So about the last two weekends....

Yes, I haven't written in two weeks. I'm just....not inspired? I dont know.

Anyways, another reason for my lack of writing is because I've been so incredibly busy. So, here's a quick recap of the past two weekends.

First off, I headed to the parents' house for Foster's Saturday Morning Pancakes. My little brother was home and my dad invited me over to partake in this, the oldest tradition I can remember in our family. When we were young, my dad would wake us up every Saturday morning with the sweet smell of chocolate chip pancakes coming from the kitchen. Y'all. These pancakes. So yum. I think it's probably my most vivid memory of my dad from my childhood.

Then, that afternoon, JM and her fiance had their first wedding shower last Saturday, which was splendid. Her sister and I did a fine job entertaining ourselves with talks of old times, chubby people (no worries, I was included in this bunch), fad diets and parts of the human anatomy that people use for curse words. These things are normal for conversation, right??

Afterwards, I jetted out of the shower, went straight home, changed clothes, freshened up and headed to the Scott wedding. I felt like I was doing a costume change at a concert, y'all. Anyways, the wedding was very pretty and the reception was even better. Best food I've ever had at a wedding, hands down. And we all know I like food. A lot.

Da Gurlz.

Isn't he so suave?

Mr. and Mrs. Scott! 

Alright, fast forward to this weekend. Last night, I threw a little shindig for Miss LH to celebrate her 26th year on this planet. By the way, 26 is totally the new 21. LH proved that one last night. We grilled out, played cornhole, the boys belted out some KC and JoJo (yes, really), and kept the entire neighborhood up until after midnight.

The point of all this is two things....1) I guess I just wanted to let y'all know that sometimes I'm not a loser and do fun things...yay me! and 2) It has been the most amazing feeling getting together with old and new friends alike. I told LH the other day how much I was looking forward to last night because we haven't been making the effort to do stuff like that much lately.

It was also sooooo great to see my out-of-towner Mrs. AB for a hot minute and my Army boys for the first time since they got home from overseas!!!!!!!!!!! It was a strange feeling of relief, excitement and happiness that washed over me when I hugged them. Same thing with Mr. Humphries. The boy was released from the hospital five days before and still made an appearance last night. Thank God for miracles, because he's definitely a big one.

So, there you have it. Fabulouslessness.

Annnd, this is what I spent my Saturday night doing.

Mmmmm. Cuuupcake.

The whole lot of 'em. 

Saturday Smorgasbord...

Saturday is for my random thoughts. You know the drill. I'm too lazy to write about a theme today. 

• Who else is reallllyyy glad the weather is gorgeous today? So pretty. Too bad it's not just a teeeensy bit warmer so I could lay out by the pool. Oh, but it's coming soon, whether my flabby stomach wants to admit it or not. 
• Today = day number four with no Diet Coke. I'm not gonna lie, y'all, this has been hard. I was super disappointed in myself on day number one when I got a headache that afternoon from lack of caffeine (that was WITH my daily cup of coffee). I didn't realize that I was addicted to soda. Like physically. Laaaammmmeeee. See, here's the thing. WD and I even talked about this the other night....in college, I never drank Cokes. I don't think I bought one to go in my fridge the entire time I lived in Clemson. I don't know what happened! I started working, needed a pick-me-up in the afternoons but without as much caffeine as coffee, so BAM! I fell into the soda trap. This? Will. Not. Work. I don't like having to have something to function. Good Lent choice, I say. So yeah, this was a really long bullet point.....but the moral of the story is, I have not had a Diet Coke since Tuesday, so I am punishing the Lent. Gooooo me.
• What's up with the pup? He's good. He's relentlessly licking my hand right now, which makes it really hard for me to type.....so now I just opened the porch door so he can go out there and pretend like he's gonna rip every passerby to shreds (He won't. He's really a scaredy-cat. He'd get so mad if he knew I called him a cat.
  

  

  I am not a cat. Or scared. And I will lick you to death.

• Oohhhhh also! The boy and I went to the Sugarland concert on Thursday night. I tell you what....it was aaawwwesssome. Jennifer Nettles is probably one of the weirdest people I've ever seen, and that is why I want to be friends with her. She wore this leotard looking thing that had tassels all over it. She danced the oddest dances across the entire stage. Her facial expressions were....wow. We are so meant to be ya-ya sisters. 
• Unfortunately, I didn't get a whole lot of good pictures, but here's what I have.

Meh to the picture. Yay to sooo much fun that night!

See the tassels? Also, does anyone pay attention to the other guy in Sugarland?
I don't even know his name. 

Zoomed out. With the chick in front of me's head.

•  I don't like the pictures of me. I figured out why, too. I've been squeezing the last little bit out of my Clinique mascara and, by the look of these pictures, it's dead. Now I'm just waiting for Maybelline to go on sale. Because, as we all know...I don't pay full price. For anything. 
• Except for the low-sodium roast beef I got at the deli counter the other day for TEN FREAKING DOLLARS. The only thing that made it okay was that the old man beside me was whistling the happiest tune the whole 5 minutes we were standing there next to one another. I smiled. It brightened my day. Happiness is so contagious, yeah? 

Have a HAPPY Saturday!

Phat Tewsdee.

Wow, it's been a while, yeah? I've had things to say, but no words to say them, I suppose. I hate when I don't write for a while, because I lose my groove. Boo.

Okay, jumping back into it.

Today is Mardi Gras. It shocks me that people don't know this. I mean, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which would make today.......FAT TUESDAY. It amazes me the people that don't understand the correlation. I wish I could draw a diagram. Let's just go for an explanation in Caralee terms.

• Mardi Gras = a humongous party which includes but is not limited to glutonously stuffing anything and everything you can into your body before Ash Wednesday
• Ash Wednesday = when Lent starts - or the day you see people with black marks on their foreheads
• Lent = 40 days before Easter to commemorate Jesus' temptation in the desert - aka you give up something you super like to show your commitment to the Lord.

The whole Lent deal is hard. I guess that's the point, though right (there's your deep thought from me for today)?

Anyways, even though I'm not even a teensy bit Catholic, Anglican or whatever, I do observe Lent every year, basically just to challenge myself and do something to strengthen my relationship with the man upstairs. A few examples from past years include: shopping (ouch), fast food, chocolate, sweet tea, and Spider Solitaire (don't make fun, that was one of the hardest ones to give up, you know what I mean gamers).

This year, I've decided on soda. Why? A few reasons actually. First, I'm severely addicted to Diet Coke. I try to limit myself to one a day, but mostly that doesn't work out so well. Second, the boy sent me some article the other day about how diet soft drinks will eventually take over the world and kill us all. I don't buy into it so much because just about everything nowadays will cause our demise, but I figure the more I can do to ensure I make it past 30, the better. And third, in keeping with tradition, soft drinks are something that will be difficult for me to give up, which, as previously stated, is kind of the point.

So there you have it.

If you feel the need to get me a sursy today, please do so in the form of an aspartame-laiden, carbonated quaff.

If you feel the need to get me a sursy tomorrow, please send condolences, chocolate or gift cards to TJ Maxx. Just don't mention the words diet and coke to me.

Happy Mardi Gras!

For those of you in The Big Easy right now, I am so jealous.

Laissez les bon temps rouler, y'all.

This is what I'm eating this evening.

This is what I'm listening to.



This is how I'm feeling.

T.G.I. - almost - F.

Well now I'm just confused...

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day. When I was in grade school, I'd get anxious about the day because omg I did NOT want to give any of my boy classmates a card that had anything to do with me crushing on them or any other sweet words whatsoever. I mean, ew, in 1st grade, boys totally had cooties.

Now, I just tend to treat it as any other day. I've even gotten to the point of just cooking at home instead of fighting the madhouse that is restaurants on the 14th of February. It's just not worth it.

This was the boy's and my first Valentine's Day, though. I made my feelings on the matter very clear. I don't want you to do much, I feel more special if you pick up flowers on a random day when I'm not expecting it. Better yet, I'd feel super special if you gave me a day at the spa round about April (kidding).

But of course he didn't listen.

I came back from lunch on Monday to find a huge bouquet of flowers on my desk. Nobody's ever done that for me. The card was simple. Happy Valentine's. I love you, D. But alas, I still wasn't sold on the whole celebration day.

After work, I came home, went for a walk and started supper. Pork chops, roasted asparagus, sauteed mushrooms, twice baked potatoes and chocolate covered strawberries. I ain't gonna be shown up, y'all. I made a quick scrapbooked card, jumped in the shower and put on a sundress, because gawsh, I know he's tired of seeing me in sweats with wet hair and no makeup. I got kind of excited, because it was out of the norm. It wasn't the every other night TV watching, quick eating, laundry folding, talking about our day kind of night. Something about it was special.

The boy arrived, card in hand, in which I found the new Zac Brown Band CD and a gift certificate to get my nails done. It was simple, as the entire day had been. And exactly what I wanted without knowing that I wanted it.

And the best part of all, turns out, is that he did listen to me. He didn't go to extravagant measures to make this one day of the year sooo amazingly great. But he did go out of his way to make it known that he loves me. And to show me that love by cleaning up the kitchen (so. many. dishes. wow.) and rubbing my feet and legs. He took the opportunity to once again tell me that, hey girl, you da bomb.

I wasn't expecting anything, per se, but the fact that he met me in the middle of my "I hate this day" and his "Please shhhhhhut it and enjoy my doting on you" outlooks, made it the best of all.

Maybe Valentine's Day isn't so bad. But maybe the other days that the guys we love take the trash out without being asked, and lend a listening ear when we're whiny, and give up a Sunday of football watching to go on a picnic mean just as much, if not more. I'm glad I was blessed with this day to realize that. :)

Saturday Smorgasbord...

• I bleached the bath tub today. I hate tile. I hate the gunk that gets in every little crevice of it and forces me to clean it out. People keep telling me Tilex (sp?) works, but I'm too cheap to buy it when it's not on sale, so Lysol 4 in 1 and Clorox had to do the trick today. My hands stink and I burned my forearm because I didn't realize bleach splattered there. Fails everywhere.
  
• I also did all my laundry today, and let me tell you something....I'm beginning to find holes in the toes of every pair of my socks. How does that happen? The washing machine elves think it's funny to put holes in my socks instead of just stealing one of them so they'll never make a pair again. But see, the bad part is, I change shoes a lot at work (I feel the need to wear heels, then have to go out in the warehouse and put flats on. It's a daily battle. Don't make fun of me), so people actually see my socks. Maybe my bosses will see them and understand that I don't have the money to buy new pairs. Raise? Perhaps. Doubt it.
  
• I'm watching skiing on TV right now (no cable, hello), and it's seriously giving me a panic attack just watching these people. They're going, like, 150 miles an hour down over 5,000 feet of vertical mountain. I'm sure they don't have anxiety. I'm sure they are missing that part of their brain that warns them of danger....because that's just crazy. Crashing on skis at 500 mph = way worse than cracking a skull, or falling off a ledge, or getting your pinky finger bitten off by a shark. I'm knocking on wood now because I really don't any of the above to ever happen to me.
  
• Wanna see pictures? Yea? Okay, that's what I thought. My good friend Josh does some woodworking in his spare time. Last summer, I saw these two end tables he was making and commented that I loved them. Well, I ran into him before Thanksgiving and he asked if I wanted the tables. The ones I loveeee. Ummm...pshyeah! I asked him how much he wanted for them and he said nothing. Sweet boy. I kept meaning to come pick them up from his house but he lives so far away and I just forgot or didn't have time or whatever. He dropped them off last week on his way into Greenville. He also happened to just have a coffee table that matches them, so he threw that in with my loot. I CANNOT express my thanks to him. They are perfect in my little apartment. It finally feels complete. 

Coffee table. I haven't quite decided on decor yet. 

One of the end tables. I have NO room for the other. I'm not giving it to anybody,
so it might just hang out in random places for a while.

The final product. Whatcha think?!!?

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!!

Writer's Block.

I was gonna write Wednesday. And yesterday. And today. And I've got nothing.

Lots has happened. I went on a drive. It cleared my head. I had a fabulous Sunday. Work has been intense this week. I've been frustrated, and thoughtful, and irritated, and glad the sun is shining, and excited, and nervous and, though I hate to admit it, a little angry. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.

But I still have nothing.

I have this wariness about writing personal things on here. I don't want to get too close. So, this is why there's a block between my mind and the words I want to say this week.

Sometimes it's good to have best friends to lean on and a family who brightens my day and a guy who makes me tell him what's on my mind and a God who understands.

I think I'll leave it at that.

Saturday Smorgasbord...

Saturday is my day. It's my day to hang out by myself for a while and do what I need to around the house, to visit friends and family, to shop a little bit, some, okay a lot, and to just enjoy the freedom to do as I wish. With working full time throughout the week and church/lunch/errands on Sundays, the remainder of my week is totally booked.

This past month, though, my Saturdays have been filled with wedding stuff. We've attended three weddings in the past five weekends. Insanity. Another of those weekends was dedicated to bachelorette weekend. So basically, I've had one free weekend since before Thanksgiving. I'm tired, y'all.

Which is why I'm excited about tomorrow. My plans are.......to do whatever I want! Sam needs shots, so that's on the agenda, and I need a good drive out in the country.

Pending the weather (it's so much better in the sun), you'll find me way past Highway 414 getting lost somewhere. I need to clear my head. I need to organize the remaining thoughts. I need to talk to God, and roll my windows down, and sing my heart out. I need to reminisce and be thankful. I need to not think about my to-do list that gets longer everyday, and to not look at the clock, and to not talk on the phone or text or email. I need to let go of all of life's daily worries and just enjoy the ride, which is true in so many different ways.

Gotta love a Saturday. :)

Take me home, country roads... - J. Denver

I have a case of the lazies...

It's not that I don't want to write about the past weekend's events, it's just that it's soooo much to write and, honestly, that takes a lot of time. And a lot of thought. I am lazy. So here goes....in bullet format because that's me being lazy.....again.

• WF is now WD, which is weird. I looked at her hand on Saturday night after the ceremony and it had two rings on it. Which it will have forever. :)
• She looked absolutely phenomenal. I've never seen her look so beautiful.
• I, on the other hand, looked chubby. Even though I lost four pounds, the dress didn't do much for me (okay nothing at all), but I kind of took the outlook that it wasn't the day for me to look drop dead gorgeous, so whatever.  
• WD also fell down the stairs on Saturday morning. BUT, not to worry, she kept her Diet Coke in hand and barely spilled any at all. Guess it was that important? I dunno, but it calmed her nerves (strange) for the rest of the day. Blessing.
• We ate. And ate some more. And it was goooood. Especially after my two-week hiatus from anything that isn't healthy. 'Cept chocolate chips. 
• We danced. A lot. 
• I gave a speech at the rehearsal dinner, which went not even a little bit as planned, because I started choking up (I'm a crier, I know) and ended it really quickly, but hey it made her mom tear up, so I say I did alright. JM also gave a speech in which she introduced herself as WF's "weird" friend. That won the comment of the night.
• The girls went back to BR, TR and WF's house for the night before the wedding and sat around the fire shooting the bull for hours on end. Then, we went inside and played "Let's Dance" on the Wii. Side note: I own that game. Don't get me wrong, I really can't dance, but apparently my hand that holds the controller can really groove. Thank youuuu genetics. It's all in the arm.
• The little flower girl got a nervous tummy and TR had to run (literally) her to the bathroom as we're STANDING IN THE HALLWAY ABOUT TO WALK DOWN THE AISLE to go poop. She got wiped once. Sorry, kid, chapped tail happens when you have to go in 2.5 seconds flat. Props to TR for successfully getting her back in place right before she headed down to the front of the church.
• I wish BD was my brother-in-law. WD's a lucky girl. And I kind of think that's why she married her hubs. Family comes with marriage, right? Anyways, he sang Elton John/Kiki Dee with her at the reception, showed off some awesome calve muscles and pretty much rocked out "The Prayer" during the ceremony.
• BD's grandmother also told him he should marry "that hot number you just hugged" (that was me, p.s.) before she kicks the bucket when her brain tumor explodes. Okay, first, she doesn't have a brain tumor, she's just been rambling about it for 20 years. Second, do brain tumors explode? I'm voting no.
• All in all, it was one of the best weekends ever. And now onto the next wedding!

Awww, the bride.

"I will shoot you with my iron."

Beautiful.

And now for fun! Gettin' jiggy. That's a serious face, there, Judith.

The brother-in-law. Sexay.

"Don't Go Breakin' My Heart"

Clemson Girls! (minus the bride and BR)

Say a prayer I don't trip...

Well....my college roommate and one of my best friends is tying the knot in approximately 42 hours.

I remember the first time I actually spoke to her. I walked into the community bathroom of the 4th floor of Lever and said hey. She looked up from washing her face, gave me a "don't talk to me, I don't know you" look and continued rinsing. Not even a "hey" back. At that moment, I remember thinking, "well, guess we won't be friends." Ha! About a month later, a girl on our hall invited WF to dinner with us (she was all alone and we were the only ones on the hall....I guess I have somewhat of a heart), and she about had a fit over the Disney themed Kleenex boxes at Walmart afterwards. I changed my mind about her a little that night.

Since then, we've been through it. Hours of conversations, barging in rooms, crying, laughing, not speaking, coffee-drinking, Lifetime watching, borrowing clothes, stealing back clothes, traveling to Gatlinburg, Orlando, New York, Charleston, and sharing the deep, dark stuff that only real friends can tell each other.

Yes, that happened. Call me Jack. She shall be Goofy.

It's surreal. I mean, I'm so incredibly excited for her and Mr. D but I really didn't ever think the day would come. This week I've been thinking a lot about the countless weekends I packed up my things and headed down to St. Matt's for a mini-vacation from real life in Greenville. Her house was my escape and always the perfect place for me to be when I needed to align my thoughts.

Now, her house will be his house. She'll be living with a boy. And it won't be the same, but in such a good way. She's waited soooo long for this day (the girl's literally been planning her wedding since she was seven), and from talking to her last night, I can see that she is giddy with excitement.

So, I wish them both the best in this new life. We're growing up, and it's scary, and it hits me more and more everyday realizing that we're starting to take the next steps in life, but that's almost the best part. Leaping into the unknown full of hope. Knowing it won't be easy, and we'll have a lot to trudge through at certain parts, but also knowing that there's somebody else there to hold on to. Congratulations, y'all. May you have the best wedding and the greatest life there is to offer....and also adopt 18 Chinese babies, because that's WF's next dream. :)

Love you guys to pieces.

Aren't they just precious...

This is exactly why I love Saturdays...

Today has been all kinds of awesome.

Wanna know why? Yes, you do.

JM and I went to purchase WF's wedding gift at Belk's today. Well, of course, I beat her there, because (and I totally say this with all the love in my heart) that girl can't be on time for anything. Ever. And it's okay, she accepts it, and I know now to just delay my leaving by 5-10 minutes if I want to get anywhere with her at the same time. Okay, that's all besides the point. SO, I walk into Belk's and laaaaaaaaahhhh (this is what angels' singing sounds like in case you don't get it because why would you? I'm pretty sure angels' singing is an onomatopoeia) there is the shoe section. They do this on purpose you know. I'd love to know how much extra money they make each year by putting the blasted shoes at the front. Smart marketing there, girls.

Okay, so ANYWAYS (sorry, ADD tonight), I can't turn down a good shoe sale, especially when there are red signs flying all around saying 50% off and an additional 50% off of that! Quick lesson - that's not 100% off. It's half off, then half of that. As in $100 pair would be $50 then it would be $25. It amazes me that people don't know that....psh. My momma taught me shoe sale mathematics when I was two. Months old, that is.

So I saunter over to the big-time sale section and do a quick assessment of the scene. All grouped by sizes, my favorite. I head to the 8-8.5 section (do not make fun of my large-ish feet) and start opening boxes. I don't go into these sales expecting anything, because you never know what you're gonna get, but I do have pretty good confidence in myself when it comes to finding a great pair on an even greater price.

Annnnd what do you know. I found them. The brown boots I've been looking for without knowing I was looking for them ALL WINTER LONG. Cha-ching! I check the price, which already has the first half-off price listed on the box. $44.50....eh. Not horrible, not good. Then, oh wait, I get another 50% off! That means these boots are $22.25.

Mmm hmm. That just happened.

By that time, JM was there, so I tried them on, she liked. I bought.

Boom.

And THAT is how you spend 7.5 minutes finding the perfect pair of shoes for a not-expensive price.

Oh hot dang.

P.S.

The girls and I celebrated Miss MR's 25th tonight. It was fabulous. Pizza, upside-down pineapple cake, crunchy (yes I forgot about them in the oven) cupcakes and girl talk. Perfection!

Yup. I made it. And JM ate all the cherries off of it.

P.P.S.

You wish you had one of these...

I always like to end on a happy note :)

This is where the rubber meets the road...and by road I mean my abdomen.

So, it is now 12 days until WF's wedding. Well, really 11 because it's after 10 pm. So we'll say 11, for this post's sake.

I'm not one to obsess over my weight. I ain't skinny, don't get me wrong, but I work out and eat right on a regular basis. Hm...okay I work out like 2-3 times a week and maybe need something sweet after lunch and dinner, BUT it's only like a little handful of chocolate chips, so get off me.

With that said, I got my bridesmaid's dress from the alterations shop (aka Kathleen, she is awesome and I love her and her off-the-wall stories) today and tried it on. Fits like a glove. (round of applause goes here). But, then I realized that I have arm fat. And if I pooch out my belly, I could totally freak people out by making them think that I'm in my second trimester.

SO!

I started "dieting" today. My dieting definition does not really equal most people's no-carb-or-die version, because let's be honest, I won't live forever and I sure ain't spending precious time not eating my chocolate chips. It more mimics a calorie-counting, healthy-living kind of way.

Where is this post going? I don't really know, I'm ranting, but my main point is that I'm gonna let y'all know what I eat for the next 11 days. Not, like, everyday because that's totally boring and I'm not creative enough to make it interesting with awesome recipes and such. But I figure it'll make me accountable in some strange fashion and that by this I can drop about 2-3 lbs. by the wedding date, which is a lot on me, and not completely irrational.

Here goes today:

Breakfast: Oats bar and coffee
Snack: Banana and raw almonds
Lunch: Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers meal and graham cracker with marshmallow cream
Supper: Egg whites with spinach and cheese on Flat-Outs flax bread, whole wheat saltine crackers, handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips

So how'd I do???

I say okay!!

Let me know your thoughts :)

Snoooowwww Dayyyy!!!!

It's been called "the storm of the decade" here in good ol' South Carolina.

Everybody keeps guestimating at the number of inches of snow we've received down here in the dirty South, but one thing's for sure, it's the most I've EVER seen in Greenville. As a kid being interviewed on the news yesterday afternoon said, "I went out thar when I woke up this mornin' and I liked tah froze my butt owff." That, friends, is exactly how snow is treated here below the Mason-Dixon. Our rear ends just aren't acclimated to temperatures below 40.

"Excuse me, Mom, I'd appreciate some privacy while I relieve myself."

I got woken up at about 6:10 yesterday morning by LH doing her mommy duties and telling me I should call work and tell them I'm not coming in because I can't drive on the roads. Why that was necessary at 6 am, I'll never know. Needless to say, I called work at 7 and was told we were closed for the day. Schwwwwiiiinnnngggg!!!!!! I then proceeded to talk to my mom for about 45 minutes (at the crack of dawn), and by that time, going back to sleep was totally out of the picture. I had laundry washed and folded, yoga done, lunch made, shower taken and house cleaned by about 12:30. I felt like a hero.

The boy came and rescued me about 1:30 so I would have some company, which was a good thing, because after lunch I started getting a little panicky thinking that I was going to be stranded all alone for weeks and end up writing eerie poetry about solitude and invisible friends that played in the snow with me.

Hey Caralee, you want us to come get you?

Eh, sure. Me and Valerie were about to change into our ski bibs and build a snowman.

Ummm who?

No one. Nevermind. I probably need keep some actual real-person company for a while. Come save me, please?

Yeah. Okay. We only have room for one other person in the car though, so no made-up friends allowed. 

Fine. Rude.

I'm even making him crazy.

Last night consisted of snuggling by the fire, having snowball fights, watching The Bachelor (omg the girl with vampire fangs, weeeiiirddd!!) and eating. Because for some reason the snow makes me snacky. Probably not the best thing for my "lose 5 pounds before WF's wedding" plan. It's a good thing I did that yoga yesterday.

Our first snowman! I told him it was a milestone...also, don't make fun of the snowman.
We live in SC, we don't practice snowman building often.

AC always looks pretty. Me on the other hand?
Why did anyone allow me to make that face?

I like this picture. 'Twas a great day. :)

Wow this is my 100th post!! And now onto other breaking news...

100 blog entries. Should I get a prize for this? I kind of think so.

As of today at 4:00 pm, I will be on my happy little way to Asheville, NC to celebrate the last days of Miss WF being a single lady (cue Beyonce tune...). While I am beyond excited about this, I'm also stressed to the max.

I planned this little trip from start to finish (with, of course, some help from JM and LH), and I have this idea in my mind that if it doesn't go perfectly, everyone will hate me. Hard. And I may not be able to climb out from the dark pit of failure. Yes, I know that no one will put me on the guillotine if we're 15 minutes late for our dinner reservations...but I can't be totally sure.

I'm driving myself insane. Everything will be fine. They don't even make guillotines anymore.

With all that said, I looked at the weather report a few minutes ago and it is supposed to snow all weekend. Snow. Allllll. Weekend. Which means it will snow at our cabin, that's on top of a mountain, that's hard to get to without 4-wheel-drive on a normal day, much less on a snowy day.

I'm sorry, but did someone not realize that every single one of the 14 ladies going on this trip is from South Carolina?? Do any of us know how to drive in the snow? Absolutely not. Southern girls aren't made for roughin' it in bad winter weather. We glisten (NOT sweat) even during the triple-digit summers, which obviously means we're not used to temperatures colder than 54 degrees, so I don't suppose anyone can answer why on earth snow would decide to come down the weekend we're SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE FREAKING MOUNTAINS.

Whew. Now that I've super vented, I will say that I truly am excited about the weekend (if we make it up the mountain withou tumbling down) because I've planned some fun surprises, which may or may not involve embarrassing the lady of the weekend to pieces. WF won't stop blushing until Tuesday, guaranteed ;)
To all my ladies on the guest list, can't wait to see your gorgeous faces!!

She's super pumped, too. Those are her party eyes.

Gifts.

Okay, just to start off. I realize that Christmas is not about the gifts. Or the money spent. Or about who got what. I get it. This post is really just to chat a little about boys and their gift-giving habits. So, yeah. There's that. And don't get offended when I show off my goods. I am humble...most of the time. I just like to give credit where credit is due.

Now, we (girls, which I'm assuming is pretty much all who reads this blog) all know that the opposite sex has a tendency to, how shall we say, totally blow it in the gift-giving department. It's not their fault. Their worlds revolve around patting bums (weird? so weird.), bad calls and who is currently winning Fantasy whatever-the-current-sport. The good ones do reserve a small portion of the brain to concentrate on how to make their lady happy. YOU boys, we appreciate you, for the record. Anyways, even though they acknowledge the fact that us girls like to be pampered and swooned over and given zomg great gifts, they are clue.less. as to what it is in the female universe that could possibly make us happy.

To me? Not so hard. I like massages and table settings and designer shoes and having my nails done and wearing cute dresses. This? Is Greek so the male population. So, they resort to gift cards and kitchen equipment. Which is all well and good and the (not spoiled) girls usually appreciate these gifts because we know they kind of tried.

But it's always a refreshing surprise and a BIG win for the guys when they get the perfect gift. Ohhhhh, the all-ellusive perfect gift. WTF IS ITTTTTTT?!?!?

Well, boys, there's no easy answer. We all have a different definition of the perfect gift. And really, it pretty much changes every two weeks or so, so you are up the creek. Sorry. Really. But hey, God didn't make things easy for anyone, so accept your fate.

You ready for the great part?

My boy got me the greatest gifts ever for Christmas.

Ahhh!!! Oohhh!!!! Grrr!!! I hear you, no worries. Yes, be jealous. He did. Granted, I steered him in the right direction. Okay, I pretty much Google mapped it for him, but he came through with flying colors.

I'm so proud.

See here's the thing, guys. We don't expect you to know our perfect gift. We expect you to listen to our not-so-subtle hints about our perfect gift. Yes, this is scary. Yes, it requires putting down the Playstation controller. Yes, it requires researching what the heck the color "camel" is. But hey, the perfect gift reaps great rewards for the both of you.

So don't say I didn't give you anything. You just got the best advice anyone will ever give. Merry late Christmas. And Happy New Perfect Gift Year!

Hobo Wallet!

Buckle Jeans!

Camera! Like my self-portrait? 

It's hard to take a picture of the camera with which you're taking pictures.