The party shoes.

Aren't these so fun? Mine or black, as is the dress for Lucky's wedding. But you can see the bow detail (in the 2nd pic below) better in red.






And this is the bridesmaid dress, in case you forgot...




It's such a fun party dress - very young and playful. As are the shoes! The shoes are way cuter on than in the pic. It's so fun having a new shoe box in the house... I mean, it's been over a year since I bought new shoes!

OK so you're dying to know how KISS was, right? Haha - it was fun. We had a good time. I was a little disappointed that more fans weren't in full on costume, but there was a good bit of face paint. But the main ensemble of choice for concert goers last night? A black band T-shirt with jeans. Seriously - like that's what 95% of the people there had on.

We actually had really great seats. Lucky's hubby-to-be got them free through work and we found out they were $137 tickets - geez. Even though I only know a few of their songs and don't really call myself a "fan," I must say it was pretty surreal seeing them on stage, so close. I mean, like 'em or not, you can't deny the fact that they're iconic rock 'n roll figures. But after about three songs, we were all over it. Been there, done that. I can now mark "see KISS in concert" off my bucket list. Had no idea it was on there, but it's checked off now. Oh and the hub, as per usual, got one of his earplugs stuck in his ear and had to go to one of the medics at Philips. This seriously happens EVERY time we go to a concert. All I can do is laugh at my goofy husband - gotta love 'im.

Alright, nighty night girls! It's past my bedtime. Oh speaking of - I think our "let's get the dogs used to the sound machine" the last couple of nights has turned into "we can't sleep without the sound machine!" Too funny... no wonder babies dig it.

Rock 'n Roll all night and party everyday. That's me!

Thanks so much for all the fab advice on the white noise machines!  I went in Target and found nothing on Friday.  But inbetween showers on Saturday I had two amazing finds... first, shoes for Lucky's wedding in January, and second, a white noise machine for only $16!  I'll tell you about the shoes in a minute, but we found the sound machine at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $19.99.  It was the same brand as one of the machines you all recommended, so I figured it couldn't be horrible.  And kuntry bride was like, "do you have a coupon?  I have one in my car!"  So she gave me her 20% off coupon and I got it for $16!  Awesome. 

 

We tried it out in our bedroom that night with the dogs.  Belly was a bit freaked out at first.  Charlie kept whining and trying to get out the door.  Gertie didn't notice a thing.  But once we all settled down, they all were fine with it and we slept through the night with it going.  We used it again last night - no issues whatsoever.  It seems pretty loud - I think it will definitely work fine for crating the doggies in the basement.

 

As for the shoes, I'll have to come back and add pics, but they are so fun!  I did feel guilty buying shoes, even though it's something I had to do before the wedding.  As dumb as it sounds, I did not have any black dress shoes that will work with the bridesmaid dress.  The only black dress shoes I have (and by dress I mean like for formal occasions) are strappy heels with a huge crystal butterfly on top.  Don't think Lucky would go for that.  Neither would I.  I usually wear metallics with more formal stuff, so I have my fair share of those.  But I am super excited about these new shoes.  And while handing over three $20 bills at DSW was rather heartbreaking, I'm proud of new me.  Old me would've insisted on something Italian and much more expensive.  How stupid.  Though I'm sure my expensive shoe fetish will somehow make its way back into our budget once we get debt-free.  I'm just sayin'. 

 

OH so girls, guess what I'm doing tonight...  Nope, not even close.  I got talked into going to see KISS tongiht at Philips Arena.  Hahaha...  not *exactly* my usual crowd, but it should be interesting, huh?  I do like a couple of their songs but sure don't have any of their old albums.  I'm sure they put on a great show though.  And it's GOT to be great people watching, don't you think?  I bet there will be tons of fans in full-out makeup and costume.  Perhaps a better drag show than a Madonna concert!  My mom keeps saying, "Be careful, I'm serious, be CAREFUL!"  I think she's afraid the hub will get into a fight with some obnoxious Gene Simmons impersonator or something.  

 

Yeah, so yet again I've got another action-packed week ahead.  But of main concern right now is when the heck my spa dude is going to work me in this week.  My brows are about to need their own zip code.  Ugh.

 

OK Halloween is like here and we still have not figured out our costumes.  My dream idea?  To be Emma Pillsbury and Ken Tanaka from Glee.  OMG that would be hilarious.  One of my friends said to me today that I look just like Emma... don't really see it, but I do think she's precious so, OK!  That would require a red wig for me and some incredibly tight football shorts and a fanny pack for the hub.  Hmm....  pretty sure the hub will NOT go for that.  Plus he thinks Glee is stupid and says "no one will know who we are."  He does not comprehend Glee's awesomeness.

 

Alright y'all, gotta bust out of here and get ready for Kee-us!  I'll let you know how it goes on the other side...

Need some white noise. Pronto.

OK mommas, quick question...  I need to find a white noise machine this weekend.  Does this require a trip to Babies 'r Us?  Target?  I know this is one of the #1 essentials for newborns, so I'm hoping you all have some opinions to share on which brand/style is best.  I, however, need this not for a crying baby, but for my three yapping dogs.  The mission:  to get my pups crated in the basement with a noise machine that will block out (as much as possible) the sounds (of the humans) from upstairs.  And we have hardwoods and tile, so there's lots of clackity-clackity going on when we move around. 

 

So what I need is a decent white noise machine that is LOUD enough to block out other sounds,  but cheap enough that I won't cry when I make the purchase.  I've been digging around Amazon's site for different types and reading the reviews and dammit if those suckers aren't expensive!  I do not need a fancy or cute one.  This is for the dogs.  It will not ultimately end up in my someday-nursery.  I will be more concerned with cuteness later.  This one can be ugly as sin - I don't care.  It just needs to be affordable and effective.

 

So give me your recs, please... ready, set, GO!

 

And I hope you ladies have fab weekends lined up.  I've got BBQ pork going in the crockpot at home - mmmm!  And tomorrow is a bridal and baby shower extravaganza...  I've got a marathon of showers starting at 11am.  I actually was invited to four, but I can only manage three.  Seriously.  Is October 24th like the day of showers or something?  Geez.  I've got to figure out what to wear.  Sunday we have church and brunch afterwards with some friends.  Then I'll be slaving away on Lucky's wedding invites.  Action-packed!  Have safe and happy weekends, girls! xoxoxo

Whatever. Puh-leez. Gawh.

So... how come things haven't slowed down since October 15th?  Geez.  I've already got a couple of big projects thrown at me so I'm totally busy again.  But at least I don't have a big deadline hanging over me - that makes it way easier.  I'm still a busy bee outside of work too... been working on Lucky's wedding invitations and there are like 200 of them so that's kinda time consuming.  And I'm already getting geared up for the holidays.  Getting Christmas parties on the calendar, trying to figure out what to do for Christmas cards, and developing a game plan for the rest of my Christmas shopping...  it keeps a girl on her toes. 

 

Oh and meanwhile I'm trying to figure out Halloween costumes for me and the hub.  We're going to a party this year, so it'll be fun to dress up.  But I'm not about to spend a dime on costumes. We gotta work with what we have.  I still have one of my old HS cheerleading uniforms so I might be Quinn Fegray from Glee.  Not sure about the hub...  the wheelchair kid maybe?  Haha... doubt he'll go for that, but at least he'd have a seat at the party.  One of my friends let me borrow her nurse and doctor outfits that she and her hubby wore last year, so we need to try those out too - that might work.  But it's a *SEXY* nurse and I'm not so sure I can pull that off.  The sexy, yes, but the outfit - not so sure!  Are y'all dressing up?  If you've got a fun costume, do tell.

 

So if you haven't noticed, I've totally been ignoring the baby thing lately.  It works out well because I've had several baby showers to go to lately, people light years younger than me are sprouting baby bumps at my office that I have to see everyday, and I get at least one new birth announcement in the mail or my inbox every week that's not nearly as cute as the ones I would do.  So for the time being, I am admittedly living in my I-don't-have-any-kids-and-I-can-do-whatever-I-want-and-aren't-you-jealous-ha-ha-ha world.  Yeah.  I go for the extremes, apparently.   Well, thing is - we are on hold on baby makin' right now for cash reasons.  The hub is looking for a new job and until we get that squared away, for one, it makes no logical sense to move forward just yet.  But job or not, there's still some major saving to do if we end up having to go the IVF route.  My insurance of course covers nothing, so everything is completely out-of-pocket.   But I do have a cafe plan that'll allow us access to cash for medical stuff at the beginning of the year.  So I'm thinking, worst case, we'll do the next IUI cycle in January if not sooner. 

 

But if January's a bust, we'll probably give it a rest till tax season is over.  Because Lord knows if we're shelling out thousands of dollars for IVF I do *not* need to be stressed out and overworked.  So it'd probably be late April or May before we could even think about that - not to mention the cash issue.  But seriously I'm totally not worrying about it right now.  I'm just like WHATEVER.  Kids are annoying and I totally don't need any.  Plus they get sick all the time and crap.  It's really ridiculous. 

 

OK y'all know I'm kidding and I don't really hate kids and the people who have them.  Just sometimes.  I'm not in a rut.  I think any of my fertility-challenged pals understand that you go through the weirdest of emotions/phases/moods - whatever you wanna call them.  I'm just in the whatever-I-don't-care-forget-you room right now.  I'm still praying and waiting on God and trusting and yada yada yada.  All that shit.  But all I can say is WHAT-EVER, world.  Bleh!

 

Ha - some of you probably find it refreshing that I'm not blabbering about my busted uterus.  Oh but stay tuned, dear readers, I'll be out of this padded cell at some point.  But right now I'm not tracking, I'm not taking my vitamins (though I eat my multi-grain Cheerios which are about as good), I'm not caring.  Maybe tomorrow I'll care, but for now I've got a date with Lucky and some Mexican food.  We'll worry about babies later.  I need some cheese.

Spanx much?

First of all, happy October 15th! That's a nod to my fellow nerdy tax accountants out there. Hallelujah... But the real reason I'm hopping on here before I run off to work is to let you know that Atlanta-based Spanx is looking for more wear testers. I've mentioned a time or two on here that I do some test wearing for Spanx. I can't dish on the products, but I will say it's a fun experience. They are always testing new products on guinea pigs like me. I give them my honest opinion through online surveys, and I get to keep the products. I mean, what's not to love?! And as I said, Spanx is looking for more volunteers to do some testing. Basically, they send products to your home, you wear them as much as you can in the given time frame, and then you complete a survey with your feedback. It's of absolutely no cost to you, so if you're interested, go for it! To get involved, drop an email to product coordinators Amanda Gardner or Kyli Cohron.

But bloggy world, one word to you guys... they specifically request that you do NOT post any information or reviews (good or bad) on the products you receive for wear testing. Your feedback should only be shared with Spanx via the online surveys they send you directly, as many of these products are not on the market yet. And that's exactly why I don't talk about it on here except to say that (a) I'm doing it, and (b) you should, too!

They want women of all sizes, all ages, and even you mommas-to-be. They do have a line of maternity Spanx and are always happy to find prego wear testers. So get to it!

Almost there.

Hey all! What is it with me only posting on Tuesdays lately? It's not really on purpose, but it's just kinda happened that way for some reason. Not forever though - I promise. October 15th is almost here! Last big deadline of the year at work and hopefully I can have a little more breathing room afterward. Goodness.

And of course, I don't have a ton of time to blabber right now, but just wanted to pop in and say hello. And thanks so much for all the birthday wishes from last week. I had a GREAT birthday. The hub really surprised me - which is quite a feat for him since he can't keep a secret to save his life. While I was snoozing away on the morning of my birthday, he got up and snuck into my office at work (he conspired with one of my co-workers to get into the building). He gets up insanely early quite often to go play raquetball, so I certainly didn't suspect anything. So when I got to work, I was very surprised to find this...

These pictures don't really do his work justice AT ALL because there were balloons everywhere! I took these after making a "path" to my desk. And I was using my phone to take the pics, so they aren't the best. He also had heart confetti all over my desk - too cute. So needless to say, there was no hiding the fact that it was my birthday at work. Geez, not that I would. I love my birthday!

We really don't do birthday (or any other) gifts for each other right now while doing our debt snowball, so it forces us to get creative. But I gotta tell ya... I have gotten some of the best "gifts" over the last year. When funds are tight, you really do have to use your brain. He probably spent, what... $20 doing all that? But OMG... it was the best.

Alright, no real news here today. Gotta be off to work. Oh but one big thing - we sold the Lexus last night! Got $3500 for it - woo HOO! We were just hoping to get $3k or more, so we were thrilled. A huge, huge blessing that arrived at the perfect time. Hope you all are having fabulous weeks. Stay dry, Atlanta girls. Back later...

Thirty-two. But who's counting?!

It's here! My favorite day of the year! That's right... my birthday! I think I will always love my birthday, no matter how many candles there are on my cake. Thirty-two does sound kinda old though. Hmmm...

Anyway, yay for today! And I'm so sorry to be so absent-go-bloggy lately, but it's just been a very busy few weeks here. I have tons of stuff I want to post about but just haven't had the time to sit down and do it! But I'm still alive and kickin'.

I've already gotten some fab birthday prezzies. Y'all already know about the freezer, my new best friend. And my godmother gave me a gift certificate to a local gift shop here that carries Vera Bradley. So I got this little ditty...

I'm in love! I needed a wallet SO badly. I've been carrying around a Dave Ramsey wallet since it was made to hold his cash envelopes. It's fine and all, but it ain't cute. And you know me... I like cute. So I found my birthday to be a good opp to get a new CUTE wallet. But it has to somehow hold my cash envelopes, and this cutie one does perfectly! I got it in the new Paprika pattern - SO cute.

I also got a giftcard for J. Crew from my MIL - sooooo excited! I screamed a little when I opened it. OK, maybe a lot. The hub and I also had a birthday-day-of-fun-on-a-budget on Sunday. We went to church, had brunch at The Flying Biscuit, went to Fernbank (on BOA's dime), and then later went to see The Invention of Lying that night. Really cute movie - I loved it. Tonight, the hub has something up his sleeve, but I'm not sure what it is. Though I'll probably know by 11am. He can't keep a secret to save his life. It's terribly cute, though.

So far, 32 looks pretty good. I think I'll like it. Hope you all are having a great week! And hopefully I'll find some more time to hop on here and jibber jabber. I know my commenting has been nearly non-existant lately, but I'm keeping up with you lovelies on my reader!

OH also - Javis Davis is having a big sale this month, so hop over here and check out the details. If you have some momma friends looking for crib bedding, now's a great time to go custom!