WBW!

Making an effort to get back in the game here... haha.. Hooray WBW!!!

What is this? Oh it's my camp fire gown. Oh yeah. I said gown, not vest...which means I was in middle school, not some cute little 2nd grader. And I had a ton of beads which you cant really see (hear that? it's the sound of my own horn). I was in the process of lining the bottom and top and sleeves with badges...until I decided I didn't like camp fire anymore. haha! I met so many friends in Camp Fire Bluebirds!! Blaze, Andrea, Tammy...just to name a few! 

Can you tell I was bored at my mom's one day? Dug out the old camp fire stuff...and my 1st grade yearbook.. haha.. I couldnt get it to turn b/c I sent it in from my phone (and I didnt have patience) but here I am in 1st grade!! :)

Blaze and I went to dinner tonight for my bday at Sonoma! As I was looking at the wine menu, I noticed the statement under Beringer. You can barely read it, but it says "What can I say, we're just glad you're drinking wine!" Comical. 

Dinner was awesomesauce-haven't seen Blaze in way too long. :) We chatted well past dark and well past our 4th water refill post-meal...haha...

My apt looks like it's vomiting dog hair and clothes. It's not pretty. Yet I sit here and blog. Today was INSANE at work. IN.SANE. There was part of the day where I literally had to be in two places at once (and I'm telling the truth b/c my pet peeve is when people use 'literally' incorrectly). It was nuts! Short weeks are always a little chaotic, right? I think so... 

This time 28 years ago, my mother was waddling around and had no idea if I was a boy or a girl. That's totally weird to think about. *furrowed brow* 

Happy WBW everyone!!!

The Killer Inside Me in Oklahoma

I tried to come up with a clever subject til I realized the title of the movie was clever enough b/c if you dont know what I'm talking about, you saw your blog feed and thought I was a psycho-well, more than you already did. Awesome. :)

I stole these from my friend's fb album b/c I don't work downtown. Duh. I guess Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba were in makeup.. whatever. But, Casey Affleck wasn't (see third photo). :) If you're familiar with Tulsa, you'll get a kick out of these... 

And, I may have cried at Here Come the Newlyweds tonight. Wow. 

I went in for practical, black sandals on my lunch break...

...and came out with these amazing yellow pieces of art! What the hell is my problem?! haha! I used to never like shoes...but...How cute will they look with that pink coral dress at the wedding next week?!

Mind you, I really dont have any summer shoes other than flip flops so it's not like I went overboard here. But, is yellow as practical as the black ones I went in for? My mental argument says yes, yes they are. *smiles*

Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! I love my mastercard! Happy birthday to me.

(In my best parental voice...)

Jax,

Stay away from the mall until after you've come to terms with your 28th birthday. Thanks.

Much love,

Yourself.

PS. You should totally wear these shoes to your high school reunion. Duh.

On another note...have you ever had a day.. or a week..where you feel like the "Why the hell did you say that?" bug attacked you? Yeah. That was me last week and this weekend. I mean.. I didn't say anything bad really.. but just had many "stop talking, Jackie. Stopit. NOW." moments. For example, I told one of Eric's friends about how I ran into him on a date with someone else once when we'd just started dating and weren't serious yet (aka it didn't at all matter..and it was in context with the convo, people.) It was hilarious!! I still think it's hilarious. However, I'm fairly certain I made the conversation go from zero to awkward in about 5 seconds. Jeezus. And that's not a move I typically make. That's just one example of my brain detaching from my mouth. But then, if this bug attacks you, you totally understand... you can't just stop b/c then it's worse! You have to just finish it out and act oblivious that you're apparently a complete conversational idiot for those 2 minutes of your life. Wow.

Weekend Recap!!!

Weekendtastic! 

Friday, Eric and I went to a bbq for his work. I didn't take any pics b/c it was at his coworkers house and well...I didn't need the "Eric's girlf is a creeper with a camera" rep. But, it was fun!(I wore something I already had and am taking back the red dress). Then, we headed out to a bday party for a bit before passing out from a long week...

Saturday, up bright and early to float the river with some of Eric's new coworkers! I know I know... it was over 100, but it honestly didn't feel like it since we could get in the water. However, it was easily the most crowded I've ever seen it out there...so much so the guy cancelled our reservation. Yeah. The genius at the place thought canceling our reso (for 30 ppl) plus tons of other groups was a great idea to make room for the people who weren't smart enough to make a reservation. *eye roll* 

But, we finally convinced them to give us 4 boats + a slightly leaky one. Woo hoo floating!

And did you know they make Corona in CANS?! Hello awesome! I hate to even post beer pictures b/c it was so hot, we mostly stuck to water (seriously), but the canned Corona was too fab. :)

Oh and these are all with a disposable...

Ahhh the "river racer." Story: Eric had a nascar raft on one float trip. His friend stole it and punctured it. Eric wrote the company an email and they sent.him.a.new one. hahaha! Meet the new nascar river racer. You can imagine his popularity on the river with a raft like that...

The river racer almost gets stuck but won't be defeated!

Gina and I took over the racer... 

Told ya it was busy!
Group shot! Eric and I are fairly dead center. 
Carrie and Chris had  a housewarming party for their new house in Owasso. We headed out there, took a tour of the fabulous new casa, played a little wii and were home by 11:00. River-1. Jax and Eric-0. 

Eric loves losing at Wii mario cart. See how much? 

Sunday Funday! Gracie was neglected with the float trip n all, sooo we played...and played...and cuddled...and then headed to the bark park when it was cool enough! Ps.. I had no idea the dog park was next to....the prison. *nervous* Bizarre. lol! 
My dog is antisocial.. and I love it b/c it amuses me. The other four pups were playing with each other and barking, etc. Gracie opted to go run by herself or with me...or just sniff things- perfectly content. She also hates huge bowls so I brought water and a little bowl for her. With her loner behavior and private water, fairly certain we got labeled the snooty dog parkers. lol!
But she was happy!! :)

Annnnnd I went to Francesca's Collections at Woodland!! It just opened yesterday! Here's the thing... I know I didn't need anything really but I've been kinda weird lately. Maybe it's the post vacation blahs... Maybe it's that I'm turning 28...Maybe it's b/c my high school reunion is this year and I don't even own a home yet. *sigh*... I think it's a combo. Anyway, whatever the case, I needed a boost so Francesca's summer dresses somewhat did the trick...at least for a temporary fix. :) (cheaper than randomly purchasing a house, right? haha).  I LOVE this store! So glad Lauren intro-ed me to it in Chicago...and that we now have one! Affordable, but not cheaply made dresses and fun stuff! Thinking I'm going to wear the bright yellow one on my bday and the pink coral one to  wedding next week!!! :) (see how I justified when purchasing). Buying yourself bday presents can be fun... lol!

Hope you had a great weekend, everyone!! 

Outanding! Professional! St. Lucia-Day 6 (PART ONE!)

I split day 6 into parts b/c (1) it was the day we got the villa the pictures are insane (2) it was our last full day so the pictures are insane (3) I'm tired and the pictures are insane. (and I'm kinda enjoying going through them and remembering things) :) 

Got up from our awesomesauce twin beds. Poor Eric. After the shark attack (see how I'm overdramatizing it now?), and the snake in the water, I was fairly terrified to sleep. Couple that with the fact that our room was old and made some bizarre noises. My thoughts "Wow, this was a plantation. What if it's haunted? And I mean...those snakes were brought by plantation OWNERS. Hello. 2+2=4. There's got to be a snake in here. What if there was?" Then, my thoughts transferred into me completely taking over Eric's twin bed with him snuggling a little much. He rolled with it b/c he's a good boyfriend and knew I was freaked, but as I got in the shower that morning, he said "I'm just gonna go to the desk and see if anything else is available..." haha.. 

I think I'll switch this up and do captions below the photos instead of above...

This is what the breakfast view looked like....

This is what a 35 dollar breakfast looked like. Yes. I said that. We got the bill for the buffet and it read over 70 US dollars. We were like "WTH?!" We'd been some cool places and this was BY FAR the priciest. We decided then and there we wouldn't be eating dinner at the Jalousie Plantation that night... 
The pool. :)
One of the things I really wanted to do in St. Lucia was see Diamond Falls. It's a volcanic waterfall that changes colors thanks to the chemicals found in the volcanic components. You can't swim in this one...obviously (volcano=hot=chemicals=dangerous).

The waterfall was contained in the botanical gardens. We got our cab driver from the night before to pick us up that morning and take us. Upon entry, we were greeted with "Alexander the Great" aka the most hilarious and awesome tour guide ever. The gardens don't have guides, but guides stand outside and will take you through it for a tip (like 10 US or so). 

At first, Alexander and Jax did not get along. At all. lol! He was talking a mile a minute and although he was EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the plants, etc, I really just wanted to see the falls. Eric explained an he took us straight there. 
Best part... he posed us... repeatedly! He would be like "do this. No. This. Okay, kiss. Lean in. Lean... perfect!" Then, he'd snap it and exclaim "OUTSTANDING! PROFESSIONAL!" We must have heard that phrase about 40 times and giggled each time. Such a great guy... :)
And.. he even wanted to be in photos too! To Eric "I'll be Batman, you be Superman!" 
And to me "I'll be Batman, you me Wonder Woman!" I had no idea what was going on but loved every moment! haha! He told us his daughter worked at our hotel on the beach in the towel cabana. So cute!
The mineral baths now....
The mineral baths then.... 
Alexander opened this mini door and said "lean in" and as we did, he said "It's over 200 degrees! First spa!" Agh! This is Eric's "it's really hot" face. haha! 
As Alexander walked, he talked...and talked... about plants, history, etc.. and if we took pics, we had to kinda race to keep up. This is me doing some of that racing as he walks on...haha.. 
I'm so mad that I can't remember what he called this drummer guy, but we had to have our photo with him.. posed.. haha...I think it was Ted? I dont remember. Boo. 
I wanted a picture with the aphrodisiac sign. It was hilarious! Alex said to Eric "No, point lower..lower.. there!" Then, "OUTSTANDING! PROFESSIONAL!" *giggling as I type this*
Alex gave us a good luck charm. I dont think we kept it. It was a plant. But I really like good luck charms so I wanted a picture. :) 

How you can tell it was a sugar plantation... the little canals in the ground used to transport things. Yes, that's all I remember. I'm sleepy..haha.. 
Lunchtime!! We opted to grab lunch at a local place right by the gardens and took photos to entertain ourselves. Tan line anyone? 
And something kept feeling like it was stinging me! LOL! I couldnt see anything... Anyway, I took Eric's coke and put it on my stomach to stop the sensation. This is how sexy it looked. lol!
And for the end of part one, we arrived back to the hotel and were taken to the place they'd moved our bags....aka...our.new.villa! We pulled up and looked at each other like "umm..seriously?" 

Thanks for bearing with me, people. :) Now that I'm back and have had a semi long week, I'm loving going through the pics. :) 

Trophy Wife?

Today, we had to go around the room (about 30 ppl) and draw a pic on the inside of our name table tent of what we wanted to be as a kid. I wanted to be a veterinarian. (See attempt at dog with added woof). Then, I also drew some sort of gavel b/c I wanted to also be a lawyer by the age of...8 or so. What I obviously didn't want to be: an artist. You're welcome, world. 

A girl about my age...likely a little younger but I still imagine I'm 25 so whatever...stood up and proudly boasted "I wanted to be a trophy wife...still kinda do...haha.." The room was silent..then a few nervous laughs when ppl realized she was serious. *perplexed look*

And finally.. things that would not be so cool: dying in the shadow of the king of pop. Sorry Farrah. And RIP to both Michael and Farrah... *le sigh* 

Put some clothes on.

So, I'm walking G money and see two little boys (around age 8) across the street. One's watching traffic one way and the other is kinda looking at Gracie and me. Totally not bizarre b/c kids often skateboard n stuff around here, so I was like whatever... Buuuut... as I got closer, I saw a girl's tan leg and heard her exclaim "Cover me up!" (Yeah you're thinking what I was) I didn't really skip a beat...kept walking...and saw one of the boys throw a towel on a likely topless) blonde girl age...um...18ish? (I didn't stare b/c I'm not a perv. Thanks.). She'd been posed sitting on something. As all kinds of things were adding up really fast in my head, they weren't adding fast enough b/c I then saw a man..rephrase..a guy old enough to be all these kids' dad...in camo pants...unshaven and unshowered (maybe not, but he was totally not a professional). This random camo man had a CAMERA and was busy going through about 3 lenses from a case to choose the right one. 

What the HELL did I walk up on?! The best part...the guy walked over to this random half naked girl (I think she had on a bikini bottom) with camera in hand and just said hi to me like it was no big thing. 

WHAT.ON.EARTH?

Bizarro. That's all I've got. Sorry the story ends there. I didn't stick around and make new naked friends. 

Anyway, this was after I'd made a trip to Utica. I wanted a dress to wear to a bbq this weekend. Right. I found an adorable coral one at Ann Taylor on MAJOR sale. I asked the girl "This is coral right?" She said "yeah." I said "Okay! It's not red? It doesnt look red, but the lighting is weird." Her: "Well, I'd say coral." Great. 

Go ahead. Guess. You're right. 

It's red. 

Crap. I have no idea when I waged a war against the color red when featured in a dress (I own a cute, red dress for work actually). But, I think I just liked the idea of it in coral. Stupid lighting at Ann Taylor. Maybe with some cute, bright jewelry.... ?? (turquoise maybe). I still like it. I'm just being dumb b/c I have no more time this week to find something.

So, I've been loving this dress below at Francesca's  (which we're getting in Tulsa btw at Woodland...Lauren took me there in the Chi and I fell in love with the store!) 

I thought "hmm.. I could overnight it..." Then, I'd have it for the bbq. I realize this is dumb b/c I definitely probably have something I could wear anyway but I was going to order the dress anyway....so why not overnight it and get it as an option, right?

Why are you friends with me? b/c apparently I am the most indecisive person ever today on completely unimportant things. And color blind to boot. (The bbq is for E's work stuff...hence overanalyzing). I just wish Tulsa had some more cute little boutiques. I think there are some out south, but I have no idea where they are....

I think it's just been a long day...haha.. No A/C this morning. Wet hair in business attire. Meetings for the "leadership development" program I'm in (hooray on that btw!). And waking up on the wrong side of the bed. 

I'm lucky this is what I'm annoyed by today...haha.. and glad I'm not the half naked girl. Man.. if that's her dad, she's gonna have ISSUES. If it's not, I think I'm even more concerned. Maybe. It's a toss up really. 

WBW...er...kinda

I woke up and (1) forgot it was Wednesday (meetings today) and (2) my power was out. How. annoying. So, I was kinda on the wrong side of the bed waking up I suppose... Just as I was trying to figure out what to do with G dawg (b/c she cant stay in 100 degree heat), the power came on. Phew. However, I had to leave for work...with wet hair. Nice.

I don't know if I mention this, but most every time I leave the apt, Gracie watches me leave from the window and it might be the saddest/cutest thing ever.

Anyhoo, since I forgot it was Wed, I dont have pictures, but I have my fav Friends' scenes!! The first one was on the other day at the gym and I actually took off my ipod to watch from the treadmill. It's the first kiss episode! :) LOVE.IT. Then the fire alarm scene makes me laugh every.single.time I watch it.. like almost crying-laughing...





Have a great day!

Things I suck at:

...planning a happy hour for my birthday.

Every year, my bday falls on the holiday weekend. Sooo I don't really feel the need to do something large and in charge b/c people are often busy and gone, etc... and I'm cool with low key...WAY cool actually. Okay, so...

...a couple years ago, my friend Sara and I planned a little dinner at ITR for my bday. Lemme tell you.. I was a stresscase. I think Brooke likely recalls b/c I remember her attending... It was fine once it got started, but getting the correct number for the reso was insanity.... then got there and someone was sitting at our table and wouldn't move... and and and.. basically I was in party planning hell before it actually happened b/c I wanted to make sure people were having fun, things went smoothly, etc... 

I LOVE planning things for other people, but for me...agh! I mean...I seriously want to throw fun (and preferably themed-prepare yourself) dinner parties and crap someday (ya know..when I have more than 650 square feet). As you all know (and as evidenced by my having a blog), I like being social. But, when it comes to planning something to somewhat celebrate something for myself...*nervous* I mean.. I'm betting those of you who came to my law school graduation recall the "Yeah, I think we're doing dinner or something. Come if you want!" which is in direct opposition to when I planned a surprise party for a friend years ago and was cuuuuhrazy into the details. Yeah. What's wrong with me?! LOL!

So, here I am about a week from the bday and people are asking me if I'm doing anything and if they can help plan anything. I saw visions of big, elaborateness and was like "agh! No! I dont want a big deal!" I thought "well, I suppose a happy hour would be okay..." That's where it all began. I dont want people to feel obligated to come but I dont want people to feel left out. Then, do you make a reservation? I mean....people need a place to sit...so we're back to the head count issue. And is it weird that I'm sending out info on my own bday happy hour? I dont think so.. but someone said it's weird. I dont think it's weird. They're weird. Hmph. ;)

That's all I've got. I'm having a glass of wine after work to ease the stress from planning a happy hour. haha... Nice.

Oh and..guess who has a floating holiday on her bday?! That means I get the day off!! HOORAH!!!!!! 

Oh and all this "I hate big, elaborate stuff" only applies right now. For my 30th birthday (in two years.. omg... wow.), I plan on wearing a costume and having live performers or something. And maybe tiaras. Yeah.

St. Lucia Day Five!

Alright, I had no idea how many pictures we managed to take on day 5 til just now. Good Gawd. We'd gotten out of control by day 5, I think...haha...

Got up and ate our last breakfast at Discovery. They had the best grapefruit juice...it had sugar added.. yumtastic! 

Killed some time til our water taxi ride to Jalousie! We'd planned to take a cab over land, but uh...boring, right?! This was way better (and about half the time). Cool to see all the fishing villages etc we'd seen from above on our tour..but this time from the water. :)
And hello. Do you watch Lost? If so, what does the below picture make you think of?! I KNOW, RIGHT?! Eric had the camera... I grabbed him and was like "OMG! Take a picture of that!" Fairly certain he thought I was nuts. Yup. 
I have the urge to give you a mental image of me standing and pointing very master and commander style.. Anyway, this is where we were headed (between the pitons). 
Welcome to Jalousie!!
Got there way early and couldn't quite check in, so headed down for food. Entertained ourselves along the way. I have no idea why Americans get reps for being offensive. 

Eric: "Let's see what you move...."

Me: "I have no idea how to play. I'll just sit down! Take my picture!" (nice). 

Eric vs. the Piton. 
Okay, at Discovery, Eric may have actually read the pool rules. He wanted to dive. It was shallow. Anyway, I laughed hysterically when I saw him do it... So we re-did it at Jalousie (for the camera of course).
Our room!! Er...well.. our first room... tomorrow shall feature room (aka awesome-high roller-villa) number two. ;) 
Me: "I think this is two twin beds."

Eric: *strange look and checks* "Hmm..Yeah."

(Note.. we actually didn't care that much...They were just really uncomfy and I may have completely and totally crowded Eric into sleep hell b/c I was freaked out)
Hotel was on an old sugar mill. Miles wrote "Did he move the island?" on this pic on fbook and made me almost spit out my pepsi I laughed so hard! (Another Lost reference). 
Beware. Sharks live here. 
And when someone falls on coral thus stinging her arse, one feels lucky to have brought cortisone.

Dinner at Ladera's restaurant called...obviously.. Dasheene. (It sounds funny when you say it fast and say the ee's much longer than necessary). 

They'd just had a wedding there. So of course I went paparazzi. 
We specifically made dinner reservations in plenty of time to get up there for happy hour and see the sunset. :)

Joined Tracey and Mike for drinks :) (Tracey and Mike are the couple from Florida we met at Discovery. They'd also moved over to Jalousie that day!) I love her bandaids. Clumsy girls stick together. 
Awesome view, Jackie. Jackie, meet awesome view. 
Awwww :)
We somehow happened to head to Ladera the same night as the manager's reception! Hello free drinks and appetizers! One of the drinks, Coco Loco, quickly became my fav...I dont remember what it tasted like-I just loved the packaging...haha.. 



The boys and their coco locos too! haha!
And who remembers the story about the French "video shoot" at Discovery? Guess who showed up at Ladera and was invited to sing... hahaha! Proof was quickly made that this chick is the French version of Heidi (as in Speidi). Wow. *nervous* 
Headed up for dinner!! 
And this was our view... (Thank you, Eric, for being awesome with a camera!) :) 
Course numero dos-duck, steak and some other good stuff! 
And one more pic of the view...just b/c.... 
Why am I roasting in Tulsa again? Oh right... b/c Eric and I thought "round trip" was the best plan for vacation. Note to self. Next time: one.way.tickets. 

Hope you had a great Monday!!