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?

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

Breakfast

I adore breakfast foods. All of them. I really can't think of something I don't like. And I don't just love it in the morning...I could eat eggs or pancakes or bacon ANY time of day. Mmm I'm hungry just thinking about it!

I was so excited to find this list of 50 wonderful, delicious and unique breakfast places across the US this morning. I definitely want to mark the two in Atlanta off my list sometime soon, and hopefully get to try at least one in California on my upcoming trip. Yay!

Bon Appetit!

Yay, I won a blog award!

Hooray, I'm the proud recipient of my very first blog award courtesy of Lexi at Sapphyre.... I'm so happy to have readers who enjoy my blog (because of course, I love reading theirs). Thanks, Lex!

So, here are the rules:

1.)When you have received this award you must thank the person that awarded you this in the new post.

2.) Name the 10 things that make you happy

3.) Pass this award onto 10 other bloggers and inform the winners

What makes me happy:

1. Sunny warm weather in the South (finally!)

2. My best friends

3. My sweet boyfriend

4. Chocolate candy

5. Vacations (to California...less than 2 weeks!)

6. Pets

7. Shopping for new clothes and pretty things

8. Wake Forest/ACC basketball

9. Beaches

10. Bojangles!

and I'm awarding this to:

1. Sunshine and Peonies

2. Vintage Sincerity

3. The Love You Take is Equal to the Love You Make

4. The Laws

5. The Newlywed Diaries

6. Julie in CA

7. A Cup of Jo

8. At Home with the Pooles

9. Curiouser and Curiouser

10. A Change Would Do You Good

Best and Worst of Oscar Fashion!

The Best:

Gorgeous Penelope Cruz. The red is stunning on her!

Cameron Diaz had quite possibly my favorite dress of the night...sparkly, but not too over the top!

I love all things Rachael McAdams, and this pretty dress is like a watercolor painting.


Very pretty and understated blue/gray on Elizabeth Banks.

Big winner of the night, Sandra Bullock, looking like an Oscar herself. SO thrilled that she won!

The Worst:

It pains me to write something bad about my hero SJP, but this gown did nothing for me. It's even Chanel and still looks like a yellow satin potato sack!

Love the color a lot, but not crazy about the, umm, top of the dress. Dior could have done much better by Charlize.

all photos from US Weekly

Spring has sprung

Ok, maybe not technically, but as far as I'm concerned, March=springtime. I added a few touches to my apartment to reflect the season:

Pretty fresh flowers from Target in my new blue vase (consignment shop find).

A couple of new throw pillows from World Market..love the colors.

Photo update, as promised!

Trip to Wake with Sarina!

Beautiful quad.

With John at the top of Stone Mountain!

Gorgeous skyline view from the top of Stone Mountain.

Pretty snowy trees.

John and I at the Thrashers game.