Giveaway

Check out this amazing giveaway! I WANT!

P.S...I'll be back on Monday! Yay! Lots of big and fun announcements!

FYI

I'm out of the blogging world for a reason...Everything is fine but I'll be back soon. And I'm still trying to be diligent about reading all of yours. :0)

Early Twenties vs. Mid Twenties

Last night I watched the series finale of The Hills, which I still don't get by the way, and it got me thinking about life in my early twenties to where I am now. Refusing to consider 26 late twenties, of course. It's like the girls were saying, we are all growing up, what are we going to do now?

The twenties, to me, are really the craziest times. You graduate college, break up with the "love of your life", (most people I know) meet the real love of your life, decide on a career path, move away from home...It's a constant swirl of unending changes. 

At 20, I thought I would graduate college in just a few short years and move up to New York with my best friend (who is actually in New York, by the way), and have an unending amount of opportunities for career choices.

Little did I know, just a year and half later, I would meet B and everything would change. I would get married much younger than I thought, would live in three different states (none of which were on the top of my list) and end up living 15 minutes from my parents. 

Was it what I planned? No. And I'm so thankful for that. Life is definitely full of curveballs and you never really know where you are going to end up. But I think that is what this time is all about, embracing the things that come your way and really finding out what you truly want in life. For me, I know I made the right choice for my life and I honestly don't think I could be happier. I'm still trying to figure things out but all in all, life is great!  

Product Junkie!

Um, wow. I completely and totally suck at blogging. Grrrr...I so wanted to get back to regular postings but Oh Em Gee, I've been so busy!

I'm still looking for someone to redesign my page for me. 

Lately I've been completely falling in love with Galveston. I've been down there so frequently for work and play and just can't get enough. You know, sometimes disaster does bring good things because Galveston is definitely bouncing back from Ike! 

This me and a few of my girlfriends out for a girls night out. It was a blast. 

Ok, on to the title of this post. I went on a crazy cleaning spree this past weekend and have come to realize, I am a complete, self-confessed product junkie. It's awful and thank the Lord my sweet, sweet husband doesn't say anything. I had piles of mascara, several eye liners, about 5 blushes, tons of eye shadow, about 17 lipsticks...and the list goes on! So, I've decided that I'll post (read: attempt to post) weekly some of my favorite and least favorite finds. First up:

Ever since I can remember, I have been obsessed with getting old and wrinkly. I was the nine year old on the softball field that make sure all of my friends wore their sunglasses or hat and had sun block. What. A. Nerd. But, hopefully it'll pay off! 

This handy little jar is wonderful. Obviously I can't tell if it will work because I don't have wrinkles but I LOVE, Love, love the way it makes my skin feel. It's an eye cream, yes, I know I'm not 65, but I decided to start early. It always leaves the skin around my eyes feeling a bit tighter. And I appreciate that! 

It's a bit pricey, $48.50 (or free if you get it as a birthday gift like I did ;) ). Try it out, let me know what you think!

Well, photo shoot tonight, I'm off to Galveston...My favorite part of my job!

My new obsession

Lately I've been working really hard to reduce the amount of coffee that I drink. I'm one of those people who is always tired, but can never sleep. So, I thought that cutting my coffee intake down from 3 cups a day, to just the occasional cut would help. It's actually been easier than I thought thanks to my newest obsession.

Love English Breakfast Tea. Yum. While visiting a friend in New York, her roommate (who just so happened to be from London) was sweet enough to make me a cup. I love it and decided a few days ago that i would give it another shot. 

My only regret. I bought a 4-pack trial thing. Now I gotta go back. It tastes great with just a tiny (I stress tiny) splash of milk (simply because I HATE milk). It's a great way to get me started in the mornings.

Another new obsession of mine is Lipton Bedtime Story.

It's nothing that makes me drowsy but it's refreshing, satisfying and definitely helps me relax. Unlike the 3 huge glass of water I normally chug before I go to bed.  

So, give it a shot and tell me what you think.

XoXo

Considering

Over the last few weeks I have seen more adults throw tantrums than I have children. 

The end result - they get their way.

Hmph. Am I missing something?

I'm considering the next time I don't get my way at work, should I throw a tantrum?

Just a thought...

Just dance

Since I'm supposedly back, I've decided I need a new look. Any suggestions on who I can get to update my site? Someone not too expensive, I am a starving writer after all.

We've been very busy here with the July issue of After Hours (www.afterhoursmag.com) deadlining tomorrow so life's been a little hectic. However, there is always time for some fun. 

Yesterday I started a workout/hip hop dance class and YIKES. The latin dance  gene definitely skipped this little Mexican. It was William Hung all over the place!

Pretty sure I looked like this:

Instead of like this:

I must say, I picked up the dance moves pretty quickly...I just looked like a fool doing them. But it's all in good fun and I'm just trying to get a workout in. I wish I had a video of myself to show you all. 

My blogger friends, you are missed and I promise to spend time catching up on your blogs soon...

XoXo

S

A bit left out

Today, after quite some time off from the blogosphere, I returned to catch up on a few of my favorite blogger reads, and wow, I've been out of the loop for quite sometime. I've always had a hard time keeping up with regular posts but I'm not gonna lie, I kinda miss it.

So, in all vanity, here's what I've been up to:

- Work

- Working on getting the house updated - We've installed new floors, wood in the bedroom and new carpet in two of the three guest rooms and still painting...

- Work

- I'm starting a new workout dance class on Monday. Scary. I'm about to be put to flexibility shame by a bunch of 19 year olds.

- Work

- We welcomed our second nephew, Jameson Daniel, into the world on May 1. He's a doll and his big brother is the best big brother ever!

- Work - Here is the link to the latest issue of the magazine I work for. I wanted to post my interview with Randy Rogers Band for you all but they took it down :( Maybe I can get it on here soon.

http://galvestondailynews.com/sections/afterhours

Well, hopefully I'll be back this time. :)

xoxo,

S

The Randy Rogers Band

Tomorrow is the big day! At 2 p.m. I will be chatting with Randy Rogers! 

Wish me luck!

Summertime Blues...

Most of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I detest summer. I hate it. However, Texas has had the longest, wettest summer ever and I never thought in my entire life that I would say....

I'M SO READY FOR SUMMER!

I'm ready for some time on the Guadalupe River....

and going through the chute on the Comal River...where it never fails that will loose either your sunglasses or your beer. Usually is the sunglasses that will get lost because, well, priorities my friend.

For a little bit (as in a few pounds) of crawfish...which I will be enjoying tonight with my friends...

Live, Texas Country music...cause there's nothing better than a night of Roger Creager, The Randy Rogers Band, Eli Young, Aaron Watson....and an iced cold Bud Light (in the aluminum bottle, please).

and enjoying the beach in Galveston...Yep, I just said that. Hurricane Ike did some damage but the beach is back and better than ever!

For the first time in my life, I'm so ready for a Texas Summer! Bring on the 125 degree weather!

Career High at 26?

Guess who will be chattin' it up with Randy Rogers? That's right, you guessed it! ME!!!

I just heard back from the press contact for The Randy Rogers Band!! They are setting up a phone interview for me to chat with Randy himself next week! 

So far, this will definitely be my career high! I'm so excited! Wish me luck...

WOOHOO!!!

From Stud to Dud...

Do you guys watch American Idol? Let me just tell you, I'm a bit obsessed. And I'm not going to lie but I take partial credit for Kelly Clarkson's success since I voted for her every. single. week.

We are big Idol fans in my house but this year I think Idol is kinda sucking. There is really weird tension going on between Simon and Ryan and it makes me wonder if they used to date and have now broken up. I mean something has got to be up! And Kara is a stupid judge. All she ever says is, "you just aren't being true to yourself. This isn't who you are." Because she knows everyone better than they know themselves. Which is just as bad as Randy's "Yo dawg, listen up. I didn't love it, it had some pitch problems but I thought overall you were pretty good." 

Anyway...on to the point of this post...Usher performed last night. I usually like Usher. He's a pretty good performer but what was he doing last night?! It was all very weird and Broadway. I'm not going to lie, I was expecting Adam Lambert to appear at any moment. He never did...

Watch for yourself...

Last night we kept my nephew and it was so much fun! He's such a cutie but I have to say, I am so not ready for kids! 

Enjoy your three day weekend. I don't get one. The joys of working for a newspaper...

Random Ramblings

Last weekend B and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. I had planned to do a big post on the 22nd with pictures and all of that fun stuff but I was honestly too busy to think. We celebrated the night before with a great dinner at Cullens Upscale American Grill and it was Ah-mazing! The food was seriously some of the best I've ever had!

This is a picture of us right before we left. I have one of us out as well but I haven't taken it off of my camera yet...

The day after we had a little birthday lunch for two of my cousins who were turning 20 and 7. We went and had Mexican food -- YUM!

I love this picture because it is the perfect dysfunctional family photo. Yes, I'm aware that I will soon be the shortest person in my family and I've come to terms with that. Everyone in this picture is at least 6 years younger than me...

I've written my first two columns and they will be published this week! I'm so very excited! We have been in talks with our boss and we are hoping to soon take over the magazine! I'm so excited. it will mean more work but my bosses are trying to get me an interview with The Randy Rogers Band...Look 'em up -- it's Texas Country. I would LOVE it if we could make it happen so keep me in your thoughts and prayers!

I also finally got my nose pierced again! I took it out when I had surgery and have been wanting to get it redone again for the longest time and I finally did it and I absolutely love it! It's just a tiny stud but it's so cute. 

Well...I hope you all had a wonderful Monday! Mine was super busy!

It's Wednesday at Noon...

And so far this week I've clocked 25 hours. Already. 

Holy Geeze, I'm tired!

So much for my grand return.

Blogger Support

Over the last few days -- maybe weeks -- I've been reading some truly heart wrenching stories on a few blogs out there. It makes me think about how grateful I am to have such supportive friends and an amazing husband. 

We all hit our rough spots in life and you never know when it will be yourself who will need prayers, love and support. Sometimes things happen that we cannot control. Sometimes things happen that are truly the most unimaginable things we can think of. Sometimes things happen that are just not fair. 

That's what brings me to bringing these ladies to your attention. Please say a prayer for the following ladies, you can go to their websites to read up on their stories:

Taylor at The Undomesticated Mamma

Brittney at Running in High Heels

Mrs. P at A little Pink in a World of Camo

Abbie at Satisfy my Soul

Visit them, send nice thoughts and comments, and pray for them. 

Shopping Success -- Kinda

This past weekend was a little bit of whirlwind...very busy! Friday night B and I stayed in and watched a few movies. He wasn't feeling very well so we just hung out.

Saturday I spent most of the day shopping with my momma! Here are a few things that I bought:

   

Above images are from bananarepublic.com

above images are from express.com

These are a few things I got...I couldn't find images of everything. But I was very excited to find what I did. 

Monday is our anniversary and I'm still not sure what to wear. I couldn't find that super cute Arden B dress...Boo! We are going to Cullen's Upscale American Grill. This will be my first time but I've heard the food is amazing and the atmosphere is really nice. 

Saturday night we  had a surprise 50th anniversary party for my grandparents. It was a great turnout but it was sooo last minute that we really didn't get to do much with it. And I took lots of pictures that I haven't taken off of my camera yet...

Happy Saint Paddy's Day! Have a green beer for me! I'll be at the mall looking for a dress for Saturday!

Can I get a personal shopper, please?

Tomorrow I'm heading to the mall to do a little bit of shopping...and I need a few things! I wanted to pick up a few things for work that were a little more professional that I normally wear. I work for a newspaper so it's pretty casual. Problem is, I'm not really a casual girl. I like to dress up. And since I had my breast reduction about a year and a half ago, I haven't really had a real job to buy clothes for. Tomorrow it is! Here are a few things I was thinking about...

        

All of the above can be found at www.anntaylor.com

Something else I'll be looking for is a dress for our anniversary. We are going to celebrate on Saturday, the 20th. Our anniversary is the 22nd but since B is still studying, we're going to celebrate a little early. I wanted to get something a little sexy since it's an anniversary (gotta look good for my man!). However, our ideas of sexy are a little bit different. If a girl showed up the kind of clothes B likes, I would definitely make fun of her and call her mean names. So, I'm looking for suggestions. Specific dresses, places to shop...anything! 

I do like this dress from Arden B...

What do you think?

Tonight B and I are staying in, I plan to do a bit of working out and lounging around. Tomorrow I plan on getting up early, working out, heading to do my volunteer chores for JL and then we are heading up to Houston for a surprise birthday dinner for my sister! I'm so excited. And yes, I've already got a dress for that dinner!

Also, I still need to get my sister a birthday gift! What do you get the girl who literally has EVERYTHING?!

Monday is a very big day for me but I'm not ready to share yet. No, I'm not pregnant or sick. But I'd appreciate if you keep in your thoughts and prayers. I'm very excited and hope that this works out the way I want!

I'll be back Monday -- hopefully with lots of pictures to share!

Can you believe I posted two days in a row!?

Summertime!

Never in my life did I ever think I would say this but, I cannot wait for summer! I feel like winter has been sooo long and sooo gloomy! My pool is calling my name...

Things have been a little crazy for us lately. I have been working a lot, which is good. Our first issue of our new entertainment magazine comes out on March 31 so I've been consumed with Happy Hours -- not such a bad thing! 

Junior League has been squeezing up more of my time that I think B likes but I'm still loving every second of it. We are getting ready to do our placement interviews next week and I'm really hoping I get my first choices for my in-league and community placement! So, say a prayer for me 'cause I think I can do some good.

I hate being so out of the blog loop so I'm going to try to get back to posting regularly again. It's just been so crazy and I really have nothing going on! 

Well, I'll be catching on your blogs in the meantime and hopefully I'll be back with something worth posting soon!

Where do they find these people?!

Are you keeping up with the Bachelor this season? Well, I am. And I'm ashamed to admit it. I wish I could make due with Mrs. Gibby's commentary but I can't. I'm hooked and I can't figure out why!

Jake is such a sissy boy. I can't take it. I don't even like the guy. My favorites this season have been Gia, Ali and Tenley from the very beginning but I hope they don't win because I dislike the bachelor so much! However, thanks to Reality Steve, I already know who wins...

Did you see Jake trying to dance? He's such a dork. Surely these girls can't seriously falling for him...

I can't wait until next week when the girls tell all!

Beautiful things always make me happy...

First of all, thank you all for your sweet, sweet messages yesterday. When I get in these ruts it usually lasts a few days but our kind messages definitely made me feel better. I'm really fine with B leaving I'm just waiting for my life to take off as well...

Well, what better way to lift the spirits than to stare at beautiful things...

I was really shocked to hear about Alexander McQueen. Sidebar: I thought it was really strange that his GUCCI mentor killed her self a few years back using weed killer or something crazy like that! While his designs tended to be a little far fetched, I adored a large majority of his work. It's so sad to me when the world loses such talented people to their own hands. I don't get it.

Here are a few of my favorites.

        

Remember this outfit? SJP wore this to the SATC premier, it was the outfit that she had the big peacock thing on her head. that part was not so cute.

I also LOVE this jumper on Katie Holmes!

           

       

When I first saw this dress on the Alexander McQueen website, I wasn't a huge fan. But it looks so cute on Kerri Russell!

Don't you think that blazer would look so cute on Rachel Zoe?!

You know you want them both.

Also, has anyone else heard that SJP is going to be the new Chief Creative Officer for Halston? Where have I been? I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Stuck

Just a warning: This post is whiney. Get over it, I need to whine (and wine). It's one of those days. Please don't be mean to me because I will more than likely cry and I'm at  work. That would not be appropriate. You don't even have to comment, this is more for me just to get out of my system because I don't want to cry to B about anymore.

--------------------------------------

Do you ever feel stuck? Like you can't get where you're going? Every once in a while I have these really sad days where I feel like I've given up on everything I want and in turn, I have NO IDEA what to do now. 

B is leaving again. Headed to back to La for his job. Not sure how long he'll be gone but probably a couple of months. Minimum. I'll be here. Stuck in Hometown, Texas. At a dead-end job that I don't care so much for. Luckily, I love my boss and the girl I work with.

Sometimes I wish I could go somewhere else. Somewhere where I have more career options that extend beyond the oil and medical industry. Someplace that isn't Texas. Problem is, B loves it here. And his work is here. And he makes the money. The only thing I like about Texas? My family is here.

He keeps telling me, "I'll get a raise this year and you can quit when I get it." But I don't want to quit. I just don't want to work here.

I feel like my life is passing me by. I know that things change and where your life takes depends on the choices you make, I jut wish I could find a new path that I would enjoy. I loved my internship at the magazine but I obviously cannot work for free. Newspaper life is so not my thing. The thing is, I never thought I would get married so young or stay in Texas. I literally wanted to move out of Texas the day after I graduated high school (it kinda became a joke in my family because I've said that since I was a kid). Now that I am married, I would give up my husband for anything in the world. He such an amazing guy and is always so sweet. He knows how much I struggle with this, how much I distain my job and how I dream of moving away. I know that he loves me and I know there is no one on this planet that I could ever love more than him. Now Texas? My job? My house? I'd give it all up tomorrow as long as I could take my B and my puppies. 

Ok, that's enough whining.

Mardi Gras!

This past weekend was the first weekend of Mardi Gras in Galveston and ohmigoshwas it fun! Seriously, if you live within driving distance from Galveston, join my Krewe next year!

This year's theme was Beer. Yes, very generic. But Del Papa is a major distributor of Bud products and this is their 100th year in business (and they put up A LOT of money for Mardi Gras) so the parade was a salute for them. I didn't get many pictures of the other Krewes but there were some great costumes. The winners were Clydesdale horses, Spuds Mackenzie and some weird play on words costume that I still don't get.

We were Tailgaters. Is it obvious we were the young ones? Mardi Gras is a whole different experience when you are on the float. 

Here are a few pictures:

Dear Friday...

Please hurry so I can enjoy an entire weekend of Mardi Gras festivities.

Lose It!

First of all, you're all either crazy or waaay to generous with the compliments cause I don't think I look anything like Jennifer Love Hewitt. But, Thanks! It was definitely nice to hear!

So, I've been majorly slacking on the fitness and dietary side of my life. Seriously. I weigh more now than I did before I had my breast reduction! 

So, I'm going to the grocery store tonight to fix that. I'm getting back on the bandwagon and I'm looking to you to keep me accountable. I'm thinking about doing something similar to what one of my favorite bloggers Lindsey does and posting my results and progress just to keep me more accountable for the things I eat and my workouts.

Have you guys had any success with losing weight? I'd love to hear your story! 

Have any of you tried any weightloss supplements? 

I had a girlfriend use Alli and she lost 40 pounds in like 5 months! I'm scared to try it because of the ewwyuckgross side effects. However, I've heard those side effects only getcha if you eat really poorly.

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday. I'm headed to the grocery store then home to workout and I've got my Bachelor DVRed...Even though thanks to Tara's all-too-cute blog that I couldn't resist reading, I already know who goes home. ;)

XOXO

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

Ok, so my coworker and I were a tad bored today and I don't feel well so to cheer me and to find her something to do, we decided to figure out who our Celebrity Lookalike is! All of our friends are posting theirs on Facebook and neither of us think we look like anyone famous.

We went to www.celebrity.myheritage.com and pulled up our celebrity profile. Here's mine! You should do yours and see your look-alike is!

(Personally, I don't agree with any of them and the whole Cybill Shepherd thing kinda bums me out...)

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Pedigree - Genology

I love beautiful things...

B and I have been talking about doing a little bit of remodeling to the house. I started to paint myself and, well, it turned out to be somewhat of a disaster. I did a great job on the living room but had to battle the wallpaper in other rooms. 

We've decided we are going to use our tax credit to upgrade the house. We don't want to do to much remodeling, mostly upgrading. However, one room we want to remodel is the kitchen. After all, that is where people tend to hang out.

Here are a few ideas of what I'm going for. I love the french inspired look - white cabinets, light-colored counter tops...what do you think?

I also want my garage to look like this...

And my laundry room to look like this...

Today is Friday and I very much need the break. I've had the mother of all rough weeks and I'm looking forward to enjoying myself this weekend! My sweet baby brother is turning 14 this weekend! I cannot believe it. I still remember the day he was born and the awful green striped shirt and white jeans that I was wearing. 

Next weekend is MARDI GRAS!!!! Woohoo!

happy weekend, all! xoxo