Blog 103: Beauty 101

Yes, it is another blog- I've been popping these things out lately, forgive moi. As you see above, it's Beauty 101. I share what little secrets I have about what I know. It's very limited, I promise, but go with it.

My number one favorite makeup product out there is BareMinerals. While on the pricey side, it does wonders. Unlike the oil-based foundations that are in the beauty aisles at Target♥, this stuff doesn't mess up the complexion (read: cause breakouts.) When my mom handed me her leftovers when her new shipment came in, man I was HOOKED. Alas, I was a senior without a job, so my bliss was shortlived. Until I got myself a job and once the money was piling up, I bought myself my Fairly Light and haven't gone back to the Target aisles since. Again, pricey but when applied once a day, you get about 3 months+ use out of it. Disperse $25 dollars into about 90 days, add in the fact that your skin doesn't break out, and to me, it's powdery gold.

Sephora is my heaven when it comes to all things beauty. There's one up in Nashville, I went last year, and walking in I heard the angels singing (don't burst my bubble.) There's nothing better than walking into the bookstore of makeup. It's all alphabetically arranged by who made it, you can test the product (I like blending it on my wrist to see how it looks), you get the point. But my mom's crossed me to the other side. Beauty.com is another Sephora, only cheaper, which I love. Free shipping at $30, 3 free samples, and you have me. They sell the same stuff as Sephora, too.

Blow-drying. Only lately have I really, truly, actually given a two-cents worth into my haircare regimine, so allow me to share the dirty secrets.

• One: I comb my conditioner into my hair and let it sit for about 3 mins. to moisturize it.


• Two: I always use a paddle brush. The thing is my best friend during the blowdrying, especially at the very beginning; why, I don't know.


• Three: When my hair is damp, I put down the blowdryer, run the Aveda serum through my hair, then start the round brush part.


• Four: the flat-iron. This divine creation and I are tight :) I have some difficult, wavy-ish hair, so I attack my hair with the straightener. I think it's a staple with the tools to beauty! Do about 1 inch sections piece by piece (if you're in a hurry, like I always am, do bigger chunks.)


• Last but not least: a freebie I got from mom was her sample from beauty.com. I introduce to you, ladies (and gentlemen) Jonathan Antin's DIRT (and the guy's hot to boot). I've had it sitting in bathroom for months (ok, weeks) and decided to give it a try on Tuesday. Baby, I LOVE that stuff. So much, that I myself ordered it online today :) I always remember when watching his shows, I wondered why anyone would put Dirt in their hair.... 3 years later, now I know.

Anyways, you all probably know this, but I figured I'd share :)

Oh, and PS... don't do thin eyebrows. They drive me nuts; so much so, that I realized how thin mine were getting so I stopped tweezing- now that drove me nuts.

A Quick Grammar Lesson

I think I have honestly discovered my #1 pet peeve: where people put their apostrophes in when they write or type a contraction. Quick lesson:

• You all = y'all not ya'll... this is honestly my biggest pet peeve and I do my best to not correct people when they write it (granted it is the South...)
• We will= we'll not well (some people don't like apostrophes in this one)
• They are= they're not their not there- seriously people, come on.
• You are= you're not your- my second biggest pet peeve

This is a grammar lesson provided by yours truly. Please don't take offense if you who read this are bad with grammar. Thank you!

TMI

I'm watching my favorite show of Thursday night (next to Grey's and The Office) Burn Notice. I got hooked on it this summer and have been hooked ever since. Jeffrey Donovan IS easy on the eyes and ears, you know... Anyways, so I'm watching it, emailing my friend in the Peach State, when over the screen of my laptop I see a KY commercial playing. Apparently, it's Valentine's season... At least that's what it said. I don't care what season it is, I see it in Target, that's enough for me. I don't want to see a couple telling the pros of it. Icky. Keep it to yourselves.

Moving on to the next subject- it was with great surprise last night when I realized I have prioritzed my life. I'm keeping the story to myself, but I was talking to someone and when I listened to what I said, I realized "holy smokes, it's true." Gone is the ditching class, the who cares attitude. I actually care about my grades, getting homework done, etc. I have two tests next week, back to back (literally, one at 530, another at 7.) I don't know when I'm going to study this weekend, I'm working all weekend (no exaggerations here, it's ALL weekend.) Can I get an ick?! So yes, it's going to be a fun weekend. My mom said, "guess what I know you're doing on Monday..." when I told her about it. Yes mom, you are right. I'm even picky about men when it comes to education. Really, I am. If I see a man working on his degree, it says a ton about their attitude. I'm one of those people who doesn't like school at all, but I know it will get me to where I crave to be. When I see someone say, "I'll do school later" it's a bummer. Because you know they won't get to school "later." So I like a man with a degree or at least pursuing it...

I went to a job interview on Tuesday for a company called Vector. While the pay sounds nice, there's too many catches, sounds too fishy and honestly, I love Jason's. Yes, I was not a fan of it when I started ( I think that had to do w/ my attitude on life though) but I've bonded with it. We have regulars who crack me up, like the guy who gets the Bagelini everyday around 3. He laughed today when I started typing in the price without even looking at his tickets- he realized just how regular he is. My manager Lee is a crack up. He's the only I can joke around with who's on management. I love that place. Yes, the pay's "eh" but it's better than minimum wage.

Can I think up 9 more things?

I can try! Since everyone's made it 25 instead of the previous 16 on Facebook, I can try to think up so more stuff.

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17. I was such a junkie for Gilmore Girls that when I got my MSN email, I made it gilmore07- 07 being the year I graduted high school. It has stuck ever since (see the URL of this page?)

18. English is my die-hard favorite subject. I'm sad I have no more english in college.

19. I'm a Mr. Darcy kind of girl. I love Pride and Prejudice like you wouldn't know. And yes, I do prefer the BBC version (Colin Firth + wet shirt, nuf said.)

20. I want multiple children. Like, 4. Maybe even a pair of twins in there :) Yes, I am nuts.

21. The only time I really "clean" is when I'm upset. Scrubbing things can get a lot of frustration out of you.

22. I don't believe in love at first sight. I don't understand how people think it's possible.

23. My absolute favorite show in Jon and Kate Plus 8. I think it's hilarious seeing 2 parents trying to keep 8 kids happy.

24. I don't have a "favorite" color. My least favorite color is grey, but I like the rest of them.

25. When I was a kid, I had two demands: my skirts TWIRL whenever I spun around. My shoes had to make the clip-clop noise whenever I walked. If skirts and shoes didn't meet my demands, I didn't wear them. My mom learned this the hard way and has never let me forget it.

An Ode to the Blogger

I love blogging. It's sort of obvious, but it is VERY true. It's an outsource, I've made friends on here that I don't know in person, but I read their thoughts, their feelings, what happened... and it's nice (in a not supposed to be creepy way.) I even read my friends' blogs to see what happened in their lives behind closed doors, without others around.

I love how you get these traditions, like Not Me! Mondays, Thankful Tuesdays, Wordless Wednesdays, etc. There's even Sundays on the blog on my sidebar, Bring the Rain. I didn't know that this would all happen when I started my blog. I only started my blog for me over on Wordpress, but that site and I just weren't bonding. Not personable enough; so I started a Blogger account. I didn't know that about a year later, others from Phoenix, AZ over to London, England would read it. It's so cool to see these comments from people you don't even know, but you go to their page and see that you both like Target, you're a teacher, you love coffee, who knows... in all honesty, I probably find more in common with people on their blogs than in real life.

Maybe I have a lot of things in common with people around me and don't know it. You don't see it when you look at them. But when you look at their blog, it feels more personal. People say the internet isn't personal, and I agree- to a point. Blogs can be the exception. Like my mom says, it's the "In Touch Weekly" of real life. Instead of what did Jennifer Anniston do, it's what did they do?

Just some random thoughts. It's funny how I blog more now... maybe because I want to put myself out there?

Leave comments, I love them!

Not Me! Monday

It's time for IT again! And by it I mean Not Me! Monday. Like all the other bloggers out there who follow MckMama (and are all not jealous of her cruising the Caribbean right now) I, too, shall do the theraputic ritual of what I did not do this past week ;)

So let's start, shall we?

I did not scoff, mock, and scowl at Obama the day he was inaugurated. And I did not feel ashamed when all the Christians I know said they're praying for him and his administration...

I did not pig out on chips, salsa, soda, calories, and more calories for no reason whatsoever this week. No, I don't resort to food for therapy. Not that I know what I needed to therapize (I just made that a word) with some salty, crunchy, and amazing snacks.

I did not look like an absolute snitch yesterday when I made my siblings sit in the hallway outside nursery because they were causing chaos, nor did I tell my dad that I was about to strangle my full-of-attitude sister while holding a precious baby. And I did not blush when the lady who was teaching children's church if I needed help with the siblings. Nope, not me.

I did not get mad at complete idiots who commented on MckMama's blog about what an idiot she was to a) not remember Stellan's documentation (I'd like to see THEM remember that!) b) take a 3 month old baby who got sick over Christmas on a ship "full of virsuses and God only knows what else", when hello! people, she has 3 other kids for goodness sake! Get real! Ugh...

16 Random Things About Yours Truly

Since this is going around on Facebook, instead of doing it there I'm doing it here :) Maybe I'll rack up 16 odd things in my head? We shall see.

1. I'm weird when it comes to grammar and spelling. It's an obsession of mine. I get annoyed at bad grammar, can make papers bleed when I fix the comma splices, misspellings, etc... you think I'm kidding?
2. I have to sleep with a source of white noise. Right now, it's a fan. I got hooked on it last year and haven't slept the same ever since. I even can't go to sleep without it on!
3. I don't have any tattoos but I've always wanted one. It's the bad girl in me coming out. But I'm afraid of needles and definitely afraid to know what it feels like!
4. I'm pursuing an Associate's in Elementary Education, and next year, transfer to another school for the big Bachelor's.
5. I've been to 30+ states in the continental United States.
6. Never have I ever been out of the country.
7. I was born and raised a military brat. Lived in 7 different states (moved to some multiple times), thanks to the Air Force.
8. I did dance from the ages of 4 to 12, I quit because the dance co. I was with was absolutely ridiculous and wasn't fun like dancing should be.
9. I played piano from 6 y.o. to 14. I decided to stop because I was drained (wow, I'm a quitter.)
10. I desire to travel to Italy then the rest of Europe someday. It's my number ONE dream.
11. I am on Facebook way too much sometimes.
12. I'm not one of those people who can take a semester off from school then go back. I'm afraid I'm one of those people who has to stick it out through and through and not quit because I might never go back and I'd regret it.
13. I have a passion for kids. There's something about them that I love. They're unique, not adults, are honest when they "aren't" supposed to be, and I love that.
14. My first kiss was with Cal Roberts at the age of 8... yes, mom, it was. Don't gasp.
15. I'm severly allergic to cats- I look like I'm higher than a kite when I'm around them/their dander.
16. AND I'm allergic to shellfish and wheat... I'm a freak.

Dear Mr. President:

I already don't like you. I tried to be peaceful, to not disrespect you, and to honor your authority.

But I simply can't. I cannot sit here and watch you make so many changes within 3 days of having power. No, Mr. Obama, I cannot.

• You see, you've already lifted a ban on funding for international abortions. So thanks to you, even more babies are going to die.
• Thanks to you, you are putting quite a few military men and women out of place by closing Guantanamo Bay, the place where we put despicable men for what they attempted to do to our country. Who cares if we tormented them? They've tormented quite a few of our people, too.
• I disagree with the way you're portrayed as the new God, the alpha omega of the United States among the media. You're in a for a real treat if you let the media us down.
• The only reason you won is because uneducated people fell face first for your propaganda. No one can save this economy, no one can save the world, and even if someone could do these things, you, Mr. President, sure won't be the one to save us.
• Speaking of which, I disagree with how you made yourself a hero, went along Lincoln's route before your election, NOT to mention you used the Bible he used for your inauguration. You say it's not about race, but you make it about race anyway. I don't understand it.

No sir, I do not agree with you one bit. Not one bit at all. This doesn't even begin to cover how much I don't like you, but this is my mature way of speaking my voice.

"I'm a big kid now"

My little sister turned 7 today... it's hard to believe that 7 years ago, I was hearing a screaming 10 hour old baby thinking, "I'm stuck with this until I die..." Such a pessimistic thought, but considering I was the only child for 12+ years, you could probably, just maybe, understand why. But looking back, I would not have it any other way :)

I wish I had a picture on my computer to put up of the munchkin. I think we should've known her personality the minute my mom had the 6 week ultrasound. The most determined human being I know, besides my father, was in that picture. She's stubborn, oh so very stubborn. She gets jealous easily; is high maintenance; yet...

Loves her friends; loves her family; loves animals; loves to read her sister's texts, emails, facebook comments (she's a tad nosy and feels accomplished doing so), you name it; doesn't want to be a mommy when she grows up; loves to sing when no one's around; is a future artist; and most of all, isn't a "little" girl anymore. She's 7. I remember when I was 7.

Like H, I loved my friends, animals, baby dolls, everything. Not only that, I was becoming aware of lots of things, like fashion, the hippest nail polish colors, how to apply makeup, TV shows that weren't on Disney anymore... a slew of things. There's quite the difference between 6 and 7. Before I know it, my H will be talking about boys, buying bras (don't laugh), telling of the newest fashion trends that don't exist at Gymboree, will be helping me plan my wedding, babies, etc... it's all a tad bit hard to swallow, because the first thing this morning, last night actually, I thought about the day she was born.

At 12:38 AM EST, Tuesday, January 22, 2002 at Wright Patterson AFB, OH, Hannah Elizabeth was born. And a day in the B family hasn't EVER been the same since. No siree; she didn't crawl, she walked at 9 months. The little imp stood on the coffee table and stripped when she was 1 and 2; she adored yet despised our brother (still does to this very day!); had the best laugh as a baby (sounded like the Pillsbury Dough Boy); she called me "Ssss" for the longest time until she could TALK; the list goes on and on. My favorite memory though is when we shared a room in Boston. To wake me up, she'd yell "sss!" and jump and jump in her crib causing all sorts of racket until I got her out of the crib (at 6:30 am no less.) Or maybe it was finding her with my makeup on her face when she was 2? Not sure... either way, life's never been the same since the Little Palindrom was born :)

Freedom of Speech?

Using my freedom of speech, I commented on Facebook a couple hours ago how I hope God protects me from our new President- meaning if I say anything negative, I hope Obama doesn't come after me. It's how I feel about our new president, I'll be honest.

So I just logged onto my Facebook and imagine my disgust when these 2 guys commented all over my status and one called me ignorant, the other agreed with me, then they got in a fight. Ugh. I was like, "are you guys freaking kidding me?" I have a right to speak freely, so do you, but don't do it on my profile. I mean, honestly. Get real. Do it in a message, not in my own space.

Thank you.

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Ahem, moving on...

The district manager of Gymboree is at Parkway Place, the store I'm praying to get promoted to, today. Tomorrow I should find out on my fate. I'm praying I get the position. It would help me tremendously. I don't know why I'm so determined to become assistant manager there, but I am. The store manager and one of the assistant managers (whose name also happens to be Lauren) are both wanting me to come over there, so I hope it works out.

I can't wait for school tonight. I'm officially going whacko, I've decided. Never have I ever been excited for school. Perhaps it's because my date Sunday was so successful that I'm seeing Mr. Wonderful again tomorrow after class :)

Not Me! Monday

Surely, y'all know me well enough now to know that I am amazing at remembering it's Monday and didn't have to be reminded by MckMama that it was Not Me! Monday. It's not like I was sitting around watching "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters" off my DVR or anything!

So I started school this week. Instead of doing the dance of "yay I have something worthwhile to do that will get me somewhere and not reading blogs left and right" I moped and scowled. Yes, that's right, I surprisingly was not happy school was up & at it again. Nor did I look at some of my crazy teachers and ask in my head "what the he-- is wrong with you?!" Yes, they're weird, specifically my Music Appreciation teacher, but that's completely ok with me. I surprisingly am not accepting math's challenge and am currently not refusing to let it kick me in the butt. Nope, not me.

I did not realize that I am indeed growing up when I went shopping with some girlfriends and resisted swiping the plastic. While I did find bargains, I totally did not resist that side of me and walk away. It sure does stink when you know that you need to save and not spend. Icky!

Oh, and while I'm at it, I didn't blame all life's problems on our soon to be new President this week. I sure didn't make comments like, oh it's just Obama's fault, no big deal. Because that wouldn't be the Christ-like thing to do. Respect your authority (I add my clause of unless they're complete idiots and are the next God) everyone!

I hope you all have a great, fantastic monday! Enjoy this day off! Ugh, I just remembered our country's going down hill tomorrow... lovely.

Jonas Brothers!!!!!

Here are some crazy pictures from last night!!!! Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it! Between the Jonas Brothers, shopping, hearing girls say "omg I'm so over it" at Red Robin, not to mention Faith's crying, it was so much fun!

OMG did you hear I'm dating one of the Jonas Brothers?

Seduction at its finest


Whitney, Louis Vitton, and Kevin the Model

Faith with her loot in her jacket. She thought she looked pregnant, but the picture didn't come out that well.

Whitney's and my stash for the movie. Instead of paying an arm and a leg for popcorn and a drink, we went by a gas station and bought quite the stash of candy and soda. Thank goodness for being girls with big purses.

Ah, yes, this is Faith's preggo picture. You still can't tell... but we went with it anyway.

Whirlwind weekend!

So this weekend is going down in history of one of my favorite weekends of all time.

It all started with a fantastic date last night. I was treated to a very pretty hot pink rose, a Southern gentleman, 4 star dining, constant laughter, a night that was amazing. Never have I laughed so much, on a first date that is. It's kinda funny- we know each other through his best friend, my old manager... and he's taken that title to heart. In a way, we met each other through Nate. I woke up this morning in an awesome mood. The guy's too good to be true, to say the least.

Then today, after work (which was ten times easier thanks to my good mood), I went to Faith's celebration of her 20th birthday. Hysterical, I must say. We went to Red Robin, went to Parkway Place and shopped and criticized Forever 21's stuff (some good, some straight up "Like a Virgin" Madonna.) then went to see Bride Wars. I loved the movie. It was sort of not predictable, actually. I'll put up pics and what not tomorrow, but I must tell y'all... between a date and a girls' night, this weekend's been a ton of fun.

Senior Year

This blog is random, but it was in my head. Yesterday was weird- I ran into two people I graduated with yesterday.

A girl who I was friends with during my senior year came to Jason's Deli yesterday. We didn't talk, Jason's was packed with customers. I never know why I was friends with her, she was a two-face to say the least. She was sweet to me, awful to others, and a complete diva. Imagine my shock when she came through the line and I saw that she's put on probably 50 pounds in just a year and a half. She recognized me, I said hey, but she looked unhappy. We're friends on Facebook, I'm borderline about to remove her because I see her being two-faced in her statuses and wall posts. People she bashed to me in the halls of WCA get comments from her like, "hey sweetie" and what not... I wish I had something nice to say about her. But I don't, which is pretty sad.

The other person was quite the character. Whenever someone would say A got in trouble, we'd all be like, "now there's a shock." What's crazy is this guy is the sweetest guy; he just makes really poor decisions. He nicknamed me Miami Vice the first day of school in English class because one of the guys thought my last name was Vice, not Bice. I have hilarious memories of him; like Mrs. Reaves do her strut to his desk and opening his water bottle, smelling it just to make sure it was water and not vodka. We all died laughing when she did it. He was the bad boy my friend Sallie fell hard for... that never worked out, and honestly, it was probably for the best (even if they would've been c-u-t-e together.) I've seen him at Calhoun since the summer but never have been like, hey. I think he saw me go in the bathroom last night because when I walked out, he was right there, like he was waiting for me (surely concocted in my head but still). I said, "Hey Austin." I got a "well lookie here, Lauren Bice, looking hotter than ever." Ok... anyway, found out he failed Bama (boy I'm good at predictions) because he joined a frat (go figure) and he ended up at Calhoun. He's no longer a business major, instead English. He's actually really smart when it comes to literature, writing, explicating poems and what not, so I think it'll work for him. It was just crazy actually talking to him after a long time.

I have a class with what was the outcast of our class (does that make sense?) She's actually a really cool girl. She has her quirks, but so do I. She was shocked when I sat next to her in CIS the other day. I thought she was weird in AP gov't, but the day she told Joe Blackwell off, I was amazed... she's not, she's just like us, in her own different way.

Anyways, my life's changed a lot since I began my last year of high school at WCA. It had a lot of troubles; I liked it at first, but hated being the new girl. Everyone had gone to school together since Kindergarten, so that was rough. My prom was awful. I made good friends in the end, left the bad ones behind. I decided to pursue nursing at UAH; I'm now an Elementary Ed. major at the local community college. I went without a boyfriend that year, and I'm grateful for that because I could make my decisions without someone nagging me. I fell for a guy who didn't fall for me though... that's embarassing. I got my first job that year. I had my first accident that year. I had my first speeding ticket that year, too. I got my first debit card- and learned what happens when you overdraw (oops.) I learned a lot of things that year... a lot.

You just wait til you get to 1st grade

Tonight I came home to find my mom and sister doing H's homework (that was due today.) Apparently, her teacher (who I'm less than enthusiastic about) didn't clarify directions well with the children on the sentences they were supposed to write. The kids have this spelling journal they have to keep. I never had a spelling journal in first grade. I had a book that had all 26 letters on their own individual page and I had to find a picture, cut it out, and put it on that week's page. But a spelling journal? Gracious sake's people, this isn't 5th grade! And my mom, her friend, and some others agree.

Then H got in an argument over the number 0. According to her teacher, 0 is even... mom and I both said it isn't. Mom even texted the mathematician (sp?) dad and asked. He wasn't even sure, so we googled it. Sure enough... 0 is neither even or odd. So H flipped out and said, "well y'all just wait until you go to first grade. Then you'll learn that 0 is an even number!" Well excuse me, Miss!

I guess I get irritated with her teacher because I think a spelling journal is ridiculous. They have all these things they have to make like election buttons, hats, maps... it's like a competition. And it's a competition among the parents and not the kids. But that's just me. Maybe I get irritated because I'm gonna be teaching that age range in a few years (notice the few haha) and don't want to be like that. I want to write the teacher a big long letter and say, "listen lady, enough's enough!"

Just my rant for the day.

I before E except after C

I always thought that weird was spelled w-i-e-r-d. So, imagine my embarrassment, when I, the Elementary Education major, Google weird tonight and found out that indeed, it's spelled w-e-i-r-d. What's the use of the silly mnemonic device when it does no good in college? Here I was, thinking I was Queen of Spelling and realized my error. Humility is a good thing. I'm glad I found that out my sophomore year of college and not my 4th year of teaching!

Not Me! Monday

It's that time again. The time to come clean, fess up, and tell the world about what I didn't do. It might not be too excited for some, but it's what I did didn't do.



While babysitting the adorable Z children, I most certainly did not give this little Troublemaker seen above a ponytail after doing his sisters' hair :) I knew his dad would die if he knew and would scorn me forever, so I didn't do it. I just explained to the Little Guy that daddy would kill me, even if his mom thought it'd be the cutest thing ever!

I did not roll my eyes when I told my sister to smile at the camera, and instead, got the full pose because she's a ham like that. Instead, I embraced it, and considered sending it off to a modeling agency. In the meantime, I focused my camera on this little guy, my baby brother. After feeling extremely successful after I taught him to skate, I figured I'd pull out the camera, because I could hear my mom saying, "did you get any pictures?!?!" when I would get home. So-

picture taking I did. Lots of it, actually. I even used my handy dandy pink camera's video setting and got some video of M gliding. It was quite the feat teaching him. We dear children really don't get very frustrated nor are we stubborn, impatient, and difficult. :) I can just hear my mom saying, "yeah right" while she reads this.

I didn't get frustrated either when it was taking my brother forever to learn and my legs/skates were just itching to start doing the tricks I learned while taking skating lessons in Dayton. I instead focused patiently on teaching. And I didn't remember halfway through our skate session to remind my sister that when she fell, keep the hands away from the skate blades. So when, I told her this, I did not stop mid-sentence when I realized that was not fresh blood on her white sweater and did a quick sweep of her hands to find a gash. Nope, not me. Instead I remembered before we even put the skates on.

That's all for now, I hope you all have a fantabulous week ♥

YMCA!

Today, my buddy Rob passed away. After the doctors did a CAT scan this morning, they found that almost 3/4 of his brain was non-responsive and basically dead. There was nothing they could do. His family decided to pull the plug at 1:30; at 3:45 I had a text from Nate that Rob passed away just then.

Words can't begin to describe the pain I'm going through. Last night, all I kept thinking was why? Why did he drive drunk? What was he thinking? No one has the answers at all; I can't imagine how his wife's doing. She was his perfect match. They both had their quirks, but they loved each other greatly. I remember he was so nervous on his wedding day that he told me in the hall he took a ton of pills just to calm him down. He loved Celia tons, you could tell the way he talked about her. He called her his wife months before they ever said "I do." I flipped when he told me he was going to wear his Converse sneakers with his tux and his wedding. All his groomsmen were doing it, too. God he was awesome.


Rob told the best jokes. He was a little leprachaun (sp?) in everyway. He was going to write memoirs on McAlister's. Like, Matt and I getting caught kissing in the cooler (yes, I'm making it public ;D) Apparently Rob saw that as a chapter in itself. I saw Rob get promoted from Shift Leader to Assistant Manager. I saw him on his bad days. He always called me sweetheart. He nicknamed me The Flamingo one night when I was wrapping cookies and was standing on one leg and doing a pique (ballet thing) against the cooler. I was there when he got vertigo and freaked out on the world. I was there to cool him down when it came to the wedding. I was the only person he really talked to about getting married because he was so nervous and didn't want anyone else to talk to him about it.

I don't know when the funeral is. I'm going to let work know what's up just in case I call out. I'm dead set on going to the funeral. I'll wear my "break up safe" mascara as Bare Escentuals calls it. I haven't cried yet; I know it's coming though because I've teared up a couple times thinking about him.

So if you're reading this, please put everyone involved in your prayers. Thanks.

His car was wrapped around a tree

My life today has been eventful. Very very eventful. I started with a good morning. I went to my haircut, found out my hairdresser wants to play Ms. Matchmaker, had major curiosity stoked, excited about that, what not. I get home and make the kiddos lunch, send them on their merry way, and go take a nap until it's time to go ice skate (another blog, another time.) Half an hour later, I woke up to a text message. A text message I had a to look at, study, look at again and make sure that I was reading what I thought I was reading. It was my friend telling me that our old manager at McAlister's, Rob, was in a really bad accident and that the doctors thought he wasn't going to make it. I texted another former manager, Nate, and asked what on earth was going on. He called me right away and told me this: Rob went into work 2 hours late and intoxicated yesterday afternoon. He was fired on the spot. He went home, got in a fight with his wife, left the house, got more alcohol and then got in an accident. Speeding was involved, it's for sure, not to mention the alcohol. His car was wrapped around the tree he crashed into. I was in shock, and I still am. My friends and I went up to the hospital tonight and talked to his family and friends. They instantly talked to us when we said we worked with him at the McAlister's on University, his original job in the chain. The chances of him surviving are really really low; if he does survive, he's expected to be paralyzed on his entire left side. His face is broken; the left side of his skull collapsed; his carotid artery is completely blocked; multiple wounds, but he's in stable condition. Right now, he's in the Neurological Intensive Care Unit. I feel awful; I can't even cry about it. One of my friends was about to start bawling her eyes out and I looked at her like, "you only worked with the guy for a couple months, if even that. Why are you crying?" My stories with him are endless; they're hysterical; they make me smile, they made his aunt laugh her head off when I told her some of them, like the time when one Saturday, when he was still shift leader, he got the entire BOH to sing "YMCA" each time one of the cashiers called back a nacho basket app. And it was a Saturday afternoon, so there were tons of those.

"I'm going to Denver!"

No, I'm really not going to Denver (yet I wish I was). I watched the new Grey's this morning and loved it. Finally, a semi-normal Grey's. Don't get me wrong, I'm not picky at all about the episodes but I was so into this episode. I can't get enough of McSteamy/Sloane. Or the McVet or whatever his name is... and of course, McDreamy *sigh*

Yes, I'm a slight Grey's fan ;) it's not like I clicked "attending" on the Grey's Anatomy Countdown for their new episode on Facebook (really, I do have a life people.) I think I've mentioned/referred to it before a couple times in this blog. It was rough- there was definitely the moral battle among the attendings when it came to the care of the PDR who slit 5 womens' throats just for the fun of it. Personally, if it was me, he should've sat in his pain just to know what his victims felt. But that's me, not Shonda Rhimes. If you guys think I'm a G.A. freak, go look at TVGuide... there's more freaks out there than me when it comes to this show. Moving on...

A brief look at the past couple of days:

• That new A/C adaptor still hasn't come. Even though I expedited it, it just shipped yesterday and is nowhere to be seen... save your money people, expediting with Amazon is not worth it!
• And a trick to those of you who desperately need a haircut- you know how I talked about having to wait til February? I put myself on the cancellation list, and by golly, I have a hair trim tomorrow. So much for waiting until next month :D Love it!
• Finally, my employment future will be found out today. The Store Manager at Parkway Place's Gymboree is talking to the DM this afternoon about me getting promoted to Assistant Manager over there. I'm acting cool about it, patiently waiting, but doing a dance on the inside... yes, I'll miss Bridge Street. I love that place. But there's more cons to transferring over there. We'll wait and see...

My Graciousness!

In the words of Jess- woah baby! My computer's been on the fritz these days due to the a/c adaptor (I ordered a new one last night, thanks to Amazon) and you never know when it'll have a charge and when it won't. Thankfully, I won my battle and now have the crappy cord in the right position to get the charge my battery needs. Anyway...

So I decided to take a gander at my sitemeter and wow! It's funny what happens when you don't look at your sneaky meter for a while. I've had people in Washington, Minnesota, and Massachusetts look at my blog... and they've actually read it. I feel giddy inside :)

I have all day off today from work and school. I don't know what to do with myself. Thankfully, my birthday buddy Aubrey suggested some books to read when I was bugging them last week and I have to say, the girl should be a librarian, book critic, something involving that line of work because man, she is good! I'm reading The Seduction of the Crimson Rose right now and love it.

And why is it that a haircut is so hard to get these days? I cancelled an appointment I had Friday because it was gonna be so gosh darn expensive (becoming a penny pincher, slightly) even though it was at an Aveda salon which I love oh so much (and speaking of that, I just realized I ran off without the Aveda freebies at Hotel Indigo... ratatouille.) But honestly... it was too much. Way too much. Especially when I have book buying around the corner and am hoping to get a new phone soon because mine's been very moody these days (it's turning off by itself now.) Ay ay ay! Anyways, I was going somewhere here... I called the lady I normally go to, the one who stares off into the sunset while holding scissors and my hair in her hands (scary) and she's booked until February. Rats.

Oh well. I guess I'll go read, avoid looking at my split ends and difficult hair, and just be glad that I have hair to begin with. And many blog readers to go along with it. ♥

Report Photo

While doing my usual Facebook thing today, on my stalker feed home page, I unfortunately came across photos that my old co-worker was tagged in. It was the first thing under the statuses... My eyes are scarred. Needless to say, they were quite disgusting. Like, X-rated and all... While looking at them, on one specific gross picture, the whole page happened to show and "report photo" was under the picture...

Needless to say, I wanted to click on it so bad just to get it out of my sight. But that's none of my business, so I clicked off Facebook. Maybe more people will tell them to keep it to themselves (I can only cross my fingers.)

Lesson is, if you want to take nasty photos, be my guest. Just don't put them online. I don't want to see your cleavage, butt, etc... that's just tasteless.

Not Me! Monday

It's Monday (uhh... gain *new version of spelling again*) and it's the time to say what I did but did not do ;)



For starters I did not walk in downtown Atlanta at 10 pm on New Year's Eve... not at all. That's an unsafe thing to do and I would've completely thought it out before I did that... right. Learn from your mistakes, that's all I'll say...

I did not buy a coat at Old Navy just because it was 60% off and wasn't sure about the style of it... but I really did need a coat because it was so cold and my jacket wasn't warm enough... really it was :)

I did realize that my emotional rollercoaster of a week was indeed PMS (a bad case of it too) when it first started and not when I was up at midnight a couple nights ago texting Jess about my bad case of blues and munching... she should be a doctor for helping diagnose my crankiness my case that quickly.

I did not just blog about my moodiness/blues/munching and the cause of it all...

I did not read complete strangers' blogs for hours on end this week. I had better things to do than sit in a hotel, watch Project Runway non stop, and read random blogs.... :)

This has been a semi-uneventful week. Share what you did not do this week then go over to MckMama's blog to see what she did not do!

Drama Drama Drama

I'm sick of it. Stuff was spread that I didn't say, ugh. I feel like I'm in high school again.

To make it all better, the stuff was said to my ex's best friend. I shouldn't care, right? But I do. A ton. I fought for my side, tried to tell him none of it was true, all for no use at all, but I tried saving my name. I'm so tired of this...

Amen, Sistah

Being the blog stalker follower that I am, I came across Faith's new blogisode, and I must say, amen Sister. She's having the exact same trouble I am, only mine slightly more complicated.

I had an amazing lunch with Susan today (no, not my mom Susan, my friend Susan) and it was nice talking to someone who's wiser, close, trustworthy, been where I've been in life, etc. I talked to her about everything bugging me, my inner battles of my conscience vs. my heart, all the things my life holds before me. After my long talk to her on my side, she talked about her 4 little blessings that I love and adore so much. She told me how she and her husband played the game Life with their 2 oldest daughters and the "life" they had. Livy had multiple blessings, became a grandma and was ecstatic with how her "life" turned out and told her dad if that was how her real life was going to be, she'd be happy. Then little Em, my brother's potential wife (it's a joke), became this millionaire who lived in a castle. Later on, while I was redeeming gift cards/exchanging a too-big shirt for amazing new yoga pants, I started thinking- if I played a realistic game of Life, how would it turn out? Would I be a teacher in a great school, devoted wife, adoring mommy of 4, gorgeous house, dog, love, laughter and all? Or would I be old, decrepit, mean, and a crazy cat lady (minus the cats, we'll substitute dogs)? It gets you thinking, churning thoughts. Maybe that's why I've been so quiet today...

I'm thinking about starting to read Lady in Waiting. Controlling me that I am, I once again am having a battle with God over my future. I want a Mr. around- relationship and all. BUT I love being single, being me, having the opportunity to do what I want in life and to have fun. Only I want someone to do it with. My life's filled with my ghost, again he's been around today and I don't like it. Where one would find peace, I find resentment. It's the conscience vs. heart game that I mentioned above. I'll spare details. But I, being me, want to have some sort of control over my future prince. He can come with faults, no white horse, heck, no armor! But I want that someone who's there for me to crawl up next to and have those talks that I love. You know, the ones that seem to last for hours and you find more and more to talk about. A man on fire for life; who can put down temptation; who stays true to his morals; the list goes on and on. I know he's out there somewhere, but everyday (even in the blowdry thinking time) I ask God to take my control-freakishness away. Slowly it's happening. But it feels like it's molasses and moving really slow.

The Final Solution

Mmmk.. so... where to start with the blog of a fresh woman? Atlanta, Atlanta, realizing my hopes of my fear not happening are zilch, hating Huntsville, or staying happy with Atlanta?

Let's start with Atlanta... so.much.fun! I don't know where to start... Jessica and I left Tuesday morning, yippy, excited, the whole shabang. We'd be in the middle of a conversation and one of us would randomly yell, "I can't wait for this!" The drive was awesome. We got to the hotel around 4; the hotel room was oh-so-cute.

We were way up on the 11th floor and cheered in excitement when we saw the room. But first- the check-in. We got there, told the guy who we were. He asked if we had a pooch; no pooch (the hotel's known for it's dog-friendliness.) Then he asked if there were guys; no guys, we're single. Then he said how guys could be pooches too... ?. I laughed. Guess he was flirting/feeling it out. So we got settled in. Loved it right away, we were a little shocked at the size of the room, but since it was just the two of us, it worked. So the I look at the bathroom. I called it the one butt bathroom. The picture won't load for some reason, but trust me y'all, it was small. I almost broke my nose on the sink when I bent over to put clothes on after my shower... scary. Anyways, we loved our beds. And that's an understatement. They were so warm and comfy.

But oh the adventures! Now, you can't expect two petite light-skinned (being politically correct) girls to not have some sort of unintended adventure! And unintended indeed. I found a Chipotle in town on the website and wanted to go there right away. So we unpacked and off we went. I figured a mile away, we'd walk, it's ok. HA! Well... we walked... and it was a safe walk at first. Then we came up on a garage where guys were waxing their little pimped out cars. It looked straight out of Too Fast Too Furious according to Jessica. I thought we could do it, we were ok. We walked a block more... and ran into a homeless guy, but ignored him and kept walking. Then we walked on more block, only to see that the beautiful house we were walking by had a sign saying "Transitional House, Dept. of Corrections." I yelled, "oh my God!!!!" I asked God's forgiveness, btw, but it came out so fast... the men were so creepy, I don't think they've seen females in a while... By this time, even I couldn't walk anymore. So we went down a side street and walked a residential neighborhood back to the hotel to get my car. We took it as a chance to do some adventuring (if that's not a verb, I just made it one.) So I hooked up Tom Tom the GPS (obnoxious yet safe as ever) and drove around. Atlanta is so cool. We finally found Chipotle, it tasted spicier than ever but oh so good. We realized we're sheltered, Jessica more than I, when we saw an Anti-Israel protest going on. I will admit, I yelled out the car, "Your people took down our buildings!!!!" and took a picture. I don't think they heard me though, or even cared. It riled me up though and led me onto a rant about Obama and his Idiotcracy that's about to take our nation over in a few weeks. Poor Jessica...

But, alas, this is just the beginning of our adventure :) As if the transitional house wasn't enough, I haven't even started on New Year's Eve's adventures. So we woke up around 10 (lazy) and got dressed to go shop. We hit up Ikea, I found my dream kitchen, it was so much fun. We had lunch there; yes, I ate at Ikea... and had the best Greek salad and chocolate mousse!) Then we shopped in the marketplace. I found an Alligator for the brother, a dog for the sister, and a set of notecards that were only 99 cents(!). Then I went and found myself a coat that was 60% off (!!!!) at Old Navy because I was freezing in my Free Country jacket and needed something that was way warmer. We finished shopping, went back to the hotel. We watched a marathon of Project Runway, I got really into it to the point Jessica put on her earplugs and watched "The City" and then when I simmered down, she watched the rest with me. Finally, we had to do what we were avoiding- going out in the cold, walk 1.6 miles, and see this Peach drop.

Well, we got the stuff on and walked out... it wasn't that bad, surprisingly. Maybe because we had layers on! We started walking; we hadn't even gone 6 feet without seeing a girl in this dress (if that's what you want to call it) and barely covered her parts and walking around in 5 inch heels... Good Lord! Then we got 2 blocks thinking we were ok. Only we had a man pull up next to us hollering and what not. Ignoring him, I kept pushing the button to cross the darn street until it finally changed and never had to see the guy again. We got over I-75 safely (on a bridge, sillies) while debating a) why didn't we just drive down?, b) should we get a taxi for the rest of the walk?, and lastly c) how does one get a taxi? Do you get one w/ a light on or off? Hmm... so while I was thinking on this, I saw a sleeping bag and right away knew what it was. I pulled Jessica with me in the street to avoid it and scared the bejeebies out of her but she realized why I did it. Again, we're sheltered here... We were frightened for our lives. About 3 blocks away from where the crowds started, there was a couple ahead of us who looked safe so we followed them (the guy was Army, I instantly felt safe) and went the rest of the way. And good grief, it was crowded!!!!! Honestly, there were thousands at this drop. When we got settled among the ginormous crowd, I asked Jess where the peach was. She said, "I think that's it..." I looked up and thought "you've got to be kidding me!" The thing looked like it was made out of styrofoam, I'm not even kidding. It was flapping against the pole with the wind. The couple in front of us who were obviously warm with alcohol were from Cape Cod. The guy next to us was lost from his friends, and I made him laugh when I said he looked cold- he was still too serious, but oh well. After smelling the weirdest scent on the planet thinking it was nasty bratwursts or something, I again, asked Jessica, "what is that smell???" The Cape Cod guy looked at me and said, "you've obviously never smoked pot before..." Uh, no, I haven't, thank you very much. So I smelled like pot, great. Finally, the peach dropped, 3 minutes early if you ask me but oh well. We started back to the hotel, almost got crushed with the crowd, had a dad take pity of us and let us in front of him to keep us safe, barely made it out alive, walked the 1.6 miles back to the hotel, ran to the room, locked the door, turned heat to 80 and warmed up! Finally!!!!!

So 2:30 rolled around and we crashed, even with the revelers reveling next door to us. Somewhere in my sleep I heard pounding on the door. I thought I was dreaming but it kept going on... I realized it was happening, some idiot was pounding on our door. It stopped, Jess asked if I heard it, I mumbled yes and rolled over back to sleep after I looked at my phone and it was freaking 5 am!!!! What the heck people?! I woke up 4 hours later, thought of coffee first thing and saw I had ten minutes until the cafe closed. I was determined to get my Starbucks coffee. I went, got it, gulped it down and it wasn't nearly enough caffeine but I made it through the morning. We moped our way downstairs to check out (literally, moped) and I talked to the guy about how he was from Fort Valley and I used to live in Warner Robins. Gotta make a connection somehow. In the car we went, down to Fayetteville to see my mom's BFF who fed us (much thanks for that Miss Karen!!!!) We chatted for a few hours with her and her family, then we accepted that sooner or later, we would have to go home. So off we went.

Finally, we got to my house at 8 something. I was about to walk in my house when I figured I might want to wait for Jessica to leave just to be sure she left. In the midst of my thought, I heard the sound that no car owner wants to hear. The "baaaaa" of the car that won't start due to a very dead battery. Oh dear... I got dad, we tried to jump her battery to no avail, I took her home, met her family, saw her very cool cat, and came home to give the Alligator to the brother, Marley to the sister, and get in my room.

Only to realize that yes, I am back in the Rocket City. The city that sleeps, that is filled with my ghost, the city that I hate so much. I realized that while in Atlanta, yes, I did think of the Ghost, but I could do it happily. I didn't worry about what he was doing, if I would see him. And now, I'm back to square one. Ugh. But hey, it was an improvement to not think about him for almost an entire 24 hours. Then I realized that I haven't made a resolutions list... why bother? Then I saw Faith's and well... maybe I need to? I haven't decided.

I know one thing- I think my Final Solution on life is leaving the Rocket City. It won't happen tomorrow, next month, next summer even. It'll happen soon though, I'll guarantee that.