promise I'm done with the sappiness now.

Stay tuned for the Hollywood adventure!

Hawaii Recap!

2010-08-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Aloha! We got back from Hawaii yesterday after a very, very long flight and a little incident of missing luggage. However, I have now had plenty of sleep, sweet tea, catfish, and cheese-grits (and a lazy ride down Turkey Creek) so I'm doing good, except for the terror of driving across the country (starting tomorrow). But I'm not going to get into that right now. How about some beautiful pics of Hawaii instead!?

We started the vacation with mai tais and strawberry daiquiris and boyyyy were they tasty!

The sunset the first night in Waikiki :)

This is a waterfall on the North Shore that we hiked to and went swimming under. The water was soooo cold but it was so worth freezing for!

This is at Kaolua Ranch where they filmed tons of movies, including Pearl Harbor, Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Godzilla, and LOST!!! Look familiar?? :)

And for all you LOST fans, this is Hurley's golf course! :) (Can you tell I love LOST?)

Ok I won't bore yall with any more pictures. Tomorrow I embark on the long road to Cali and I will try to document the adventure as best I can to share with ya'll.

Time to bring some twang to Hollywood!

Love, hugs, and embracing my adventurous side...

Worst blogger ever, I know...

2010-07-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hello long, lost lovelies! Let me begin by saying I am so sorry I haven't blogged in almost three weeks, which is basically a lifetime in blog years. I'm currently trying to catch up on all your lives and pull my own together. And what better way to do that than make a list!

1. California was amazing. NTP was waiting at the bottom of the escalator at the airport for me with donuts (he knows me too well) and then when we got to his apartment there was two ginormous bags of sour patch kids (my favorite) and a bottle of Relax riesling wine (he REALLY knows me too well). We went hiking to the Hollywood sign, ate more cupcakes than I care to confess, saw a movie at the Arclight on Sunset Avenue, walked down the "Dreamer's Boulevard", ate at so many delicious places (including In-N-Out of course, took a trip to Newport Beach where we met his friend and said friend's wife (who is from Laguna!), but my favorite was just spending time with NTP again. But now I am home and after moving out of the house in Tallahassee (which was super emotional), I'm now going through all my stuff trying to organize, declutter, and decide what makes the cut for the big move to Californ-i-a (aka what fits in my little Volvo).

2. This big move and making this decision has absolutely been the most stressful period of my life and I am so incredibly ready to sleep in the same bed every night and go to the same job every day. That probably sounds extremely boring for ya'll, but after the past three months, it sounds like heaven. It's also been super emotional. My parents put the car title, insurance, and soon the cell phone in my name so I will be completely independent. I had a not-so-minor meltdown when this happened because I guess for some reason I always pictured a black void after college, not reality. Also, today has been my last full day with my parents for who knows how long. My mom and I have gone from random crying to hysterical laughing for no reason. It's sad but exciting to leave and it was so nice to hear from her that she admires me for taking this risk and going on this adventure. "Cause if you don't like it, you can always come home." :) Always good to know.

3. In addition to packing, crying, and laughing, I'm getting ready for Nick to come visit me! He should get here Friday or Saturday and we're going to spend some time here before heading back up to Tally for his graduation ceremony and then Hawaii for 10 days with his parents! (Quite the travelers, I know.) Then after that it will be a long trek across the country, but I'm excited to bring a touch of twang to Hollywood. Who knows, maybe I'll be famous. ;)

Love, hugs, and life turning upside down...

California Girls...

2010-07-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

As you all know, I embark on my trip to Los Angeles tomorrow and I'm beyond excited. I'm literally a big ball of energy. A friend said I look like a dog that can't stop wagging it's tail. Enjoy that analogy for a minute... but yes, I'm that happy. I canNOT wait to see NTP and explore L.A.!

And on that note, I'll leave ya'll with a little California lovin'. Trust me, you're gunna want to see this. :)

I'll try to post while I'm there but definitely check Twitter for lots of pictures! I'm sure I'll be posting tons every day. :) And if anyone has any suggestions on places to go or eat, please let me know!

Adios for now!

Is it Thursday yet?

2010-07-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

I can hardly contain myself I'm so excited for Thursday. Why? Because I'll be here!

I'll be flying all the way across the country for a 12 day job hunt/vacation, but what I'm most excited about... to see NTP!! I haven't seen him in about 10 weeks so needless to say we're a little excited. So excited that I've already packed my suitcase. I'm pathetic, I know. But in my defense NTP already has a list of things to do and places to show me. So we're both pathetic together.

Just a few more days to go. Breathe Ally, breathe.

Lilly Giveaway!

2010-06-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Sweet Southern Prep, is hosting an amazing giveaway with LWhelan's Designs, who you can find on Etsy. She specializes in creating unique Lilly items like coozies, hair accessories, and the featured giveaway item - this Lilly apron!

Head on over to Sweet Southern Prep's blog and enter the giveaway! I would REALLY appreciate it if you mention that I sent you :)

Good luck!

Two-Toned

2010-06-29T06:15:00.001-07:00

I had a request for a picture of my multi-colored eye (NTP "lovingly" refers to me as two-tone). So here's a picture! We don't really know why it's two colors. I was born with completely blue eyes and when I was about 7 a "freckle" popped up. Then it started growing. My doctor says it's not really anything to worry about, just the pigment changing color. It could stop and stay the way it is, or my whole eye could eventually be brown, who knows? Only time will tell. But for now, it's kind of fun watching people try to figure out what's wrong with my eyeball. :)

And I'm by no means the only one that's two-toned. A few friends also have "freckles" in their eyes, even celebrities like beautiful Kate Bosworth.

I wonder if we could have a national two-toned eye day, like national left-handed day. Just something to think about...

Love, hugs, and being different!

Sweet sweet sugar

2010-06-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

Yay for awards! And especially awards that contain my favorite substance on the planet, SUGAR! :) Adorably Southern Ashley from Miss Ashley in Mississippi sent me this Sugar Doll award. Thank you Ashley! If you haven't checked out her blog yet, you really should. Even though she's a gator, I love reading her posts. See!? Gators and Seminoles CAN get along!

Here's the rules...

Thank the person who gave it to you, share ten things about yourself, then pass the award on to ten bloggers you've recently discovered and let them know you gave them an award!

So here's my ten...

1. My left eye is half blue, half brown.
2. I have a minor shopping addiction. Ok, maybe a little more than minor.
3. I've been known to eat ice cream for dinner. Often.
4. My best friend could pass as my twin.
5. I have a love affair with water. Beach, lakes, rivers, you name it. I'm even a kayak tour guide.
6. I'm writing a book. And unlike the other three I've started, I'm determined to finish this one.
7. "I'm kind of a big deal" as Ron Burgundy would say. Just kidding, but I was a sports reporter for Sun Sports Network for a year covering FSU sports.
8. I love sour patch kids. Truly LOVE them. It's kind of an obsession. I'm working on it. But not really.
9. I'm not sure I could live without sweet tea. And I don't want to find out.
10. I'm a hardcore bookworm. I love love love to read. :)

And I pass this award on to...
1. Kate at Hoosier and Pearls
2. Ashton at Just a Small Town Girl
3. 5th Belle Avenue
4. Sailboats and Seersucker
5. Margen at Simply*Southern
6. Same Sweet Girl: Memoir of a Southern Belle
7. Petite Gorgeous
8. Melissa at Diary of a Blonde Bob
9. Juleps and JonJons
10. Misty Michelle

Thanks again Ashley!

Willpower where are youuuu??

2010-06-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

I am having the hardest time maintaining some self-control (shopping self-control, that is). I managed to leave ModCloth without pressing the BUY button, but now my sights are set on something else. Of course.

I've been looking at these adorable recipe card boxes from Preppy Paper Girl for a couple weeks now. However, upon reading her blog today I saw that she is now offering them in Lilly print. I'm practically swooning over the Lobster print. And the price is not bad at all. Especially including the monogram. Yet I can't seem to fork over the money. (And some that know me very well would say there's no point since I don't cook very often...)

Just something else to add to the buy-when-I-get-a-job list. But I figured I'd share with all you lovely ladies that don't already follow her!

Enjoy!

Oh ModCloth

2010-06-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

I knew looking at ModCloth.com was a bad idea. And I knew when I found this dress I should just stop right there and exit out of the site.

Miss Issippi Dress

However, I did not exit out and then stumbled upon this dress. Only one left. In my size. Fate? I think so. But sadly, I have no income. Go figure.

Fluid Dynamics Dress

Le sigh...

Reasons why YOU should hire me

2010-06-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

1. I make amazing coffee. Uh-may-zing. And copy machines are no match against me.
2. I work really hard. I mean REALLY hard. I spent 12 hours yesterday just looking and applying to jobs online.
3. I'm fun. I promise. No zombie 9-5er here.
4. Communication is my biggest asset. I'm great at talking. Try me.
5. I'm completely ready to start from the bottom and work my way up. I like climbing.
6. I'm really creative. I love writing, reading, decorating, designing, and believe the key to every project is in the details.
7. I've got experience. Yes, I just graduated college, but I was a busy girl while I was there. 3 internships AND worked as a reporter for a southeastern sports network.

And since 7 is a lucky number, we'll leave it at that.

If you want to see my resume and profile, network me (Alyson Hart) on LinkedIn.com!

Holla! (And I say that in as professional a way as possible.)

Celebration Photos!

2010-06-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

As previously posted, yesterday was my bestie's 21st birthday and we had an amazing time celebrating at Taverna Opa in Orlando! It was so much more than delicious Greek food, it was an absolute experience! Napkins raining down on us, running around the restaurant, dancing on the table, and the most insane belly dancer I've ever seen were just a few of the highlights! I think the night was definitely a success and I hope she had as much fun as I did. :) Here are some photos as promised!

My nautical themed presents for the birthday girl! (Wine bag made from real sails that sailed around the world - Sea Bags, Relax Riesling wine, and in the box a Mariposa sailboat wine stopper!)

Bestie drinks!

Birthday lemon drops!

Us girls dancing on the table

At the end of an amazing night!

Love, hugs, and celebrations!

Porch swing giveaway!

2010-06-22T07:57:00.001-07:00

Today is just the day for giveaways I suppose! Blonde in a Blog is hosting an AMAZING giveaway that ends July 1st. The prize is a gorgeous porch swing from Hayneedle.com If you've never checked out the site it's definitely worth browsing through! I've already got quite a wish list.

As all you southerners know, we love our porches. So what better way to celebrate summer in the south than with a lovely swing from a lovely company! Head over to Blonde's blog to check out the terms for the giveaway!

Love, hugs, and front porch swinging...

J.Crew Giveaway!

2010-06-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

Adorably petite blogger Petite Gorgeous is hosting a giveaway!

Head on over to her page to check out all these details and find out how you can enter to win this super cute J.Crew bracelet!

Love, hugs, and good luck!

Happy Birthday Bestie!

2010-06-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

I love June for many reasons - wedding season, summer, beaches, and birthdays! Today is my very best friend's 21st birthday and I'm so excited to celebrate with her! I would love to post pics of what I got her, but that will have to wait until later since she reads this. However here are some pictures of us over the years. :)

It all started with two green dresses and some packs of Doublemint gum

High school prom

High school football game

FSU Football

:)

Goofing off over Christmas Break one year

From high school look alikes to college graduates!

And my most favorite picture of all. I love you Ky! I hope your 21st is everything you hope for and more!

Help!

2010-06-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

Good morning blogging world! I'm doing some research for my book and while I personally have a multitude of insane dating stories, I'm in need of some fresh ones.

So ladies, tell me about some of your deliciously hilarious dating misadventures! The crazier and funnier the better!

Love, hugs, and laughter...

Graduation!

2010-06-09T07:59:00.001-07:00

So I just realized that I was so caught up in everything with the surgery that I never posted any pictures from graduation! Shame on me. Here's some of my favorites.

In front of the fountain

In the studio

With NTP :)

I miss it already...

Even ears :)

2010-06-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hello lovelies! I know it's been a few days, but I've kind of been vegging and working on feeling better. Here's an update on how everything went...

They went in and got out as much of the disease as they could, but unfortunately they didn't get it all. I'll have to have to another surgery in 6 months. :\ However the second surgery should be much easier than this one with a faster recovery time (or so I hope!) It had spread to a muscle in my jaw so they cut into that which is making it a little difficult to eat, but today I started on solid foods again so that's good news. Thanks to my bestie I've had plenty of sugar :) and I really appreciate all the calls and well wishes.

It kind of feels like life is being put on hold because if I get a job my parents' insurance will no longer cover me. And if I get a new insurance plan with a new job, chances are they'll deny me coverage because it's a pre-existing condition. So we're kind of in a limbo with figuring out how all that is going to work. It could have been much worse though, and I'm so thankful that we're able to get it taken care of.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers!

P.S. My ears are even. :)

The big day

2010-06-03T07:45:00.001-07:00

I'm currently packing a little overnight bag full of super comfy clothes and blankets and whatnot. We head to Gainesville later this afternoon and find out when my surgery will be tomorrow. If all goes well, I should be home and eating ice cream with my baby-sitting bestie by tomorrow afternoon.

I'm definitely nervous about it. I've had surgery on it before, but it was a very different procedure. This time we have no idea how bad it will be or how much the disease has spread until they go in, so I'm pretty nervous. And call me crazy, but I think what scared me most is when the doc was talking about how they would make an incision behind my ear in order to get in and then put it back in "pretty much the same place" when they're done. Pretty much??? No, no. That ear must be in the EXACT same place as it was before.

Here's to hoping my ears are even. :)

See ya'll post-op!

Book Preview Part II

2010-06-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here's part two of the preview to my new book! Hope ya'll enjoy it (and buy it if I ever finish and manage to get it published)! :)

“It’s never okay to kiss a boy. They always slobber all over you. That’s why I stopped doing it.” – Jean, age 10

“Maddie you can’t just boss people around” said my mom when she picked me up from preschool on my second day. I had been sent home with a note pinned to my shirt that said, “Maddie is rather bossy.” Rather? Who pins that to a preschooler’s shirt?
As for my bossiness, what can I say? I’m an only child. And I’ve outgrown it. I think.

“Ah, don’t worry about it kiddo,” said my dad. He picked me up and sat me in his lap. “Our little heartbreaker here is probably just telling the boys to leave her alone and they run off and tattle that she’s being mean. Ain’t that right, freckles?”

Mmm… not exactly. While all my parents’ friends fondly referred to me as Heartbreaker or Freckles, both super-cute and adorable, everyone at preschool called me… ummm… Kissy Girl.

Embarrassing. I’m aware. I don’t remember any of this (I’ve come to realize forgetting is the mind’s best defense mechanism), but apparently I had a habit of chasing the cute little boys around trying to kiss them. I couldn’t tell you why I did any of this because the thought of doing that now makes me sick to my stomach. I guess I didn’t fall for the whole “cooties” thing.

My first encounter with the disagreeable nature of males occurred during this interesting chapter in my life. It happened on the playground, like many character-forming and life-altering experiences do.

There were two tires stacked on top of each other that we could climb on near the middle of the big fenced-in yard behind the main building. One day I was lying across the top of the tires, minding my own business finding animal shapes in the clouds, when out of nowhere I felt a hand on my stomach. By the time I pulled my eyes away from the dolphin I had found swimming in the sky to see what was going on, Daniel Southstone had pushed me into the tires, folding me up like a pretzel in the process. My little butt was wedged in the hole and my feet were in front of my face. I was stuck and everyone else was going inside. Luckily, one of the teachers heard my cries for help and got me out while Daniel watched from the doorway laughing.

We’ve been really close friends for 20 years now.

But the fact that he pushed me into the tires is not the worst part; it’s what happened after I stopped crying that did the real damage. You know the movie, “He’s Just Not That Into You”? In the beginning the little girl is pushed down by a boy on the playground and her mom tells her that he did it because he likes her. Well I was fed the same load of bull by my teacher. Why do older women tell us this!? They’re old enough to know better! They’ve had plenty of life experiences by that time to know that sometimes boys are mean because they don’t like us. But instead, we poor innocent girls are brought up to believe that when a boy is mean to us, it means he likes us, when in reality, he probably doesn’t.

And thus, where the problem began.

Book in Progress Preview!

2010-05-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

As many of you know (or can tell by the title of this blog) I love to write. I've been working on writing a novel for a few years now, but either lose interest or just get stuck. However, I think I've finally got a winner. I read a little to my bestie this morning and the fact that she laughed out loud numerous times boosted my confidence and made me even more determined to finish this baby.

So without further ado, I present the first part of the prologue to "The Misadventures on the Road to Love." (I'll post the second half tomorrow!)

“Love needs no map, for it can find its way blindfolded.” - Anonymous

The search for love is like a road trip. For some lucky people, the ride is a short one. For others, it’s like hopping on I10 in Jacksonville, Florida and wanting to shoot your brains out around Baton Rouge, Louisiana. But like all road trips, the journey to love has its twists and turns, ups and downs, pit stops and speed traps, and I’ve certainly had my fair share along the way.

I’m Madeline Rae Johnson, Maddie Rae for short, and welcome to my incredibly insane love life. I lead a relatively normal life, but when it comes to relationships, I tend to have some weird ones. The kind you can only read about in books or see in movies. And no, not The Notebook.

You see, as my friends say, I tend to attract crazies. They call me a “crazy magnet.” I personally don’t think all the guys I’ve dated should be considered loony, but some… well… you get the picture. I’ve thought long and hard about this and have come to the conclusion that this unfortunate phenomenon occurs due to a combination of factors.

Factor number one: it’s my nature to see the good in people. I tend to overlook things such as friends warning me, “he’s just not good enough for you” and finding out three years later that he dropped out of high school because he got a girl preggers (word of advice: your friends are always right!), or “the perfect guy” telling me he’s never had a girlfriend… in his entire 25 years of life. Some might see that as a sign he’s afraid of commitment. My warped mind thinks, “Aww, he’s waiting for the perfect girl! That could be me!”

Factor number two is much more simple: the universe is out to get me.

Okay, so I don’t really think the universe has it in for me, but the thought has crossed my mind. On multiple occasions. But that’s beside the point. The point is that while my love life is twisted, rough, and often unbelievable (and has been since my first crush way back in pre-school) it makes for a good story. A hilarious one in fact.

So if you’re single and wondering what the heck is wrong with the opposite sex, join the club. And if you’re happily in a relationship, count yourself lucky. Regardless of where you fall in those categories, sit back, relax, grab a bowl of popcorn and buckle up. It’s a bumpy ride.

The Job Hunt Trifecta!

2010-05-26T11:15:00.001-07:00

Woohoo! I finally managed to get a picture of the shift dress I got from Target recently! So what do we think? Will this get me hired?? I can't wait to try it out on interviews. I'm having a little trouble thinking of what shoes should go with it though. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

I'm also super excited to hand out my new calling cards from Ashley Brooke Designs! Aren't they gorgeous!?

Applying for a seemingly endless array of jobs has me a bit tired. So to take a break, I went out and got the movie Post Grad starring one of my all-time favorite actresses, Alexis Bledel. I love this movie poster! Her expression is exactly what I look like when I take a peek in the mirror every afternoon. Alexis plays a girl who just graduated college and is looking for her dream job at a publishing firm in L.A. Sound familiar!? I figured since it's basically an exact parallel of my life right now I should watch it and try to learn something.

Next on the job search to-do list: fix my not-so-professional nail polish job. You're welcome Ky. :)

Love, hugs, and landing a job (or at least having fun while doing it)...

Retail Therapy

2010-05-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

Since my visit to L.A. has been postponed due to the surgery and since I've slowed down the job search a little in order to focus on healing (and because everyone wants to hire someone NOW, not 2 months from now), I've partaken in a little retail therapy (thrifty style) and have worked on getting a professional wardrobe together for interviews and (hopefully) a job.

I got super lucky and somehow managed to get this lovely Banana Republic skirt on double-sale, as I like to call it. It ended up being half the original price!

Unfortunately the websites where the rest of my purchases reside won't let me copy the pictures, so maybe I'll take some pictures later and post them. Think nautical (white cropped pants, navy flowy shirt, and nude pumps) and one of my favorites - a cobalt blue shift dress (from TARGET!). All on sale. :)

I also loaded up on birthday presents for my wonderful roomie and lovely bestie. So many summer birthdays! I love it!

Prayers, please.

2010-05-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

I know the good Lord won't give me anything I can't handle (or so I keep telling myself, over and over and over...), but it's certainly wearing me out.

Most of you already know I have a history of ear problems. Well I went to Shands in Gainesville this morning to figure out what's going on once and for all. So what two emergency room doctors and three ENTs thought was wrong is actually far from it. I don't have a hole in my eardrum... it's worse. I have a disease in my ear that formed a growth on the eardrum and caused it to collapse. But that's not all... like all diseases, if it's not treated quickly it will spread - to places like major arteries and the brain. So in case it already HAS spread to my brain there will be power tools waiting nearby in case they need to drill into my skull. Needless to say I'm absolutely terrified. The surgery is scheduled for June 4th so any and all prayers would be greatly appreciated.

I can't fly for four to six weeks afterwards so now I have to go through the joy of changing my flight to LA. I really, really miss Nick so this was a bit of a blow as well. But better to get things taken care of now than later.

THEN I come home and research one of the companies that requested an interview with me and found them on ripoffreport.com. This is about the THIRD time this has happened to me. But maybe I'm not getting a job for a reason. Maybe it's so I can focus on healing. I think I'm long overdue for that.

I pray that ya'll find healing in any way you need it.

Lovely finds and next purchases

2010-05-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love blue hydrangeas and have been trying to get ahold of some to plant. Maybe I'll be able to bring a little bit of the south to Los Angeles in August.

Three Designing Women Ellington Stamp - Expressionery I love the elegance of this stationary stamp design and plan on ordering one as soon as I find out where my new address will be come August. Just like any good Southern lady, Momma taught me the importance of thank you notes and these stamps would make a lovely seal. For gorgeous hand-drawn and custom designed stationary check out ashleybrookedesigns.com!

These glassware pitchers from Juliska are perfect for fresh lemonade in the summer. I especially like the big clear pitcher.

This little blue vintage medicine bottle is also on my next purchase list. I love how they transformed it into a flower vase and hung it with a ribbon.

Hope you found these as lovely as I did. :) Now I just need a job so I can afford them...

Love, hugs, and beauty...

Caio Bella!

2010-05-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

Bonjourno! I'm back from Italy and it feels so good to be home! I love me some pasta, pizza, and wine, but I'm definitely ready for grits, bbq, and sweet tea! After 13 hours of being on the plane yesterday and 2 hours trying to make it through Atlanta customs, we are finally back home in Georgia. I'll be posting pictures as soon as I find the cord for my camera (as well as pictures from graduation)! The picture above is from the island of Capri off the Amalfi Coast. The water was soooo blue! I thought I'd seen beautiful water growing up in Florida, but this was just unreal.

A short synopsis of what I learned in Italy:
It's really really old. The Roman Colloseum was around LONG before Christ.
Italians drive like maniacs. Let's just say 2 lanes was always made into 4 or 5. And our taxi driver had us up to 160 km/h at one point. Sheesh.
The history is unbelievable. I've been in the church were Peter is buried, seen tombs from the 1400s, and walked the same roads as Jesus once did.
The art is breathtaking. The Sistine Chapel, David, The Pieta, everything was so awe-inspiring.
The men are REALLY friendly and love blondes. I was even proposed to in Venice.
Venice is sinking, so go see it soon if you can!
Comfort is not Italian women's number one priority. High heels are a must apparently.
Pizza is nothing like American pizza. (It's wayyyy better.)
And last but not least, the wine. Ohhhh the wine. :) Magnifico!

Love, hugs, and arrividerci!

Headed to Italy!

2010-05-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

As of 9 am this morning I am now a Florida State University alumnus! It was a crazy day... fun but also really emotional. And now it's time to head to ITALY!!! My mom and I are going on a 2-week expedition around Italy as my graduation present. :) I promise to take lots of pictures and of course I'll be keeping a journal so I can let ya'll know how it goes!

See ya'll in 2 weeks!

Love, hugs, and gelato!

The countdown begins...

2010-04-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

T-minus...

26 hours until my last final exam... EVER.
3 days until graduation from the best college EVER.
3 days until I say bye to all the amazing friends I've made. But just "bye for now."
4 days until I have to say bye to Nick for 2 months. :(
5 days until I board a plane for ITALY!
2 months until I go to L.A. to visit Nick!
2 months until my bestie's birthday!
3 months until Hawaii

Love, hugs, and a lot of changes...

I promise I'm alive...

2010-04-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

Hello readers... if I even have any left... My lovely roommate requested that I show my blog some love and let everyone know that I am indeed alive, just way too busy to breathe, let alone blog on a regular basis. Here's a short synopsis of what's going on in my world at the moment...

1. Last month of college. Ever. (SCARY! and very sad. I love FSU.)
2. Trying desperately to find a job. Emphasis on desperately.
3. Trying to not stress about number 1 and 2.
4. Trying to not stress about not stressing.
5. Attempting to tackle my Tally bucket list. (Example: eat at all the restaurants I haven't tried yet.)
6. Getting excited about going to Italy. (And also scared because I just watched Hostel. Bad idea.)
7. Looking at moving to L.A.
8. And trying to enjoy all the friends I've made and people I've met here as long as I can. :)

Hope everyone else is well!

Love, hugs, and the finish line...

Rocky Road

2010-01-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

The title is perfect for this post but now I'm craving some ice cream... Anyways... While enjoying some delicious baked ziti (if I do say so myself) with my wonderful friends last night I received a call from Nick asking me if I would do him and a favor and pick him up. Naturally I said sure and then he proceeded to inform me that he got a flat tire about 40 miles outside of Tallahassee. So I bundled up and hit the road, driving a bit faster than normal (which is like 20 mph than most probably consider "safe"... sorry Ky) because I was afraid he would freeze to death. It wasn't until I arrived and saw him perfectly safe and warm that I realized just because a car gets a flat doesn't mean the heat doesn't work.

So flat tire: rocky road numero uno. Complete blonde moment: rocky road numero dos. Ice cream craving I've decided to succumb to: rocky road numero tres.

Love, hugs, and lovely misadventures...

Hello 2010

2010-01-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

Dear 2010,

2009 was a good year, but I hope you have even greater things in store... like helping me make it to graduation and finding me a good job. That would be really great. It would also be really awesome if you taught me how to stop worrying about little things and just enjoy the ride, because I have a feeling you are going to be quite a year and I want to soak up every minute of it. I hope you bring love and happiness to all my friends and family, especially all those that are getting engaged and married this year. And as you are sure to bring many changes, I hope you manage to keep us all close and loved. No pressure 2010, but we all have high hopes for ya. :)

Love, hugs, and new beginnings...
AllyRae

On another note... I had an amazing time in Niceville with Nick and his family! He showed me all around Niceville and Destin and I got to meet a bunch of his friends from high school at dollar margarita night. His family is wonderful and overall we just had a great time. Unfortunately, I'm a complete blonde and managed to forget my camera EVERYWHERE we went, but I did manage to find a good picture of the huge Christmas tree in the Destin commons where we spent a good bit of time. We also went to the infamous Fudpuckers where Nick worked for 5 years. The whole place was gorgeous and it was so good to see Nick again. But tomorrow it's back to Tallasnazzy for one last semester of school.

Good luck to everyone in 2010!

Happy Travels

2009-12-27T16:39:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by loved ones and delicious food! Christmas day, like every year, I traveled up to LaGrange, GA to see my huge and amazing family. We always get together on the 26th to do a big Christmas, which I loved as a little kid because I had Christmas two days in a row. This year there were a lot more people crammed into my grandparents house as our family continues to grow. It was an especially exciting Christmas because my first cousin brought his girlfriend and while she was washing dishes so I could keep cooking, I noticed a little sparkle on her left hand. Soon after, they announced to the whole family that they are engaged! It was an exciting day and full of laughter and soooo much yummy food. BBQ, coleslaw, potato salad, fruit trays, carrot cake, snowballs, cookies, and much much more. It was also really nice to catch up with some of my favorite cousins, one of which, in true redneck fashion, invited Nick and me back up in a few weeks for a "Beaver dam blow-up" party. We have a beaver problem on part of our farm and they've managed to flood about 36 acres, and Buck is determined to blast them to the moon, so naturally Nick and I will be there to enjoy the show.
Today we made the 8-9 hour drive back home to T-ville and tomorrow afternoon I'll be getting right back in the car and heading up to Niceville, FL to see Nick :) and meet his family. It's been over two weeks and we're kind of starting to miss each other. I've made pumpkin bars, snowballs, and picked fresh grapefruit and oranges to bring up there. Basically I'm bribing his parents to like me. Hopefully it works. :)
Once again, I hope everyone has had an amazing Christmas and best wishes for 2010!

Warm peaches

2009-12-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

Ally: "I don't like peaches that are warmed up."

Kyla: "What about peach cobbler?"

Ally: [serious face] "I do not like warm peaches. I feel like fruit should be cold."

Kyla: "What about warm apples?"

Ally: "No thank you."

Kyla: "What about apple pie?"

Ally: "Nope."

Kyla: "Not even from McDonald's?"

Ally: "No ma'am."

Kyla: "What about my homemade apple pie?"

Ally: "Exceptions can always be made."

Love, hugs, and friends that are just as crazy as you. :)

Surprises!

2009-12-15T12:41:00.001-08:00

I woke up this morning looking forward to shopping with my momma and spending time with friends, but knowing that this is only day 2 of 7 that I wouldn't be able to talk to Nick since he's on a Caribbean cruise and will be out of the country. So my momma and I went to Viera to finish up our Christmas shopping and were very successful. On the way home we picked up our Christmas cards and my phone started ringing. I thought, "Gosh I wish it was Nick calling", thinking it was my dad or someone else. But when I looked at the caller ID it was none other than the very person I wanted to talk to! I answered and Nick said, "SURPRISE! I have international calling! I thought it would be a nice little surprise for you. Well at least I think I have an international plan..." Haha, so anyway I got to talk to him for a while and am now a very happy camper. I'm choosing to overlook the fact that he's in Cozumel on a beach soaking up the sun and I'm in tiny town, Florida addressing the never-ending stack of Christmas cards.

Love, hugs, and good surprises :)

2009-12-12T12:05:00.001-08:00

Oh Titusville, how is it that you NEVER change? Oh a little road construction here and there, sure, but the mall? Still empty. Publix? Still where you'll see everyone and their mom/cousin/2nd grade teacher. Sunrise Bakery? Still the best coffee. And the annual Christmas Parade? Still the biggest event of the whole year. Trust me, EVERYONE in T-ville will be there, including me :) Just because I poke fun doesn't mean I don't participate.

Almost....

2009-12-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm about to head to campus for my first and last final of the hardest (and funnest) semester of my life. After sitting through a miserable hour and a half-ish I then get to sit in the car by myself and drive a super fun and entertaining 4 hours home (that was dripping in sarcasm in case you didn't catch it). But it's all good. It's the holidays :)

We can do it real big, bigger than you ever done it...

2009-12-08T07:32:00.000-08:00

I'm back! And this time for good. I only have one more exam and then I'm donezo for the semester so I'll actually have time to share my life with all you lovelies. So time for updates...

About a month ago I started dating a wonderful guy who I like to refer to as shnookums. (Haha jk jk). I met Nick in my advanced sports reporting class. He was my photographer and I was his reporter for the Christian Ponder story. We had to spend a lot of time together to work on the story, however we ended up spending A LOT of time together going out to Mellow Mushroom to "talk about the feature" or to parties with a bunch of friends from our classes. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was falling for him. I guess the feeling was mutual because he told me he wants to be with me and only me and here we are a month later, happy as can be. When Ponder got hurt, we had to change stories and ended up doing a feature on a hilarious volleyball player, Brianna Barry. She was a ball girl for the team when she was little and now she's the star and they're headed to the sweet 16 this week so it's pretty exciting. Here's the video!

We won "best team" (how ironic is that!?) and we tied for best overall feature of the semester, which is a BIG deal. These features air on Sun Sports every Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and it has been so fun working on them, even if at times it felt like it was going to kill me. It was all worth it and I can't wait to take it again next semester with all of my favorite media production friends (including Nick). :)

On a different note, but still so so exciting... my good friend and hairdresser just called and told me that she has a beautiful baby girl with a full head of dark hair. Congratulations Shannon! I can't wait to see her!

Love, hugs, and livin' the good life...

Partyyyy ;)

2009-11-12T13:55:00.001-08:00

First of all, quick update... the relationship status has changed a bit, but I think it's all for the best.

On a lighter note, you should all watch this gem of a video. It will change your life.

You're welcome :)

~Allyrae

Don't hate me!

2009-11-05T13:22:00.001-08:00

Ok so I realize I am officially the worst blogger ever and I apologize! As soon as classes got underway things got so crazy. Between 4 senior level polisci and communication classes as well as a super time-consuming advanced sports features class, it's been a tad hectic.

So time for a quick update, reporting is going well. I'm on sunsports just about every Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. I've met so many awesome people through the production program here at FSU (I actually just had an interview with the oh-so-attractive starting quarterback, Christian Ponder, today) and have formed so many great friendships.

The roomies and I love living together. We basically just laugh all night long and make fun of my sugar obsession. :)

In the love department... the special someone I mentioned back in that last post is still around and we're very happy. :) I guess we'll see where things go!

Well that's all for now! I promise to try and be a better blogger!!

Stay classy ;)

Oh what a day...

2009-08-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite the day. I had planned on sleeping in and taking my time getting packed and making sure I had all the school stuff I needed for a weekend at home (the pseudo-sis's bridal shower is tomorrow!). However, the morning had other plans for me.

Instead of blissfully sleeping till noon, my poor roomie woke up the hibernating bear (me) at 8 am to inform me that I needed to get out of bed because the pest control people were on their way to the house. En route. Mind you, I've had no coffee yet. Or food. And I'm not exactly a sweet southern belle in the morning. Yet here I am, in my pajamas, coffeeless, foodless, showerless, and am faced with the task of packing for the weekend in 5 minutes. I found a bag and started throwing clothes into it, randomly grabbed textbooks, and managed to grab a cinnamon roll before heading out the door.

So I called my loves that live in an apartment complex nearby and asked if I could crash there for a while. And as luck would have it, they were on their way to the bus stop. Go figure. I talked them into waiting for me to get there and promised I would drive them to class. So that's exactly what I did. Dropped them off at campus in my pajamas with my hair in a big crazy mess, no makeup, and basically looking like death warmed over.

After a hot shower and clean clothes I was in a much better mood for the long drive home. And at the end of that long drive home was dinner with my momma and some quality time with a really great guy. :) We went out to the river to watch the shuttle go up and had a really great time just talking. Could this be the start of something? ;)

Love, hugs, and days that get progressively better...

The princess and the pea

2009-08-22T05:40:00.000-07:00

When I get in bed I want to practically sink into it. Like disappear. I want the mattress to be soft and the mattress topper to be a nice big fluffy addition of wonderfulness. A friend lounging in my bed one time called it a "cloud bed". An appropriate description.

So imagine my horror when the bed my parents lugged all the way from our place in NC was about as soft as the Rosetta Stone. But have no fear! The mattress topper is here! Wrong. The mattress topper I bought from Target was lumpy and the opposite of comfy.

Commence Mission Find Mattress Topper.

To make a long and lumpy story short, after what felt like a dozen trips to Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, and Macy's, I ended up using the original lumpy mattress topper as well as a super plush Martha Stewart one on top of that. They added so much fluff that you can barely see my headboard. However, the goal was achieved. :) I sink when I crawl in and no one would ever know there is a rock of a mattress underneath.

Just like the Princess and the Pea...

Back in Tally!

2009-08-19T07:39:00.000-07:00

Guess who's back in Tallahassee!? Yep, yesterday I filled Old Faithful to the brim with clothes, shoes, and thats about all it would hold... We then made the long trek back north to the land of big brick buildings and huge oak trees. Upon arrival at my home sweet Tally home, my wonderful roomies helped unload my cars and I tried to get my room pulled together. We have a super charming house so I figured I would share some photos with you!

kitchen

dining room... aren't the mismatched chairs adorable! and there is a big painting of magnolia blooms on the opposite wall...

my room!

living room!

my little study area :)

hydrangeas = love

Hope ya'll like it!

Love, hugs, and charming homes :)

Help! Danger!

2009-08-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I have a shopping problem. (The psuedo-sis actually called the other day to see if I would watch Shopaholic with her because my talk of shopping issues earlier in the day made her want to watch it.) And it's also no secret that I have a severe weakness for a good pair of jeans. So will someone PLEASE talk me out of buying these gorgeous (but expensive) beauties!!??

But I really won't be upset if you say they're so dang cute that I should go ahead and treat myself. I mean it has been a long summer...

Love, hugs, and putting the credit card in the freezer...

Coolest wedding dance EVER...

2009-07-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

Came across this the other day and LOVED it so I thought I would share it with all of you. There was also a very fun one where the wedding party did a whole shindig down the aisle during the wedding ceremony that was featured on either the Today Show or Good Morning America, I can't remember which.

Enjoy!

Love, hugs, and fun weddings :)

Magnolia May

2009-07-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

My two beautiful roommates and I have a new addition to our humble household... a sweet precious beagle puppy named Magnolia (Maggie May for short)!

She's already a little water bug like her mommy :)

She really likes Philip for some reason...

And let the "awwww"s begin!

Love, hugs, and puppy love...

Uh oh...

2009-07-08T16:33:00.000-07:00

Oh boy... Where to begin? I guess I'll just come out with it. I broke my boss's kayak trailer. Bent the axle actually, which cost $350 to replace. I promptly gave them the money, even though they're insisting I only pay for half while I'm insisting on paying for all of it. I then proceeded to get on victoriassecret.com and spend 150 more buckaroos.

Oh retail therapy, how I've missed you.

Suntrust is not going to be happy...

Catch up

2009-06-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Whew! It's been a rough and tough couple weeks, but now, for the most part, the storm has passed and things are starting to get back to normal. Now time to play catch up!

My beautiful bestie over at
Have Your Cake and Eat It Too sent me a couple awards that I have yet to formally accept and pass on. So here goes!

Thanks Ky! As well as...

Here are the rules:
*Each blogger must post these rules.
*Each blogger must list ten random facts/habits about themselves and pass the award on to other recipients.
*The award recipients then need to do the same.
*Don't forget to leave a comment telling the recipients about the award!

My Random Facts:
1. I love sweet tea more than I've loved several boys.
2. My left eye is half blue and half brown.
3. I've attempted to write a few novels and still seem to think I'll finish one someday.
4. I'm a water bug. LOVE the water.
5. I live for some good NC BBQ.
6. I'd rather drive a stick shift.
7. My best friend could be my twin.
8. I sleep with about 8 pillows.
9. I want a hound dog really bad.
10. Daisies and blue hydrangeas are my favorite flowers. :)

I'm passing this honor onto...
The always hilarious CBK @
Plan Acourtingly
The beautiful Liz @
Let's Learn to Love
and last but not least...
Miss Grits over @
Puttin' on the G.R.I.T.S.

Thanks and enjoy!

Livin' the good life

2009-06-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

Last night I headed to work and was actually about 3 minutes early! For those of you that don't know me... this is a rare phenomenon. Anyway, I got to the office and Andrew was already there and Philip followed shortly. Then two of the newer guys and Randy (kind of our boss) showed up and we loaded up in the trucks. Lucky Philip and I got the one with no radio and no AC. So it was windows down and singing for us. Rock Show and Swing were the main songs of choice. Yeah... just picture that. Two bathing suit clad white kids singing Swing at the top of their lungs in a super old 4Runner towing a trailer full of kayaks to the middle of no where. It was a good time. :)

We got to the loading area and unloaded all the kayaks, washed em out, blah blah... There were two large groups so instead of putting them all in one big 50-something people tour, we kept them in the two groups. Andrew, Philip, and I took the first group of about 30 people and then Randy and the other guys took the second group later. I love working with Andrew and Philip and we seriously had a great time, even though Philip and I would really have enjoyed sleeping. We had a super fun group, which included two guys in a double that felt the need to hit on me the ENTIRE tour. I mean literally following me around, calling me their sweetheart, the whole nine yards. Normally, I would have had a few choice words to say to them. However, this is a business in which tips are greatly appreciated. So I fired right back at them, flirted shamelessly, laid out that southern charm so thick that Philip and Andrew were looking forward to checking out the tip jar after the tour to see how much "Momma Hoss" brought in. Haha. WEEELLLLL... a nice older gentleman gave us $11. The two ridiculous guys... nothing. We were all shocked. But hey, $11 is $11 and that was just enough for us to get some McDonald's on the way home and eat in the bed of Andrew's truck. Nothing like fine dining at 12:30 a.m.

It's a good life. :)

The simple joys of life...

2009-06-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

Don't you love it when the little things make you incredibly happy!?

Like last yesterday for example... I had a fabulous morning run, church was great, I got to see the bestie for a while, had my second lesson on driving a stick shift (I got to go on the big girl road!! AND didn't wreck the truck!!! Go Ally, Go Ally...), drove out to McDonald's with Andrew and got sweet teas for us and nice juicy quarter pounders with fries for the homeless guys by the interstate (which is ALWAYS a good feeling), and then managed to make it to work without being too incredibly late. Work was great, as usual. We had a bioluminescent tour last night with about 30 patrons. Philip, Andrew, and I were the guides and while it wasn't the most exciting group of patrons, it was still nice to be on the water. Philip and Andrew both had to tow a double. Ouch. HOWEVER! That meant the tips were much nicer. We each got enough to go to Denny's after we packed up and got paid! And let me just say that buffalo chicken tenders at 1 am after loading and unloading kayaks and trying to entertain patrons are one of life's simple pleasures. After our delicious treats, we sat in the parking lot listening to music until Philip and I hit the wall and decided it was time for bed. I took quick shower to get all the river gunk off me and hopped in bed where I literally smiled to myself about how wonderful a day I had.

Life's little pleasures... keep coming my way. :)

Love, hugs, and the simple things...

Busy bee

2009-06-07T10:17:00.001-07:00

Whew! The past few days have been a whirlwind. A nice whirlwind though. :) From shopping in antique stores (Where I got this adorable chair!), enjoying the sunshine at the beach, and getting/making birthday presents for practically EVERYONE I know (somehow they were all born in June!) I've been a busy girl.

Last night I went to one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe Tu Tu Tango, in Orlando with my second family. It was Momma Lesa's birthday and we went all out to celebrate. Picture this... Psuedo-sis considering jumping on the table to dance, our waiter ACTUALLY getting on a table and announcing Momma L's "21st" birthday, everyone showing off their own unique "club moves", and a table full of the most delicious food you can imagine (including my fave - the at least 4 or 5 inch tall ice cream and cookie sandwich... YUMMMM!).

Today the bestie and I got up early (WHY!?) to go for a run. We immediately regretted last night's decision to do this. However, we're not quitters so we did our little run. The rest of the day is consisting of laundry, birthday present wrapping, baking, and heading to Orlando for the psuedo-sis and Bee's birthday BBQ.

Have I mentioned how much I love summer? :)

My new anthem

2009-06-03T09:06:00.001-07:00

"God is great. The beer is good. And people are crazy..."

Ain't that the truth!?

Sorry for the lack of posts :\ I'm a slacker. I promise to undergo some misadventures to entertain you with soon. The only misadventures I've been on lately are pretty sad I don't really feel like broadcasting them. :\

Love, hugs, and God, beer, and crazies...

2009-05-21T13:48:00.001-07:00

Today I learned how to drive a stick shift. And I fell madly in love.

My friend Andrew offered to teach me on his Toyota Tacoma. So we went out to the church parking lot and gave it the old college try. After stalling out a couple times in the beginning I got the hang of it and within 5 minutes I was doing great!

Then my big mouth mentioned that I'll be driving a stick in Tallahassee where it is very hilly. So Andrew told me to go over to a hill on the other side of the building. After many violent tries and stalling out a couple times, I can now say I am somewhat a pro at getting going on a hill. He even stood behind the truck as if there would be another car there to make sure I wouldn't hit it. And... I didn't kill him so I must have done okay!

So all-in-all, lesson numero uno went very well and I'm looking forward to the next one where I get to go on the main road like a big girl! :)

Love is in the air!

2009-05-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

A big congratulations is in order for my pseudo-sis and her new fiance!! Ashley of AshleyBrookeDesigns and her absolute soulmate Manolo got engaged last night in Central Park while visiting NYC for a stationary show!

I think I screamed for a good 10 minutes when I heard the news I was so excited! I can't wait to see the happy couple when they get back and I look forward to seeing them grow together in love for many years to come.

Ashley I love you like the sister I never had and now I've got a pseudo-brother-in-law too!

Love is certainly in the air...

Busy falling in love with a house

2009-05-17T08:38:00.001-07:00

Hello hello! So so so sorry I haven't blogged lately. My friends have already gotten onto me about it so here I am again! The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind. From officially starting my summer job (and absolutely LOVING it!) to running around with friends, and making a quick trip back up to gorgeous Tallahassee where we finally found THE PERFECT HOUSE! We signed the lease Friday morning and I'm so excited!

The house is so charming. There's a big front yard and huge backyard where we plan to put our slip n' slide and kiddie pool so we don't die of heat in August and September. It's also where the hammock will reside along with the old-fashioned wood and rope swing I'm going to try and talk the bestie's boyfriend into making to hang from the big oak tree. There is a little screened in porch on the side where we could put some rocking chairs and the inside of the house is precious. Hardwood floors, wood paneling on the walls. Old windows inside the house, skeleton key doors, nice big kitchen (actually there are 2 kitchens because it used to be a duplex! The bestie loves this :] ) where we can house all our mason jars and sweet tea, and overall it's just the cutest house I've ever seen. It's close to campus, in a good neighborhood, and the bus practically comes right up to our frontyard! Talk about "meant to be."

I'm already looking at Southern Living magazines to get some ideas on how we can decorate. We've already got an adorable collection of eclectically mismatched furniture and knick-knacks that are going to make it home for us. My grandpa is graciously providing us with a beautiful solid wood kitchen table and some other antique furniture that just needs a good paint job and some sanding for that amazing distressed look.

For some reason I'm in a planting mood and I'm researching hydrangeas and daisies (my favorite flower... the happy flower :] ). I'd love if we could have a little vegetable garden in the backyard somewhere as well as some gorgeous flowers to add some color. I think we're also planning on composting so if anyone has tips on how to compost or any tips on the best way to plant some gorgeous hydrangeas let me know!

It's all very exciting and I can't wait until August 1st! :] Well I'm off to Lowe's to see if there are any hydrangeas I can experiment with here while I'm at home!

Love, hugs, and southern living...