War Eagle Weekend

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

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

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

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

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!)

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!

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

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.

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.

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

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

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!

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

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'

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

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

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

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...