GOOOO TIGERS!!


Have a fabulous Labor Day weekend!

Annoying:
Going to the grocery store, making a special trip for and forgetting Splenda
Having to buy 1 cent stamps
Wearing glasses in the rain/having them fog up from extreme heat and humidity

Good things:

Coming home to a bunch of updated blogs to read
Finding new songs to listen: Sharon Jones!
A good cup of coffee and a rainy day


PS. This blogger's plan to spend $50/week on groceries for the 6 people in her family CERTAINLY made me think about my weekly grocery list:

http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/

Get Thee to Old Nave!

So I made the trek to Old Navy yesterday and it did NOT disappoint me in the least (Target, although, wasn't that great - I perused through and didn't see too much!)


I picked up this navy shirtdress I've been eyeing but wanted to try on - it's so cute and I think a great little staple for fall!
Super similar to this Lilly dress I wanted (I think from the spring collection)
Fun colored chinos for $20! Yes, please. I got this green color.

I've been wanting a fab little jacket for the fall and I got this style but in a fantastic pink color. I love it! Can't wait to wear it!



Old Navy has great piece of jewelry right now and their scarves are adorable. This one is actually more navy and pink in person, so I went went with my uber preppy theme and picked it up.
Also, they had a variety of long sleeve, rugby striped tees in navy/white, navy/green, pink/navy. I only got the pink and navy and wish I'd gotten more because they were only $10 apiece. Just a great staple for cooler days.

I got everything here for just over $100. All of the colors (pink, green, navy) are staples in my wardrobe, I won't be able to wear a few of the things quite yet because it is still warm out. They also had adorable deals on cable knit cardigans but I just can't get into sweaters in this August heat. But DEFINITELY head to Old Navy if you need preppy items.

By the way...who else is excited for Lilly Pulitzer fragrance?! I can't wait to smell and purchase! How fun.

Recap!

I fell as though life has been a tad bit overwhelming lately. I've changed my work schedule around to teach a few classes, just to find out that they may not be happening (and of course, I've already calculated that as a part of my income!). Just aggravating! I've been stressed trying to work all day and get a thesis done at night.

And I had a meltdown the other morning when I was trying to figure out what to wear when my favorite pink shorts from last summer were just too tight! And one of my favorite skirts was getting tighter. YARGH! I was not pleasant to be around that day. I've been "working out" - walking the dog, jogging randomly and doing to the gym MAYBE twice a week but now I want to be back in full force. There is a 5k in October I want to run and that is one of my goals. In fact, I went to one of my first SPIN classes this morning. Holy cow! My legs are freaking tired, but it felt really good to get a badass workout in this morning.

Speaking of getting healthy, I've re-discovered an old friend of mine: Brown Rice. He may sound and look boring but oh my, is he healthy and cheap!

I've been making batches of it - put some salsa, black beans and shredded low-fat mozzarella on it and you've got a super healthy yum meal. See, I need a meal to HOLD. If I eat lunch at 12 and I'm hungry by 2, it is more likely I will find candy or something to tide me over. I really try to eat meals of substance, so this doesn't happen. Also, I've been pre-cutting/bagging celery and carrots, so in the morning I can throw them in our lunches without too much fuss.

Another thing I've been doing is buying red leaf lettuce fresh (my fave) and just chopping it when I get home and saving it in Ziploc bags so when I'm tired, there is no excuse to have a salad with dinner.

Although, I'm giving myself a few "bad" meals each week and I had the best fried shrimp Po-Boy the other day, complete with tartar sauce. Oh yeahhhh.

I worked this weekend but left early to attend a wedding of my husband's co-worker Saturday evening. He only knew the bride a few others from work but we had a great time despite not knowing anyone, in fact, it was kind of nice. The reception was at a beautiful golf course on the marsh and the food was great. The drinks were strong and I'll just say that I just got a tad more than tipsy. Champagne toasts plus strong vodka drinks made for a very hungover Sunday. It's been a long time since I've had that much too drink and I'll think it will be awhile again because I was worthless yesterday!

Other than that, we've(I think!) decided not to buy a house this year, it's just not in the cards right now. Which is fine, but we are on a hunt for a better rental - one that we can live in without having annoying "rock/punk band emo neighbors" and basically isn't just a cheap rental. We want to live somewhere where we will be comfortable for awhile.

Thanks for your comments on the Lands End shoes - my work isn't that dressy (not too casual though) but comfortable shoes are numero uno requirement. I think I could get away with those, chinos and a cute top.

And per the (somewhat) unanimous annoyance with J.Crew these days, I'm going to go check out Old Navy this week. I've seen a few of their cute things on the website and blogs, I just want to try them on - nothing like a cheaper, cuter version, in my book. Plus, I just can't afford the J.Crew prices.

How was your weekend?

Be Honest

What do you think about Land's End new "terrain Mary Janes"?



I need shoes for work that I can run around in all day and be comfortable. I'm really never sitting, so comfort is the MAIN requirement. I just don't know......

Productivity. A word I'm attempting to bring back into my vocabulary. I'm completely useless after a day of work and I finally dealt with the idea of getting up early to work.

Coffee. Check.
Up at 6:15. Check.
Working on thesis. Check.

Feeling a lot better about life and organization. Check!

Our week was rolling along nicely, albeit with intensely HOT weather. Until...
A nasty storm blew through on Thursday afternoon. Power went out at work and I got to leave early, and I was excited thinking of the head start I would get on dinner/cleaning up. And then I saw the cones and police tape around our block. Oh hell, lighting had struck our neighbor's tree, caught on fire, and then brought down the power lines with it. (Ralph, the pup, was super traumatized from this because it happened right outside his window :( poor guy, we gave him extra treats!)

We were officially sans power. And I didn't stress it because I knew the whole town was out and figured someone was on the case. So we made cool cocktails and chatted about the South before A/C. And we walked the dog and scouted the neighborhood. And grilled out burgers, all while making jokes about camping.

And then it was bedtime. With no A/C or fans. Well, needless to say we didn't get any sleep that night and really appreciated the workers getting the power right back on when our alarm went off at 6:00 am. Argh, what a fiasco! I was just glad we got it back that day.


We'd been doing a "diet" of sorts - just refraining from alcohol, caffeine and junk food during the week. The lack of caffeine had been well, tiring. Whew, it was hard for me not to dive into the Coke Zero in the afternoons. Overall, I felt a lot better and was making more time for better workouts.
May still have a coffee on Monday mornings but I've been making an effort with snacking on my new fave:

Almonds and craisins - yum, salty and sweet.

Also! One night a made a few servings of brown rice, so in the morning I would put salsa, shredded mozzarella and leftover grilled chicken together for a healthy and yummy lunch.

We went out Friday for our 1 year anniversary for a nice dinner. We've been dying to go to Bateaux and it didn't disappoint in the least. We enjoyed a fabulous bottle of wine, dinner and dessert. All fresh, all local and we had a fantastic view of the water/marsh. It was perfect!

The rest of the weekend we drove up to Charleston for a rugby game and to hang out downtown. Charleston is just buzzing right now and I always seem to find a new favorite store every time I go. I'll try to find the link of one store but I found an antique where I could have seriously bought ALL items. Such neat antiques. AND they are getting a LV store. Watch out now! We stopped at a roadside stand on the way up and had the BEST sweet tea and homeade pimento cheese. And boiled peanuts. These kinds of places make me smile.

Today was our real anniversary date and we didn't do anything too special. We took a scenic route home, went for a jog, relaxed and I made spaghetti for dinner. Good times.

I promise I'll get around to better updating. Later gators.

I had a fun/busy week last week. Mostly because I took my day off to help a friend look for wedding dresses in Charleson. Oh, so much fun! It was nice to be on the other side (although I saw several eyelet/linen FABULOUS dresses that were just screaming my name) and we had a really good time looking. She just wanted to get a better clue of what she was looking for and we hit up the designer boutiques to try out those fabulous gowns. Then, we caught up over a lovely lunch (curried chicken salad with Craisins - I gotta make it, so good.) and it was a nice time. We are both glad to be close enough to hang out and I think we are getting closer again because we're in the same place in life (somewhat) while our other friends are having just, different paths in life.

Then, I took another half day because I just needed it - to de-frazzle my brain. With my teaching and working this semester, I have a delicate balance of schedules and really needed to get those confirmed up.

Why is it that these kinds of things (like confirming schedules, meetings) stresses me out? I make all of these things a priority and it doesn't feel like I get the same in return. Does that make sense? I'm just adjusting to having a to-do list (that never ends) BEFORE and After work.


On that note!
Weekend was good but busy. Friday included a little James Bond, a little Nutella and a whole lotta red wine!

Saturday, I worked but we went out for beer and BBQ nachos (soooo bad and soooo good) and Sunday we hung out at the beach and just tooled around. We did make it to church and I cleaned up some and did a few loads of laundry, other than that it was a lazy day.

Ermmm, that's it for now. We are headed to Charleston again, this weekend and also preparing to celebrate our one year anniversary - yay!! I've got to find a place for the sweet pup to board while we are gone, finish up anniversary presents/reservations annnnd figure out how my transcripts got lost in a shuffle even though I confirmed a month ago they were faxed (argh, these are the things in life that get under my skin).

That's it for now! Have a good week.