friday favorites & random musings

I'm so happy it's Friday! The only set plans Mike and I have for the weekend is taking our first kayaking trip down the creek on Sunday. I'm excited, anxious and I can't wait! The only other plan we have for the weekend is to search for some new sunblock {very important when you're outdoors}, a nifty sunglasses strap for Mike's shades so he doesn't lose them in the creek, and hopefully if the weather holds out tonight, because it's super ugly out there right now... we will enjoy what is the subject of my Friday Favorites today...

FRONT PORCH HAPPY HOURS

When Spring weather arrives the first thing I want to do is pop an allergy pill and the second is to get outdoors. I love this time of year even if my sinuses don't. One of the traditions that Mike and I started when we moved into our current home was "Front Porch Happy Hours".  Before that we enjoyed "Back Deck Happy Hours", and before that - we just hung out on the couch or grilled with a beer on our back patio, and before that our little stoop at our downtown apartment was our hangout. Basically, if it's 5:30 pm on a Friday you're going to find Mike and I trying our best to get a nice mellow buzz on after a long week at the office.

It doesn't take much to start a Front Porch Happy Hour, or any type of home happy hour for that matter. All you need is your drink of choice, be it alcoholic or virgin, {I prefer and ice cold Mich Ultra or a nice crisp glass of Pinot G... I'm sure in the next few weeks I'll be sipping on some sweet tea vodka}, a comfortable chair, or blanket, a front porch and good company. Nice additions to this include some music and great conversation. Our only rule on the porch is you must chill out, and what is said on the porch stays on the porch. {We like to gossip sometimes.}

Our dog, June enjoying a front porch happy hour • image by Mike

Did I mention that our pets are always welcome? We suit up our dog June with her leash and our cat, Angus with his small leash and tie them off to enjoy the warm weather, creatures and neighbors passing by. If we don't have plans for the weekend, the Front Porch Happy Hour is what I look forward to most about the weekend. Well, that and sleeping in a bit on Saturday and Sunday.

What's your favorite way to unwind after a long week?

It's time to link up with Shana over at Fumbling Towards Normalcy!

I have quite a few Random Musings this week... most are Hollywood related, here goes!

• First off... did you hear the news? What you didn't hear the angels singing and the skies opening to reveal awesomness? DUDE... Anchorman II is FINALLY in the works, for REAL this time and with the entire Channel 4 News team assembling {they are still waiting to hear confirmation from Christina Applegate, but they are hopeful she will sign on}. Ron Burgundy made the announcement on Conan's show the other night.  I'm so excited I could shit twinkies over this! LOVE that movie! Stay Classy San Diego!

via google

• E! News reported the other night that there might be a new Hollywood couple alert and when I heard who it was my heart sang a sweet diddy for Jason Segal and Michelle Williams. I can't put into words how much I love Jason Segal, he just seems like SUCH a fun guy. He rivals Jason Seudikis for biggest Hollywood crush for me at this moment. And Michelle, well I just adore her. I am really excited about this pairing.

• I skipped ALL my workouts this week. No real reason, I just didn't want to do my recovery week and it's taken a toll on me. I've been antsy and stir crazy all week long. I busied myself with chores around the house like putting away clothing, organizing my closet and washing dishes each night as well as cooking dinner. Though, after we finished eating, I'd sit there on the couch, watching mindless TV {not every night} and just couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to do something. This doesn't happen when I workout and exhaust myself. After working out I fill up my time with a shower, making dinner and usually don't sit down to eat until 7:30-8:00. After that I might catch one or two shows before I'm ready for bed. Moral of the story - working out makes me feel better, sleep better and hopefully look better. I've also noticed that my mood is less than stellar this week due to not getting my pent up aggression out through Turbo Firing... Next week I start the actual program week 1. Wish me luck.

• My last tidbit will be a shocker... well not really but... I feel the need to express this. I know last week I was all "Ugh, SO OVER Hunger Games talk..." and I still sort of am but the difference this week is that I think I'm going to give in, and give the series a chance. Not so much due to peer pressure but due to what I feel like is a challenge sent down from my girl Hutch. She didn't comment as a challenge but if she knew how much her comment on my post appealed to the inner feminist in me... she'd understand why I can't let it go, and I must at least give the first book a chance. I also like her mini jab at Twilight... {she's also discussing these today on her blog, go check it out}. Add to this the fact that she told me in ALL CAPS to READ IT!!!! I'm going to have to just throw caution to the wind {see comments below}. After finding the books on the shelf at Target for $7.19 a pop I figured what could getting one hurt? So maybe this weekend, or next week I'll pick the first one up and see how it goes. NO SPOILER ALERTS PEOPLE!!!

wedding wednesday: photobooth

Here we are another Wedding Wednesday post. We're almost through talking about this special event in mine and Mike's lives. I will probably post one more entry about the big day and talk about issues we had, changes we may have made, and road blocks we encountered. I thought a post like that might be beneficial to some of you planning weddings yourself. Our day was amazing, but far from perfect, but in the end it made our day unique and the important things that needed happen did, and the others in the end just didn't matter as much as I thought they would.

Today I wanted to talk about my favorite addition to our wedding reception. Originally I had wanted to rent sit in photobooth but I wasn't having much luck finding one to rent, affordably. A few years prior to me planning my wedding an old co-worker and her hubby got married and ended up having a photobooth set up at the reception and manned by one of the photographers. I had asked my photographer if she offered this service and she said she had never done one before. After some discussion she was more than willing to test run this service at my wedding and thankfully only charged me the cost to pay the third shooter. She's anxious to offer this to her future brides and I'm glad I could help her make that happen. If you couldn't tell already, I loved my photographer, and her assistants were just as amazing on our big day.

I purchased all my own props. This was easy considering Halloween was right around the corner and I got a ton of hats and sunglasses for a steal at Target. I would have liked to do more work, and more crafts to make this a little more special but time was running thin at that point. I had contemplated a back drop but opted not to. In the end I walked away with only two props, because guests I guess in the  swirl of the evening slowly started walking off with glasses and hats, probably stumbling to their respective rooms for the evening.

Originally I thought we would have more room in the reception area to set up the photobooth, but once they set up the room complete with buffet tables we realized that there was very little room. Thankfully there was a little nook outside of the door where people could run out and enjoy the fun. Sadly our DJ only made one announcement about the booth and other than word of mouth from guests and myself and Mike I think some people didn't realize the booth was out there, which makes me sad, more on that next time.

The guests who knew about the photobooth had a ball. As you can see from the pictures there were plenty of repeat offenders and these aren't even ALL of the pictures. I am SO happy we did this for our wedding day to catch everyone. In the end it seemed more affordable than getting disposable cameras to place on the tables. My only regret is not getting more pictures with my bridesmaids - they took theirs while I was busy thanking people for coming.

 A Shot of our AWESOME Photographers!

 One of my FAVORITE candid shots of the night!

This by far was my favorite addition to the reception. We had a blast!

What was your favorite addition to your wedding or reception?

linking up: Time Travel Tuesday!

Today I'm linking up with the lovely Britt over at The Magnolia Pair. If you haven't read her blog I suggest you head on over, it's always fun read. Britt is a newlywed who has moved from her comfortable roots in Louisiana to Alabama - much like myself, she's finding a way to call this great state home, one day at a time.  Her new link-up is Time Travel Tuesday! I love the idea and concept and anything that helps me flex my creative mind and writing is OK by me. So if you feel so inclined please feel free to head over to Britt's blog and link up as well. {Be transported over to her blog by following the links above or clicking directly on the nifty logo provided by Britt herself}.

Today's theme is 

Where Was I A Year Ago?

Well let's think, this time last year the date was March 27, 2011. I'm not going to take the date literally but focus on the season of Spring. Everything was starting to wake-up from a long winters nap and Mike and I were doing great. I never shared this story on my blog before because I was a bit embarrassed about it, but I will now. 

I'm not sure when exactly I threw my fit, it was probably during this month but one night after a bit too much drinking a group of friends, Mike and myself went out to a local "cantina" {I use the word loosely because it's sort of a dive bar, and well, the restaurant share's a name with Chip's internet girlfriend from Napoleon Dynamite}. On the way there I was over come with a huge case of feeling down on myself, and my relationship. Mike and I have always been tight and our bond was strong but being a girl I guess in the back of my mind I sort of felt that after almost 7 years of dating, I was ready to take things to the next level and started to worry that Mike might not ever pop the question. I mean let's face it, I wasn't getting any younger. Call it too much wine, call it being a head case for the evening, or PMS but when we all got out of the DD's vehicle I lost it... There I was, 34 in a parking lot, crying like a high schooler who's boyfriend just dumped her at the roller rink. Mike and I started to talk and I confessed that I was upset that he hadn't proposed to me yet. Ladies n' Gents this is something I SWORE I would never do. I used to read that damn book "The Rules" {note: after a rough relationship I totally ate up every self-help book one can imagine in my early 20's}. In "The Rules" you're not supposed to give ultimatums {hate those by the way}, or call the guy, or ask when you think you'll get married, or be to available, yada, yada, yada. I was breaking all the rules but to be fair I broke the rules in the beginning of the relationship too. {I chased after him first - GASP!} I really think that damn book is sort of hokey but it did help me in my formative dating years to not get played {too much} by guys.  

During my epic melt down / snot-fest one of Mike's friends from high school walked by {his band was playing that night} and he shook his head and looked at Mike and said "Sorry man..." and kept walking. My face at that point was red from crying AND from being totally ashamed of behaving like I was. Mike calmed me down and assured me that his intentions were to marry me.

I'll be honest I can't remember all that I said, or what he said to calm me down. It was a low night for me, I had way too much to drink. I am not one to cry in public, or that much for that matter... I was at a breaking point, clearly. We went inside to listen to some music {after I cleaned myself up of course}. And I drank water the rest of the night and felt better about our union. Thankfully the night was not ruined, and neither were we. We were able to get past the speed bump I had made. Something I felt even better about was that while I didn't approach this discussion in the right way, the air was clear and so was my heart. I was able to trust that we were moving forward and not staying in the same place. I know some girls that had married their Mr. Right within in a year, maybe three years but I had waited while dating mine for over 7 years and felt it was time.

Little did I know... what when I had this blow up, Mike was already formulating a plan to propose to me that summer, at the beach, with all my friends in tow. He started hatching the scheme long before my break down and I had no idea. The plans for the elaborate beach vacation fell through, we were still going to the beach in July but a force of nature changed his mind about when and how he would propose....

On April 30th, 2011, after the dust from the huge tornadoes around Alabama and surrounding areas {communities are still rebuilding, 1 year later}, Mike realized he had to hold on to what was precious to him, and instead of waiting until July popped the question in our home town.

I hate how I expressed myself to Mike. We have a policy to be open and talk about our feelings no matter what, and I'm sad I let myself get to the point I did, to express them, but in the end I'm thankful it didn't ruin us, or his intentions that he had all along. We were married 6 months later, and I couldn't be happier.

Moral of the story: Patience is so important in a relationship, if he's worth the wait, be patient. But also, don't hold your feelings inside - don't wait to be eyeball full of Pinot G before you express yourself to your boyfriend in a dive bar parking lot on a Saturday night - and always wear water proof mascara.

the time Batman made me homesick.

Sometimes you come across news articles that are often too good to be true, but this is in fact true, well, sort of. A friend of mine and Mike's was telling us an epic tale about Batman being pulled over by a local police department in what used to be my former place of residence. {MoCo represent...even if I'm totally Fredneck and not MoCo, I still lived there for about 5+ years}. The picture and article really speak for itself but the bottom line in all this is that the man might not be Batman, but what he's doing in the Dark Knight's suit makes him a super hero in his own right. Enjoy! {click the link title below for full story}.

BATMAN & BRUCE WAYNE'S LAMBO

via jalopnik.com

Friday: favorites, random musings and confessions 3.23.12

I can't believe it's Friday already. This week flew by for me. I'm sorry if yours took forever, I'm apologizing because sometimes when I have a rough week, that takes forever, I truly want to smack the smile off a person's face that says it zipped by. I'm that annoying girl right now. I'm blaming my sudden sunny disposition on one thing {other than having a great hubby and little to complain about}, I think my happies are due to working out again. It's been 3 weeks in and I'm feeling better every day. I haven't noticed a single drop in weight but my lungs already feel more powerful, I'm waking up chipper and even though I'm sore and aching, I know it's for a greater good. Wanna learn more, stop over at From the Sidelines where I dished about it yesterday. 

Here and now it's time for Friday Favorites. And keep reading for my Random Musings link up and my Confessional Friday link up!

DEMIN JACKETS & MAXI DRESSES/SKIRTS

I am completely in love with both of these looks {via my pinterest}. Summer in the South is ROUGH. Hot, sticky, sweaty, and I'm still to this day not sure how these Southern Belles keep their cool, or their shit together so to speak. I've been told over and over the key to keeping cool here is dresses and skirts. I'm a total pant/jean/shorts kind of girl, but in an effort to keep cool and be fashionable I have decided I need to purchase at least 2 maxi dresses to add to my arsenal of summer gear and possibly a skirt. I really love the look in the image of the mother and her daughter. Keeping the skirt up that high will help mask the stomach I'm trying so hard to decrease with my workouts, as well as highlight the guns {aka arms} I'm currently working to sculpt as well.

The denim jacket, well let's just say this is a love that comes from a long time ago. Remember when denim jackets became all the rage, or at least we thought they were new and hip and our parents just looked at us like we were insane because HELLOOOO they've been around for as long as denim was probably invented. Well I'm sad to say I still have two jackets in my closet, neither fit me properly. One is entirely too large, and the other is too small. One is faded and the other is dark denim. I really want to find one that fits me to a T but I'm not 100% sure about how to go about finding that. HELP! I have always purchased them in the past to wear them so they would button up correctly, but being blessed up top leaves the jacket HUGE when I wear it open. So I ask you readers, do I purchase a jacket that just looks great open, since honestly I rarely wear them closed? Help a sister out.

SPRING RAIN

Nothing is better to me sometimes than a great Spring time rain. I suffer from allergies, big time. None of my allergies are as bad as the one I have to pollen {or penicillin, dealthly allergic ya'll}, and a good rain wipes out the pollen that keeps me down. We had one of those rain storms yesterday and not only did the town smell amazing afterwards but the air cooled and it was perfect. I look forward to these storms, just not thunderstorms that may bring tornadoes. Long gone are my days of enjoying a blissful country thunderstorm. P.S. One of my favorite smells of all time is the smell of hot asphalt after it's rained, amazing.

TOMS

via google

I never jumped on the bandwagon when TOMS first came out a few years ago, but I'm currently coveting getting a pair for myself this summer. Now that they have introduced their ballet flat line I'm torn between the two but I think I'll probably stick with the classics, considering I plan on wearing them to work most days {casual dress all the time} and for errands on the weekend. Now I just have to find the right pair, I'm thinking gray, or tan. Call them hippie shoes or ugly or what you want but they look pretty darn comfy and are for a great cause so there's that. {P.S. I wear Birkenstocks from time to time so I'm fully integrated into hippie shoes already. I call them my birth control shoes}.

LINK UP TIME!

As always I like to hook up with my girls for some dishing on a Friday, especially when it's Happy Hour. *Sigh* I miss those days. It's too bad I can only hook up with Shana and Leslie via the internet and not for real. I'd truly love to share a cocktail and some gossip with these girls!

RANDOM MUSINGS FRIDAY WITH SHANA

• Hines Ward retired this week and while I was sort of depressed to hear of this, I was also really happy. I'm glad he's retiring as a Steeler and look forward to what he's going to do with the rest of his life. Can you imagine retiring from your field at age 34-36, insane!

• Flossing: I am truly obsessed with flossing. It all started because about 8 years ago I went to a new dentist that had discovered my gums were reseeding. I had no clue, and no idea because my former dentist clearly didn't know his butt from a whole in the wall. I was then told I could have avoided this issue {and the deep tissue cleaning, that sounds worse than it actually was} if I had just been flossing everyday. I flossed growing up, but only when I needed too I didn't realize {and my dentist didn't tell me} it was an EVERY DAY thing. So now I am religious about flossing every morning and any time something gets stuck in my teeth. My gums are in great shape now, thank goodness but my biggest beef with flossing is that I truly feel like it only makes it twice as easy for food to get jammed in there. #firstworldproblems

• I was watching TV the other day and my jaw hit the floor, did you see that they are bringing back DALLAS??? With some of the original cast? I was pretty obsessed with this show, but rather odd when I watched it. I am still not sure why my friends mother let us watch it with her but she did. I am sort of drawn to watching it again even if JR is older than the hills at this point. I am willing to bet it won't live up to my memories and instead be a train wreck to me the way the new 90210 is. I'm just floored they are bringing it back. Nothing like evening soaps to get you excited.

• St. Paddy's Day was awesome - but the aftermath was ROUGH. I'm not 20 years old anymore and I really need to remind myself of that. In other news on St. Paddy's Day while Mike and I enjoyed a front porch happy hour that afternoon we witnessed someone being arrested at a neighbors house. We still are sure what it was all about, probably domestic dispute but it just furthers our need to get out of our neighborhood, stat.

Last but NEVER least it's....

CONFESSIONAL FRIDAY WITH LESLIE

• I purchased some new deodorant this week and it smells amazing. So amazing in fact that I've caught myself totally sneaking whiffs of it during the day. Sick right?

• I am here to say I don't give two rips about The Hunger Games. I haven't read the books yet, and maybe that's a huge part of it but they've played it up so much that I almost don't want to read them. I'm one of those classic goes against the grain kind of people. If most people are flocking to something I tend to go the other way. This trait came in really handy in high school for keeping me out of trouble with drugs or drinking. By the time I turned 21 I was fully ready to witness drinking for myself. Not much wiser, or more mature but maybe a bit more than I would have been at age 14. So how many of you are obsessed with this new Hunger Game craze?

• I keep finding that the only thing I'm totally craving now that I'm eating better is CHEESE. I want cheese on everything! Biggest downfall Mac n' Cheese. I am probably going to figure a way to incorporated it into every treat meal I can. 

• I also confess to my husband... it wasn't the dog, it was me.

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!!! 

Be sure to head over to these lovely ladies blogs and link up too!

working for it.... from the sidelines

Today I'm over at From the Sidelines discussing my current fitness ventures. It's sort of a repeat when it comes to what I've done in the past {Turbo Fire} but this time I'm trying to make this a lifestyle change, not just a quick fix. Join me over on the sidelines for all the details, won't you?

wedding wednesday: the reception

Happy Wednesday everyone! I think this is my second to last entry in the wedding story. It makes me sad, I've really enjoyed telling you all about our special day. I will have one last entry about an amazing addition to our wedding reception AND our honeymoon as well. So stay tuned. For now, it's all about the reception.

THE RECEPTION

Mike and I wanted nothing less than a huge party. We wanted all our friends to have fun and after all our planning we wanted to celebrate being husband and wife with all our nearest and dearest. Our three most important elements to this party was to be sure everyone was fed well {The food was amazing}, that everyone had a cocktail or beverage of choice {we fully stocked the bar}, and that everyone had tons of wonderful music to dance too {we hand picked every song played by the DJ that evening, along with a few special requests by guests - I still don't know who requested "Cotton Eye Joe", but it made for a fun family hoe down}.

Since the resort doesn't have a liquor license and the county it's located in is essentially a dry county we had to bring in our own drinks for our "private party". Mike and I raided the local ABC Liquor Store. It was a blast, and the first time I've EVER used one of the shopping carts they offer you up front. The beauty of this store was that any unopened bottle we didn't use could be returned or exchanged. Sounds great to me. We were purchasing for a bunch of different tastes and tried to keep most of our guests favorite brews in mind. We also purchased lots of wine {2 types of red, 2 types of white} and 2 Kegs of Beer {Originally we wanted Oktoberfest by Sam Adams but it wasn't available, we went with Coors and the guys got a darker brew for the rehearsal dinner}. Thankfully the resort did offer a bar set up, complete with mixers and garnishes for our guests. As well as Sweet Tea and Lemonade.

Mike and I both came up with our own signature cocktails. His: Pepper Stag, Hers: Buttered Pancakes. Both of these were a hit, needless to say we had hardly any Captain Morgan left, and NO Red Stagg left after the event. All of our guests loved the idea, and loved the cocktails.

ARTWORK DESIGNED BY ME FOR THE BAR TOP

This design matched all our Save the Date items as well as "seating cards" for the reception.

Food: We had an amazing buffet laid out for our guests complete with what I like to call a bit of Southern Comfort food. It was important to me to highlight to my out of town "Yankee" guests some of what I love about living here in Alabama. Being and Eastern girl born and raises it's strange how well I fit in down here, but I do. I think the funniest comment I heard about the food all night was from one of my maids she asked about an item on her plate "What's this? Is it a tater tot?"  I smiled and said "No, it's fried Okra." She looked at me confused. "What's IN Okra?" I laughed, "There's nothing IN it, Okra is a vegetable goof!" To be fair before I moved here I had heard about okra but never tried it, now I'm hooked! I love it fried, steamed, pickled - you name I'll try it. I think the seeds are my favorite part, my least favorite part, the slime. The food line was packed and everyone raved. I really wanted some specialty food originally but the resort requires you to use their catering services. In the end it was way better than I would have imagined and while it wasn't what most consider 5 star dining, it was affordable for out budget, tasty, and everyone was happy! It was like a sweet Southern grandma prepared it for us and that's just what I wanted.

The reception was amazing from cocktail hour, introduction, our first dance until the end of the night we all had a blast, but don't take my word for it. Check out the pictures!

OUR FIRST DANCE

We chose, "Patience" by Guns n' Roses. This song has a lot of meaning because in the past I've never been patient with love. Mike made me wait, longer than I was normally comfortable to wait for a guy. I was so into him, I figured he was worth it. In the end I couldn't be happier. {FYI That's my Brother-In-Law's Tie, and yes, everyone planked EVERYTHING that weekend and that is my other Bro-In-Law on the top of the bar.}

We all had a blast and half the fun was retelling each other the stories of the evening before. I wish I could up load video of the Best Man and Maid of Honor speeches because they were so epic I can't even put into words how amazing they were. All night my biggest issue was keeping track of my drink. I'd stop to say hi, set down a drink, give a hug and then realized there were two drinks of similar colors and I wasn't sure which was mine. Since it was open bar I ran and got another one. All in all we had an amazing time and I'm so thankful for all the great vendors we worked with.

Stay tuned for next weeks entry all about the Photo Booth!!! It was the best addition I could have ever asked for on our special day.

friday favorites

I felt like starting something new for Fridays. I used to do a lot of Fixation Fridays posts [you can check out my obsessions by clicking that link]. I like to link up with a few of my favorite bloggers doing their Random Musings with Shana and Confessional Friday with Leslie but often times have a few favorites, and odd bits I'd like to share as well. Then I thought, why not mash them all together. So that's how "Friday Favorites" was born. I will share some of my favorites and hopefully if I get some buzz in comments from you about your favorites - maybe even enough to start a link-up of my own. So here goes, trial run, first post. Friday Favorites! {Next will I will also do Musings and Confessions too!}

TELEVISION FAVORITES

via google

I have to say right now my all time favorite show on TV currently is The Walking Dead! It leaves me on the edge of my seat for the entire show only to constantly have me shouting "NOOOOOOO!" when it's over. Part of that is due to the cliff hangers you're left with, other times it's in losing key characters you never thought [or totally thought] might bite the dust. This Sunday is the season finale and while I'm sad to have it over again for the season, after a long drawn out mid season break, I'm also anxious to see what happens. I am completely and totally fixated on this show - so much so it keeps me up at nights sometimes wondering what will happen next.

via google

I'm also thrilled that NBC's Community is back from it's hiatus. Bottom line if they end up canceling this show I will no longer have faith in NBC. They have been my gold standard for funny television for years. And while I love 30 Rock, Parks & Rec [serious favorite], and The Office [although my interest in this show is seriously lacking lately] - and Up All Night makes me chuckle, nothing tickles my funny bone more than Community. P.S. NBC really pissed me off when they canceled Perfect Couples - I loved that show.

via google

Always Sunny In Philly: I can't say enough about how obsessed I am with this show. We DVR all old episodes and watch them as often as we can. Every time I watch and episode you hear me say "Charlie is my favorite!" One hour later I'm professing my love for Dee, or Mac. I can't make up my mind they are all that amazingly funny. I will say though Dennis will never be my favorite, homeboy is creepppyyyyy! Bottom line: I LOVE IT!

Honorable Mentions: Southland [always leaves me hanging and I have to support it, after all I grew up and went to school with Shawn Hatosy, who plays Sammy! Yes, I'm totally bragging.] and Hart of Dixie [always keeps me feeling warm and fuzzy and I'm smitten with Rachel Bilson's wardrobe in the show, besides it's based in Alabama, so it's fun for me to watch it. Those that watch the show have you realized that the outside of the Rammer Jammer is actually the same set used for the outside of Merlotte's on True Blood?

Can't wait for TRUE BLOOD to be back on either! YAY SUMMER!

All I can say is thank the technology gods for DVR!!! I'd never see all these shows without it!

FASHION FAVORITES

NEON: I wasn't really sure about this trend. Part of the issue is that I was alive, kicking and trendy when it first arrived on the scene.... you know in the 80's and early 90's. Yeah, I just claimed my age, what? So while I doubt I'll be on the band wagon for bright t-shirts, neon nails or scrunchies [been there, did that and have the awkward frizzy haired photos to prove it]. I will possibly jump on the trend in a not so over done way by wearing items such as the following:

J. Crew Neon Accented Ballet Flats

I'd totally rock these

via google

PAIRED WITH THIS

A cute, neon colored skinny belt with neutral colors.

madewell skinny belt • via google

HOLIDAY FAVORITES:

ST. PADDY'S DAY!!!

Can't wait to do this in the future • via pinterest

While it's not my all time favorite holiday, it is in the top 5 favorite holidays to celebrate out done only by New Years Eve, Christmas, July 4th and my birthday. Yes, my birthday IS a holiday - not a national one but a holiday nonetheless.  It seems odd for a part German/Dutch/English girl to be so into a holiday that has nothing to do with her personal heritage but in the end it's a holiday I can get behind. Partying with friends, having green beer, wearing a great color and cheering, singing and enjoying the company of those you're with. I'm so ready for it this year. Mike [my part Irish husband] and I will be celebrating by starting early... 

"Ah sweet mornin' drinkin'!" - Peter Griffin

Peter Griffin and his Irish Father • via google

And having a mellow day full of watching The Boondock Saints [Note: Norman Reeds who plays Murphy McManas in this movie, also plays my favorite character from The Walking Dead, score!] then later arriving at our favorite watering hole and partying with pals. My liver will hate me come Sunday morning but that's what Lazy Sundays are for.

So there are some of my favorites. 
What are you coveting currently?
Enjoy your weekend and be sure to wear something green, lest you be PINCHED!

over the weekend.

Over the weekend, we had fun. Relaxing and going with the flow. I love weekends like that.

Fun downtown after some afternoon drinking.

Hope your Monday isn't killing you after the time change!

random musings 3.9.2012

JOIN IN AND LINK UP WITH SHANA

@Fumbling Towards Normalcy - It's Random Musings Friday!

• This week has tested my patience in many ways. The biggest way has been dealing with my work computer. It's a fabulous looking mac but it's out dated, slow and when I work on a huge file [let's say this is about 90% of the time] it runs like a turtle. I have my fingers crossed that I will eventually get a new machine to design on. Note: The darn thing is so outdated it won't run the new operating system or programs for mac, thus it won't update my internet browser to the newest versions of anything. This then means I can't listen to the updated pandora music stream while working. #firstworldproblems

• Brand Name vs. Generic products. Since Mike and I have started doing the whole "Local Shopping" thing I find myself picking up and purchasing more and more generic food and house hold product items. This made me wonder why so many people insist on buying the brand name products they sell at the grocery store. To be fair there are certain brand names that I will not stop purchasing. Certain foods, drinks, etc. Have you ever had generic cola, ick! Not that I've been drinking soda mind you but for the record if I want a cola, I'm purchasing a Coca Cola not a "Sam's Cola".  The biggest thing that sticks out to me is toilet paper and paper towels. Mike and I regularly purchased Sparkle Paper towels and Angel Soft toilet tissue when we shopped at Walmart. They were the cheapest of the brand name items and we liked the both. However, since we've stopped going there, we noticed how expensive these brand name paper products can be and we switched to generic. Oddly enough the faux products work just as well as the name brand. This makes me wonder why on earth people will pay twice as much for toilet paper just because it has a bear or it, or a baby or a little puppy dog and a brand name. I'm a huge label reader so I do make sure before I purchase canned goods, and other off brand food products I'm not just getting a huge container of corn syrup or sodium. I just don't get paying high dollar for paper you wipe your ass with, am I alone in this?

• Have you been following KONY? I'm still floored how much social media has changed our world, our lives and how we get the message out to people.

• I'm back on the workout wagon. I know, I know I already said this a month ago right? Well I slacked, and slacking turned into not doing it at all and here I am again. Back to the drawing board. So much so that all the hard work I put in before the wedding is gone. I'm back to my starting weight staring down the summer as it quickly approaches. It sucks. I am trying really hard to break this vicious cycle I'm on. I blame the wedding, the honeymoon, the holidays and most of all MYSELF for not sticking to stuff. I'm back on TurboFire and decided to do the introduction schedule before going in full throttle. I messed up the first month so bad but instead of starting over I'm just picking up on month 2 so as not to mess up my schedule. I want to be finished with the program by the first week of July. That is when my vacation happens. That way I can start a new program or join the gym before I leave for vacation.

• St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner and Mike is so excited. This holiday being on a Saturday to him is like Christmas. We have plans to head out that evening to our favorite watering hole and have a blast. Cabs will be called, I'm sure shots will be poured and hopefully if there is any LUCK in my life I won't be so hungover I want to die the next day. No promises though. For not being Irish I have to say I really and truly love St. Patrick's Day. Thankfully my husband is Irish so I can claim I'm part Irish by association... or that I've had Irish in me *wink*.

I hope you all have a great weekend!!! I'm looking forward to some downtime since this week kicked my ass! Enjoy yourselves!

the one where I ask the NFL, WTF?

Hey there readers! I'm over at From the Sidelines today venting about the NFL and the recent release of my favorite player Hines Ward, as well as Peyton Manning and other players.  Join me won't you?

HINES! I LOVE YOU MAN!

via google.com

wedding wednesday: details 2

Here we are - Wedding Wednesday again! As you can see I didn't blow away in the storms, but I will say many families around Alabama and surrounding states were effected by the storms last week. My thoughts, prayers and well wishes go out to them as they rebuild their lives. I'm truly OVER this weather.

Without further rambling I present to you, more of the details from our wedding day!

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

Cake is always a very big party of wedding days, with that being said I've only ever eaten cake at one friends wedding and that is simply because it was forced down my throat by the groom. Odd, yes but it was a prank the Bride and Groom tried to play on myself and the bestman. I saw the prank coming a mile away and mouthed to the Bestman to "Duck!" he didn't understand and as I ducked and ran he got cake smashed in his face by the bride. The groom then chased me down and around the dance floor finally tackling me and giving me cake. Thankfully he and I are very close friends or I might have been really pissed not only at my bride/bff but at him too. Most weddings I go to I'm too busy dancing, or drinking to care about sweets, so while I was excited about planning my cake for my own wedding - I wasn't really concerned about eating it.

When planning the cake of my dreams I knew two things. I didn't want fondant, I hate that stuff. And I didn't want a cheesy topper.  I clipped tons of images of cakes and every trend was the same, rustic frosting like your grandmother used to make and flowers or fun items placed on the cake. I looked all over Esty for the perfect topper, and only found a few that spoke to me, but not to Mike and I as a couple. We thought about going with wood block letters from our work, but the fact that they were so old, dusty and otherwise not in the best shape to be put on a cake turned us off. One day while pinning a million things on Pinterest I found the perfect topper and kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner.

via pinterest

BABY PUMPKINS!!! How cute are these? I'm obsessed with everything pumpkin and not sure why until seeing this image I had never thought to use them, especially since our wedding was an Autumn wedding.

When Mike and I met with our baker it was a dream. She was excited about our wedding and loved all my ideas. She also worked a lot with our Florist who would provide her with the flowers and items she needed for the cake, and she would supply the pumpkins. I was disappointed we didn't get to do a tasting but before leaving that afternoon and getting our price quote I tried to purchase two cupcakes which she then gave to us for free. SCORE! We picked the chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and it was amazing - we knew immediately we would have this option on our cake.

After details were nailed down we made our choices and the cake was executed better than I could have imagined. Details: The cake was a 4 tier cake with 3 different flavors: Top Anniversary Tier was Chocolate with peanut butter filling, the 2nd tier was Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Filling, Tier 3 was Chocolate with Oreo filling and the bottom was Chocolate with peanut butter filling again. The entire cake was then covered in the most amazing buttercream frosting. I think that she did an awesome job with the woodland theme I wanted and incorporating all the flowers used in our arrangements. The pumpkins were sanitized, and cleaned and were the perfect topper for our cake. Everyone raved about it. I was also extremely pleased that they offered up the stumps for cake bases, this was something I wanted really bad.

THE GROOMS CAKE

Since I was younger I've obsessed about getting my husband-to-be a Groom's Cake. This is probably about the ONLY thing I ever thought of when I even considered day dreaming about a wedding day [Note: I didn't have my wedding planned out since I was 5, I ran screaming at the thought of marrying anyone for a long time, until meeting Mike]. My groom's cake obsession is from one thing, and one thing only... Steel Magnolia's. Yes, ever since Shelby's father said "Nothing like a good piece of ass, huh Ouiser?" And chopped off that bloody armadillo's tail end for her I've wanted to be sure my husband got a cake that would reflect him.

I actually took time to brainstorm and think about what I wanted to do for Mike. I wanted the cake to be a surprise so he didn't know anything about it. I sketched up my idea and took it to our baker and she was overjoyed at the idea of making his cake. I had brought two different ideas one that might be less difficult to do, and one that I thought would be the most fun. She chose the most fun option and the cake was born! I gave her the topper to scan and print on fondant - yes I said I hated the stuff but it's the only way we were going to get the illusion of a stack of records!

THE GROOM'S CAKE BACKSTORY

The story behind the cake is almost as amazing as the actual cake. First off the cake was surrounded by candy bars, his favorite is Snickers, but I couldn't pass up the Reese's simply because he loves chocolate and peanut butter - AND they were covered with Superhero emblems. If his cake had not been AC/DC it would have totally been something superhero oriented.

The Story: Mike and I met many moons ago on a little thing called Myspace.com. One night while bored out of my mind I decided to just randomly search through profiles. As I was browsing through tons of pictures I came across Mike's image. His user name at the time was AC/DC. AC/DC has always been one of my favorite bands since I was in HS and discovered them [our HS fight song was Back in Black]. I clicked to enlarge his picture and gasped. He was SO attractive. I thought to myself no way in hell is this guy going to talk to me, but what the hell I'm feeling daring. I messaged him and waited. I can't recall exactly what I said but I know I mentioned that his screenname got my attention because I too loved AC/DC. Within a night or two he messaged me a polite message back and sent me a friend request. There I sat... with the key to his myspace page to make comments, not to seem over anxious to start a conversation I plotted my perfect first comment. I was totally spazzing like a teen girl at this point and freaking out. I've never been like this with a guy, let alone one I never met in person. I finally decided it was close to the weekend so I'd place these lyrics on his wall... with a message about enjoying his weekend.

Stand up and be counted

For what you are about to receive

We are the dealers

We'll give you everything you need

Hail hail to the good times

'Cause rock has got the right of way

We ain't no legend, ain't no cause

We're just livin' for today

For those about to rock, we salute you!

- AC/DC

He quickly replied on my page saying that was the best comment he's ever gotten and from that day forward we commented, messaged and eventually started talking on the phone. It took us a good year to get together as a couple but the song will always remind me of one of our first exchanges upon meeting.

The biggest downfall to our wedding and reception is that we cut the cake really late in the evening. I didn't expect anyone to leave as early as they did. Most cut out after dinner and a few drinks. I was so worried about greeting everyone that I sort of forgot about cutting the cake. What disappointed me more was that the DJ had a timeline, but I would figure that in his experience he might try to pull the bride and groom aside and say, "Do you want to cut the cake early since the crowd is dying down?" He didn't, and we didn't think about the cake. I feel bad because a lot of co-workers and friends commented how much they wanted to try it. Lesson learned - again this would have been a great time for a wedding planner, or even someone to say to me "HEY GIRL, CUT THAT CAKE!"

CAKE CUTTING SONG:

"I Wanna Grow Old With You" - Wedding Singer Soundtrack

We knew we wanted to use this song during the big day but couldn't figure out how to work it in. I am obsessed with Adam Sandler movies, and Mike enjoys him too. We thought about continuing to dance to it after our first dance, but didn't want to be on the dance floor that long. While reading a favorite blog of mine [Finding Silver Linings] she mentioned that she used the song for the cake cutting, and I loved the idea. Sorry Mindy, I totally copied you.

So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed seeing our cakes. Next week I will do details and fun moments from the reception! Enjoy your week lovies!

random musings 3.2.2012

HAPPY FRIDAY! I'm so beyond happy it's Friday this week has been a long one. Of course yesterday's weather here was amazing. Mike and I had our first official "Front Porch Happy Hour" when we got home from work. Today, it's a totally different story. Tornadoes are touching down all over the South and my nerves are shot. More on that with todays Random Musings brought to us by Shana! If you join in be sure to head over to her blog and link up!

• Tornadoes: I'm not used to these things. I call them 'things' but I really want to say "these son of a bitches". There I said it. I've lived here in the South for over 7 years this past Fall and I am STILL 100% not used to them. I guess that is a good thing, who ever gets used to tornadoes anyway? My nerves are shot. Today on the radio I heard the announcer say that it's wise to get yourself and loved ones to a safe place and if you own a helmet to put it on. I never in a million years would have ever thought I'd need a helmet but it makes perfect sense.  Many people lost their lives in the storms last year and the ones starting this year. Most were possibly due to head injuries. If it gives me a fighting chance, I might have to seriously think about purchasing one.

• Mike and I were going to walk around this evening at our town's First Friday's. It's a great little monthly event that our town puts on where people can set up tables on the side walk and sell their wares, crafts, and just about anything you can imagine. The doors to local bars open and people filter into the streets all evening. Often there is live music on certain corners and for once our little town shows it's as hip as it feels to us. I figured that this type of event would be a great thing for buying local. {our new mission}. Granted we don't always have the need to buy crafts, but I'd much rather purchase something that is one of a kind for our home from a local artist than spend my money at Kirkland's or Target. That being said the event has been canceled due to the weather so we'll have to figure something else out. I am sort of bummed because it would have been like a little mini-date night.

• In non-tornado related news, Mike and I are on the hunt for a new home. Don't get excited, we're thinking rental again. We aren't ready to purchase a home just yet. The issue we're finding is that most of the homes in our price range we want to pay are pretty crummy. Our current home is nice, it's a great size and we have a large yard our issue with it is that we have outrageous utility bills. Our bills for the electric/water/waste management cost more than half of our rent every month. It's pretty crazy. We have an old shotty unit which we've had our landlord come out to fix over and over again. Needless to say we're sort of fed up and ready for a change. We've been looking since before the wedding but nothing fits. Thankfully our choice to move isn't one that HAS to happen immediately, we have time to search, and find a nice fit. I just hope we find something before the dead of summer is upon us.

• Yesterday after eating lunch at the house Mike and I were driving back to our offices. We have an intersection close to our home that is notorious for people not yielding to you when you have the right of way. Yesterday was no different. I had the green light and started to go straight some girl coming from the right lane cut right in front of me. I do what I do every time something like this happens and blew my Jeep horn, loudly and proceeded to flip her off. She then yelled at me from her side view mirror and started to cuss me out and then started laughing at me a few moments later. I thought it was comical in that I hadn't given her any emotion other than flipping her off and mouthing that she was a F-ing, See you next tuesday... She then proceeded to get on her cell phone I guess to tell everyone she had ever met about this. I drove behind her the entire way to Mike's office and when there was a break in traffic due to someone turning left, I got over, and got around the car turning. This little college aged bitch, speeds past me in the right lane, then jumps back in front of me cutting me off just be be a little shit. Oh to be 20 something and think you rule the world again. I was calm during the incident but the more I thought I about it the more it stuck in my crawl. You can take the East Coaster out of the city but you can't take the road rage out of her system. I wish I had a claw that I could snatch her out of her car and strangle her... Soprano's style.

• I wish I had more to type about but after just witnessing the hail storm that went through I'm pretty much freaked out of my mind!!! There was a wall of white, you couldn't see anything. If you are in the South today please be safe! I'm signing off to keep my ears tweaked to the radio for warnings to take cover for tornadoes, apparently one touched down over the river a few moments ago and basically took out a business.

Happy Weekend EVERYONE!!!!