Boyfriend AND boss...

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...

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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...

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!

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!

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

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

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...

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...

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!

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!

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...

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...

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?

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!

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

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

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??

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

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...