I think I contracted some kind of head cold this weekend, just enough to make me feel like absolute crud but not enough that I felt it was ok to call off work. Blargh. So, I just called in some early nights Friday and Saturday but I feel a bit better now. I'm like a turtle when I'm sick, I just want to hide in my shell and retreat from the world. Oh well, I caught up on my reading and resting this weekend. We also watched "Life is Beautiful" with Roberto Benini - beautiful movie, very poignant and touching.

I've also been catching up on my summer reads:


This is an older one, "The Other Woman," by Jane Green. I love this author, I feel like she always pinpoints the feelings, conversations or thoughts people have about relationships - the kind of things you don't even want to tell your best friend. Anyway, I liked her depictions of relationships, including the "other woman," the mother in law! Eekk, passive aggressive MIL relationships. Gotta love those, eh?

This Sophie Kinsella? I wasn't so excited about, after I put it down. Fun, but give me another Shopaholic over this, any day!


I've got a few other "Target" beach reads on my list - thanks to my library hold list - I'll keep ya updated. I need to find a book club now...you know a book is good when you want to sit down and keep on discussing the characters!

Although, I really need to be working on my final thesis. Argghh, I haven't finished it and I just need to DO. IT. NOW. We were busy moving, and now working, I'll tell ya, by the time I've worked all day, fixed dinner, washed dishes and had a glass of wine and put my feet up - I don't want to work on it. I hate excuses and I realllllly hate procrastination, so I hope I get a kick of motivation soooooon.

Typical Sunday here though, I slept in and made a shrimp and cheese omelette with fresh basil. We bought a couple pounds of shrimp for the weekend and they've lasted us for quite a few meals. We've been having those "snacky" type meals. The kind where you just snack on a little something here and there and end up with a bowl of cereal - the best kinds of meals in my opinion. Last night, it was boiled shrimp and chips with 7 Layer dip. The other week we ate pita, hummus and pimento cheese with cornbread crackers for dinner. Tonight, it was leftover dip and I tossed up a salad with the last bit up shrimp. Easy and great for summer heat!

We also attended a family reunion for a bit (my mom: tell everyone I said hello and DON"T EAT THE POTATO SALAD! - reverberations of my childhood), where we caught up with people we knew, awkwardly introduced ourselves to those we didn't and Ate the damn potato salad. Ha! We did hit up the Target (an hour's drive - so what a treat!), but no Whim clearance (all gone) and I talked myself out of the clothes that I definitely didn't need. Although, Mr. P found a couple nice linen/fishing type shirts. A Wendy's Frosty and Sunday afternoon was complete.

Everyone's Doin it...

And so shall I!

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Hmm, Sophomore year of high school - emerging from the totally awkward stage of teenage years yet still workin that teen angst, poring over J.Crew catalogs (no - not the website!!), practicing driving all my friends around, talking with my friends on the phone, being flippant to my parents, playing high school soccer and swimming - I was an athlete that year, wondering why I didn't have a totally awesome boyfriend, listening to Counting Crows and Dave Matthews Band and figuring out how to follow DMB for a summer!

What are 5 things on your to do list for today?
Call the insurance company
Get our recycling bin
Run to the store for dog food
Get all the bills organized
Pick up my check

Gee whiz, that doesn't sound fun. I'll also add that today will include a sunset walk to the beach with hubby and dog!

What snacks do you enjoy?
Hummus and pita/carrots, chips and salsa, almonds, one of those grilled chicken wraps from McDonald's, a string cheese and an apple - I'll snack on any kind of "dip", really!


What places have you lived?
New York City - Greenwich Village, Virginia, South Carolina - upstate and lowcountry, Indiana

What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?
-Buy a house/big piece of property (with cottages for all my friends and family to stay!)
- Pay off our and my parent's debts
- Go on a fabulous trip to Ireland, England, Tuscany, Greece and Croatia (all places that are on my list) without a worry about budget
- Take my mom and I on a shopping spree/spa week...hell, fortnight!
- Buy my man the boat, the car he wants

After all that, donate to church, agricultural research, and all of the other causes I'd love to donate to...!

Spanish Moss & Sweet Tea Vodka

Life pretty much revolves around work, walking the dog, fixing dinner, hanging out and figuring out a budget for getting out of debt and getting a house of some kind. It's HOT HOT HOT and I don't mind sweating (in gym clothes that is...any sort of outfit for the public, notsomuch) b/c I equate it with losing weight.

We finally had a looooonnggg quenching rain this weekend and we sat out on on the porch, having a cocktail, watching the rain and wondering why Spanish moss turns green when it rains. Speaking of Cocktails - my new absolute favorite drink - Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka (straight from the low-country, Charleston area) is extremely, dangerously good. Hub brought it home and I thought I wouldn't like it, but it's not 'sicky' sweet but good sweet, like add a lemon or mix with pink lemonade and it's refreshing happy hour time. Ooooh. I could have one now, it is sooooooooo good.

Focusing on working out and not obsessing about it, just dammit, going to the gym every other day. And you know what? It feels great. I enjoy working out for the energy and self-esteem boost. And attempting to eat salads (most days) for lunch, fixing a normal dinner and cutting out junk-food. Simple, easy things that don't bother me enough that I"m fixated on my work-out/eating schedule. Although....I picked up some pimento cheese and Townhouse's new "Cornbread" crackers - what a yummy snack, super yummy!


We spent the weekend "fixing" up our place (as much as renters can) but hub put a lot of work into the yard and our little backyard. After the rain, our place looks great. I SUPER cleaned. I'd neglected our home for awhile and thing is - small spaces and clutter do not mix!! God, do I love the feeling of a clean, serene home with fresh laundry and clean sheets. It makes me sleep better or something.

We also had dinner with good friends we hadn't seen in forever, one who had recently gotten engaged and was so happy (of course because she got a nice big ROCK). Think what you may, I'm generally a happy, contented, "I'm blessed person" but I do get flashes of envy when I see my friends sporting rocks. I mean, I do, I'm sorry and then I feel guilty for even having those feelings. Because I LOVE my husband and our relationship, I want to say ours is worth that toooooo dammit!! Sorry for that, but what's a blog good for, if not getting those things out?

Back to better things, here's a family I love. Chris O'Donnell - my celeb crush in high school and middle school. I really wanted to marry him. Look at him and his adorably preppy family.




I've ordered a few things lately. Namely, the crab tote from LLBean (monogrammed and it's adorable), summer basics like white cardigan, white jeans from AnnTaylor Loft (taking advantage of those fab deals) and this Knit dress from J.Crew. LOVE. If I weren't on spending frivolous budget, I would definitely buy it in every color. Dress it up or down with a tank top.

Ummm, I think that's it for now!

Am I the only person who will go to CVS for ONE item (nail polish), leave $25 dollars poorer, received an insane amount of CVS coupons, promise to use them and never remember a darn one??

And to the builder of our adobe - whoever thought it was a good idea to permanently install a full length mirror opposite the toilet - was wrong and an idiot. No one, should ever have to face themselves while being, as they say, indisposed.

Hubby said he's ready to nest, the manly way = Lowe's. We took a trip there last night (not without a trip to Sonic for a grilled cheese and cherry limeade b/c my blood sugar was low and when it is? I'm a grumpy shopping partner) for a new grill, picnic table, makings for an herb garden (pot) and other various items that were "needed." I kid, but seriously, I can only take Lowe's up for a certain amount of time, otherwise, I'm completely booorrrrreeed. We've been using our backyard and tonight we had our first official grill out complete with baked beans, home fries and grilled asparagus (consensus, we decided we really just don't LIKE asparagus). Oh, and fresh peaches over vanilla ice cream for dessert. Nummmmm. And we planted our herbs - sweet basil, lemon basil, rosemary, sage and greek oregano. Oh, does it smell heavenly!

Ordered the knit slub dress from J.Crew in navy and can't wait to see it and wear it. But can we talk about a place I love, Ann Taylor Loft. Particularly because the prices are so great and they offer REAL deals. Like ones I can take advantage on and say, dayumm, I saved a good chunk of money. Granted, they send me an email EVERY single day, but I can really use them. Some of their clothes are "ehhh" and others, are basics I wear a lot. Holla, ATLoft!

I love keeping up with all you bloggers. I know we all express this thought periodically, but I feel like I know you and love hearing about the babies, engagements, exciting news and what you ate for dinner yesterday every day! Cheers!

Later Gators

Good Weekend, well half of it. I had to work yesterday and took Thursday off to run around getting a bajillion errands done. We had to open up a storage shed so we got some of the last few things into it because we didn't have time otherwise. Ordered a pizza Friday night, just been kind of eating leftovers and cleaning up around the house.

Sooo apparently a tad boring then ;)

I did make Savannah red rice this week and added fresh shrimp...it was oh. so. good. YUM! Received a Lilly P Ebay find in the mail this week, it is cute! It's the patchwork print from about 2 or 3 years ago...and a leeetle snug, so joining the gym and pumping some iron is the goal for this week!

Oh! and I finished "Savannah Breeze" - what a great summer read, I was into it and couldn't put it down.


Work is good, I have some other things floating around for the fall (in addition to my job now), which I'll post about later but it's really exciting for me! I'm on my feet all day at my current job and after I struggled through the first week, I HAD to run to TJMaxx to see if I could find any comfortable shoes. I picked up a pair of "Born" sandals and oh my, like comfy little feet cushions, they are! I'm in the market for another pair now.



Soooo. the reason we had drama I mentioned earlier was because of a certain sibling, (not mine!) of ours who is closer to age 30 and a female. We'll say X for now. So, my husband's sister, X, calls up one day and says hey my boyfriend is in town, can he come by and get your washer/dryer?

**Background info, X has, on many occasions, "not spoken to us" because of us doing horrible things to her, like moving out of state or not calling her to ask her questions about her week. And still, cannot get over the fact that we are married. Honestly, just really jealous and it hurts hubby and me all the time b/c we are consistently nice and half the time we get a cold shoulder and/or "I'm too busy to visit". Just completely ridiculous behavior. The kind you wish you could just ignore, but it is family. AND, when we moved out of state (which offended her and hurt her feelings - which was really nice b/c it was a hard move for us and we could have used all the support we needed) Hubby's parents gave us some furniture they wanted to pass along (bed frame, recliner etc) and a washer/dryer. A perfectly nice w&d that was sitting in a storage shed. Mind you, we never asked for it, but they said go ahead and take it and we thought that was a great way to avoid having to buy a brand new set. Well, that upset X. She had "called it". Whatever, like many many many times before, we just apologized and rolled along. Now, our temporary abode (like for a few more months temp) has a washer/dryer upstairs, so we decided to store our w&d for when we buy a house. **

Back to the call, hubby says, "well umm, X, your bf is welcome to borrow the w&d for a few months, but we do want to keep it." And basically gets a rude response as to how that's unfair, she wanted it and she's going to call their parents. Very mature right? Then, he basically gets yelled at for telling her that yeah, they can borrow it but they w&d are OURS. And then gets a call from the parents, saying he should apologize to her. He calls and gets cold shoulder. Because she's mad at us. FOR 3 WEEKS won't answer the phone. I mean seriously!

This probably sounds like rambling thing that's NOT A BIG DEAL (because it's not) but X decided to make it her own drama. Re-mother-freaking-diculous. I can't tell you how many times people (including us) have bent over backwards because they made HER mad. I really just don't understand how immature and selfish people are! Really!

Whew, had to vent here because I just can't stand when people try to play little games. Dude, live your life! And I could tell many more instances but (as church reminded me this morning - sermon on family and forgiveness), I musn't stoop to that level. Forgiveness. Working. On. It.
:)

Ok, back to a low-key Sunday evening and thanking God for air conditioning because this heat? Is hardcore!!

Have a nice week!

I'm pretty picky about morning talk shows: being able to watch my favorites, being particular about which ones I watch and who gives the best news OR entertainment (I'd like to watch news programs for news and entertainment for celebs).
And while you may or may not agree :), my favorites were/are Morning Joe on MSNBC for politics, Regis and Kelly for grumpy banter and The View for hearing their arguments on hot topics (although, sometimes I can only take so much of them). Anyhoo, reason being, we only have CBS's morning show and for some reason, I can't stand it. And yet I continue to watch it. Why do I always do the "OMG, this guy is so annoying - let's watch!!" I end up watching more shows because they ARE annoying to me. Anyway, what are your faves?

NERD ALERT: Oh, and can I give a shout-out to my public library? While I'd love to drop a dime at Borders (and believe me, I could!), I just can't - so back to the place of my childhood summers - the good old Library. Because I'm just getting into the swing of holding books (which I've done before, only academically but why not for Sophie Kinsella's latest novel??!!) and interlibrary loaning for books on my Amazon list I'm never going to order but want to read? Love it. Thank you public library.

I need new make-up! I only am really going to have time to run to the drugstore to fill in my basics so readers

- What are your favorite drugstore cosmetic/hair product purchases? Anything tried and true that you love (or hate)?

One of my favorites is (can't find pic) Pantene's High Humidity hair spray. I don't usually use hair spray but this stuff works great when the frizz is on high alert and it smells great!

I hate sounding repetitive but I'm here! Busy as a Tickled Pink B! Busy on the weekends and during the week and I'm trying to blog more but alas...here we are with the "once a week, list of updates."

Not much going on...we had a productive weekend. Got up Saturday, hardcore cleaned and finished unpacking boxes. We decided to get a storage shed for a few reasons, one being that our bed frame DOES not fit up the stairs (which was a hysterical episode). We also hit up the farmer's market for some fresh veggies and boiled peanuts. Boiled peanuts = happiness. Where a lady gave me a very snooty look and asked in a very tense voice "Is YOUR DOG OKAY??" Why yes, he's just fine sitting next to me, excitedly looking around. I mean, I understand getting nervous around other people's dogs in public, but seriously? Our dog has the most, "hey, I'm a goofy, young excited doggie face". Really? No menace and no need for snoot. Harumph.

Hosted the in-laws for a night (and avoided a touchy subject involved family members, fighting between siblings and a washer and dryer - no joke, thats a WHOLE new post for a WHOLE different day. All I can say is, it honestly amazes me how selfish and inconsiderate people can be in this world). However, we had a lovely dinner on the water and I enjoyed several DAMN good crabcakes and wine. Sunday was church and an invitation to a neighborhood fiesta and boat ride. We love meeting new people and hanging out but lately, we are the young couple who don't have kids in the midst of families with 2 or 3 kids. And we don't care at alllll, but it seems that everyone loves to make a point about how we don't have kids. Yeah, we know! We are young and looking down that path sooner rather than later. Anyhoooo...no plans but working and getting our backyard summer grilling spot together.

Reading "Savannah Blues" by Mary Kay Andrews

Listening to singer Estelle. Do you need a new workout or new good music?? This chick is great and has Kanye, John Legend oh her album. She's great with a different, funky sound!