some things i've done lately that i liked.

1. I went to see the movie Valentine's Day with a couple of girlfriends. We even went for free (thanks Hannah!) I enjoyed the movie tremendously, and I enjoyed it even more because I didn't pay for the ticket. I think my favorite role was Julia Roberts, and I was equally impressed with Ashton Kutcher because I usually don't like him in movies. I'm not a slapstick humor movie kinda girl. It's just the way I am. But this was a super fun girls night out at the movies, we all laughed a little, we all got a little teary-eyed, and we all just enjoyed ourselves. Good old fashioned Monday night fun! Plus who doesn't love Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane in all their attractive deliciousness?!


2. This past weekend was Oysterfest, one of my favorite 'fests in Atlanta! The weather couldn't have been more perfect on Saturday, so we packed up and headed into Midtown for the festival. I think the tickets were a little pricy ($20/person just for entry), but the oysters and shrimps were reasonably priced and delish! Plus, the company really couldn't be beat. We shucked our oysters (or some of us had oysters shucked for us), we peeled our shrimp (some of us also had shrimp peeled for us), and we ate and were merry. Then we listened to some music, we hung out on a hill and people-watched, and just had an extremely pleasant Saturday afternoon. The beer was yummy, the weather was ideal, and the company, like I said, couldn't be beat! Last year, the festival planners ran out of beer, the port-a-potties were overflowing, the lines were atrocious, and things were just not all that fun for fest-goers. This year, they capped the ticket limit, added more restrooms, and streamlined the oyster-obtaining process. Oh yeah, and I'm pretty positive they purchased more beer. Overall, a great experience and I'm already looking forward to next year's Oyst-ravaganza!


3. Tried a new restaurant! I love love LOVE dining out, and I especially love it when I can venture out to a new restaurant that is in a cool place. My friend Lizzie & I went to Ormsby's, which is on the Westside off Howell Mill in the White Provisions project. My biggest complaint was the parking situation, and the fact that the restaurant really didn't have a sign indicating where it was. Other than that, I'm sold! A couple other people had told me about this place before I had the opportunity to go, and I'm so glad I did! The food was good - Liz got a sausage sandwich and I got a cup of soup and the sweet potato fries. Yum! The service was really great, and there was a pretty good crowd of people for a Sunday evening. The best part is that while the dining takes place in the upstairs, there is a giant staircase in the middle where you go to the downstairs and they have darts, pool tables, Bocce Ball and shuffleboard. How fun! I thought the drinks were a little pricy, but not over the top and definitely not too much for a night out on the town, and the food was super reasonable! We had a great night just gabbing and catching up on girltalk.

What have you done lately that was just plain old fun, and something you would totally do again? Tonight I'm going to a free beer tasting (kind of like my wine tastings I told you about) and then to play trivia at Rocky Mountain. I'm all about getting out of the house these days... winter has really been dragging me down and I gotta stay upbeat somehow until these cold, dreary days pass. So tell me about your fun adventures, I can't wait to hear!

My Friends.

I wanted to tell you all about my friends.

You see, they are a very special group of people to me. Why? Because they are mine, and I love them with all my heart. For Valentine's Day, I was going to do this but for my friends. Alas, I ran out of time (and truthfully, out of 52 reasons that applied to everyone & were socially acceptable to put on a deck of cards that were going to be used) so I botched the idea and just sent extremely delayed Valentine's Day cards instead.

I have a lot of friends, or I guess enough for to keep me busy and entertained, but for now I'm going to showcase the girls. Mainly the girls I spend the most time with or talking to. That should be enough for now. I really want to put their pictures up, but I'm afraid they'll hate me forever. Oh well, friends, hate away. You're my friends, you're allowed.

L-R: me, Kathryn & Rachel in Tampa, Florida for the ACC Championship, December 2009 - the beginning of a fabulous weekend, complete with a Yellow Jacket victory! I'm pretty sure the three of us have had more adventures together in the last year, and while some were a major bust, the majority have been complete successes. I'm sure more adventures are to come...

L-R: Kelsea, Amanda, Rachel, Lizzie, & myself at Amanda's house for her Graduation Party, May 2009 - the end of what was perhaps the best semester of my life, and I wasn't even in school!

L-R: Erika & myself in Valencia, Spain, June 2008 - what a life-changing summer!

My sister Lauren & I on a 10-day cruise through the Panama Canal, December 2008 - best vacation we've ever been on! Quality family time, great friends, can't be beat!

Sydney & myself in Las Vegas, May 2007 - she's been my best friend since our senior year of high school, and no matter how far away, or how long we go without talking, some things just never change. Silly Magical Crunk 4 life.

There are friends that aren't pictured, mainly because I don't have pictures I'm willing to share with the world. The main point of this is to tell everyone how grateful I am for my friends. For the ones I talk to every day and see every weekend, for the ones who I talk to once every 6 months and see even less frequently, and for the ones that fall in between. Never in my life have I felt luckier to have the friends that I do. This is for the girls that I call, day or night, no matter what, and I never have to censor myself, I never have to apologize for who I am, and they love me unconditionally.

To my friends: You mean the world to me, I don't know where I would be without you, and I am eternally grateful for your friendship and support. And I thought you should know.

Why I Shouldn't Have Free Time, part 1 of approximately 89043280432.

It's Saturday morning. I'm "snowed-in." I've been up since 7:30am (damn you, corporate America, for not allowing me to sleep in), and the DVR is in the other room, where the internets apparently can't reach. It's Valentine's Day weekend and I am without Valentine. (This is all very ok, it just explains my lack of something better to do!) So what do I do?

Start/continue planning my honeymoon. Yes, I've started this process before. Nope, I'm not engaged. Not planning to be. Not even in a relationship. Not even attempting to be in a relationship. I don't even know the last time I went on a date. But yep - planning my honeymoon. It's gonna be an expensive one.

I want to go to one of the Tahitian islands. I want to stay in a villa that sits atop the ocean and has glass-bottom floors. I want an infinity pool. A private infinity pool. I guess I'll have to pick between glass-bottom floors and infinity pool, but maybe I can find somewhere that has both. I want beach. Lots of private, white, beautiful, warm beach. I don't want to be able to see my neighbors canoodling on their balcony... I don't want to see anyone else canoodling at all. I don't want to see any ONE at all. Except for the delightful ladies and gentlemen who will cook delicious lobsters and bring warm fresh towels. I want 7 days in extreme bliss. Bliss that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Nevermind that I hate flying. Nevermind that I will more than likely have to get on an airplane that seats approximately 2 people. Guess what? I'd do it all and then some if it meant I was going to stay at a bungalow with glass-bottomed floors and a canopy king size bed and swimming access off my balcony in the lagoon and all the other fantastic, memorable, beautiful things these islands have to offer.

As I've been finding pictures, I even entertained the idea of eloping to these islands and getting married here sans big wedding, sans family, all of it, that's how badly I want it. For those of you that know me... this isn't even an option, but I'm making it one. Only for you, most beautiful and luxurious Bora Bora. I want to come and visit you. I want to explore everything you have to offer. I want to swim in your oceans and sleep on your beaches and shop in your shops and dine in your restaurants and explore your every surface.

Maybe one day.... for now, I'll add it to my Travel Bucket List and hope that some man loves me enough to take me here, eventually. But sooner rather than later.

(these pictures are from the Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa)

Pantsless = Problem

I left my house Tuesday morning (after a debacle with my alarm clock) fully armed with Tuesday & Wednesday's lunches packed, clothes for Tuesday evening, Wednesday work clothes, as well as all the things I need in the morning to get ready for work. I was packed and ready to go. I do this once a week because I stay overnight with a family because their mom works overnight at the hospital. (It's easy money and I like the kids!) I'm feeling pretty good because I think I've got it all covered despite my 45 minute delayed start. Stupid alarm clock, who knew I actually had to turn you on?!

So I set my now faithful alarm this morning for 6:28am so I could have plenty of time (read: 2 minutes) to wake myself up, then wake the small people up, shower, cook breakfast, and all the other things that school-going-small-people require between waking up and leaving for school.

Everyone gets up, everyone gets dressed, everyone eats breakfast, and 2/3 get out the door and go to school. I'm showered but still in my jammies. Their mom comes home and takes the last 1/3 to her school, and I go back down to my basement cave to finish getting ready for work. Take off pajamas. Put on shirt-dress I like to wear to work. Dig around in bag for pants I wanted to wear with it. Dig around bag some more. Start to panic and throw the rest of the bag's contents around the room. That's when I realized that I had forgotten a CRUCIAL part of my work ensemble... the pants.

Normally, I am not an outfit drama queen. I can make the best of most situations. I would have even worn brown pants with my black/grey shirt-dress because I'm that easygoing. BUT I HAD WORN A SKIRT TO WORK THE DAY BEFORE. And not just any skirt - a zebra striped, patterned, stands out x10,000 skirt that I just couldn't repeat. We had visitors in the office. European visitors. Important visitors!!! Now... this shirt-dress is barely long enough to be worn as a dress when going to the club. It is definitely not long enough to wear as a dress when going to work. I couldn't have worn it to high school when the fingertip-rule still applied. So I think I'm a genius, and I put on tights. I feel that I have solved the world's problems. Life is better because my legs are covered.

I walk out of the bedroom, look in the mirror in the bathroom, and very quickly realize that my problems are nowhere near solved. FYI... tights are not pants. I panic some more. HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN MY PANTS?!?!?!?!!?!? I'm still not really sure if I forgot my pants, or if I thought that my tights would pass as leggings, but either way, I had to fix my problem stat, preferably before work.

One quick stop at Target, and I had a new, albeit entirely ridiculous looking, ensemble. A knee length knit skirt was the cheapest, best solution I could find that I would ever wear again. Of course they didn't have any opaque leggings in my size. Of course they didn't have any dresses that interested me at all. Nope. So I wore a dress over a skirt with tights underneath and called it a day.

And what a day it was. Want to know the best part of it? When I came home and took my most awesome outfit off.

A Low-Key Friday Night

It is Friday, post-lunchtime, and I can't wait to go home. I'm sure you are now wondering what my big plans are for tonight.

They include making an awesome coleslaw, maybe making some chocolate covered strawberry footballs (but first I would have to go to Costco and get some strawberries... which doesn't sound like the worst idea!), and maybe even going to see Dear John ALL. BY. MY. SELF. And I really couldn't be more excited about it. Oh yeah, and as I was getting ready for work this morning I decided the apartment needs a solid scrubdown ASAP. And by apartment I mean primarily my bathroom and shelves. The dust bunnies are starting to roam at night. Scary.

Since the start of 2010 my weeks and weekends have been whirlwinds of traveling, drinking, parties, cleaning, friends, and cooking, and it has been nothing short of fun, but man am I ready for a low-key Friday night in my pajamas. Even if I go out, I think I am still going to wear pajamas. The thing is, I would have a great time if I went out tonight, but for the first time in as long as I can remember, there is something going on and I don't feel obligated to go for fear of missing out. My friends will still be there tomorrow, the fun will still be there tomorrow, and while yes, I am missing what is supposedly a fantastic band at East Andrews Upstairs tonight... I'm okay with that! I'm so proud of myself. I've come such a long way with my FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

I hope you also enjoy your low-key Friday nights. And don't fret - tomorrow will be far less low-key because a group of us are participating in the Virignia Highlands Snuggie Pub Crawl. I am not a proud owner of a Snuggie, but the ad said bathrobes were welcome, so that is what I will be donning. And don't forget Super Bowl Sunday and all the festivties that go along with it.

Maybe this weekend won't be quite as low-key afterall... but at least I've got my Friday night to enjoy all by myself! What are you doing tonight?

Blondes Have More Fun!

I'm cheap, especially when it comes to things like my hair, which I don't feel it should be necessary to spend hundreds of dollars on. And shoes, which are merely going on my feet for me to use and abuse, so why buy the expensive ones when the cheapies will do? Although, I am learning to appreciate nicer shoes now that I am working and walking around more than just to an interview and back home in my heels. I learned this lesson today, but maybe I will blog about that tomorrow.

Today I am hear to tell you about the best deal EVER on hair cuts, dyes, perms, highlights, and anything else you could imagine you would want done to your hair. I started my hair adventures at the Aveda Institute, where I met and fell in hair-stylist-love with my wonderful Alexandra. It took me a few tries to find her, but once I did I never went to anyone else. Alexandra graduated from beauty school, and for a while even did my highlights in the middle of her apartment kitchen!

Then, Alex did what she never should have done - she started working at Van Michael Salon in Buckhead where for the first year or so that she was there, highlights by her cost me..................................ten dollars. $10!!!! CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE IT?!

I couldn't. It was my favorite thing in the entire world. I felt like the world of hair was at my fingertips. Perm? What the heck, why not, it's only ten bucks! And I could tip 100% and still be way under budget! The work is done by students, and they only do 2 haircuts a week, on Mondays at 4pm and 6pm, but if you plan far enough in advance, it's so easy to schedule a cut, color, whatever your little heart desires! And, I'm pretty sure this isn't any of their first runs at doing hair. Like I said, Alexandra already had graduated from beauty school at Aveda. This was like the final step for her!

Unfortunately for me (and for my budget), Alexandra is now slowly but surely working her way up the ranks at Van Michael, so she now costs a lot more than $10. I've promised myself I will go to her every other time I need my hair done, because my cheap self cannot justify a $100 hair fix, despite how much I love Alex and how she knows just how to fix my hair so it's perfect.

So call, schedule your appointment, and let a cheap and fabulous haircut be your new best friend!