November is always a fun month for us because it means the holidays are approaching and we are usually gearing up for a trip to Pennsylvania. It also means cooler weather and Thanksgiving and the fair. We had a great November but it was also busy for me as well. That didn't stop me from finding tons of things to love.
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Oh wow, is it May already? I have completely skipped any posts of substance for April which is fairly rare since not only did we have a fairly busy month but my birthday is also in April and anyone who has known me long enough is well aware that, in my world, it is not a birthday but a birthmonth!
Regardless, I vow to be much better in May. I do have a lot to say, really, it’s just have it seems too mundane to publish on a daily basis and then I end up feeling like I’m inundating you with boring and the other half is just stuff I don’t want to put out there for public consumption. That other half is something I’m still working on trying to solve.
In the meantime, I figured I’d better do April’s Love now instead of fifteen days late.
This month, it was half and half – half events and half stuff.
The first event was Easter, which unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of, much to my chagrin. I tried but I was just having too much fun so I guess that’s what matters. That Sunday morning, Steve and I got up and dressed in our Sunday best (jeans and a nice black sweater for me, Sopranos bowling shirt for him! LOL) and decided to take Lucille out on a leisurely drive over to my mom’s where we proceeded to have the biggest gathering of family we’ve had in years. My nuclear family were – myself, mom, stepdad and two younger brothers. Plus Steve, of course. We also had my cousin and his wife and kids down from Green Bay, WI. And my brother’s fiancee, her mother and her two brothers and sisters. We women basically cooked and chatted while the boys wandered in and out of the game room playing pool, watching movies and into the garage to talk about cars and motorcycles and stuff. It was a very nice day and it’s a shame it only lasted a short time.
Then it was my birthday (April 23), which was fabulous and unfortunately, went rather undocumented as well. I think when it came to actually spending time with those I loved this month, I actually just enjoyed it instead of trying to document every aspect of it and while there’s no visual record, there’s certainly the memories in my mind. But my birthday was fabulous, aside from the whole being much closer to thirty (though I would be lying if I said I hated the thought of turning thirty). It actually started the Saturday before when we met up with parents at Carrabba’s and had a lovely dinner and exchanged gifts (my dad’s birthday is on April 15). I got my dad two t-shirts and the Tropic Thunder and Stepbrothers DVDs. My parents got me gift cards to Barnes and Noble and Bed Bath and Beyond, two of my favorite stores and one of which I’ve already used. Steve was up the night before my birthday until two-thirty concoting things in the kitchen, which turned out to be my presents and a cake. He came in at midnight and wished me a Happy Birthday. The next day, I opened presents in the morning because he was excited for me to open them. I got a new lens for my camera and two boxes of Nutty Bars. Because they are delicious, I brought a box to work with me and about an hour later, I opened it and found an iPod touch tucked into the box, which arrived there by Steve’s sneaky way of surprise. There were tons of email and Facebook wishes and my friends brought delicious cakes to work. A beautiful bouquet of flowers and and accompanying phone call arrived from my mom. Steve had a delicious dinner of beautiful steaks waiting for me at home and I spent the evening on the phone with friends and family, thanking them for their well wishes and gifts sent. Overall, I had a wonderful, wonderful birthday and felt very loved and was glad that I had so many special people in my life that went out of their way to wish me well and make me feel loved and wanted.
The final event was this past weekend when Steve and I, along with another couple, headed off to Charlotte, NC to meet up with Steve’s two brothers and watch PINKS! All Out being filmed at the ZMax Dragway at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. This was not an event that could pass without pictures and I have over 500 that I have to sift through but it was truly, truly amazing. We headed out on Friday evening and got to Charlotte around 9pm where we checked into our room at the Embassy Suites, which was a wonderful hotel. We got a room for $139 a night and because it was a suite and technically slept six, it only cost us $50 a person for the weekend. Aside from the fact that the rooms were amazing and fit the six of us without feeling cramped, the hotel was beautiful and the amenities were plentiful – breakfast was superb! On Sunday, we got to visit Concord Mills which was much different than I expected but we still had fun, racing Go-karts at the Nascar Speedpark and playing games at Dave and Buster’s. Then we got to go to IKEA and well, I love IKEA. I could spend an entire entry talking about IKEA and unfortunately, Charlotte is the closest one. After IKEA, we met up with my cousin and his wife and had dinner at Sagebrush before heading home after a long weekend.
But the highlight of the weekend was the thirteen hours we spent watching over 500 grassroots drivers run their cars down the 1/4 mile track, competing for a spot in the final 64 to win over $18,000 in prizes from PINKS! and the Speed Channel, which I did not know was headquartered in Charlotte. It was a very long and hot day spent watching the races, walking the pits, eating race food (foot long corn dog, what?!) and just generally enjoying each other and the events. And when the sun went down the real events started happening – whittling down from 64 to 16 to 8 and finally to the winner of the night, which I won’t disclose. You’re going to have to watch sometime towards the end of summer. We also got to witness four-way drag racing, something I had never seen in my entire years of going to drag races and yea, it was pretty much as spectacular as it sounds.
There were also burnout contests, jet cars, top fuel dragsters and a street car that ran the quarter mile in 7 seconds. When we left, I was a bit sunburnt, I was tired, sweaty, my legs and butt hurt and my ears were ringing but that’s exactly what we came for and it was absolutely worth every penny and every minute we spent getting up there.
And now to the smaller stuff. A monthly love post wouldn’t be complete without an obligatory Bath and Body Works discovery and this month it was their Eucalyptus Spearmint scent in their Stress Relief Aromatherapy line. It started with the bubble bath then it was the body wash and now the hand soap and next is probably going to be the shampoo and conditioner. I am just in love with the scent! It soothes me and smells so clean and fresh and not overly sweet. It was a great long-lasting discovery that I will gladly keep using.
On the tv front, Rescue Me started this month and god, did I miss that show. Even if you aren’t a Denis Leary fan, you should really watch this show. It’s dark and emotional and witty and so fabulously well-written that you can’t believe you just went from getting teary eyed to thinking ‘That’s really fucked up!’ to laughing out loud to a jock about cockfarts. It’s not just Leary, but the entire cast and writing and production that make this show an absolute gem and I really look forward to it every week. And now, good ol’ Michael J. Fox is on it as Leary’s estranged wife’s new boyfriend and the exchanges between him and Leary are literally laugh out loud, tears in your eyes hysterical!
Finally, just for the fun of it: Oreos! I never ate them much when I was young because we rarely had them in the house and because I didn’t like having to brush my teeth afterwards but Steve is a huge fan and I have snuck a few and literally can’t stop eating them. I’m craving them and a tall glass of milk! Preferably Double Stuf. Not good for the womanly figure.
So that’s it for April! I can’t believe four months of 2009 have just come and gone like that. Next month, or rather this one, since we are already in May, comes graduations and more work for me and hopefully, not set in stone summer plans. After the summer we had last year, I would just like some unplanned weekends that stretch endlessly before me. Lazy summer days are my favorite!
You thought my posting every day for a month meant some sort of revival eh? I think it tired me out more. The whole idea of trying to think of a fancy way to wrap the mundanity of every day life was daunting for my OCD perfectionism. And that is the sole reason I am not a best selling writer. (That and I don’t write good either! LOL)
There’s a lot of things going on in my life, both externally and internally and I’ve wanted to write about them. So much I feel like I’m going to explode. But in a bad way. I just need to hold it a bit and figure out the best way to express it. For now, I’ll settle for a very simple post.
First, a very Happy Birthday to my Dad! He is unfortunately spending it traveling on business, but I can send my well wishes just the same! Love ya!
Secondly, the long overdue March Monthly Love post that has been brewing in my brain since March 24th. March was good month for things and I feel like sharing them.
To start, HBO’s East Bound and Down. I cannot say enough about how awesome this show is. It pushes the absurdity just to the point of being funny and Danny McBride is superb as Kenny Powers, a washed up Major League baseball pitcher who returns to his small hometown to live with his brother and substitute teach gym at his old high school. Oh, there are so many comical, laugh-out-loud, quotable moments in the first season (six episodes) that I am anxiously awaiting the second one.
I’ve been told no human could be as good as me, been asked if I made a deal with the devil…Fuck no, the devil couldn’t afford my shit. ~ Kenny Powers, via his Twitter
Then there’s I Love You, Man which we were so excited to see that we actually went opening night and we weren’t disappointed. The movie was funny and awkward at the same time. The story and underlying lessons were handled very well and all of the characters were amazingly developed. I was throughly entranced with how this movie handled the awkwardness and difficulty of making friends as an adult, once your beyond the safety net of college and high school. I loved Jamie Pressly’s character in it as well and Paul Rudd is just mmm, mmm, good! Seriously, I would have his babies! (So, we’ll add Paul Rudd as an honorary things loved in March!)
Pssst! That Kristy is a totally cool girl! You should leave your Hollywood life and go let her have your bahbez!
And finally, in the entertainment category at least, there’s The Celebrity Apprentice. Okay, yes, I know, it’s trashy reality TV but I can’t help it! I actually have enjoyed most of The Apprentice’s because I do like the concept and the challenges, albeit no where as in depth as they would actually be in the business world, are much more informative and actually have a point, unlike the challenges on some other shows (MTV, I’m looking at you!). Regardless, when I saw the lineup for the season, I was salivating and I was not disappointed! Because they have basically taken some of the biggest nutjobs with ridiculous egos not justified for their level of fame and forced them all to work together in situations where at some point, some of the Chiefs (i.e. everyone!) have to learn to be Indians. The women are kicking ass as always but that mostly because 3/4 of the women’s team are people that most of us haven’t heard of so they aren’t used to super-fame whereas 3/4 of the men’s team is made up of people that most of us have at least heard of and none of them have been subserviant to anyone in years! But yes, the men are the most entertaining! Tom Green, Andrew Dice Clay, Dennis Rodman = batshit crazy! Clint Black = hate you so very much! Brian McKnight = nice guy but strikes me as the guy who thinks his shit doesn’t stink and would probably sing everything to you if you’d let him. The only people I really love on here are Jesse James, Herschel Walker and Joan River, mostly because Jesse and Herschel are real people and Joan Rivers is just hysterical!
Even the sixteen douches surrounding him can’t cancel out the Donald’s ginormouse douchiness!
(You’re excluded Jesse, Herschel and Joan!)
Onto another Bath and Body Works product, this time one that does more than just smell good. I picked up their Instant Aromatherapy Headache Relief on whim last time I was in the store because I needed $10 worth of stuff to use my coupon. I never actually thought it would work, particularly because I’m a migraine sufferer and it used to take two Excedrin Migraines and some sinus medicine to get rid of them. But I started using this stuff and was pleasantly surprised how well it works! It basically peppermint oil that you roll onto places where there’s pain and tension (temples, above the eyes, back of the neck). The oil feels cool and the smell is a very strong peppermint, which is supposed to help reduce stress and ease tension. This doesn’t work when you’re in the throes of a major headache attack but about a half an hour after I rubbed it on the beginning pressures of a new headache, the pain had subsided and I was left feeling refreshed and back to normal.
Hey, you know what’s not good though? Especially if you have oil prone skin? Rubbing this over your forehead and cheeks liberally, more than once a day. My skin hates me!
On a random food note, I’d like to send a big ups to an oldie but a goodie, Pigs in A Blanket. I’d never had a chance to eat these regularly because they really are hors d’oeuvres but I had them at a Christmas party last year and in March decided to try them at home. I picked up a roll of refrigerated crescent dough and a package of Carolina Pride Smokies and rolled them up and cooked based on the crescent roll instructions and they were delicious. They were actually our go to snack this month and we might have even eaten them for dinner once or twice. Add cheese or buy the Hillshire Farms cheddar smokies if you want a little kick!
Kristy, Steve and Sammy say NOM, NOM, NOM!
And finally, the highlight of March was at the end when my girlfriends, we’ll call them C & C, came to visit for Girls Weekend 2009. This weekend had dual enjoyment. I got to spend girl time with two of my favorite people, eating Oreos, reading books, chatting until 3:30am and singing Journey in the backseat of the car as loud as we can. I also got to be a tourist in my own town because I made a point to take them places I had never been before. We tried new restaurants together and explored plantation gardens that were beautifully in bloom and saw beautiful pieces of art and ate delicious seafood and Italian food and sandwiches. All in all, we had a great weekend and the only thing I was sad about is that they had to leave to go back to living 10 hours away. I miss you girls!
The C’s say cheese from Middleton Place and here’s to fun filled and adventurous April!
Another month down. Time just seems to fly these days. It doesn’t help that I keep wishing for the cold weather and winter darkness to just go away already. But February was a good month. There were a lot of things I loved this month.
Fresh notebooks make me happy!
I’ve always loved the Moleskine notebooks because of their durability and high-quality paper but this month they really served a practical use for me. I bought a 5X8 soft cover gridded notebook and have been using it as my books of lists this month. I’ve put everything in there from shopping lists to spring cleaning lists to general to-do’s and I’ve found that it really helps with my organization. Because of the grids, I have less of a tendency to doodle notes around the edges, which always makes for a confusing list. And because of the durability of the notebook, I can toss it in my purse without having to worry about pages ripping out or getting all wrinkled (I’m a little OCD about my office products!). Regardless, having a large, thick quality notebook available for all of my lists really makes getting things done more organized and just generally nicer.
Free books!
Up until this month, I was buying all of the books I wanted to read. I love the smell and feel of a fresh paperback (I generally prefer them to hardcover). But that was getting to be expensive as I’ve found myself reading a tons more than usual lately. And then one day, I was flipping through my keys and came across my Charleston County Library card, which I had forgotten I applied for, and there was the solution. I had one right around the corner from me so I went there and immediately borrowed six of the books that have been sitting on my Good Reads list for months and now I’ve got tons of stories to keep me occupied well into the summer. Free entertainment = my kind of fun!
That's what she said!
This is another one of those things that I’m super late to the party on. I’ve always loved the episodes of The Office that I’ve seen but I hadn’t watched it from the very beginning. Well, that changed this month when Steve and I added Seasons 1-4 to our Netflix instant watch queue and then spent two weeks streaming them through the XBox (which gets an honorable mention as one of the GREATEST.IDEAS.EVER!). The Office is everything I already knew it was and then some. I should have listened to everyone earlier. I’m just sad now that we’ve finished and have to wait for new episodes on Thursday night. It is so much easier and more fun to watch them all together and not have to wait.
Summertime in a bottle!
I know I did both shampoo and Bath and Body Works last month but I have to tell you about the shampoo and conditioner I bought. I was browsing the store about the first of the month and I saw their hair care was on sale, 2 for $5 which combined was like 1/8 of what I had paid for that Redken stuff. Anyway, I was desperate for some sort of summer pick me up and I have LOVED Coconut Lime Verbena since I first smelled it (it is literally my favorite scent in the whole store and is like summer in a bottle), so I picked up the shampoo and conditioner. And wow, did I fall in love! My hair has never felt softer or more healthy, even with the Redken stuff. What I like about this shampoo is that my hair feels healthy without feeling over-dry, which was the problem I had with the Redken stuff. I still use both this and Redken but I alternate and once I’m done with the Redken, I will most likely buy this exclusively. It is also one of the first volumizing conditioners I have ever used that has actually done just that – I dried my hair this evening and the life and bounce in it was phenomenal. Aside from all that, combining the shampoo and conditioner with the shower gel really gives you a summery, tropical boost when you need a bit of a pick-me-up in the winter.
Sexay!
This was another Bath and Body Works impulse buy because they were on sale. I tended to stay away from anything but the Signature collection in the store but I wandered over to the Aromatherapy section and picked up this Sensuality Black Currant Vanilla Body Wash and Bath because I was looking for a new bubble bath scent. One sniff and I was sold – this is an intoxicating combination of vanilla and muskiness that reminds me of the Far East. But it’s not overwhelming, rather warm and inviting, and it certainly does make the bath more enjoyable. I didn’t really notice if it made me feel “sexy” and “in the mood” but it’s certainly one of those products I’d go to if I was getting ready for a date or doing a weekend beauty routine. As a matter of fact, I just bought the luxury bubble bath in the same scent and can’t wait to try it (the girl at the store said it leaves your skin feeling super soft, so we’ll see!).
HBO is awesome!
Like I need another show to get hooked on. I caught a few episodes of Big Love and I need more. The storylines are fabulous and compelling, the acting is superb (with the exception of Bill Paxton who seems to embody the same terse, emotionless gaze no matter what he’s trying to convey) and the show is just all-around entertaining. I’m fascinated by the relationship between Nikki, Margene and Barb (the three wives) and I love watching how the three of them work through the nuances of their daily lives. To be completely honest, aside from the whole having to share my significant other thing, I’d be totally down with that. It’d be a great help with keeping up the house and like having built in friends/sisters to turn to. It would also probably be a bitch because there are times I don’t even like myself. Don’t know how’d I’d be able to handle two other women in the house!
Yarn balls!
I taught myself to knit this month and I was immediately hooked. It took awhile to get the hang of it and I’m still stumbling through, just practicing the knit and purl stitches. I can do a pretty decent stockinette and can cast on and bind off rather easily. I have yet to make anything useful, but just being able to sit and knit something is relaxing and gives me something to do with my hands while watching TV or a movie without Steve thinking that I’m not watching the TV (if I’m trying to multi-task by being on the computer and watching a show, he says I can’t do both at once and wants to play video games or something). Hopefully, this month, I’ll be able to make something useful but regardless, I’m proud because I’ve taught myself how to do something simple and useful and fun!
And that’s pretty much it. February was a busy month for hobbies and entertainment so I definitely spent a lot of time just enjoying leisurely activities. Now I have another 31 days of finding new things to fall in love with!
