For Better of For Curious

I've Been Doing Some Reading...

2012-02-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a little reading lately. I'm getting prepared for later this summer when all this knowledge will be pretty important for us. And we couldn't be happier

♥

Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

It's Friday the 13th, time to freak out!!!

Right?

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I've actually never seen the movie before, all I know is that it has to do with an old school hockey mask. Jason and not Freddy is in this one, right?

This leads into the point of this lovely blog post, since today is a day about being superstitious and fearful.

I would say I am a fairly superstitious person. When I was younger I would hold my breath when the school bus would go past a cemetery, didn't want to breathe in the evil spirits. I stopped doing that awhile ago, but I still have other superstitious habits like knocking on wood when I say something and I don't want it to go the other way. For examples, "The weather is suppose to be perfect no rain this weekend for our trip" *knock on wood*.

All the other superstitions I have relate to sports. My husband and I have little routines that span from kissing for goals scored to chest bumps depending on the sport we are watching. On top of that I do find myself crossing my fingers sometimes when I'm watching a game and I *really* want some thing positive to happen (a goal, a touchdown, first down, etc) for the team I'm cheering for. Being Cubs fans we would put the "W" flag (which signals a win in the city of Chicago after a game) up in our house after a win and make sure it came down before the next game started. A lot of superstitions in sports.

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It's probably pretty clear from my lack of knowledge about the movie Friday the 13th that I don't do scary movies. I'm a big baby when it comes to scary movies.

My biggest fear though has to do with a creature that has no legs and has a pretty notorious beginning in the story of Adam and Eve. Augh I don't even want to type those letters. SNAKES.

I'm absolutely terrified of snakes which is why I'm not posting a picture of one.

Y'all know what a snake looks like.

Living in Florida they are all over the place and the couple times that I have come near one I'm pretty sure my feet did something like you see in an episode of the Flintstones where the toes aren't actually touching the ground as I got the heck out of there. I can't watch movies with them in it, I can't watch nature shows with them in it or I'm guaranteeing myself nightmares that night.

So on this day of superstition and fear what are you afraid of or what superstitions do you have?

Woo Lawdy!

2012-01-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

I've been a little MIA lately in these parts!

Here are some places that I've been lately:

More to come!

Random Thoughts for a New Month

2011-11-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

It was our first year having trick or treaters (we've lived in apartments before now and never really in kid friendly areas) and I was surprised at how much I loved having the cute little kiddos come to our house. We had some great kid costumes in our area including a homemade R2D2 (Star Wars character) that was made from an upside down garbage can and spray painted. The poor little guy didn't really have arms in his costume so his brother had to carry his candy for him. So cute!

The only one that got dressed up for Halloween in our house was our dog Wylie.

He is a turtle in case it isn't obvious :)

I'm always a little sad come November 1st because I love Halloween decorations and I hate to put them away.

I liked this black and white hounds tooth pattern for my Halloween nails. I think it turned out pretty good.

We were in Jacksonville this past weekend for the Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, otherwise known as the Florida- Georgia game.

The game was .....scary. Halloween came a little early for Gator fans. Ouch.

And if this post wasn't random enough already, in the past 2 days I've seen 2 Mary Kay Pink Cadillacs.

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Just seemed kind of random to see 2 in 2 days when I haven't seen one in a long time. Maybe Mary Kay just got a shipment in and a whole bunch of ladies are sporting some new pink wheels? I was a Mary Kay consultant for a very brief time. It's a good company, sales just aren't my thing. Mary Kay Ash (real person) was a very interesting lady and pretty inspirational.

Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.
Mary Kay Ash

Random Post over!

What was the highlight of your Halloween? Have you ever seen a pink Mary Kay caddy?

Pico De Gallo

2011-10-25T16:46:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty sure that if my husband and I had to live off of one type of enthinc cuisine it would be Mexican. Our cheese drawer in our fridge almost always is full of tortillas and you can usually find a variety of Mexican type spices in our house. We keep it spicy around here. Well not so much for me, I keep it mild but I enjoy Mexican food also, even if I can't handle it hot.

One of our favorite things to make is soft shell tacos (tortillas) with a home made pico de gallo with rice and some type of protein inside, usually steak or fish. I love making home made pico de gallo. It's not hard to make pico de gallo and I feel like fresh salsa is the best and since pico de gallo is a lot like salsa (minus a few tomatoes) we take the time to make it with our Mexican dishes.

Our recipe is based off of Tyler Florence's Tacos Carne Asada recipe.

In our pico de gallo we use:

1 tomato
3 cloves of garlic
Some cilantro
1/2 red onion
Juice of 1 lime
Juice of 1 orange
A little bit of olive oil
A little sea salt

As you might be able to guess from my very exact list of ingredients measuring is not my strong suite. This is why I cook a whole lot more then I bake. I'm a round it off, eye ball it kind of cook.

Once you have all your ingredients together all you have to do is cut them up and put them together. I love cutting. My main job in our kitchen is always the one wielding the knife and cutting up the ingredients. I find that I cut a lot better when I have a good drink to sharpen my knife skills. Hence the sweet little seashell glass that has Skinnygirl Margarita in it.

Do you enjoy cutting onions because I don't. Those suckers hit my like a ton of bricks every time and I look like I'm trying out for a telenovela or something.

All my garlic cutting skills come from ~~drooling over~~ watching many hours of Food Network shows. We didn't really have garlic in my parents house growing up. Maybe we were all vampires? Maybe not. So thank goodness for the Food Network helping me create my garlic chopping skills.

Some people like cilantro. Some people think it tastes like soap. This household is pro cilantro.

All mixed up and ready to be dished into a tortilla. Fresh, fresh, fresh. Just the way I like it!

Do you love salsa? Do you create your own at home?

Magnolia Leaf Wreath

2011-10-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

We recently got a great cook book from my husband's grandparents, Southern Living Christmas, and along with some really yummy recipes it has some great holiday decor ideas. I fell in love with the magnolia leaf wreath.

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I'm thinking about doing it like they did with the green leaves and the red ribbon for Christmas time but right now I have a bunch of fall leaves that need my attention.

So I got a little creative.

Originally I wanted to use a foam florist wreath but alas our little island Walmart didn't have any foam wreaths. So I got a little creative. They did have some grapevine wreaths and the ol' wheels in my head started spinning a bit.

I took my grapevine wreath, some magnolia leaves and some ribbon and twine.

South Carolina magnolia tree leaves

Then I added the leaves to the wreath. I think it was much easier hanging the wreath first and then adding the leaves so I had a good view of the wreath.

I'm pretty happy with how it all shook out. I'm planning on taking the fall leaves out and making it a more Christmas type wreath once we are out of the fall season.

I feel like I'm the only person that holds on to the fall season and isn't in a hurry to get to Christmas! Today at the grocery store I noticed that all my pumpkin favorite treats were gone and all the Christmas ones were coming out already. Boo.

Do you still celebrate fall once Halloween passes? Are you anxious to get on to Christmas?

Autumn in The South

2011-10-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

When we lived in St. Louis we were in a really nice neighborhood that had lots of trees that all turned so many great colors. We really got a good sense of what a textbook example of fall weather looked like.

We have some trees changing color where we live now and I've added some fall color with these great mums just to get into the fall spirit.

One of the things that I told my husband that I would have at my dream house is a big beautiful magnolia tree. Well as things turned out I actually got a magnolia tree in our current home. Mind you I think I only saw it give me one big beautiful white bloom but I guess I just need to be a bit more specific next time I make a wish. I never said in my wish that it needed to bloom too :).

Even though the tree is holding out on me I still love it.

In the last couple of weeks it started doing this though.

Big waxy leaves in varying colors of gold. The leaves are so sturdy and there are so many of them that I felt like there had to be something I could do with those leaves.

They kinda look like big feathers, don't they?

I have a project in mind and if it turns out well then maybe it will appear on this site.

If it doesn't show up on here, well then I think you can take a guess how that all went over :)

Do you have any fall crafts planned?

Most Wonderful Time of The Year

2011-10-04T17:02:00.001-07:00

I probably have used that title before.

Moving on... :)

It seems like when the calendar pages turn and it falls on to October and the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes come out and you hear about how fall is the best season. I have to admit that I am one of those people that love fall the most. I love the weather, I love the colors, I love the fact that Halloween is during this season and I love the "fall" food. I almost feel sorry for the other seasons since fall seems to get all the attention. I can't say that I know too many people that ever say how much they love winter. Anyone out there LOVE winter? Winter needs some love too.

I love the holidays that occur during the fall, Halloween (my favorite holiday) and Thanksgiving. A little bit of scary (in my world it is just a little but cause I'm just a big ol' chicken) and a holiday about food. Just right in my book.

One of my favorite things about fall is decorating.

I got my Peanuts decoration from Ebay. I think its the only thing I ever bought on Ebay but I really really love it!

Isn't he a cutie?

I have this "thing" about the movie Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. I call it a "thing" here but you could probably call it a slight obsession, love, etc. It's my favorite movie and is one of the biggest reasons that I love Halloween.

The bulk of my decorations have this theme and I just love it. A lot of my friends tend to refer to me as the "Nightmare girl" which you know sounds kinda bad but I know that its just based on my love for the movie. At least I'm hoping that is all it is :)

When people I know see something that has to do with the movie they tend to tell me, share with me, buy it for me. There are much worse things in life to be associated with then a eyeball less Disney skeleton, right? :)

I also love that I can do double duty with these decorations and leave them up for Christmas also. Efficient decorating? Yes, but in reality it probably is just more about my own laziness (and reluctance) to put them away.

I love how Halloween can have many themes. Scary. gory halloween, rustic country Halloween, crazy cartoon Halloween, etc. I tend to favor the PG to PG-13 rated Halloween :)

Do you have a favorite Halloween decoration? What is your favorite thing about the fall?

Wadmalaw Island

2011-09-21T01:02:00.000-07:00

My parents came to visit recently and we went to the Charleston Tea Plantation. For those that are keeping track that is the second time that I have been there since I moved here. But I didn't mind at all.

Growing up in Florida I'm used to tourist attractions being swamped and the fact that this one usually has a good group of visitors but isn't exactly Disney World makes it really enjoyable even if it is your second trip and you know all the tour guides jokes already :)

We also visited Angel Tree which probably isn't technically on Wadmalaw Island but its close enough for me to include it.

The list of things that I love about Charleston is miles long at this point. But one of the things that I really love about it is how there are many areas where modern expansion hasn't taken over and you have some great natural beauty that is left to shine all on its own. Back in Florida real estate is always prime and buildings are always built one on top of the other. In St. Louis it seemed like at least 40% of the buildings you saw were desolate and abandoned. It's so nice to see people letting Mother Nature do what we all know she does so well.

Couch to 5K

2011-09-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

Have you heard about the Couch to 5 K?

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The idea of the program is to start with small steps to help you increase your endurance (and not burn out your interest) to becoming a runner and ultimately be able to run in a race if you so desire.

Looks like I'm going to learn to be best friends with these guys.

When I was in college (many many moons ago) my roommate and I tried running together. That didn't last very long. We both decided that the only good reason to run was 1. If fire was involved 2. If bodily harm would come to you if you didn't run. I guess those two points kind of go together. I haven't had too many occasions arise where that criteria was met and so I just don't run.

My goal in doing this program is to be one of those people that actually likes to run. Which might actually be a much more difficult goal then being able to compete in a 5k.

Running has just never been my exercise of choice. I'm so envious of those people that just pop awake extra early in the morning, tie on their running shoes and can speed around and look like they really are enjoying themselves. I pretty much have nothing in common with those people right now since I usually wake up at a time most people would never consider to be really early and I spend a lot more time in these shoes in shoes with laces.

So now that I have put this plan out on the internet it means I have to stick to it.

So are there any runners or new runners out there with some tips to help me succeed at this?

A Southern Home: The Nook

2011-09-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

It's no secret how much I love living in the South. I'm just tickled to be in a place that I love and feel so connected to. I also really love our new place and am going to share so bits and pieces of it that I feel have that Southern charm in a series of posts called A Southern Home.

First up, The Nook:

One of the elements in our new place that I LOVE is the built in nook in our living room. I love the fact that its white and the edge detail at the top. It just works so well to display some of our most treasured items like our picture frames, cook books and my tea collection.

What kind of Southern home would it be if we didn't have a Southern Living cook book?

Does your home have a nook or built in shelving system that you love?

Pintrest

2011-08-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a very visual person. I can get inspired by seeing a unique photo or by flipping through a magazine. Normally I would take a screen shot and hoard the images away for inspiration on my desktop or maybe bookmark them. And then I found Pintrest.

Pintrest is now my favorite way to waste a little time. Even though I like to think that it isn't time wasted, its time spent looking for inspiration in one form or another.

Source: etsy.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: modishblog.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: flourishdesignandstyle.blogspot.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: iloveswmag.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.lg1x8z.simplecdn.net via Wonderland on Pinterest

Source: chroniclebooks.com via Wonderland on Pinterest

Are you on Pintrest? Do you collect inspirational photos?

You Know You Are In A Southern Home When....

2011-08-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

You know you are in a Southern home when....

The bulk of the shoes by the door are flip flops and "boat" shoes.

There are signs declaring their allegiance to being a Parrotthead.

There is hydrangea on the dinner table.

There are decorations up in anticipation for college football season, specifically SEC football season.

You know you are in a Southern home when they have a sign professing their love for all things Southern.

Two Years And Counting

2011-08-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

I've had my Etsy shop, Wonderland Paper s, for two years now.

It all started when I was given the opportunity to create the invitation suite for my brother and his soon to be wife. Along with designing their invitation I created a wedding map for them:

And then Wonderland Papers was born.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. And that was the case for me when I first started my shop. We had just moved to St. Louis and the job market was (and still is) less then accommodating.

And then I got my first "real" client

I really enjoy being able to create art "old school" style, with a paper and pencil, and then being able to use the modern technology and design skills that I have to spice things up and make it functional.

I have had a variety of clients with stories to tell in a variety of locations. I've had clients in Canada, Ireland, Washington D.C. (the most popular location so far) Texas, California and New York. I love helping my clients to tell their story. Or to tell the story of someone that they love and are giving to them as a gift.

Like the memory map that I made for my parents for their 31 anniversary:

Or when I have couples that have interesting history and cultural backgrounds:

Or clients that live in a really cool city:

Or a great destination wedding :

Or a wedding in a gorgeous location:

My business is still growing and I put a lot of time and effort to make it mine. I had a long history of starting things and not finishing them before I started my Etsy shop. Ice skating lessons, dance lessons, baton twirling lessons and numerous ideas that I started but never really saw through. Coming up with an idea is the EASY part. Sustaining that idea and learning how to let it grow is the hard part. It's also the constant part that you have to re evaluate over and over again. The reward to the hard work comes when I hear about how I was able to create what my client was visualizing, when I surpass their expectations and when a couple has a part of their wedding planning complete with one of my designs.

I'm always trying to do more, be more with my design business and I look forward to the next anniversary and every new idea and spark that comes along the way.

Thanks for coming along for the ride with me :)

"Everybody draws, I just never stopped when the teachers told me to." - Tim Burton

Show Us Your (Home) Office

2011-08-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

I love when blogs post pictures of the contents of their purse. I know, I know, it seems probably kinda strange but I think that you get an idea about a woman by the stuff that she carries around in her purse. It's a peek at her personality. My purse tends to always have tons and tons of receipts in it. Not sure what that says about my personality besides that I don't clean my purse out often enough.

Along with getting a peek at what you carry around with you all the time I love seeing pics of work spaces, home offices, places where people get creative and get work done.

I'm a little nomadic when it comes to my work space. I work sitting on the couch, I work sitting at the dinner table (the picture above) and then I have a true formal desk.

I guess I also like having distractions on my desk to entertain me

I like seeing what inspires other people to get creative and where they make the creative magic happen.

Do you have a space to get creative? Do you find checking out other people's home offices and creative work spaces creative too?

Making Sun Tea

2011-07-31T15:01:00.001-07:00

It is so hot outside. WOW.

I'm spending a lot of time trying to find ways to stay cool which means avoiding going outside as much as possible lately. Fall can't come soon enough for so many reasons right now.

I decided to try and make use of this CRAZY heat and make up a batch of sun tea. Gotta put that blistering hot ol' sun to work you know.

A couple weeks ago when my sister came to visit we all took a trip out to the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island. This tea plantation is the only working tea plantation in the United States. It was really cool to check it out and sample some of their yummy tea.

I learned a few things on our tour about tea.

1. Ice tea was invented at the Worlds Fair in St. Louis. (The guide put me on the spot with this question and I didn't know the answer).

2. Tea is the second most popular beverage in the US, second to water.

3. Most tea (can't remember the percentage) consumed in the US is iced, that number (yup, sorry couldn't remember what number that was) jumps up to 95% when you get to the South where we make it sweet tea and you find it in every home around these parts. House wine of the South :)

It was a neat little tour and in a neat and isolated area that made for a nice trip.

Fast forward to present day now and my desire to fix up some sun tea. Sun tea is basically water in a glass container with tea bags that you place in the sun and the sun and heat does the work for you. Cause you know sticking a cup of water into a microwave is just so darn hard ;)

I used some of the tea plantation's Plantation Peach tea.

Tea doesn't get much more Southern then that.

And out in the sun it sits. I did have a small plate over the top to keep any crazy bugs from dive bombing into my tea. Plate was removed to make for a prettier picture and no bugs were harmed in the making of this sun tea. Just add some ice and enjoy!

Have you ever made sun tea before? Got any tips or secrets that you swear by?

Getting my Rhythm Down

2011-07-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

(Charleston Harbor on the 4th of July)

One of the big changes (and there were so many recently) in our move was that I now work at home as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. Trying to create a schedule to stick to so I don't waste the day watching hours and hours of bad reality television has been hard. Not a feel bad for me kind of hard, just hard for me to get myself into a routine when no external force is actually making me stick to that routine except for my own will power. I've found that I work better when under pressure and I can get my head down and bulldoze through my work then when I foresee myself having lots and lots of time and then I tend to get more distracted by things that seem to need my attention that moment. Like cleaning up the kitchen. Trying to wrangle the dog hair tumbleweeds that are trying to take over our wood floors. Taking care of issues that come up that fall into my hands since the husband is at work and doesn't have that kind of flexibility now.

One of the biggest surprises about working freelance is how fast the day goes by. At my last job I would count the hours till I got home. Those hours have grown wings and turbo jets now because the day seems to fly by now and I seem to always be looking at a stack of "to do" lists that never got my attention that day.

Anyone have any tips or things that works for them when it comes to time management or from keeping the day from totally getting away from you?

Hey Ya'll!

2011-07-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Now coming to you from The Palmetto State!

The Big Move from the Midwest to the Deep South went really well and I couldn't be happier. I love being back in the South. I don't think I knew how much I really loved it and living by the coast until it was out of my life.

It really is a different way of life here and I'm so happy at how effortlessly it all just seems to fit.

I'm excited to get back to blogging and having a regular schedule again. Much more to come!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

2011-05-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hope you had a fantastic Memorial Day! Lots of love to all the military people (and families!) out there. I come from a family with a number of military members so I have nothing but the highest respect for all the branches of the military. Thank you for all your sacrifices.

When I got to work today and was getting through the morning blurries I was going through my Google Reader, just getting up to date on what was going on in the blog world. One blog that I make sure to always check is A Beautiful Mess. The mastermind behind A Beautiful Mess is crafting goddess Elsie. She is a super creative soul that I have a TON of respect for. Not only is she super artistic and creative but she's also a great creative business person. I took the Indie Biz class last year mainly because she was going to be one of the teachers. And who doesn't want to learn from the best?

Anyways, so back to me getting out of the morning fog. As I scrolled through my Google Reader I saw that they had picked names for a great giveaway that she was doing on her blog.

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And wouldn't you know it but I was one of the winners!

I was very excited about it since the giveaway was for access to one of her e-courses. E-courses are great because they are full of information on a topic but no deadline like many online class courses do. And being able to work at my own speed through the information is great especially right now when my life is all in boxes.

I can't wait to dive right in to the Dream Job e- course. The timing couldn't be much better since I'm hoping to get much more involved with building my Etsy Shop (Wonderland Papers) once we are done moving and I can devote myself to it whole heatedly. There will definitely be a review of the Dream Job e-course in the near future.

Thanks again Elsie!

Packing < Unpacking

2011-05-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

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Math really isn't my strong suit but one thing is very clear right now.

Packing < Unpacking

Southern At Heart

2011-05-25T04:16:00.000-07:00

So do you remember THIS POST from a while back?

Well there is a reason that I wanted to love that book. I knew when I was reading it that there was a good chance that we would be moving to the location that the book is based on.

And now I know that is the case.

We're moving to Charleston, SC this summer :)

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At Folly Beach this past weekend when we went house hunting.

To say that I'm excited is a GROSS understatement. I'm just totally beyond thrilled right now to be moving back to the South. I grew up in Florida and lived there all my life until we moved to St. Louis 2 years ago. This Southern girl has really missed her Southern drawls and hospitality :)

My husband got a great job offer and it really just feels perfect. I feel so amazingly blessed.

And don't EVEN get me started on the food in Charleston. Here fishy fishy :)

Have you ever been to Charleston, SC before? Any one have any info they can share with me?

Happy Momma's Day!

2011-05-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, mother in laws and soon to be moms out there!

The number of moms in my life duplicated this year since two of my best friends are both going to be able to celebrate Mother's Day for the first time this year. So exciting!

A picture of me and my mom on my wedding day. I have a great mom. I think she is the best and we have an amazing relationship. I feel so lucky and fortunate that I'm able to have the relationship with her that I do. Growing up I had my typical teenage girl moments and we weren't as close. As I got older our relationship really got better and better. I really couldn't ask for more. My mom has raised that bar really high for me when I hopefully become a mom some day. I know she will always be their to support me though so I look forward to that next chapter in my life whenever it comes.

Happy Mother's Day!

Do you have a special relationship with your mom or a special person that has taken on a motherly role in your life?

I Want To Go Where It's Warm

2011-05-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

I consider myself to be a recent Jimmy Buffett convert. I'm a new Parrotthead. It wasn't till we moved to the midwest and I was landlocked that I realized that I had been kinda living the Jimmy Buffett lifestyle of palm trees and breezes until we moved.

But like so many things in my life when I fall for something I fall hard. All in here.

So when I found out that Jimmy Buffett was coming to St. Louis I knew that I had to be at that concert. And when that day finally arrived there was only one thing about the way that I had mapped it all out in my mind that was just a teensy bit different.

It was 45 degrees outside. In May.

So bringing my imagination along with me became really important in this situation. Cause it wasn't your typical Jimmy Buffett kind of weather.

So like most people I had to go to work the day of the concert. And it was kind of obvious that my mind was on beaches and margaritas. My work outfit of the day:

Top: Calypso at Target
Pants: Lands End Canvas
Shoes: Piperlime, one size too big but they are sandals and were on sale so that's how I roll.

I told hubby the day before that I was going to wear flip flops to the concert no matter how cold it was. Luckily I came to my senses before we left and made a few alterations to my originally planned outfit:

Wanna take a guess at what the additions to my planned outfit were?

Its all about the comfort people. I also added a nice grey sweatshirt to that outfit right when we got into the venue.

The concert was in an amphitheater and our "seats" were out on the lawn with all the other crazy Parrottheads. I'm laughing now at how funny my shoes look but man are they comfortable.

Seriously I kinda look like a cartoon character.

The concert itself was good, besides being really cold, and I'm glad that we went. I would love to go to his concert again in a much more tropical location. He made a lot of jokes about his fall off stage which I thought was pretty cool. Not cool that he fell (who would do something like that?) but that he could laugh about it. I dig people that can laugh at themselves like that. I also really dig being warm and comfortable which is why we left a bit early.

I gotta go where there aint any snow
Where there aint any blow
Cause my fin sinks so low
I gotta go where it's warm

So would you sacrifice a little fashion for comfort like I did?

Who's The Boss?

2011-05-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Wanna take a guess at what's wrong with this picture?

Bloggy Got A Facelift!

2011-05-02T16:05:00.001-07:00

Notice anything different?

My little ol' blog got a facelift. And I have to say it just takes years off her, so much younger :)

I was going to post a picture of a face lift, you know matching the post title and all, but they were all way to scary and why ruin my beautiful little site with something crazy like that, you know?

I must give props to Penny Lane Designs who did her magic on the blog and has her looking fresh and spiffy.

If you are looking to give your blog an update I totally recommend her!

Twisters and Turning Two

2011-04-27T07:04:00.001-07:00

Whew! Things have been wild here lately. Mainly when it comes to weather we have seen our share of crazy wild stuff. I think I'm ready to take on the summer heat right now if it means getting out of tornado season. Luckily we haven't had any damage or problems due to the storms. Just lots of nights spent watching the local weather stations. Getting ourselves all worked up in a foamy panic. Oh wait, that's just Wylie, our dog :)

FACT: The weather station can't actually say that there is a tornado in the area unless they are told of it. They use their info of tornado "like" activity and reports to actually report that there is one on the ground. Makes you feel real safe now know that right? Yea, me neither.

Or maybe that's just here. Still not good for us.

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The other wild thing going on here is our pup Wylie turned two!

Life of the party, isn't he? Such a wild thing. Wylie took another developmental step recently and is staying out of his crate and is able to move around our apartment now. Big step people, big step. This has caused an interesting chain of events to happen, but that will come in the next post when I have the photographic proof to tell my story.

Has April been a wild month for you?

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2011-04-01T02:53:00.000-07:00

Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd

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Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks, I don't care if I ever get back For its root, root root for the CUBBIES If they don't win its a shame

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For its one, two, three strikes your out at the old ball game. Whose ready to play ball?

Day 9- 30 Day Photo Challenge

2011-03-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

Day 9- A Photo of your favorite flowers.

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I love hydrangea. My mom has hydrangea growing outside their cabin in North Carolina and that was my first introduction to these full and lovely flowers.

I carried white hydrangea in my wedding bouquet. I also love the hydrangea candle from Yankee Candles. It is a very strong smell that really lasts a long time. My favorite one for sure!

DAY 8 - 30 Days of Photos

2011-03-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

DAY 08: A PICTURE THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH

There isn't really much that needs to be said about this. I don't know what it is about the kitty sweaters but it makes her think she can't walk. She actually fell off the couch once because the sweater made her think she was in a cocoon or something equally binding. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of THAT.

Day 7 30 Day Photo Challenge

2011-03-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Day 7 A Picture of Your Most Treasured Item

My wedding ring.

Photo taken by me. Not that great, but I'm glad I did my nails :)

Professional picture taken by our wedding photographer along with my hubby's ring on my wedding bouquet.

Obviously the wedding ring meaning is the biggest reason that it is my treasured possesion. But I also like how sparkly it is too :) I think it's just perfect. A little sparkle but not over the top.

Day 6 - 30 Days of Photos

2011-03-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

DAY 06: A PICTURE OF A PERSON YOU'D LOVE TO CHANGE PLACES WITH FOR A DAY

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Miss Paula Deen

Paula just always seems to have a good time anywhere she goes so slipping into her shoes for a day would probably be a party. Plus it would mean being able to cook in that AMAZING kitchen of hers.

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So who would you want to trade places with for a day?

Day 5 30 Day Photo Challenge

2011-03-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

DAY 05: A PICTURE OF ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES

Maybe it's a bit cliche but our wedding day was definitely one of my favorite memories. I remember how fast it all went and at the end of the day I just totally felt surrounded by love.

Day 3 Photo Challenge

2011-03-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

DAY 04: A PICTURE OF YOUR FAVORITE DAY

My favorite day is:

Wednesday :)

Day 3 30 Day Photo Challenge

2011-03-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

DAY 03: A PICTURE OF THE CAST FROM YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW

Law and Order: SVU

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I love this show. Which is funny because it use to scare the heck out of me. Before my husband and I got married we lived in the same apartment complex but in different apartments. He lived with his brother and I lived with 10 furry lbs of attitude. I would be at my soon to be husbands' apt in the evening and then leave when it was time to go to bed. And I would never want to watch the Law & Order SVU episodes on TV because I am a chicken and being in my apartment alone made me "what if" all the crazy scenarios that I saw on the show.

I don't have that problem anymore (hello desensitization!) and I love the show. I love me some Stabler and Benson. I love how Olivia (Mariska Harigtay) has changed her hair over and over through the seasons and just gets better. Being a short hair kind of gal myself I know I've tried out a number of looks too and I've loved seeing her's. And I swear she just gets prettier every season. I love Elliot Stabler and seriously wished he was real when I was living in my apartment alone looking under my bed at night for bad guys.

Favorite episode: I loved when Cynthia Nixon guest starred in the "Alternate" episode about the woman with multiple personalities. I also loved "Baggage" which guest starred Delroy Lindo, very sad episode but powerful.

Least Favorite episode: "Identity" with the twin kids, which if you've seen the episode is probably all you need to remember it. And "Avatar" which was about online / alternate world role playing and just super creepy.

I have to admit I feel like I've learned a lot of about crime scenes and medical examiner jargon from watching this show. But mostly I just love the idea of people that want justice and good guys to win in life.

Anyone else addicted to this show?

30 Day Photo Challenge - Day 2

2011-03-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

DAY 02: A PICTURE OF YOU AND SOMEONE YOU USED TO BE CLOSE WITH

This is a picture of me, my sister and my two best friends enjoying some ice cream after my rehearsal dinner. I'm close to all of them still but geographically I'm not really close to any of them right now. For now.

There are people that were once an important part of my life that I'm not close with anymore. Time and distance can do that to a relationship. I admit that I have cyber peeked (I don't like the word "stalked") people that I went to school with on Facebook from time to time wondering what they are doing now. And that is why Facebook is as popular as it is today :)

I just want to see where they live and how their life has changed. In some cases there really isn't much to talk about so there is no point in sending a friend request. I know that for me there are many people that I am "friends" with on Facebook that after that intial "Hey what have you been up to" message that the conversation just ceases. And that is ok sometimes. Relationships (platonic and romantic) are not all meant to be novels. Some are only suppose to be short chapters.

Anyone else want to confess to being a cyber peeker?

30 Day Photo Challenge

2011-03-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

So my blogging muscles are feeling a bit weak right now. I needed to come up with something to get me to stretch them out a bit and my bloggy buddy Miss Jess over at the mundane adventures of Miss Jess started doing the 30 Day photo challenge and was doing such a cute job that I decided to go ahead and follow her lead.

So here we go.

Day 1: Post a picture of yourself and 15 facts.

My best friend from college took this picture of me when we lived in Lakeland, Fl. I loved this garden and I felt like Alice in Wonderland there!

1. I became an RA in college solely based on the show Felicity's RA, Noel Crane.

2. I'm probably one of the few people that really hates both The Goonies and The Wizard of Oz movies.

3. I've never left the country before.

4. I quote the Ghostbusters' movies an obnoxious amount. But so does my husband.

5. I really dislike ripe bananas.

6. I'm terrible at song lyrics, I almost always have them wrong.

7. But I have a great ear/ music memory for a tune.

8. My Etsy shop/ illustration business is the most rewarding job I have ever had. I love doing custom personal work.

9. I feel like I could be borderline narcoleptic with how fast I can fall asleep on the couch. Or maybe I'm just old.

10. I love being efficient & blowing through my "to do" lists.

11. I took Spanish in high school but the only phrase I can remember is "Vamos a la playa" Which I believe is "Let's go to the beach".

12. At my first real job, at a grocery store, I found my future husband to be. He was at the #9 express check out register.

13. I was on my high school marching band and flag team.

14. I met my best friend in pre-school. We're still best friends today.

15. I use to love the color pink but now I'm all about green.

Want to play along with the 30 Day Photo Challenge with me?

Playing Catch Up

2011-03-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's been awhile since I've posted so let's play some catch up, shall we?

- Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm wearing green because I am part Irish. My paternal grandparents came from Ireland and even had to drop the O' from their name when they came over on the big boat. Tonight were having corned beef sandwiches on rye bread (almost a Reuben) and some mint choclate chip cupcakes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

- Things have been so busy and disorganized lately because of being busy. My poor blog has been the main focus of my neglect, hopefully things will get more balanced soon.

- Have some big news to hopefully share soon.

So what do you do to celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

Disney-fied

2011-03-04T07:07:00.000-08:00

I love all things Disney. The parks, the magic, just about everything that Disney does.

I saw these photos on another blog and I just had to post them here. There is a lot of criticism that the pictures are too heavily photoshopped and they chose the wrong actors but I'm liking it. Most of it.

Jessica Biel as Pocahontas

Roger Federer as King Arthur

Rachel Weisz as Snow White

Gisele Bundchen as Wendy Darling, Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan, Tina Fey as Tinker Bell.

All photos, and many more that I didn't include can be found here.

So which one is your favorite?

What Do You Have Cooking?

2011-02-28T02:33:00.000-08:00

I love reading cook books. I love getting a new cook book and a stack of post it notes and going through the book and placing a post it note on each new recipe that I want to try out.

Many times the recipes that we collect come from a variety of sources including cook books, blogs and Food Network shows.

If a recipe is found online many times we print it out and place it in our big notebook of recipes.

The idea of organizing our recipes in a notebook probably made you think we had this whole organization thing down pretty well right?

Not necessarily.

There are folders to help organize aka "just hold it" for us, and that still works too. Lots of notes and recipes that were scribbled down find there place here.

We do use traditional cookbooks too.

This one is pretty classic. You can't go wrong with Paula Deen. You can end up with an increase in your waist line because of Paula Deen though :) Moderation, all in moderation.

Favorite Recipe from this book: Mac n Cheese.

My mom got my this cook book for my birthday one year knowing how much my husband loves Italian food. Happy birthday to me!

Favorite Recipe from this book: Chicken Saltimbocca

This is one of the first cook books that I got, back before I had any interest in cooking. I never cracked it open until many years later and to my surprise it had a number of good recipes in it that we keep in rotation now.

Favorite Recipe from this book: Chinese Peanut Chicken

This cook book is pretty amazing. It's huge and chock full of great Southern classic recipes. It also includes information on where the recipe originated from, a little Southern history, some top Southern restaurant profiles and tons and tons of great recipes.

Tons of great recipes. Got a little crazy with the post it notes.

Favorite Recipe from this book: Southwest Egg Rolls

We made these on Valentine's Day and they turned out amazing. They are similar to the egg rolls that you get at Chili's but much better. My husband really blew this recipe out of the water.

This book has more party and event type recipes.

Favorite Recipe from this book: Shrimp and Grits

This book is like a huge encyclopedia of cooking knowledge. If you want to know how to skewer shrimp, cook an egg, tie a roast this book will have your answer.

Favorite Recipe from this book: none. It has recipes in it but we've used it more as a resource so far.

Do you have a favorite cook book?

Tea for Two

2011-02-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

The weather gave us a major tease this past weekend. High of 70 wonderful degrees. And then last night we had an ice storm. So it's back to regular winter weather here.

One thing that I enjoy during the winter months is a good hot cup of tea. Tea is a good drink choice since it can be load with lots of antioxidants and other "good for you" ingredients. "Good for you" is a scientific term you know :) Right. Leave the science talk to the husband.

And speaking of my chemistry loving husband, they say that the best way to encourage others to pick up a habit or behavior is to be an example and I think that just might be happening in my house. My husband, John, started getting a little curious about tea. I was thrilled for him to try it out and see what he liked. So here is what we've been drinking at our house lately:

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This is the John really likes. I'm not a huge fan of apple flavor but this is pretty good and very strong flavor for a tea.

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This one tasts a lot like Starbucks Passion Tea which is one of my favorite teas. Really love it.

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This is another one of my favorite teas, it also has a very strong flavor. I love the vanilla in it.

As you can see we are keeping Celestial Seasonings in business right now :) From a graphic designers standpoint I really dig their design of the boxes too. Very clean design with some great colors. And boy can I use some good color and some good tea in these cloudy gray months!

Got a favorite tea?

My Manifesto

2011-02-20T11:30:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago one of my favorite blogs, The Fitnessista, posted a blog post about her personal manifesto based on the manifesto that you can find on Lululemon Athletica's bags.

I love manifestos or declarations like this where you break down who you are what you really feel like matters to you and your life. What you stand for and what you live by. I was inspired by this and decided to make my own manifesto. So here are a couple of rules that I try to remember to live by:

1. Water, water and still more water.

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I think we all have heard how great water is for us. I know that for me I can tell a difference when I haven't been keeping up on my water intake. I try to drink a lot of water, often times putting some lime juice into my water to give it a little flavor. I also have to have the water really cold.

2. Take time to love.

My loves

Relationships with our loved ones, friends, family and pets is one of the most important parts of life. I cherish my support team and never take it for granted. The Beatles said it best, all we need is love.

3. Practice yoga regularly.

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I love doing yoga. It just feels so good to get a good stretch. Whenever I end a yoga session the first thing that always crosses my mind is "I need to do that more often". I never regret practicing yoga, just NOT doing it. I think yoga is good for people of all ages and sizes. Teaching a class of kids how to do sun salutations (switched to "animal poses" for them to better understand) was one of the most fun times I've ever had doing yoga.

4. Money is just a tool.

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So much of life is spent on trying to get more, be more and earn more. Remembering that the point of money is to use it as a tool and not a measuring stick or indicator of happiness is something I try to remind myself.

5. Exercise the imagination often.

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When I was in elementary school my teacher asked us all to draw a picture of ourselves. I was the only kid in the class that drew myself older and totally dressed up like a gypsy. I also won the award that year for being the best at show and tell. I've obviously never had trouble with getting in touch with my imagination. I think life is better lived this way.

6. No food guilt, just balance.

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I refuse to feel bad about enjoying food that tastes good. Life it too short. Sometimes that food is a nice piece of crunchy bread or a warm cookie. I won't beat myself up for enjoying food, I will keep things in balance though. Everything in moderation.

7. Make time for silliness.

Always make time to be silly, to laugh and to not take yourself or anything else too seriously. I love watching reality tv shows because they are so ridiculous and sometimes say the funniest things ( Who gonna check me boo??!). My husband and I have a zillion silly inside jokes. Being silly is good for the soul.

8. Focus on the positive.

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I think that finding a way to be positive in all situations in life to be a crucial life skill. I know that I am drawn to positive people and try hard to find a positive spin on all the obstacles that I face in life. Sometimes that happens to be pretty easy. Sometimes not so much. There is so much in life that we can't control, but we can always control how we react to something.

9. Date your husband (spouse).

At Wrigley Field

It's so easy to get caught up with all the regular business in day to day life with bills and work and life issues. My husband and I always take time to spend quality time together every day and make sure that we plan fun dates and adventures. He is such an important part of my life and I don't want to ever take that for granted.

10. Count your blessings.

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I try to count my blessings and focus on all the talents, skills and good fortune that I have had in life. It only takes a Google search to find plenty of people who have things much, much worse then I do. I am thankful.

So what things do you live by? What is on your life manifesto?

South of Broad - Book Review

2011-02-16T14:13:00.001-08:00

I just finished one of the books that was on my "to read" list. The book was South of Broad by Pat Conroy.

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The book takes place in Charleston South Carolina. I had heard a lot of praise for this book. Plus it takes place in the South which I was ALL about.

Charleston is one of the most beautiful cities in the US in my opinion.

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Did you know they filmed the major chick flick "The Notebook" in Charleston?

Needless to say I had some pretty high expectations.

And wouldn't you know it but I just didn't love this book. Isn't that the worst? When you really want to love something and it just doesn't pan out? Don't get me wrong this book was beautifully written. In a lot of ways its like a love letter written to the city of Charleston. I just can't say that I really love the story. It was darker and surprised me in ways that I wasn't expecting.

My sister and I share books and I plan on sending her a book package with books that I've read and am giving to her to read and I just don't know that I would want to pass this one along.

Anyways.

Since I never posted anything for Valentine's Day I will post one thing that I really am loving right now. And for the record I don't hate Valentine's Day or anything, being married to my best friend and sous chef for life makes every day feel like Valentine's Day so Monday wasn't too different in my little world.

I am really LOVING this:

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This stuff is REALLY good. I'm loving it on plain yogurt right now and I just can't get enough of it.

So what are you loving right now? Any books you love? Ones that you hoped to love but didn't?

The Green Stuff

2011-02-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

A lot of posts lately about GREEN. How obvious is it that I've gotten really tired of dealing with all this WHITE stuff:

So the other type of green would be money. A lot of how we feel about money comes from our families and the way that we were raised. As you grow as an adult I believe that is the basis of your foundation and then you make decisions to build on that either in same direction or a different one.

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When I was in college I took a personal finance class that was really interesting. I'm pretty sure that my book from that class was one of the only college text books that I bothered to keep because it had such great information in it. And for some reason it was all really kinda cool to me to learn about the power of money and how to use it efficiently.

I subscribe to many personal finance and money related blogs. I also have read Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Make over, and I really liked it. I think Dave Ramsey has a great perspective on how to accumulate wealth and certain financial goals that you should strive for.

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Some of Dave Ramsey's rules that we follow:

Baby Step # 1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
Baby Step # 2: Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
Baby Step # 3: 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings (full emergency fund)
Baby Step # 4: Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
Baby Step # 5: College funding for children
Baby Step # 6: Pay off your home early
Baby Step # 7: Build wealth and give

We are working on the Debt Snowball elimination method to pay off our debts (credit cards), once the balance on the credit card is paid off to not carry a balance on the card from month to month, focusing on living like no one else now so you can live like no one else later.

The last point is a really big part of Ramsey's plan. That you should save for the things that you want, not just plop them on a credit card, and that you should deny yourself some of the little bonuses and extras now so that one day you can benefit from this thriftiness. Save save save.

Sometimes I get so caught up in saving for the future that my husband has to remind me to live in the now a little bit. I think its great how we have a balance like this to keep us both sane :)

Some of the best tips I think I've ever gotten from Dave Ramsey is to remember that money is just a tool, it helps you, and shouldn't be the focus of your life. Another great point is to aim to BE rich and not just LOOK rich (basing your wealth on material things, big name brands, expensive items) when you can't truly afford them.

So what is your money philosophy? Do you find personal finance to be interesting or am I out alone on a limb on this one? :)

Green and Yellow

2011-02-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

Sooooo guess who won the Super Bowl?

The Green Bay Packers did!

I've never watched a Super Bowl before where "my" team was in it. Wow does it change things. So intense! But so happy too!

That's Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers MVP QB

He has a little championship belt victory dance that he likes to do. This is me trying to do my best interpretation of it.

We got the swagger, we got the cheese. And cheese heads :)

What a crazy season. Now that football is over my attention is 100% on hockey (which is my favorite sport). It also means that we're headed towards spring. Which really just can't get here fast enough.

I'm trying to add a different type of green into my life now. Less football green and more healthy green. I'm debating on trying this kind of green out:

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Anyone try this before and have a review or opinion?

I really really want a juicer but I'm really reluctant to buy any more kitchen appliances especially when so many of them don't get used all that often. Plus I know how lazy I can be about cleaning the blender out so I know that being diligent in cleaning out a juicer might be a bit of a stretch for me also.

Does football season ending signify a change in schedule or seasons for you?

Seeing Green

2011-01-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

Wylie wants to know if its spring and time to come out yet.

Nope

Not even close.

Even though our world has been very white lately there was just a little bit of green in our world for a little while.

When the Green Bay Packers advanced to the Super Bowl this past weekend!

It was all green, and smiles, around here then!

Do you plan on watching the Super Bowl? Can you be bribed into being a Green Bay Packers fan for the night? (Bribes are CHEESE by the way).

What is your holy grail?

2011-01-22T14:59:00.000-08:00

Once you have entered the blogging world you may notice that different subjects sometimes have their own language. SAHM = stay at home mom. MUD= made up drama. It makes you feel a bit like Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote trying to figure out what all the acronyms mean.

In the world of beauty blogs there is another acronym that I have caught on to. HG. HG= holy grail. These are the products that the beauty bloggers can't live without. And while I don't consider myself a beauty blogger ( I will leave the house without make up on, I don't spend much time at all on my hair and sometimes I don't shower ) I do have my own list of HG products that I know I wouldn't want to live without.

Warm Vanilla Sugar lotion by Bath and Body Works

This stuff smells so good. Sooooo good. It is my favorite lotion to use in the winter because it just smells so cozy to me.

Freeze It Original Formula Hairspray

Even though I don't normally spend much time on my hair the Freeze It hair spray is the best out there when it comes time to boost up the hair do. And by boost up I mean tease the heck out of it. If you need some pouf (think Southern sorority girl, not Snooki) then this is the best way to get there.

Victoria's Secret Dream Angels in Heavenly

I really love the way this smells and I'm a lot more likely to use a fragrance body lotion then real perfume.

Aveda's Rosemary Mint Shampoo and Conditioner

It smells really good (are you sensing a trend here?) and it also has a slight stimulating effect on your scalp when you use it. I really dig the Aveda product line.

Bare Escentuals bare mineral make up

It's my favorite foundation by far. I never really liked the feeling of liquid foundation and with all the information about chemicals that my lovely chemist husband tells me I know that less chemicals is a good thing and this is about as simple as it comes.

Nars blush

Had this container for a long time and I'm still not even close to running out. It's a good example of a more expensive product but because it is quality it lasts a long, long time.

Maybelline mascaras

If I was only allowed to wear one make up item mascara would probably be it. I've always loved the classic Maybelline Great Lash (pink and green!) kind. Lately I have been using the Maybelline Colossal mascara which I really like and I'm going to try out the Maybelline Falsies kind and see how that works. Lashes can never be long and dark enough.

So what are your HG products? I know that when it comes time for me to try out a new product consumer reviews are a determining factor. How do you decide when to try something new?

What's Been Going On

2011-01-19T18:07:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy last couple of weeks.

Wednesday and I got to share a seat on the long drive home for Christmas. You can see how happy we both were about that.

Green Bay Packers still going strong! Woo hoo!

There has been baking.

And cupcake eating.

And possibly a pretty exciting concert in the semi near future.

What kind of new things have you been up to this New Year?

2011 Book List

2011-01-11T19:21:00.001-08:00

It's a new year and a new list of books to consume. I love getting a new book and totally being taken in by it. So without further ado this is my list so far:

Safe Haven – Nicholas Sparks (Not a huge Nicholas Sparks fan but I've heard good things about this one)

The Help- Kathryn Stockett

Winter Garden – Kristen Hannah ( I loved Firefly Lane, started True Colors but didn't get a chance to finish it, I will probably go back to that one at some point)

Heart of the Matter – Emily Griffin ( I generally like her writing style and her books are so easy to read)

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes – Diane Chamberlain

South of Broad – Pat Conroy (I ordered this one and am anxiously waiting for it to arrive)

American Wife – Curtis Sittenfeld

The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls

Savannah Breeze – Mary Kay Andrews ( My sister has been reading Mary Kay Andrews' books and liked them and lent me this one. Paula Deen is a fan of the series so with those two endorsements it can't be wrong)

Deep Dish- Mary Kay Andrews

The Devil in the White City- Erik Larson

The Kitchen House – Kathleen Grissom

So that is the list I'm working off of right now. It's a pretty good sized list but I'm always open to adding on if there is a really good book out there that I have missed.

Got any great book recommendations to share?

Why So Serious?

2011-01-07T10:35:00.001-08:00

Growing up I'm sure a lot of people would probably have classified me as a pretty serious kid. Blame it on being the first born child, being Type A or whatever but I can't say that this label wouldn't have been inaccurate. I took my school work seriously, I took my family seriously and stayed out of trouble.

The older that I get the more I find myself drawn to the other side though.

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Fun fact: The husband and I went and saw Dark Knight at the midnight showing when it was released which happened to be the day before our wedding. Maybe a little crazy but it all turned out good :)

I find myself really drawn to people that don't take themselves seriously. I think that this is both a reflection of where I am now in my life and where I want to be. We aren't talking about people that are bums and have no ambition in life but more about people that just seem to take things in stride and have fun with what is going on. Can laugh at them self and aren't afraid to make some mistakes in the risk and challenges that come their way.

A lot of the people that I would throw on to my list of the not taking things too serious kind are pretty usual suspects around this blog:

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I think not taking things too seriously, the hang ups, the slips ups and the mess ups, helps you to survive with a lightness in your step. This is something that is really easy to remember when the path is free and clear and super difficult to remember when things are going the opposite of what you expected or hoped for.

"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it." - Lou Holtz

Do you consider yourself to be a serious person? What helps remind you to crack a smile and worry less?

It's All About Perspective

2011-01-04T17:50:00.000-08:00

I'm bacckkk!!!

I've been re-decorating, can you tell?

I really wanted to freshen things up on my blog. I didn't like that the title and overall first impression was tied to my Etsy shop. Don't get me wrong, I love my Etsy shop and my little business has been so much fun and I plan on continuing to grow my business.

But I wanted a blog that wasn't all about business.

So For Better of For Curious was born.

I think it is pretty safe to say that I'm an optimist and I don't believe and wasting your energy and time on the negative or things that you can't control in life.

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but you don't get anywhere.

I also happen to be a curious soul that is always trying to learn more, do more or getting excited about a new idea.

You could say that the main change on this blog is all about the perspective.

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And when it comes to perspective I can't help but think of Anton Ego in Pixar's Ratatouille.

"You know what I'm craving? A little perspective"

Moving forward I plan on making this blog about that things that really interest me. About the things I get excited about. Trying new recipes. Finding ways to make clean and healthy eating also enjoyable. Not forgetting to enjoy food. Making myself more bendy, which means being more dedicated to my yoga practice. And all the pretty, beautiful and amazing things that visually inspire me.

Want to be curious with me?

What's In My Name?

2010-12-17T08:23:00.000-08:00

Going along with my previous post I'm definitely feeling a pull to change things up around this ol' blog with the impending new year just around the corner. I know that I want to blog more about things that are important to me, like living creatively in design, cooking and life. More healthy stuff that is still GOOD stuff. So I feel a name change coming on. The current name is also the name of my design business and works great for that but since this isn't meant to be a BUY THINGS FROM MY ETSY SHOP kinda of blog I think I need a new title.

I have a few names in mind that I have to chew on for a little while and see if they fit.

The End and a New Beginning?

2010-12-08T11:50:00.001-08:00

A lot of people get very contemplative about what they have or have not achieved in the past year. I feel like I have acheived a lot in the past year, a lot that I have to be proud of. I started Wonderland Papers right as the year was beginning and I have had so much success with it. I'm pretty notorious for burning bright white hot for something and then burning out and not following through with things all the time but I feel like I broke that pattern with the launching of WP. It has been a great experience and I hope that it continues to grow even more in the next year.

One thing that I do expect to change, in what direction I'm still not sure of, is this blog. My first blog was one that I created for family and friends when my husband and I were engaged. It was a lot of fun and the subject was pretty firm and set, wedding stuff. Lots and lots of wedding stuff. I got a lot of compliments on the blog that it was resourceful and heck, even a little funny. I enjoy writing and it seemed they enjoyed reading it.

After the wedding I started posting things about our life and what was happening. It eventually became a private blog because we started to get concerned about there being too much information about us out there. It was hard to find a balance for it all and that blog is kind of dead now. I think the last post on it was from this past Easter and it really only had photos on it.

And then there is this blog, the Wonderland Papers one. Granted, I started it because I felt like it would be a good tool for my company. But since I'm not getting married the idea of thinking and posting things about weddings anymore is kind of boring to me. And of course that is the main things that brides want to see. Therein lies my dilema.

It all comes down to the idea that I don't know what my voice is for this blog right now. I have a lot of interests and things that I'm thinking about and get really excited about, but I don't know that its blog worthy. I love food and cooking and more and more I care about doing all that in a healthy but not overally strict and rigid kind of way. I also know that while opening yourself up and being personal makes you a lot more likable there is always privacy and what is too much info to consider also.

I don't know what the next step is but I figure that to get there you have to start here, with a good deep look inside to figure out where you are before you move from that spot.

A Christmas Survey

2010-12-03T10:41:00.001-08:00

1. What is your favorite Christmas Movie?

The Nightmare Before Christmas and Love Actually. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (the original one that includes the elf that wants to be a dentist). I also love The Christmas Toy (anyone remember that one?) and the Muppets Christmas Carol. Yeah, I kinda love Christmas movies.

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2. Favorite Christmas Song?
Christmas is all Around – Billy Mack, Love Actually. Seriously, it’s my favorite.

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There will always be a special place in my heart for Amy Grant's Breath of Heaven which I sang with my BFF Holly one year at her church. Looking back I have no idea how she convinced me to SING in front of people. Like I had talent or something. Ha!

3. Favorite Holiday Memory?
My brother coming into my sister and my bedroom and then making sneak trips at night to see what was under that tree. All at 3am. Trying to make my brother believe in Santa as long as possible with the help of my sister and I and some truly ridiculous "stories" that we told him and proof of Santa that we created. Ok so they weren't "stories" or proof, they were straight up lies but it was the thought that counted and we wanted our little baby brother to believe in Santa just a little bit longer :)

4. What kind of cookie/treat do you like to make?
I don't discriminate. I eat them all. I don't have a signature cookie recipe for the holidays. I just might have to change that. I will be attempting to make Christmas cake pops this year though.

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5. Have you ever made an igloo? Like a real igloo?
Has anyone been able to say yes to this that isn't an Eskimo? Do Eskimos do surveys?

6. Do you love Starbucks?
Only time I think about Starbucks during the year is during the holidays. I get cheaper and cheaper as I get older though and can’t rationalize $4 a cup.

7. What makes the perfect Snowman?
One made of...snow? I've only made one in my whole life, April 1st in Ohio with my siblings and faux sibling (cousin) Alex. It was a sad and adorable snowman at the same time. Florida kids in less then half an inch of "snow".

Gotta love my awesome teal puff jacket and my Vanna White skills there.
"This is a snowman".

And then a couple years later I realized I still don’t like snow.

Still making hand gestures. Some things don't change.

Meet my husband, the viking. He’s just keeping his face warm.

8. What is your favorite part about Christmas?
I love the music, the movies and the food. I love the Christmas style and decorations and how it can bring out the good in people. Presents are probably my least favorite part. I’m not a stuff person. I’m very blessed and so is my family which is what matters the most.

9. Best gift you have ever received?
I have gotten a lot of good ones. I'm not sure which one is the best. I know, sounds like a cop out. A lot of memorable ones, I believe my husband’s goal each year is to get me to cry over my gifts, cause I’m an emotional girl like that. The heart diamond necklace that he got me two years ago was pretty amazing, I wear it every day. So was the Tampa Bay Lightning jersey he got me the year before that. And for the record, I cried more happy tears over the jersey then the necklace. I'm just saying.

10. What is the snowman's name on Rudolph?
Sam. It’s Burl Ives in the movie which I think is the voice I associate the most with Christmas.

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11.Silver or Gold?
I like silver jewelry. And its a great Sam the Snowman, errr Burl Ives song.

12. What is your favorite Christmas decoration?
Christmas candles cause it makes the apartment smell good.

13. What's your Christmas decorating style?
We'll call it "eclectic" but really right now it just means that I have my Christmas stuff and John's Christmas stuff trying to all look festive together.

14. Do you hang stockings?
Yup, not that we actually do anything with them once they are hanging.

15. How many days do you celebrate Christmas?
1? I look forward to Christmas but it’s really an overwhelming holiday in general. Being able to go home and visit the family is the best.

16. What was your favorite ornament on the tree as a child?
My mom had this really old ornament that had a bird (I think its a bird) that would spin when you put it above a Christmas light because of the heat from the bulb. Coolest. Thing. Ever. But it is a very old ornament and birdie don't spin no more.

17. Where will you be spending this Christmas?
In Florida, splitting time with both or our families. Loading up the car with 2 humans, 2 fur balls and all our gifts and heading back to the Sunshine State. This doesn’t make me a snow bird though. Because I said so. Never thought I would want to see Christmas lights on a palm tree again but I totally miss it.

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18. What is your least favorite Christmas movie?
The Christmas Story. My husband and I have a mutual loathing for this movie.

19. What do you want for Christmas this year?
It’s a secret, one that I want so bad that I don’t want to jinx it at all. It’s not something money can buy though. And I wouldn’t actually get it till after Christmas but if we can use some Christmas magic to make it happen I would gladly take it. Oh and world peace of course.

I wouldn't mind getting this guys for Christmas

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Gingerbread Yogis!

20. Have you been naughty or nice this year?
Always nice, I leave the naughty part to Wednesday and Wylie. He hams it up. She judges him for it.

What's Your Craving??

2010-11-30T11:22:00.000-08:00

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I live in a house divided when it comes to cravings. We aren't on the same page when it comes to getting a treat that makes you feel like a warm teddy bear inside.

It comes down to this:

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versus

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I'm the cookie lover and he loves his ice cream. He was born in the land of dairy (that would be Wisconsin and not California, happy cows don't live in California :) so is it really any surprise? I'm not a huge fan of ice cream mainly because it makes my teeth hurt ( sensitive teeth) and shocker, it makes me cold. If I am eating ice cream most likely I'm also wrapped up in a blanket which all seems a bit counterproductive to my efficiency loving life.

Growing up the grocery store that my mom would go to (Oh Publix, how I miss you!) would give kids a free cookie. Sounds like heaven. Maybe not to the moms that had to fight the sugar surge a few hours late but it was pretty awesome as a kid.

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"C is for cookie, thats good enough for me"

You tell 'em Cookie Monster, a cookie is always good enough for me.

So this is what it all comes down to, which side of the fence are you on? Cookies or ice cream ?

Monday Morning Brain Dump

2010-11-29T07:49:00.000-08:00

Just some stuff on my brain...

- Being sick on Thanksgiving, and most of the holiday break, made me realize how much of a Type-A planner I can be. I was sick, stuffed up and feeling pretty sorry for myself that all my perfect plans weren't going to work out. Guess what, we still had a good Thanksgiving and after my medicine head wore off I realized that it probably wouldn't have been that much different if I was fully healthy. I was still able to eat some good food and the cold actually helped me lose a few pounds! Can't complain about any of that.

- My husband was a rock star and took care of me and our Thanksgiving dinner and guest. He is amazing and we are a great team. I will always be thankful for him.

- Our Jamaican guest made us festival (fried dinner rolls) and Jamaican jerk chicken. Jamaican jerk chicken is really good for your nose when you have a cold.

- We had our first snow on Thanksgiving day, it wasn't much but oh boy, snow. Snow is really pretty to watch when its falling. That is about all the positive things I can think of when it comes to snow. I'm not really looking forward to more of it.

Did you have a great Thanksgiving? Any special moments or dishes?

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T08:32:00.000-08:00

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving full of yummy goodness and a heart full of thanks!

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Easily Entertained

2010-11-19T02:14:00.000-08:00

The blog post title kinda says it all. I'm easily entertained. And I'm about to give you some examples. My top 3 favorite YouTube videos. I've watched each one over and over again and they never cease to make me smile.

The Standing Cat

The Two Talking Cats

If you are just starting to catch on that I have a semi-unhealthy fasicanation that is easily tickled by cats you haven't read this blog long enough. My goodness, my cat has its on feature on this blog even!

Weezer- Gone Fishin'

I really really love this music video. I just find myself wondering about who I'm more jealous of. The fact that Weezer got to jam with the Muppets or the fact that the Muppets are in a Weezer video. Either way, I really love it.

So what YouTube videos always get a smile out of you?

When I Grow Up

2010-11-17T09:53:00.000-08:00

When I was little I wanted to be a veterinarian. Nothing else mattered. I loved when we had to take our pets to the vet because then I could see everything that went on in a vet's clinic. I borrowed every book our little library had about being a vet. I was really proud of myself when I learned how to spell "veterinarian" correctly. And I was always trying to get my parents to let me have just one more pet. Never got that ferret that I begged for for many years. My parents even recruited our vet in hopes to get me to give that dream up.

Even today when we take our own pets to the vet I feel a tiny twinge of envy when I talk to our vets. I kinda wonder if I could have every pulled it off. I have decided though that as much as I love animals that if it came down to me having to start a new job, totally different from the one that I do now, not art related, that I wouldn't want to be a vet anymore. Nope.

If I could start all over again I would want to be a chef.

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Ok maybe not that one but you get the idea :)

Now if I would have made this announcement about 5+ years ago my mom would have fallen on the floor laughing hysterically. And my mom is one laid back lady. She did her best for years and years and years to try and get me interested in cooking. I just didn't care about it. I grew up on home made foods prepared by my mom every day. Very little junk food and going out to restaurants. And lots and lots of reminders that "Someday you are going to need to know how to cook". And then I went to college and my mom's reminders seemed to be a little more urgent. Maybe she imagined me in a macaroni and cheese coma some day, since that little blue box was all the I knew how to cook at that point.

So what was the turning point?

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Rachael Ray and Top Chef.

Yep, so not kidding.

I'll start off by saying right now that I'm not a HUGE Rachael Ray fan. But she did make me want to learn how to cook because she made it look easy and because she made it look fun. Top Chef basically did the same thing. They made me want to learn to cook. I saw the art and the creativity in it all and heck, in this case you got to EAT your creation.

I think cooking is kinda scary to a lot of people. When people give me compliments on my illustrations a lot of them point out that they can't draw. I'm sure that they can, you just have to want to draw and believe that you can. Anyone can draw. Just like anyone can cook.

Just ask Remy.

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Some of us will be better at it then others but believing that cooking is possible and even FUN was a big door opening for me. And now I really love it. I just hate the dishes part.

So if you got a "do-over" card what would you do? Do you enjoy cooking?

A Morning In The Fall

2010-11-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

All photos are my own

No words really necessary.

Preparing for Turkey Day

2010-11-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

I don't know why it is but lately I seem to be behind on keeping track of where this year is going. Everytime I look at the calendar it seems like things that were planned far in advance are inching their way closer to present day then I expected. Take Thanksgiving for example. I thought for sure I had a good 3 weeks to just think about it before having to spring into action.

Nope.

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Last year the husband and I spent our first Thanksgiving away from our families but with each other. We watched some Food Network shows to prepare us on how to cook a turkey and we had a really nice Thanksgiving meal.

This year we are having a guest at our Thanksgiving dinner which is pretty exciting. We both like to entertain guests and this is a great excuse to roll out the hostess skills.

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And since she isn't coming to cook my Thanksgiving dinner then it sounds like I have some planning to do.

I used Paula Deen's recipe for Pumpkin Pie last year and was really happy how it turned out. For one reason because it turned out 2 pumpkin pies. And 2 is wayyy better then one in this case.

Last year I was pretty much new to everything about making Thanksgiving dinner. This year I'm thinking about taking it a step further and trying something a bit more challenging.

For starters I'm thinking about making my pie crust from scratch. I'm also thinking about trying a 2nd pie for dessert. Here is the issue. I have never tried to make pie crust from scratch before and I have no idea what the second pie should be. I don't want to make apple pie because I don't really like it. And since I'm the baker I can make rules like that.

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So what should my 2nd pie be? Any tips on making pie crust?

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

2010-11-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

My theory is that I need to practice my yoga practice more if I don't want the cat to be better at it then I am.

Some days she does spend more time on the yoga mat then I do.

You can't have an ego with yoga though so that is ok :)

Ragin' Cajun Sub

2010-11-08T03:55:00.000-08:00

The husband and I both enjoy cooking. It's nice to have someone that is willing to share the task of providing food and its also nice to have a common interest and a hobby that we can share together. Coming up with new recipes together, going grocery shopping, watching food shows to get ideas and just learning together.

When it comes to our roles in the kitchen I would have to say that I'm the fast one. If there was every a team challenge on Top Chef I would be tagged in to handle the Quickfire Challenge. I cook fast and I clean up as I work. I'm an efficient chef. The husband is actually the more creative one in the kitchen. Maybe its the science side in him that is curious about what happens when you add "this" with "that". Usually it turns out really well. One example of this is a recipe that I'm going to share with you.

Our Ragin' Cajun Sub

First, you start off with some sub rolls and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Then you take mayo and mix it with some spicy cajun seasoning.

Then you smear the spicy mayo mix on to your sub rolls.

Then you add your meat. We usually use chicken and hard salami sandwich cut meats.

Place it into the oven for 10-15 minutes just to toast everything.

When you take it out of the oven you can add cheese to it if you like and then place it back in the oven for 3-4 minutes, just enough time to melt the cheese.

Once you take it out then you add the Italian dressing and lettuce.

You can add other things to the sandwich also, tomato maybe a pickle.

All done! Time to enjoy!

I this is one of my favorite sandwiches, I'm so glad he decided to some experiments in the kitchen!

Do you have any kitchen experiments that turned out really well? Do you like to experiment in the kitchen or do you stick to your recipes?

Guilty As Charged

2010-11-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Fess up. You know that you do it. You know that you have them. What is it that I'm asking you to confess?

Guilty pleasures.

We all have one or two or as I'm about to reveal at least ten that I consider myself guilty of enjoying. Maybe you share some of mine or maybe I'm just putting myself out on an embarrassing limb. Let's find out, shall we?

10. Real Housewives of (Insert City Name Here)

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It started with Orange County and then I got addicted to the New York City girls and found my future BFF and then there was Atlanta and New Jersey and on and on. And I've totally loved every minute of the watch what happens drama. Except for Washington DC and now Beverly Hills. Never watched either one of those. These girls are amazing one liner machines. I love the crazy and quirky things these women say. "Who gonna check me boo?" "Love love love!" "Holy Cat fight!"

9. Jimmy Buffett

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It all started when we got our current vehicle and it had Sirius radio. And then I discovered Radio Margaritaville. I had heard Jimmy Buffett songs before, I mean how could I not coming from the Gulf Coast of Florida. I had visited the Margaritaville Cafe. I love margaritas. But once I had Jimmy (we have a first name kind of relationship now) crooning to me while I was cruising around St. Louis trying to avoid the potholes and crazy Midwest drivers it seemed like he calmed me in the situations that normally had me turning into Mr. Wheeler. Jimmy sells escapism and I'm totally buying in. He helped me remember and to have a piece of Florida and the Gulf Coast lifestyle that I miss.

8. Lists

I love lists, sometimes my lists have lists. It has gotten to the point where I write down everything that crosses my mind. I' starting to wonder if I'm making my memory muscle weak because of this.

7. Snuggie

Yup, I have a Snuggie. I was gifted my snuggie from my husband last year for Christmas. Bet you didn't know they made a Snuggie covered with an eyeball-less skeleton (aka Jack Skellington). The funny thing is my husband bought the Snuggie and then had to sit through a tirade of me talking about how DUMB Snuggies are and how POINTLESS they seem. Ha. The funny thing is that I love my Snuggie now even though I use it like a blanket and not like some weird cult robe.

6. Word Nerd

I was in the English Honors class, it was the closest I came to being "gifted" so yea I'm going to brag. I like using big words and grammar phrases like "unclear antecedent". It drives me nuts when people say "I could care less". I make jokes with my husband about nouns and verbs. I think this all qualifies me as a word nerd.

5. Laundry

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I love doing laundry. I love how easy it is. You put dirty things in, they come out smelling good and feeling good. Minimal effort on my part. How can you not like that? It's so easy and its hard not to feel efficient when you do laundy too. You start with piles and end up with neat and clean. It totally is feeding the OCD clean freak that lives inside of me.

4. MTV drama, True Life, 16 and Pregnant, etc etc

I don't love MTV. I use to watch all the Real World Somewhere and Real World/ Road Rules Challenge shows. The thing that gets me addicted to MTV now are the more realistic documentary type shows that are basically focused on people with some kind of problem/dilema/ issue in their life and how they deal with it. True Life I'm A Southern Belle is practically memorized at this point. I find Maci on 16 and Pregnant to be really cute. The True Life episode about the couple with trust issues and then he eneded up DYING of a stomach issue had me sobbing and paranoid at the same time. I general I find it really fascinating to watch how people choose to deal with the things that life throws at them.

3. Lolcats

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Wikipedia describes lolcats as “a photo of a cat with a caption characteristically formatted in a sans serif font [...] The caption is intentionally written with deviations from standard English spelling and syntax featuring “strangely-conjugated verbs, but tend to converge to a new set of rules in spelling and grammar.”

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So is there really any question why I find this humorous?

2. Movies that make me cry

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Sometimes it just really feels good to watch a movie that you know is going to have you reaching for the tissues and a shoulder to cuddle with. A good cry can be better then ice cream or cookies and milk. And better for your waistline too. I can only think of one movie that made me cry that wouldn't make for a "good cry" movie and it involves a little yellow lab and rhymes with "Shmarley and be". Yea, no more of that.

1. Cheetos

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"The cheese that goes CRUNCH!" Yup, Cheetos. 0 nutritional value, orange powder left on your fingers to mark your guilty indulgence. But this guilty pleasure gets even better (worse?). I'm not the only one digging the Chester Cheetah. So does Wednesday. You see my guilty pleasure isn't just cheese powder. What do you do after having a few Cheetos and your fingers are all covered in orange? In my case you let the little kitty lick it off. Rough sand paper tongue and little black face now covered with orange dots.

Gross? Maybe. But how do you say NO to a face like this?

And then I wash my hands. :)

So spill it! What kind of guilty pleasures do you have? No judging, we're all friends here.

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

2010-11-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

Look who is Pet of the Month in our complex!

And I just KNOW all this celebrity is going to go straight to her head. As if there wasn't enough attitude to deal with already.

Celebrity BFF

2010-11-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

Do you ever see an actor/actress or tv or in a music video and just wish that you could be best friends? BFF's. Maybe it would be because they have an awesome wardrobe that you would love to ~~steal~~ borrow from. Or maybe they just have the type of life that you've always wanted. In my case my celebrity BFF is someone that I know that would keep me laughing while also keeping it real.

I want Bethenney Frankel to be my BFF.

For those who may not be as addicted to Bravo as I am, Bethenny is from the reality tv show the Real Housewives of New York City. She became really popular from that show and then launched a whole line of products that related to her career of healthy eating and lifestyle. She also had a spin off show on Bravo called Bethenny Getting Married.

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I've come to find that a lot of people either love her or hate her. She's a strong personality so I can understand that but I think she's hilarious. I love her one liners and her very dry sense of humor. I tend to have a dry sense of sarcasm myself so I find myself repeating her one-liners like a little parrot. Holy Catfight!

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She has her own thriving business which is inspirational to me. I love people that have a passion and go forward with it in full drive. I'm very drawn to people who have big goals and are always moving forward.

I have her yoga DVD which is a really great work out. If only I was able to work out with her in person! Of course I probably would get a lot more work out benefits this way without that distraction.

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I love her sense of style. She always looks put together, doesn't try to hard and more then anything would prefer to be in her pj's. That sounds like my idea of good fashion sense.

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I haven't tried her Skinnygirl margaritas yet but as to date I haven't met a margarita that I didn't like so I foresee only good things when I finally do get my hands on a bottle.

Whip smart come backs, a great healthy perspective on food and exercise and some strong entrepreneurial motivations all sound like things I would look for in a potential BFF. Call me Bethenny!

So who would you want your celebrity BFF to be? Think you have a lot in common or is it an opposites attract situation?

Monday Morning Brain Dump

2010-11-01T07:54:00.001-07:00

Just a couple things floating around in my head on a Monday morning

- I can't believe that its Novemeber already. Blows my mind. This year has moved by so quickly.

- I always feel a little let down after Halloween is over. I love the Halloween period of time so much and now its kind of like limbo since I don't put up any new decorations for Thanksgiving and I don't take my Halloween ones down till after Thanksgiving.

- We have a special guest spending Thanksgiving with us this year so I'm really going to want to impress and should probably start thinking about our recipes now. Do you think someone from Jamaica would like Southern cooking?

- We've started our Christmas shopping, have you? Last year we had nearly everything done right after Halloween. It was nice not being stuck in the crazy malls with the tons and tons of people. I'm really not a fan of crowds. Unless its at Disney. Then I put up with just about anything.

Are you ready for the next round of holidays?

A visit to my desk at lunch time

2010-10-28T06:24:00.001-07:00

Taking a break from all the Halloween hoop la for a second and focus on another issue.

Yesterday as I was eating lunch at my work desk it kind of dawned on me just how much I have bought into and have changed my eating to a more clean and healthier one.

This is my desk at lunch:

And the break down:

The miracle green juice is my newest healthy food venture and I am so in love with it. It's sooo good. It looks weird, which I kinda like, and it tastes great. I just need to learn how to make it myself. Loving the Larabars too. It sounds like my name and its very simple in ingredients. Plus I won a contest they were having and I got a Larabar prize pack and t-shirt. Yep, that is all it takes to seal my loyalty people. A cute t-shirt.

Pretty healthy lunch there, no? I always ate pretty healthy my whole life. My mom probably hasn't been in a McDonalds for food (besides an occasional fish sandwich during Lent) in well over a decade. Her healthy food perspective kept me away from a lot of junk food. Then there was college where I was stuck with the foods put in front of me from the cafeteria. I'm pretty sure I lost weight during that time instead of gaining the freshman 15 and I think my parents were actually concerned about me being underfed.

And then I graduate and moved out to my own place. And things started to change a bit. I was living near the love of my life and then we got married. And I think I found a little "happy fat" along the way. Life was good and comfortable and so was the food and couch time :)

I'm not trying to shed a crazy amount of weight, I just want to feel healthy. It amazes me how after a hard work out you just don't want junk food at all. It doesn't seem appealing in the slightest bit. Maybe because your body is moving away from that or maybe because you just don't want to imagine how much harder you will have to work to burn it off :)

I have to be careful not to get too extreme since this is a part of my personality that has a tendency to come out in a lot of areas in my life.

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The voice in my head sounds an awful lot like Bravo's Jackie Warner which at times is great but at other times makes me feel like I can't do enough. It's all a balance.

How do you maintain a healthy balance? Are you totally upset that I'm talking about veggies and health foods during the biggest candy week of the year? :)

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

2010-10-27T04:12:00.000-07:00

What is your favorite part about Halloween?

Halloweentown

2010-10-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

Starting around the middle to end of September I start preparing for my favorite holiday. It all started with a little movie:

Yup, Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas made me LOVE Halloween. Before that I always kinda liked it but lets be honest, scary was never my cup of tea. I'm a total chicken. I can't even watch the Wizard of Oz without thinking about the nightmares that it gave me as a kid. But enough with the issues that should have me in therapy. Let's talk Halloween and my version of Halloweentown.

I love decorating for Halloween. I love the bright colors and the shabby chic Halloween decorations that focus more on harvest and autumnal colors then it does on bloody guts and gore.

My Halloween decorations mainly consist of bright orange pumpkins, black cats and Nightmare decorations.

My Nightmare Before Christmas shrine, complete with Halloween tree.

Besides being a quirky and unique story about the holidays and constantly starting conversations about whether or not its a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie (I think its both) it also happens to be great for double holiday decorating. Most of the decorations work for both holidays. Maximum effect, minimal effort. Always nice.

By the time it actually gets to Halloween the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack is firmly on a constant rotation stuck in our heads (This is Halloween, this is Halloween..) we have to fight to keep little Miss Wednesday off the candy corn (told you she was a Halloween cat) and I have a great justification for all the candy I've been consuming.

The best Halloween decoration I could ever have.

Candy, color and some creepiness? Sounds like the perfect holiday to me.

Do you love Halloween? What's your favorite part?

Monday Morning Brain Dump

2010-10-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

- Every Monday morning has gotten progressively harder lately. It's kinda crazy and hard to believe that is possible.

- Excited about Halloween. Much better and more interesting Halloween focused posts to come this week. Hang in there with me!!

Are you excited about Halloween?

Book Worm

2010-10-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

The blog has been taking a back seat lately, things have gotten so crazy busy here with pet issues to traveling to craziness with my "real" job ( the full time one) and then keeping up with my side business (the creative, fun one). I have a whole stack of books that I'm really anxious to get through right now but I haven't had the time. Which is a bummer because I'm a total book worm.

(Source)

Growing up one of my favorite things to do was go to our public library. I was lucky that I lived in a place that they had such a nice library for kids. They had a great big kid's section of books, toys that you can check out, and special programs every month. They also had a book reading club where once you read a certain number of books you won a free tote bag. Guess who still has her tote bag. Yup, this girl. And then of course there was the Book It! program at Pizza Hut. I wish I kept my Book It pin, that thing was loaded up with stars.

(Source)

I really do love reading and still love when I find a book that is just sooo good that you can't stand the idea of putting it down. I came up with a list of books that I've really enjoyed recently. This isn't every book I've loved, just the more recent ones.

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I really loved this book. It was such an interesting story. I grew up in the winter home of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus so a book about the truth about the circus was pretty interesting even if it doesn't always paint them in the best light. It was also interesting how they mention Ringing Brothers in the book. They are turning the book into a movie which makes me excited and nervous. Reese Witherspoon is in the movie and happens to be one of my girl crushes so that is very exciting. The guy from the Twilight movies is also in the movie which makes me less then thrilled. I'm sure I will see the movie I just don't have my expectations up to high with this one.

(Source)

You really shouldn't be able to buy or borrow this book without a box, and I do mean a FULL box of tissues coming with it. I really loved this book. It's a big book and I still got through it in no time at all. It's such a good story about friendship and how relationships change. I HAD to call my best friend after reading this book because it made me miss her so much and also appreciate the awesome friendship that we have.

(Source)

Classic chick lit book. I have read all but Emily Giffin's most recent book and this one was my favorite. She has a very easy reading style and while the storyline can be predictable I still like her books. Also being made into a movie.

(Source)

I really enjoyed both of these books. She has a great writing style, one that I found myself just floating through the books with ease and being really disappointed when the books ended. I wanted to know more in each story. The two books are separate stories and characters. I was really bummed when I saw that she only had these 2 books.

So read a good book lately? Got one that you just really love? Are you a book worm too?

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

2010-10-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

What kind of non-sense have you gotten into lately?

Who is Wednesday?

Monday Morning Brain Dump

2010-10-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

What is on my mind this Monday

- I thought I was overwhelmed last Monday. Ha! It's double since then. I can't believe how crazy this month as been.

- I also can no believe how fast this month as gone by. The second to last week in October already? I still haven't watched The Nightmare Before Christmas yet this year. Who AM I?

-Had a great trip over the weekend in Green Bay, WI. Loved all the passion for their team up there. I also loved their accents. Too funny.

Does it feel like the month of October is just flying by for you also? Are you able to keep up?

Homecoming and Campus Memory Map

2010-10-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

(Source)

This weekend is the homecoming weekend at the University of Florida. I didn't go to UF ( I went to a little college called Florida Southern College, Go Mocs!) but I did work for UF and live in Gainesville for 4 years. My honey was in school there and I so I followed. I guess you could say I got my MRS degree when I was there :)

(Source)

We won't be anywhere near Gainesville this homecoming weekend though, we are heading out of town and going even more north. UF always has a ton of great homecoming activities. It's a great school and a great college town.

One of the projects that I've done with my illustration design business was a campus memory map. The idea behind it was to capture all the characteristics and landmarks about the city that you went to college in along with the memories that are unique to your personal college experience.

Wonderland Papers Etsy Shop

Let the Gator Growl!

Did your college town have any special landmarks or land mark locations Any really great homecoming memories?

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

2010-10-13T05:23:00.000-07:00

What are you reaching for? Have you noticed the "flowers" in your life lately?

Who is Wednesday?

Fashion Plates...or not

2010-10-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else play with this great toy from the late 1970's-80's? I didn't have one but my older cousins did and of course when it belongs to your older, cooler cousins its like its sprinkled with some kind of "older kid" fairy dust and you get to be on their level when it gets handed down to you. Or maybe all of that just happens to me. Moving on...

(Source)

I'm pretty sure that I didn't like this toy because it had anything to do with fashion, I know that my fashion etchings didn't come out looking ANYTHING like the model above. I think it had something to do with staying inside the lines. I had a problem with that. It's safe to say that fashion has never been a major priority in my life. Don't get me wrong I like pulling together a cute outfit and having everything "go together" perfectly, but for me this tends to be my exception instead of my rule. It's fun to get dressed up but when given the choice I'm always much more likely to be found in yoga pants or my rolled up jean capris and a long t-shirt and maybe a cardigan and always flip flops/sandals. I don't match my purses to my outfits. I wear the same pearl earrings almost every day. Why? Because its easy and I guess if it really mattered to me then I would take the time. My actions show that it doesn't.

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Another issue that I have with fashion comes down to those price tags and more specifically those name brand label tags. I'm a pretty firm believer that we don't dress for ourselves or even the men or significant others in our lives. Women dress for other women (and gay men's) approval. Anyone else with me on this? This may not always be the case but when name brands and new trends are involved I think this is most often the case. We seek the approval and recognition of our good taste in other women (our peers). People like to be accepted and like to be liked. Nothing wrong with that unless you start buying things you can't afford all to impress someone that you shouldn't have to work to impress in the first place. I gurantee that my husband will not be more impressed with a bebe skirt over a Target skirt if I look good in both of them. A lot of times the outfits that he compliments me on (and he does a good job of giving compliments freely and sweetly) are the outfits that I didn't really think were all that special. So much for being on top of the trends and InStyle magazine, right?

(Source)

I admit that there are times when I do fall into this "dress to impress" trap, and I do think its a trap because it never feels good to be constantly trying to prove yourself to someone else, especially when in this case the proof of evidence involves plopping down loads of cash to be wearing the right jeans or the right shoes. I have a theory that a lot of this pressure comes from the crowd you are in. All my girl friends aren't the label/ brand name type. It's great when you get a good deal on it or get it as a gift but it's never been a requirement in our closests.

So where do you stand when it comes to fashion? What parts of fashion matter to you? Are you a fashionista?

Monday Morning Brain Dump

2010-10-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

- This is a short post because it's been a looong weekend (and not in the good 3-day weekend kind of sense). The week ahead is crazy busy also so posting might be light this week.

I hope you have a great Monday morning!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2010-10-07T05:58:00.000-07:00

So besides fall being the beginning of cooler weather, lots of yummy pumpkin flavored treats, pretty fall leaves and Halloween, it also means something else that makes me love the fall season like no other.

HOCKEY SEASON!

I love hockey. It's my favorite sport to watch. For people that might not know me too well this could seem like a head scratching kind of fact. Hockey is a pretty brutal, rough sport that is played in the cold weather and on skates. I'm a Florida girl (born and raised, which technically makes me a Florida Cracker) that isn't tough or aggressive at all and can't skate one little bit.

But I still love hockey.

And being from the unlikely hockey location of Florida my team is the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Wearing my Tampa Bay Lightning jersey

I could attribute my love of hockey to the fast paced nature of the game (the reason I'm generally bored with baseball is because it moves soooo slow) the fact that they can all skate really really well (have I mentioned that I can't skate at all? ) or maybe its because I am a pretty peaceful, laid back kind of gal and I live vicariously through all those hip checks.

I just like it. A LOT.

Apparently I love it so much that I have to point out Canada,
home of hockey, when I'm at Epcot.

I actually learned all the words to "O Canada" just because it seemed like something a hockey fan should probably know, sounds good, eh?

Cheesing it up at a Lightning game

While I am all about my team I get excited about all types of hockey. Including Olympic hockey and the amazing run that the American team made this past spring.

This was me during the gold medal game.
As you can see I was a little into the game.

I miss you Stanley (Cup), please come back soon!

So do you have a fall sport or just a sport in general that you are crazy about?

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

2010-10-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

When you grow up who do you want to be?

Who is Wednesday?

Time for a Commercial!

2010-10-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Time to interrupt all the witty blogging for a commercial!

This blog is an extension of my Etsy shop, Wonderland Papers.

My Etsy shop has been primarily based on wedding maps for save the dates, invitation suites and guest bags.

I love creating wedding maps and projects for my clients. The personal side, helping someone else achieve a creative goal, is my favorite part of the whole process.

Wedding Relationship Map - Reception Decor

Friendship Map - Bridesmaid Gift

College Campus Memory Map

Detailed Hand drawn map

Simple hand drawn map

I've started to branch my shop out and getting into logo and brand design for small businesses, photographers and fellow Etsy shops. All my work always starts as a hand drawn sketch before getting a boost from digital skills. It's a great balance of old skool drawing and new media.

Feel free to check out my shop! Wonderland Papers

Got any Etsy shops that you love?

Monday Morning Brain Dump

2010-10-04T07:08:00.001-07:00

Monday Morning Brain Dump

(just a couple things that are on my mind)

- We got a cold snap over night. Our temperatures dipped into the upper 30's. When I left for work this morning I wasn't wearing a jacket, just long pants long sleeve shirt and a long sleeve cardigan. When I checked the temperature and realized it was 41 I started to worry that the fact that I didn't run back into the apt the second I stepped outside means the Florida girl in me is disappearing.

-Had a great, long yoga work out yesterday. Wednesday likes to do yoga with me and her down dog is wayyy better then mine. Yes, I'm jealous.

- This whole year seems like it is moving by so fast. I'm not ready to start thinking about holidays (besides Halloween) and I need time to slow down just a bit for me.

- One of the main reasons that I love the month of October starts this week. Do you think you know what it might be?

What's on your mind this Monday morning?

I Believe

2010-09-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

(Source)

I believe that being inspired is one of the best feelings in the world, second only to being in love.

I believe that being rich (debt-free, stable, content) is much better then looking rich.

I believe that a purring warm kitty is the best cure for whatever ails you.

I believe that food made with love will always be just a smidge better then a gourmet dish.

I belive that having new sharpened pencils, blank sheets of notebook paper and fresh Sharpies will actually make you more productive.

I believe that being kind always matters.

I believe in breakfast for dinner.

I believe that pearls are appropriate for any occasion.

I believe the best is yet to come and won't it be fine.

I believe that cookies and milk are best friends and best friends should never be apart for too long.

I believe that life is best lived with a thankful heart, bellyache laughter and a desire to always find the positive.

I believe that Audrey got it right:

" I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles"

- Audrey Hepburn

What do you believe?

Bond, James Bond

2010-09-30T07:25:00.001-07:00

Confession time, when it comes to movie series (multiple movies under one name) it isn't really something I find myself interested in. I've never seen the Star War series (I think I've seen part of one movie) haven't watched any of the Matrix movies, I begrudgingly was made to watch the Lord of The Rings movies and while I've seen all of the Indiana Jones movies, at least I think I've seen them all, I obviously can't really tell you all the names or what they are about. There is one movie series that I do love, and I love all the corny lines, over the top gadgets and cheekiness.

I love the James Bond movie series.

I don't know what exactly it is about the series that makes me love it so much but I certainly do. A sweet ride of a car, funky new gadgets, corny one liners that I can't help but love and repeat, sassy and sexy she-spys and one dashing bow tied gentleman that never breaks a sweat (unless your the new Bond). I must admit that while I don't aspire to be an actress if given the offer to be a Bond girl I would jump at the chance. As much as I love the series on the whole I do have some favorites.

Favorite Bond Movie:

Love this one for a bunch of reasons including all the old Vegas scenes, the really catchy opening song and a fiery little red head.

Which brings me to my favorite Bond girl:

Tiffany Case, played by Jill St. John

Even though I did one of those "Which Bond girl are you?" tests (I already told you I loved this series, does that surprise you?) and they said I was her:

Pam Bouvier played by Carey Lowell in License to Kill

I think it should probably go without saying that my favorite James Bond actor is the original, the one and only:

I also love this and wonder where I might find one of my own:

I really love "Live and Let Die" especially the voo doo part. Even if there are snakes involved. Major fear of snakes. MAJOR.

As much as I love the nostalgia and retro feel of the old movies I do love the more modern Bond.

And as a graphic designer I would have to bring up those famous Jame Bond opening credit sequences that usually involve some kind of naked woman shadow writhing around and a really catchy tune. The best by far being the one from Casino Royale. I'm pretty sure we actually studied the opening for the movie in one of my design classes about motion graphic design. That was a good day.

So are you a fan of the Bond series? Which ones do you love?

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

2010-09-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

She's really good at judging.

To check out Wednesday and find how she got this sweet gig and a name of the week name
Go here.

Monday Morning Brain Dump

2010-09-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

(Just a few things on my mind on this Monday Morning)

- I'm glad the "So Me" "So Not Me" post was so popular. Now I just need to come up with more interesting posts like that. No pressure :)

- Had a FANTASTIC weekend with my sister, bummed that she had to take her toys and go back home yesterday.

-Our weather changed from nice early fall to cold fall over night. I like it though because it means I can start wearing these on a regular basis:

(Source)

Did anyone else experience some big weather changes this weekend or just had a particularly good weekend?

So Me, So NOT Me

2010-09-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

I'm a visual kind of gal, most things make more sense to me when I see them rather then when I just hear it (with the exception of math which just never makes any sense to me). I had seen this self description once before and felt like giving it a shot.

So Me:

(Source)

So NOT Me:

(Source)

So Me:

(Source)

So NOT Me:

(Source)

So Me:

(Source)

So NOT Me:

(Source)

So Me:

(Source)

So NOT Me:

(Source)

So Me:

(Source)

So NOT Me:

(Source)

So Me:

(Source)

So NOT Me:

(Source)

In a lot of these cases it isn't that I HATE the "Not Me" things it's just more that I know myself and what I will do (yoga) and won't (weightlifting). I think high heels are really pretty but I know that if I wear a pair it will likely kill me feet, I will probably fall, I will complain A LOT.

Just keeping it real folks :)

So do you have any common favorites that I do or do you like one of my "Not Me's" and want to try convince me otherwise :)

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

2010-09-22T09:42:00.001-07:00

Stay close to the things that bring you happiness, like sitting on a warm Mac book.

Oh what's that? You want to see a close up of those sweet little kitty paws?

There you go

And if you are still wondering who this sassy cat is and how she got this sweet gig. Look no further then right here.

Monday Morning Brain Dump Post

2010-09-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

Monday Brain Dump Post

(Just a couple things that are on my mind...)

- Monday is just starting and I already have a headache. Kinda doubt that this will make the day better in anyway so it would be great if it would just go away.

- All 4 of my NFL teams for the family football pool that I'm in lost yesterday. I'm pretty much over all my teams already. Except for the Packers who are doing AWESOME and I will see in person (yay!) in the very near future. Of course I didn't pick them for the family pool.

- My sister comes to visit this week. Unfortunately the weather doesn't look like it is going to cooperate and give her the easy breezy cool weather that she was hoping for. It's the end of September and I'm dealing with temps close to the 90's. If I wanted that I could just be in Florida.

- My husband is a rock star that gets things done when it comes to dealing with customer service and those phone calls that no one likes to make. Glad that he's mine.

- I'm really notorious for falling asleep during movies but because my body was fighting some kind of bug Friday night I was wide awake and ended up staying awake for To Paris With Love and Repo Men. I finally stay awake through not one but two movies and they both were bad. Really bad.

- Saw a grocery cart with a boot on it (the kind the towing company uses to prevent you from driving away). Not even sure where to go with that statement but felt like it was way too unique to not share.

What is going on with you on this Monday?

Top 5 Friday

2010-09-17T07:23:00.001-07:00

I 'm so glad it's Friday. When the hubby and I were surfing through the tv channels I was thinking about how few shows there are out right now that I really love. I'm totally addicted to Bravo shows but reality shows aren't the same as a good sitcom show. Which got me thinking about all the shows that I use to love and now miss.

Top 5 Favorite Shows That Are No More

5. Sunset Beach

I imagine that there are a lot of people that haven't seen this show before. I never really noticed how racy their opening title shot was until now. Anywho, Sunset Beach was a short lived soap opera (the only soap opera I ever watched) that I got addicted to one summer. It wasn't your typical soap opera show as they kind poked fun at them selves and even do a whole spoof based on the Scream movies. I was always kinda bummed that the only soap that wasn't "typical" got the boot.

4. Law & Order
The wounds are still fresh with this show being taken off the air just a couple months ago. I know it has been going for a long time but the way that they just cut the show off so abruptly with no plans of bringing it back was kind of crazy. Law & Order SVU is actually my favorite of the L&O series and I would cry big sloppy tears if they ever took my Stabler and Benson away from me.

*cue the Law & Order music*

3. Dharma and Greg

I really loved this show. While my husband and I are not totally opposites like this couple was and we knew each other a whole lot longer before we got married (Dharma and Greg got married on their first date) I feel like it's probably the closest tv example of our marriage. He's a structured, "plan on being spontaneous" kind of guy and she's a happy, yoga loving kind of girl.
Anyone remember the episode where Dharma became a football fan? LOVED IT. And don't EVEN get me started on their dogs, Stinky and Nunzio, and the fact that the dog had a dog as a pet. I really love this show.

4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I could never get into all the Twilight, New Moon, Team Jacob/Edward stuff because I will always be TEAM BUFFY. I pretty much wanted to grow up and be Buffy when I was in high school. I wouldn't say that I was a die-hard Buffy fan but it's no coincidence that I have the same number of piercings as Sarah Michelle Gellar and bought every magazine she was on in the late 90's and beginning of 2000. I'm just saying. I'm so not a scary movie type person but I still loved this show. I think there was an episode called "The Watchman" that was really scary but other then that it was just a whole lot of vampire and zombie butt kicking and teenage love and angst.

1. Felicity
The whole reason that I wanted to be an RA in college was because of this show and I guess more specifically because of Noel Crane. Everything about this show was so perfect. I loved and hung on every single moment of it. I think that I was mostly cheering for Felicity to get with Ben but about half way through the series I became Team Noel. So many things that I loved about this show, the music, the "Dear Julie" taped letters (did we ever find out who Julie was? I forget) Javier and Dean and Deluca and of course the year that Felicity shaved off all her amazing curly hair. I had a friend that stopped watching the show after that. I could never stop watching.

So that's my trip down tv shows of the past. What shows are you missing?

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

2010-09-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

And if you are wondering who is this cat and why does she have a special day? Click here.

Monday Morning Brain Dump Post

2010-09-13T07:49:00.001-07:00

Brain Dump Post
(Just some stuff that is on my mind right now...)

I realized late on Wednesday that I forgot the Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom post. The whole 3 day weekend thing threw me off. I will not deprive you of her cuteness this week. She promises to be extra cute for this post.
I'm trying to start a second Etsy shop that will mainly be focused on design (logos, brand development) since graphic design is my real career and I love doing creative design. Getting up the focus and energy to pull that new shop together has been......challenging.
My sister is coming to visit next week. I'm giddy excited. Shopping and cupcakes and pumpkin spice lattes, OH MY.
I hate the Wizard of Oz and don't know why I quote it.
I need to learn some moderation. When I get excited about something I get REALLY REALLY excited and burn white hot about it but can't usually sustain that level of ~~obsession~~ interest. See the bullet above about my Etsy design shop.
The Halloween decorations are going up next weekend. Boo-yah!

Got anything to brain dump this week?

Tear Jerkers

2010-09-07T13:40:00.001-07:00

I use to be a tough girl, or at least I think I was tough compared to the mushball that I have become lately. I don't cry over Kleenex commercials ( I do cry over Publix commercials but that is because I DESPERATELY miss my grocery store) but I have turned into a big ol' sappy girl.

And sometimes I kinda love it.

Here are a few of my guaranteed movies that are bound to have me searching for a tissue and and a comfy shoulder to hug.

Marley And Me

He looks so innocent and sweet in that picture, right? WRONG! I don't think I have ever cried so hard during a movie then I did when we watched this one. Big, heart wrenching, sloppy tears. Thank goodness we were at home (BFF tipped me off NOT to see it in the theater for this reason). MAJOR tear jerker.

The Lion King

The first time I ever found myself sniffling through a movie was this one. I just couldn't help it, poor little lion cub watches his dad die and then you have Jonathan Taylor Thomas (remember him!!??) and his pre-pubescent voice crackling "Dad?? Dadddd???" Just gets me.

Up

Disney is doing a number on me. The thing that was amazing to me about Up (which I LOVED) was how they were able to make me cry without using any words. Really incredible. I don't think Pixar can do anything wrong though...(Hello! They are partnered with Apple!).

The Notebook

I think this is a pretty classic girl cry movie but that is part of it's great appeal and it never seems to get old. Which is why I always have to STOP and watch it every time it is on the Oxygen channel which is approximately once a month. Just ask my husband, I'm sure he's counting.

Steel Magnolias

Big hair and even bigger tears. It also gives me lots of big laughs which makes it the perfect trifecta for a girly movie.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Both of these movies give me a big lump in the throat and a few sniffles. Now if I made a list of my Top5 -10 movies of all time you would see a lot of these movies on that list. I guess I just love being a big mushball :)

What movies make you reach for a tissue? Do you like sob-fest movies?

Football Season: Gator Style

2010-09-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

Being a landlocked Florida Gator fan comes with its challenges. Being far away from The Swamp (Ben Griffin Stadium) means crossing your fingers come Saturdays in the fall that they are playing Florida football games all the way out here in the midwest. It also means representin' for you team on Fridays and your clothes not matching anyone in your office. That doesn't happen back in Gainesville. Everyone is wearing their blue and orange finery on Friday and Saturday and maybe even Sunday if it was a REALLY good game. College football in the South is practically a religion.

And you must dress accordingly.

I introduce to you the Southern Girls Football Season Uniform. Let's begin shall we?

1. Wear chic, attractive clothing in your schools colors.

Orange and blue baby

2. Skirts and dresses are preferred, don't forget your cute coordinating accessories.

3. Got your pearls? Original and team color appropriate

4. And then there is the hair and that means lots of hair spray and "The Poof" (NOT to be confused with Snooki from Jersey Shore's poof).

Poof in progress:

The higher the hair the closer we are to scoring a touchdown right?

5. The final addition to the outfit? A hot Gator hubby that is showing his pride the day before a game too.

GO GATORS!!!