Teacher Appreciation Week: Favorite Thing

Especially since this is our first go ever at Teacher Appreciation gifts, I thought I'd show you our goodies day by day this week.  I finished up all the shopping at Wally World this past weekend, so now I'm down to just assembling everything.  Monday's theme is a "favorite thing" of the teacher's... and both of Sam's teachers love Starbucks. 

A sweet friend of mine shared an idea of giving Hershey's Hugs and Kisses with a note saying something about Sam's teachers needing lots of hugs and kisses... so I incorporated that with Starbucks.  Sure they need hugs and kisses... but I'm bettin' they need some real caffeine too. 

I'm curious to see what other mommas bring... I just have no idea what the "standard" is, but whatever.  I had fun with it and yeah, probably went a little overboard.  But I love this kind of stuff and I really DO appreciate all the ladies that love on my sweet boy everyday.

So the basics of this one... a clear glass mug ($2.50 at Walmart) filled with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses, with a $5 Starbucks card.  Tied up with cellophane and ribbon and this label...

Mmm... what's not to love?

Tomorrow's theme is "food" and yes... I will be baking.  Look out!

Baby Stuff: Sam and Mom's Favorites (0-3 months)

Oh how those first three months flew by!  And today Sam is in daycare for the first time.  I'm at home today and return to work tomorrow...  lots of emotions, but so far I'm doing well.  I think I got a lot of my crying out last week, but hey - it's only Monday.  So today I've been a mad woman getting things done at the house!  And I was also determined to finish this post today.  I've seriously sat down at least 5 times working on it.  It's so hard to find the time and energy to get a big post like this done these days!

So over these very fast few months, I've conjured up a good list of favorite baby items.  This would be my own personal "must-have" list, hind site being 20/20.  But we all know every baby is different.  And mommas, too.  So I'm sure your list looks nothing like mine.  But it's fun to share these things and see what other babies and mommas are into at different stages.  This is a rather lengthy list of faves, so in case you're just breezing through here, I'll give you my top 5 baby items first...

1.  Bosom Baby Nursing Pillow

I must credit my sweet friend, Pammy, for introducing me to this fabulous pillow.  In my opinion, it puts the widely-loved Boppy to shame.  I do have a Boppy - I registered for one anyway because I heard they're great for propping up baby (their original purpose actually), but I'm SO glad I held out and snagged one of these Bosom Baby pillows, too.  First, they are HUGE - lots of room for baby, your elbows, and whatnot.  Second, super soft and cushy (the Boppy is a lot harder).  Third, V-shaped so they fit any size momma, whereas there is no way the Boppy does (though it claims to).  It also serves more than one purpose - it makes a great pregnancy pillow.  I also have the My Brest Friend pillow (which another friend recommended).  That's a good one too, but totally different.  For breastfeeding purposes, I rate these three as follows: #1 Bosom Baby, #2 Brest Friend, #3 Boppy.  Note that the BB pillow is a little hard to find.  Amazon carries it.  Atlanta ladies, the women's shop at Northside Hospital carries them.  BRU or BuyBuy Baby do not stock these - at least not last time I checked.  I lucked up and caught mine off BabySteals.com for half price.

2. Boppy Changing Pad Liners

Thought I'd share this other Boppy brand product next since I just slammed their nursing pillow... ha!  We actually have the Boppy brand changing pad covers (the tan one pictured above), which come with one of these white waterproof liners that just sit on top.  And then Boppy sells extra liners in packs of three.  Um, we have like 10 liners - we go through them like mad!  I absolutely love them.  I have to change the actual pad cover far less often.  If Sam spits up or pees or poops while on his table, the pad takes the hit and we just swap it out.  Now, sometimes a good pee-attack hits a 6-foot wide radius and you're screwed.  But more often, it's just a quick liner change.  LOVE these.  Great for cribs and bassinets too when they're itty bitty.  Only annoying thing is that the washing instructions say to not run them through the dryer.  Um, yeah I totally do and they're fine.  If they wear out faster, so be it.

3. Fisher Price Cradle Swing

Apparently babies either love or hate the swing.  Well, Sam friggin LOVES it.  And so do I.  If I can't get him to go down in the crib, the swing is nearly fail-proof.  Even if he fusses while I buckle him in, he ultimately succumbs to the rocking.  But I especially love this model because the seat can be turned three ways.  It can go back and forth like a traditional swing (facing either direction), or you can twist the seat to face you and it rocks from side to side like a hammock.   We registered for this swing, but were also fortunate enough to get a hand-me-down swing for upstairs (so we'd have one on both floors).  But if we hadn't, I totally would've put up the cash for a second one after learning how much Sam loved it.  My parents also have one at their house - it's a must in our book!

4. Aden and Anais Swaddling Blankets

These blankets are simply the best... huge (44"x44"), square (best for swaddling), and breathable (made of thin, muslin cotton).  Sam always cuddles up with one in his swing.  I have 13 of these total and I'm constantly going through them.  I never leave the house without at least one.  This brand has other great products too (I love the burpy bibs and the security blankets), but the blankets are my absolute favorite.  I wish they made king size sheets out of this fabric.  Seriously.

5. Baby Bjorn Active

Sam and I have already put some serious mileage on our Baby Bjorn.  He loves it.  The first time I put him in it, he immediately relaxed and passed out.  And he just now is able to face forward in it, which is super fun for him.  I'm a big fan of baby-wearing (I also have the Moby Wrap and he likes that too, but I'm afraid he's going to protest it now that he can face forward in the Baby Bjorn).  I don't like fooling with a car seat by myself... if I'm out shopping anywhere with a buggy, Sam is in the Baby Bjorn.  Keeps my hands free and I don't have to worry about him because he's attached to me.  Plus, convenience aside, "they" say it's better for baby not to be in the car seat ALL the time.  And he's working on his neck muscles and such when I'm wearing him.  So it's a home run no matter how you look at it.  I wear it a good bit around the house too - Sam's a good little helper.  Couldn't live without this thing!  And the "active" style provides more back support than the original Baby Bjorn.  I think that's the main difference.

Other Favorites (0-3  months)...

Carter's Keep Me Dry Pad - I have several "sheet saver" type products for the crib.  This is the cheapest one I got and it beats the other fancy pants ones.  The flannel like fabric kinda clings to the sheet, so it stays put.  Love these.  Just throw it over the crib sheet and you rarely need to change the actual sheet.

Bright Starts Ingenuity Automatic Bouncer - Sam's Mimi got him this!  And boy are we glad because our boy loves it.  It's a great way to read to him now too - when I'm using big picture books.  He's so wiggly that it's often hard to keep hold of him and handle a book at the same time.

Chicco Keyfit Caddy Stroller - I knew I wanted to get a "snap-n-go" type stroller for the infant seat.  We got the Chicco Keyfit 30 seat, so when I heard Chicco came out with its own version of the snap-n-go, I immediately registered for it.  And it is awesome.  I did not want a big travel system and I'm so glad I stuck with my gut here.  The Keyfit Caddy is ridiculously easy.  I can lift it out of the trunk with one hand and pop it open in seconds.  And the storage basket underneath is huge.  Like I-could-stuff-a-dead-body-in-there huge. 

Baby 411 - My favorite go-to reference book.  I have several books and this is by far my favorite!  Plus it's funny and entertaining.  I've already bought two other copies for friends.

"The Merry Goes 'Round" by Jewel - Sam loves him some tunes.  So much so that he's been known to wail in between tracks.  We constantly have music going in the nursery.  This new CD by Jewel is one of our favorites!  I must say, the first track called "Sammy the Spider" sold me.  But the whole thing is awesome and something adults can actually enjoy too.  I love Jewel anyway, so it was a no brainer for me to get her children's CD's (Sam also has the lullaby one).  Another one we love is the Rockabye Baby CD with classic rock tunes made lullabies.  So fun!  Sam's awesome Auntie Jenn hooked him up with that one.

Mirrors - Sam has this particular one for the car, but mirrors in general are a BIG hit right now.  Particularly in his play gym, Sam spends a good 30 minutes or so several times a day just staring into the mirror giggling and cooing at himself.  Highly entertaining, apparently.  I'm constantly moving his gym mirror back and forth from the crib.  I'm sure I'll eventually break down and get one just for the crib!

Sleep Sheep - A sweet friend told me I'd need this and she was right!  We have both the regular size and travel sizes of this item.  It's a stuffed sheep that velcros onto a crib or bassinet or whatever and plays several different white noises on a timer.  Sam's favorite (or Mom's really - because it puts him in a trance!) is the Ocean noise.  We have an ocean noise on his regular white noise maker, but it's not as good.  We have kept the travel sheep on his car seat until he started daycare (today) - so now the mini one is on his crib at school. 

The Jesus Storybook Bible - I cannot fully explain the awesomeness of this book.  Just get it for yourself and you will see! I had no previous knowledge of it - we received it as a gift and I am so grateful now that Sam and I have been digging into it.  It basically walks through the entire Bible, in short-story or chapter form - showing that the Bible is one big story, where every little story along the way whispers Jesus' name.  OMG... like I seriously cried when I read about Adam and Eve.  It is SO well written, so beautifully illustrated (every page is full of color from edge to edge), and honestly - forget kids... if you want a better understanding of the Bible in general, get this book.  Yes, it's written in a very simple way that appeals to children, but it's not watered down.  I adore this book.  I know Sam and I are going to wear it out!

Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes - I told you Sam loves his tunes.  This is a great little inexpensive toy that plays several songs at the press of a button.  A lot of the music on baby toys is very grainy and makes you cringe a bit - but the sound quality on this little gadget is actually really great.  And Sam loves it.  It has little lights that blink in sync with the songs. 

Munchkin Portable Nightlight - This was a big help in the very early days when there were several night feedings and Sam was still in the bassinet.  Great little portable nightlight that goes off automatically after 30 minutes.  I think it was also soothing to Sam as he was falling back asleep after a feeding.

Plain white onesies - I love all the fun baby clothes, but really... is there anything cuter than a baby in a plain white onesie?  I make sure I have a set of these in short sleeve and long sleeve at every stage.  Carter's bodysuits are my favorite but Gerber onesies are OK too (just know their sizing runs WAY small).

Tummy Tub - This product has probably brought about the most laughs of anything we have.  Sam looks so friggin hilarious in this thing.  It's simply an upright tub for baby, so they are always in water and don't get cold.  We either bathe him in this or just on a body sponge (also pictured) in the regular tub. 

Tiny Love Take Along Mobile - Another great recommendation from my friend Pammy.  We never did get a full size mobile for Sam.  But once he started getting into his crib toys and play gym, I thought he'd enjoy a mobile.  So I decided to try this mini travel one, and he loves it!  It is awesome because you don't have to wind it like you do a lot of mobiles.  It just has a simple on/off switch and runs for a good 30 or 40 minutes.  But the coolest part is, it attaches to almost anything.  And the top pieces comes off and will strap to a car seat or stroller.  He's become such a big fan, that we sent it off to daycare with him today and I just hopped on Amazon and ordered a second one.  Love it!

Dr. Brown's Bottles - We initially tried several recommended brands of baby bottles to see what Sam preferred.  Honestly, that boy loves to suck anything so I'm pretty confident he'd do fine with any of them.  But Dr. Brown's won out in the end.  The original size (not the wide-neck) have smaller nipples, whereas the other bottles we tried (Avent and Playtex) had honkin' huge nipples.  Sam seemed to have a little bit of an easier time with the Dr. Brown's bottles.  But what swayed me in the end was the fact that Dr. Brown's bottles fit on my breast pump.  None of the others did, so that sold me.  Now that Sam has moved past the 4oz bottles, I can still use them to pump and store breast milk.  Win, win.

Skip Hop Diaper Bags - I have several bags that I rotate and two of them are Skip Hop.  The best feature of their bags?  The stroller attachment straps.  So anytime I know I'm going to be using the stroller, I make sure I carry one of my Skip Hop bags.  Love it!  Very affordable and they come in a huge selection of fun styles and prints.  The green messenger style pictured is my personal fave!


Phew! The funny thing is, now that we've passed the 3-month mark, we can already see Sam's interests and needs changing.  Can't wait to see what our next round of favorites are!  Stay tuned...

What about BOB?

We got 'im.  That's what!  My mom's been chompin' at the bit wanting to get something special for Sam.  As soon as the hub and I got our act together and figured out what all to register for (mostly anyway - pretty sure we'll never figure it ALL out), Mom wanted to know what she and Dad could get us.  Answer: The BOB Revolution CE Stroller!

We registered for it at BRU, but Amazon had the best price currently.  Always check Amazon!  Sometimes their free shipping and no sales tax (in most states) alone can make a huge difference.  Honestly, if I could only visit one retail website for the rest of my life, I'm pretty sure I'd pick Amazon.   I was tempted to do a baby registry on Amazon - they've got some products that neither BRU or BuyBuy Baby carry.  But I think we're pretty well covered!

We decided on the "CE" version - which has significantly smaller back wheels than the standard SE version.  I read that the only real reason to get the SE instead was for really, really rough terrain like vigorous hiking trails.  Um... I don't really see myself ever strolling up and down vigorous hiking trails.  With or without Sam in tow.  CE it is!

Now we haven't actually seen our BOB just yet... it arrived yesterday at my parents' house, so we'll get it tomorrow.  Can't wait to check it out!  Pretty sure Sam's gonna love it!  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

18 Week Belly

Something's starting to POP! And boy, do I feel it. I've been pretty crampy the last few days because my belly (and Sam) are on quite the growth spurt right now...




There wasn't much difference between 10 and 14 weeks, but you can definitely see a change here!





We'll see how the waistline progresses over the next couple of weeks - I think it may be time to move to belly updates every two weeks instead of four.

So in other fun news, look what a sweet surprise Sam got in the mail yesterday from his Auntie Kathleen!!!




I was literally looking around on Monogram Chick's website this week and saw these shorts and thought, aw... how cute would those be for Sam?!




Apparently my friends are mindreaders! And look - it's Sam's very first monogrammed goodies!!!




Thank you, Kathleen! I'm in love with it all and Sam will be the most dapper little dude on the block! Mom also picked up a couple of goodies at Target yesterday...




I tell ya, this boy is going to be SET. Oh and my fabric swatches finally arrived this week! I knew I'd love them but I had to see them in person. And yeah, they're definitely way prettier in person. Looks like we're definitely going to go with this group for the bedding and other accessories around the nursery...




I laid all the swatches out for the hub last night and asked what he thought. He studied them for a half second and then pointed at the blue and white striped print. "That one." No, I mean ALL of them together, honey. "Oh, oh, yeah, OK." So you like them? "For what?" For the bedding. "Yeah, sure." Clearly he does not share my enthusiasm for these sweet fabrics, but he approves!

Well, Happy Friday all! And I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Enjoy this last toast to summer and be safe out there...

First Baby Gift!

I was so excited to get home and find this fun package in the mail yesterday from a dear friend...


A super soft and deliciously sweet baby blanket - our very first baby gift! It's much cuter than this crappy phone pic shows. It's ivory with a baby blue satin trim. And along with it was this lovely card...


Definitely brings about one of those "is this really happening?" moments. To God be the glory indeed. THANK YOU, LAUREN!!!


So the questions I'm getting the most are "How do you feel?" and "Are you going to find out the sex?" Well, just to answer those quickly... I still feel like total crap. Eating is still a chore and I'm tired a lot, etc. etc. But everyone tells me that it should get better at 14 or 15 weeks. Today, I'm 13 weeks, so here's hopin'! As for the sex, yes, we're definitely planning to find out. We have another ultrasound on Monday for our 12 week screening, so maybe they can make some guesses then, but my doctor said not to buy anything till we hit that 20 week mark.

Thanks again for all the well wishes!

Wrapped Up.

Hope you all had fab weekends! Among other things, I started wrapping Christmas gifts. Because did I tell you? I'm DONE with all my Christmas shopping. I have a few odds and ends left but all my main gifts are done. And wrapping is my FAVORITE part...

My goal every year is to have everything bought and wrapped before December ever arrives, and girls, I think this is the first year I will actually do it! Our December calendar is always packed, so it's nice to have all of that out of the way so we can just enjoy all the parties and whatnot.

Hope you all are having a good week. I promise I'll be back shortly with part 2 of my story - it's almost done!

Online Sample Sales - Ready, Set, GO!

We've all swapped stories on fabulous finds on fun sites like Rue La La and Gilt, but this ever popular mode of online shopping seems to keep growing and growing in popularity. They all offer up great designer boutiques open for a limited time (usually 1-3 days), and each has some sort of referral program to encourage you to share the love. So I figured it was time for an update on my favorite sample sale sites!

Now y'all know I've put the kibosh on spending for myself while we're on our debt-free mission, but I still peruse these sites on a daily basis and often snag great gifts for others. Plus I do my best to keep an eye on the weekly kiddie sales so I can alert readers over at Make Room for Style.

So here's a list of my current faves when it comes to online sample sale sites. Most are "by invitation only," but several are open to newcomers with no invitation. So, bargainistas, take note!

• Rue La La - most of y'all know and love this one. This fab site, a birth child of another favorite of mine, Smart Bargains (Loehmann's), just celebrated its one year anniversary! Two or three new boutiques open every weekday. The sales are great, the site and packaging is like eye-candy, and the customer service is top notch. We loves the Rue! Consider yourself invited.

• Gilt Groupe - If you're looking for a lot of killer boutiques in any given day, Gilt is your place. They also have a lot of men and children's sales popping up every week. Tory Burch Kids is happening today over there at noon EDT. Gilt also has great customer service and fun packaging - it's the little things like this that do it for me. This one really does have extraordinary sales, so make it a favorite! Come on over as my personal guest.

• Gomatta Girls - I absolutely love this site... it's kind of like woot.com for fashion. New duds are featured each day - for one day only. So grab it while it's hot! The prices are usually rock-bottom, so this is a must hit site with your morning coffee. It's become a daily ritual of mine to see what the witty Gomatta Girls have up for grabs each day. No invitation is required for this one, but feel free to add me as a referral if you're so inclined (aaz106 at yahoo.com)!

• One Kings Lane - This site is all about home décor and accessories. You'll find a lot of high-end goods for the home here from luxurious linens, to barware, to doggie beds... in every style imaginable. An invitation is required for access and I'll have to email you one... so please leave a comment here with your email if you'd like in!

• ideeli - This is one that has grown a lot since I first started logging on. They feature mostly accessories, but do have several boutiques with clothing. And though I've yet to win one, they're always hosting fabulous giveaways! Do take note that items purchased at ideeli are NOT returnable, so click with caution, girls. This concerned me once when this gorgeous tea set that I ordered for my mom arrived with a chipped spout. I contacted ideeli to see if it was at all possible to exchange it, since it was broken. They were out of stock, but not only did they refund my money, they let me keep the order! So I just got some super glue and voila - a fabulously free tea set! So while sales are final, they do their best to keep customers happy and coming back! Click here to join the fun.

• The Mini Social - This is one of the newest online sample sale sites and it's especially for mom and baby. They have new boutiques opening almost daily - great designer duds for tots, as well as the occasional accessories for mom and the nursery. A must hit for you mommas! No invitation is currently required on this one, but feel free to add me as your referral (aaz106 at yahoo.com)!

• HauteLook - This is another one that offers up a wide array of boutiques, including several children's sales each week. So mommas, take note of this one too. You'll often see boutiques for skincare and makeup items here as well. Lots of jewelry and other accessories pop on here, too - lots to see! This is another one I really keep my eye on. Hop on over here as my guest!

So those are my personal faves. New ones seem to keep popping up, so if you've stumbled on a great find recently, do tell! Here are a few others worth a look...

• Editor's Closet (free membership - sign up here)
• The Top Secret (leave a comment for an invitation by email)
• GlamList (enter my email to gain access - aaz106 at yahoo.com)
• Billion Dollar Babes (free membership - sign up here)

Happy online shopping, girls! There's just nothing quite so nice as designer duds on a dime...

In the crockpot this morning...

It's my last day of work before vaca!!! Who's excited?! ME! I got all my major errands run last night. Snagged our Harry Potter tickets for Thursday, the 16th. I'm totally pissed about the IMAX shows being delayed a couple of weeks because of Transformers. I love Transformers and all, but give me a break. It's Harry-freakin'-Potter! So anyway, we're going to go see it when it comes out on the "normal" screen and then go back later in the month when it hits the IMAX screen. There are special scenes in the IMAX version that won't be in the normal one, so we can't miss it!

I also hit Costco last night and got the cutest baby shower gift for christmas bride. She's having a girl and I got her this sweet pique Hartstrings dress with delicious embroidery and ric-rac ribbon trim. Plus a sweet little top and bottom from Baby Lulu... total for both? $27. I just love Costco. My babies no doubt will have a closet full of Costco finds one day.

Alright... so while we're running around getting ready for the holiday and leaving town, I decided to whip out the crockpot today. I use it a ton in the winter - especially tax season when I'm pressed for time and have no energy to cook. It doesn't get out so much in the summer, though. But I had a big ole pork roast I needed to use before we left town. So here's one of our favorite easy-peasy crockpot recipes that you're sure to love...

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork Roast

You'll need:

-1 cup ketchup
-1 cup BBQ sauce (I just use whatever's on sale)
-1 cup water
-2 tbsp vinegar
-2 tbsp Worcestershire (aka "wooster" in my fam)
-2 tbsp brown sugar
-1 tsp chili powder
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp pepper
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-3 lbs boneless pork roast (I get whatever variety's on sale)

Combine all ingredients (except roast) in a bowl, mix well. Place the roast in the crockpot and poor mixture over the meat. Cover and cook on LOW all day.

When you get home your house will be smellin' like good ole Southern BBQ! The meat just falls aparts and shreds once you put a fork to it. Grab some buns and load up.

Alright girls, off to work! I've got a meeting this morning, and then I'm heading to RBA around lunch for my clomid check. Dammit... that just reminded me... I meant to take a pregnancy test this a.m. (just in case) and forgot and already went to the bathroom. Doh. Whatev. OK peace out!

And yeah I'm gonna remind you again... don't forget to sign up for my fab Vera Bradley giveaway! You've got ONE more day!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy July!

So the year's officially half over - wow! I hope y'all have some exciting July 4th plans. We'll be running trying to survive the Peachtree on Saturday morning and then hitting a couple of parties later that day. We're doing suburban style fireworks that night at a neighborhood party, but if you're in Atlanta, the best fireworks are always at Lenox - hands down. So head down there (early) if you're up for that. Sunday morning (way early) we're heading down to the beach for a much needed vaca! Cannot wait! We're heading to St. George Island in Florida and we'll be in a house right on the beach. Heaven!

So if you didn't catch my tweet yesterday, my firm announced that we are getting Fridays off in July TOO! I'm soooooooo totally stoked. That made my summer. So awesome! I mean those two months of Fridays off is like 2 weeks of vacation! So yeah, super excited about that.

What else... oh I posted over here about these fab new bib and burpee jar sets Javis Davis introduced this past week. They are to die for and super affordable! Perfect shower gifts - only $20 for the set and YOU get to choose the fabrics! I've already sold a bunch, so contact me if you're interested in snagging a few! Free shipping on orders over $99 and no sales tax outside of Alabama, girls!

And lastly, don't forget to enter my Vera Bradley giveaway! Deadline is Friday, so hop to it, girls!

Bibs and Booties.

So after work today I ran by Off 5th to grab a baby shower gift. I had a 30% off Friends and Family coupon (good through Tuesday - email me if you want one!) so this was going to be my first spot to try and find a gift. I was a little disappointed in the baby and kids' clothing selection... sometimes they're overflowing with stuff... tons of Lilly and other fabulous brands... but today, not so much. Lots of designer jeans for kids, but I've become way to sensible for that nonsense. (Tell your toddler to get a job if he wants to wear $150 Diesel jeans.) Anyway, I had a few things in my hand from the clearance rack that were pretty cute, but I quickly threw them down when I caught wind of the stack of icky baby bibs around the corner.

Sometimes Off 5th has a bunch of these bibs and sometimes they don't... that store in general is totally hit or miss, but when it's a hit, it's a HIT. Which makes it one of my favorites! So anyway, all my momma friends adore these bibs. They retail between $15 and $18 and are usually sold at more uppity stores and boutiques. Well at Off 5th they were selling for $11.99... add my 30% off coupon... that's $8.39 each. Pretty good deal - I was happy. So I snagged these three...

Not an earth-shattering bargain, but a good one. And the total was under my $30 budget, so I'm happy and I know the mom-to-be and her baby boy will love them too! Yeah, by the way, I never do baby registries for baby gifts. I don't know what the hell half those products are and I'm not running laps in Babies 'R' Us trying to find a pack of onesies in some specific blend of organic cotton you picked out. Sorry.

OK and then booties? Yes, that'd be in reference to MY booty. As in, let's get it into shape, girls! Today is April 4th... exactly three months from JULY 4th... when I'll be running the Peachtree!!! I had fun tagging along with the hub and our other pals who ran last year, but I'm going to actually run it this year. It will be my first 10k, so I've got some serious work to do. Along with working ridiculous hours this time of year, my workout schedule gradually goes down the toilet. I haven't been to yoga in weeks... I haven't ran in... well, let's just say *a while*... I've managed to maintain my weight throughout the last few months solely because I watch my cal-intake like a hawk (on weekdays anyway). But we need some firming up... for realz.

So... I've got a week and a half left of busy season. The countdown is officially on! My plan - which I'll begin on Monday, April 20th - is gonna go like this:

• Mondays - Yoga after work


• Tuesdays - Run with Gertie at the park after work


• Wednesdays - Yoga after work


• Thursdays - Run with Gertie at the park after work


• Fridays - off


• Saturdays - a.m. run with Gertie in the park


• Sundays - off (unless I'm feeling crazy - optional afternoon yoga class)

You like? I do... I can totally do this... Operation Fierce Booty!!! Yes, let's call it that. Alright girlz... any of y'all have new workout plans to get bikini ready or whatever ready? Now I realize I may have to adjust this somewhat if my doctor tells me to take it easy... we'll see! I'm currently on my last cycle before we start IUI next month!!! I'm so ready to go. I've had two girlfriends recently conceive through IVF so I'm hoping their baby dust rubs off!

And speaking of baby dust... tomorrow I'm debuting my new blog and venture! And yes, it has to do with babies! That's all I'll spill for now. But there is a FABULOUS giveaway involved, so stay tuned!!!

Hello, blogworld?

Is that you? Hi, it's me - Buford Betty! I know, I know... I've been away for SO long! My last post was about turkey day and now we're about to smack right into Christmas! My December has just been so busy - as it always is. The string of holiday parties started last Saturday and well, it's non-stop till Christmas. We literally have a party (at least one) EVERY Saturday and Sunday till Christmas - and even some Fridays. No rest for the weary! I don't know why this surprises me every year... but it happens every December.

Now I DID reach my goal to finish all my Christmas shopping by the end of November. Hallelujah! I did not, however, get all of that loot wrapped yet. I wanted to be bought, wrapped, sealed, tagged, etc. before December ever got here... but, well crap. It's here! Whatever. Anyway, it's not that I haven't had fun things to blog about... I mean I usually jot a little note to myself when something pops in my head that's blogworthy. I have a nice little list brewing here... but my work calendar and social calendar have been busy, so that's leaves you, dear blogworld, to suffer. Hehehe...

Well, we did have a fabulous Thanksgiving. We were over at my godmother's for Thanksgiving dinner. And then the hub and I headed up to Tennessee to visit with his parents for the weekend. It was a great long weekend. Oh and did I mention that I went Santa shopping with my mom the Wednesday before? Yes! That little taste of shopping was a bit dangerous though. Even though Santa was buying, it wasn't good for me to smell those lovely retail smells and see the incredible bargains to be had up close and personal. I'm much better left in the dark. Out of sight, out of mind y'know. But I got some super cute stuff from Santa - well, I don't have it yet, but anyway - yeah. That makes me think of a Santa question... I think I'll add a fun little poll on here (note to self).

Oh and did I mention that we got banned from using Facebook at work? Not that I'm even on it much at work, but just the fact that I *can't* get on it is annoying. Especially when I get an email alert about a message or something and I can't get on there to answer it... that sucks. Because honestly the last thing I want to do when I get home is look at a computer. I sit in front of 4 - yes FOUR - large flat screen monitors every day. It's amazing I still have any vision left. So really, the idea of sitting at the 'puter once at home is no fun. So my facebook time has dwindled. As well as my bloggy time. I'll get it in there somehow though! I have so much to post about - I just need to sit my butt down and make the time. This is the most random post ever. OK so while I don't have time to post everything I wanna right now, I will leave you with a few things and a super simple recipe that I used at Thanksgiving too. Hope y'all are having a great week! I've missed y'all! :-)

OK, my random ramblings...

1. How much do I love Costco? More than you know. Our torrid love affair gets hotter and sweatier everyday. So I only recently discovered (or paid attention really) to the fact that you can get movie ticket vouchers there for $7.50. And there are NO exclusions. AND they're good for IMAX movies! Our local theatre has an IMAX screen. So the hub and I budgeted for a date night this month because he wanted to see that alien movie thing with Keanu Reeves - The Day the Earth Stood Still or whatever. Yeah, totally his pick. Anyway... our theatre has it showing on IMAX. So my old non-budgeting self would have gone on Fandango to get tickets - and those would've been $34 for two (after the fees and junk). BUT my shiny new budgeting self got two vouchers from Costco (you just ask for them at checkout) for $15 and went over to the mall yesterday to trade them in for our tickets. So I saved $19 by doing that - hellz yeah! Three cheers for Costco!

2. That leads me into what's on tap for this weekend... Friday night is date night with the hub. Saturday morning we're running the Jingle Jog 5k. Any other peaches running?! Gertie will be running alongside me with some Christmas flair - I promise to take pics! Charlie was supposed to run, but he has managed to injure his knee. The hub was at the vet with him yesterday. He's on some pain meds and we're just watching it for now, but the run is definitely out. Poor Charlie - say some puppy prayers for him! So does Belly get to take his place? Well, I say heck no because she is an absolute pill to run with... but she is daddy's girl and the hub is saying he's taking her. That's fine - he can run with her. Here's bettin' he tosses her into a garbage can before mile 2. Oh and I got some awesome Christmas knee-high socks for the occasion. I will take some pics of those too. Then SaturDAY I'll be in a wrapping frenzie! Frenzy? However you spell it. Saturday night we have a Christmas party at a friend's house... Church Sunday a.m.... A kid's birthday party at noon... and then our small group Christmas party Sunday night. Phew!

3. I'm almost done reading Breaking Dawn. I flew through the first three books, but had to slow down on this last one since we've been so darn busy lately. I don't think I ever mentioned my thoughts on the Twilight movie either... I thought it was good, not great. Liked, not loved. Edward was completely drool-worthy and worth the ticket price alone, but as with most movies based on books, the book is soooooooooo much better. I think, just the way it's written, it's so hard to translate that on film - especially in a 2-hour window of time. I don't think the intensity of Bella and Edward's relationship comes through. Though I have to say, I did find Jasper freaking hilarious. He's like Edward Scissorhands, minus the scissors. So I have a new-found love for Jasper after seeing the film. So overall... if you haven't read the book, I'd skip it. I just don't think I would've "gotten it" if I hadn't read. I mean I love me some vampires (again - tried and true Buffy fan here), but I think the movie was lacking. Oh I'll still totally buy it on DVD so I can look at Edward.... but yeah... I'm hoping they put a little more edge into the second film. Sounds like they're trying to spit that one out by the end of next year.

4. OK lastly (I told you these were random)... here's a recipe for corn casserole that I made for Thanksgiving. It's so stupid easy, but a huge hit. My favorite combo! Plus it's made with stuff most people have on hand - and if not, these ingredients are cheap. This is an old Paula Deen recipe, so you know it's good (terrible for you, but good)...

You'll need:
1 can creamed corn
1 can corn
1 stick butter
1 cup sour cream
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix

Melt the butter and mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into a baking dish. (I've done this both in a regular 9x13 dish and a square dish (9x9) and I think it comes out better in the 9x9). Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Yum-o!!!!!!!!

5. Wait, one more... Back to my thoughts on a poll re: Santa... So when I was growing up (and I guess I still am because Santa still comes if we're spending Christmas at my parents' house), Santa would lay out my gifts - all across the floor, all along the couch, whatever the case may be. He didn't wrap. Now Mom and Dad's gifts to me were wrapped and under the tree, but Santa came and left everything out unwrapped. I realize this is a heated debate... much like real vs. fake Christmas trees, or which way the toilet paper is supposed to hang, but I must ask, What does Santa do (or what did he do) at your house? Wrap or not?

A few random things for Monday morning...

1. Behold, the finished product for my giveaway winner, LSU Melanie! These turned out so cute (don't let my lousy pic fool you) - be jealous, ladies! Mellie, I hope you and your pregalicious belly enjoy! These will be en route to you tomorrow...


2. I started putting together the favors for this couples' shower we're throwing next month. Being that we're in massive budget mode, this shower has been quite a challenge - as I don't enjoy being limited in my party planning. It's one of those situations where I jumped up and said "me, me, me!" to hosting a shower as soon as our friends got engaged. And then now I'm like, oh damn... what did I get myself into? But, as with our other money-saving tactics, I've totally turned this shower planning on a budget into a game. As in, for how little money can I throw a fabulous shower? I usually don't keep tally on party expenses, but I'm drilling this one down to every last penny. And so far, I'm kicking some SERIOUS ass. You should see my Excel spreadsheet for this one - it's so awesome.

We're doing an "entertainment" themed shower. Bestest laughs at us all down south and our themed showers. So I guess this is not a normal thing around the whole country? Anyway, this entertainment theme seems to be all the rage now in the world of bridal showers. Gifts being things to entertain with... anything from serveware to board games. So I came up with this whole elaborate setup for the shower initially, and then I dumbed it down a couple of notches to something manageable. (That's usually my normal party planning process - dream big, then bring it down to reality.) The end result is a movie-themed shower. Now our take on "entertainment" covers everything from chic cocktail parties all the way to a movie night for two... so I decided to take the movie theme and run with it.

We're borrowing a friend's old fashioned popcorn machine (like the kind they used to give away on The Price is Right and I always wondered what the hell people were gonna do with it). Also, the hub has a "talent" for editing photos - so we're going to find some classic movie covers and edit them a bit to fit the bride and groom. I'll print those out and hang them somehow around the house. And I plan to display movie quotes all around the house on love and marriage... And here are those favors I started on. Movie theatre candy! Too darn cute...



3. I went to my J. Crew this weekend in an attempt to find a birthday prezzie for my dad with my super fun giftcard that I won at Jillian, Inc. (woo hoo!). But much to my surprise, MY store has ditched the men's section altogether and now is a women's "concept" store. Of course. Of course this happens the ONE time I'm in there looking for boy stuff. Completely baffled, I asked one of the sales girls where the hell the men's section went and she explained how they're doing this at 12 stores around the nation. But all the other Atlanta stores will still be selling men's and women's. Whatever. But I must say - if any of you locals are in the market, the clearance section at the Mall of Georgia location is freaking ginormous. And it was all marked an additional 40% off (for how long I don't know).

Saturday I had to run by our townhouse, so I hopped on over to the Perimeter location to check out the men's stuff. Nothing really caught my eye, so I also left that crew empty-handed. But I did notice the clearance section for women was like maybe a third of the size of the MOG store. Anyway, I decided to try my luck online - I usually have much more luck there anyway. So I ordered my dad a super cute pair of madras shorts and I also snagged these pretties for me.


A little give and take, you know. And I only went $4 over my giftcard once shipping and tax was figured in - woo hoo!

4. Lastly, I was very disappointed to learn that Warner Brothers is pushing back the release of the new Harry Potter film to NEXT summer. Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Way to tease us with the trailer and then yank it away from us! Cruel, I'll tell you!

5. NO wait, one more... the Kate Spade boutique is open now at Rue La La. Go buy stuff and I'll pretend I'm you!

The skinny on Dinner A'Fare

Well I'm going to take a bubble bath and get in the bed before too long since we have to be up so dang early tomorrow to head to the race... but first I thought I'd take a few to catch y'all up on our trip to Dinner A'Fare a couple of weeks ago. I told ya I'd come back with my review so here I am, finally.

First of all, here's how it works... You go online, choose a location, and pick out your meals from their current menu (which changes monthly). I think they had about 15 dishes to choose from and we picked 12. Because it's just the hub and me, we did 12 half-dishes (which serve 2-3 people). The total for the 12 halves was $160. Now if you're just interested in picking up the food, you can have them prepare everything for you and you just schedule a time to pick it up. I think it may cost a little extra to do it that way - not sure. But the real fun was going into the kitchen and putting all the dishes together! OK alone this would not be fun, but with friends or other couples, totally fun. We went with another couple and actually had the whole place to ourselves - it was a Sunday afternoon. We had a total blast. Even the hub totally raved about it. One dish the boys put together called for tequila, so there was a squirt bottle of tequila with the rest of the prepared ingredients. So of course the boys thought it was hilarious to squirt shots of low grade tequila in their mouths all night.

The kitchen also lets you bring in your own wine, so we were having a good ole time. All the stations are set up for a certain dish, and you just hop around to each station to prepare your specific menu. They have all the ingredients chopped up and ready to go with printed step-by-step directions overhead. Here's a look at one of the prep stations...



And a few goofballs in the kitchen...hehehe...


After preparing a dish, you go to the wrap station and wrap it up, label it, and it's ready to freeze. We brought a cooler with us, but if you were going straight home afterwards, I think you'd be OK with just some good grocery bags or totes. After wrapping up each dish, you stick it in their fridge till you're ready to go. The website really explains the process better than I can, but it was really just a ton of fun. Although the real question is - is the food any good? Well we've had 4 dishes now and I can proudly say, hell YEAH it's good. Everything so far has been excellent. And y'all also know that I'm an obsessive calorie counter, so I was excited to see that they display all the nutritional info on their online menu to aid in choosing your dishes. They also print the same info on the labels you use to wrap up each meal to take home and freeze. The first dish we ate was the chili lime crab cakes. I added the green salad, but here's a look...


Delish! Actually the hub got a little carried away with the "chili" part of the crab cakes, so they were rather HOT. But they were really really good. It's also cool to see some interesting combos of ingredients they come up with there... like we did a pork tenderloin dish that has a strawberry salsa topping with cilantro in it. Strawberries and cilantro... not sure I would've thought to put those two together, but it was yum-o!!!

Anyway, so Dinner A'Fare gets a big thumbs up from me. It was a great date night. I think it'd also make a fun girls' night out. You can also do private parties if you have a large enough group. And I also think it makes a GREAT gift for someone... it's the perfect gift for the busy gal or busy couple. I think it makes an awesome gift for newlyweds to use right after they get back from their honeymoon as they ease into their new life together. And especially for expectant parents! What a fun little outing for a momma- and daddy-to-be just before baby arrives... and then they've got a couple of weeks worth of meals taken care of! So yeah, I'm all about it. And I do love to cook when I get the notion. I cook a good bit - so don't think this is something only for people who don't like to cook. But with our busy and often unpredictable schedules, it's nice to know there's a yummy meal there ready to go if I'm not in the mood to cook.

So have any of y'all tried one of these type places? I know there are lots of different chains that do this sort of thing, but this is my first time - so Dinner A'Fare is really the only one I can vouch for. We'll definitely be back!

30 going on 17.

So I ran to Target over my lunch break to finish up kuntry bride's birthday gift. I will have to take photos of it all once I get it assembled because it's pretty darn cute. I got a little gift representing each of her little quirks that we all love. Well not all - that'd be impossible. I picked five. Anyway - I'll come back to that later. So I left Target and ran through the Starbucks drive-thru for an afternoon pick-me-up. I get up to the window and the girl hands me my tall-non-fat-iced-latte-with-one-splenda and says the normal "hey, how are you," etc, etc. Then she asks me if I'm working today. "Oh yeah, sure am," I said, implying I rather not be. And then she says, "Oh! Cool, where do you work?!" This seems normal I suppose, but the way she asked me with such enthusiasm translated to something more like, "Oh that's so cute that you have a little summer job! Where do you work?!" She looked a little baffled when I told her I worked at a CPA firm just down the street. I thought she was about to ask me what a CPA was but then she just smiled a funny smile and that was the end of it.

Ha! She may've been confused, but it sure made *my* day. It's one thing when older people think I'm a spring chicken, but when people obviously several plus years my junior (I'm assuming she was like college age) think I'm younger than they are, well that's even better. I suppose what she could see of my outfit sure didn't help... I have on a bright blue jumper with an orange and white striped tee underneath. You know, something a toddler would wear. But really I've had this happen all my life. I think I just must have a really young looking face or something. I used to hate it, but now I revel in it. Hehehe...

OK, so like anyway, I totally gotta go crunch some numbers and stuff. This summer job is killer. Text me later, OK? TTFN.

WBS,
b.b.

:: One year ago today ::

Happy Father's Day!

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful Father's Day and take time to celebrate the *dads* in your lives! This one is bitter sweet for me as we're missing our Gran. His legacy as a father and grandfather is one we'll never forget. He loved his wife and family more than life itself. Nothing gave him more pride than being a father. My grandparents were so great about journaling their life together. We have so many amazing videos and pictures, and here are a few oldies...

Gran and Mimi with their first son (my dad was #2). This was taken sometime in the early 40's.



Gran with his little sailor (my uncle again).

How cute that my Mimi dressed him up to match his daddy?!

And here's one of his last photos... and one of his last great inventions. He got a scooter and hitched the garbage can to it so he could get it out to the curb on garbage day. His neighbor always volunteered to do it, but Gran never wanted to "trouble" anyone else.

And of course I've had Tim Russert on my mind ALL weekend. Just can't seem to get him out of my head. Probably doesn't help that I've tivo'd the Friday night special, the special editions of the Today show both Saturday and today, and of course - Meet the Press, which is airing right now. Such a sad loss...

But today is also *sweet* of course! My parents are coming over for dinner tonight. I've got to get my booty to the grocery. We're doing shrimp kabobs on the grill. I ended up getting this great outdoor lantern for him - but I'm going to "embellish" it a little. I'll take pics. I hope it comes out as cute as it is in my head right now.

I believe the pups have a little something for their daddy too... Enjoy the day! :-)

Flip flop.

I know a lot of y'all have fabulous businesses and side gigs of your own - whether it's handmade bags or monogramming or children's clothes or whatever! Well y'all know I have my paper biz on the side that serves as my creative outlet for my non-creative day job counting beans. Thing is, one day I am ALL about my business, and get excited about expanding it and drumming up new ideas and thinking of fun ways to market myself... and then the next day I am like totally ho-hum about it all and completely unmotivated. I flip-flop like this constantly. So my question, fellow entrepreneurs, is this normal? I purposely don't over-market myself for this reason... my business really just comes from word-of-mouth and I like to keep it that way - small and simple... you know, fun projects to do when they pop up. People often ask if I plan to eventually quit my "real" job and do the paper gig full-time, but I totally have no desire to do that. It's fun and I like it a lot - but it's not what I'm ultimately meant to do forever. It's just fun for me for now. Now I am rambling... but really I'm just wondering if these up-and-down feelings are normal or if I'm just weird and can't seem to make up my mind... thoughts, ladies?

On another note, I did get my dad's gift figured out this weekend but I'm still working on FIL's. More on that later... thanks for the suggestions! Oh and P.S. - I survived my second 5k and shaved a couple of minutes off my time!! Who knew?!

Gifter's Block.

So I'm determined to get Father's Day gifts taken care of this weekend. I just have my dad and my FIL on the list, but still - I'm at a total loss here. I can think of fun gifts for girls a million times over, but boys? I'm sorry boys, but your *stuff* is so boring. Total snooze. I often find myself struggling with gifts for the hub for birthdays and such, but he at least will come up with some ideas for me. Sometimes. But my dad has like everything and if he doesn't have it, he'll go get it. So what's a girl to do?

Now we are not big spenders on gifts, so don't go suggesting some $300 gadget here... I'm looking in the $30-50 range. I'm telling you this because the first question I ask people who look to me for gift ideas is how much do you want to spend? And I don't like to buy crap just to buy crap. I'm very big on gifts being personal or at least you know - well thought out and meaningful. We're actually making dinner for my dad on Father's Day, so that's certainly a gift in itself. I'm going to come up with a fun summery menu and really make it fun. But I also want to get him a little something to open... I did find this book on last names (you buy the one specific to your last name) and thought at first that might be kind of cool - only because my maiden name is very unusual. I was surprised they even had a version with our last name. But then I decided that fell under the category of crap... one review I read said it wasn't any good, so that settled that. Plus what would he do with that anyway? Look at it maybe once, say oh that's neat, and then let it collect dust for 10 years before deciding to pitch it while doing 2018 spring cleaning? This is why I can't decide on anything - because I think about it entirely too much.

So anyway... any fabulous gift ideas for the dads in my life? My dad is a techie and always has been. He's not into any particular sports. He has golfed, but I would not call him a golfer - so definitely not golf stuff. No cigar stuff (I'm thinking of all the typical "man" gifts retailers suggest...). He likes yardwork. OK well gardening I suppose... he has people that come and do the *actual* yardwork. He also loves to grill out. He has a gas grill and also a green egg. I've seen those monogram grill whatever things... branders? What are they called? I don't know... yeah I thought about that but I think he might think that's dumb. I mean I think it's kind of dumb. Why do I want your initials on my steak? Anyway... he's pretty preppy. Always very well dressed. Loves to travel. Auburn fan. He's 60. I don't know... geez, he's just my dad, y'all! Help me! And I don't do giftcards.

As for my FIL - he is actually the hub's stepfather but he thinks of him as a dad. He is great. He's older... pushing 70 I think. He has gotten into golf some in the last year. Big Bama fan. Likes margaritas. Does stuff with spaceships. You know, NASA type stuff or whatever. Also likes to grill but I must say if he and my dad had a grill-off, my dad would totally win. I may be partial, but I'm just sayin'. So are y'all gonna help me or what? What all are you guys getting your dads and hubbies? Our pups will be scrounging up some cards for the hub, I'm sure. They are all about it.

Alright, y'all put your thinking caps on and hook me up. We're staying in tonight, so I expect to see some good ideas when I check back this evening! As for other weekend plans, we've got another 5k in the morning and it's not going to be pretty. We haven't been out running since last week, so once again the goal is to just live through it. I did come up with a brilliant idea though... this past Wednesday at Yoga there was this nasty spider that kept crawling around (and several times ON) my mat during class. He'd run off but then come crawling right back! I guess he liked my pink mat?! I mean it does stand out a little amidst all the black and grey ones... but seriously he wouldn't leave me alone. So of course while in these awkward yoga positions, I'm fully focused on this spider. Having to lift my leg here and there to let him pass. Now if at home, I would've been screaming, but geez - I can't lose my cool in yoga class! Anway - the point here - because I was so zeroed in on this spider and whether or not he was gonna *get* me, I managed to completely forget the pain I was in while holding my warrior II. So that got me thinking, if I could have someone dangle a spider right behind me during my 5k - I would run like hell! I bet I'd finish that thing in 20 minutes easy. Good idea, yes?!

25% off everything at Horchow!

OK this is totally late notice as the sale supposedly ends tonight, but you'll receive 25% off your entire purchase today at Horchow when you enter code DREAM25 at checkout. Now I use "supposedly" because they tend to *extend* their sales quite often, but for now it's due to end at midnight central time tonight. (Woo hoo! We east-coasters get an extra hour!) So if you are on a gift hunt or maybe just want some goodies for yourself, it's worth a look! As I've mentioned a million times, this is THE place to go for monogrammed towels - and with the additional discount, it's a no-brainer. With all the crap that comes with a sucky economy, at least we have little bits of silver lining, like killer sales at our favorite stores!

Weekend fun.

What a wonderfully fabulous weekend... after a short day at the office, I ran some errands, including - as predicted - a return trip to Tutti Frutti. I just had to get another fix before leaving town! It was pouring down rain, but I still went. So I arrive home with my bowl of Tutti Frutti to find a BIG ole box from bestest on my front porch. Prezzies!!!! I knew it was coming soon but it was so fun to see it sitting there waiting on me! And even MORE fun when I realized, amongst the other million goodies, were THESE!

These fabulous Bonanno's (my first pair ever!) are my 30th birthday prezzie from bestest! (We both relish in sending our prezzies in a very belated manner. And maybe we're both a weeee bit lazy. But we see it as dragging out our birthdays as long as possible!) Now you know why I call her BESTEST!!! I was so very surprised and excited and extra thrilled that they came in time for my trip!!! They got immediately packed in my bags for Charleston. You spoil me rotten, bestest - I love you!

So I had a fabu time in Charleston with kuntry bride and our girlfriend, whom I'll call "Carolina girl" (so creative!). We left early Friday morning so we could enjoy the afternoon in Charleston. The 5-hour drive went by pretty quickly since kuntry bride and I were gabbing the entire time. I thought about bringing my Harry Potter audio CD's but shoot - we didn't need any entertainment other than ourselves.

After arriving at Carolina girl's cutie apartment in Mt. Pleasant, we freshened up and headed downtown. This was kuntry bride's first visit here, so we checked out the market and walked around some of the more touristy areas. We also dropped in several shops up and down King Street. My favorite of which was their J. Crew because it had a Crewcuts section!!! Atlanta doesn't have CC in any of its stores currently, so this was a total thrill. OMG... it was like cuteness overload. Way, way, WAY cuter in person than online and in the catalogs. It was too delicious for words. Good thing I didn't have a kid to buy for or I would've gone ape shit. I was good though... didn't buy a thing anywhere. Found some really cute madras burmudas at crew on sale but the main color was yellow and they just made my pasty white legs look ever the more pastier. Plus I don't like my legs in shorts anyway, so it was a no-go. While out that afternoon, we also indulged in a scoop from Ben & Jerry's. We're on vaca... so why not?! Now of course everyone else gets the funny flavors with all the cooky ingredients, but I go for plain ole chocolate. I can't handle multiple ingredients in my ice cream.

We later went back to the apartment to change and figure out what we were doing for dinner. We ended up going back into town for dinner at a tapas bar called Meritage - it was delish! We were a little disappointed in one tapa - the goat cheese balls - but all the others were great! My total fave was the tuna tartare. I could've dined on that alone and been happy. Yum-o! The bar scene was pretty hoppin' there (cause you know I'm so up on my bar scenes). Lots of young people but certainly your fair share of random old men sitting at the bar alone. One inparticular, who had to be like 75 at least, took a real liking to kuntry bride. He just stared and stared at her with this goofy ass smile. It was sooooo funny.

The next morning we got in some good beach time on Sullivan's Island. The beach is so great and it's only a 10-minute drive from Carolina girl's apartment. How jealous am I?! Oh to have beach access like that all the time - must be so nice. Only beach I got is the crappy man-made version at the lake. Oh well. So it was super nice to soak in some rays. As usual, I dowsed myself in sunscreen but I evidently failed to get it evenly applied on my backside. I've got a red ass and upper back. It's lovely. I took a pic today of the red hot mess on my back (I'll spare you from my red bum)...

I don't know how well you can see it, but it's really red. And that's 3 days post-scorchfest. The drive home on Sunday wasn't the most comfortable, but I lived. Anyway - after beachtime, we walked over to a local spot on the island that Carolina girl and her friends frequent called Poe's. It was such a fun atmosphere and the food was excellent. I had a yummy seared tuna salad and we all had some delish margaritas. Saturday was just so perfect weather-wise. It seriously could not have been better!

After rinsing off the beach funk, we dressed for dinner and headed into town Saturday afternoon. We first made a stop at the Rooftop Bar at the Vendue Inn. I've actually stayed there before with my parents - I think I was in junior high (so I doubt I got invited to the rooftop bar). Although the weather was so pleasant, it was actually quite freezing on the rooftop because it was crazy windy. It was such a great spot - I'd love to go back when the wind wasn't so bad. We only lasted one drink up there, but it was fun. For dinner, Carolina girl took us to Coast. It was soooo yummy! She really picked great hot spots all weekend long. Everything we had was delish! We girls split a carafe of sangria while waiting for a table and then I had a wonderful grouper dish for dinner. Our waiter was outstanding too - he knew the menu so well and was uber helpful. I would say the food was definitely the highlight of the trip...hahaha... and I feel like all we did was eat! When we weren't eating, we were talking about what we'd be eating next.

One afternoon Carolina girl took us to a cupcake bakery called Cupcake. Now bestest, had our muffin cakes been the ingenius invention we had hoped for, this would've been our dream shop! It was darling and the sugary goodness just hit you when you walked in the door. Visit their site and see how lovely their dollop of icing is... so perfectly scrumptious. I'm not a fan of icing, but the little taste I had was really good. I literally whacked the icing top off my cupcake since I'm anti-icing. So it wasn't nearly as cute without it, but it was yum-o!

Well, feeling fat and happy, kuntry bride and I headed back to the ATL Sunday morning. We really had a good girly time with Carolina girl and we can't wait to go back! The hub survived the weekend without me, believe it or not! ;-) He got in some good time with the yard and the doggies. Sunday night we were both pooped, so we just chilled at the house. But yesterday evening we went for another run and he took me to Tutti Frutti again for my reward. Everyday deserves a little Tutti Frutti. In fact... I better get him to go with me now before American Idol starts. I need my fix. And I apparently need a 12-step program!!!!!!!