My palm phone rebooted itself on it's own and lost all my data. That's special.
I can't remember the password to a site I need to get into...and it seems to be defiant when it comes to emailing me a password reset.
And I can't stop eating the thin mints at my desk. Just go ahead and tape the girl scout cookies to my @ss. Whatever.
But, always good for a laugh... DYAC.com.... *happy sigh* :) If you've never visited this site, prepare yourself for the silent laugh mode at your desk. For reals. It's a manic Monday must.
Dear February- I'm happy to be waving goodbye to you in my rearview soon... You seem to always get under my skin... :)
And the best thing about March 1? It's Gracie dog's birthday!!!! She's excited! Okay, she has no idea, but I'm excited! :)
Blogging with my feet up, in casual shorts and an old sorority shirt, watching the Oscars! :)
How was the weekend, friends?! Mine? I'll just dive right in!
Friday, a group of us headed to Ghostland Observatory's concert. I'd never been, but Timberly guaranteed me lots of (1) dancing (2) glow sticks and (3) laser lights! I mean, she had me at glow sticks... :) So, Friday, I tossed on some tights under jean shorts (b/c that made me feel rocker-chic), booties, and off we went for a random good time!
We started at our friend, Julie's, where we got the glow sticks ready... or let them confuse us.. or whatever..
Then, we took some sassy photos... duh... :)
I found this guy at Julie's... I decided to take him with me b/c he seemed like a good date... ;)
We opted to take a group pic of the girls.. But, we had to stop dancing long enough...
We had to get Britney (the dog) in it too-duh! :)
It was a packed house at the Cain's Ballroom! The Cain's is a fabulously historic venue here in T-town that always gets outstanding-and often eclectic-acts. It's been around since the 1920s!
Don't know who Ghostland Observatory is? Lemme help... Here's what it looked like in there...
(Hello awesome!)
And here's a video of what it actually was like! (Not my video. I was too lazy to upload mine, so I just stole one from youtube). Just picture re-living your college days, dancing your booty off, and wearing glow sticks while laser lights burst everywhere.... There ya go! :)
I channeled my college days had a few concert beverages. Good image of what things looked like to your blogger friend, Jax...haha... Okay, being silly, but forgetting to turn on the flash turned out kinda awesome... :)
Our feet hurt, a glow stick burst on my shirt, and our ears were ringing....In other words, a good time was had by all! haha... :)
Saturday was much more low key.... :) Eric and I headed to his friends' wedding shower at In the Raw, a local sushi place. :) Check out these AWESOME cupcakes someone made....Those things on them.. swedish fish! ha! How adorable right?! She wrapped them in black construction paper and used white sprinkles to look like rice!
Here we are with the bride and groom! :)
From there, we headed home to watch tv and be fabulously lame... Busy weekend!
Today has been filled with a trip to the gym (go me!), errands, errands, errands, cleaning, and now the Oscars! Hope you had a great weekend, friends!
Advice needed!
Oh and this is random and unrelated, but if you know of a good somewhat-matte bronzer, please advise. I currently use two-faced..and I like it, but it's kinda shimmery. I'm using more now with my newly brunette-ness and need a good one that isn't too fakey-shimmery for everyday wear. :)
And the winner of my Apothica $25 gift card giveaway is..... Kerr at Say Cheese!
Congratulations! I'll be emailing you as soon as I post this to get your mailing addy, etc! :)
Thanks to everyone that entered! This was really fun! I want to do another one with some of my fav things! Hopefully soon! :)
Hope everyone's enjoying the red carpet as much as I am.... Someone tweeted "If I was ever going to switch teams, it might be for Mila Kunis..." haha... I agreed. She's stunning!
It's dark and creepy outside....which just made me think of Meredith Grey saying "dark and twisty" .. Random. Anyway...Thought I'd pop in here while I wait for that morning jolt of caffeine to start working... :)
Have you entered my Apothica giveaway?! It ends tomorrow at midnight, so don't forget! :) I always want to buy some fresh makeup-eyeshadow, lip gloss, etc, when spring nears, so why not enter and get a fresh look for free?!
Hope everyone is having a fabulous Thursday! From the Today Show this am, looks like a lot of us across the country are either getting rain or snow today. Glad I'm in the rain category here in T-town... Bring on spring-I'm ready!
First things first... Thank you all for your kind words about my previous post. You guys are awesome. :) I never really super emotionally open on the intranets, but this time I just opted to write what I wanted and hit "post" so..yeah... thanks for your kind words. :)
*thoughtful sigh*
Okay, now to do a complete 180 and change gears, my weekend recap...
Friday night, Eric and I headed to dinner... thai food....It was kinda awesome. Wait.... rewind... We headed to a movie....but then we got closer and decided we didn't want to go...haha.. So, yeah, that's when we got Thai food. :)
Saturday, I woke up and was pumped to go get my hair done! Ever feel like you're just in need of a change? I mean...I'd been blonde since um... 10th grade. I'm actually a brunette (not as dark as the color I picked, but much darker than you'd think). Anyway, I have been itching for a change and I knew I wanted brunette....but I wanted to make sure....so I sat on the desire to dye for awhile. In the interim, I got bangs, thinking that was a good idea and would quench my craving for change. I don't love them now, but whatever. They'll grow.
Okay, so I tried to capture some final pics as a blonde.... None of them are good, but most are hilarious self portraits gone wrong. Example below. I walked outside to take a pic with G dog and it was so bright, neither one of us could see....hahaha. Squinty pic of my furry kid and me....
Went to grab a beer with these lovely ladies after the hair appt! :) The girl on the left just went brown this week, too! I think there's something in the water...
Saturday night, Eric and I headed to see Just Go With It... Funny stuff! The perfect romantic comedy...You just can't go wrong with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston.... (I'm still Team Jennifer... even though I'm pretty sure that whole thing is over...haha). :) I also kinda want to drink a case of that smart water stuff Jen advertises b/c she's got one amazing body. Holy tonedness.
With no work today, Eric and I headed out for a quick bite Sunday evening... I dig this guy. And he digs me....and my new hair. Always a bonus. :)
Hope you had a good one, friends!! :) Happy last week of February! Can you believe it's almost March?! Bring on spring!! Er...wait...bring on a spray tan first....then bring on spring... ;)
Warning: somewhat emotionally dramatic post ahead... I usually blog kinda sunshine and daisies (haha), soooo I felt the need for a warning....
Today is Presidents Day. And it's the 21st.
February 21, 1994, aka Presidents Day that year, is the day my father passed away. I was 12, going on 13. The 21st is kinda blah...and Presidents Day is kinda blah...but when they fall together again, it's....well...yeah...blah.
It's been many years now...and it's weird to think that he's been gone more years in my life now than he was alive during them.... I can't really wrap my head around that one. Bizarre.
We left the hospital late Sunday night before Presidents Day. He'd been in there awhile...at least a month at that point. And had been in and out regularly for over a year. I'd made friends with some of the nurses. I did my homework in his hospital room and made friends with his neighbors, a nice elderly couple.
Anyway, I didn't go to the hospital when they called that morning at 7am. My mom got the call and said she had to go. She asked if I wanted to come and looked at me in a way that I knew he was gone. She quickly added "If you don't want to come, it's okay... I can come back and get you here in a bit. I'm not sure what's going on at the hospital..." I acted like I didn't know, but I did. I said I'd stay home. I knew my mom didn't want me to see him like that. She was very adamant about my last memory of him being a good one, not...well.. not like that...and I knew it. Plus, I didn't want to see him like that. Anyway, she left....and I got in the shower. I stayed in the shower for a long, long time. I dunno about you, but I have issues crying in the shower. Something about the water hitting your face that seems all not conducive to crying...haha.. So, yeah, I showered.
The rest of the week is kinda a blur... I remember having people over and accidentally dropping the deli meat tray on the floor. Not wanting to upset anyone, I picked it all up and hurriedly put it back on the tray and served it... *cringe* Oops. haha...If anyone out there got food poisoning from my dad's reception, sorry about that... ;) I remember my mom being really strong and not crying in front of me. Ever. I heard her crying at night a couple times, but never saw her... That's my mom. I remember standing in the line at the church and having a bunch of old women tell me I seemed so "well adjusted." To this day, that phrase makes me annoyed. I know they were just being nice, but still...what does that even mean?
Anyway, it's been many years and I think of him often. But, when I think of him now, I rarely get overcome with any sort of sadness. I usually think of a fun memory or tidbit like how we used to dance while I stood on his feet....or how he taught me how to take photos (he was a professional photag), or how he'd ALWAYS go outside with his camera in the middle of a lightening storm, scaring my mother to pieces...haha... Anyway, things like that make me smile; they don't make me sad anymore. I think of the three of us reading the Sunday comics in my parents bed every Sunday morning before church...well four of us if you count our beagle....and how my dad always tried not to use expletives around me when he got mad at the dog for eating random things-shoes, trash, etc.. haha...
He was born with a congenital heart defect that went undiagnosed for a long time. Once they found it, it was apparent it was a terminal condition. My mom knew about it when she married him.... which is something I admire about her, even if I spent years confused about it. When I was helping my mom move into her current house, I found a little box of letters... handwritten love notes. Nothing gross (I mean, c'mon it's still my parents.. ew...haha), but just sweet little things she'd kept that they'd once written each other in class (in college), etc. In retrospect, I think my dad was kinda romantic like that. He told her he was going to marry her on their first date. She told him he was crazy and not to call her again... Anyway, looks like he won that one. ;) They met in journalism class in college. She said he walked into class late EVERY day and when called out on it once by the professor, he proceeded to take a bow in front of the class. haha... Awesome.
He planned his own funeral....which none of us knew til after he passed. He had it all planned on a notepad, including contact numbers, etc. He obviously didn't want mom to have to do it alone. The one thing that I still find amusing is that he wanted his old high school girlfriend to sing at the funeral.. My parents were friends of hers and her husband's, so it was totally fine...but my mom still rolls her eyes about that one...haha.. Men... *sigh* It definitely provided some needed comic relief to the whole thing...
So, it's the 21st. And I remember why the 21st makes me uncomfortable. But I also love that it brings such great memories about my dad flooding in b/c he was a great person and a great dad. No need for tears... :)
Non dramatic weekend recap coming soon... Sorry for being a little emotion-heavy in this one, friends...
Thanks so much for so many of your kind words on twitter! I've wanted to go brown for awhile, would do lowlights...and feel unsatisfied. I wanted to go big or go home, I guess..haha... :)
Still figuring out the makeup thing-how much, need different colors?,enough bronzer, etc- (any random tips appreciated) and have been applying self tanner like a madwoman, but I really do dig it. I walk in front of mirrors and think "HOLY SH*T! IT'S SO DARK!*deep breath*....Okay.. it's dark... but I like it... yeah.... *make random faces at self in mirror and turn head back and forth* Yeah... I like it. Okay.. phew..." Seriously, every time I go to the bathroom, that process repeats itself... haha...
I'll prolly go back to blonde after awhile b/c I like being blonde. But, I also like having a change for now. :)
So, in my last post about our Valentine's weekend, I said the following regarding my new remote start for my car from Eric: :)
I love me some flowers, but this {remote start} is way better than roses and will bring a smile to my face much, much longer...
I retract that statement b/c the picture above is from my desk this morning...and I have to admit my smile is pretty big and will likely last quite a while. :) Happy Valentines Day from a swooning and very surprised Jax. :)
First things first.. THANK YOU for entering my Apothica giveaway (one post down from this one). I'll keep linking back to it to give people a chance to enter and then the winner will be drawn the weekend of the 25th!
How was your weekend, peeps?! Mine was good stuff! My weekend kinda kicked off on Thursday, even though I had to work on Friday. Had a fabulous girls night with some friends. A group of us try to get together regularly and rotate houses. We all bring food stuff for dinner, wine, etc. Every single time, we're convinced we have too many bottles of wine...until we run out that is...haha.. I am SO glad we have girls nights b/c they kinda rock my world. Just saying. We also taught Jenny's almost two year old son that wine is called "Mommy's juice." Awesome? Yeah, I think so.
Friday night, Eric and I had a trivia night at our alma mater for a business college thing. Since we work for the same company...and both went to TU....we got invited to represent our company at the event, with some other folks. Our table KILLED it (b/c duh...we're smart...er... or just decent at trivia). :) Then, Eric and I headed to a local sushi place, Yokozuna for some wasabi, sesame, and vino. Good times! We hadn't really had a lot of one on one time since before the snow hit (the word "snow" still makes me scowl a little...haha), so just chilling together was really fun. :)
Saturday, we woke up and...wait for it....wait for it... ended up watching episode after episode... of Battlestar Galactica ...haha! I woke up and he was watching season 1. I made fun of him, but about 10 minutes in, I was kinda intrigued. I think we're 4 eps from the end of season 1 by the end of the weekend so yeah... we're super cool kids. Whatever.
Saturday night, we headed to a new place for dinner to celebrate Valentines Day! :) I'm one of those people who thinks Valentines Day is a bit overrated thanks to Hallm@rk, etc, but I still want to do something to acknowledge it. Anyhoo, rather than fight the crowds on Monday aka a work night, we opted to go out Saturday toGo West, a fabulous new local place. :)
We'd heard great things about the eclectic modern, yet rustic place with excellent service and food...and it definitely didn't disappoint!
I didn't take any pics at dinner, but decided to steal a pic from the web and document where we sat... b/c you don't care, but this is my blog so I'm sharing it anyway haha... :)
Great food, including an especially great dessert that was a doughnut + creme brulee something. It just made my mouth water to think about.... Mmmmmmm!!! Here we are before dinner! Oh, and I got bangs last week. Random, I know. I needed a change. :)
I have to tell ya'll I was pumped that the snow was disappearing b/c I definitely broke out these babies for our V-day dinner! Got em last weekend for 75% off! Holy wow! Twenty Dollah... yeah-yuh! :)
A pretty fabulous weekend! Oooh and I almost forgot to tell you what Eric got me for Valentine's Day! It's just kinda the best gift ever...and I'm not joking. I think he thinks I'm feigning my excitement, but I'm so not... He got me.... REMOTE START for my car!! He has it on his and I completely lust after it. I mean, the car is already running and WARM by the time we get in it in the winter. And in the summer, it's a cool air conditioned ride by the time we even get in! I love me some flowers, but this is WAY better than roses and will bring a smile to my face much, much longer...haha! Oh, and he got me chocolate! But, we're going to pretend like he didn't b/c it may or may not already be gone. *head hung in chocolate shame*
How am I spending my actual Valentines Day? With girl friends and all of the below....
Hellllllo friends! Happy (snowy) Thursday! :) I've got a fantastic giveaway and I'm really excited to post about it...Definitely a ray of sunshine in this snowy weather, in my opinion... When I went outside this morning and realized I needed to shovel (AGAIN), I was definitely in need of some sunshine in my mood.
Okay, so back story....Recently, I found Apothica.com and realized I dig all the stuff they offer-Smashbox, Stila, Bobbi Brown, Aveda, etc... :) So, when they asked if if I'd be interested in doing a giveaway, I was interested. While I am in support of sponsored giveaways, etc, I'd never done one b/c I want it to be a company and/or a product I use, enjoy, believe in, etc. I've been contacted before and, after looking into things, I just didn't think I wanted to represent their products b/c they weren't things I could honestly say I used, etc. But, Apothica is pretty cool, friends. And they carry lots of stuff I've either wanted to try or already wear. :) And as a bonus, every time I've ordered from them, I've gotten fast delivery and great customer service, both things I think are a kinda a big deal.
Currently, my absolute favorite item on their site is the Stila Stay All Day eyeliner in Carbon Black. Look at how freaking sharp that point is! And it really does "stay all day" as it's appropriately called...and it makes a great line, but doesn't look overdramatic. I'd read reviews after my eyeliner flaked/smudged all over and made me look like a raccoon by 5pm...and this one came highly recommended by various beauty blogs, etc... Anyway, yada yada, but it's awesome. (And that's completely and totally my opinion and a product I personally selected, not the words of anyone else. :) )
Okay okay, enough rambling... On to the giveaway..
I have a $25 gift card to Apothica dot com for one of you fabulous blog friends! :)
You have until Friday, February 25th at midnightto enter! I'll randomly draw a winner that weekend! :)
How to enter:
1 (mandatory) entry- Follow my blog (let me know you're a follower, please! :) ) AND go to Apothica.com and leave a me comment on this post letting me know what you might buy with your $25 gift card!
1 extra- Become a follower of Apothica on Twitter or like them on Facebook (and let me know por favor).
2 extra- Mention this giveaway on your blog and let me know! :)
Have a great Thursday, friends! I'm ready to be snow-free here in T-town! Stayed home from work yesterday, but still worked from home. That's exciting for aboooout one work day. After that, it becomes a groan as I boot up my laptop in my pajamas. Admittedly, it has been pretty fun to stay home with G dog though. :)
Remember when I went to Hawaii...back in October? And remember when I made you read about it post after picture-filled post? And remember how you thought I was done? haha.. Yeah, I recently realized I wasn't, but then never got around to doing the rest...
Okay, so with the foot of snow still sitting outside...and my shovel leaning against the door, my hat and gloves all ready for me to put on again tomorrow, there's no time like the present for a beach fix via blog. :)
Day 7 was our last full day in Maui. We hit the beach a little on day 8 before our flight, but there are a lot of frowns in those pictures...haha.. I'll add that post sometime this week and link all the others (b/c I KNOW you can't wait to recap it all again...haha.. ) Sorry for the rambling blogs, but a lot of this is for my memories too, ya know... :)
Okay, so day 7... We woke up and were eager to hit the beach! This picture makes me feel even lazier for not hitting the gym in all this snow....or at all recently...*head hung in shame* I'd worked out so much before Maui and was so proud of myself... *sigh* I need to get my rear back in gear.
Well, let me rephrase..one of us was eager to hit the beach...haha.. Someone was moving more slowly than I was... ;) (which NEVER happens in the morning. I am definitely the lazy one 99.9% of time in the am).
Some of the condos for sale near our hotel. Who wants to go in with me? I think they only went for a few mil, so that's like sofa change right?!... haha.. (obviously kidding) ;)
We should really teach a class in self timer 101. We rock.
*wistful sigh*
Can't have a full day on the beach without boogie boards.. duh.
Yeah, I did this. And then I made Eric do it too. Whatever.
(I also wrote Aloha, Jackie and Eric, and drew a heart. Sand writing and I became friends.)
This video turned out rather cool. :) Makes me feel like my feet are still in the sand. :)
Eric and me... er... Eric's feet and me... :)
A good book. Beach chairs. Umbrella. Sound of the waves. View of paradise. *ahhhhhhhhh*
He kinda rocked the boogie board. I caught a few good waves (and didn't embarrass myself...always a bonus), but when I got sand in places I didn't really enjoy (haha), I decided to sun myself and photo Eric catching waves. :)
This video makes me smile.
See Eric?! Clouds rollin in... I was trying to be artsy. Whatev.
Dinner at the FABULOUS restaurant in our hotel, Nick's. We'd read amazing things about it and then realized it was IN our hotel! Heck yeah! We opted to wait til the last night to go...and that was a good choice. Fabulous last dinner... :) I got the dress in Maui the night I went shopping when Eric had a migraine. I now call it my "Maui dress." :)
Please note that one arm is MUCH more sunburned than the other...haha... I may have not realized half my body was under the umbrella while the other half wasn't... Oooohwell!
When we sat down, the table next to us had just received some awesome flaming dessert. We looked at each other and said "We're so getting that." Soooo we did. I mean, hello.. it was on FIRE! And lookie at the pretty design the server made on my plate while I was sitting there!
Seriously the best service I've ever had and amazing food. Those people take their jobs SERIOUSLY. I went to the bathroom and was walking back to the table and I walk fast... okay, right... Well, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a server RUNNING to beat me to the table to pull my chair back out! Okay okay, she was walk-running, but still! I stammered at thank you, but was totally floored. Eric and I also had a bet that I couldn't drink all my water before they filled it up again. He won. Pretty funny, but seriously an outstanding experience. :) This is the place we ended up getting a gift certificate for my friends honeymooning there the week after we went! They had a the same outstanding experience! (We also planned pictures in the exact same spot a week apart in the hotel lobby... kinda cheesy, but I love it.) :) If you go to Maui, eat at Nick's. Trust me.
They changed the carpets in our elevators with the Hawaiian greeting/English greeting according to the time of day. Kinda fun! (ignore the water spots from someone who'd likely been at the beach before us).
No, we didn't drink too much..haha... We really were this relaxed by the end of the vacation... (these pics crack me up and make me smile).
I'll do the very final post this week... after I watch all my videos from Maui at least 100 times a few times to re-live the beach... :)
I have some funny pics of G dog in the snow this week, too... and a video. She may have chased a squirrel under the back deck and somehow gotten stuck under it. Good grief...haha... I love that little dog. Finally got my car out today! Yesterday, went out and about a little w Eric. I'll do a weekend recap soon. We're expected to get 5-10 more inches this week. If we do, we'll beat our record for amount of snow in an entire winter....in a two week time frame. Crazy!
Signing off with visions of Maui on the brain... Much love, friends! Hope the weekend was great!
