Darn that coffee!

It is 2:30 freaking a.m. and I cannot sleep. We went to the Taste of Buford thingee tonight and I ended up downing a big iced latte at one point. Coffee usually doesn't keep me up, but this one's taking a toll. Dammit. I meant to do a lil blog earlier about our weekend trip, but never made the time... so as long as I'm not snoozing, I might as well do it now, right? Trouble is my alarm is set for 5am.. yep, as in 2.5 hrs from now. We're heading for St. George Island for my godmother's wedding - which is tomorrow evening (don't get me started on Friday weddings - I so do not need to be missing another day of work). It's a good 6 hr drive so we're getting a super early start. The doggie camp opens at 6am and we plan to be there when they unlock the doors. We're boarding our two sillies, Belly and Charlie, but we also have a third pup that we're fostering - Gertie. I mentioned Gertie's story a while back. She's still with us as we're still making payments on her hefty vet bill.

Anyway... my parents are renting a house at the beach and it is dog-friendly (an essential for them since their dog, Bailey, is like the most spoiled dog ever). Up to two dogs can stay, so since we're bunking with them, we have the option of bringing *a* dog. Well with three sweet faces looking up at you, what do you do?! We have learned the hard way that Belly and Charlie do not like being boarded without each other. They love love love to go to camp, but the one time Belly was sent without her brother, she was VERY upset. We nearly turned around and picked her back up - it was so heartbreaking to leave her there. Even the people at the doggie camp said that Charlie is her security blanket (though Belly would NEVER admit that). You non-dog people must think I'm nuts. OK so point being - we couldn't take one of those two to the beach without the other. So our only other options were to take Gertie or take no dog. Well Gertie still has not gotten her vaccinations and such since she is still recovering from surgery. Really she's ready for them now but we just haven't gotten around to that yet. I mean she's on heartworm stuff and flea stuff - just hasn't had her shots yet. So basically, a boarding facility wouldn't take her - only our vet would. And at the vet she'd be caged 24/7. So not fun!

And so - as you can probably guess - Gertie will be going to the beach with us. She has probably never ever been on a vaca before. We have not told her where we're going. And we're not saying anything in front of Belly and Charlie - especially Belly. Belly would be heartbroken. Y'all seriously think I'm mental. Belly is a water-lovin' fool and loves the beach. So it's our little secret, OK? As far as B&C know, Gertie's going to the vet. So let's just keep this on the DL for now.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. We're looking forward to our mini-getaway. I'm finally starting to catch up on my blog-reading... just in time to head out of town, haha. Between recovery and approaching deadlines at work, I haven't had much free time on the 'puter. I don't plan on making 2:30am sessions a habit. Nighty night!

So you think you can... get off the couch?

OK did anyone else get sucked into that darn "So you think you can dance?" marathon on MTV this weekend? omg. Yet another show I'm now addicted to... thanks a lot, MTV!

On the mend.

I had surgery numero 2 on Tuesday and thank goodness it's all over! The mess really started Monday though with my pre-op visits. My doctor had to put this seaweed junk up in me - yeah I know - TMI... but it really should've been called "Insta-cramps!" because that's exactly what is was. A very not-fun procedure that left me with mega cramps the rest of the day and all night. Thank God my mom went with me that day to those appointments because I very nearly passed out after that initial procedure. I just asked her to go on a whim since she's retired and all and eats up any time she can get with her lovely daughter (me). Anyway, I think it was mostly nerves. I had to have her drive me around the rest of the afternoon. It was seriously like the worst cramps ever and I'm thinking this whole time... omg I'm doing all this to have a stinkin' baby? I don't want no baby! Forget it! I had no idea the seaweed junk would've messed me up that much. I was totally planning to go to the grocery Monday night to get some last minute goodies for my week at home. Yeah, no. Straight to bed I went! Heating pad set on HIGH.

All went well the next day though - my doctor said it went as well as it possibly could have gone, which is such great news. The nurse who did my IV was fabu - like did not even hurt at all. The last one I had was awful and left this terrible bruise on my hand for days that I kept hitting. So seriously the IV was one of the things I was dreading most - as dumb as that sounds. And we also got home mid-afternoon this time, versus nearly midnight the last time. Just a much better experience all around as far at the day of surgery. I had been so anxious about this second one so I'm just so glad it's all behind me. I'm off from work the rest of this week for recovery, so I won't be on the 'puter much, but just wanted to let y'all know it all went fine. I'll be a little more chatty later on, but for now I'm really only seen with pillows, milkshakes and remotes. Off to bed!

Posh bellies.

I'm getting really nervous about my surgery next week. I'm very ready for it to all be over but I just seem a bit more anxious this time. Not sure why... but I DO know that browsing maternity sale items online at A Pea in the Pod totally helps! They have a ton of stuff marked down right now due to the fall stuff coming out. A great selection of stuff... A lot of it is seasonal, but plenty of it can be worn year-round. Here are a few dresses that I think are super cute.

Dress by Walter for A Pea in the Pod, $119.99 (regular $295)

A Pea in the Pod Dress, $59.99 (regular $225) - SO cute! GREAT sale on that one.

Dress by Lilly Pulitzer for A Pea in the Pod, $89.99 (regular $275) - precious!

I love this boutique especially because they have designer lines (like Lilly) that only they carry. There's a lot of cute fall stuff too. I LOVE this dress by Diane von Furstenberg...

I'm refraining from making any purchases right now for my hopefully-one-day-big-belly (fingers crossed applesauce), but I don't want you pregos to miss out on this awesome sale!

Where I was.

I can't believe six years have passed since "9/11." Part of me wants to just go about the day normally and not even think about what happened in our country six years ago, but I think that would be a disservice to all those who lost their lives that day. We've all heard so much about it over the years and I think we almost are numb to a lot of it now.

But the other day at the luncheon, my godmother was telling a story about a friend of a friend who had been living in the city when the planes hit the two towers. She actually worked in one of the buildings across the street from the twin towers, and even stopped in one of the towers every morning for coffee (right around the time of day the first plane struck). That Tuesday, however, she decided to sleep in because she had flown back into town late the night before. The sound of the plane hitting the first tower actually woke her up. Her apartment was very close by. Not knowing what was going on, she grabbed her keys and bag and took off. She ended up running across a bridge, like thousands of others, to vacate the city. Worst part was that her apartment was within the zone that was blocked off and she wasn't able to get back to her apartment for days. Her driver's license had an old address on it so she wasn't able to get past security without proof of her home address. I just can't imagine being stranded with nowhere to go... especially not being able to get to your own home. This story reminded me that there were so many more people affected by that day's events then just the ones who lost their lives or lost loved ones. I can't imagine the fear everyone must have felt that day - the people that were there watching all of this happen and not knowing what to do. The girl finally did get back to her apartment but left the city for good shortly after. She tried to stick it out, but ended up moving out west. She just couldn't be there anymore - and that breaks my heart.

I think it's important to reflect on that day, even if it's just thinking back on where I was when everything started going down. It brings back those feelings I felt six years ago - though it's not something I like to relive, it's definitely something I don't want to forget. I remember I was in my apartment, getting dressed and listening to my favorite morning radio program. I was in graduate school at this point and studying heavily for the CPA exam, which I was to sit for that November for the first time. So I was about to head out to Barnes & Noble for a fun-filled day of hard core studying. The radio DJ's were going about their usual routine and then one of them interrupted the others after seeing the image of the first plane hitting the tower on the television. At that point I immediately turned on the TV. Pretty much everyone else I knew was at work that day... I remember talking to my bestest, one other girlfriend, the hub-to-be, and especially my dad. I remember calling my dad time after time giving him updates. A second plane. The first tower is gone. The second tower is gone. And then later the Pentagon... that part was especially scary for us because my mom was in DC at the time for business. We couldn't get a hold of her, but she was fine. She was actually in a meeting outside the district. I do remember that she had to rent a car to get home though.

I never made it to Barnes & Noble. I was glued to the TV the entire day. I didn't move off my couch at all. It was just all so surreal. It's weird thinking back on it... it seems like forever ago but then again, it was just like yesterday. So that's where I was. Isn't it funny how people always ask "where were you when..." When Kennedy was shot? (not born yet.) When the Challenger exploded? (on a field trip at a local Coca-Cola bottling plant.) When Princess Diana was killed? (in my apartment at college.) Like why is where *we* were important? I don't think it's the "where" so much as just remembering the snapshot of that moment. We remember places and people and events that leave a permanent impression on us. When I think back to where I was on 9/11, I remember exactly how I felt. And that's what's important to me. So... where were you?

Dear Britney,

What the effity eff? Is THAT what you call a comeback? Are you freaking kidding me? Either you were still drunk from partying the night before or you mistook last night's "performance" for the dress rehearsal. Or DID you? That outfit was horrendous. I'm sure you could've pulled it off in your pre-Federline days, back when you were kicking ass, but not last night. Don't get me wrong, you look damn good for someone who's popped out two neglected children... but I don't need to see your butt cheeks. And perhaps a few more crunches wouldn't hurt before baring that belly next time. Or better yet - let's just cover it up some - you're a momma now, for crying out loud. You poor thing, you keep forgetting that, don't you?!

And momma, we all know you lip synch on stage. And with intense dance performances like yours (used to be), that's usually forgivable. But what the hell was that last night? You couldn't even keep up with your own track! You literally looked like you were marking the routine as if it was a walk-through. I mean your back-up dancers were totally kicking your tail. They are supposed to back you up, not out-shine you. I can only imagine the look on Lynne Spears' face sitting at home watching this unfold.

I was SO excited about this performance and I was totally pulling for you. I just knew you were gonna bring it. I had Tivo rolling, all TV's in the house tuned in, stopped eating my mongolian beef, and even screamed a little bit out of excitement just before you came on. Well not only did you not bring it - you apparently don't even know where you left it. And no, I don't want to hear any excuses about nerves or not being prepared. Your dancers were prepared. And you're a pro (or you were). You had a good hit song and you had no reason not to just kill it last night. Boooooooo!!!!!! I am beyond pissed off at you!

Sincerely,

Buford Betty

P.S. Justin Timberlake is laughing his ass off right now.

P.P.S. I heard you cried backstage afterwards. I would have too!

P.P.P.S. I love you and I'm totally buying your new album when it comes out.

A party's in the works!

I had to force myself to get these invitations done today, seeing as my 30th birthday bash is less than 4 weeks away... and aren't they the cutest?! SO fun!

I've got some addressing to do tonight. Kuntry bride is doing the same with her wedding invitations. She keeps calling me today asking how to address certain envelopes. Oh man I don't envy her one bit. I love putting together invitations but I hate addressing envelopes. The first two or three are fun, but it gets really old really fast. So I've got a date with a silver pen and MTV tonight. Is anyone else dying to see the train wreck that is Britney Spears perform tonight? What a mess. I love that girl.

A fun-filled Saturday.

So aside from the constant hot flashes, yesterday was a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day outside - a perfect day for an outside meal. I was definitely the youngest of the luncheon bunch by far, but it was still a good time. Here are a few pics of the table setup with the cutie cookies...


After the luncheon I high-tailed it to Buckhead for a quick brow wax. I know... I'm totally insane for driving to town every 4 weeks for a brow wax, but I just love my guy! I usually pair it up with a shopping trip or something, but yesterday didn't allow me any spare time to do so. The hub had taken my car that morning and my cell phone was in the console... so I went all day without a phone. It was really annoying. I know we all survived without cell phones before we had them, but how did we?! I kept thinking, OK well I'll just call him and tell him I don't have my phone. CALL him? On what exactly? Plus the clock in the car I was driving was broken so I had no idea what time it was without my phone. I flipped radio stations constantly looking for just ONE person to give me the time. Nope. I got the weather report, the traffic report for all major areas, the local news, some celebrity gossip, but no word on the time.

The no-phone situation was especially annoying yesterday since I was awaiting a call that afternoon from the hub telling me when to head over to our friend's house for the birthday party that afternoon. The gang had done a kayaking trip earlier that afternoon as part of the birthday festivities, but the hub had to go it alone since I had the luncheon. My non-outdoorsy self was very happy to have my day already booked with a bridal luncheon so I did not have to go kayaking. So coming back from Buckhead I'm trying to think of something I can grab for the birthday boy. He is a loud, beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking, Nascar-watching, 30-year old dude. What the heck do you get for someone like that? Well he and his wife and the hub and I often hit our local dirty Mexican joint together, so I decided to get him a gift certificate from there to cover a pitcher of margaritas. Now, I am normally not a fan of gift certificates. I generally think they are cop-out gifts. I don't usually give them unless they're fulfilling a specific want/need or if they're just filler in a bigger gift of smalls. I don't really like receiving them either. OK that sounds really selfish... and I certainly don't complain if I get one! But especially random $20 and $25 gift certificates to like Crate & Barrel or Best Buy or wherever... I think I could go over to our bulletin board right now and pull out 4 or 5 of them because they just never get used. I mean really it's stupid on my part, but I just forget about them or lose them. Even if it's for Target (which I personally frequent), the chances of me remembering that I have it, remembering to grab it, and then remembering to USE it are slim to none. I realize this is a personal problem, but it is for this reason that I usually don't give gift certificates. I will make an exception, however, for the 30-year old dude for whom I have no clue what else to get. Plus, I think restaurant gift certificates are in a league of their own, don't you? My parents trained me well on the fine art of dining out and I don't waste any time spending those puppies. A free pitcher of margaritas at our local joint seemed like a fine choice!

So I go grab the gift certificate yesterday afternoon and it's just one of those generic slips of paper that you fill out...


I'm all about the presentation on gifts and this is probably the 2nd biggest reason I don't like giving gift certificates. I mean how much thought goes into buying a gift certificate and shoving it in an envelope to hand over? That just wouldn't do. And I KNOW Nascar dude couldn't care less, but I had to come up with a fun way to wrap it up and present it. So I ran over to Target really quickly afterwards in search of a pitcher. Just a cheap clear pitcher - like what they'd serve margaritas in at our restaurant. I have a bottomless box of lime green krinklies at home so I was going to fill the pitcher up with the krinklies with the gift certificate, wrap it up in celo and ribbon with a tag that says "Have a pitcher on us!" Well I run in Target and randomly come across this oversized plastic margarita glass on clearance for $1.89 - perfect!! I grabbed it and ran home to do a speedy wrapping job...


SO much cuter and more fun, right?! Totally. He was super excited about it too. He thought the glass was really really cool. The party was fun - BBQ and football - which is essentially what my birthday party will be next month (but with a little more glam). The Dawgs lost to those damn Cocks, so that kind of put a damper on the whole evening... but what can you do?! I still love my Dawgs. Well the dryer is buzzing... gotta run! Enjoy your Sunday!

Kaboom.

Holy hell I think I'm going to spontaneously combust. FYI... dining outside in 80+ degree heat while having an onslaught of hot flashes = not good. The luncheon was great otherwise. The cookies were a total hit of course. And mom got to tell her Ann Curry story to the few people left on earth who hadn't heard it yet. I'll post some pics soon.

Cookie crazed.

I told y'all I'd come up with another excuse to get more of these cookies soon enough... well my mom is hosting a bridal luncheon for her best friend (and my godmother) tomorrow at a local restaurant. It's just a small gathering of about 10 women, so it should be nice and intimate. Now my mother is just not the Martha-wanna-be that I am, so I volunteered to do favors, placecards, and the centerpiece. Nothing too over-the-top, but just a few nice touches to make it a more personal affair, you know. So I thought I'd get some more of those fabu cookies made for favors. I'm of the mind that favors are pointless unless they are either (A) consumable or (B) something someone would actually keep (rather than tossing in the trash as soon as they got home). And being that there are few things that people actually want to keep (and by keep I don't mean hiding in their junk drawer), I usually default to 'A'. This girl can eat.. so if I can consume it, me likey.

OK so I emailed the bakery a copy of the bride's wedding invitation for inspiration. This is the wedding down in St. George that I mentioned a while back. So here's the invite...

I didn't make the invites - she ended up ordering them online. She wanted me to do them but she picked her wedding date about 8 weeks out, so I just didn't have time to make them. But anyway, here are the fabu cookies we picked up today...

Aren't they the cutest? This bakery is totally my new best friend. I've already thought of two other upcoming occassions to get cookies for - including my birthday. Yeah, they're sitting here by my desk and I'm trying not to eat one. I'm going to wrap them in celo bags and ribbon and add tags to serve as the placecards. Then I'll be hitting Costco on the way home to grab some flowers to do the centerpiece. I'll try to remember to take some pics of everything once it's set up tomorrow. I'm sure it will be a good time, even though I think I'm the only one there under 40... no biggie. I mean I'm turning 30 in less than a month, so I might as well start hanging out with old people. We can all complain about our hot flashes. I mean I about ripped all my clothes off this morning while unloading the dishwasher. They're getting worse - way worse.

Anyway... that's probably the highlight of my weekend. Not too much else going on. We have a 30th birthday party to go to Saturday night, but other than that, I think we're keeping it pretty low-key. Happy Friday!!

My favorites...

Ooooh I got tagged by Lori... so here are my fun faves!

sound- a lawnmower going early on a Saturday morning in the summer
late night snack- cereal!
smell- fresh coffee
color combination- pink and green of course! also most any good combo with chocolate brown is fun
nut- a peanut when it's inside an m&m. otherwise, the hub is my all-time favorite nut!
time of year- definitely the fall!
books- I loooove Harry Potter! But all kinds of other stuff too... I love some good chick-lit.
vegetable- most anything green, except ocra - ew!
male actor- oh I have many and they change often... right now I'm crushing on Mark Ruffalo.
female actress- probably Reese Witherspoon because she's so talented and seems so genuine. And because I loved her in her first movie long before anyone even knew who she was.
flower- hydrangeas in the garden, gerbera daisies in a vase
vacation spot- Maine is definitely up there after our recent trip! Any good beach... but probably NYC is my all-time favorite.
pizza- probably mushroom and feta from Mellow Mushroom
subject in school- math, English, and art
tv channel- my favorite guilty pleasure is MTV
radio station- Q100 in Atlanta!
holiday- Christmas! And my birthday.
perfume- don't wear any (makes me sneeze)... but I used to wear Byblos a long time ago.
shoes- my feet are most happy in a j. crew flip flop.
candy- not really a candy person, but I love m&m's!
city to shop- New York, but I suppose I feel most at home shopping here in Atlanta.
beauty products- ELF Cosmetics, um... I really am not huge into beauty products. I buy the $1.47 Suave shampoo at Publix. I love make-up, but don't like to pay a lot for it. My two staples are the automatic eye pencil from Estee Lauder and my Almay foundation. Other than that, whatever I stumble upon.
item to shop for- shoes and handbags! I love clothes shopping too, but I'm a total accessories girl. And whenever we have kids I'm gonna go ape-shit. The hub's gonna have to lock-down our accounts.

Yay, that was fun. Now I tag Preppy Pink Crocodile, Pam, Belle-ah, and whomever else wants to have a go! Good-night, sleep tight!

Where are you, Fall?!

It is so flippin' hot in here. The air in our office evidently really IS broken. Combined with my hot flashes, it's a recipe for a serious attitude. I don't like being hot. Labor Day has come and gone so I'm looking to transition into a more fall like wardrobe. But it's just too freaking hot! I had jeans on yesterday - not really on purpose, but I was doing laundry and I was only running out for a bit. Well I about overheated and died right there in the Lowe's parking lot. I am officially over this heat.

We did have a nice Labor Day weekend though. Nothing too crazy... had some friends over to grill out and watch football Saturday night, grilled out with my parents on Sunday night, and then went to a movie on Monday night. We saw Transformers since the hub wasn't too excited about seeing Hairspray or The Nanny Diaries. But I have to say Transformers was really good! I think much credit has to go to Shia LeBouf - he's a great young actor. I think he's going to be really big. Although later that night, I had nightmares about my upcoming surgery and somehow transformers were involved. Totally weird.


It's going to be a busy couple of weeks... big deadlines at work and me taking off a whole week for recovery later this month doesn't help! I think I'm a little more nervous about surgery this time around since I know exactly what I'm getting into and what the healing process is like. I've hit my max out-of-pocket costs on insurance for the year though, so I'm trying to think of some more "procedures" I could knock out this year without having to pay for them... hahahha. Hmm... I'm supposed to start getting yearly mammies at 30 since I have a family history of breast cancer, so I could do that. A full-blown MRI to see what other bugs are setting up camp in my body? I've got foot issues... maybe I could get that taken care of too. I need a menu.

I've also got busy nights this week between dinner plans and finishing up the wedding invitations for kuntry bride. Not to mention I gotta get my birthday party invitations done and out the door! Holy shiz... I turn 30 in a month! Oh damn. I feel a freak-out session and a hot flash coming on... gotta run.