New Year's Eve Plans

I'm doing something completely out of the norm this year for NYE.
I'm doing absolutely nothing. (and I'm ok with it.)

In the five years Cory and I have been together we have done it all: the parties, the dinners, the downtown dancing, crazy scene.
And for some reason I realize, always after the fact, that I was freezing, my feet hurt, and I was questioning why I came out at all.


Cory received a pair of tickets this year from his parents for the Music City Bowl in Nashville that his beloved Tennessee Volunteers are playing at. At first I thought, daggumit, we aren't going to spend NYE together (long story short = I'm not exactly a TN fan and will not be joining him for the game), but then I thought, "well, maybe this isn't going to be so bad." 


So my NYE plans are as follows (cue the lame music sequence):
- catch up on some much needed tv time (I heard My Strange Addiction was a hit!)
- maybe grab some dinner with friends
- hang out with Pops, which by the way will be his birthday on 1.1.11. I always thought it was cool my dad was born on NYD, and speaking of which, we will be headed out to watch our wonderful Memphis Tigers play tonight as a birthday gift. I'm calling it a dad and daughter birthday date. :)


What are y'all's plans for NYE?
xoxo,
 

Christmas Recap

Y'all I was truly blessed this Christmas. 
I got to spend this time with loving family members, dear friends and coworkers, and PRAISE THE LORD, Cory wasn't called in to work on some dang plane.

Speaking of Cory, I was really excited this Christmas considering he bought me a surprise this year. This coming from a guy that would rather be told what to buy, I was shocked. 
But I was even more shocked to see what he bought me for Christmas. 

The boy really does know how much I love to read. And I'm so glad I didn't buy the Fall of Giants like I had wanted a couple of days ago. I purchased it for half price on this thing! Now I'm ready to go and buy this for it. 

Cory was also very happy with all the surprises I gave him this year. His favorite was the Vibram Five Fingers KSOs. 

This was taken after all the Christmas shinanigans were over with...

and my bag still smells like a bar.

 Mini photoshoot with baby girl, Aspen

 This is Cory's favorite

And this is mine

Of course, Ava Grace and Autumn Marie had dozens of presents under the tree this year. I purposely wrapped each one individually just because I know Ava's love of tearing into all that paper. 

This kid cracks me up.

My mom and Autumn decided to collect all the bows in their hair.

I love these two little bows in her hair.

Regardless with your affiliation with Christmas, I hope you and your families have had a wonderful and blessed holiday. 

xoxo,
 

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

I found this tag in my pajamas this morning.

Not really. But I did find it at Tiptoe Butterfly

xoxo,
 

Eyeshadow Lust

Ok, so I might be a dollar short and a day behind in the beauty world, but I'm lusting over this right now. 

Urban Decay's (Infamous) Naked Palette 

Granted, I've never owned a single Urban Decay eyeshadow...or Urban Decay anything for that matter, but when all I hear about is this deadgum palette like it was made from Jesus himself, it makes me want it...BAD. 

One of my favorite beauty bloggers, Lollipop26, did a video showcasing it. That's where the wanting turned into needing.

Like I really need another brown eyeshadow...but seriously, when something goes into rarity, I have to have it.
And yet now, no one seems to be able to carry it in stock. I check Ulta and Sephora and all they have is the sad little empty space saying it will come be filled again soon.

Does anyone have this palette? What did you think?  

xoxo,

Holiday Season Extras

I love giving wrapped gifts. I'll even kinda admit wrapping the gift itself is almost half the fun of giving it in the first place. But what I like to add to my presents besides the typical pretty paper and bow is the not so typical little extra. Some can come on the box, others can be for the actual gift themselves, but regardless, the recipient will surely love that little extra "hmmm, I wish I though of that idea."

I thought I would show you my process of how I gift wrapped a present for my dear coworker, Kristen. She reads my blog, but is not a blogger herself, so I'm sure she will appreciate this little shout out. :) 

Painted Boxes:
Now this is the first year I've done this, but I'm definitely letting this idea stay for gift giving year around. 
Here's the steps I took:
1. Find boxes.
I've wrapped all my gifts this year in plain winter white boxes. (Gift bags eat my dust.) I would recommend white boxes for this project just to have a clearer effect, but I'm sure with any colored box will do if you use the correct corresponding paint.
2. Before you assemble the boxes you will need to set them out on a clean surface for painting.
3. Add the wow factor.
Y'all, only Martha could come up with this ingenuous tool I have dubbed the "wood grainer." It looks like a mix between a sponge roller and a massage tool but the effect it leaves is AMAZEBALLS. 

4. After applying a good layer acrylic gold paint, I roll up and down with this tool creating the wood grain. Make sure you have enough paint on the box to begin with. It shouldn't be a thin coat, but it also shouldn't be oozing over the sides. Find a happy medium. 

5. Air dry for a good hour or two.  

6. Assemble box and wrap gift. No messy wrapping paper to deal with. No tape. No messy edges. 
Like I said. AMAZEBALLS.


Stamped Tags
I love this because it's cheap, simple and little children can do it. 
Steps I take:
1. Find plain manila tags.
2. Add the wow factor. 
3. Using stamps, flocking powder (which makes the stamp images fuzzy), glitter, etc. make a one of a kind tag that people will never want to rip off and throw away. 
I found this owl stamp at Michael s for a dollar, and using the saying I found from my Target wrapping paper, I made a pretty nifty gift tag. 

Yarn Ribbons
I've purchased all kinds of real fancy ribbon in the past just to see it make one bow on one gift. Since I'm not a millionaire, I've realized that beautiful luxury must be put out to pasture until momma gets paid more money. 
Steps I take:
1. Find different colored yarn. This can be simple really since great places like Hobby Lobby sells it for relatively cheap. I think the stuff i bought was $3.To go with the gold, I picked purple yarn. (I'm sure all the LSU fans will love that!)
2. Add the wow factor. 
5. You can either braid the yarn, wrap the yarn around the package in the cross motion a few times, etc.
6. For a crafty bow, I make yarn pom poms by stretching out my thumb and pointer finger and wrapping it several times within the space. 

7. Take another piece of yarn and tie it in the middle cutting in into two sections.
8. Take scissors and cut the ends of each section where it forms a loop and start spacing the pieces around to make your bow. 

And here's all three things as a finished product.

How are you wrapping your presents this year? Any cool tips and tricks?


xoxo,
 

Day Thirty: A Picture

I made it to the end of my blog challenge. 
It took me more than 30 days to complete, but oh well. The fact that I made it to the end is what matters. 
Now I leave you with the final blog post, a picture.
It took me awhile to figure out what picture I would choose since nothing of importance or work taking a picture has happened recently.
So I leave you with my current facebook profile picture, circa Phi Mu Christmas 2008. 
Instead of a tacky sweater, I thought I would do a little something different. 

I came as a Christmas tree. 
And the lovely Santa beside me is Bethany.
Huge, huge hit with the sisters...but a little itchy.


NINE MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!
xoxo,
 

Tis The Season

I finally put up the tree. 
And since I've had so much Christmas spirit in me, I also wrapped all of my presents. 
AND I still had a little bit left in me to put up decorations too.

 

The extra large bear is for my nieces. They go nuts for it.

And I also picked up my favorite Christmas wrap ever this year.

Here's to your decor this holiday season!

xoxo,
 

Day Twenty-Nine: Three Wishes (for Christmas)

Three wishes.
Or how about 3 things I want this Christmas instead.

1. Oleaster Bag
I love cross body bags, and I adore the vintage carpet bag look to this one.

2. TOMS Gilded Herringbone shoes
The gift that keeps giving. For every pair you buy, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need.

3.Tocca Beauty Perfume in Bianca 
I love many different Tocca scents, but this light, clean, flirty scent is so me. Plus the bottle is gorgeous.

What's on your Christmas wish list?

xoxo,
 

Day Twenty-Eight: Something That Stresses You Out

People this time of year really seem to stress me out.
I mean some can be just ruthless around the holidays.
Where did the Christmas spirit go, dude?
I mean, chill out.
xoxo,
 

Day Twenty-Seven: Pets

Cory and I have a Siberian husky named Aspen.
Our little baby girl was born 8.8.08.

She was the last of her litter in Salem, TN, and was obviously keen with staying on the farm that she was born and raised. Needless to say, she was scared, skiddish, and did not want to have anything to do with Cory or me for the first couple of weeks. 
Thankfully she took a liking to Cory and eventually myself, and found her own funky, quirky personality. Now every time I walk through the door it's like I'm being greeted by my own child. She runs, she licks, she talks (what I affectionately call her "yodeling"), and loves to snuggle.

And dig in the backyard....
xoxo,
 

Day Twenty-Six: Picture of Your Family

I've shown you a picture of me.
I've shown you my parents.
I've shown you my sis.
Now the only family I have left to show on this thing are my two very special nieces, Ava Grace and Autumn Marie.
Here they are.
 
They are my everything. Anyone who knows me in real life is probably going to roll their eyes and say "duh," but I don't care. I've done everything but the physical birth with these two.

xoxo,

Day Twenty-Five: iPod Shuffle

Lets do the shuffle...ok, don't judge my song selection. I like all music, and it can go from country twang to ghettolicious in one click of the next button.

1. Back to December - Taylor Swift (you have to start somewhere, and this is my jam right now)
2. Time - Chantal Kreviazuk (if you don't know this song, it's on How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days)
3. Sleep Through the Static - Jack Johnson 
4. You - Candlebox
5. Save You - Kelly Clarkson
6. Just What I Needed - The Cars
7. Funny the Way It Is - Dave Matthews Band
8. All I Care About - Chicago Soundtrack (what..I love showtunes)
9. That Summer - Garth Brooks
10. You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi

Can I just go ahead and say that this was disappointing. I much rather put my top ten songs playing on my pod at the moment.

Top Ten Pod Plays:
1. Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
2. Fix You - Coldplay
3. Don't Rain on My Parade - Glee Soundtrack
4. She Says - Howie Day
5. This Town - OAR
6. The Suffering - Coheed and Cambria
7. Slide - Goo Goo Dolls
8. The Hat - Ingrid Michaelson
9. Beautiful - 10 Years
10. Faithfully - Glee Soundtrack


Much better.

xoxo,
 

What Whit's Reading

I've finally finished it!
I've finally finished the encyclopedia! (not really but it's about the same weight, let me tell ya)

I read it's prequel, Pillars of the Earth, a couple of years ago, and when I saw this one out trugging, I knew I had to buy it. But as some of you already know, it stood collecting dust on my shelves due to my lack of time to read it. 

Seriously, I loved every second of the book. Ken Follett has a way of taking 4 completely different and seemingly random characters and weaving their lives together to span for the next 50 years with ease. And always to please the reader with what I call karma justice, it had me flipping page after page during my lunch breaks for the past two weeks. 


If you love anything about history or historical fiction, definitely purchase this book. You don't even have to have read Pillars of the Earth to read this one, but I would certainly recommend it as well.


xoxo,
 

Day Twenty-Four: Something You've Learned

I could tell you all the things I've learned in my 24 years of life.
I could go on and on about life lessons and blah, blah, blah.
But really all I want to tell you is something I learned on Oprah the other day.
It came from a nun when asked what she says to someone who may not believe in the Lord.

She simply stated something along these lines...If you do not believe in something greater than yourself, you will never be able to be anything greater than yourself.

I love that.

xoxo,
 

Day Twenty-Three: Favorite Vacation

I've never backpacked through Europe.
Or even gone out of the country.
I've never ventured to New York City (yet).
Or really been anywhere up the northeast coast.
But I have been on some pretty rad vacations.
My favorite being in Nashville during Thanksgiving with my family. 
We stayed at the Grand Ole Opry Hotel, and rarely once did we actually leave. I mean, why would we? Everything we needed or possible want was IN THE BUILDING. Sigh...

 

My dad, the avid garden enthusiast, asked around to find out more about the lights decorating the property. From what he could figure out they employee a team just to put up the lights every year which can take several months to finish. It was beautiful to look at to say the least. 

This is the part of the hotel I stayed in called the Cascades. Although the weather was chilly outside, I could trug around these parts all day and never worry about wearing a jacket. 


I wish I could share some of the actual pictures I took from that year...unfortunately all those photos were lost with my stupid camera (tip - never click on reformat on your camera). At least I have the memories.



xoxo,
 

Ramblings and Day Twenty-Two: Favorite City

Today I am off of work which means it's past noon and I'm still in my pajamas with no make up on and hair bigger than a lions. 
I. Love. It.

Normally, I hate when I'm in a deep sleep when my phone wakes me up, but when I got this text from my bff, Jenna, I couldn't have been happier. 
"Hey! Do you still want to go to the game with me tonight at 7?"
Will I ever turn down a Memphis Tigers game?? The answer would be NO.


Now, onto my favorite city - Nashville.

I became in love with this city when I was younger and my dad made a tradition of spending every Thanksgiving staying in the Grand Ole Opry Hotel. 
I love the atmosphere. I love the downtown area. I especially love Centennial Park. 
It's definitely a place Cory and I would want to live one day. 


xoxo,
 

Day Twenty-One: Picture of Yourself

Hello frannnnds. Just the typical Monday ramblings from me today. I just got back from the gym and watching Dancing With the Stars...like I said, typical. (Which by the way, I am sooooo TEAM KYLE!!!)

Anywho, here's the last picture of me tagged on facebook. I figured it would be just as good as any other. 

This was taken a couple of weeks ago for a friend's birthday. At the time I was enjoying a beer with great company. I wish all nights could be as simple as that. 


xoxo,