Oh the Joys of PMS!

Today I feel fat, sluggish, crampy and just plain icky! ugghh! The past few days I have been so hungry and feel like I have been eating everything in sight - which then makes me feel even worse. ugghhhh! I HATE PMS!!! There is not one thing fun about it!!! I'm about to get ready to go to work and I hope I can find something to wear that looks good and doesn't make me look like the 2 ton whale I feel like! ha ha

Weekend in Nashvegas: Part 1

SO bored sitting in this stand still traffic!
Finally in the room! We heard about the King of Pop as we sat in traffic - I couldn't believe it. I was glued to the TV with all of the updates!



Caribbean Pancakes: heard these are Keith Urban's favorite! They were SOO good and served with homemade Maple syrup!!


Busy downtown Nashville






So we are back after our long weekend, getaway trip to Nashville which began Thursday. I wish I could start by saying that everything was wonderful from start to finish, but I would be lying! ha ha. Everything WAS great until we found ourselves in the WORST traffic jam on the way and a trip that would normally take us only 3 hours took us 7 hours!!! Ugghhh! It was horrible! Apparently some psycho idiot shot a policeman on Interstate 40, which caused traffic to be SOOO backed up. The police were having to conduct their investigation on the interstate and traffic was backed up for hours. I called my Dad because he is pretty familiar with the area from traveling there so much in the past for his job, and so he told me how we could get off on a back road and miss the traffic. Mike had is iPhone which we used some with the GPS. So we took a back road and got going and thought okay, this is good, we should get there in no time. WRONG! Traffic was all backed up on these little 2 lane roads too!! AHHHHH! So it was not any quicker. I guess everyone had the same idea we had. It was quite frustrating to say the least but there was nothing we could do. I was trying to make the most of it and joke around with Mike, but he was not in a good mood. And I kept trying to keep things lightened up  - but after a while when you are the only one doing it - it gets old. So I ended up not being in the best of moods either. We were supposed to get in town at 3 and go look around and maybe shop a little then go back to the hotel and get cleaned up and go to dinner. By the time we actually got there, got checked in, and in our room it was around 7:45. We were pretty tired! I told Mike I had to have a drink, beer or something. So we ran up to a gas station and I got some BL Lime's! Just what I needed. We chilled in the room for a while and then decided to change and go to dinner. Mike was starving at this point and when he is hungry and already not in the best of moods it is not good. We can never decide on a restaurant. We always go back and forth "What do you want? I don't know . . . what do you want???" So finally we decide to head to downtown Franklin (we stayed in Franklin outside of Nashville this time.) We saw some cool, quaint looking restaurants on our way in that day on the square so we were headed there. It was almost 10:00 at this point and I had forgotten that it was Thursday. It felt like Friday to us. So every where was closing. Mike was not happy because he was SO hungry - I was too, and after being in the car for 7 hours when it should have been only 3, we were in no mood to have to be driving all over town to find somewhere to eat. So we go to Chili's - which normally I always like, but when I go out of town, I don't want to go to a chain restaurant - I want to try local places that we do not have at home. To make matters and the night even worse - the service at Chili's was horrible. It took forever for someone to get our drink orders, forever for our appetizer and 35 minuets to get our food. I finally told Mike that we needed to ask for to go boxes. I think he wanted to stay there and eat it but I knew they were closing and I didn't want to have to sit there and rush eating my only meal that day. So we got it to go and the manager came over and apologized and said the meal was on him - so that was the only good part of it. So we took it back to our room, ate and then went to bed. We were in horrible moods and taking it out on each other. I was so upset because this was not how I had hoped our weekend away would start. 

The next morning things were better after we got some sleep! We got up, had coffee in our room then headed to downtown Nashville to eat at the Pancake Pantry. It is a Nashville tradition and the locals, visitors and even stars enjoy eating here. After that we walked around downtown, went in some cool shops. Mike bought me this really cool gold ring in this store called Posh - were many female singers shop including Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood! We went to Urban Outfitters and then after walking around all afternoon, went to Cantina Laredo to cool off with a Blue Moon and some chips and salsa!  Once we got back to the room we were pretty tired from the day. We ended up going to a local Whole Foods and picked up a couple things for dinner and just relaxed in the room while we decided what we were going to do later on that night - which is where "Part 2" will come in. So stay tuned . . . .

Music City Here We Come!

I am so anxious for tomorrow to be here because Mike and I are going to go to Nashville for the weekend. He is off work all this week and a while back we decided to take a trip while he was off. Our original plan was to go to Destin for a week and enjoy the beach.  Mike said we could do that or go somewhere a little closer (like Nashville) and then get a few things for the house like a couple pieces of furniture or something. So after we talked about it, that's what we decided to do. So we are leaving tomorrow and looking forward to a little weekend getaway.

We went back in December for our Anniversary for a couple nights and stayed in Nashville, but this time we are staying right out side of it in Cool Springs. We are staying at this really cool hotel by W hotels called Aloft. I've heard a lot about it  - so I'm really looking forward to it. It is really modern and just a cool atmosphere - just what I like.

So next time I should have some pics of our fun filled weekend! 

Cio!

Read the Rainbow:Organizing Books by Color

Something that I have seen when looking at different decor sites are some rooms with bookshelves that have books organized by color. I LOVE this look! I think it it such a great way to bring a pop of color and warmth to a space. I tried to do it once myself - but didn't have quite enough books in all the colors, so need to work on that. Even if you do not have all of the colors of books - you can choose 2 or 3 colors - that would look cool too. If you are trying to collect a lot of books just for decorating purposes there are some places that you can find them for very cheap. Large chain bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, Davis Kid, Books -A- Million, Borders and others often have a table with books marked way down, you can really find some great deals. I have also gone to our local Dollar store (yes, the dollar store) and bought hard back books for only a dollar each. So that is great way to get a bunch of books at a low price. I did this when I was needing to fill up a book shelf. I still need to by more actually, so I may need to make a trip there myself.

 I love books and being surrounded by them and all of the knowledge and stories they hold. It's fun to collect books and have your own, personal library.

I just love this idea of organizing books by color and pictures of rooms like this make me happy!

Baking for Big Mike

Today I baked an Apple pie and some of my famous brownies with toffee and nuts. I made them both for Mike's Dad. Mike took his Dad to dinner tonight and then to see a movie, and so when he picked him up he took the pie and brownies with him to his parents.

I have baked pies before of course, but have never done the Lattice top on a pie - so I did it today. Not too bad, but will probably do better when I do it again sometime. I need to do better on making all of the strips of crust the same width. I may try it again in a couple of weeks when my Dad comes back. I love baking, it's so fun!!

People call my Mike "Big Mike" b/c he's a big, muscular, football looking guy - but to family, Mike's Dad (Mike Sr.) is Big Mike and my Mike is "Little Mike." So that's what I call Mike's Dad too.

The filling has been added . . . now time for the Lattice Top
Lattice top done, now need to trim . . . .

Egg whites make the top of a pie shine
Ready for the oven

The finished product! 

My famous brownies!! They are delish!!

Wishing I was with my Dad today . . . . .

I am not able to be with my Dad today - since he is in TX 13 hours away. I was going to go see him along with my brother and Mom - but it didn't work out this time. My Mom flew out yesterday so she could be with him this weekend, so I'm really glad about that and glad that he is not alone on Father's Day. I just talked to him and he and my Mom were sitting on the patio at a really cool restaurant in Lubbock.  My mom was having a Bloody Mary and my Dad was enjoying a frozen Margarita! So sounds like they are enjoying themselves -and I'm glad! 

I stayed up till 4a.m. the other night making a CD for my Dad for Fathers Day. He's really into country right now and is always watching the top 20 countdown on CMT. He likes the song "I told you so" by Carrie Underwood as well as Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Rascal Flats and so much more. So I stayed up and made 2 CD's and did over 3o songs total. I talked to him just a minuet ago and he said that he loved the CD and couldn't have gotten anything better - so that made me feel so go0d!! I never know what to get him?? I always try to think of something different and something that he would get excited about but I think I did it this time!! He's on the road a lot traveling for his job and then in the car 15 hours when he drives home instead of flying, so when he is on the road he will have some good music to keep him company!

I love my Dad more than anything and it's been so hard while he has been away - but I know he is always there for me and loves me so much! I feel the same!!

So Happy Father's Day to the best Dad in the world!!! You are my hero!!!

Mini Spa Day

Tomorrow I get off work at 3 and then I am heading to the Spa! My hubby got a Mini Spa Day for me because he knows it is one of my favorite treats and something I will not do for myself. I get a nice long, relaxing facial and massage! I am SO excited. I wanted to do this once I finished all of my finals about a month ago, but never did - so now I am and SO looking forward to it.  

So thank you to my sweet, amazing, thoughtful hubby for thinking of me and treating me to a relaxing afternoon!!! You are the best!!

Great Finds for our Nest

I have been meaning to post the new accent chairs we got last week. I have been wanting 2 chairs to go in our living/sitting room. I  had originally had some type of chair with an ottoman in mind for one chair, but the more I thought about it I decided maybe that was not what I needed to be looking for after all. The chairs are to go on either side of our Armoire where the TV is and so it's not like we will ever really sit in them much - they are just their too look good. I'm sure around the holidays, and when we have company or a party they will be used, but on a day to day basis they will not. I went so many places to look, Pier 1, a number of furniture stores, on-line, and could never find anything that jumped out at me. I did find a couple chairs I liked at a furniture store and while I did love them, they were $400 each and I could not see spending that much on 2 chairs that we will not be sitting in all of the time.  I wanted something nice, but not break the bank either - and low and behold I found it. I found these 2 accent chairs and loved them!! I love that they are neutral and I can add some color or texture by adding a pillow. I also love the design on the back of them! Oh and the price . . . $69.99 each!!! They were originally $139.99 each, so I would have paid almost $300 once tax was included for both chairs  -which is still not horrible - but I love the fact that I got 2 for the original price of one! YES!! I think that I will always be able to use these chairs even if I decide to do something else in our living room one day. I took pictures of them in the dining room so I could get a good pic of them side by side . . . . 

My last find was something I found yesterday at Old Time Pottery. Sometimes I go in there to see if they have anything good such as accessories or dishes, but when I was there yesterday everything seemed like junk and I was on my way out when I spotted a very unique fire place screen in the corner. I was not in the market for one of these at all, but when I see something unusual that catches my eye I become interested. Just my luck though - there was not a price on it . . . so I had to flag someone down and wait for what seemed like forever for them to get a price for me. I knew I loved it, but also knew that I was not going to spend a lot on it either. Many of the fireplace screens I have seen that I like are $70 - $150, so I was expecting this one to be at least $50 or $60 if not more. It was heavy too -  so that's what also made me think it would be more expensive. But to my surprise when the lady came back with the price it was only $34.99 . . . . .SOLD!! I thought that was a great deal for such a unique fire place screen. We already had one, but I was not crazy about it -  so I was excited about this unexpected find!  Since it is summer time and the fireplace is not being used, I usually like to light candles behind the screen - it just makes it nice and cozy. 

Natural Thick, Long Lashes vs. False Lashes

Okay - so yesterday I was in my  Dr.'s office and I noticed a sign advertising the new FDA approved drug called Latisse - which helps your eye lashes grow thicker and fuller. I had  heard about this from some friends but never seriously thought about it for myself until I saw it yesterday. I do not have long lashes at all!! I always feel like I am applying so much mascara to obtain even just a little length and fullness and even then it's not as much as I would like. Sometimes I will wear false lashes and whenever I apply the first one I look at it compared to my other eye and feel appalled at how horrible my own lashes look. I feel like longer lashes just brighten up my face and looks a million times better!!! I would put them on everyday if I could, I just know I would spend a ton of money doing that, not to mention the time to do it each morning as I get ready for work. But, when I do it . . . I LOVE it and feel so much better about myself!  So I am going to continue to think about purchasing Latisse. I think it's a great idea, although I hear it can take up to 2 or 3 months to see results and once you stop using it, your lashes go back to the way they were before. So that's a bummer. I would love nothing more then to have natural, long, thick lashes, but this could become quite expensive to maintain, so I'm wondering if I should just stick to wearing my false ones from time to time. If anyone has any experience with Latisse, please let me know. I would love to know what people who have used this really think of it and if it is worth it. 

Here are some photos of me wearing false lashes and then some without - I don't think I look horrible with out them, but I think I look a lot better with them!

Without Lashes:

With Lashes:

The subtle, natural lash

The going out lash 

 

Full Lash