*Sniff Sniff*

Well, we found out this morning that our buyer backed out of the deal on our townhouse. What a kick in the stomach on a Monday morning! As if Mondays aren't cruel enough on their own! Oh well... what can you do?! We're trying to take the positive spin on this and believe that there must be a better offer out there for us. So we'll go with that. Meanwhile, I'll just bug y'all for some more prayers and for someone out there to pimp our property! We knew not to get *too* excited till it was a done deal, but it still sucks ass. So keep those prayers coming!

Other than that icky news this morning, the weekend was a good one. We survived the late night out Saturday - and even stayed out for pizza after the party - CRAZY! Then Sunday afternoon we had an engagement party to attend for one of the hub's childhood friends. I wore one of my "new" Lilly's and got compliments to boot!


And the party was very fun - very low key and just a lot of fun. The bride comes from a BIG family and one of her brothers is in a band - a band that I happen to LOVE. And so when I found this bit of info out (when she and the hub's friend first started dating last year), I was like OMG. I am the most star-struck fool for celebrity types - it's seriously ridiculous. Bestest appreciates this quality in me as I will name every geographic movie reference I can possibly think of in any given location. Anyway, so this particular brother and his wife hosted the shower. He *just* flew in the night before from a show. It was a small party and for privacy's sake I best not reveal who it is, but do you KNOW how excited I was to sneak my camera into one particular room and get a shot of these babies!?!?!??!


I'm an awards show junkie so that was particularly thrilling! Anyway, fun weekend... you know - me hangin' with the celebs... the usual. Hahaha! ;-)

Hope y'all had a good one. And hopefully I'll be back soon with some good news on the townhouse.

Old married farts we are.

You know you're old when the idea of going down to the Highlands to a birthday shindig that doesn't start till 9 o'clock triggers an eye-roll and a big yawn. That's fine - call me old - but I'm typically a let's-get-in-bed-at-10-o'clock kinda girl. Though after celebrating one of my HS girl's 30th over "cake and cocktails" and driving back up to suburbia, I'll be rolling into bed tonight at God knows when. We go into town a lot but it's usually for dinner and most times I can come close to meeting my "curfew." Even the hub was like, "9 o'clock - seriously?!" It'll be fun I'm sure, I just wish it started a little earlier for this old fart. How boring are we?! Hahahhaha.... Oh well. I may be yawnin', but I'll be lookin' damn cute in this little number...

Maybe we better hit a Starbucks on the way out... :-)

:: One year ago today ::

It's not just YOUR day.

Obviously I'm making up for lost time here since I keep coming up with "must post!" topics every few seconds... geez. Well I can't help it. I was just in the break room refilling my water bottle and had the typical Friday afternoon convo with a fellow co-worker. You know, any big weekend plans? That sort of thing. So I was telling him about the two parties we're attending and then he mentioned a wedding he and his wife are going to tomorrow. He explains that the bride wanted a 6 o'clock reception, but the 4 o'clock ceremony slot at her church was booked. So she took the 2 o'clock ceremony slot, but - oh yes - kept the 6 o'clock reception time. OH wow. Now had this been a convo between me and bestest, I'm pretty sure it would've turned into a 3 hour discussion on the topic. But I just said, "Oh no.... well I hope she knows she's gonna lose people." He said they're having a 2.5 hour cocktail reception immediately after the ceremony - I have no idea where but I'm assuming a 3rd location. And then a second cocktail hour at the actual reception site before a seated dinner at 7 o'clock. FIVE hours from ceremony start till ya feed me? Oh heavens no.

All I can say is I hope this isn't some swanky plated meal at 7 o'clock because she can surely expect some no-shows. I'm not saying that's "right" on the guests' part, but 5 hours - seriously? People are going to bail! Especially if you're serving wine earlier that afternoon. And what about the older people - I know for a fact my parents would be like, to hell with this! If they saw on the invite that a reception didn't begin till four hours later, they'd probably attend the ceremony and bid adieu. I'm never a fan of lag time between ceremony and reception. It's just a bad idea and you will lose people. So, bride, I know this is your big day and all, but if you can't get the 4 o'clock slot at the church, either find a different church or do an earlier reception! It'll just be you, your groom, your heavy-eyed wedding party and the DJ left there to see you cut your cake, for crying out loud.

Here's the thing... my bridal consultant gave me lots of advice back when the hub and I were planning our wedding, but the thing she said to me from day one that has always stuck with me is this: "If you want to have your wedding day be ALL about you, then go off somewhere, just the two of you, and get married. Otherwise, it's about your guests." She had me sold right then and there because that's exactly how I think a bride should look at wedding planning. So when I hear about these crack-head shenanigans couples pull to have the wedding they want - no matter the inconvenience to others - it just urks the hell out of me. And don't get me wrong - I am in no way and never was the "anti-bride." I LOVE weddings and everything to do with weddings, but that also makes me very passionate about certain things regarding weddings. And this just happens to be one of them - hence this post triggered by a random water cooler convo!

And it of course reminded me of one particular wedding my parents were invited to that is a prime example of what I'm talking about... A couple of years ago my parents got invited to a Friday night wedding at the Fox. Well already right there you'd be on my shit list. The Fox is a lovely site, but on a Friday night in Atlanta? Do you KNOW the mess that people have to go through just to get to the Fox on a Friday night? Atlanta traffic is some of the worst in the nation and Friday nights are like the grand finale in a week of traffic hell. So already this is just asking for people to be late or even very likely miss your ceremony altogether. Oh but did I tell you? The bride not only chose a Friday night, but also decided to do this on the weekend of Music Midtown. Where is the Fox? Oh yes, in midtown! WTF. So not only are we talking about normal Friday traffic, let's throw in a huge ass music festival! As you can imagine, my mother was pissed about this whole wedding from the moment she opened the invite. The bride was the daughter of a friend though, so she felt the need to go and accepted the invitation.

Well the wedding approaches and my mom decides to go log on to the couple's site to see about their registry. While looking, she stumbled upon some event info they had posted and happened to catch this little tidbit (keep in mind this is a 7 o'clock wedding)...

"Don't fill up on dinner because we're having an array of desserts after the wedding!"

My mom immediately called me. She went from pissy to down right angry. "They expect us to drive all the way back into town on a Friday night for a 7 o'clock wedding and they're not going to feed us dinner?!" Ohhhh yes. So I'm sure you can put two and two together... this couple obviously was hell bent on having a reception at the Fox, but couldn't really afford it. So their solution was to pick an off night and not serve real food. All so they could say that got married at the Fox. Well come the day of the wedding, my mom actually got into a fender bender on her way home (from downtown by the way) and used that excuse - or a "sign" as she chose to call it - not to go to the wedding. She of course later called the MOB and apologized, but that's my point. Pull shit like this and you're going to lose people. If you can't afford a reception at the Fox, do it somewhere else for crying out loud! Who cares?!?!?! No one is ooohing and aaahing over your posh locale when they just sat in 2 hours of traffic trying to get there - and oh yeah - paying $10+ to park so they can show up late and have a slice of cake.

Wow. See what happens when you get me going? Sorry... just one of my huge pet peeves with weddings. I get tired of the bridezilla attitude where they think they can do or have whatever they want because it's "their day" and it's all about them. It's not! Yes, you're the guest of honor and everyone's looking at you, but you are catering to your guests - don't forget that. Y'all should be bending over backwards for them, not the reverse. A guest is there to celebrate your special day, so don't turn it into a chore. They should be able to enjoy themselves and not have to drop a dime - not a dime - from the minute they arrive till the minute they leave. I know some would argue with me on that one, but that's my own personal opinion. I don't mean to sound like I'm coming down on all the brides out there, I'm just asking that you remember to consider your guests and not *just* you. Because believe it or not, it's their day too. And I'll be stepping off my soapbox now back to level ground... ;-)

Oldie but goodie.

I've been lazy about switching out bags lately, but I decided to mix it up today. I have this fabu ginormous Kate Spade metallic gold hobo that I carry all the time. And because it goes with everything, I do tend to get lazy and all my other bags stay shelved. But hey, it's Friday, and I'm feeling crazy!

Well actually, if you must know, I was on a mad hunt for a tampon this morning (as my giganto Costco box full is out suddenly!). When there's no sign of one under the sink or in my bag, I start rummaging through the shelved bags for ones that have been left in there. I keep 'em on me all the time so it's not at all uncommon to have 2 or 3 still in the zipper pocket of random bags I've changed out of. Well as I'm searching this morning, I pulled open a dust bag to find this cute Kate tote and decided it was so happy and fun and it needed to come out and play. I don't carry it much because it's a little on the small side for me (I'm a big bag girl - I like 'em BIG), but today she was beggin' to come out! Isn't she so happy?!


Never did find a tampon though. Doh.

A Lilly Makeover.

As promised, I've got before and after photos of my old Lilly dress makeover. I picked them up Wednesday (it's two of the same dress in different patterns) and am SO happy with the results! I mentioned taking these to my alteration lady last week. I *think* this style is called Sabrina (from several years ago), but don't hold me to that - I could totally be making that name up. It's strapless with a tie in the back (though please ignore how I have it tied in these pics because I was just throwing the dress on really quickly for a photo opp.) and it hits a little below the knee. I've actually never been super crazy about the length on it, but never did anything about it. And the hip region on the dress seemed to run a bit large, but it looked fine - until I lost some weight over the last year. So now the dress just looked ridiculous on me. So instead of letting the two like dresses hang there and collect dust, I finally decided to make them over (er... tell the alteration lady how to make them over).

So here are the BEFORE shots, both front and back. The camera angle here is bad and I'm not sure you can appreciate how truly *frumpy* it looked. But overall it just felt very frumpy on me. And Lilly should never feel frumpy!

And then a week and $74 later (for both dresses)... the AFTER! You can tell I feel much cuter by my fabulous posing here...

I totally feel like I scored two brand new dresses since these are totally wearable again. Here's the other pattern I have (you know what - I don't think I've ever worn this one actually!)...

We've got an engagement party to attend Sunday afternoon and I think I will wear the orange one. It's a backyard BBQ - so this should be perfect. Although that tan-line from my scorchfest in Charleston looks awful in these pics... hmmm... Oh well. So is $74 total reasonable? I rarely have things altered. I'm short, but I wear heels with my slacks at work, so I don't usually have to get things hemmed... but I always go to the same lady near my parents' house everytime I need to go. I mean she basically reconstructed the entire bottom half of the dress, so it seems fairly reasonable to me. What do y'all think? Either way, I'm totally happy with the results and can't wait to sport my *new* Lilly this weekend!

A minute to breathe...

Let me take one, just one! Oh man this week has been crazy. The past few have been off the charts, but it's been especially kurraazay this week. I'm only hopping on for a sec to give a quick update. I promise I'll hop back on later with deets from last weekend's whirlwind of activities - we had a blast. I give Dinner A'Fare an A++ (more on that later).

But really quickly, just wanted to let y'all know it looks like we'll have a contract on the townhouse today. We've been going back and forth with one buyer that I briefly mentioned and I think we're finally at a point all parties are happy with. As in any case, it ain't over till it's over, but things are sure looking good. So keep those prayers coming! We should be closing at the end of next month, assuming all goes according to plan. And if so, 'ritas on me on July 31!

This whole thing has been a total emotional roller coaster for me this past week. I've been a complete basket case and not at all happy-go-bloggy (hence my absence till now). All this mess and a bad case of the baby blues as of late has had me in a total funk. I don't really know what an anxiety attack looks like, but I could almost see one coming on! I even took a mental health day on Tuesday to try and get it together. My house was a mess from us being out ALL weekend. Do you ever feel like everything around you is just caving in and you're gonna lose it? Yeah that was me. But fear not, dear readers... I'm doing much better. Still stressed somewhat, but much much better. And no matter how stressed I let myself get, I am *always* aware of the bigger picture and I know God won't throw anything at me that the two of us can't handle together. But sometimes you just gotta throw a hissy fit and let it out, right?! Hehehe....

OK ladies, I gotta get some hours in. I'll come back with more soon (including my before and after Lilly dress shots.... aren't you SO excited?!)...

Oh and P.S. - I did get in that other sample sale site I mentioned earlier - Top Secret. I'll send invites out to those I already have email addresses for. Just delete the email if you don't want in. Leave a comment with your email address if you want me to add you.

P.P.S. - one of my dearest girls is having surgery today. She is a surgery pro like me, but she was particularly nervous about this one, so please add a lil prayer for her while you're praying for the townhouse! ;-)

Over and out!

:: One year ago yesterday ::

(I'm a little behind!)

Fingers crossed applesauce!

So we had a showing at our townhouse this morning and per our realtor, it went REALLY well. The other agent said they'd be coming back again tomorrow for another look and some indication was made of a *possible* offer coming in a day or two. Would that be amazing or would that be AMAZING? Good offer or not, any prospect is encouraging. So whisper a little prayer for our little gem tonight.

First impressions do mean a lot, so it's a good thing we all went down to the house last night to do some last minute touch-ups. We discovered the painter had left without finishing one major thing and we had to do it ourselves. He didn't bother to call and tell us, so we never would've known if we hadn't gone by. At one point I was sitting on top of the fridge, painting trim. But we got it all done and looking fabulous. Hopefully it will all pay off very soon! I can't even tell you what a relief it would be to be rid of that place. Though all things considered, I will be a little sad to see it go since it was our very first house. I really hope we find someone who will love it as much as we did.

In other news, I'm still obsessing over these online private sample sales. I've found some more. I got into one - Editor's Closet. And I found another one that looks rather tasty... Top Secret. I'm awaiting an invite for that one and I'll let you know once I get in. I can't stand the idea of fabulous sales going on inside there that I can't get to! If anyone already has access, please share the love as the wait is killing me! It's funny because it's not like I can afford half the stuff in these sales, but I just love looking and seeing the deals. And I must admit the implied exclusivity of it all is so intriguing.

If you want to check out Editor's Closet (Moschino boutique is open right now), just put my email in as the "referrer email" and it'll let you register (see my profile). I also found one other that just started sample sales today actually... My Overstock Boutique. I think you just have to initially register with this one to get in - I don't think you need a 3rd party invitation. Hahaha... party... invitation... (Oh, I'm glad it's Friday.) They have several Lilly items on sale right now. Just looks like random overstocks - no one particular designer.

Changing subjects yet again... do y'all have any exciting weekend plans? I'm hoping to just chill tonight because our weekend is literally packed solid from start to finish. We're running a 5k down in Candler Park in the morning. This will be my 3rd! My goal is to break 40 minutes this time. I *almost* did at the last one, but surely I can pull through on this one. Lucky is also running it - she's a big runner and lives down in that area. So after the race, I'm going home with Lucky to shower and change and then we're immediately heading out to meet up with kuntry bride and the rest of her crew for a girly day of fun to celebrate her 30th birthday (which is today - Happy Birthday, kb!). We'll be lunching, shopping, and spa-ing together tomorrow afternoon. Then we're heading back to her friend's place to grill out and celebrate. The boys will join us there (someone has to grill, after all). So that wipes out my entire Saturday.

Then Sunday we're going to the 11 o'clock and having lunch with some friends afterward. And THEN at 3:30 we're meeting up with another couple at Dinner A'fare - one of those Super Supper type places where you put together a bunch of meals to freeze. I'm so excited about it! I've always wanted to do it and my friend (who we're meeting) totally raves about it! Should be fun! The whole weekend sounds fun, but I know I will be dog-tired come Sunday night. Oh and I've gotta set my tivo to record the Olympic trials....... ooooh.... note to self.

Happy Friday, all! Enjoy the weekend... :-)

Update: Found another good one... Smashbox sale going on right now at Haute Look. It's "private" like the others, but you can register currently without a referral. This one looks good! Also FYI... Top Secret's site appears to be down right now, so keep checking back on that one.

:: One year ago today ::

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 ::

Almost gone...

..but I managed to snag these two!







The prices are awesome. I was on the hunt for the boy shorts and they had several pair for just $14 and $15... regular $34-38 each! They also had the regular thongs as low as $9 and change (set of 3 for $28) - they normally retail for $18 each. The lowest I've seen them for is around $11 or $12 - at Last Call NM or Loehmann's - so Rue La La definitely made my morning!

Well I'm going to shove down a Lean Cuisine and then run over to my alteration place to have two of my old Lilly dresses taken in. I'm so excited! I took a *before* pic this morning of the dress (it's the same dress in two different patterns) and I'll take an *after* when they're done. I'm taking them in and also chopping the length off. It will be like getting two brand new dresses! How fun is that?! I'm going to wear one to an engagement party next weekend.

Oh and while we're talking about shopping and clothes, I must share my belt bargain from yesterday. I was in Last Call yesterday looking for a birthday gift for kuntry bride (which I did find part of, btw). And I saw a tasty sign on the belt rack: Additional 75% off lowest ticket price. Oh but wait, above that sign read another: Additional 20% off. Well of course I had to look!!! Most of them were not cute - at least not for me, but I did find this fabulous studded belt - the big honkin' huge kind you wear at your natural waist with dresses and such. OK so original price on this puppy (which I would NEVER pay - ha!) - $250. After two markdowns and then the additional savings, I got it for... drumroll, please... $22! I was over-the-moon. I love it and am totally sporting it today with a cute espresso cotton dress.

And I also must mention, Saks Off 5th has a killer Lilly collection right now and many pieces have been put on clearance. Current styles too... not like old stuff. And if that's not enough, they have a coupon for 30% off your entire purchase that's good from today through Sunday, the 22nd. Leave your email if you want a coupon! I shall refrain as my budget is strapping me down, but I shan't deny any of you the preppy pleasure!

Update: OK my apologies - after forwarding the Saks coupon to an eager shopper, I realized it only passes on a 25% coupon instead of the 30% (you have to be on their original mailing list to get the full blown 30%). But hey, that's still a great coupon, so shop away!

Time for some hanky panky!

Is anyone else totally stoked about the hanky panky boutique opening up this morning on Rue La La? Credit card in one hand, mouse in the other... get ready! Boutique opens at 11am and no doubt the goods will be flying! Leave me your email if you still need in...

Holy crap.

A Kate Spade outlet is opening up at my outlet mall (North GA Premium Outlets, y'all) next month!!! Holy hell - someone better put my wallet on lockdown like right now. OMG. Heaven help me!

She's up.

OK my dears, the townhouse is officially up for the taking. No fighting! Let's be civil about this, ladies. I've mentioned a little bit about it before, but this lovely was our first house together. We loved everything about it - especially the location - but our furry kids needed a yard and we wanted more space (hence the move to the 'burbs). Otherwise I might've been "Dunwoody Diva. "

We're shamelessly forwarding the listing info to all our friends, so I wouldn't dare leave blogworld out. Peaches, if y'all know of anyone looking, this little gem is in a killer spot right at the corner of Abernathy and Mt. Vernon (behind Perimeter Mall). You can walk to Marta (not that I ever did), you can walk to LA Fitness (yeah right) and you can walk to Starbucks (now that I did do). And sad for us, good for you - it's way underpriced. As in bend over and take it up the...

May real estate fairy dust come raining down upon us!!! :-) Say a lil prayer for us!

I wanna play!

I'm taking the liberty of tagging myself via bestest since everyone seems to be playing this game!

1. What were you doing ten years ago?
I was... a junior in college. Probably in summer school. Probably wishing I wasn't in summer school.

2. What are five things on your to-do list today?
-Get documents/info to my realtor.
-Try the BodyAttack class at my gym (which I've been scared to do).
-Hopefully survive yoga after the above class.
-Finish yesterday's unfinished laundry (yeah right).
-Run at the park with the hub if I haven't keeled over from #2 and 3.

3. Snacks you enjoy
I'm a big snacker... there are many...
-yogurt
-fruit - esp apples, strawberries, blackberries
-100 calorie packs
-Del Monte 100 calorie canned sliced peaches
-Luna bars
-a Starbucks (usually a tall NF capp, or a tall NF iced latte)
-Tutti Frutti!!!!!!

4. Places you’ve lived
-Montgomery, AL
-Tucker, GA
-Duluth, GA
-Athens, GA
-Dunwoody, GA
-Buford, GA

5. What are 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?
-pay off debt, and of course have a lil shopping spree!
-quit my day job and save cash for my dream job plans
-give to friends and fam
-meet with a good CFP to see how much we need to put away to be comfy and how
-give the rest away (and fast!) to my church and other charities. I honestly have no desire to be "rich" nor do I want the responsibility that comes with it. As long as I can pay my bills and have a little fun from time to time, I'm happy.

Tag, you're it - if you wanna play too. :-)
Back to work... stop distracting me!

In case you missed it...

...you gotta take a few to watch this video of Luke Russert remembering his dad on the Today show this morning. It's a good 15 minutes long, but at least watch the first couple to see the photo taken of Luke on the set of Meet the Press after Sunday's special airing. Heartbreaking - but such an amazing photo. I can't imagine how hard it was to do that interview this morning. My heart goes out to Luke, his mom, and of course Big Russ! :-(

H&M, anyone?

Did any of my peaches happen to hit the newest H&M store at Atlantic Station that officially opened Friday? I didn't get over there - nor did I really have the desire to subject myself to club music and big crowds - but I plan to sometime soon. Perhaps a long lunch break on a random Tuesday or something. I snapped a pic with my phone while we were down there early last week. We could peek in at the racks but a big ole cop kept us from getting too close.

I will actually get to see the Northpoint store finally this weekend. Kuntry bride is turning the big 3-0 and we're celebrating with a girly shopping and spa day in Alpharetta. Can't wait! I could definitely use a massage...

Happy Monday, all!