[Life] Sunday Soup #2

WOW, what a busy weekend so far! Friday night I went out dancing with some of my girls and went to bed at 4am (side note: I CANNOT do this any more! I'm 30 years old!!! lol) Then Saturday Hubs and I went to a welcome home party for our friend JT who is back from Afghanistan. And last night we got to celebrate the marriage of our dear friends Neal and Liz. It was such a wonderful, yet busy day and I'm looking forward to a Sunday where the most pressing thing to do is straighten up the house and maybe run the vacuum. I do have to say, though, that I'm completely bummed to have nearly zero pictures from the weekend. My camera died on Friday night and I wasn't home enough to recharge it. My phone was also having a hard time keeping charge (this started with an Android software update this week...connected?) so I was only able to take a few, few pictures. That stuff always happens at the most inopportune times, no? Now, on to the soup.

Random thoughts stemming from blog posts I read this week:

• Some folks are just discovering Joe Mangianello after seeing him Magic Mike. If you are part of this group, do yourself a favor and start watching True Blood. Joe is only mid-level hot on the comparison scale of male hotness in that show. 3 hotter reasons to watch? Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, and Alexander Skarsgard.
• Speaking of Magic Mike, there is little hotter than a man who can dance. Enter Channing Tatum. I've loved him since Step Up. True story.
• Emily's ponytail clip in thingy from last week's Bachelorette was fugly, as was her outfit. Seriously, with her clothing budget for that show, you'd think they could do better!!!

Flashback photo of the week:

My sophomore year roommate Lisa and I cooking in the dorm

This picture made me laugh when I came across it. I don't remember who took it or why we look so ridiculous but it's a pretty good one!

Interesting/funny/awkward news of the week:

• Chumbawumba got knocked down and they're not getting up again
• Bachelorette Emily chose her final two (and I called them!)

Aaaaaand my favorite links of the week!

• What the real Christian Grey would look like (does anyone else think he looks like Arie on the Bachelorette?)
• Radiators vs Drains (good read about people)
• The evolution of rap
• A super smart way to easily hang small items
• Clare talks about being happy with less
• This is so 2006

[OOTD] A Face for Aviators

In Atlanta summers, we get a nice, long stretch of three digit temps (or at minimum 90s). This makes it difficult to dress, because outdoors it's crazy hot, and indoors it's frigid. My office likes to keep it freezing to the point where yesterday I sat at my desk with my little heater on because my feet were cold. 

So what's the answer? Layers!

Top: Gap, $18, I got it for 30% off on a sale day (here) | Jeans: Chip & Pepper via TJ Maxx, $7 (recent!) | Belt: Target, $10 | Shoes: Kohl's, $25 (spring 2011) | Cardigan: Elle via Kohl's, $? (2010) | Scarf: London street market, $5 | Earrings: Charlotte Russe, $3.30 (Winter 2012) | Bracelets: INPink, $? | Sunnies: New York & Co, $5 (2011)

When I wore this earlier in the week, hubby said "I think you have a face for aviators" after complimenting me on how I looked in my sunnies. He's not the first one to love these sunglasses on me - so maybe I do have a "face for aviators"??

When I got too hot in the office, off came the scarf.

And when the workday is done, off goes the cardigan.

Arm party!

I am totally aware my bra straps are out, haha...just wanted to show off the fun back of this top! I only took my cardi off for these pics.

Last night I spent all evening baking some "crunkcakes" for ladies night tonight. A group of my girlfriends and I are meeting up at one of their apartments in Atlanta and having a few cocktails before heading out to shake our booties all night. I made margarita and strawberry margarita cupcakes, as well as kir royale cupcakes (and of course I had to drink both a kir and a kir royale while I was baking - HA!). And yes, the margarita cupcakes have tequila in them and the kir royales have champagne and creme de cassis for some boozy goodness. I'm really excited and hope they taste as good as I think they do!!

**For those who are unfamiliar, kir is white wine mixed with a little creme de cassis, which is blackberry liqueur. A kir royale is champagne with creme de cassis. I found this drink in Brazil, I believe (or was it South Africa?? I'd have to double check my journal, haha) when I was on SAS and it's been a favorite for nearly 10 years now. I just gave you your new favorite drink. You're welcome. (Oh, and some places use Chambord instead of creme de cassis - slight difference as Chambord is raspberry instead of blackberry, but it's the same idea.) Cheers!

Happy Friday!

[OOTD] Bauble Swap and an Outfit too!!

Many of you may know, and some may not, that Shanna of Because Shanna Said So is in the midst of a fabulous BAUBLE SWAP!!!




Shanna paired me up with the amazing Karen who writes Patching Hearts.

I was ecstatic when my bauble came in the mail at the end of last week....

Pretty packaging!!

My gorgeous bauble!!

Slightly better pic...

I was ecstatic with Karen's pick - I'd actually been eyeing up a number of beaded bracelets and loved the orange color of this. I don't wear a lot of orange because I don't think it looks all that great in large quantities because of my skin tone, but I love little pops of it and this bracelet was perfect!!!

I loved getting to know Karen through the bauble shop - she's kind and caring, and her blog is a must read. Be sure to go check her out here!

I wore my new bauble earlier this week with some purple and gray. (Excuse the picture lighting...we've been having some goofy weather and these pants were downright reflective in the cloudy sun I was getting!)

Top: New York & Co (Winter 2011) | Pants: Limited (old, similar here) | Shoes: Boscov's | Bracelet: ILY Couture gifted from Karen | Earrings: H&M (Fall 2011)

  

This week has been rather uneventful, but I'm looking forward to spending some time tonight baking boozy cupcakes for my ladies' night out tomorrow night. Hubs is going to get to be my taste tester. Lucky guy!!!

On an unrelated note, it's a little scary to me how much I look like my mother in these photos!!

[OOTD] Sunshiny Day

After 3 rounds of outfit photos in the crappy lighting of my hotel room, I ventured out to a local shopping area to take my pictures the second night in Toronto. This worked out much better.

Coat: Old Navy | Top: Izod via TJ Maxx | Jeans: JCPenney | Wedges: Shoe Carnival | Scarf: H&M  (UK Summer 2012) | Purse: New York & Co | Sunnies: Old

This outfit was perfect for a lowkey dinner at Kelsey's, also a Canadian chain. It's a wings and beer type of place, and I actually ended up eating there two nights in a row because the second night I was craving wings!

After dinner, I spent an hour at the hotel bar getting some social time in. One thing that I find difficult about traveling for business alone is that it can get a bit lonely when your only interaction with people is in the classroom. Often I try to seek out ways to be a bit more social outside of work.

[Fashion] Toronto Day 2

The outfit I wore for my second day of teaching was actually inspired by another fashion blogger, Katie of High Heels and Bubble Gum. I loved the idea of a summery white "suit" with a busy design underneath. Her post is here, and this is what she wore:

Katie's Original Outfit

While Katie wore a cardigan on top, I chose to go with a white blazer.

Top: New York & Company | Blazer: H&M | Capris: The Limited | Shoes: Shoe Carnival

I had also packed a plain green button down and couldn't decide whether to wear it underneath or this black and white print with the ruffled neckline. I liked the texture added by the ruffles, although the green color definitely popped a bit more.

Ring: Forever21 | Necklace: Gifted (made by my friend Lea) | Watch: Japan

Don't you just love the awesome hotel room background?! hahaha

I debated this outfit because I thought it might be too much white - while Katie's outfit is a bit more subdued by the soft white of the cardigan, my blazer is a bright white like my capris. Even looking at these pics, I wonder if it was too much white...

What do you think?

[Blogging] 3 Posts in ONE Day!!

I will make this quick, I promise - ya'll might notice on this post and my previous post there is a new commenting system! I wanted to try this for a few reasons - 1, to make it easier to reply by asking commenters for an email address and 2, so that ya'll can link up your most recent blog post in your comment!

If you really don't like it, please let me know - I obviously care most about what you think. I really wanted to be able to send replies via email because I was never sure if anyone was coming back and seeing my replies to their comments. And now you can plug your latest post! Whoop!!

Ok. I'm done for today. I swear.

PS. I added an FAQ page to my tabs at the top. There isn't but one question in there because I haven't been asked any yet....but feel free to ask away if you have a burning question! I'm an open book (mostly). :)

[Life] What the Heck, Georgia?!

I was checking out the forecast for the next 10 days and all I can say is WTF, GEORGIA?!?!

10 days of scattered thunderstorms?!?! TEN DAYS?!?! At 50% chance each day? Oh, maybe I'll rain, maybe I won't. Guess which it is and try not to ruin your hair or your shoes if you guess wrong! Psh. Go kick rocks, thunderstorms.

[Fashion] I live inside the elements

A little while back, I wrote this post about Macy's and Miss Me jeans. I busted the jean out for the first time while I was in Toronto. Each night, after I taught, I'd come home and change before I headed out to dinner - gotta be comfortable, right? This was what I wore the first night.

Top: Macy's | Bottoms: Miss Me from Macy's | Shoes: Boscov's

I love the pocket design on this pair!! This one is the one I imagine I'll wear for a number of performances with my dance team. I also really like the hemline of the top here.

I wore this to a restaurant called Milestones. I think it's a chain, but they had fantastic steak. Whenever I travel, I always try to go to places I could never go to at home.

I generally sit at the bar, too - at the right place, you can spend your meal chatting with others instead of eating alone!

All jewelry is the same as shown in Thursday's post.

Happy Monday, ya'll!! As always, I'm linking up with my girl Molly for YOLO Mondays!! Go check out her blog and find some new reads!!

Oh, and bonus points to whomever knows what song lyrics are in my post title without looking it up!! :)

[Life] Sunday Soup

Ok, so I have a ton of outfit photos waiting in the wings, but I also have a lot of other things I want to talk/write about. So I'm starting a "Sunday Soup" post. You know, because soup is a mix of random things in one delicious pot. This is my soup. Hope you all enjoy.

It's Saturday as I write this, and we've got some storms coming through. My dog is terrified of them so she's squished herself up under my feet, under my desk.

Earlier this week I wrote a ranting post. I've resolve some of the issues, so let's catch up.
My speakers - in short, Sony couldn't repair them so they said my only other option, aside from having them sent back as is and not working, would be a refund. However, they were only offering $44 when I paid $125 for them. Basically, they were purchased open box so I didn't qualify for the full refund, but I didn't think that was fair since I was informed when I bought them that the warranty was intact (which would entitle me to a full refund). After speaking with 6 different people, they refused to do me any better. So I tweeted @SonySupportUSA about being terribly unhappy with their customer service. In 2 short days, my full refund was processed. Yay!
My hair - I did a home fix. It's not perfect, but it's good enough that you can't notice the root issues. You saw in Friday's post my hair down - those were taken Thursday post-hair-fix.

So what did I do this last week?

On the 3rd, I had dinner with the hubs at Buca di Beppo, one of our favorites. (I really think it's hubs' favorite solely because of the Tiramisu. It's his favorite dessert and they give you SO MUCH of it!!!)

Went to see the fireworks on the 4th with our friends Ty and Jodi, then stuck around for ice cream afterwards.

Friday I had a half day off from work. Hubby had a tee time late afternoon so while he was golfing, I treated myself to this lil pedicure. Seriously, my salon has the best pedicure ever. Their technicians give amazing massages. If you're in the Atlanta area, check out Elegant Nails in Roswell. A-mah-zing.

Saturday I was super busy in the morning - gym, grocery shopping, laundry, giving the dog a bath, etc - then I rewarded myself with an afternoon of playing around with my hair, reading, and sipping a margarita. And you can see, I had some company from a little boxer dog who was pooped from fighting her bath.

Today I'm having brunch with my friends Jodi and Natasha - I'm looking forward to some girl time! Then perhaps doing some outlet shopping with the hubs. We shall see.

What else.....

Oh! I made some dip this week. I've been enjoying it for days.

I took plain yogurt (8 oz), cream cheese (1/4 cup), and feta (3/4 cup) and threw it in the food processor with about 2 cups of fresh spinach. It's quite a tangy dip but I like it.

Now, some of my favorite links this week!

• IFB gives ideas on how to get blog posts ideas from a summer vacation
• Cupcakes and Cashmere shared an amazing Banana Cream Pie recipe
• Kate teaches readers how to do a fancy ponytail
• A fab club makeup tutorial over at Makeup Geek
• How to tackle a tough task

[Life] Weekend Flashback

I've really loved revisiting all the fun pictures I've been scanning into my computer. I'm having fun reliving some of my favorite times of life and thought it would be fun to share here on the blog!

This week? High school graduation!

Ya'll, I'm about to date myself.

I'm a graduate of Nazareth High School, class of.....1999!!!

My friend Jon and Me

My friend Tara and my HS bestie Alison...or should we now call her Dr.?!

Me and my friend Taylore, who went on to play college basketball at UNH

And then what happens after you graduate???

SENIOR WEEK!

Sorry but you don't get to see those pics. However, I will share this one, which kind of sums up the whole week...

My friend Beth, Ocean City, NJ, Senior week 1999