Heading out!

Ok folks, I'm heading out! Leaving for Philadelphia for two days, then on to Delaware for a wedding. I found some PRECIOUS blue seersucker shoes that match my blue dress and B's suit. We'll probably stand out as the only Southerners there, but oh well. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week and I'll holla back on Monday.

Questions

B and I are heading up to Philadelphia on Thursday morning. My college roomie and sorority sister is marrying one of my good friends from high school (I set them up!) on Saturday and we wanted to have some time to sightsee. Here're my questions:
1) Anyone know of any cool places to visit while we're in Philly? (Where to get the best cheese steak?)
2) Can B wear a seersucker suit to the wedding? It's at 6pm and I didn't even stop to consider that it might be considered a "formal" wedding b/c of the time. Also, do people up north even wear seersucker?
Lemme know! Thanks!

Monday Monday

So today was a kindof rough day, probably a typical Monday for most. I get to work and the internet's down. What the heck am I supposed to do at work without internet? That means no email, no morning dose of blogstalking, no checking on my ebay auctions. So while I'm waiting on the supernerd to come get us back online (spider solitairing), my manager suggests that we ride around to some jobsites and check on some customers. The company I work for is in the high-end building products business. I'm in charge of "architectural marketing" and most of my customers are architects and builders. That means that to see our products in action, we often have to visit construction sites. Now this is really cool when the construction site is a $5 million mountain home with breath-taking views proudly displayed by windows we sold. This is really uncool when the jobsite is at the top of a gravel hill, covered with red dirt, and swarming with un-shirted sweaty men wearing jorts(!). Today's jobsite was the latter, oh and I was wearing silver metallic Jack Rogers. Then on the way back, bossman and I have a nice little chat about the projects I'm currently working on. (Well, I'm mentally composing a nice blog post about your flagrant disregard for the rules of fashion--e.g. black belt, brown shoes, navy socks, oh my! and trying to beat my high score at Zuma...) When my day is finally over, I stop at my favorite gas station for a $0.49 fountain drink (any size!) and a bag of Sun Chips. (Ok, ok, maybe I got some Reese Cups too, get out of my business.) I'm waiting in line to check out when I hear a sweet young voice in front of me say, "$40 on the silver BMW." I look up and see a 9ish year old girl handing over two 20's to the cashier. "Awww," I think, "Someone's mom is letting them play grown up and go in the store and pay by themselves." My second thought is, "Awww, someone's mom let them come in the gas station barefoot..." Wait, BAREFOOT?!?! Seriously, didn't we decide that was uncouth when Britney Spears tried it? I glance outside and see a $50,000 beemer waiting at pump 3. I'd like to think that if you could afford a $50K luxury vehicle, you could also afford to learn good personal hygiene. Apparently not. Example 564,000 that money does not buy class. I pay for my treats and take my silver sandal and red dirt clad feet out to my car and head home...Sorry for the long-winded rant. Hopefully I'll be more cheerful tomorrow and will post some pics from this weekend's fun limo ride to see Sunny Ledford.

Kate Spade Private Sale

I'd like to blame (thank) my friend E for forwarding me the email for Kate Spade's private sale. I wasted a good hour of the start of my work day shopping on the website. My most recent feelings on Kate Spade were that she was kinda 5 years ago. I mean, she's still got the same styles she's had for years. But when I was shopping this morning, I kinda got nostalgic when I saw the "Sam" bag and the classic shopper tote. I was reminded of how much I love the clean lines and easy functionality of the designs. Does a classic really ever go out of style? I think not...it may be time to dig that Sam bag from freshman year of college out of my closet and dust it off for the summer. But back to the sale...my email this morning said "Private Sale Last Day: Take an Extra 20% Off!" Ok! So I got a fab new navy and white tote, a seersucker covered journal, in addition to my renewed appreciation for all things kate. I'm sending the link if any of you want to check it out. Kate Spade Private Sale

Red and White Preppy...

Please invite me to read your blog. K? Thanks.
ghettocowgirl13@yahoo.com
(Don't laugh y'all, it was my email address in high school when I was more, um, urban?)

My first tag!

I just got my first tag from Sweet Tea and Seersucker! Here goes:

1). What were you doing 10 years ago?
If my calculations are correct, I would have been 16 and about to head to Governor's School for 6 weeks out of my summer. (Yes, I was a nerd...)
2). What 5 things are on your to-do list for today:
*send thank you notes/emails to my friends for my b-day gifts
*make a hair appointment (gotta get them roots touched up before a wedding next weekend)
*which reminds me: must book hotel room in Delaware for wedding next weekend!
*Survive dinner with bf's parents, sisters, and neice and nephew. (They're in town for the week and are taking us out for my b-day)
*lose 10 pounds so I fit into the dress I'm wearing to the wedding and so I look decent in the madras bikini I recently bought from Target.
3). Snacks you enjoy:
It might be a shorter list to name the snacks I DON'T enjoy...but my favs are deli pimento cheese with Wheat Thins, popcicles (I eat about 10 a day), chocolate rice cakes, beef jerkey (gross, I know, but I got hooked when I was trying a low carb diet), and Cheetos (responsible for the 10 lbs I need to lose and the orange powder stains in my car.)
4). Places You've Lived:
Hickory, NC
Winston-Salem, NC
N. Myrtle Beach, SC
5). What are 5 Things you would do if you were a billionaire?
*Buy the mansions that I've already picked out on sothebysrealty.com
*Set up trust funds for everyone in my family
*pay off all my friends' student loans, cars, houses, etc.
*quit my job and travel the world
*buy a boutique to run when I got bored with touring the world
**ok, ok, so I don't look like a totally selfish brat, I'd give tons to charity (namely St. Jude's), but I'll be honest, if I win the lottery charity isn't top 5 on my list of things to do...it'd be #6 :-)

I tag Just Random...I don't think she's been tagged yet.

Toy Yoda

My friend emailed me this picture yesterday with the subject "Hope you didn't get one of these for your b-day..." Hahaha

Happy B-day to Me!

Today is officially my 26th birthday, but by this point I'm over it. We celebrated Friday night (Mexican restaurant, stupid sombrero, yummy margaritas) with 6 other couples that B and I are friends with, then on Saturday with my single girl friends (drinks and appetizers at a local tavern, then dancing and other miscellaneous misbehavior late night). On Saturday afternoon we had a little family party at my grandmother's house with cake and ice cream. Sunday was Father's Day, which included a big lunch, more cake, and leftovers for dinner. So when B asked me where he should make reservations for dinner tonight, I told him Papa John's and Blockbuster. I know pizza's not really any healthier, but I just don't think I can eat another big restaurant meal. At this rate I'm not going to fit into the dress I'm wearing to my friend's wedding next weekend. Sweet B did stop by my work today to bring me flowers and balloons.
I received a cute gift in the mail from his mom (ok, the package was wrapped beautifully, the actual gift was a pink sequin ball cap...not cool.)
My boss brought me some M&Ms, and a co-worker's son drew me a Birthday picture. My parents gave me money and two cute shirts. And, oddly enough, I received this sweet/funny myspace message from an ex-boyfriend. Try not to choke on the sarcasm, but I liked being referred to as "a little beam of light"...

Today is the day on which the world was blessed with the greatest gift of all time:

on june 17, 1982 this little beam of light was put here by god to
end hunger, unify the world and all races, defeat global warming, and bring joy to an otherwise cold and bitter world. she is the reason for your smile, the twinkle in your eye, the reason we get up each and every day. ladies and gentlemen give it up for the birthday girl---- former miss america and american idol winner...........
THE loveliest lady in the world!!

On that note, I'll leave you today with a pic of current boyfriend and me on Saturday night. He's not quite as poetic, but I still love him! (And I'm hoping that he has a box from Tiffany's waiting for me when I get home...)

Monday Morning Tidbit

Good Monday Morning readers! I came across an article this morning on msn.com about common grammatical mistakes. One that I know I've made before was "stationery" vs. "stationary"...here's what the article said and how to keep them straight.

The kind of stationery you write on has an e--like paper. The sound-alike stationary means "not moving" or "staying on one place." So, if it has an a, it means to "stay."

And since we're on the topic of stationEry, here's the link to a cute stationery store with fun monogrammed notecards, invitations, etc. like the ones below.

Happy Father's Day

Hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day celebrating with their dads! My sister and I got our dad a leather money clip that was embossed with the logo of the college we both attended. (Figured it would be fitting b/c he's paid so much money to the school, haha.) I also framed a cute picture of the 3 of us at my sister's college graduation back in May. This morning started off a bit rough, as we had birthday celebration #2 last night for me and I was a touch hung over. Hopefully Dad never noticed and I'm feeling much better now. I'll post some pics tomorrow at work, but in the meantime I wanted to leave you with a precious website I found. I know a lot of you are obsessed with monogramming and this site has some really cute jewelry, shoes, and bags. Here are my favorites:

My experience with epilation...

One of my best friends, M, has been telling me about her new epilator and how it's changed her life. Basically an epilator is like an electric razor, but with little "tweezer" heads that yank the hair out at the root. Yes, it sounds painful, but supposedly it only hurts the first time you do it. M said "it feels like a bikini wax, but slow..." It's cheaper than waxing, lasts as long, and is totally do-it-yourself at home. (I have some privacy issues about being spread eagle in front of a stranger wielding hot wax...) I'm traveling a lot this summer and don't want to deal with the hassle of packing a razor and shaving in a hotel shower, so I decided to order one. I got the same one M did, she did her research and got a Braun Silk-epil Xelle because it had the best reviews. I ordered it from drugstore.com, one of my favorite sites. Apparently I was feeling brave when I first received it because I tried it first on my, um, down there area. Simultaneously I: teared up, got chills, started to sweat, peed a little bit, and cursed M's name. But I forced myself to keep going, and going, and going...and it's ALL gone. And then, as I was dabbing up the little dots of blood, I thought, "Wow, this is great! Thanks M!" I've been hair free down there for almost 2 weeks. You really do get used to initial the pain I guess. So the other night I decided to try my legs and underarms. On my legs it was more of an irritating sting. So B poured me a man glass of wine, and then another one...and two glasses in I was epilating with the super/pro head. Both legs got done and felt great. Halfway through my 3rd man glass I decide to head to the bathroom and try it out on my arm pits. WOWEEEE! White wine goes straight to my head and I have very little tolerance for it, so I'm convinced that anything that can make my eyes water and hurt my feelings after having consumed 3 glasses in 30 minutes has got to be EXCRUCIATING when sober. BUT, it worked great and I'm now hair-free in all the right places! You cannot imagine all the time it has saved me in the shower.

Mean Trick

Ok, so I know I've posted like 3 times today, but I had to share this. My birthday is on Tuesday but we're apparently celebrating it tonight. B called me earlier to tell me he'd planned a birthday dinner tonight at 7 and that it was going to be a surprise but my friends warned him there's no way I could be ready by 7 unless I knew it was my party. Call me a brat, but I was a little miffed because 1) I intensely dislike surprises (seriously, let me know ahead of time so I can look forward to it and PLAN AN OUTFIT in advance!) and 2) this interferes with the errands I had planned on running after work (most importantly going by the pharmacy to get a refill of my BC pills). He just called again a little bit ago and told me to come outside to the parking lot. When I did, I found B and one of his friends standing beside a shiny new black Mercedes SUV! "Happy Birthday!!!" he shouted, and for a moment, my heart stopped. I'd just decided that maybe I liked surprises after all, when he started laughing and said, "Not really baby, but I can get you a great deal on it!" What a mean trick! His friend's dad owns a dealership and let him take it for the weekend. They promised me that I could at least drive it tonight to dinner. I'll settle for that...

Miranda...

I liked her clothes best! I FINALLY went to see Sex and the City last night, so here's my requisite posting about it. LOVED IT! I went with 3 of my friends and we all boo-hooed the entire movie. I cried because I was happy for Charlotte, sad for Carrie, mad at Steve, but mostly just because I missed watching the show and the movie was like a sweet reunion. I seriously got chills when Big showed Carrie the new closet in the penthouse. Why can't I find a man like that (read: rich)? I wouldn't even care if he jilted me once, just take me back and give me Manolos and a closet that could house a small family! I think I'm gonna go see it again on Sunday...

The Smell

While basking in the afterglow of my exciting bargain purchases yesterday, I forgot to post about my horrible experience with The Smell. Tuesday morning I got in my car to go to work and noticed an unpleasant smell. It had a rained a little the night before and I'd left my windows cracked, so I just thought that maybe something had gotten wet and stinky. I rode with the windows down to work and thought that if I ignored The Smell it would go away. I forgot all about it, and didn't leave for my lunch break, so it wasn't until 5:30 that evening that I again encountered The Smell. The temperature on Tuesday had reached 97 degrees and my car had been locked up tight on the black asphalt all day. As I'm approaching my car in the parking lot, I smell It again...only 20 times worse. I open my car door and immediately become light-headed. Then I notice 3 flies buzzing around inside my vehicle! I'm convinced at this point that either a) someone is playing a mean trick on me and has hidden a dead animal in my car, or b) one of the dogs has had explosive diarrhea (I'm always so proud of myself that I can spell that word!) in my car and covered it up without my noticing. Holding my breath, I begin to check the floor boards and under the seats. The Smell is getting stronger, I've become nauseous and slightly delirious, and conclude that the source of the smell must be coming from my trunk. I have a jeep, so everything is open, making it even easier for the nasty scent to have permeated my vehicle. I open the back and am blasted with an odor so noxious that my eyes water. I see the source immediately...a grocery bag. A grocery bag containing what were once 6 frozen chicken breast. The bag of 6 frozen chicken breast that was purchased along with a trunk full of other groceries on SUNDAY and innocently overlooked while unloading. The bag of 6 frozen chicken breasts that had been de-thawing, semi-baking, and poisoning the air quality of my car in the 90+ degree heat for almost 2 full days. I tentatively take one of the grocery bag handles and pull The Smell out of my trunk. It lands with a wet thud and sizzle on the pavement, and in doing so splashes out some yellowish raw chicken water on the ground, the leg of my jeans, and my new J. Crew Critter flops. I can't hold it in any longer: I turn my head and puke. I have a very low tolerance for food-related grossness--raw meat, dirty dish water, God-forbid I find mold at the end of the loaf of bread. So now I'm left with my vomit splatter AND 6 rancid chicken breasts to clean up. Not the way I like to end my workday. Even better was the ride home, The Smell still lingering in my jeep, despite all the windows being down. Luckily B's neighbor suggested coffee grounds and/or charcoal to absorb the smell. We put both in the trunk and floorboards, which did help a lot. Then I doused the interior with Febreeze and Lysol and left the windows down overnight so it could air out. Now it's almost as good as new...The Smell is still lingering a bit in the trunk area, I still gag and dry heave when I smell it, but I think in a few more days it will be gone all together.

Consigned Treasures!

Holy Moses! It's not just a myth! You know, the urban legend about the girl who finds a brand new Kate Spade or fabulous vintage Louis Vuitton at a thrift store. For awhile now one of my mom's friends had been telling me about this fantastic little "high end consignment boutique" where she got a Coach bag and some Seven jeans. I never really gave the store much thought, you know there's always that ONE time you'll get lucky and the rest of the time it's all crap. Well yesterday I had half an hour left to spare of my lunch break and I was on that side of town, so I decided to try it out. Thank God I did!!! Here is the list of my purchases/treasures:

1) Lilly Pulitzer Pink Polo Shirt $9

2) Lilly Pulitzer Teal Polo Shirt (maybe "teal" is the wrong color to use here...it sounds so, um, redneck...) $9

3) Ralph Lauren Sleeveless Pink Polo Shirt $6

4) Ralph Lauren 3/4 Sleeve Blue Polo Shirt $8

5) Lilly Pulizter Bag (this is a storage bag of sorts, has a zipper around it and a little sachet inside, maybe for sweaters?) $6

6) Dooney & Bourke leather zip change purse $10

7) Coach Red and White Signature Print Scarf $6

So I got up to the cash register and--lo and behold--EVERYTHING IS 50% OFF!!! Apparently anything that had been in the store for over 2 months was reduced. My total was like $30. Granted, the stuff is technically used, but it was all in great condition and a little ride in the washing machine will have everything good as new. It was like shopping on ebay, but better because you could try stuff on!

I took the stuff over to my parents' house to show my mom and tried the Coach scarf on their dog Buster. He kept hiding his face and then ran and hid under a chair. My mom laughed and said it must be because he knew it was "second hand"....snob dog. No matter, I'm perfectly happy with my bargains!

Captain Rambo and my new pink bag

I'm finally getting around to uploading the pics from my camera and I found the cutest one of my doggie I'd forgotten that I'd taken! My Min Pin Rambo absolutely loves being out on the lake, sometimes B even lets him drive, haha. For those of you who read yesterday's BUI post, this picture is completely non-related!

In other news, I had to meet a customer for work in one of our other showrooms yesterday afternoon. This showroom just so happens to be in the lovely mountains of NC and just minutes from an outlet mall. I stopped on my way home and scored big at the Coach and J. Crew outlets! I got this delicious pink bag for $80, plus a red suede tote that will be a great work bag come fall!!! J. Crew was having a huge 40% off sale so I got some fun flipflops for $10, seersucker capris, a sundress, and picked up some madras shorts and critter shorts for B. All in a day's work!

BUI, Boo...

Well, the aforementioned pink cooler and madras bikini got broken in this weekend. Saturday was a lake day on my bf's (hereto referred to as "B") friend's boat. After a sort of rough Friday night, which ended in my cursing Jagermeister (namely the deathly potent concoction called "Jager Bomb") as the devil, I had high hopes for a fun and Jager-free Saturday. Sadly the day didn't quite turn out as expected. We spent about 5 hours in the sun at the sandbar, consumed copious amounts of Bud Light, and had a blast...until the return trip. B was driving the boat, we were approaching the cove, house was in sight. Out of nowhere Deputy Dewey the rookie Wildlife Officer putters in and blue-lights us. Apparently he stopped us because "passengers were standing at the front of the vessel and obstructing the driver's view." Ok. We count life jackets, roll our eyes, and think we're home free until Deputy D realizes that perhaps the coolers (Pinkie amongst them!) are a sign that alcohol had been consumed. B ends up on Deputy D's boat, in a bright orange life jacket that is about 4 sizes too small for his 6'2 frame, saying his ABC's backwards. Backasswards is more like it, not that I could have done any better, even sober for that matter. B ends up handcuffed and boated off to jail. No joke, charged with "boating under the influence"... So rather than grilling out and relaxing after a day in the sun, I have to find a sober friend who can drive me to pick up B after he appears before the magistrate. NOT COOL. It's only going to end up being a $100 fine or something, but what a hassle. Boo.

Right on, Target!

So I've never been a big fan of Target. Something about the harsh flourescent lights and all the white and red. However, last night I got my nails done at a new salon and there just so happened to be a Target right down the road. On a whim I decided to stop in. So glad I did!!! I got the most PRECIOUS things from the Whim by Cynthia Rowley collection. An adorable madras print picture frame, matching adorable madras printed metal "beverage tub," a bright pink cooler that holds 90 cans and will be perfect for all-day drinking on the lake, plus some fun 3-D cards and pink & green dog toys on the dollar racks! To top it all off, I found a madras bikini for $30! They had tons of other cute swim suits, but they were definitely picked over and it was hard to find matching sizes. Probably a good thing so I didn't spend any more money! Target might just become my new favorite bargain store!

My Hair Secret...

So I have curly hair. Ok, it's part curly, part wavy, part frizzy. I finally gave up trying to make it look pretty curly and started flat ironing it everyday. Also, for the past two years I've gotten regular highlights, lowlights, and all over color. (It's true what they say: Blondes really do have more fun!) In response to this torture, my hair has struck back by breaking off in random places. At first it started out as some cool long wispy bangs. Then they got shorter. Then I started noticing other layers around my head that I'm sure my hair dresser didn't cut. Afraid that at this rate I would have a mullet by 2008, I asked my hair dresser what to do. Since it's highly unlikely that I'll go back to being an unruly brunette, she suggested that I only wash my hair every OTHER day and cut back on the flat ironing. Now my hair has always been pretty oily, I can wash it in the morning and by that night it's looking a lil greasy at the crown and above my ears. Not sure how I was going to manage these recommendations, I starting griping to my friend Amanda. She turned me on to the best beauty trick of all times: BABY POWDER! Now on my off days, or those days I wake up with an "Oh Sh!t, I overslept and don't have time to shampoo!" I just pat on a lil powder. It works great, the cornstarch absorbs the grease, plus I think it adds a little volume or lift at my roots. I've found baby powder in tiny travel sizes which fit great in my overnight bag, and also Johnson & Johnson makes it in lavendar and cucumber melon scents so your head doesn't smell like a baby's butt. Fabulous. Also, I ordered a new flat iron from folica.com which I'm having a love affair with! It's awesome, so much less damaging, and still goes up to 425 degrees to scare the curl out of my hair. Now you know my secret! Let's just hope it doesn't rain and those "layers" start frizzing up...

It's time...

I MUST stop being such a blog lurker and actually post something of my own! I stole the idea of a top 5 list so here's what I got:



5 things I can't live without under $10:
1. Q-tips (and only the Q-tips brand!)
2 . Tweezers
3. Sugar Free Popcicles (I eat about 10 a day)
4. C.O Bigelow Ultra Mentha Lip Shine
5. Dark Chocolate Dipped Altoids (best way to soothe a chocolate craving with only 15 cals/serving!)


5 Favorite Movies:
1. White Chicks
2. The Italian Job
3. Hocus Pocus
4. 27 Dresses
5. Labyrinth



5 things that stay in my handbag at all times:
1. my new pink digital camera
2. chapstick (I will DIE if I don't have it)
3. pink Coach wallet
4. Engraved business card case
5. Two cell phones, one personal and one for work (though I hate to talk on either)


5 obsessions I have right now:
1. Sugar Free Popcicles
2. Jack Rogers sandals (I've ordered 3 pairs in the past month alone, oopps!)
3. Blog stalking
4. South Beach frozen pizzas
5. planning my summer vacations



5 places I'd love to go:
1. Bora Bora or anywhere in the French Polynesian Islands
2. Switzerland (figured it would be a refreshing change from all this humidity here lately)
3. Italy
4. San Diego to visit my best friend!
5. any beach, anywhere, just get me out of this office!