Feeling Inspired

I've been suffering through an abnormally long (seeming) workweek--its only Wednesday!--and I've been thinking more about something I can do to jazz up my house a little bit. After I moved in, I was really terrible about hanging pictures, but now I'm feeling inspired to create a small gallery wall in my bedroom. I have a bunch of 4x6 matching white Ikea frames, so I think I'm going to attempt something organized and symmetrical with them. We'll see what I come up with maybe Friday or sometime this weekend!

A few inspiring rooms:

Tonight I'm heading over to Sips n' Strokes with a few Wake Forest friends to do a pretty painting and have Mexican food for dinner! Sounds like a winning combo to me :) I'm having a hard time focusing at the office this afternoon, so I'm daydreaming about my painting and looking forward to having some social time with friends.

But seriously, is it the weekend yet? Does anyone else feel like this week will never end? I hope I'm not alone!

I'm still alive!

Just very, very busy with work...hence the blog silence. The last 3.5 days of my life has consisted of meetings, and not much else. And once I get home, I tend to collapse on the couch. No exercise, no social time...just tv watching and going to bed at 9. Sigh.

I do have some exciting updates to share with you about my fabric/home decor search once my life returns to normal! I can't wait to get started on my project :)

Happy Thursday, friends! I think I'm actually going to get a little free time tomorrow afternoon, and I'm trying to decide what to do with myself. Maybe some shopping (Homegoods, mattress store...), maybe some pool time. I hope y'all have something fun planned for yourselves!

Pointless Nostalgia

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm an extremely nostalgic person. I hold onto scraps of anything that remind me of a special time or a person I miss. I have a hard time throwing away class notes from 6th grade. I have every movie ticket stub from the last decade. And in our increasingly digital/computerized world, I told onto texts and voicemails and emails that I probably shouldn't. I can become nostalgic about everything. The good news is: apparently, I'm not the only one! This recent NY Times article talks about Generation Y's affliction of being nostalgic about the not so distant past, because it reminds us of our childhoods (mere years ago) and provides us comfort.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/fashion/23nostalgia.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&ref=fashion&adxnnlx=1249051672-ZbPIjhOQl8TXaPrKoMJYDg (for some reason my linking isn't working correctly, so you get a big ugly link!).

I'm proud to report today that I'm starting fresh (in baby-step kind of ways). Last night I forced myself to delete some things from my phone and computer that I'd been holding onto for no reason in particular--just because its what I do, and always have done. Anyway, it hurt to press "delete", but I almost felt lighter once I did. It provided a lot more release than I had expected. So, my fresh start is beginning just before a big, long two week trip to our nation's capital. I've been looking forward to this trip for months! Not only do I get to see K again, but Emily is coming for a weekend and I get to see KT and Ash, too! Personally, I'm excited about all of the above, but seeing my Big in particular. She is one of the best listening/ranting/complaining/commisserating partners I have. It kills me that I don't ever get to talk to her in person anymore, but I'll finally get to see her in a few days!

Happy weekend to everyone, and safe travels if you are going anywhere exciting! I'll update as much as I can from D.C. K and I have decided the ultimate goal for the week is to take a half decent facebook photo--hopefully we'll succeed!

Happy Holiday!

I can't believe its Thursday already. It's been a busy week at work and at home in the evenings, since I wasn't here last weekend to do all of the little things that seem to pile up. Same story this weekend! It's kind of strange, but very nice to be in NC two weekends in a row. I can't wait to see my friends and fam, see some fireworks, eat lots of delicious food, etc. Should be a fabulous weekend at home. Hopefully lots of fun plans on Friday and Saturday with Em, Be, and most importantly Matthew! Can't wait.

And then I get to come back here Sunday afternoon, just to turn around and pack again to go to Alabama on Monday. Should be a thrill. Thus begins the super busy but hopefully fun-packed second half of my summer.

Other good news: I've been meeting lots of fabulous (young) people at work. I didn't really think there were any more under-30s out there, but it turns out I was wrong. I met a really cool new girl (who happens to live across the street and is in need of a roommate in the fall...hmm), had lunch with a friend from HR I rarely see, and met a few cute new guys:) AND to top it all off, one of my dear old friends from Raleigh (who I went to school K-12 with) has just moved back to Atlanta. Can't wait to see her and meet her friends here hopefully very soon! Definitely lots to be excited about!

Oh, and really to top it all off, I got a raise at work! How thrilling. Such a good week:)

Have a lovely 4th of July weekend everyone! I'll post whenever I get a chance since I'll be on the road next week. xoxo.

PS. I finally bought the Lady Gaga cd and it's pretty fantastic (and totally uncharacteristic).

Happy times!

So many good things to report:

-new gold shoes from Marshall's
-excellent chat with best friend on the phone..I feel so empowered!
-a new pink can opener
-pool and hot tub time
-late night snack of leftover beignets in bed
-Carolina Ale House in Boynton Beach!
-lots of new trashy summer reading & educational life books
-gorgeous weather
-mom and granny visiting this weekend for a shopping extravaganza
-maybe getting home earlier on Friday
-two weekends in NC in a row!
-K and Sarina visit in a month!

Lots of great, happy things!

In other maybe not so good news: Obama's plan to reorganize the Fed and banking oversight in general. Please, oh please, don't let this mean I need to go ahead and find a new career. I just found the one I like! I really want to know what Ben B. is going to say about this, seeing as how he is the only man in Washington who I trust at this point.

I want to stay here for a month.

Florida is fabulous. Nothing like palm trees and a new place in general to perk up a person's mood! I'm having a really good time here...excellent food, great coworkers and a pretty sweet hotel suite all to myself. Yes, please.

Speaking of good food, I had lunch yesterday at the Village Tavern--THE Village Tavern of Winston-Salem fame!! I had the Deacon Club sandwich, which of course isn't called "Deacon" here, but it was insanely delicious and nostalgic anyway. Nothing like the VT to take me straight back to college:) And on that note: this summer is going to be a summer of fabulous reunions with all the best people in the world from Wake. I am unbelievably excited and cannot wait for July and August to roll around so I can see them!!

Nothing much else to report on. I'm really hoping for some beach/pool time today after work! I can't leave Florida without some kind of tan/burn, right?

Bran muffin--check
Giant cup of ice water--check
Plenty of work to keep me busy--check

Not a bad way to start Tuesday. Last night I lost all motivation I had for going to the gym, so instead I sat by the pool, talked to Erin on the phone and read God Save the Sweet Potato Queens (excellent follow up to the Sweet Potato Queen's Book of Love...they are my heros and I aspire to be like them one day). I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and continued my evening of relaxation by watching Greek and a little Jon and Kate and eating ice cream for dinner, and then I went to bed. I'm actually kind of hoping tonight will be exactly the same: relaxing, boring (in a good way) and stress free. I definitely should take advantage of the pool more often, but I need to invest in some mosquito repellent first! Maybe tonight I'll finally force myself to go to Target or the grocery store. And then I hopefully (finally) get to see Andrew tomorrow night! Yay!

Hope everyone is having a great day so far!

Things I like about the Bayou

1. The food. I had a fried oyster po'boy yesterday for lunch, and a catfish one today. The seafood is fresh because we're near the coast, and everything is delicious.

2. The accent. It almost sounds foreign. Much more pronounced than the typical "Nawlins" drawl. These people live in the heart of Louisiana, and they sound like it too.

3. I'm mere miles from the famous Avery Island--the home of Tabasco sauce! Next time you see a bottle, look at the label. It came from this wonderful, tiny little place!

T for Tuesday

Not much new to report on, my dears. Lots of work to be done this week in Louisiana, which is good, because its nice to be busy and not totally bored while offsite. I had a fairly boring evening last night. Went to dinner with my coworkers (Ruby Tuesday for the second night in a row!), chatted with the parents and with K for a while and passed out for the night. Its amazing what a one hour time difference makes. Tonight we're hoping to find a mall in the next town over for a little shopping adventure.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I missed both new episodes of Jon and Kate Plus 8 last night! I'm sure I'll be able to catch up when they replay the episodes every single night, but for now I missed out on my dose of drama for the night! Oh, well. Hope you all are having a great day. It's ridiculously hot and humid on the Bayou (ok, I don't really even know if I'm on the Bayou, but its fun to say), but thank goodness for air conditioning!

Greetings from Cajun Country

Hello from Louisiana! I'm having a lovely Central Time afternoon. I was ravenous by lunch time (being an hour behind), so I just scarfed down a large Mexican meal with my cokworkers, and am ready for a nap. Travel work days are always hard, because my brain doesn't get into thinking mode very easily after spending the entire morning in the car or on a plane. Especially since I was just on a plane coming back from Raleigh yesterday. Ick.

My weekend at home was excellent. I love being with my parents and my kitty and my best friends. Something about driving around Raleigh and sharing meals with the people who know me best makes me unbelievably happy and at ease. I wish I could recreate that feeling here, but I'm not sure the comfort of home is something that can be recreated period. We all know how much I needed to get out of town for a few days, and I made the most out of my short time there. If only I could've stayed another week...sigh.

And of course, now I'm out of town yet again. I flew in yesterday afternoon, shopped a little with Claire (so excited to see her again--and *gasp* she might be roommate potential since she just bought a house and has extra rooms!!). You have no idea how thrilled I was at the thought of having someone to live with again. Eeek! And if the roommate thing doesn't work out, at least now that I've seen Claire again, I'll hopefully have somewhere to hang out when I'm bored and need a friend:) Also (hilariously), Claire and I came to discover that Andrew and Claire's dad are in the same all men's cooking club. Small world indeed.

So overall, I'm feeling a little better but still missing home. Its nice to still be out of town this week and away from my lonely apartment. And so much to look forward to when I get back into town next weekend: Claire's house, Sarah's cookoutpalooza and Andrew will finally be back in town! I've missed him a lot and can't wait to see him again..I hate to be sappy, but its true!

I hope everyone had a glorious weekend and a not so bad Monday so far!

Release.

Thank goodness for good friends. As I have said many, many times before and will say many, many times in the future, my friends help me so much and I am endlessly thankful for them. Obviously its been a tough week in a lot of different ways. I'm happy to report I am no longer on the verge of tears at the office--thank goodness. I called Erin last night just to check in to see what was going on with her and to hopefully schedule a date this weekend, and ended up totally breaking down and not even meaning to. Ugh. I felt bad to unleash everything on to her, but honestly felt about 100% better after I got it all out and talked about all my craziness out loud.

Now I'm just counting down until I get to go home tonight! I can't wait to get out of Atlanta and be away from everything here for a few days. Work is a little stressful, but hopefully everything will wrap up nicely before I go out on the road next week. Lots to do!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and here's to hoping that my weekend is the boost I've been needing all week!

Uneventful

I'm having a pretty nice boring day at home. Yesterday I had a pretty nice boring afternoon at home too, both of which were much needed after my very eventful weekend! Yesterday I did nothing but sit on my couch and watch awesomely bad movies on tv and I'm not ashamed to admit it:) Today I'm working from home (all week!) and studying for an exam I have to take for my job. It was so nice to sleep in a little, go to the gym and lay around reading over notes all day. Definitely feels like college again, except this time I'm getting paid to study. I like this version better.

I have no big plans for the entire week. My only goals are to get in some solid study time for a few hours every day, eat more healthily (although I'm totally craving Papa John's..I might have to splurge tonight) and go to the gym every day. Its so funny--after eating tons of fruit and turkey slices today and hitting the treadmill and weights this morning, I already feel inspired for my Spring healthier lifestyle goals. No major diet..I just want to tone up a little for my beach trip and have more energy from eating better foods. Shouldn't be too hard at all. AND I can't wait to go to the grocery store to get some apple cider vinegar to try as a cleanser for my face! K, if you used it already, let me know! I also need to get some Neosporin for my frisbee golf injury and my stupid elbow wound from slipping down the stairs on Saturday (curses to my new Jack Rogers sandals...I will never wear them on hardwood stairs again!). Sigh. The clumsiness was bound to return at some point.

Happy Monday!

Long weekend--hooray!

I got to come home from Alabama yesterday after all! Yay! Unfortunately we didn't get to leave AL until about 5 pm Eastern time, but we booked it back home and made really good time to Atlanta. I was back in my apartment by 8pm. Awesome. I dumped my stuff off and went to dinner with A. He took me to this awesome Mexican place he had been to before--very authentic and everything is ala carte, so you can try a bunch of different things at once. It was very tasty.

Today I'm finishing up some work from the "home office". It was so nice to sleep in a little bit today. And my parents are coming down later this afternoon so that we can head to Savannah and Tybee Island for Easter weekend. Double Yay! I am so excited for some relaxation and I can't wait to stick my feet in the sand. Mmm, I'm happier already just thinking about it.

I hope y'all have a fantastic (hopefully) long weekend. I'll be back to the grind and back to the blog next week!