Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Home Re-do

I've realized lately that my obsession with reading design blogs--just check the right side of this page...there are quite a few that I read daily--has translated into a need/want to change up something in my apartment. My apartment right now is a mix of slightly homey and just plain functional. I have lots of photos of my friends on the wall, which I think is a throwback to dorm life. Granted, at least now they are in nice frames and not just taped up on the wall, but I still can't decide if I have a picture overload. I have one frame collage that also has a couple of postcards and photos of places I love mixed in. Is it a good idea to mix and match? Should I just suck it up and downsize my friend photo collection on display? Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated :)

I'm not sure exactly what else I want to re-do, but I really wish my apartment offered an alternative living room setup. I wish I could move around my couch and chair and tv, but alas, its pretty much stuck as is.

Does anyone have any quick (and cheap) ideas for me to change up my place?

Monday, April 19, 2010

Happy Monday (for real!)

So, yet again, I have been neglecting the poor blog. But I promise that it is for good reason. Last week I was out of town for work (and very, very busy), so there was no time for any life musings or updates about my general fabulousity (ha!). And then early Friday morning--as in midnight--I was stricken with the plague. Still not sure what was wrong, but it was neither fun nor pleasant. Thank goodness for my coworkers who drove me back home and put up with my grossness for the ride back. Once I made it into my bed around 2:30 pm, I did not get back out until around 8:30 the next morning. Luckily, I'm back to normal now :)

So, there's not much to update on as of late. I have not made any fabulous purchases, or crafted anything, or reorganized my house at all. Although, I started on a closet overall/shoe organization effort last night. Maybe if it turns out really well I'll post pics when I'm done. There's nothing like a well-organized closet to brighten up a day. There are a few things on my current wish-list, which include a very cute mint green cardigan from J. Crew,


tickets to Avenue Q for John's birthday, and something else to get him as a gift. Still unsure about that one...feel free to leave comments if you know any guy friendly gifts! I've also been wanting to go back to the wonderful consignment/thrift shops in Chamblee that I posted about a few months back. There might be some treasure waiting to be found. And lastly, I planted a very cute flower pot of petunias (which I got for free!) about a week ago, and I need to pretty up the plain clay put that I bought. Time to bust out the sorority craft supplies, I guess.

One more current goal (which is always a current goal)--be healthier. I've actually gotten a jump start on this because I didn't eat for, oh, about 2.5 days with the sickness. So I'm automatically eating less now, and actually have a reall interest in seriously controlling my portion sizes, and buying healthier, fresh groceries. A trip to Trader Joe's is in order. I even went for a nice walk outside in Piedmont Park today at lunch. Not exactly a workout, but definitely better than just sitting at my desk. I want to start doing that much more often. Any little bit helps!

un-famous 2nd verses

Cute article about the 2nd verses of some of our favorite little kid songs...who knew?

Friday, April 9, 2010

Pollen, California & spring in the South

This week has been the perfect example of spring in the south. The week started out as hot as Hades. Seriously, it should not be 90 degrees during the 1st week of April. But, such is life. Today it was a mere 50 degrees when I walked out of my apartment to work. WOW it felt cold. Especially since I've been sweating to death first thing in the morning for the past few days. Thankfully, we had a little rain yesterday to help wash away some of the outrageous pollen thats been piling up all week. Yay! So now I'm looking forward to an honest-to-goodness spring-like weekend of 70 degree weather, sunshine, eating outside, sandals and shorts!

The week has been a busy one, but also a slow one too. I guess that's what I get for being out of the office living the fabulous California life for two weeks straight. And believe me, it was fabulous. Here is a little recap for you all:

My first week in San Francisco was lovely. I was by myself there for work related training. I had a glorious time! I met some great people in my class, and luckily had some free time to explore beautiful San Fran. I bought pretty jewelry at a street fair, went to a specialty cheese shop one night (and only had cheese for dinner..yum!), explored Fisherman's Wharf, ate amazing seafood at a restaurant overlooking the bay, toured Alcatraz (scary, but amazing views!), rode a cable car up the very, very steep hills, and even drove across the Golden Gate Bridge! It was a great week overall, and I feel lucky that I got to really take full advantage and see lots of things around the city.

For the second week, my parents flew out to meet me and we spent the week driving down the Pacific Coast Highway from San Fran to L.A., and stopping at all the fabulous little spots along the way. LOVED the drive down the coast. The road is literally on the side of mountain cliffs that drop right off into the ocean for a lot of the way down, and the views are spectacular. Northern California is a truly gorgeous place, and I highly reccommend it to anyone who gets the chance to go! As we made our way down, we stopped in Monterrey, Santa Cruz and few other surf spots. We spent a night in Santa Barbara, and then made our way to Hollywood. I really enjoyed Hollywood. We stayed in a hotel right off Hollywood Blvd, and of course we saw the handprints outside the Chinese Theater, the Kodak Theater where they host the Oscars, and all the stars lining the sidewalks. We saw the Hollywood sign, we went to Beverly Hills (heavenly!), I shopping on Rodeo Dr. (dream come true!), drove around looking at big, beautiful (and i'm sure celebrity-owned) homes. We did a tour of Sony Pictures Studios which was a lot of fun. I even had my celebrity spotting there--Jason Biggs from American Pie walked right by! Of course we also visited a couple of presidential museums and also the Getty Center while we were there. Lots of stuff packed in, but we had a great trip!

It was so nice to be back home last weekend and hang out with John. We went to the Dixieland Funpark in Fayetteville, GA. I'd reccommend this place to anyone who is a fan of mini-golf, crappy rides and 90s arcade games. We actually had a lot of fun there! We also made an Easter meal together on Sunday since we were both Easter orphans, and it turned out really well.

Hopefully this weekend will be just as relaxing and fun. I'm hoping to do a little shopping, maybe see a friend or two, and hopefully go to Park Tavern at Piedmont Park at some point. I'm just glad its Friday :)

Monday, April 5, 2010

I'm back!

Yes, I have finally returned from the west coast, where I was for the past two weeks. I had a FABULOUS time. Really and truly loved it (except maybe for LA proper..but I still enjoyed Hollywood). I've been pretty busy at work today, so I'm hoping I'll have time for a full recap tomorrow. I know, you're left in suspense. But I'll give you a little teaser of pictures to tide you over :) I hope all of my blog friends have been doing great over the past couple of weeks. I've missed reading what you have all been up to, and I look forward to catching up this week! Enjoy!

View from my hotel in San Francisco...heaven.

Driving over the Golden Gate bridge!

Pebble beach.



Gorgeous coast...I love the ocean!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

California!*

Note: Please imagine the title of this blog as sung in the theme song to the O.C. "Callifoooorniaaaaaaaa".

I've had a pretty good week here in the office. Its actually seemed kind of long, even though I haven't been nearly as busy as in the past few weeks. Maybe I just got used to the time flying by! But alas, its already Thursday and tomorrow is my day off (except for a conference call which I will be attending from home...I love technology). Hooray! Plus, today is practically a national holiday for those of us who love basketball, so I'm thrilled that March Madness has finally started! I'm especially glad that I got to sneak out to a nice sports bar for lunch and see some games begin. Let's just hope my bracket doesn't totally fail me, especially since I actually put money on it this year. We'll see.

On to other excitement in my life: California! I'm super excited for my first trip to the lovely west coast (if you don't count Canada or Alaska). I'm pretty thrilled about the trip for a variety of reasons, first of which is that work is funding the plane ticket. Yay! Yes, I will be spending the first 5 days there in the office, but its still pretty awesome. That leaves me with Sunday afternoon and every evening to explore on my own and meet new coworkers from across the county. Oh, and shop. Duh. Then my parents are flying out to meet me, and we'll be driving down the Pacific Coast Highway to L.A. I. Can't. Wait.

But before I fly away on Sunday, I need some reader advice. What kind of outfits should I take? Its going to be anywhere from 60s to 80 in L.A., so I'm thinking plenty of layers. Maybe some cute jersey dresses with cardigans, a couple of pairs of jeans with cute fashionista-type tops? I just don't know. And of course, I always have the issue of a "good walking shoe". Rainbows, definitely. My J. Crew leather driving shoes, maybe. I think I'm doomed to a lifelong hunt for a truly great walking shoe besides Uggs and Rainbows. But I guess for now, I'll stick with what I know and not go out on a limb with weird vacation shoes. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I'm really looking forward to seeing some sights:






I really need to strategically plan my shopping so I don't blow all my money completely. But I figure, if I can't blow it on Rodeo Dr., where else can I?

Monday, March 15, 2010

Flowers are blooming!

Yes, you heard right.I've been seeing beautiful red bud trees and cherry blossoms and daffodils for about a week now. Hooray, I love spring! Unfortunately this weekend was not very spring-like. It was gray and dreary and a little cold. I actually love this weather usually, but I was really looking forward to some warmth and a little outside time. Oh, well. Hopefully there will be lovely weather next weekend!

Last week was full of work, and it was a 5 day week! Phew, i'm glad I made it. I'm not used to being at work for an entire week :) The weekend was really nice, though. John met me lunch at the Vortex on Friday while I was at work, and we only got mildly drenched from the rain on the way back. Friday night I lounged at home and enjoyed some rainy weather downtime. Saturday I had a great massage, then went down to John's house where we contemplated bowling, but decided we would rather go show shopping instead (his idea, not mine, but of course I wouldn't turn it down!). We ate some crappy BBQ (I have yet to go to an actual good BBQ restaurant since I moved to GA), and watched a movie on the couch. Sunday we went out for brunch (4 course brunch at Ruby Tuesday, very tasty!) and were lazy again. I hope next weekend we can use our tennis rackets when he comes over to my place.

I'm also incredibly excited because in a mere 6 days from now, I will be in sunny California! YAY! I am so thrilled I cannot even desribe it to you. I need to start planning some outfits and researching a few restaurants. If any of you has been to San Francisco or LA, send ideas my way! Let the countdown begin!

I hope everyone is having a lovely Monday, and survived daylight savings time (I detest springing forward...where did my hour of sleep go??). xoxo