A little Friday Inspiration

Am I the only one who is totally completely 100% ready to peel out of the office parking lot and pretend it doesn't exist til 9:00 am Monday? 

Dang, summertime, you make it soooo hard to be productive!

Recently I was really inspired by Song of Solomon and while searching for some pretty verses on Pinterest I found several other inspirations to share.

Enjoy, and Happy Weekend!

Friday is my favorite day!!!

Humpity Hump!

Hey Ho Happy Wednesday!
Typically I go in to work earlier than K does, but this morning we left at the same time. 

In my head this was happening:

 I miss this product (John Frieda Beach Waves)!  I haven't seen it around in years but it was a fixture in my high school hair routine...I've been searching for something similar to no avail, help!

We watched 'This is 40' Sunday night, it was so cute.  I definitely recommend!

We are going to the Sullivan's Island Fish Fry this Saturday and I thought, why not break out my scalloped shorts?  I haven't worn them in a while. 

  The elastic waist band is throwing me off, but since these shorts were at one point granny pants it's what I've got to work with.  I'm not sure my daisy crop top is the way to go.  Thoughts?

Hope your week is going well.

I'm off to run errands, and maybe sneak in a trip to The Limited!

Weekend "World"wind

So here are some pics from the past two weeks that made me chuckle, because it's like we had our own little world tour, except we stayed right here in Charleston!
Allow me to show you...

 So we'll start our tour in the Caribbean!

Aka High tide plus grass umbrella at Crosby's dock:

Then a glass of Picpoul de Pinet in France.

Aka white wine happy hour at Rue de Jean:

Y luego una piñata para una fiesta de cumpleaños en Mexico!

Aka birthday party piñata time:

Annnnd back to the USA for (what else??) a baseball game!

 

Been anywhere fun lately?

 

The First Day of Summer

TGIF!

It seems appropriate that we celebrate the first day of summer as we did the last day in 2012, down at Crosby's dock!

Here's to hoping your weekend is full of relaxation, fresh flowers...

And absolutely NONE of this mess.  Miley??

Have a happy and safe weekend!



Special Spaghetti

I am a big fan of spaghetti.  It's easy and it just hits the spot for me.

K, on the other hand, likes something a little more special than your standard spaghetti.

Sometimes I'll use sweet italian sausage (the links cut up, not ground) and bowtie pasta.  Yum! 

Last night I got the hankering for spaghetti and decided to make my own meatballs instead of settling with the basic meat & sauce.

I combined ground turkey with italian style breadcrumbs and some garlic and olive oil.  I formed about 20 meatballs and baked at 350' for 20 minutes.



Please excuse my grimy pan...

Add tossed salad and warm bread and you have a special spaghetti dinner.

For some reason meatballs are just fun!  Maybe it's because they feel more like something you would order out.  I don't know. But it was delicious!

Do you have any spaghetti variations that make it more special?

Tuesday Talk...

Hello there!

 This weekend was one of those weekends where you end up more exhausted at the end than when it started.  But regardless, we had a blast.  I also must note that between K and I, we broke 3 chairs this weekend.  2 beach chairs and one patio.  That's all I'll say about it but really????

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Revlon "Flirt". Love this color!!

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 This morning at the gym a woman told me she loved my blouse (above) and that I always dress so nice.

This has totally made my day already.  Thanks nice lady :)

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 There's a possibility we'll be attending the Battery game Saturday night, Lexus is going to have a couple cars on display.  This would be my first battery game (Charleston native I swear!). 

Sidebar: Is it crazy that I'm already planning the weekend (Tell me you're like this too!)

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 I think we'll end up seeing World War Z this weekend also.  I'm not really all about zombies but these are speedy zombies and it looks kinda cool.  Whatever, it's a movie K and I somewhat agree on so I'm in.

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Also, thanks Megan for sharing the Tease Dry Bar Living Social Voucher!

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I've made it my goal to read all of Nicholas Spark's books this summer.  I just finished Safe Haven (read in a day in a half), these books are such easy reads.

Now I want to watch the movie!

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Happy Tuesday!
P.S. Holy Thunderstorm this morning, the most perfect sound while cozy in bed.

Friday Highfive!

1.

I'm just popping in to show you my new hair 'do!  It's just a little lighter and brighter!

2.

 Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Dad.  Can't wait to get together Saturday night!

3.

 And last night's dinner:

I'm such a sucker for advertising, so "backyard brew" marinade was my choice.

4.

 Which went perfectly with the special release from Coor's Brewing.  Get some!

5.

Has anyone been to any of Charleston's Pecha Kucha events?

I can't wait for the next one!

That's it, TGIF y'all!

Two Years Old!

Happy Birthday to my little blog baby today!

It's so exciting to see my archive list growing and growing, like the markings my child's height on the wall.

I've enjoyed sharing my life on this little internet island so much.  While I have not accrued any statistically impressive readership, I've been so excited over a comment here and there, and joining in conversations on other blogs. 

It's a fun little world isn't it?

I want to say Thank You for reading my rambles/rants. It's been so special to know that someone does.

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This blog has helped me pull myself out of funks, it's cheered me up, and ultimately it's shown me how incredibly lucky I am. 

In the past two years I've spent a lot of time talking about my chunky dog and my hunky boyfriend, and their love for eachother... what more could a girl want?

We are so blessed to be surrounded by family & friends.  It's so important to us.

I accepted a new job last year and I've been busier than a bumble bee.  Hence I enjoy my downtime more than ever!

I've learned a lot about what makes me happy through blogging, and ultimately that's expressing my creative side, and helping others.  My hope is to one day combine the two as a career...

I've also delighted in my silly side, gotta throw that in for good measure.

This blog has served, no doubt, as a reminder to be thankful for the great things in my life!

Lots of memories so far, and many more to come.

xoxo,

Laura

P.S. Here's an interesting tid bit:

This post is, to this day, my most viewed post.  It's funny, because it's nothing special, just bringing up the idea of adding another dog to our family.  But, this is the post that earned me my own page on GOMI.  Have you heard of this site, GetOffMyInternet.com?  It's a site that makes fun of bloggers.  They found me because I made a "stupid" comment on a big time blogger's page and so then they linked to me and created a thread for Hominy Girl in their forums. .  Honestly, I was just so excited to see the page views, like 1,000 in an hour!  Who cares that they are making fun of me, I'll take the stats any day!

;)

She shoots..

She scores!

I think I mentioned that I have been making out at Goodwill lately, I am totally on a vintage kick!

While not quite as cheap as Goodwill, I found this beautiful maxi dress at Consigning Women in Avondale a few months ago.  I finally pulled it out for Happy Hour on the creek last week.

I love the ruffle detail on the bottom hem...

 I didn't get a good shot of the back, but you can see from this side view that it has a very low back, nearly to my waist.

 And!  Look at the sweet lace trim at the neck:

Love!

Also to note: I think we've seen the last of low humidity days for a while, but I sure am glad I captured my hair in this rare form for being outside, on the water no less.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

xo

cute suit & more.

I picked up this little cutie at Forever 21 Saturday after lunch downtown.

And wow, downtown was a madhouse. 

And really, Charleston as a whole has become unrecognizable to me! 

A couple of years ago I really started to fall into the tourist trap downtown, trying out the new bars and restaurants that seemed to pop up every other week.  I started to realize how much my city, my hometown does not belong to me anymore.  We are a destination, a "hot spot", maybe even the hottest in the entire world????  And I don't want to live in the greatest city of them all, I want to live where my family made a home generations ago.  Whenever I get upset about this extreme growth, the loss of the Charleston of my childhood, K always reminds me that it's not worth complaining over...that it's like being mad that the sun comes up.  Charleston is crowded. Deal with it.  But I can feel it changing and growing on a daily basis these days.  It's getting nuts out there!

And while I'm on the subject of getting upset about things that I can not control...let me mention that this is something I struggle with.  I've touched on this before, but sometimes it's hard for me to remain calm and relaxed. I get worked up over little things and I hate that!  I spent some time this weekend reading my favorite book that I will recommend to you now:  Most of All They Taught Me Happiness, by Robert Muller.

The final passage goes as follows:

Decide to be happy

render others happy

proclaim your joy

love passionately your miraculous life

do not listen to promises

do not wait for a better world

be grateful for every moment of life

switch on and keep on

the positive buttons

in yourself, those marked optimism,

serenity, confidence,

positive thinking, love

pray and thank God every day

meditate - smile - laugh

whistle - sing - dance

look with fascination at everything

fill your lungs and heart with liberty

be yourself fully and immensely

act like a King or Queen unto Death

feel God in your body, mind,

heart, and soul

and be convinced of eternal life

and resurrection.

I really love the notion of "switching on buttons" of positivity.  It's so easy for me to feel like the victim, but my happiness is my choice.  If you're interested in this sort of subject you will love this book!

Speaking of books, I've decided to purchase this:

I enjoy hearing K's opinions on different topics so much, but sometimes I don't have any good questions, outside of natural conversation. 

K is a quiet person by nature, and very intelligent, and I so much enjoy hearing his thoughts.

Yesterday this gem:

K: Alfie, you're just like a horse.

L: Huh?

K: He likes to lean into me, just like horses lean in.

L: Oh, ok.

???

I think this book will help me learn even more of the facts and ideas in his head!

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Oh, and one more thing....

this gelato is great, full of actual pistachios.

Smooth, yet crunchy :)

Happy Monday!

Hey Friday!

 I coordinated our Employee Appreciation dinner at Lexus this week.  It was a smashing success! 

And thanks to Kristina at Charleston Florist for the awesome arrangements, they were the perfect touch.

I heard Anna Kendrick's song "When I'm Gone" from the movie Pitch Perfect on the radio this morning.  I absolutely love finding out that a young actress can sing!  Such was my delight when Amanda Seyfried was cast in Mamma Mia.  Her voice is so sweet!

 Check out my mod mini dress, it feels kind of fun for Friday!

Also, when we were cleaning out my parent's kitchen I found this fun little tool. 

It's a cool-whip dessert decorator.  Too cool!

You can see some hilarious commercials for this product on youtube.

I'm excited to try it out, but probably with fresh whipped cream instead.

So what's happening this weekend friends?

Absolutely nothing over here!  Woop woop!

Maybe dinner and a movie tonight, maybe not.

Have a good one and be safe out there!

TGINM + Gym Talk

First order of business:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY SLITHER BOY!

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ok so,

Thank Goodness It's Not Monday!

Those were the words out of the instructor at the gym this morning, and I couldn't agree more.

Here I am now, sitting at my desk enjoying my coffee and breakfast, with my workout done for the day!

Let's talk about morning workouts for a moment, shall we?

I have such a love hate relationship with them. 

The love: I am much more flexible throughout the day.  I can work late if need be, I can grab drinks with K if we're feeling fun, I can take my time with dinner!  When I'm working out after work, I'm on a strict time schedule because I attend classes that fill up fast.  I have to get there in time to change,refill my water bottle, etc.  Basically, bad traffic could mean I miss my workout.  And then, I'm rushed to get home and get dinner and a glass of wine on the table. Working out first thing takes all of the guesswork out of that portion of my day, which in itself, saves this little OCD girl some stress!

The hate: Well, I'm up at 5:00 am, which I realize isn't that early, but considering I'm an 8 hours + sleeper, it puts me in the bed by 9:00 pm, which again, isn't that early.  But let me tell you, my 5 am wake-up call is looming in my mind once 8:00 pm strikes.  The winding down must commence.  And some nights I like a little late night tv!  And then there's the waking up part. My oh my how tempting it is to dismiss the first alarm and snooze until 7!  And because I don't workout every morning, my body fights it all the more because it's not yet a habit.  It's a battle...

Fitness is a battle that I love to fight.  With the risk of sounding totally nuts, certain workouts have made me feel so good they nearly bring me to tears!  Exercise has brought great things into my life.

And now, onto something (not so great) that often goes hand in hand with gym talk:

Fat talk.  This is something that bothers me so much.  I have overheard numerous conversations at the gym and within my own friendships that center around the concept of being skinny, feeling fat, and everything related to both.  These are conversations that I mostly manage to avoid participating in or letting affect my self-image.  I have never considered myself to have an issue with weight or fat talk as I have always been generally content with my body, but it's only been recently that I have thought about this.  And this is only because over the past year and a half I have lost about 25-30 lbs.  I'm mentioning this not to brag or share my "secret", it's because I'm having to learn to answer the question in the first scenario, "Have you lost weight?", and truthfully it makes me uncomfortable!  It's funny because I obviously made the choice to start living a healthier lifestyle and with that I welcomed the inevitable weight loss.  But I don't really like the attention of it!  It's shown me a side of the world that is obsessed with weight loss and maintenance. And it's made me realize how it is hard for me to take a compliment.  I would never respond to this question with a self deprecating remark regarding my body (ex: OMG what do you mean, look at these thighs), but it's also hard to say "Thanks! I feel great!".  I don't want to come across as smug and thus I underplay my results.  I find myself fumbling in response, like "Sure, I guess I have..."  I don't really know why I feel like this, but it's very important to me that I "Stop the fat talk habit".  And if by denying my success as far as weight loss goes, and diverting the questions and interest in it fuels any sort of negative body talk, then I definitely don't want that!  But really.. 

I want to celebrate health, NOT weight loss...

Ladies, please let me hear it:  What are your opinions on "Fat Talk"?

Saturday...

Oh, this Saturday was just the best. 

Laying on Folly for a few hours mid-day

 Followed by beers and shuffleboard at Gene's...

well, maybe a couple beers too many ;)

and that, my friends, is a perfect Saturday in my book.

This week we'll be eating:

Thursday night's steak is being served at my work dinner party, so that's nice!

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P.S. Happy Birthday Lauren!!!!