Beach Basics

Ok, well some of these are summer/beach basics I can't live without and others are new discoveries but they are all perfect for summertime:

We discovered this stuff, which I have never seen before "Pomegranate Dry" - if you haven't had it and love the POM (like moi, I am obsessed with pomegranates, pomegranate tea..etc), then try this - and try it with a splash of vodka and a lime and you will not be disappointed! This is my new favorite drink.

Croakies - oh lord, where would I would I be without my favorite preppy accessory? I actually enjoy the function of these, being able to hang my sunglasses around my neck and rearview mirror b/c otherwise, they would have def. been smashed or lost. (mine are the pink and green version, naturally!)




Gotta have the canvas tote (mine's pink) for beach bumming:

Gotta have some good beach reads too:

This is the pen name of the Shopaholic series author, Sophie Kinsella - I honestly didn't like it as much as the Shop series but it was still a fun, quick beach read.


I really enjoyed this book. I heard so much about it, I decided to pick it up. I love her time in Italy and her views on things. She has some funny anecdotes about traveling. I personally thought she went heavy on the spiritual philosophy, at times, but her anecdotes save it. Great memoir, different that the usual beach read and a refreshing one at that.

So we are back! Rejuvenated and everything. Now counting down almost a month until the wedding!!Response cards are rolling in and gifts are tricking in as well!

(Fiance's pics of Cape Cod - from last summer)

I'm so relaxed. I haven't had a vacation or break in a really long time where I just truly let go and it was fabulous! My fiance's grandma has a house on Mashnee , which is just right over the bridge. I love this little island because its so quaint and all of the neighbors know each other. We've been going for the past three summers (making the long 18 hour drive haul!) to visit. (FI, obviously, has been going a lot longer!) But as all of the families get older and people don't ave the vacation time to visit, we are very happy to get the house for a week! It's also nice for FI to be able to see his family (who mostly live in the northeast), since he doesn't get to very often. Last year (when we got engaged), we were also there for a wedding, so there were several families there and it was fun - but not so relaxing. All we did was kayak (one morning, too windy most of the time), take a few runs, sit on the beach, read magazines, drink wine and fix food. We went out to get some lobstah (of course!) and some of the best pizza I've ever had. We also made a trip to Mashpee Commons (picked up a VV tee) but thats about it. We made fresh mussels one night and then a shrimp linguine another. One day we literally camped out on the beach, drank beers and sat there (getting burned no less) all day! and it was fabulous. *Note - I'm really really trying not to lay out without some sort of protection (esp. on my face, with a hat) b/c skin cancer runs in the family. I have always put on sunscreen but I'm really trying to uber-conscious. So, I got some great Neutrogena lotion but this spray on stuff - is great but we had obviously had some cocktails or something when we sprayed because we both look like red blotchy fools!**
Anyhoo, the weather (which I know has been hot for New England standards) was actually a reprieve from the hot humidity we are used to down here in SC. It was so nice to not have the AC cranked and fresh ocean air at night. There's much more to say, but I'm tired at this point because we (ok, mainly HE) drove 15 hours yesterday to my parents house. I'm what you would call a "grumpy driver" - I get irritated, impatient and tired of it quickly. I take personal offense to rude actions on the rode. But as a front-seat passenger/navigator - well, I'm great at it! Change the music - no problem, need the AC turned down - boom, done! Don't know where the hell we are - I'll check the map! So, needless to say, I was "drink retriever from cooler/make sure we don't end up in Ohio girl" for 2 days.

*Shopping: We didn't end up doing any outlets because well, I was too enamored with the beach bum lifestyle that I just felt too lazy to go and then Fi, good man that is, would have driven me there but his shopping record is something like 6 minutes per store, so I think I'll just hit up some that are nearby one afternoon by myself. We did however, hit up the Christmas Tree Shops, which are wonderland for wedding things. We picked up bags of tea lights for like $1.50 each! and these great little ceramic row boat "bowls" - more like perfect serving dishes for peanuts or mints! We also found cheap photo mats because we are doing a matted picture centerpiece for the rehearsal - great, cheap stuff!**

Congratulations to Sarah at The Seven Spot & MMM, who have and are getting married!

That's it for now, I've got to get back on the road to go home for a dress-fitting and for another party for some engaged friends of mine, But I'll be back soon!

(I just read over this post and realized that I'm all over the !!!!! like a middle school girl. Oh well, I'm in a happy !!! mood!!!)

We have been tres busy here at the House O Pink the past few days and will be out of comission for a little trip to the Cape. Woohoo, I need it!
I've been handwriting thank you notes and addressing all of our invitations, so except for the carpal tunnel I've acquired, I'm so happy that our invites are THISCLOSE to being dropped off.

I ordered this bathing suit in the mail:
I originally wanted pink but I got it in navy instead. I think I'll like it, just got it in the mail today. Now, I just have a billion other things to do, like get ready to pack, pick up some sunscreen, some new reading material and I can't think of all else.
I'm just really ready to relax on the beach, do some reading, maybe some kayaking, shopping and eating lobster. Yum.
I can't wait and when I come back - no work with old professor ( I mean I'll be working on a thesis, FOR SURE) but no repeated Hawaiian shirt action. Do ya want to know what he said to me (after working closely together for 6 weeks, after I took over a business manager position and helped him keep our universities literary journal afloat and TRAINED the new department secretary - that's right, the English department chair now knows that there is only one dept. fax and the number to it b/c of yours truly and much more...but I digress), I said "Byeee, see ya, enjoy the rest of your summer!" and he replied, "Oh hey, make sure you turn your key in." Okey Dokey buddy, I love your "no appreciation tude" but SAYONARA! Kiss my kiester! (loving this cheesey comebacks - where were they this morning!) Oh well, I'll be a rested and relaxed camper in a week or so.

Now onto the Cape where we got engaged last summer!


See ya in a week (and remind me to put up more pics of things I've received and gotten in the past week, esp. the LOVELY notecards from the equally lovely Chloe at English Tea Paperie.) Yay!

Fantastic Weekend

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I got to see all of my best friends and hang out with them and my family. We had a brunch Saturday morning that was fabulous and included a beautiful view and Peach Tea-Tinis (so delicious - I need to find the recipe!) Then, my friends hosted a shower for me in the afternoon. Here are some pictures of the set-up, I loved the flowers and the chicken salad was yummy! The shower was so sweet and we got some really lovely things. I'll try to take pictures of them.




Then, we got to go to a luau for another friends engagement celebration and that was a fun event. Since everyone was in town, we ended up going to the (only!) bar in town for drinks. We stayed out late and had a great time. However, 8:30 mass for Father's day came QUITE early. And then we went out for breakfast with my father and sat around on our deck and just chatted. Great, great weekend. Really made me look forward to the wedding and all the excitement of that weekend! Now, I'm exhausted but we've got a lot to do this week, what with leaving for Cape Cod on Thursday!

I'll ask advice of our Boston/Cape cod bloggers - where are some good outlets nearby? We will probably make a trip to Mashpee Commons, but I'd like to hit up some outlets while we are there. I found the "Wrentham Village" online and they look great - I think FI said they might be on the way.

Forecast: Extremely Moody

Well readers, today is a day I will be bitchin and not in a good way! Do you everhave those days where you just feel like Alexander in "No Good Very Bad Day" Just crampy, tired, busy and desiring a full fledged fatty meal because we are sick of low-fat, fat-grams, sit ups. Combined with sucky internet which keeps going out - Grrr. Ok enough of that, now onto being positive and putting a good vibe out there. Karma, right - where's that necklace when I need it?


OH and we realized we are leaving for the Cape in a week - umm, where did June go? This is a great thing - I'm super excited, can't wait b/c it will be just FI and I there (usually bits and pieces of families hang out too), beach etc...bad news, this requires us to get invitiations good god DONE. and get packed, and get plans/car ready and buy a new bathing suit...you get the idea.


Oh well, on a better note, we are getting ready for my brunch and shower this weekend. I can't wait to see all of my friends - I know its going to be a special time. I have a fabulous Lilly dress I got last fall on sale which I have never worn and a great outfit for my friend's luau. I got some great frames on sale at Hobby Lobby (love that store! except everything is ALWAYS %50 off - people, I get the marketing, just make the prices lower) and printed off some of Fiance's handiwork - pictures of my hometown (where the showers are) to give to all of the hostesses.


Pick up this dress on sale - woohoo - finally Anthropologie. finally! I've been eyeing since they put it out, oh in March. I just purchased for 60.00, thats a deal for Anthro. I figure I can wear it on the Cape or for some parties.



Still working on invites, but found a fantastic craft site where we are gonig toorder our vases from (we wanted such a specific vase, I thought it would be easier/cheaper to buy them)


I'm one of those people who always knows what to wear. Its an aggravating quality, Iknow - my friends and mother have been telling me for years. I never spend time inthe morning figuring out what to wear, I just know - either I've thought ahead towhat I want to wear or have just put on a "go-to" outfit. In fact, this delightedFI when we first started dating b/c I really don't take that long to get ready. However, when I do get stalled on an outfit, its bad. Its really bad. I'll spend agood hour going through each article of clothing I own and end up a useless,indecisive puddle. I'm getting stalled on rehearsal dinner dress. I just CANNOT makeup my mind, I'm sure you all are sick of looking at the 50 million dresses I post -I sure as heck am tired of looking at them! (This was one of the reasons for theuneccessary aggravated mood today) - I simply don't have the time to trek to amall/good shopping area to try stuff on. We live 45 minutes from a decent mall but Ijust haven't had a day to take to go look for a dress, shoes, undergarments. OY!This is why I'm not working for the month of July. Amen.

On that note, I hope everyone has a great weekend and a Happy Father's Day. I'll see you after this weekend.

A Few Things

Surfing the net (as they say, haha) always leads to credit card discoveries for me! Here are a few things I've found online that I've been diggin lately:

FI and I are HGTV/home makeover show addicts. It's one of the few things we agree on watching and we LOVE them. Of course, we are always relating how much smarter and more tastefully we would have done the house - those people are idiots (ha! I'm sure we would NOT be as fantastic as we say!) But here is a great architecture/home magazine thats different and modern. Some of the stuff in there is way out there and seems to be purely for the architect. For example, toile curtains, although a favorite of mine, would NOT be featured in there. But it has great articles that are fun to read.

Lands End

Absolutely adorable swimsuits - the first one is their "oxford" stripe, similiar to the J.Crew
seersucker in blue and white - cute!

And then, I believe I am ordering this one in pink - great design (sorry the pics are small, but I suggest you check them out!) and it comes with a matching skirt - great for the beach!

Starstyle


This website lists the entire wardrobe of each star in movies and tv shows (not a lot of selection on movies, though). It's listed by clothes, accessories and shoes - so you can find anything that the character was wearing! It fun to look through.



Which led me to this adorable website which has some fabulous jewelry. I love really simple and small necklaces for everyday wear and I just love these! They have a great selection of little charmed necklaces - perfect for gifts!

Dogeared Jewels and Gifts


I love the 4 leaf clover and heart!
I am infatuated with this "Karma" one - I think it's so simple and elegant to wear with everything. I think everything comes in gold or silver - I would get this in silver to match my white gold wedding set. LOVE it.


And this circle one is so sweet, yet sophisticated.

Oh, and did I mention that they not only come with a little saying on the package (I'm a sucker for great packaging!) but the (mostly) run between $50.00 and $75.00!!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was low-key and I loved it. The last low-key weekend for awhile, so we took advantage.
Friday we did some shopping around for invitations, took a long break at Books a Million and then looked around at wedding rings (for me!) It was a lovely jewelry store and I think we found one that we liked. That night I babysat for a favorite professor couple of mine and their almost 2 yr. old Alice. The cutest 2 yr old I know (o.k., the only 2 yr old I know!) She was adorable and went to sleep early so I got caught up on some t.v - What Not To Wear Wedding Edition - that was a great show, although it was sooo obvious who their favorite bride was (hello she got a custom made dress by Amsale!).

**An aside, one of my Ultimate Dream Jobs - would be to work on What Not To Wear. Now, I'm not claiming I could be as chic as Stacey everyday. But let me tell ya, I love the fact that she is on national tv telling people that Christmas sweaters are WRONG!**

Saturday - we did absolutely nothing! and it was great. We did some stuff around the house, did about 6 or so loads of laundry (2 people - really!?), made a Saturday trip to Wal-Mart (BAD idea, I was ripping my hair out - way too many people there). I hit the gym for a bit and then we grilled out some burgers and corn (until the grill caught on fire - time for a new grill for FI!), had a few beers and hung out. We then ended up going out to a friend's lake house later that night (an unexpected trip) to spend the night because FI realized a whole slew of his rugby alumni buddies were in town. So, thus we played drinking games and managed to party until 4 in the morning! Whew, we were going to stay and play at the lake all day Sunday - but needless to say, we were both so hungover and tired, we just wanted to get back to our place. So, we managed to take showers and go to church (I know!) and then take a 3 hour nap! (I absolutely NEVER nap).
Sunday was just another do nothing day but so nice. We napped, made lunch, I folded some laundry and we went to see Knocked Up. Funny - definitely crude and absolutely raunchy, but funny - we laughed through it. Then, we came home watched some tv, read and went to bed. Et Voila! the weekend.

This coming weekend is a brunch and shower for me, held in my hometown and I'm so excited! Its the first time a lot of my friends have been together in awhile. Also, it's Father's Day weekend, so we have a nice brunch at a local inn planned. I've got a lot to do this week:

- Print invites (we decided to go with the invite "kits" which include everything EXCEPT the outer envelope, the one that is actually stamped and addressed - this is my problem with DIY projects, you always seem to forget something - anyway, we've got to now find envelopes sized big enough for our invites. If anyone has ideas about a store with a lot of envelope choices, I would appreciate!)
- Address said invites.
- Work on hostess gifts (framed pictures - print off pictures and get frames)
- Father's Day gifts
- Get outfits ready for weekend
- Figure out my bridal day hair/make-up appointment

Thats all I can think of for now!

Entertainment

Along with summer comes mindless tv shows - that I love! It just reminds me of the one summer Paradise Hotel was the lastest reality show and I watched, oh yes I did. I haven't found any quite like that for this summer (except for the maybe the "Age of Love" show..hmm, not so sure about that) here are some shows and movies I want to see...

So, I love The Soup. I remember the days of "Talk Soup" when I was younger but Joel absolutely cracks me up. I wish this came on more than once a week.


I think I came late into the Office game, but I just recently started watching it and am obsessed. LOVE IT. Steve Carrell cracks me up and Jim, what a cutie! I was literally chuckling myself into hysteria last night.

Segway into a Jon Krawkaski (sp?) movie with Mandy Moore - dealing with their priest. FI and I are in need to see this movie parody - can't wait, good timing for us. Some people might think these movies are cheesy or silly but they are exactly what I want in the summertime!

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with Adam Sandler and Kevin James, two of my absolute favorites - come on, it looks funny! I can't wait for this one either. I think Kevin James is hysterical.


Knocked UP - looks silly but I love Izzy and from what I heard its pretty funny. Raunchy but funny.


And there you have it...my mindless drivel.

First of all, I want to say thanks to everyone's comments yesterday - def. put me in a better mood! While I was extolling the virtues of blogging to my FI the other, I just mentioned how much I enjoy my blog and blog buddies. The blog world is great, some days I feel like you all out there know me better than my friends on a daily basis. I just love talking about everything I truly enjoy (and don't sometimes!) - books, clothes, people, shows and life in general. I also love how I find new things (mainly clothes/accessories/recipes...everythign) to try. I can't remember, but someone blogged about Sam Adam's Summer Ale and I'll be, I liked it. FI did a little jig of joy when we found a beer we could share! So, thanks~
(Ill add some pics when blogger lets me!)
So, with that in mind, I'll post today about some things I'm loving!

TCBY -ex. of irony in my life - we drove to 2 different towns only to find that the TCBY's had been closed. Damn! However, I did enjoy a delicious Skinny Cow ice cream treat - those things are fantastic!

Loving summer tomatoes & strawberries. We had freshly sliced tomatoes and strawberries with our dinner last night (not together) and how yummy! I love a good thick slice of tomato, with a little salt and pepper, a little swipe of mayo on wheat toasted bread. One of my favorite things.

Aveda hair stuff - this "Be curly" is getting me through the summer humidity (so far!) Kudos to you Aveda!

Don't ya just love J.Crew - decide that I really need their favorite fit white capri for the summer, and then it sells out. So, I frantically call their "find it in a store" service where they proceed to ship it to me in a few days (point for J.Crew) But, the pants are a size SMALLER than I ordered in the same pant in March - still a little snug but thats motivation for the exercise road. (By the way, why is the difference in one pant size so different. My bigger size I felt like I could fit a book in the waist, it was so big and this size is def. snug - what gives!?)

The new Maroon 5 song, its upbeat and catchy and I like it for the summer time.

My sweet FI who puts up with me on a daily basis and I could not be happier we are getting married! woohoo!

In a Funk...

I'm just having one of those days where I am in a crappy little funk that I can't get out of. Arghh, I'm annoyed with FI - just for annoyance reasons, not a big deal. I'm really sick of wedding planning - explaining to my parents the budget, why we need LOTS of liquor for the bar and worrying about the invites and getting calls from random relatives who are perturbed they weren't invited (ps. people if No One has gotten the invites, that means that haven't been sent!) etc. etc. I'm annoyed with work, specifically my boss, who treats me like I'm an 18 yr old assistant - constantly watching over my shoulder, giving me one measly 10 minute assignment at a time and gave me an hour by hour explanation of what I should be doing while he is out of town (I mean blogging was an obvious choice!) Oh yeah and I'm annoyed that our internet is consistently slow or broken. Dammit. Oy. I'm hoping a little dose of this:

And this (in white chocolate mousse, of course!):

Well, sorry for that bout of blues - but I think I'll be a happier camper tommorrow!

So we also stopped by Old Navy this weekend, I just picked up some plain white tank tops, but while I was in, FI decided to go to Shoe Carnival. You know, the horrible place that acts like a circus and screams out deals while you are in there. Well, FI usually picks up a new pair of topsiders and sandals for the summer, so he found his Sperry and his buy one, get one half off deal. Then, as I'm sarcastically making fun of the lady on the microphone, I was like wait, did she just say "women's slip on Sperry's half off for the the 10 minutes, from 65.00 to 29.99!!! The shoes I just tried on!" Well, thats what I get - a great deal for running in Shoe Carnival. These slip on Sperrys - great for the summer. Now, i just can't make fun of that place.

Got a craving for some shrimp and I love a shrimp recipe. This one I just made up b/c we had a lot of random leftovers in the fridge. I got some great frozen shrimp (wish they were fresh, but I digress...), we had leftover deli ham (the kind that can be cubed for soup), leftover turkey sausages from a grill out. I diced those, along with a small onion and green pepper and let them sautee for a few. Then, I added a can of diced tomatoes, small can of tomato sauce and half a can of Cream of Shrimp. I let that simmer for about 10-15 minutes, added some paprika, salt and pepper and a little garlic salt. I just served over some brown rice and Voila, some sort of shrimp creation! Its a pretty lowfat dish too and FI quite enjoyed it. And yes, those are SpongeBob placemats - as a joke we registered for them and one of our friends bought them for us a while back. But they work!





New desk area. We bought a small wooden table, painted it cream and distressed it. I love it b/c its big - I hate when a desk/work space doesn't have enough space. My good old computer and as you can see I'm checking out that long Lilly dress from Spring 07 line. I have my favorite pic of FI & I, someone random took that when we first started dating. My magazines and catalogs, of course to the left, and a save the date for a friend. My trusty notepad, with big wide sheets that I pull off whenever I make a list, which is at least once a day. My "Aint Love Grand" cutout (in the back right) from an artist in Charleston. That is a pink and suede desk organizer graduation gift - very nice. Bottle of water, check, I can usually be tracked by empty water bottles. And a pink gingham lamp, that I don't particularly like, its just from my days of insane pink and green decorating. I'm planning on getting a big corkboard to hang behind, b/c I love to have a place to put up things.

Well, thats about it, theres a little piece of my day, where I blog!

Weekend Re-Cap

We had a great weekend here, I'm sore though because Thursday night we drove to Columbia to help paint FI's parent's new house - great older restored home by the way.
The upside however, was that I had a FABULOUS iced caffe latte at Starbucks, my new favorite drink - delicious! And, we got to eat at Qdoba!
We have a TON of these Mexican fresh grill chain type places where we live. Salsaritas, Moe's (where they obnoxiously yell WELCOME TO MOES whenever you open the door) to name a few - and we support our local family owned burrito places in our college town but I LOVE Qdoba. For some reason, I think its ten times better. I act like a 7 year old when I walk in..oh what do I eat, I don't know I'm so excited eehhhhh...but anyhoo their chicken burrito is awesome.

We just kinda hung out/organized/fixed up furniture around here the rest of the weekend. Finishing off our unfinished wood furniture kick, I bought a great kitchen table, as a big desk, and "shabby chiced" it by painting it off white and letting FI distress it with his sanding power tool (given ANY opportunity, he will use it!) I'll take a picture and post b/c I'm LOVING my new desk area.

I finished Jen Lancaster's second book:

Seriously, she blogs and her books are honestly the best I've read. Period. I chuckled and laughed my way through both of them. So much so, that FI was getting annoyed with my "heheheheh"s that I ended up reading a chunk of the book outloud - so he could hear what I was laughing at. LOVED IT.

Otherwise, we grilled out and had a lovely dinner last night, worked out some and trying to get ready for the upcoming week. Oh, and we watched the "Next Food Network Star" - I like it so far, boy they have some characters on there. For sure.
I'll probably post more later today. Just because I like sitting at my new desk.