Weatherwise

Last week was so incredibly random. How do you get snow, awesome sun, and tornadoes in one week? First, it snowed 3" on Monday. Snow Day! Yessss!!!! I made the most of it. We probably will not get another this year so I took it while I had the opportunity. Organization, crafting, and photos ensued. Then it went to like 78 degrees by Thursday. Gotta love some NC weather. I was much happier on Thursday than Monday.

Within 4 days it went from this....

To this...

Kefir, spinach, banana, mango smoothie :) mmmmmmmmmmm

All the great weather on Thursday got me even more excited for a weekend getaway. I had a very relaxing weekend with some precious ladies! I needed to sit still and have some renewal of the mind spirit; In order to do so I must escape the Rox or I will being doing something or volunteering to do something. You will not believe that on Saturday I slept until 12:30..... P.M. that is...Can you believe that? I did not even think that was possible after Senior Week 2001. Who knew??? 

This just proves to me how important rest is. I have been super productive this week so far and feeling really energized. Some may blame the Kefir smoothies, I credit the sleep :)

I spent the entire weekend in nite nite leggings, a super long tee, and the occasional hoodie when I went for my causal walk :)

 I will spare you the detail of my facial mask and no makeup for nearly 48 hours. It was amazing.  Here is what I used this weekend on my face. It is one of my favorite products from Merle Norman. Check out Wendy's Merle Norman in Roxboro for your own stash.

Here's a recap of the most random week ever.{weatherwise}

Happy Hump Day!

Just Because - It's Me, and It's You

 I haven't blogged in so long that I had to log-in to my Blogger account and then I got the password wrong. That was major. I gotta get it all out.

I have just been busy as a bee here lately, juggling life, family, and all the every day things that come along with it. I have boycotted my blog for the simple fact that I had to say NO to something. It's almost like I'm mad at my blog site. I love it and I crave it, but don't have time for it. Talk about resentment. Kinda how I feel about Diet Coke. I love it, and count on it every morning.... and then I feel bad for drinking it. It is just so DANG delicious.

So, most of this will be in list form and I'm gonna try to make it short cause there are some 500 thread counts calling my name....

When I can't write about my life I am making mental notes about everything I should write about. Then I don't have time. But, then something compels me to just get started and then I can breathe a sigh of relief  that my thoughts, feelings, and favorite things are finally in print again for me to share. So here goes my list of updates, thoughts, and favorite things:

SOUL MATES: The reason I was compelled to write tonight is because I just got off the phone with one of my absolute favorite, most special people in the whole world. I felt like I shouldn't even call her back tonight cause I have been in such funk here lately and maybe I should wait until a happier day. And just hearing her voice, unveiling our lives, venting, laughing, psychoanalyzing our husbands and children and just flat out being ourselves I returned to a state of joy. 

BFF's: There is a reason that God created women in such a magical way. Thank the Lord that I have so many girls in my life that I consider my closest, my BFF's, or something even closer than sisters could be. I love my husband, and God knows I do.. But there is just something about your girl BFFs that your husband just cannot be. Well, mainly because then we could have no discussion of such husbands and unfortunate mishaps. And then we couldn't laugh, and swear, and figure out how we were going to do it different next time, or trick them into doing it again. If we didn't have girlfriends, we couldn't vent about things. Like how we are secretly hoping that men will learn how that toilet paper roll actually works on the holder, and how the seat goes up AND down, or what spatulas are, or that towels go on the rack and not over the shower curtain, or why doesn't he just go to bed instead of laying all over the couch while I'm trying to watch my show? Just go to bed already......!!!!!

All I know is that when I'm with these girls, I breathe them in like fresh oxygen while I can and just hope that the feelings of laughter, and stories shared, and hugs, and tears, and being who we are will not fade fast. That they will carry me through to the days of our next crossing path.

It is you.....that I'm talking to... 

- It's You that texts me pictures of your boots and tights together - for advice,  you who never passes judgment, you who loved me and helped me even when I wasn't being realistic. You who are creative, and resourceful, and inventive. You make my day just by texting me pictures of your boots...I mean after all.... you are Shug in boots :) 

- And It's also you- and how we talk about our babies and how we live too far apart, and how we want to see each other so bad but then just take our usual nap after we relinquish all the secrets and drama of our lives. It's you that makes my creativity unveil, or give me the opportunity to tell you things I know about.  It's you who built our friendship from complete honesty from the very beginning and it has changed my life. It's you that understands who I am (because you are so much of the same). And we look alike. And everyone thinks we are sisters. BoNuS!

It's you- who comes in so handy with your family's vacation home so we can escape reality, play loud music, go walking, take dangerous boating adventures, and sleep in. We can also stalk people on Facebook from a safe distance, watch movies or SATC reruns. We can tell our secrets, be honest, and give each other complete truth. We can learn from each other. We can talk about God's word and what it means to us. It's you that prepared me for life's challenges when our friendship had only first begun. It's you who has an amazing life story to tell.

- It's you that loves to cook, and travel, and teach, and run (and do it all well) 

- it's you who can bake, do some major hair styles, and who loves the beach

- it's you who is a down-home girl with more sisters than I would ever want, and who is so perfectly sweet, and best of all - a lover of all things WOLFPACK! 

- it's you who is my sister in Christ, who is walking along side me and does not judge me. You are what I prayed for when I moved home. We can be honest and laugh about it. I am so thankful that you have come into my life. 

See how blessed I am? I find it hard to split my free time these days. AND there are so many more people that I could list who are so influential in my life. Lately, even the little things make a big difference in my life. I am truly thankful for the steps I've taken in this life to get me this far. I'm looking forward to a blessed weekend with family and friends. 

It's my Mama's Birthday and I can't wait to give her a special surprise! 

XOXO 

The last of the 20's

Is 30 the new 20? Is it really? That's what everyone keeps saying as I turned 29 on Tuesday last week. All I gotta say is,

BRING IT ON 30 -

(hey, it's better than the alternative anyway)

 Lets hope by next year that the saying is still true! I am going to do something fab when I turn 30. Any ideas? I am the first of all my besties to turn 30. I say RoAd TrIp ladies!!!!

 I haven't even been 29 for a week yet and I have had mega hip pain this week, a twisted ankle, and I am trying to come to grips with the fact that my doctor says that these are ma' probalem....

remember these????

I have to find a compromise over Christmas. I went to one store today to search for NOT.old. lady.cute.shoes and I came up with 2 inter-shoe-departments: HOT! or GRANDMA! Where is the middle ground people?

ANYWHO -

I had such a fabulous B-day (week) !!!!! Intercepting Birthday calls and 135+ Facey messages made it so special! I also got to spend some time with many of my faves and receive some VERY thoughtful and fun gifts!!!!
 Royal Treatment: I Began celebrating by taking my baby, my mama, and my MIL to Disney Princess on Ice. I still do not know who had more fun of the four of us. It always comes to RBC right before my Birthday and I've always wanted to go.  This year....it was on! Thank you Sean Austin :)

This is why I love parenting - joy on your child's face is priceless!!! What is NOT priceless is paying $12 for a snowcone in a Tiana cup. But Hey, we are princesses right?

Completely magical. 

Check out the B-day goods:

magical candelabras 

love me some cards - I always save them!

LOVE LOVE LOVE - circa 1991 - Rmember PBS television on channel 4???? anyone??? It even smells vintage and it has some stories about the advent, the nativity, and so forth that I have been reading to GA when we do her advent calendar at night. 

get ready for canning season y'all!

THE HELP movie - so freaking excited and new leopard rainboots - don't be a hater, I love me some rain boots. AND some nice vino, notecard, and soap collections - All my favorite things!

  I ALWAYS have dinner at my mama's for my B-day- STANDARD! 

Daddy ALWAYS takes me to lunch. 

Memaw and Tracie always call and sing to me. 

Jenn and D' always call and sing to me ;)

And it just so happens that the annual Christmas dinner and photoshoot with some of my best ladies commences that week every year! Cropping of said photos was indeed necessary....

And since my birthday is in December, I get the pleasure of celebrating it throughout the month of December, while doing many of my favorite things: spending time with family and friends, the Christmas PARADE (I am a HUGE fan!), and food! Can I get an AMEN????? Thank you!!!!Christmas parade in true Rox fashion is coming up. Stay TUNED!

Continue to share the love - It's CHRISTmas y'all!

Next time, We'll be PACK'N

You best believe that next time I hit the trail to Raleigh, NC from the Rox for a tailgatin' good time, I'll be sporting a LARGE magnetic item on Sean Austin's Toyota such as this........

SERIOUSLY, me and Beef came up with this on our own..... because we is so smart you know???? THEN....some sweet little shug pie (who must be stalkin' our MEGA sweet ideas) had already come up with this fab little T-shirt number.

We must gets one of these ASAP!!!! We will probably be financially supporting some gangsta' fraternity and their weekly keg contribution fund. I ask you...WHO CARES??? when you can rock a mega-sweet T-shirt for such a low price. After all, it is much harder for college kids to bank a student loan these days. Let's give him props for his entrepreneurship. Go YOU,  Mr. Packin' T-shirt-fraternity-boy.

PS...That would be a great "Real Men of Genius" commercial on the radio from said fraternity's keg company. LOVE those commercials BTW. Crack a sister up in the car EVERY time!

In addition to our random photo ops with complete strangers, we also casually stalk target PACK celebs for a photo. {Insert annoyed husbands who have to take the photos, hold the camera properly, zoom in, and then stand there as we proof said photo}.

EXHIBIT A:

CJ Leslie....just any ol' Saturday at the pack game, chillin' in his "Nobody Likes You" {snicker} T-shirt. Is he mega-tall or what???? I needs to start carrying my Panoramic camera circa 2001 in ma clutch for such events of extra tallness. {insert more annoyed husbands in the future}This little run-in with CJ also got me super excited for basketball season. Must purchase tickets.

He seems to be used to getting crazy requests such as ours... Can we take a photograph shug????

And here are some more awesome photos from the Stizzle game on Saturday 
(we pulled off a Win too y'all). 

My baller' Stizzle Wreath ...such craftiness! I'm pretty sure that this was lucky and it may or may not have been the reason we won. 

Unveiling of my new hair via blog

BFF's:

I wish skinny jeans really did make me look skinny.

I have also included bonus inside footage for those who do not partake of the tailgate. Yes, not only am I a faithful spectator but also a stalker. 

Fun things NCSU students do to prepare for the best possible tailgate:

(So glad I had a baby in college to get me out of all this fun stuff.) 

NUMBER 1:

 punching holes in your can / beer spray/ who can drink the fastest???? )

NUMBER TWO :
Frat Boys and Sorostitutes
I do think it's funny that they bring their living room furniture to the games for tailgating purposes

 

NUMBER THREE 
:Homeade spaceship BBQ grills as seen here
- gots to be from the school of engineering

More PACK Photo Headlines: 

Check out this Alums BEST use of a pumpkin EVER

Clearly these children will grow into their tailgating personalities with age.

I also LOVE old men who are still PACKIN'

Something about the band and all the drama of kick-off gets my blood rushing! It's my fave part!

Here is my ever-so-responsible husband conversing with the only responsible people present. The EMS.

So adorable...........

Nothin better than a man PACKIN in a cowboy hat and boots.

And always a pleasure to run into friends from the Rox.

Unfortunately, I missed Scotty McCreeery sing the national anthem cause I was reading up in the bathroom. I can't understand why all the bathroom stalls say... 

"Please Do Not Flush Liquor Bottles in Toilet"

Who does that anyway?????

Is that a normal phrase in the bathroom at all college football stadiums or just NCSU???

Sorry for all the grammatical errors in this post. I am still in "Beef"-mode after spending such a lovely day with my homegirl, sister-in-blogging & life! For volume 2 of this post click her blog here.

Guest Post - Yes I'm Still Alive ...

Peek-a-boo!

Shug in Boots here ...

As Ambareams HS BFF/sister in bloggin, I told her, YOU NEED TO WRITE A DANG POST! 

Last week, I even came over here and vacuumed and got down the cob webs for her. So, today, she said this to me via FB:   

And, so, since Ms. Amber is mega busy, and I have three weeks to sit around in my yoga pants, bloggin, drinkin my dunkin donuts coffee on the daily (thank you year round calendar - this IS NOT my regular lifestyle) ... here I am.

Through the process of my shower, makin grits n greens,

and drinkin my DD w/ whip ... I decided to blog about friendship. Like, for real friendship, because I think we ladies sometimes have it a bit backwards (myself included) and I think we should work to teach our young girls through example what it really means to be a friend.
I have no children of my own (yet?) ... but, I see this cattiness starting among girls as young as kindergarten. By third grade - whoa! Eight year old girls CRYING because the other girls are making fun of the fact that her shoes came from Walmart! (Wonder how these kids would feel if they knew half Mrs. Davis's wardrobe came from thrift stores and Target). And no matter what we say, our little shug pies will learn what they SEE.

So, here's my two cents:

1) sometimes your friend may be acting like an ahemm.... beezy ... TELL HER SO. More than likely, she isn't aware of it, is stressed out and needs to vent about it, and could use your help.

2) Likewise, don't write your friends off when they tell you the same.

3) Just because your friend doesn't take YOUR advice and handle it the way YOU would does not justify you peacing out of her life. She still needs you.

4) Remember who was there for you when you needed them, it's sometimes easy to find new friends and forget about the old ones. Not cool. (I talk to elementary schoolers about this every week).

5) Point out your friends strong points, assets and awesome qualities - she could use it. I know I could everyday.

6) Always remember to save time for your friends. Too many of us get married, or even start dating someone, and suddenly have no time for our friends anymore. YOU WILL REGRET THIS. Same goes for kids. Your baby needs you - a nice, rejuvenated, happy you - SO MAKE TIME FOR YOUR GIRLS! Even if it's just a day together with some Diet Coke, hot dogs, and thrift stores.

7) Don't be a hater. It's easy to be jealous of how your friend's life seems. But again, who knows what all is goin on underneath - and WE ALL have our cross to bear. You just have to trust God's plan for YOUR life and this takes prayer, and lots of it.

8) Support your friend - even if you don't support her decision. She will thank you for it eventually, and at that same moment is most likely when she will need you the most.

9) I think it's important to love each other for who we are - our mothers, our daughters, our sisters, our friends - it's hard being a girl - am I skinny enough? Do I make enough money? Do people judge me for being a stay-at-home mom? Does my husband love me as much as her husband loves her? We all know these thoughts can consume us if we let them. The last thing we need is our own friends and fellow lady loved ones adding to our self-doubt. Your daughter/neice/granddaughter is paying attention when you question what she wears, how her make up looks, and virtually every other decision she makes.

10) Encourage your friend to make healthier choices, not just fast, easy ones that will make her skinnier, happier at the moment, put-a-bandaid-on-the-problem choices. She is probably overwhelmed enough that she could use your honest, but caring input.

~~~

Hope it didn't sound preachy. These are just things that I've learned over my 28 years. Good friends are hard to come by. And they won't be perfect. You won't either. Keep the ones who love you anyway.

And while I'm here, these are some of the things I love about Ms. Amber:
 
She's listened to me through MANY HOURS of analyzing my life.

She's ridden around with me in the middle of the night drinking WAY TOO MUCH Diet Mt. Dew (although her bevy of choice was either Diet Coke or Dr. Pepper)

She always remembers that little things make people smile - little notes, Christmas ornaments, birthday prizes - don't have to cost much, but she always remembers.

She does the "singing voice" with me and doesn't care when people are super annoyed and wish we would shut up.

 It always feels comfy at her house - she is always baking, cleaning or making something. Always comforting even if I do nothing but sit there and watch. ;)

Most importantly, she prays for me in whatever need I may have - even if I don't know what that need is.

This could go on forever ... but ladies, let's help each other instead of knocking each other down. Hey, I've even stopped talkin trash about the shug pies at NC State tailgates who are dressed in red stilettos like they goin to a club. Hey, if this is how they show their team pride, who am I to judge?

Happy Tuesday Sugars!