Snowbunnies.

Hope you Georgia gals are enjoying the snow! Other than taking 1.5 hours to get home last night (when my commute is usually 15-20 min), I'm loving it. From inside though. By the fire. The doggies LOVE it. Here are a few pics the hub snapped last night when it was still coming down...

That's at least 3 inches, don't ya think? Haven't seen this much snow in I don't know how long. This is not normal.

We're waiting for the roads to clear up some and then we're headed up to Ellijay to join my parents at a cabin. Here's a peek...

Isn't it dreamy? Now if we can just get there! We'll be back tomorrow afternoon for our traditional Valentine's Day fondue. It's the one day a year we whip out the fondue pot and we wear Valentine's jammies while we eat. We started doing it, gosh, like 5 or 6 years ago and now it's just what we do. Can't wait!

Oh my...

Miss Phoebe is covered!
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I better not get stuck here.

Here's the view from my office.  I don't know why my camera phone is taking crap pictures, because this looks dreary.  It's actually really pretty.  They're making us go home...

Snow!

 

You've got two more days...

...to enter my giveaway over at Make Room for Style! And y'all, there are only a few entries so far, so you've got a pretty fair chance of snagging the prize - which is a free 2-hr photo session (on-location!) with Atlanta's own Chikadeez Photography.

Now this photo session can be anything you want it to be... but if *I* were to win, I'd totally have shots of my three doggies taken (that should make for an interesting 2 hours). Check out the gallery of animal photos over at Chikadeez - sooooo sweet.

For more details and to enter, hop on over here. Get on it!

Keep trying.

Monday again, huh?  The weekends always fly by so fast - especially when I'm being robbed of a full one!  I worked most of Saturday and then had Bunco Saturday night with the neighborhood gals.  And I WON for most games!  I tied for most buncos too, but lost in a roll-off... oh well, I still snagged $40 in the end!  It was a good night. 

 

During several games I was partnered with one particular neighbor who I hadn't talked to much before.  I got the usual "do you have any kids?" from her and I gave my "no, just doggies" answer.  Then she asked if we were trying (which she prefaced with the fact that she was nosey).  "Oh yeah," I said, "we've been trying for a long time."  And then she responded with the best answer I think I've ever gotten.  And not one I'd expect from a self-confessed nosey person.  She simply said, "Keep trying."

 

I love that.  It wasn't followed by "you'll get there" or "it'll happen when it's meant to" or "have you tried..." or "God has a plan."  It was just "keep trying."  For some reason that's been stuck in my head all weekend.  I'm so used to getting all kinds of crappy (though well-intended) responses from people whenever my oven comes up... because you know, everyone just wants to *fix* me.  So I guess I was refreshingly dumbfounded to get such a simple, yet meaningful response.  And we definitely will keep trying.

 

Alright, another long work week ahead.  I'll pop in when I get a breather!

 

 

Presenting...

The best oh-shit-I've-got-a-party-to-go-to-and-I-have-no-time-to-make-anything solution!

 

Grab a tub of this Philly cheesecake filling and some ginger snaps/crisps and you're good to go.  Spreads on easy and tastes like heaven.  And I'm not even a big cheesecake or sweets person.  I'm totally taking this to bunco tonight since I have to work today and have no time to make anything.  I'll just whip it into a cute dish and claim it's an old secret family recipe... hahaha...  it's seriously so good.  I don't, however, recommend keeping a tub of this on hand, because you'll just find excuses to keep eating it.

Back at it.

I seriously spent all day in bed Saturday. Can't tell you the last time I did that - for real. I have a hard time doing nothing, but seeing as I really can't afford to get sick this time of year, I forced myself to chill ALL day. I didn't leave my bedroom all day but to go to the kitchen. I sure didn't lack any appetite... in fact, I googled up a good chicken noodle soup recipe for the crockpot while in bed. Who knew it was so easy to make? Just never tried, I guess. I didn't have any carrots or celery on hand, which definitely would've added some nice color and oomph, but I had everything else. It was delish. Here's the recipe from memory - didn't write it down, but it's seriously easy. Oh and I halfed it because it was like a huge amount, so this is my halfed version...

Ingredients:

2-3 boneless chicken breasts (I just dumped them in frozen)

2 cups water

2 cups chicken broth

1 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp salt (or to taste - depends on how salty your broth is)

pepper to taste

1 small onion chopped

1/2 tsp dried basil

(plus carrots and celery chopped up, but I don't remember the amounts since I didn't have these - ha!)

3 oz noodles (I used orzo pasta and it was delish)

Directions:

Dump everything into the crockpot except for the noodles. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Shred the chicken and add the noodles - continue to cook for another 1/2 hr to an hour depending on how long your noodles take (obviously the orzo doesn't take long - I was hungry and didn't want to wait). Serve it up and enjoy!

Soooo good. And super fab on my sore throat that day. And even better on the next day. So now I'm like all about finding more fab soup recipes for the crockpot. Our crockpot gets lots of use this time of year since I don't have the time (or energy) to cook much.

Yes, so a big bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup and a Buffy marathon all day Saturday seemed to do the trick. Feeling much much better now... still draining some of the gunk out, but I feel a ton better. And now I'm back on a Buffy high - I haven't watched my DVD's in forever and everytime I do I like have to watch the whole series. For all you vampire lovin' freaks out there, I have to say Buffy STILL takes the cake over Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, what have you... Those are all great too - I know. But Buffy is just freaking hilarious. It's the only one that's like a true horror-comedy. And Joss Whedon is brilliant. I think the only show since Buffy that I can honestly say is neck-and-neck for my #1 favorite show of all time would have to be Glee. Can't wait for it to come back in April! And apparently Joss Whedon is directing one of the spring episodes... can it get any more brilliant?! So excited.

OK I've got to go curl my hairs and bust out of here... hope you're having a fab week!

Oh and don't forget, Atlanta gals, hop over here to enter my contest for a chance to win a free 2-hour on-location photo session with Chikadeez Photography! You've got until Friday, the 12th - get to it!

Headed home with my headache cure.

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Ready to Crash.

For real. Like right now. I've got a mad headache coming on and I'm ready for a date with some Nyquil, the remote, and my Snuggie. I started getting that oh-crap-I-think-I'm-getting-sick feeling late Wednesday and I'm now in the coughing and stuffy head stage. Aside from this headache, I haven't felt all that bad - just worn out. Like I have no energy to smile - which is sad, because I usually smile a lot. Good thing is, we're in kind of a lull right now at work - a very temporary one - but I guess my cold or whatever this is hit at the right time. I don't have to go in to work tomorrow, thank goodness, so I'll be able to chill out at the house and hopefully shake off whatever this is.

Not much going on this weekend, which is super nice. I need a break. My sweet hub has been doing all the laundry and the cleaning the last couple of weeks, which has been super helpful. (And he looks dead sexy with a bottle of Windex in his hand.) Just haven't had time or energy for anything once I get home. We were planning to do our next IUI this upcoming cycle but I don't even feel mentally prepared for that. I've been SO busy at work - I mean I know it's tax season, but we hit the ground running (and running hard) unusually early this year. So I just haven't had time to like decompress and get my head in the right spot for it just yet. And I mean, there's no huge rush really. I still very much would like to get this last IUI cycle done in the next few months, but it doesn't have to be tomorrow. Plus, given that it's our last shot with IUI, we really want to give it all we've got. So I want to make sure I'm physically and spiritually ready and I also want to do acupuncture along with it this time, and I've yet to figure that out. It's on my to-do list.

So that's my I'm-tired-and-feel-like-crap update. Hope you feel inspired!!!

Love Captured Contest

I told you I'd be back with a fab contest, didn't I?! Oh yes. The details are up over at Make Room for Style. I've partnered with Laura at Chikadeez Photography to offer up a FREE 2-hour photo session to the contest winner. All you gotta do is share your greatest love story - whatever that is! Laura does amazing work and she specializes in family, children, and pet portraiture.

Hop over here for the scoop and to enter!

Still kickin'

Hey all. Just working away my youth here. Am I still a youth? Nevermind, I guess not. I just try to look the part. ANYway, still alive, just slaving away. Hope y'all are having a great week! But do come back dear readers, because I'll be posting about a fun giveaway/contest this weekend! You don't wanna miss it...

Ketchup.

So getting up at 5am has not gotten any easier. But I successfully did so every day this week. The only day I didn't "hop" out of bed at 5am (since I started this craziness) was last Friday, but that was on purpose. We were out late watching the national championship game the night before (way to go, Bama!) and didn't get home till like 1am. I don't know about you, but I cannot operate on 4 hours of sleep. Other than that hiccup, 5am it is! But ugh, I think the long days from early this week caught up to me sometime Wednesday afternoon, because getting up yesterday and today was AWFUL. Thank goodness for our new Keurig (or as the hub and I call it, "Ka-ZOONG!" - I have no good explanation for why). I still did it though. The key for me: not allowing myself to hit snooze AT ALL and hopping in the shower as soon as I get up.

OK so enough alarm talk. I've had no time in bloggy world this week, but I'm guessing Haiti has been a big topic. (As well as PANTS-ON-THE-GROUND! Seriously can't get that out of my head.) The Haiti situation is so sad - I feel very removed from it, honestly just because I've been so busy and swallowed up by work this week. So I feel like I'm just now catching on to the sadness and concern the rest of the world is feeling. I've actually been to Haiti - just for a day on a cruise years ago. But I can't imagine how scary that environment down there must be right now - seriously I just have no comprehension of that. And for the families here that are missing relatives and friends and are just waiting... how terribly frightening. Big prayers for Haiti and all those involved. And as usual the relief efforts are in full force and organizations here are raising money left and right. And I think this donate-money-by-text thing is BRILLIANT. I heard today that the Red Cross has raised over $5 million just through texting - amazing. I mean it really is genius... I think a lot of people have good intentions to donate but fail to do so out of pure laziness or forgetfullness or life. But how long does it take to text? Like a half second? And it comes through your cell phone bill, so it plays into our nation's (unfortunate) buy-now-pay-later mentality. I'd love to give so much more, but even I can sign up for this one! Here are a couple of donate-by-text options...

Text the word HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.

Text the word YELE to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele (Wyclef Jean's organization).

Both groups will send you a text back to confirm your intent to donate and you'll need to reply with "YES" to complete the donation.

Nothing much else going on right now but work. And such is life for the next 3 months. Three months as of today, actually - so the countdown begins (till April 15th)! And because I'm a tax accountant and also way too nice, I'll open the floor for any tax questions you have. Now just general questions please, I don't want to do a freaking tax research project here. Ha! No but really, I'd be glad to answer any questions y'all have - just leave a comment on this post.

As far as the rest of our goings on, I'll just leave y'all with some bullet points. I've got some work I've got to get on, so this will have to do for now!

• Lucky's wedding (two weeks ago now, geez) was fab! The whole weekend was a blast and she made an absolutely stunning bride. She and her new hubby are on their way back now from an amazing honeymoon in Italy.
• The hub is still in the middle of his job search and we're starting to see some progress, but of course nothing ever progresses as fast as we'd like it to! Just continuing to pray for patience and trusting that God's at work here. We have all these amazing goals for 2010 laid out but until we get the job squared away we kinda feel like we're standing in mud. Prayers, prayers, prayers.
• Speaking of goals, I still plan to slap those on here as soon as we finalize them - we're almost there! We're slow.
• And on a completely superficial note, my silver Revas are starting to look really rough but I refuse to stop wearing them. Though I'm not sure I'd buy them again (not that I could right now) because now like everyone wears them and that's a TOTAL turn-off to me. As soon as anything is on everyone, I can't do it anymore. Because then I just look like everyone else - *snooze*. It's for this reason I've closeted Uggs and Coach bags.
• We are signed up to take FPU again starting next month! Like I said, we've got lots of goals for 2010 and many of those are financial, so we just felt like taking the class again to keep that "Gazelle Intensity" and accountability. I think we've coaxed some friends into taking it along with us, so I'm looking forward to it. I can't get enough Dave, so it'll be good. Classes are starting up all over - plop in your zip code on the site and find one near you. Whether you're broke and freaked out or raking it in without any debt, this 13-week class has something for everyone. It's a life-long journey and you can hop on no matter where you are. And if you work it, it will do incredible things for your marriage.
• My favorite K-cup right now is the Coffee People x-bold Donut Shop. It blends beautifully with my French Vanilla creamer. Tell me your faves, Keurig people! We're still sampling.
• Oh and people of the world, please stop referring to Atlanta as "HOTlanta." That's so over.

Ch-ch-changes.

Hey, wow... so tax season is starting like right now.  We usually don't get going (i.e. start working longer hours) till late January.   But we've got a big project coming in this week that requires us to bust it starting Friday.  So this morning - well yesterday, actually - I decided to go ahead and start my busy season hours.  Whereas I usually stroll in around 9am, this morning I got up at 5am (and have banned myself from hitting the *snooze* button) and got to work at 7:30am. 

 

Now I hate getting up early, but I love being up early - does that make sense?  I'm not a morning person my definition, but I do work much better in the morning hours once I'm up and going.  So from here on out - I'm telling y'all in an effort to hold myself accountable - I'm getting up at 5am every (weekday) morning so I can get my butt to work early so I'm not forced to stay late every night.  We've got to fit in at least 10-hr days, so I rather get a head start on them, you know?  Plus it's nice to get here early and have a little time of solitude before everyone else arrives and clients start calling, etc, etc...  So there you have it.  Tax season is officially here.

 

In other news, I was notified last night that Javis Davis is discontinuing their Design Partner program.  Many of y'all know, I was the Atlanta DP for Javis Davis and gabbed all about that on my sister blog.  I had a great time doing it and especially loved working with local moms and helping them put together crib bedding.  (And thanks to all of you who worked with me and referred me to friends - I so appreciate your business!)  But you know, I had a feeling this was coming.  I knew keeping the design partners updated with all the latest fabric swatches and samples had become a logistical nightmare for the Javis Davis gals.  Their fabric collections are constantly being updated or retired, so keeping our samples current was really tough.  And I don't think any of us were bringing in huge sale numbers to make it worthwhile.  I think I could kick some serious ass with it if I didn't have a full-time job, but I just don't currently have the time to commit in order to take it to that level. 

 

So is Make Room for Style going away?  No, no, dear readers.  Because through this process, I've rediscovered my passion (obsession really) for maternity wear.  How cruel that a prego-challenged person salivates over maternity fashions?  I mean, seriously.  It's seriously stupid.  Even pregnant people hate maternity clothes.  One day, way on down the road, I'd love to design a line of maternity wear.  But seeing as I can barely sew in a straight line, I'm talking way on down the road.  I think we get caught up a lot of times (women especially) in the oh-crap-I'm-this-age-and-I-haven't-accomplished-ANYTHING-yet mindset.  But if you look at a lot of designers and other successful people out there, many of them - most of them - didn't find that success until much, much later in life.  So my career - whatever that is - by no means is over by the time I'm 35 if I haven't accomplished everything on my to do list.  I've got the rest of my life to be amazing.  One day at a time, right girls?

 

But I do feel like I've been trying to find that "thing" over the last few years that really fits me.  I mean yeah, we all know I'm a CPA.  And that's all good - I'm very thankful for my job and I do it well and yada yada yada.  But as y'all know, my true *self* is a lover of art and design and more colorful  stuff.  So I've been trying to tap into that side of my brain and see what appeals to me.  I kinda feel like I'm good at a lot of things - crafty things - but what exactly am I great at?  I tried the paper thing for a while.  I did custom invitations and other paper products for a few years.  Just a little side business strictly based on word of mouth.  It was quite successful, but my passion for that ran out pretty quickly.  I liked the design end of it, but the actual assembly and processing of orders became very cumbersome.  So much so, that I burned out on it after a couple of years.  I officially ended that business this past year, although I still will do small orders for friends here and there.  I did a lot of the paper stuff for Lucky's wedding.  But I've hung up my hat on that otherwise.

 

So when the design partner opportunity at Javis Davis fell into my lap, I was very excited and thrilled because on my long list of dream jobs was being a nursery stylist.  It was another one of those "oh wouldn't that be fun" jobs and here was a chance to kick it off by partnering with a well established bedding company.  And I did have fun with that, but I've marked it off my list of dream jobs.  Would I kick ass at designing a nursery?  Yes.  You should see all the prototypes in my head for my unborn kids.  Seriously wicked ass nurseries.  But I don't know, as a career I don't think it's a fit for me.  But in getting my blog rolling to promote the whole Javis Davis partnership, I found myself blogging more and more about maternity fashions.  I love fashion in general, but I don't know - like I said, I'm a little bump obsessed.  And it's such a tailored market with such a limited selection.  So I think it's something I could really have some fun with...  therefore, one of my goals this year is to make strides in becoming a maternity stylist. 

 

I don't have lots of resources or funds to put toward that aspiration just yet, but I'm in no big hurry.  It's just something I want to move toward and start to feel out as a possible career path.  I imagine myself working with expectant moms - whether it's for a one time look for a special event or helping them pick out an entire maternity wardrobe.  It'd be all about meeting their needs and their budget.  I'd want to meet with them in their homes and thumb through their current wardrobe to see what they can work with and get a feel for their style.  Plus every mom has different needs - a stay at home mom pregnant with her 2nd child is not going to have the same styling needs as a first time mom who's in an office envioronment.  After establishing what a client's after, I'd then go do the fun part - shopping.  I'd go around town and grab different looks from all over and present them to her (again in her home probably).  She keeps what she likes, I return what she doesn't.  Simple as that!  You think moms would be up for that?  I do!  Not all people like to shop, you know!  But for now, I'll just keep doing my little gig over at MRFS and dish on my favorite maternity looks and whatnot.  Do keep following along!

 

So anyway, that's what's swimming in my head right now.  Among a million other things!  Well, better get these early hours in I've been yappin' about.  Hope you're having a good week.  I'm thinking I will be here Saturday working - bleh.  Fun times.  Alright, over and out.

2010!

May this new year bring you all many, many blessings! We had a fun night last night. We went out to dinner with some friends and went roller skating. Haven't been in YEARS. I used to kick ass 20 years ago, but um... not so much now. It was fun though - we wore ridiculous costumes and had a good laugh. We actually toasted to the new year back at our house with Dick Clark and a bottle of champagne.

And the hub and I are certainly full of hope for this coming year! Goal planning session on tap today during our trip to Athens for Lucky's wedding. (We do our best thinking in the car, for some reason.) More on that later!

For now, it's all about Lucky and her big wedding weekend! I'm finishing up some last minute placecards and whatnot for her right now. Then I've got to pack. Here's what I'll be wearing to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner tonight...

I've had this J. Crew number for a while and it's still one of my all-time favorites. It's easy and fun. I'm wearing it with a taupe-colored cardi, oversized gold pearls, opaque navy tights, and bronze Mary Janes. Wish I had pics of all that, because it's ferosh.

And if y'all remember, this is the bridesmaid dress (in black)!

The picture doesn't do much for it - it actually looks a bit of a snooze on the dress form. But it is quite the little party dress - very young and flirty. It hits just above the knee.

My camera will be in tow, so I hope to have some fun pictures to share on the other side! Enjoy today and have a fabulous first weekend in 2010!