Stage Fright Jitters

V Day Run Down

2012-02-15T13:44:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I don't "do" valentine's day so much. Not because it's lame or a holiday created by for us to spend money, but just because we don't.

If we do buy something for one another it's usually something practical, for instance last year I got new tennis shoes which were needed. This year Ryan hooked me up with a new Otter Box iPhone cover. I'm hard on my stuff and I've broken two covers since I've had this phone. See... Practical.

I made Ryan's Valentine Card this year. It was a portrait of him. On the inside I wrote a sweet note...

Notice the stunning similarity. May have missed my calling.

... on the outside I wrote, "Love, Mrs. Sanford (not your mom)". Ryan glanced at the card quickly and read aloud, "Love, Mrs. Sanford (your hot mom)" I got so tickled. Because both are kind of true.

I love Ryan everyday. Valentine's is just an excuse to go out to eat and indulge in too much candy. Holla for a dollar if you ate your weight in candy yesterday! I'm hollering in my office, albeit a bit of a stifled holler, as this left over chocolate Reese's heart is in my mouth makes it a bit difficult to yell.

V Day Vino

For dinner we did a group date night with several friends. We had cocktails and caught up. It was so fun!! Valentine's made for a good excuse for a night on the town!!

Beauty Department: Shellac Mani

2012-02-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Maybe this is old news to most... but I'm in a small town. Fun stuff doesn't arrive here until it is old news.

I went in for my first shellac mani this past Friday. I was a bit skeptical because I'm am super hard on my nails. A regular manicure on my nails might make it 24 hours before chipping... and that's a stretch.

I'm don't know what I do exactly to freak up my manicures so quickly, as I do not have a very labor intensive job (no hammering done here), yet I can ruin a good mani in no time.

According to the nail lady (what's the proper name? nail technician?) this type manicure should last at least 14 days with minimal chipping and would continue to shine.

So, I went for it.

Narrowed down the color options!

I'm on day 7 and it's holding strong. I think I'm sold on the the Shellac Manicure. It's looks natural and is still shining.

I think the best part... is that it's DRY in 60 seconds. No need to wait around!

DAY 7 (sneak photo while working). Also note, I'm dressed very patriotic today. GOD BLESS THE USA, right?

I love it!

The one draw back is the limited color options. The salon I went to only had about 20 colors to choose from which saddens my soul a bit, as I love color options.

Final Verdict on Shellac Mani: MAKE YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY!

O.T.W- Awesome Weather Weekend

2012-02-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend....

We had a beautiful weekend as far as the weather goes. I mean really, is it February? And did Phil, the groundhog, tell us just last week that we will be having six more weeks of cold winter? Because if so, Phil, was wrong about this past weekend. Sunny skies and in the 70's....

I opened the windows and doors and just embraced the awesomeness that was.

Saturday I decided to stop simply "pinning" stuff on Pintrest and to actually try something out. So, after spending the morning deep cleaning our house (I'm talking base boards and all) I decided to mess up the freshly cleaned kitchen in order to bake a cake!! Nonsensical, I suppose.

A bit unconditional in my ways, I cranked up Dave Matthews' Pandora Station on our new Bose stereo (thanks in-laws), cracked open a cold brew and got to baking. I enjoyed the slight breeze drifting through the house from the open windows as I embarked on a baking journey unsure of where I might end up.

I ended up in Awesome Cake, USA... as I threw down ala Bobby Flay style in my own kitchen. If there's one thing I'm don't lack in, it's giving myself a pat on the back when well deserved. And that's just what I did... patted myself on the back for the uber-moist (weird word there, sorry) Strawberry Yogurt Cake I created.

As you can tell, I should have let it cool longer prior to icing. I got a little overeager.

When Ryan arrived home Saturday afternoon to a clean house, a flour covered wife, and the smell of a freshly baked cake I'm sure he thought to himself how great he had it! (see what I mean about patting myself on the back? it's all in good fun though)

***Side note regarding the cake in case you, yourself, would like to try it: It should be called Strawberry-Lemon Yogurt Cake, as it has lemon zest and lemon juice in the cake. It ended up having a stronger sense of lemon than I originally imagined. I have shared it with family, friends and coworkers alike... all giving rave reviews but it should def have the word "lemon" in the title so that one expects the lemon flavor.***

On Sunday Ryan and I had a breakfast date at the local Huddle House because we're obviously either A.) a little redneck or B)an elderly couple because that was the majority of the other patrons we had breakfast with. No complaints here though. I loved my waffle!

Since the weather was so nice, when Ryan and I got home from our breakfast date Maggie and I went for a walk. She may be on the small side but Maggie can go step for step with me. Lots of energy!

Sunday night, in honor of the Big Game we ordered pizza and invited a few folks over to partake in the Super Bowl fun.

We took up money for a Monkey Board to make it a bit more interesting. Ryan was the big winner, which meant I kind of won too since we share money. Whoop, Whoop!!

Hope you guys had a great weekend!

Ain't Nobody Dope as Maggie...

2012-01-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

... She just so fresh and... so fresh and so clean, clean.

Someone has been to the groomer this morning! I can hardly stand how cute she is. It's a love that runs deep in my heart.

Now, if I could only get her to walk herself on these cold, cold mornings.

O.T.W. A Good One

2012-01-30T09:33:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend...

I had cocktails with my main man, Ryan Sanford on Friday night.

I loved it. I think it's because he's so handsome.

I ventured to Auburn to have lunch, shop, and enjoy cocktails with my friend, Kaci.

We had lunch at Mellow Mushroom. Who doesn't love some pizza?

It made for a lovely day. I don't get to see her enough and I find myself missing her and we just have to plan a day together.

Ryan and I worked on cleaning up around the house. Let's just say I've got several trash bags full of clothes and whatnot to donate to Good Will.

Overall I'd say it was a great weekend. Pretty laid back but spent with some pretty awesome folks.

NYE 2012, as promised.

2012-01-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

Since I've just now posted my take on "being open to 2012" I thought I would go ahead a post the NYE Post I wrote since I obviously never did.

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I have tons of pictures from NYE. We took a more laid back approach in an effort to save money for the Ski Trip. We had fireworks, cocktails, champagne, and good food. Ali details the evening well right here.

I got a tripod for Christmas so I was that kid that insisted on group pictures.

It started out with us girls making each guy take a photo with us.

The boys acted as if they were bothered to pose for a photo, but at the end of the day I think they loved it.

Then the tripod got more action in that everyone (sans Ryan because he ~~wussed out~~ got tired and went to bed) had to pose for a several group photos.

Oh, Hi, 2012... here you are. Welcome.

Kyle in the group photo next to last... owns me.

A New Year... One Month Almost Gone

2012-01-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

Time flies by these days. It seems like I blink and another weekend is gone, another week, another holiday passed.

It's crazy. If I ever take the time to really think about it... like REALLY THINK about it... it's kind of overwhelming.

I mean, how have four years passed with me still in my current job? This was supposed to be a stepping stone... to the next place, the next town.

Alas, however, here I am. Here we are I suppose.

The thing is, if you ever take the time to think about how quickly time passes it kind of puts life in perspective.

Go for the new job opportunity! Take a pay cut to do something you love. Move to a new city or an old city for that matter. Embrace change as opportunity.

Don't be discouraged because life isn't exactly where you planned for it to be.

Maybe you haven't found the love of your life. That's fine!! DON'T SETTLE... life is too short. In a blink of an eye you will either have waited for Mr./Mrs. Right and forgotten completely about the few lonely nights you had or your will have settled for "Mr./Mrs. Right Now" and may potentially regret it down the road.

I realize I'm all over the place with this post. But the point of it all is to pep talk myself or whoever might be reading this.

Life can't be planned, but we can actively make decisions to help influence the way our lives will go. The decisions and choices we make today will directly effect the life that we create for ourselves tomorrow.

No job will find you if you don't actively seek it. Change up your routine if you aren't finding any new people to date. Maybe join a church to find a new social circle. Not your thing? Then hang out with a group of friends you haven't hung out with in a while. Incorporate new people in your life in order to find that special someone.

Life is too short to just sit back and let life happen.

I am over-the-moon happy with my life with Ryan. He is my partner, my best friend, my rock, and in 2012 I want to seek positive change. I want to purchase our own home at some point , I want to work in a job that I love, I want Ryan to be all that he can be (but not in a "join the Army" kind of way), and I want to grow spiritually in my own right.

Purchasing a home this year may not be attainable or practical for that matter, but I can start actively working on being more aggressive in saving for a solid down payment.

I suppose this is my "It's a New Year and Here are My Resolutions" post (albeit a little late). But it's not just a post for me... it's encouragement for my family and friends.

Go out and TAKE what you want in 2012. Stop thinking about it! Let you guards down and open yourself up to love. But love yourself first or you'll end up with less than what you deserve. Seek new job opportunities and embrace them as they come!! Pray for guidance and follow the path that is shown to you.

One thing I hope to do in 2012 is to be active in opening my eyes to more than one option. Maybe I am in the town the Lord plans for me to be in. Maybe my dream home is just down the street... then again, maybe it's a couple of hours away. Maybe my dream job is right here, maybe it's not. I have a tendency to set a goal and to sort of create tunnel vision in that one direction.

In 2012 I'm open to lots of directions. I hope my family and friends are open to finding the direction which suits them as well.

Happy 2012 Y'all.

All photos via pintrest

Special Sight-Seeing

2012-01-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

Last week, as we departed on our trip we had no idea just how long it would take us to get to our final destination.

We originally had a 5:30 a.m. flight out of Birmingham, AL and were scheduled to arrive in Salt Lake City, UT around 10:30 a.m.

We left our house at 3:30 a.m., although we had to turn around about a half a mile from the house in order to go back for Ryan's sunglasses (but he swears that didn't make a difference in our day).

We arrived at the airport around 4:45 a.m. We hustled to park and ran to the Delta Kiosk to print our boarding passes and check our bags. We knew we were cutting it close in order to get our bags checked prior to the 30 minute cutoff, however, the airport doesn't open until 4:45... so we felt okay about it.

Upon arrival at Delta's desk we realized a family of four children and two parents were taking up two kiosk and had a ton of bags. We waited patiently until it was our turn.

As soon as we stepped up to the kiosk we were informed we had missed the cutoff and would have to select a different flight. Also, that would be a $100 tacked on for good measure.

This is where Deidra, Ryan and I should have gotten mad. Mad because of the damn family taking up two kiosks, mad that we were there as early as we could be and got screwed, and mad because we had to spend more money.

But alas, we all took a "chill pill" (or Razzies as prescribed) prior to heading out so we absolutely didn't have it in us to get worked up. We took it with grain of salt. We were like, Dude that sucks. Let's get a biscuit while we wait.

Rerouted through Minnesota and a 1:00 arrival time in SLC and we were on our way.

We got in to Salt Lake City a bit earlier than planned and our good buddy Mack (who kindly hosted us for the weekend) agreed to pick us up at the airport.

As we were leaving the airport we were all excited and chatting it up. At this point a few wrong turns may have occurred.

45 minutes later Mack asked nonchalantly, "Did I go east on HWY 80 or west?"

We had definitely gone the opposite directions than we should have for a close to an hour... but alas, if we had not gone that way we wouldn't have had a special sight seeing tour of the Great Salt Lake. I wouldn't have gotten to take these pics...

So it all worked out.

If Ryan hadn't forgotten those sunglasses, if we hadn't had difficulty finding a park spot, if I driven a little bit faster, then we would have never seen Minnesota from the air or The Great Salt Lake from the car.

Bright side people, bright side. Glass half full. Or maybe it was the chill pills/Razzies that gave us the illusion of not giving a shit either way.

I suppose the moral of this story is to pack your Maui Jim's next to the Razzies prior to travel.

Semi Shredding Success (a green run)

2012-01-19T11:31:00.000-08:00

Deidra made a video of us shredding it up on the Ski Trip. Things you should know: we are beginner skiers, on a green run, but it was so fun. I'm in the brown pants attempting to be cool, Blair is the first person we pass (red toboggan), Deidra is in charge of the camera, and Ali is the last person we stop by.

Check us out:

Untitled from Jessica Toland on Vimeo.

THE Ski Trip has Come and Gone!

2012-01-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

"The Ski Trip."

The ski trip started out as a simple idea being tossed around over a few cocktails back in May while sitting on the shores of Lake Martin.

Clad in our bathing suits we chatted about the fact that we needed to plan a ski trip for the upcoming winter.

It was an idea that had been tossed around each year for the past few years. However, at the end of the day no one ever took action and made it happen.

We were always big talkers and that's where it ended.

But this year.... this year we made the ski trip happen. With one email stating the dates and location and a deadline to respond folks began booking flights and purchasing ski gear.

WE ARE ON THE SKI TRIP!!!

We ended up have 16 close friends commit to the adventure. People have told me that it's crazy that my core group of friends from high school have stayed so close throughout the years, but we have. We haven't always gotten along and everyone has grown and changed throughout the years, but at the end of the day we have maintained close relationships... and that's who made up the ski trip.. Class of '03, baby! (plus an addition who should have been in our class).

This trip has been planned for months and for months we have discussed it at every get together. I can't begin to tell you about the number of emails that have gone back and forth.

It was kind of surreal once everyone arrived. We kind of had a moment of WE ARE ACTUALLY ON THE SKI TRIP.

To be honest, the more I thought about the ski trip and closer it got, the more anxious I became. 16 people in one house for four days has the potential to result in a lot of drama. Also, factor in the fact that Ryan had never been skiing. I knew if he didn't pick it up it would be frustrating for him, which in turn would equal frustration for me.

But as I sit here on the other side of our four day adventure to Park City, Utah I can say that it was a trip of a lifetime. Dramatic, much? Yes... but every. single. person. had fun.

Drinking local brew with arms are interlocked =Classy & Romantic.

A bear in town.

All the beginners in the group picked up on skiing so easily. With a bit of guidance and practice everyone was ready and willing to conquer the mountain.

We skied Deer Valley each day and had more fun than you can imagine. Now, I've been skiing twice before but it was like something "clicked" this time. Maybe I had more confidence or maybe it's just that the third times a charm.... but I was really proud of my improved skills.

It's been an odd season, in that they have not had much snow out West, but most of the runs were open. We skied from the the top of the mountain to the bottom and back again.

We had spills, we made videos of our skills, we conquered fears, we laughed at each other, we helped each other up, and at the end of the day everyone came home in one piece (albeit sore). I mean, it could not have been better.

Knocking out "Success"

One day while skiing a herd of deer crossed our path. It was so cool. I caught one on camera- look hard.

The last night we were there we decided to go tubing. It was awesome.

At night we had dinner and drinks and laughed about the events of the day. The hot tub came in handy for our sore bodies and made for the perfect end to long days.

I am so thankful that Ryan and I are fortunate enough to be able to take trips like this, but I'm even more grateful that we have such great friends to embark on such adventures with. The memories we made will last forever... and to be honest I can't wait for the next ski trip.

It was a perfect!

Warm feelings abound.

Hitting the Slopes

2012-01-11T12:50:00.000-08:00

Today is my Friday, as I'm heading out of town for a long weekend with 16 close friends. Yes, 16 people, one large house, and lots of fun to be had.

We are headed to Park City, Utah for skiing and fun. (Mostly just fun for me because I'm scared, lame skier who mostly "pizzas" down the mountain). But the fun will be had for sure!!

I'm a little hesitant about the fact that my bathing suit is packed, as it is January which means I'm just coming in off the holiday binge session and I'm rather pale. We'll just have to see how this goes...

*photo source unsure, however I saved it to my computer as "stephan zirwes"

Please pray that we all have safe travels, as we are coming from lots of directions, that we are all injury free on the other side of this adventure, and that everyone is healthy and well during the trip.

I will have lots of pictures next week!! Also, Happy MLK, Jr. weekend. Continue to dream on!!

Maggie Sanford

2012-01-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

Our sweet Maggie steals my heart. I love her to death and some days I just want to squeeze the breath out of her. (however I refrain)

She is random. So wild.

I mean, is it weird to wake up with your dog on your head?

If so, I will continue to lead a weird life.

Get One.

2012-01-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

I found this water bottle in my stocking at Ryan's parent's house.

It's great. Simply fill the bottle up with tap water and drink. The built in filter cleans the water up for you. This cuts down on plastic bottles.

Do the environment a favor and get you one.

A Nifty Little Thing

2012-01-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

I got my dad, bro and hunky hubster a cool little prize, which I just knew would make all of their Christmas Dreams come true.

Then I forgot about the nifty little stocking stuffer and didn't give them to them until this week. I suppose it made their New Year's Dreams come true.

What this I speak of? Oh, well, and ice scraper built into a glove to keep your paws warm while scrapping away the ice left in the trail of night with Jack Frost.

Here it is:

Nifty, huh?

It's been cold the last couple of days and this morning I had to borrow Ryan's and put it to work!! ~~Although Ryan should have been the one using it~~

About to go to work...

I will have you know my hand was awfully warm as I scrapped the ice away! Off to work I rode thinking to myself.... Christmas Dreams do come true.

Chirstmas Past

2012-01-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone.

It is honestly a marathon for Ryan and I. We started with family stuff and the Friday night before Christmas Eve and did. NOT. STOP. until after midnight Christmas Day. It was intense. It was fun. IT WAS TIRING.

I'm kind of in a place in which I find myself wondering at what point do we draw the line or split ways for a few of the family gatherings. It's just that intense for us....

But don't get me wrong.... we had an awesome Christmas with family and friends.

I made lots of video and even took some family photos.

Enjoy a peek at our Christmas:

The pups didn't know what to think of Santa.

Word.

Opening Presents!

My dad is so tickled because when he opened his present he realized that he and my mom gave each the same thing.

Hope everyone had a Merry, Merry Christams!

New Year Post coming soon.

Beauty Trend: DO or DON'T?

2011-12-20T06:20:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you but I keep noticing a growing trend. A trend that I find random.

I keep seeing photos of people with patterned temporary lip tattoos by Violent Lips.

I thought to myself... Is this what is in? Am I falling behind on my beauty trends?

or

Is this an odd phenomenon of people doing weird things to attract attention?

The answer to the questions in which I asked myself is probably yes to the latter.

I decided to investigate further. I needed to know more. I needed to know what in the world would make someone want to put a temporary tat on their lips.

As it turns out it actually is a growing trend. The company Violent Lips has a slew of options to choose from... checkered, glitter, cheetah, polka-dot... you name it.

According to the tutorial I watched on the website, one simply fits the temp tat to your lip and applies with water just like a temporary tattoo. They last up to four hours and create a one of a kind look for you lips.

Khloe in the Silver Glitteratti

Kim K in the checkered

Random person in cheetah.

So what do you think? Fashion Do or Fashion, It's-so-Dumb, DONT?

Recognize this House?

2011-12-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

The house from the movie HOME ALONE has recently been listed for sale for a cool 2.4 million dollars.

Check out this article for a cool write up and photos comparing the home now to what the house looked like during filming!

I would love to slap my face and then yell like crazy in the upstairs bathroom! Wouldn't you?

If only I had millions of dollars and wanted to relocate to the Chicago suburbs.

O.T.W. -- Wrapping Up Chirstmas Shopping

2011-12-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

Friday night I met Deidra for wine and tapas in our little downtown area.

It was lovely!

Saturday I wrapped up my Christmas shopping. I might be random... who knows, but everyone has a Christmas prize and it's the thought that counts at the end of the day! Right?

I hate to ruin the surprise but Merry Christmas to Ryan!

After some serious shopping we decided that Mexican was in order as well as a good ole Margarita!

Shopping can really get you worked up!! Margarita's really take the edge off.

Saturday was also my Dad's birthday, but he had to work. Sad. However, we made up for it by feasting at a local BBQ restaurant in celebration on Sunday!!

When I say feast... I mean FEAST! Please note how much food came out!! No one left hungry.

Fun Times!!

Our Christmas tree!

Count down to Christmas is on at our house!! (which means Ryan had better work me out a Christmas gift because as of yesterday I had no presents under the tree).

Oh Hi, Friday! Good to See You!

2011-12-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

Can you believe Christmas is in just nine days? I have got to get aggressive this weekend and finish up my shopping. I started out strong and then fizzled out.

On to more important matters....

Yesterday I was out of work, as I've been beat down by a serious cold. This is no fun, however, it did allow me to curl up on the couch for a day and half and indulge in Christmas movies and daytime television.

Yesterday morning the nominations for Golden Globes were announced. Nothing huge about that, however, what was awesome about it was Gerard Butler.

How handsome! Ryan was getting ready for work, and I found myself suggesting he grow his hair out like Mr. Butler's. And then that accent.... I watch P.S I Love You every time it's on because of this guy.

I think I have a thing for bearded men that look a little rough around the edges!!

Later in the day I realized I actually was quite ill when I watched an entire LIFETIME movie. I loathe Lifetime movies, yet in a drug induced haze I found myself engulfed in figuring out who the murder was, what his motives were, and why all those women were being killed?

It got weird.

After some serious TV watching I hit the web. This little snippet, "Shit Girls Say" cracks me up. I watched it earlier in the week and then again yesterday. It's so true. I say every single thing mentioned.

I mean, listen, can you do me a huge favor? Hilarious.

Then I found out that yet another Nicholas Sparks book, Lucky One, will be coming to theaters in the near future. The main star happens to be a celebrity crush of mine (one of many)!

It might be a good one... who knows.

That's all I've got for today...

...I hope you all are done shopping and can spend your weekend gazing at your Christmas Tree whilst sipping hot chocolate. I will be fighting the holiday crowds to hook Daddy, The In-Laws and Ryan up with a Christmas gifts! No family member left behind!!!!

HO! HO! HO!

OTW-- A Surprise Party, An Engagement Party, & Candy Day

2011-12-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

Whew, I'm tired. This past weekend was a lot. We had a surprise party for our friend Blake in Roanoke, AL (Ryan's hometown... stay down) on Friday night. It was Western Themed so we tossed on our boots and hit the road.

It was outside, therefore pretty cold, but we feasted on good food and potentially a few folks hopped on this guy for a good old bull ride:

Yes, they rented a mechanical bull for the party!

Saturday night we had to head back to Roanoke for an Engagement Party for Ryan's pal Will and his fiance, Julie. We've had an engagement party for some one in the Roanoke Clan for the past three years. Here's the linky to the one Ryan and I shared with some a couple of other folks! They are always a lot of fun.

Sunday was Candy Day. Click this link to see last year's Candy Day.

Every year some one makes the comment, "HAVE YOU EVER SEEN SO MANY SWEETS?" and the answer to that question is "WHY YES. YES WE HAVE.... AT LAST YEARS CANDY DAY!"

It's craziness. It's fun. It's baby's running around, people laughing, taste-testing the fruits of our labor, and most importantly spending quality time with the people we love most.

It got a bit heated when Lane and Paula began making two different recipes of Sand Tarts at the same time. Lane was working with her grandmother's recipe and Mrs. Paula had her own variation of the treat.

Some how it turned into a "pretend" episode of IRON CHEF. Paula was the Iron Chef and Lane was the challenger.

In a blind taste test Lane's Sand Tart was declared the winner. (but it was really, really close) I've tasted both and they are equally good!

Ashton blindfolded and ready for the Sample A.

And the winner is.... LANE.

But all is well that ends well, as the competitors shake hands. There is always next year and Iron Chef Paula will be back for a rematch!!!

It was the perfect afternoon to wrap up a very busy weekend!!

OTW... Gearing Up For Christmas

2011-12-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

Around this Sanford Household this past weekend we were gearing up for the Christmas Season!! Love it!

-I blasted Christmas music while Ryan and I decorated our tree.

Look at that sheer excitement on my man's face.

-I purchased Kourtney Kardashian's "Kourt is RED-i for a Pedi" for cheerful nails.

-I watched The Holiday while wrapping gifts... because that always gets me in the spirit.

I'm normally not the kind of person who takes the time to wrap gifts pretty. Usually, I throw some wrapping paper on with a pre-made bow. However, this weekend I spent a little extra time and I'm so grateful I did. Isn't my gift wrapping beautiful?

-Lastly, I made Maggie rock her new Christmas sweater just because.

It was a laid back weekend, but just what the doctor ordered since it's about to be a jammed packed holiday season!

Thanksgiving is already gone? Sad.

2011-11-29T12:07:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is such a great holiday because we get a few days off to simply eat, spend time with family and friends, and watch some football.

It's not stressful. It's just laid back. Just throw on a sweater and jeans kind of holiday. Love it.

Ryan and I were on the go from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday.

Wednesday I hit up the doctor's office, as I'm fighting the good old common cold. Ask Ryan how much fun it is to sleep in the same bed with a coughing, propped up, medicated wifey... he no likey. But I digress.

Wednesday Night

It's a small town tradition that everyone heads to a local bar for a reunion of sorts. It gives everyone a chance to catch up and hang out. So that's just what we did... for a few hours anyway.

After heading to the local bar we all rode over to a friends house for a good ole house party.

Kyle.... he had just made a bad decision right here.

Travis told me he was in charge of the Thanksgiving Turkey for his family gathering. I was skeptical.

When I asked John what he was thankful for... he named several crazy things. Lacey then reminded him the answer to that question is HER!

THURSDAY

Thursday Ryan and I hit up a few Thanksgiving lunches with both my side of the family and his. We ate good good and hugged good people. Thursday night Deidra, Ashton, Bess and I hit up our local midnight madness for Black Friday. (Robin, if you're reading this look away. I gave in to the Man known as Wal-Mart)

If you want to see people act like idiots go to midnight madness on Black Friday. I had never stayed up late enough to partake in the craziness, but wow. A lady had to be taken out on a stretcher by paramedics over a good deal on towels. No joke. It was intense. I tried to give up once I saw the lines, but I called Ryan and he pepped talked me. He told me I wasn't a quitter. It was the encouragement I needed to stay the course.

Scary faces.

I had the sleepy face going. Also, please note I had gotten really comfy in Ryan's sweatshirt prior to the outing.

We found Aaron going for a Laptop

FRIDAY

Ryan and I laid in the bed until 11 o'clock. It was blissful. We watched TV and chatted. Maggie slept peacefully. Aren't those the best kind of mornings... just being lazy with your best friend and pup?

Friday afternoon I met Lacey and her mom for wine at our local wine shop.

After a little wine, we decided heading to the hometown bar for live music and cocktails was just what we needed....

SATURDAY

Saturday we tailgated with friends for the 2011 Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn). Alabama took the WIN this year.... but there's always next year!!!!! WAR EAGLE!

Oh look, all these guys grew a beard because of Ryan.

It was a great long Thanksgiving weekend.

Random Nonsense/Making up for Lost Time/A Reason to Google "Ryan Gosling Shirtless"

2011-11-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

It's Random Nonsense Friday, crazies.

1. I made a Christmas List for my husband, family, and In-laws. I realize that makes me seem like an eight-year-old, but they asked me for it. I had a job to do and I did it.

Here are a few things I'm longing for this Christmas Season:

1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : 6

I'm going to be honest my list ended up being over 20 items which ranged in price. I just love lots of things and all these blogs don't help matters. I justified the list by stating that I DO have a birthday and Christmas in the same month.

2. On a different note, I recently attended a movie night with friends and family. We ate chili and different types of dip, then settled in for the movie, CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. Believe it or not my Grandma attended the movie night and selected the movie.

Let's say first of all, that Ryan Gosling is one sexy man. He had me at Noah but I loved him when the Dirty Dancing song dropped the beat in Crazy Stupid Love and he was standing there shirtless. I mean, goodness gracious.

I am hoping that one day I come home to the radio playing "I"ve had the time of my life..... " and Ryan waiting for me to run into his arms so that can lift me over his head for no reason at all other than to welcome me home. {ryan work on this}

And last but not least I have a few other things to cover...

3. As the colder weather sets in sometimes the only thing that can warm our souls is lots of food, and maybe a little bit of candy. So let's not watch the Victoria Secret Runway Show and become discouraged. I mean, yeah they have super hot bods, but after reading this little diddy over of Day Old News I thought myself... no wonder I don't have that hot body... I only worked out once today and actually ate three meals.

4. When I read this post over on Pink Lou Lu I laughed out loud. It's a list of drinks and what they 'say' about you.

For the most part I'm a beer drinking kind of gal. According to the list it means I'm a laid back gal who can hang with the guys. I will agree.

But I laughed out loud at the Vodka Gimlet, which stated You're a huge dork, but you hope sort of in a cool way?

Lacey got me started on those one night at Julianna Tokyo. I should have known she was leading me to love of a drink that portrays that I am a huge dork. ha.

And all this time I thought I was cool when ordering the ole Vodka Gimlet.

See you next week. Hope this random, all over the place post makes up for the lack of posting that's been going on here.

Word to your motha!

O.T.W (last weekend) Late Edition

2011-11-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

Oh hi there. I've been busy, therefore the blog has taken a bit of a hit.

So here's the late edition of what we did over the weekend (last weekend).

Last Friday in honor of Veteran's Day I had the day off. Thank you Lord for the gracious folks who have served our country. For them I am grateful. I'm also grateful for a day off.

I headed to Birmingham to spend the day with my sweet friend LACEY. We just piddled together. We went to our friend Kristen's new house to check it out! It's amazing by the way. Afterwards, Lacey and I got Manicures and chatted away.

Friday night several of us got together to celebrate BESS's Birthday. She's a wild cat and we love her so it was only right to have a celebratory dinner in her honor.

Birthday Girl

Saturday afternoon Ryan and I went to a wedding of a friend. My brother happened to be a groomsman.

Hi.

Saturday afternoon we ventured to the Fish Camp for the Auburn vs. Georgia game, which was hard to watch as an Auburn fan. But you win some, you lose some.

DJ and Champ took off on ala Huck Finn Style to snap a picture of the Fish Camp. T-shirts coming soon.

It was a good weekend. I'm looking forward to some family time this weekend as well as some relaxing time with my main man and sweet pup.

TGIF!

AU/GA Game

2011-11-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

This weekend The Auburn Tigers play Georgia in Athens, GA. My SIL is headed over to Athens for all of the excitement.

When she told me that she and her friends were headed over I found myself thinking back on one of the best weekends of my college career.

It was a wild weekend spent with my best friends on the floor of a two guys' apartment that we had never met. A friend of a friend suggested that we stay with them so off we went.

We spent a weekend hitting up as many of the local bars as we could, cheering on the Auburn Tigers (to a victory I might add), and creating one of the most unforgettable nights of our lives.

At the game. Let's just say the evening got interesting from here.

Lacey documented the weekend in this post (click here).

That weekend in Athens will forever be the one weekend we completely let our hair down... and definitely used a bit of bad judgement. Alas, we really were wild and free.

O.T.W. Not Really The Game of the Century

2011-11-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend...

(which was several days ago obviously, but my week has been hectic-- hence the late posting)

We spent Saturday afternoon at a couple's baby shower for Ryan's cousin's soon to be baby girl, Bella.

I told the soon-to-be parents I sure hope she doesn't grow up and marry a vampire like Bella Swan did. That would be terrible.

We are excited that sweet Bella will be here next month!! I think she's going to look like her daddy.

After the baby shower we all headed back our house to hang out and watch the Alabama and LSU game.

We're Auburn fans (obviously) but Auburn had a bye week so we tuned into the "GAME OF THE CENTURY" which turned out to be kind of boring with not even one touchdown being score. Both teams are really good on defense.

Oh look! Mr. Benny, Mrs. Lu, Jeffrey and Cindy even stopped in.

LSU came out on top...

Whaaaaaaaa. (kyle is one of my favorite people. cracks me up)

...but let's just all be proud that the SEC is such a powerhouse. I won't say who I was pulling for. Oh, okay. I was pulling for The Tigers. I'll keep it real. I hate LSU but I have to actually be around a lot of smack talking Alabama fans so a good loss really helped tone down the chatter. It's all about proximity.

Sunday was spent relaxing.

Whew... we are already half way to the next lovely weekend.

[sorry about the photos. only camera I had all weekend was the iphone]

Celebrate We Will...

2011-11-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Harley Toland's Birthday. He turned 56!! I remember the day I brought that sweet baby home.

He's wise old soul with a heart of gold.

My friend, Alana, and I drove to Troy, Alabama to pick up Harley (for me) and his brother, Beasley (for Alana) on the morning of Christmas Eve. He was my gift from Santa.

We had to stop several times on the way home because Beasley kept getting car sick. Harley was just along for the ride.

He has been the sweetest addition to our family. He lives with my parents now, as when I went off to college he stayed behind. But that doesn't mean I love him any less.

I am a firm believer that every family needs a good dog!

They will stick by you through thick and thin. There's never a day that I get home and am NOT greeted enthusiastically!

Last night when I told Maggie that her brother Harley was celebrating his birthday she decided she wanted to dance around the living room to celebrate...

...On MY SHOULDERS!! Ryan caught us in action!!

Just a normal Tuesday night at our house.

Now go adopt a puppy and make your life better!!

O.T.W.- Lit-Rally

2011-11-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend...

...Ryan had lots of school work to catch up on over the weekend so he took it pretty easy. Friday night we had a little date night, which always make me super happy.

Saturday I got out of his hair for the day by heading to Auburn with Deidra and Ashton to tailgate for a bit with Ali.

Ali, Ashton, Deidra, me

We ended up heading back to town before the game kicked off because we had a housewarming party to attend. Our friend, Yogi and his new fiancee bought a house and had people over to celebrate Saturday night.

Newly Engaged. New Homeowners.

I just like putting random pictures of Rhett up for everyone. Here he is laughing about something...

Handsome Ryan.

I ended up tossing on my leopard print jacket as a means to stay cozy and warm, however, it turned in to me pretending to be Rachel Zoe all night. Let's just say I said, "I DIE" many, many times.

In this scene we were driving over to Joey's.

Mandana stressing.

it's not easy to stay in character. I was just stating how much "I love Skylar. Like, he's my life"

Potentially even made a few videos with me playing Rachel and Deidra playing a blonde version of Mandana. Let's just say it was late and it had been a long day. I was "this close" to talking Ryan in to playing Rodger, but alas no dice.

Sunday we celebrated Baby Heath's first birthday. It was everything a first birthday should be. Cake, ice cream, a jumpy thing, and wagon rides. It was a real rager! I told Lane (his mama) that it was probably the best birthday he's had thus far!!

THE BIRTHDAY BOY!!

Sweet Hollon never cried while riding in the wagon, but she never quite warmed up to it.

I hooked baby heath up with a pair of Tiny Tom's. You would die to see how small they were in person. They really are tiny.

And big brother couldn't have a pair without sister getting a pink cords for the Fall...

And so it was....

Currently Loving

2011-10-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks I've been wearing Essie's Berry Naughty nail polish and I'm really loving it.

I had it on in these pictures, where it looks a bit dark. But it's the perfect bit of rich berry color for fall.

Next up is Essie's Chinchilly grey. I can't wait to try it out.

I just love trying out new nail colors!!

O.T.W. Fall Ball

2011-10-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend...

... according to my iPhone pics:

Friday night my mom, Deidra, Ashton and I went to see FOOTLOOSE. I was unsure if it could measure up to the first one... and let me just tell you it was BETTER than the first one in my opinion.

I loved it! Maybe that makes me a little less cool, or maybe it makes me even cooler. Doesn't matter either way because I loved it all the same. Willard makes the movie. GO SEE IT.

Saturday Ryan invited folks over to our house to watch football and grill out. Auburn struggled against LSU but we watched until the very end.

It was a tough one, but our boys are "in a transitioning year" or so Ryan says... and I feel good about his opinion. War Eagle Baby!

Maggie loves Auburn Football Gatherings.

A few of the guys watching the game through the window.

Being sexy.

Maggie got tired and had to rest. All the company really wears her out.

Deidra telling lord only knows what... but Jennifer finds it interesting.

Holla if you've been a fan fo life.

And we'll wrap it up with this guy... WADE. Good ole Wade. That's all I can say.

It was a good one.

*And weird side note I rocked out with Pink Eye all weekend long. To say everyone was scared of me may be a bit of an understatement. I found it quite the motivator in that I would "scare" Ryan by touching my eye and then attempting to touch him. I mean, Pink Eye is highly contagious. All is well now!!

O.T.W- Fall Weather, Football, & A Couple of Parties

2011-10-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Over the past weekend....

... we had some serious fun! Saturday Auburn played Florida at home. The game was scheduled for late in the afternoon, which meant we had and ENTIRE day to tailgate with friends.

Ali and Jackson sitting in a tree...

My football loving boo.

Oh look! We found Bess.

A little photo op at Toomer's pregame.

Ryan went to the game with his brother and several friends, while I hightailed it to a local bar to watch the game with friends.

The guy pictured below was an odd character I met while watching the game. I proceeded to tell him my husband was also a bearded man. He told me he could tell I was a girl that could give the proper respect to a man with a beard. It was an odd conversation which ended with me taking a photo of his beard. (I'm telling you it got weird as the night went on)

Cheers for Beards!

Having recently watched the movie, What's Your Number, in which the main character pretends to have a British accent I decided the next person to walk by I would try to fool them with my fake British accent.
These two guys (pictured below) happen to pass at that time. I said, "E'llo. How are you doing?" Both gave me quizzical looks. So I proceeded with, "Bullocks. You can't respond?"

When they did finally speak they asked if I was making fun of them... because THEY HAD SOUTH AFRICAN ACCENTS! What are the chances of me pretending to have an accent to people that actually HAVE an accent.

It made for quite a laugh.

As it got later in the day things got weirder and weirder, as one will note from the pictures.

AUBURN WON!!

On Sunday, Ryan and I attend two parties. One party for his grandad and one for my cousin, Kylee.

I love Ryan.

Sweet Birthday Girl.

The party was hosted at Wind Creek State Park at one of the pavilions. Anyone from around these parts knows that no trip to Wind Creek is complete without climbing to the top of the tower.

So that's just what we did...

The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time. What a great weekend!

The Great Wall of China

2011-10-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

I called Ryan a couple of weeks ago on a random Wednesday. This how the conversation went:

Me: Hey boo. How's work going?
Ryan: Ahhh, it's fine. Just working. What's up?
Me: Oh nothing. Just ate lunch, wanted to see how you day was going.
Ryan: Nothing special going on.
Me: Well alright. What do you want for supper?
Ryan: It doesn't matter. Whatever you feel like making.
Me: Ok then, I'll let you get back to work.
Ryan: Alright. See you this afternoon you sexy lady*.
Me: Ok. Oh, by the way... I bought a China Cabinet and Buffet today.
Ryan: WHAT?
Me: Alright. Well, your busy I'll see you at home.
Ryan: WHAT IS A BUFFET?
Me: I paid like practically nothing for them. A buffet goes with a china cabinet. You put spoons and stuff in it.
Ryan: Well alright then. See you this afternoon.

(*he didn't really say that. it just sounds better)
And that, my friends, is how I let Ryan know that I purchased a china cabinet and buffet on a whim!

Now, normally if I were making a BIG purchase I would run it by Ryan. However, I got such a good deal I felt like he would understand.

In all honesty, he's more concerned with the fact that we now have to drive 45 minutes to pick it up than the fact that I bought it.

I haven't seen it in real life. I've only see it in pictures.

These are the only picture I've seen:

China Cabinet

Buffet

I bought them from a trustworthy source and she has ensured me that both pieces of furniture are in decent condition.

Now, here is where the great debate begins... Do I paint them both or strip them down and stain them both a deeper color?

I have some ideas I have tossed around in my head. But I decided to go to PINTREST for more inspiration.

Painting them both white seems as though it would make them look so much "fresher" and not so dated.

Via

If I do decide to paint them both white I love the idea of painting the background wall a color so that my china (which is white) can stand out:

Via

Via
Not these knobs or color. And no I don't want to paint the front-- just the background wall.

However, a few folks have frowned upon that and have suggested staying more natural with it. That would mean stripping them down and staining them a deeper color.

via

The stain on this piece of furniture is so pretty.

And if I do decide to stay with the more natural, darker stain I could still paint the background a color:

I could get really CRAZY and paint them both a wild color:

But at this time I'm not really planning on being crazy.

What should I do? If I lightly sand it and paint them I would always have the option of stripping them down and staining them sometime down the road.

I am not in a huge rush to do either, as our house it on the smaller side and I could never make both pieces of furniture fit without feeling crowded, but in our "one day" house my dinning room will have plenty of room for both pieces.

Please help me decide... comment, email me, gchat me, call me, send me a post card... Just let me know what option you like best!

F.O.L.K- lore

2011-10-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

My friend, Whitney, makes jewelry. It's a special kind of jewelry because she puts positive energy of love and kindness in to it.

The name of her jewelry is F.O.L.K. which stands for Fractals Of Loving Kindness.

I purchased a hematite and pearl earring/necklace set back during the spring. Whenever I wear it I get quite the rave reviews.

Here I am late night at a wedding reception rocking the pearl and hematite necklace. (that's my pal Ryan-O)

Last weekend, Whitney, had a booth at the Oktoberfest here in town. She makes all kinds of beautiful things and, in all honesty, can tell you what type of energy you will get from the different types of gems you decide to purchase.

Well, she has recently started making a very fall-ish earrings made of cool turkey-type feathers. Great to wear with Thanksgiving coming up!

I bought a pair of feather earrings and wore them to one day this week. The are subtle in that they blend with my hair, however, when the light catches them just right they are awesome. I received several compliments regarding my feather earrings.

subtle.

But just enough.

If you are interested, check out F.O.L.K's facebook page. She has some really cool stuff!

Maggie Goes to The Vet

2011-10-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

We survived the vet. (you may remember that I mentioned Maggie not feeling well) Oh, Maggie got beat down a little bit, but nothing too bad.

So brave.

Four shots, a physical, a little lab work, and some pills to take for the next two weeks and we were all done.

Lab work (her feet are wet because it was rainy yesterday)

Now, I feel as though I was blatantly robbed of a couple hundred dollars, but I would do anything to make her feel better.

You see, last week Maggie started itching and scratching quite frequently. Then over the weekend while Ryan and I were off at a party Maggie decided to start pulling her hair out because she was itching so bad. It was intense. I hit her up with some benadryl and even gave her an oatmeal bath, but it kept getting worse. Maggie was sad.

So I made a an appointment with the vet.

Turns out she has a very sensitive skin and had an allergic reaction to something or another.

The tough part about the visit to the vet was Maggie getting a bit of a verbal spanking regarding her weight.

She's gained exactly five pounds since this time last year.

She is two pounds over the recommended weight limit.

Apparently we need to work on this issue. So we were told to buy a lesser calorie treat and smaller bones, as the vet said that was probably the culprit.

These are Maggie's new treats:

Only five calories.

Oh so tiny.

And this how she feels about it:

"Don't even bother wasting my time with that small thing"

I told Maggie not to get to down on her self-image. It's hard to get told your fat right after you've gotten four shots. And then there's all this media hype about being skinny. I could tell Maggie was feeling a little insecure.

So to make her feel better I gave her five of her low calorie treats, which potentially encourages emotional eating and enables her to continue with her over eating... but sometimes treats make things all better. Well, that and a couple hundred dollars at the vet.

But on her "chart" she did get this comment:

"Sweet Girl"

So in the end I gave her the ole "it's what's on the inside that matters most" speech and we watched Kim's Fairytale Wedding and all was right again.

O.T.W-- Oktoberfest!!

2011-10-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend....

... We began our weekend with dinner and drinks at Uncle Nick's Smokehouse on the lake. As always is was quite good.

Dinner with Ryan and DJ. I accidentally deleted the other side of the table, which consisted of Champ and Deidra.

Saturday morning Deidra and I hit up our local town's Oktoberfest, which basically consist of food, vendors, entertainment...

Catching a ride on the trailer to the Oktoberfest!

It was the perfect fall day for enjoying a little outdoor entertainment.

Saturday night Ryan and I hit up an engagement party for Hadley and Kris.

Left: Me and my boo. Right: happy couple getting Iced

Judging by the amount of fun that was had at the engagement party, one can only assume the wedding will be a real hit!!

Sunday was rainy and gross, which lead to me and Maggie watching Soul Surfer and napping. (I honestly thought soul surfer would be ridiculous... but I laughed and cried and even clapped by the end of it. Maybe it was lack of sleep but yesterday I was loving it. Although, Carrie Underwood needs to stick to singing and working out her legs)

"I'm itching!"

Side note: Maggie has a vet appointment tomorrow. She seems to be having some type of skin irritation and it's not cool. I have had her heavily sedated with Benadryl but that Dr. said that would only temporarily fix the problem. We'll keep y'all posted.

Pigskin Picks

2011-10-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

In mine and Ryan's marriage I would say he's the sports connoisseur, obviously. I've said it a thousand times... sports, especially football, rank way up there with Ryan.

Now, don't get me wrong, Auburn football is bred deep in my heart, but that's where it ends for me. I don't care about what the spread is, or who needs to be benched in this week's fantasy. I can't tell you who how many yards in whatever game, but what I can tell you is I'm obviously subconsciously picking up on all the football talk Ryan is laying down.

Case in point:

Each week our local small town paper does a little competition called Pigskin Picks. All anyone has to do to enter is chose who they think will win each game (ten games are listed each week) and then answer the tie breaker question, and fax it in.

Normally, I go through and chose who I think will win, but just about every week I have to ask Ryan about the tie breaker. The tie breaker is usually total yards, rushing yards, passing yards and so forth in regards to Auburn or Alabama.

Pretty simple concept.

Well, last Friday afternoon I got ready to make my picks and send them in when I realized that Ryan wouldn't be able to help me with the tie breaker... so I had to wing it all on my own. I went all in and rolled with what I felt in my heart to be true.

When I got home last Friday afternoon I told Ryan I made the picks/tie breaker on my own and asked him what he thought.

He looked over the picks and in an attempt not to make me feel like an idiot told me that I did OK, but my total yards for South Carolina was probably a little low.

The wind went right out of my sails. I tossed my picks aside and didn't think about them again until...

... my phone rang on TUESDAY and the lady on the other end simply asked, Hi, Mrs. Sanford? Where do I need to send your check?

WHAT? A CHECK? FOR WHAT? WHY?

She then stated she was calling from The Outlook and I had won the Pigskin Picks contest for last week.

This probably makes the contest make a little more sense. This is today's paper. I am "this week's winner" because I won for the games that were played last weekend.

Oh is that too small? Here's a better look:

WHOOO HOOO! All on my own I dominated a FOOTBALL CONTEST! I was more excited about winning it on my own than the little ole $25 I won. Bragging rights, man. Bragging rights.

I could NOT wait to get Ryan on the phone and tell him the news. I didn't want to rub it in, but I certainly did! The newspaper clipping is potentially on our fridge at this time.

ATTEMPT AT FOOTBALL TALK/TOTAL BS: I think I knew South Carolina would be a little on the low side in total yards. I felt like Lattimore would have a tough game against Auburn. And then there's Garcia who got so embarrased in the SEC Championship against AU last year... I knew he hadn't totally bounced back. Both of those reasons were factored in when I put down the ridiculously low 115 as the total yards for South Carolina against Auburn. HOLLA!

Or maybe I just wrote some crazy number down... whatever it was I dominated for the entire small little town to see.

Maybe Ryan needs to start asking me a thing or two about football! Ryan, just call me or ask me when we wake up in the moring (whatever works for you) if you need my help making any picks.

And my hands go up!!!!!

O.T.W. From Birmingham to Auburn

2011-10-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

Friday night I loaded up and headed to Birmingham to have dinner and few cocktails with friends.

It was an odd evening to say the least. I'm not sure if it was the ending of the month, the start of the spookiest month of the year, or hormones among girls, but whatever it was it made for an interesting night.

We eventually enjoyed dinner at Surin which included sushi and fried rice and then had drinks at The Blue Monkey. Tossed in throughout the night were several misunderstanding to keep things interesting.

Saturday morning came bright and early and I hit the road back the small town to get ready for a tailgate/birthday party in Auburn.

We gathered with friends and family to watch the Auburn v. South Carolina game! War Eagle!

Heath is one of only a few Alabama Fans in the family.

Oh look, there's the other Bammer, his daddy Ash.

The first cold front of the season came through and I wasn't prepared. I had to borrow a pair of socks.

WDE!

Headed home.

On Sunday I had breakfast with my main man, Ryan, and spent the day relaxing.

To wrap up the weekend I met a few friends to see What's Your Number which was quite funny.

The weekends just go by oh so fast.

A Hair Affair

2011-09-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

I love finding different ideas online to try at home.

Reading blogs and searching Pintrest often lead me down a path of being super inspired and ready to charge ahead to try some type of DIY or latest fashion trend.

Whether it's the latest trend in nail polish, attempting to make a man's shirt into a dress, or even making a few bracelets I love to at least give it a go.

Well, that's what happened yesterday. I enjoy reading the blog called, Love Maegan. She mostly does posts regarding fashion and often post tutorials on how to achieve different types of hair and fashion looks.

Last night I was catching up on her blog, as I hadn't checked it out in quite some time when I came across this tutorial on how to achieve great curls without using heat. To me this read, how to achieve a decent hair-do that is simply washed and slept on. I love any excuse to sleep a bit later so I had to give it a try!

Pic Via Love Maegan

After taking a shower last night I let my hair air dry for a bit and then I pinned it up all over my head like this:

I then went into the living room to tell Ryan goodnight and he looked at me like this:

Slow your roll, girl.

I explained to him that I was trying out an idea I found online and that it would be beautiful tomorrow. He was highly skeptical but kissed me good night and sent me on my way.

I woke up this morning and all but one little twist made it through the night. It was my morning to walk Maggie and I made sure to put a hooded jacket on so that I could cover up my crazy head.

After removing the pins and allowing the twists to fall loosely around my head I felt like I probably looked a lot like Felicia from the movie, Friday:

For a moment I thought I might be rocking a ponytail to the office today. However, I stayed the course.

After running my fingers through it a few times it looked like this:

Still a bit frightened I applied a little bit of product to tone down the curls, as I was on the fast track to rocking 1980's big hair to the work place. Not exactly what I was shooting for.

After allowing the product to sit for a moment it toned down and I simply pinned it back and headed to work. Not too much fuss and pretty decent hair.

Here's the final look:

My hair doesn't look much different than it does every other day, but it was a lot less work. I did have to use a little bit of heat, as I busted out the curling iron to take back control of the front portion of my hair.

My hair is naturally curly so that may be the only reason it worked as well as it did. I would really love for one of my friends who doesn't have naturally curly hair to give this a try to see how well it would work for them. Maybe Lacey?

DIY via Pintrest

2011-09-28T06:45:00.000-07:00

My friend Katie Beth did a post recently on creating DIY friendship bracelets. I read the post and thought to myself, "SHE BEAT ME TO IT!!"

That's what I get for procrastinating. You see, I purchased most of the supplies to make several of the 'do it yourself' friendship bracelets I had seen on Pintrest several months ago.

Via

The supplies sat in the Hobby Lobby bag in our office for quite some time. After seeing how great Katie Beth's bracelets turned out I knew I had to get started. She had inspired me.

So on Saturday afternoon, Deidra, Ashton, and I got to work.

The only supplies we needed to purchase were the colored twine and brass hex nuts. The guy helping us in Home Depot was quite confused, however, after showing him a few pictures he was loving it. He thought the idea was great and I think he even thought about commissioning one for his wife or lover. He did not voice his idea aloud. I just had a feeling.

With supplies in hand we headed back to our house and set up shop on the front porch. We turned the radio on and went to town.

Upon first beginning the project, we were going to make lots of bracelets and sell them for a much lower price, as KB outlined these bracelets are selling for ridiculous amounts.

Our hypothetical price was one for $15 or two for $25 when we began. However, the job proved to be a bit more tedious than we had imagined and after a few hours of braiding, looping, and tying we increased our price dramatically and Ashton even opted to bail out of the newly established hypothetical business.

After making the first three with natural colored twine we deided take those apart and recreate them using orange twine so that they could be "gameday" friendship bracelets.

The orange isn't quite so bright in person.

In the end we each ended up with an orange hex-nut bracelet and an orange ball-chain bracelet.

Please let me know if you would like to commission a bracelet for yourself or loved one, the price will be somewhere around $57.00. I think I'm going to price them like a car mechanic would-- parts aren't too expensive, but it's the labor you're paying for.

O.T.W.

2011-09-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend...

Friday afternoon the weather was just perfect. I found myself longing to be outside. So that's just what I did--I grabbed the book I'm reading and Maggie and we curled up on the front porch swing while waiting for Ryan to get home.

"What are you reading?"

"I don't really care what you're reading. I think I see something in the distance."

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah... Definitely think I see a cat."

So maybe when I say "curled up" I actually mean... I sat on the swing and read my book and Maggie was all over the place.

Saturday morning I picked up my grandmother and we headed to an Estate Sale. The Estate Sale was a total bust. I'm on the look out for a china cabinet that I could refinish, and they did have one... but for $1200. I don't think so. I could buy a brand new china cabinet for that price.

So my grandmother and I left empty handed (well, she got a hand mixer) and we headed to the next stop...

Armed with a newspaper in hand we hit up a few more yard sales.

Unfortunately we didn't find any great deals.

The next stop on our morning outing was at my cousin, Lane's, Thirty-One Gifts Party. I hooked myself up with this great bag:

I think it will be a perfect carry-on! Thinking ahead...

Saturday afternoon, Ryan headed to The Fish Camp to hang with the guys and watch football and I met up with Deidra and her sister Ashton to hit a few antique stores and even The Home Depot.

I'm thinking of painting our office... We shall see.

We did a little DIY Project... just saying. I will post more on it later.

The weather was nice it made for the perfect weekend to spend as much time as possible outside.

However, as much time as we spent out and about we probably spent an equal amount of time doing this right here:

Ahhhhh, so nice.

Hope y'all had a great weekend too!

Things I'm Loving This Week

2011-09-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

In honor of it being Friday I decided I would post about a few things I'm loving this week.

1. OPI's Chopsitcking to my Style.

I'm not quite ready to go super dark with my nail color so this has been the perfect transition into FALL. Plus it doesn't hurt that it's basically orange and works well with my gameday attire each weekend. WDE.

2. FALL TV PREMIERS.

Holla for a dollar if you've been tuning into the new seasons and fall premiers!! I've really been making the DVR work for me this week, as I am trying to decided which shows will make the cut.

New Girl made me laugh out loud in a few parts... and at times the main character kind of got on my nerves. Verdict is still out on this one.

Vampire Dairies is on lock. I love it right along with all the other teeny boppers out there.

REVEN8E was really good. The first episode had lots of twist and turns and as of right now I'm all in.

I have really high hopes for Pam Am as well as Hart of Dixie which premier on Sunday and Monday.

Rachel Bilson is looking so pretty.

3. These free pumpkin stencils from Better Homes & Garden.

They have lots of different designs, but the different dog breed stencils have me ready to bust out my carving knife.

4. And lastly, as usual I'm totally loving my main girl dog, Maggs.

Tomorrow I'm hitting up an Estate Sale (fingers crossed we get some steals), a Thirty-One Party, and cheering on the Tigers. Hope you have a great weekend too!

O.T.W.-- Fall is Easing On In

2011-09-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend...

...We invited folks over to our house to watch the Auburn vs. Clemson game. I made some tailgate foods and we cheered for the Tigers.

Just the girls.

Champ, Kyle and Ryan watching the game.

"We're number 1"

Mack and Kyle taking it easy on the front porch during half time.

Deidra and I found fun Auburn cups for our cocktails.

After the tough loss to Clemson we all loaded up and headed to The Fish Camp to continue watching football and to grill out.

The weather was perfect to spend the evening outside.

Ryan + Jessica 4 Life

You may remember my post regarding the Fish Camp. It's literally a tiny cabin by a pond out in a pasture. It makes for the perfect place to hang out outside to watch football and hang by a campfire. The guys toss horseshoes and grill while the ladies chat about various topics and make s'mores.

It had been a long day so I can assure you it got a bit random.

There is no telling what Ryan is carrying on about in this picture.

In the South football talk can get a bit heated... even if you pull for the same team.

The ladies made S'mores for everyone to wrap up the evening. They were oh so good.

Sunday was spent laying around and taking it easy. Pretty much a typical Fall weekend around our neck of the woods.

Sweet Maggie

2011-09-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

Let's hear it for THURSDAY!!

Here's a quick picture of our sweet Maggie on our afternoon walk yesterday:

She is the sweetest thing, but I promise you she glanced back long enough for me to snap this picture before we were off chasing a squirrel or bird. When we're outside she is all over the place. She loves it.

Movie Night

2011-09-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

Last night Ryan and I had a little movie night.

Nothing special about that. We watch lots of movies, but last night we rented THOR.

Ryan has been wanting to see it because it's a super hero movie and guys love that kind of stuff.

I've been wanting to see it because it has Natalie Portman in it, and more importantly it has this guy playing the main character, Thor:

Chris Hemsworth (hot older brother of Miley Cyrus's BF)

Yummy goodness!!! I officially have a movie crush on him.

I mean, Really? Come on... you love him too!

The movie was good (honestly ryan and I both enjoyed it), but a movie is always better when the leading man is tall and handsome.

By the end of the movie I was begging Ryan to grow his hair out long. He's thinking about it, I'm sure.

In the mean time I shall dream of Thor....

"Oh, Thor, you don't have kiss my hand. Kiss my lips!!!"**

**this photo may have been edited to replace Natalie Portman's head with my own.

O.T.W.- AUBURN

2011-09-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend Ryan and I headed to The Plains for the Auburn vs. Mississippi State game.

It was a beautiful albeit hot day, but perfect for college football.

Ryan and I got off to a rough start... we were later than we had hoped getting on the road, still had to hit up the gas station to stock the cooler, as well as stop by the ATM for a little cash money.

To say it was hectic is somewhat of an understatement. Ryan may have had an attitude but I'm not going to say either way.

Needless to say, we eventually got on the road along with every other Auburn fan around 9:00 for an 11:00 kickoff.

We eventually arrived in our beloved AUBURN and even made to into the stadium prior to kickoff.

Oh look... There's Cam right next Bo. I think they both know best.

Waaaaarrrrrrrr Eaaaaaaggggggllllllleeeee, HEY!

The one thing that we forgot to do... stop by the ATM for cash.

So, upon finally getting to our seats I said... "LET'S GET A HOT DOG!!!" Only to realize we had no cash.

It was tough but we made the best of it and survived without a hot dog or coke or funnel cake or nachos or lemonade. When you can't purchase anything... everything looks SO good.

I sure am glad we made it through because it was a great game. Auburn held Miss St. at their goal line in the last few seconds to claim the WIN. It was stressful, but awesome!

After the game we got to harass my pal Katie Beth and her husband Brandon at their tailgate spot. We also got to hug on Kaci and Justin for a bit too before heading home.

It was a fun day with my man and Auburn Football! I don't think it gets better than that.

O.T.W.-- Long Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

Over the past weekend we covered a lot of ground.

Friday night we ran in to Rhett and had a nice conversation...

(testing)

On Saturday....

AUBURN Football kicked off!! Whoo hooooooo!!!! Ryan was like a giddy little school girl.

You can really see how long maggie is in this pic...it's the wienie in her.

We didn't head to Auburn because we had a wedding to attend Saturday evening, but we invited folks over to watch the team make their 2011 debut.

Now, the Auburn Tigers were last year's 2010 National Champions, but we lost a big portion of our team, so we have some work to do...

Maggie loves Auburn too.

...but a win is a win and I'll take them how we can get them! War Eagle!

At one point when we were down, Deidra and I decided that it was the lack of tailgate food. So I called in some wings, picked up an Auburn cake, and grabbed the stuff for Rotel Cheese Dip.

Food can really alter the mood of a group of stressed out guys. (that and another brewski)

Saturday evening my cousin got married and I was actually the wedding director. How wild is that? I was running the show with my assistant, Deidra.

I thought I had died and gone to heaven when the sound lady at the church hooked me up with a head set, ala Brittney Spears style.

I had to tell myself over and over that this was not my show to keep from busting up on stage with a little Hit Me Baby One More Time.

Ryan stated that I looked like Billy Blanks getting ready to teach Tae Bo. Either way, I was looking really important.

The wedding went well and only had a minor mishap, but other than that... I'll toss "wedding director" on the ole resume.

Sunday we had big plans for an island party, however, crazy tropical storm Lee was all "no you won't celebrate the last weekend of the summer in the sun because I'm going to rain on yall's parade."

And Lee did. It rained off and on all day Sunday. Not to be defeated I invited everyone over to our house and we had cocktails and fun under the cover of a roof. Suck it, LEE!

For the first time in the history of ever we decided to be a step ahead of the game and instead of paying the higher cost at the gate for concert tickets at the Lake Marting Amp for The Blues Travelers we all ordered them in advance. (Without checking the weather) So, rain or shine we were hitting the concert, as we had tickets.

Decked out in rain boots, rain jackets, and a positive attitude we headed to the outdoor concert. The weather held off and the concert was lots of fun.

Oh look, we ran into Liz (brunette) who happens to be a blog reader! Shout out to Liz!

Got to hug on this kid which a bit overdue.

Chase and Birttany spent the Sunday night with us. Always love a good slumber party.

John Popper really feeling it.

Monday was Labor Day, which meant no one could do any type labor at all, therefore, I laid around and watched movies pretty much all day long. It was awesome.

Today is Wednesday, but feels like Tuesday, which is great. Enjoy this short week!

O.T.W- A Cottage Escape

2011-08-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

We loaded up over the weekend and headed to Gulf Shores, AL for a girls weekend get-away!!

Friday happened to be my mom's birthday so we got to celebrate that and Saturday we had a little bachelorette bash for my cousin.

I love the beach and all that it entails. Seafood? Yes please! Florabama? How I've missed thee! Waves upon my feet? Why, I think I'm in heaven!!

We went a different route this beach trip. We normally rent a condo right on the beach but since there were nine of us going we felt like a house would be a better option. My cousin, Lane, mentioned staying in one of the cottages at the Alabama Gulf State Park. It was a much better deal price wise and would house everyone comfortably.

I was a little unsure what type of living conditions we would have for the weekend, but I was going for it.

You see, when I think state park I think rustic wood cabin and communal bathrooms. Let me tell you how wrong I was!!

We stayed in the Gulf Shores State Park Lakeside Cottages and they were so. stinkin. cute!! I loved it!!!

Check out our little weekend abode:

Three bedrooms and three baths.

Coffee was consumed one of the two screened in porches.

We didn't see any aligators but mom did check for any signs of them.

Friday night we had dinner at DOC's Seafood and hit up the infamous FLORABAMA. Bushwackers were downed and dancing was done!

Shrimp Boil!!

Deidra got a little flirtatious with B, the Cowboy.

He was a cutey.

Aunt Elaine met a guy... who apparently told her a secret...

... and then fell asleep. I'm telling you Florabama is filled with all kinds of people. You never know who you might cross paths with.

Saturday we had breakfast at the cottage and then hit the beach.

It was so HOT. I'm talking So. Freaking. HoT. But we just got in and out of the ocean to stay cool.

Saturday night we hosted a little bachelorette party for my cousin, Anna. She had a great time.

To wrap up the weekend we hit up Live Bait for karaoke and made one last pit stop at Florabama.

Overall the weekend was so much fun. I loved being at the beach with family and friends for a girls' weekend. Sometimes we all just need a little time away!!

TV Time

2011-08-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

In looking back over this here blog I realized that I have done multiple post about different TV Show that I watch.

It made me feel as though I should state for the record that I actually do have a life, but on week nights nine times out of ten times you can find me fresh off of a work out chilling in front of the TV.

It's what I do... Work, hit the gym, eat, watch TV, hang with Ryan, and wait for the weekend.

I wanted to tell you about two shows that I am loving right now.

The first is a show that comes on Thursday nights on USA called, Suits.

Ryan and I are really into it. Every episode I kept saying "where I have seen the guy that plays Harvey" and Ryan couldn't help me place him.

Then one day E! played the movie, Because I Said So and there he was... I had placed him.

Now, this show is about lawyers but it's a new take on it. Tune in!! It's gotten great reviews and has been picked up for another season.

In a completely different direction... I am also loving the Lifetime show, Picker Sisters.

Two girls travel the back roads in search of "junk" that they turn into "treasures."

I love the friendship the girls have, but most importantly I love to see what they turn there finds into.

It comes on Tuesday night!

I hope you add these two shows to your TV line up.

Pinning Like Ya Mama*

2011-08-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

*sing to the tune of stuntting like your daddy.

So Pintrest has grabbed hold of practically everyone I know. Its full of all kinds of ideas and inspiration.

Just this past Friday night over dinner, Deidra and began discussing the many uses of pallets according to Pintrest. This not only made for great conversation but also inspired us to actually go out and collect pallets.

Pallet Inspiration via Joy Ever After

So obviously after a few glasses of the vino Deidra and I found ourselves behind the local Piggly Wiggly attempting to load a pallet into the car. It was quite the sight. Dumpster diving late night.

Well last night as I was searching for fashion inspiration I came across this pin:

Via

I thought: That is really kind of cool. Ryan has lots of shirts I can turn into a shirt dress!!

My wardrobe was about to increase by tenfold!!

So I hopped up and tested it out. Here's how it went down:

Step 1. Dig in closet and find a shirt similiar to the one above:

Srep 2. Put on big shirt. (leave on leggings and footies since you just got back from the gym. Also, leave hair looking crazy.)

Step 3. Tie the arms of the shirt around you and knot. Let hair down for a fresher look.

Step 4. Crack up at how ridiculous it is that you are tying up your man's shirt in attempt to make a shirt dress.

Moral of the shirt story. No one could actually wear this because it would never stay up.

Happy Pinning!

O.T.W. - Swamp People

2011-08-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday and I'm just now getting around to telling y'all about this past weekend. It was a big one.

In short, I celebrated Deidra's Birthday, harassed the Swamp People and lost a cookie cake.

Let me recap...

So you may recall me posting about being a big fan of the Swamp People (click the link to watch a clip.) It's a show that comes on The History Channel. Well, my mom also happens to love the show as well.

Mom caught wind that Troy and Jacob Landry, alligator extraordinaire, would be in Montgomery at the 2011 Annual Buck Masters Expo. She sort of mentioned it one day while we were by the pool and the next thing I knew we were planning to head to Montgomery, AL to meet them sometime in August.

For those of you not from the South let me explain the Buck Masters.... It is probably the most stereotypical picture one could paint of Alabama. Lots of camo, deer, rednecks (but not all rednecks), lots of men who love all things hunting related, and a bow expo tossed in for good measure.

It's what movies portray Alabama to be. And I would say, yes Alabama is a lot of that, but Alabama is also pretty girls, good manners, kind gentlemen, football, family and God. Is that sterotypical too?

I digress. Saturday morning I tossed on my holiest jeans in an attempt to blend in with the crowd that was sure to be taking Montgomery by storm and we hit the road.

We were going to meet The Swamp People and we were stoked! Upon arriving in Montgomery I got a bit turned around which was cool because I was able to snap these pics:

I had the doors locked in this neighborhood.

Montgomery is our state capital and it is filled with history, but it can also be a bit sketchy in places as the pictures about might show.

The Buck Masters was everything I thought it would be:

Deidra and Aston and Mounted Deer

I think I'm testing a tree stand.

Ryan's cousin is having a baby girl... Baby gift perhaps?

More deer.

Camo bathing suits = taking it too far.

But I was there for one reason and one reason only. I wanted to know where they Swamp People were!!

I grabbed a man working one of the booths and demanded he point me in the right direction. And being the kind stranger that he was he walked us to the lobby and said, "See all those people, that's where the Swamp Folks are."

Now, I was fully prepared for a small wait. We were thinking roughly thirty minutes. We would grab a beer (because there was also a bar at the Buck Masters) and wait it out.

I see the crowd of people and decide I need to locate the line. I turned to a police office and inquired. He simply pointed down a hallway.... I followed the line which went down a hall, down a flight of steps, into a lobby, out a door, and wrapped back around.

It was CRAZYTOWN!! I did NOT realize The Swamp People were so popular.

I'm no fool. I was NOT about to wait in that line. NO Way!! So we did what any normal people would do. We posed in front of the booth and snapped pictures. In between one person's turn to meet them and the next, we said hey to Troy and Jacob.

This is what we learned:

Jacob is much cuter in real life. Deidra should have been on that.
Troy is also much more attractive in real life. He has very muscular arms.
Their thick Cajun accents are really that thick. Troy would say, "Choot dat camera, man!" and would get big laughs.
They are obviously making bank due to a little show on the History Channel. (yet another reason Deidra should have tried a little harder to sweep Jacob off his feet)
People are batshit crazy for waiting in line for 4-6 hours to meet to ordinary alligator hunters.

Fmaily Affair. Please note Dad and Justin rocked camo head gear.

After returning from our trip to camo country we met up with Ryan and friends for a birthday dinner for Deidra, as Saturday was her birthday. According to her dad she's entering in her late 20's. Deidra says she still in the mid-20's.

Which was lots of fun!!

The night ran really late and turned into a sleep over at our house. We ended up with more people than we had beds so I busted out an air mattress in the kitchen.

It blew Maggie's mind!

On Sunday after lunch Ryan mentioned wanting something sweet... and it hit me. I ordered Deidra a cookie cake and hid it so that she wouldn't see it until Saturday on her birthday. For some reason I hid it in our office and never thought about it again. I texted Deidra a picture of it... and Ryan and I ate it up!! Yummmm!

Sunday I watched Steel Magnolias and cried. Gosh I hate that Shelby has to die.

It was a good weekend with friends, famous folks, and fun.

A Leopard Longing...

2011-08-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

This morning I was sipping my coffee and doing the usual, ~~reading lots of blogs~~ working diligently in order to stay one step head of the office game.

In doing so, I stumbled upon this picture:

Photo via City Sage

I thought to myself, I need those leopard print skinny jeans for fall. I would rock them so hard with some booties and blousy top. It would be soft but edgy, right?

Then I headed over to another blog... and look what was right there in front of me:

Photo via Just B

This blog had a link to purchase these little leopard funsies. I took it as I sign. At this point I was thinking it was fate. I could foresee a Friday night out on the town rocking this kitties while kicking back cocktails like it's my job. However, I clicked the link.

They are Currently/Elliot are run about $200.

I can't justify purchasing $200 leopard skinnies, just like I can't justify purchasing $200 orange skinnies for gameday.

So alas, I shall dream of the fun that would have been... and in reality I shall toss on skinnies that cost much less, as I tend to be more of a budget minded fashionista.

On the Menu

2011-08-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

Occasionally I like to attempt to WOW Ryan with my culinary skills. My mom is an ace in the kitchen... I'm not even going to talk about how good her cornbread is because I couldn't put it in to words. Mmmm....

My mama always made a good ole home-cooked meal with love several night a week when we were growing up. She's just a good wife and mama like that. So I think Ryan believes that it is in my genetic make-up to throw down in the kitchen.

And let me tell you, I give it my best. I'm a firm believer in that anyone can cook if you can read. Recipes are out there by the thousands. Read, do what it says, eat. Hopefully it's good.... sometimes it is not. I can honestly say Ryan and I have tested a few fails. I love Ryan though because the few times I've tried a recipe that hasn't turned out so well he eats it and tells me it's good, even though we both know it's not. I'm normally the one to say, "that was terrible. never again."

This week I tested out an easy casserole called Bubble Up Enchiladas. It was a super easy one dish meal.

Here's the link for the recipe. (I used the leanest ground beef instead of ground turkey since there is that weird recall on ground turkey right now. I also added half a chopped onion to the meat as it was browning.). You can add corn, black beans, top with sour cream... you name it. It was delicious.

I'm hoping to test out Paula Deen's Shrimp and Wild Rice before the week's end.

I will let you know how it turns out.

Happy Hump Day, Yall!

O.T.W.

2011-08-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend...

... Friday night I had a little date night with my man, which included Mexican and movie watching. We watched Your Highness starring James Franco and Natalie Portman.

Sweet Maggie and Ryan before we headed out for dinner.

It's a bit ridiculous but funny all the same. Not a movie everyone will enjoy.

Saturday around lunch a summer storm blew in. It didn't last thirty minutes but had some strong winds and scary lightning. Well, Maggie and I were sitting calmly on the bed checking the weather app on my phone, when all of a sudden I heard a loud pop and then a bang. Maggie started barking and I grabbed her and ran. It was instinctive. Needless to say, when I looked out side I saw this:

It looks smaller in the pic. Trust me... it's rather big limb.

Turns out this huge limb snapped right off the tree and bounced right off the side of our house. Upon initial inspection it doesn't look like it did too much damage... just a dented the gutters a bit.

After the storm passed on Saturday I ventured to Auburn for an afternoon of shopping and dinner/drinks with my best good friend, Kaci.

We had dinner at Moe's Original BBQ, a new-ish restaurant downtown. The food was awesome and the atmosphere great! I highly recommend it. I can't wait to go back with Ryan in tow. After the food is gone a band gets started.

I had so much fun catching up with sweet Kaci. She and I were roommates while we were in school at Auburn. I can't tell you how many late night chats we had or laughs we shared.

On Sunday I ventured back to Auburn with Deidra to meet Kaci for the matinee of The Help. Now, I read this book and I loved it. LOVED IT. Who didn't?

But the movie is awesome. We laughed, cried, people clapped and even cheered. It was so so good. Go see it!!

After the movie Deidra and I hit up J. Tokyo for sushi and Gimlets.

Please note the straw is on the outside of the glass. Fancy bartending trick.

It was a fun filled weekend, I must say!

InstaFUN

2011-08-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

My latest obsession is the app Instagram. I love taking pictures of random things and people and posting it to share with others. It's just fun.

The app is free so download it and follow me @jtsanford. We can have InstaFUN together, y'all!

O.T.W- Pizza & Beer, Monograms & Mimosas, & Gilling by The Pool

2011-08-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend...

The title pretty much sums up our weekend.

As I mentioned Friday some of our friends were the headlining act at Chuck's on Friday night. We headed down to the local hangout for pizza, beer, and good music.

They rocked it and made us quite proud. The crowd was loving them too... If I'm not mistaken a few folks inquired as to how to hire them out.

On Saturday morning my mom, aunt, cousin, grandmother, and I hosted a Monograms and Mimosas shower for my cousin. Everything from the food to the fellowship turned out awesome. It was lots of fun.

I have to be honest here and state that even though I was a hostess I drank my weight in Mimosas and spent Saturday afternoon blissfully napping. It felt so good!

Saturday night we headed over the The Pool for a family get together. Everyone swam, had a few cocktails and enjoyed a great meal.

Sunday involved a good bit of TV, some cleaning of the carpet in the bedroom, and a really greasy cheeseburger from Bucks (if you are an AC reader you can respect a Bucks Burger)!

This afternoon will consist of some serious cardio to make up for it!

Welcome to the work week, folks. Let's hope it treats us all well!

It's FIRDAY, Y'all!

2011-08-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last night, as we were settling into bed, I made everyone in our household pose for an impromptu photo session using a crazy app for my phone:

Maggie wins for the cutest!!

Tonight Ryan and I are hitting up a local hang out for music, pizza, and drinks. Several of our friends happen to be the 'live entertainment' so it should be a lot of fun!

Hope everyone has a stellar weekend. See you on the other side of Sunday!

I call this photo: Side Eye

2011-08-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

Maggie is giving me a look as if to say:

"Don't be messing with me while I'm sitting next to a sock looking out the window. This is my happy place. Find your own."

I must say... I can respect that.

O.T.W. Laid Back... with My Mind on My Money and Money on My Mind

2011-08-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend...

... we straight up took it easy.

On Saturday I got some much needed cleaning done around the house, while Ryan worked in the yard. By lunch we were both ready for some rest and relaxation.

I headed to the pool to hang with my family as well as Deidra and Ryan headed to the lake for some time with the boys. (I often wonder what it is exactly boys do when they get together, hmmm)

Saturday evening Deidra and I hit up Mexican for some chips and guac... then without really having any plans or any where to be we headed to my house to hang out.

Then I realized that TLC's wedding special about Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo would be airing shortly.

We did what any normal people would do... Deidra and I made some homemade chocolate chip cookies and popped a bottle of champagne!! Holla.

I'm not sure if the champagne had us loving the show or if it was just that good, but we really enjoyed it.

I will say that Vanessa is beautiful. Stunning, even. She was gorgeous in the entire show... up until her actual wedding. Her dress was blah, and her hair and make up were even more so underwhelming, but I think the heat and humidity played a part in that.

At the end of the day I think she and Nick are madly in love. (but I thought he and Jessica were too)

Sunday... we took it super easy. We watched TV, (and by "watched TV" I mean we watched The Braves because Ryan was in charge of the remote), laid around and I ended up doing our grocery shopping for the week.

Maggie is great at taking it easy.

Hope yall had a chilled out weekend too.

*Oh and I went ahead and checked- TLC will air the wedding special again on Friday morning (08/05) at 10:00am CST.. Set your TiVo, you will not regret it.

Fashion (nail) Trend: Do or Don't?

2011-07-28T05:55:00.000-07:00

I love hopping aboard different bandwagons! Call me crazy, but if I find a trend that sort of peaks my interest I'll try it out.

One of my favorite ways to try out trends is with fingernail polish. It's inexpensive and be quickly removed if it doesn't turn out so great.

Over the weekend I tried out the "one rouge nail" trend... also referred to as the "rebellious nail."

The blog, Just B, happens to be a blog I love to read. She loves trying lots of different nail trends as well. Here she is testing the one rouge nail trend:

I went with all pink nails and one rouge black nail over the weekend since I would be rocking a black bathing suit at Aquapalooza. Here's how it looked:

I got mixed reviews. When I showed Ryan he asked if I was trying to be Gothic. Other people just kept asking why my nail was painted a different color. I even had one person ask me if I had slammed my finger in a door. How funny is that?

I might try this trend again, maybe with a different color to see how it goes over.

Or perhaps this weekend I will try out Ombre Nails.

Hmmm.

It's Almost Upon Us...

2011-07-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

Auburn Football kicks off five weeks from this Saturday!!

I love Auburn Football weekends in the fall. I should probably have mixed emotions about it, as Ryan takes it so seriously and our weekends turn in to all out football mania... but I don't.

This morning I got to thinking about whether or not I had enough orange and blue to get me through the season. Which in turn lead me to spend a portion of my morning searching for orange and blue outfits.

We have seven home games.... I have in my closet at this time three navy dresses that can be easily accessorized with orange but that leaves me four short (not counting away game tailgate get-togethers).

Here are some of the looks I found that would work:

This knit dress would be perfect with flats for a day game. Although it wouldn't be near as short on me:

This would be fun for a tailgate get together with friends for a more laid back look: F21- $13.80

I want, oh so badly, a pair of orange skinny jeans. How fun would that be with a cute navy top? But alas this is the cutest pair I can find and I can't get my mind around spend $176 for J. Brand's orange skinnies. Not very practical.

Lulu's had this navy maxi that would be perfect for less than $50:

With my navy dresses I could always toss on an skinny orange belt to make it that much more fun:

Etsy for only $6.00

And if I were really crazy I would buy these Palazza pants from F21 for only $22.80. But alas I am not...

Hmmm, all the options to consider...

Regardless I'm pumped about the impending season!! War Eagle, crazies!

O.T. W- Aquapalooza 2011

2011-07-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend...

... several thousand people gathered for Aquapalooza 2011 on Lake Martin. You may remember I posted it about it a couple of years ago when Alan Jackson was the main event. Headlining this year's show was Sawyer Brown with other performances by Rhett Akins.

Here's a little Sawyer Brown to refresh your memory:

If that doesn't just beg for a good time on the lake, I don't know what does.
Friday night I spent the evening sipping cocktails with Deidra and making snacks for Saturday's festivities. We had an array of foods to enjoy while out on the lake all day... including pigs-in-a-blanket, homemade pimento and cheese, spinach dip, turkey or ham sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls, and even a little peanut butter/chocolate rice crispies. Let's just say our boat did not starve.

We were out on the lake by 9:30, ready for the festivities to being. Enjoy the pictorial play-by-play:

Jennifer, Deidra, me, and Ali!

After a long day at Aquapalooza, we headed to Chuck's Marina for some pizza and fun!!

I took somewhat of a spill walking in Chuck's, as I stepped in a hole and twisted my ankle. This resulted in lots of pictures of my foot. Not sure why, because you can't tell by a picture that I twisted my ankle.... you can only see that I hurt one toe in the process.

I'm not even going to tell you what Ryan said when I fell down.... he wasn't as sympathetic as one would hope.

And the night ended with Miranda Lambert's Gun Powder and Lead...

Whoo it was a big one! Anyone who is close enough and has a boat needs to plan on attending Aquapalooza next year. It is so worth it!

Awww, but some girls do!!

O.T.W.

2011-07-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

Ahhh the weekend has come and gone yet again... Sads.

But we had a fun one!! This weekend was extra special because Harley Toland ventured over from my parent's house to bunk over with us for the weekend. So I had Maggie and Harley hot on my trail all weekend long.

Friday night began with a Wine Tasting at Catherine's Market.

CHEERS!!

My pal, Whitney, got in on the wine tasting!!

This particular wine had a "lengthy aftertaste of a wooden bucket." To me it simply tasted a bit spicy.

Our friend Whitney happens to be a hard core Yogi. So she took a moment to help us all become grounded. Here's Lacey in action.

Not sure anyone can rightfully hate on a wine tasting. We read the descriptions aloud, tasted the wine, and discussed how we each felt about each wine. It was quite pleasurable.
We also made sure to have snacks on hand, as no one needed to be sipping too much wine on an empty stomach.

Chips and Homemade Salsa and Pimento and Cheese!! Yumm!

This is kind of crazy... We thought this was a garlic cheese dip. So Lacey and I help ourselves to a few pita chips and a helping for the table. Turned out to be butter.

Saturday night we had dinner plans with some friends. We hit up one of the restaurants on the lake and insisted that we sit outside. It got a little tense with the hostess because they would have to put two tables together, but they ended up allowing our party of 7 to sit outside.

And then it rained....

On Sunday Ryan and I had a lunch date which included a little Momma Goldberg's on the Lake.

Momma's Love & Nachos (extra peppers)

The weather was so nice yesterday due to the all the rain we had over the weekend that I insisted that the windows be down for the ride home...

And to wrap up the weekend Ryan and I hit up the movie theater last night for the last installment of HARRY POTTER.

It was a great end to a pretty dern good weekend.

Photo Booth

2011-07-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, after spending the day by the pool and enjoying several cocktails Deidra and I had a little fun with app Photobooth.

After a long day in the sun this ended up being the funniest thing ever. Still kind of cracks me up.

I'm not sure everyone we snapped a photo of would let me use their picture so I'll just show the folks that I don't think will care:

I smell well.

Kind of Scary

Dad

I wish I could share some of the others, but I don't want anyone spanking me later for putting ridiculous pictures on the Internet.

I will say that my mom and grandmother's photos were the absolute funniest...

Can't you see how after a few cocktails this iPhone App had us laughing until we cried.

Keep real on this Friday!!! Whoop Whoop for the Weekend!!

I'm at the Corner Just in Time to See the Bus Fly By!

2011-07-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

As a young buck I spent my afternoon watching Saved By The Bell! Raise the roof if you were pretty sure Zach Morris was going to be your husband one day!! {I'm raising said roof in my office right now... holla!}

I wanted to be Kelly Kapowski, if for nothing else her cool demeanor and the fact that Zach was always smitten with her.

I learned valuable life lessons from SBTB... such as: If you sprain your ankle the week of the dance contest at The Max, it will all work out... just make up a crazy dance routine in which you hop around. Life gives you lemons... make some Lemonade.

I even stayed with the Save By The Bell crew on into the college years. It was a real love.

Alas, at some point it was all over and I didn't think there would be a time in my life in which Zach Morris or Kelly Kapowski would ever be a staple in my television watching.

I was wrong!

I've mentioned my love of White Collar here on the ole bloggity, but it's true I watch it every week. Have since episode one.

How sexy is the main character, Neil Caffrey?

And the best part is that Kelly Kapowski is Agent Peter Burke's wife. At first I was all "Why is Kelly Kapowski trying to be someone she's not" or "Why is Kelly so puffy looking." It just wasn't sitting well with me. However, I realized that she was puffy looking because she was preggo in real life and they were trying to hide it on screen and to be honest she's really grown on me! I love her on the show!

Well, this summer another crazy thing happened... Zach Morris made it into my television watching circuit! He's the co-star of the new show, Franklin and Bash. I was highly skeptical at first.

I mean, I never did buy into him being a cop on Law and Order or whatever show he was on. Zach Morris is not that serious. So, of course I didn't know if he would play a believable lawyer...

But this show is really good... and this role really suits Zach Morris. I would advise you to tune in!

I suppose my life is now complete. Kelly and Zach got me through my adolescence and now they with me yet again in my mid twenties.

Funny how things come full circle, huh?

I call this photo "Wet Nose"

2011-07-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

Maggie loves to sit on couch and peer out the window. She also can't help the fact that she has the sweetest little face.