36 week check-up

I've been saying for the past couple of weeks I'm in the home-stretch, but this time I really am.  Agh!!  So excited!  Excited for my sweet love to get here, excited to wear non-maternity clothing, excited to not have pop Tums all.day.long,  excited to have a glass of wine....or beer....or for Heaven's sake, a margarita!  When I think about this pregnancy the word that comes to mind is: long.  I know every pregnant woman feels this way, too.  It just blows my mind that I've been through 3 seasons: winter, spring, and summer.  I've been pregnant since January.  That's a long time!  Anyway....

My 36 week check-up was today.  I weighed (still holding strong at 30 pound weight gain- thankful it didn't go up), got pricked, and was sent on my merry way to wait for my Doc. (Btw, have I mentioned my Doc's name is Doctor Harper?  Harper is not named after my Doc; however, he said he's going to take some credit for it.  Ha!)  I had the Group B Strep test done today (blah) and then Dr. Harper "checked" me.  I knew this was going to happen today, and have been dreading it.  I'm not dilated (not shocking- I was only one centimeter dilated when I went into the hospital to have Aaron; I was contracting but not dilating), and I was informed (shocker- not really) that there's just not a lot of room for you know, birthing a second child.  I won't go into details as the readers that I do have I want to come back, but my birthing experience with Aaron kinda set the path for future deliver(ies).  After a lot of discussion with my Doc, we made the decision to deliver baby girl via c section.  I am totally okay with this.  In fact, I've been somewhat preparing myself for this since I delivered Aaron.  I'm honestly happy with this decision.  They're supposed to call me tomorrow to schedule the surgery, and I'll be at least 39 weeks when I deliver unless she decides to make her appearance sooner.  So, that's where we're at.  Harper Elizabeth could be here in as little as 3 weeks from today- eeeekkk!!!  I just can't wait to see her!

In other random news, I am DYING to see the new Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie, Don Jon.  I've been pretty much obsessed with him since his SNL striptease.  The movie doesn't come out until September 27th, so I highly doubt I'll be seeing it in theaters, but rest assured, I will be snatching it up as soon as it hits Redbox, y'all!  Here's the trailer:

Have a good night!

~LL

5 weeks to go!!

I started this blog entry this morning and I'm so glad I didn't finish/post it this morning.  I totally woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, and my mood could accurately have been described as heinous.  Pregnancy rage is real, y'all.  Luckily, my hormone levels evened out by lunch time, and after that I resumed normalcy- or, whatever I consider "normal" for myself right now.  I wouldn't be lying if I said that a slaw dog, fries, and sweet tea from Griffith's did the trick.  You do what you have to do, people!

We obviously have a lot to catch up on, amiright??  First things first.....Harper update!  I went in yesterday for my 35 week check-up, and so far everything is progressing nicely.  My weight gain is 30 pounds so far (I really don't know how on earth my weight gain isn't more like 45- guess the daily toddler-chasing, stair-climbing is burning off my crazy ChickfilA waffle fry obsession), my blood pressure looked good, and I haven't started to majorly swell.....yet.  Harper's heart rate was at 148, and I still get so excited when I hear that whoosh, whoosh over the Doppler.  Next week starts the weekly visits; I have mixed feelings about this.  Yes, it's great because I get to check on baby girl, hear that sweet heart, and once you hit that 36-week mark you are officially in countdown mode.  The one thing that I hate about these visits: pelvic exams.  Ugh.  At 31 years old, I am still the girl that pops a Xanax before a pap smear.  Can't stand it.  So yeah, the next few check-ups should be interesting.  I don't want to go all TMI here, but let's just say that after my delivery with Aaron the lady parts needed some significant healing, so the option for a delivery via c-section has always been available to me.  I am definitely not opposed to a c-section, and really prefer it as I do not want to go through what I went through with Aaron.  We'll see......

Sunday, my mother-in-law, my two sister-in-laws, and a friend hosted Harper's second (and final) "sprinkle."  It was wonderful, and just meant the world to me.  This shower wasn't as big as my first, but still so special, nonetheless.  I am lucky to be surrounded by such amazing friends and family.  Here's some pics:

Sweet friends

Brooke and I- due 6 weeks apart; both with girls!

Loot

My beautiful (and delicious) cake

Grub

Love the wreath!

And the diaper cake!

 Again, I am so appreciative of my family and friends that put forth the effort to throw me a shower, and just show up.  Everyone has so much going on in their lives, and it just meant so much to me the people that came.  So, if you're reading this- thank you!!!  I find it so rude and tasteless when you invite people to something, and they can't even simply send a text to regret not being able to show up.  There's just no excuse for that.  But, you live and you learn.  Point noted- moving on!

Finally, VMA's.  Thoughts??  We are now on Day 2 of the Miley aftermath.  My FB newsfeed has been flooded with opinions on the raunchfest that took place on stage Sunday night.  Wth???  I'm still confused.  And traumatized.  The tongue, the leotard, followed by next-to-nothing, the foam finger, the "twerking."  Absolutely ratchet.  Gosh, even Robin Thicke has gone down a few steps on the hottie ladder after he participated in that gross-out fest.   Y'all, I'm telling you, this girl is headed for Britney melt-down circa 2007.  It's so sad.  She needs help.  The only part of the show that was awesome and amazing was, you guessed it- JT.  Agh!!  Cannot.even.handle.him.  He brought sexy back.  As he so rightfully mentioned, "I still run this bitch."  If you haven't seen it, or you would like to watch it for the 57th time (like me) watch it here.


That's it, friends.  Gotta hit the sack!

~LL

Sometimes I think I'm an entertainment critic

While at the grocery store today I picked up the Most Beautiful issue of People that featured Gwyneth Paltrow on the cover.  Sadly, I haven't committed myself to a book since.....uh....January.  That's bad, right?  Don't get me wrong, I pour over What to Expect When You're Expecting almost daily, but reading for a hobby has gone out the window for now, so magazines it is!  Maybe I need some good book suggestions......

Anyway, I just put the magazine down and had to blog: Gwynnie looks amazing, y'all.  I think People totally nailed it this year.  Don't get me wrong: I've never been a Gwyneth fan.  I mean, my distaste for her doesn't go as far as Angelina "Hoelie" (haha- cracked myself up);  Gwynnie's always seemed like a know-it-all and a bit of a snob in my opinion.  Now: I think I might be wrong.  After reading her interview I really like her.  To sum it up:

• She exercises 2 hours a day Monday-Friday. Not really realistic for us normal folk, but I'm not totally shocked by this.
• She has a protein shake for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and whatever she wants for dinner (so she says). 
• She still takes baths with her kids.  Who are 7 and 8.  I find this really weird, but maybe parenting styles are different in London......or England.....where does she live, again?
• She admits that her and hubby (Chris Martin) have been through some really tough times but they're still hanging in there and still married.  This makes me wonder if the rumor that he and Kate Bosworth were hooking it up a few years ago is true??
• She shares that she suffered a miscarriage in her second trimester.  I don't know when this happened, or even how far along she was, but I felt bad for her.  The loss of a child- even a child you've never met- is a horrible thing to go through.  She says that the "door is not shut" as to having another child, and that a friend told her not to base the number of children you have off of "the pain in the ass of infancy" but rather as to how many people you want around your table at Thanksgiving.  I liked that example.  Maybe Adam and I will go for another.....kidding!

As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed the interview.  If I just completely bored you, I apologize.  Here's a pic:

This woman is 40.  She looks like she's 25.

Via

The rest of the magazine featured the obligatory pics of Halle Berry, Blake Lively, Megan Fox, Jennifer Aniston, Michelle Obama, Catherine Middleton, etc.  Some were asked what their least favorite thing about themselves was and JLaw said she eats like a caveman (love her), and JLo said that her wrists and ankles are too skinny.  For real?  Cause we all know you've stressed that a$$ at some point in your career.  Ugh!  Get real, woman.  Stop acting so damn perfect!

Connie Britton was listed for having the most beautiful head of hair.  I agree.  That woman has the best head of hair period.  And (gasp) she only washes it once a week! 

Gorge.  Via

And that's that, folks!  I'm definitely thinking my year will probably be next year once I lose this baby weight! ;)  (kidding!)

~LL

This DIY thing is hard....

Happy Tuesday!  Today has been a pretty good day.  With the exception of crazy dreams last night, I woke up and actually enjoyed a cup of coffee.  This made me really happy.  I haven't been able to drink coffee this whole pregnancy up until a week ago.  I forgot how much I missed it, until I poured some Hazelnut creamer into my coffee cup this morning.  Ahhh....it's the little things, y'all.

Whilst enjoying my cup o' joe this morning, I watched Kelly and Michael.  Disclaimer: I'm only able to savor a cup of coffee AND watch Kelly and Michael at the same time when my son is at preschool.  This only happens twice a week, so you better believe I enjoy every second.  Kate Hudson was on their show today and I adore her.  Like major girl crush adore her.  I love everything about her: her hair, style, attitude- like she's probably one of my most favorite people in the world.  Seriously.  If this a boy I'm totally naming him Bingham and calling him Bing.....okay, not really but she can just do no wrong in my book. 

via

In other news, the last I updated about the house we had gone to Lowe's, picked out our kitchen flooring and new cabinet knobs.  Our flooring had to be special ordered, so it won't even arrive until later this week.  Adam went ahead and took off the old cabinet handles this weekend and added the silver knobs.  They're great......however, they would look much better if the previous handles hadn't left horrible rust stains behind.  To get an idea of what I'm talking about here's a pic of our kitchen:

This picture was taken 4 years ago so of course, table and decor have changed, but you get where I'm coming from regarding the cabinet handles.  Anyway, those handles have been on those cabinet doors since this house was built 50 years ago.  After removing the knobs, Adam sanded the cabinets and then went over the stains with primer.  A couple of times.  This is what we're working with now:

Ugh

 Adam says eventually the white will fade, but it's just not working for both of us.  Yeah, the knobs aren't super fancy but these cabinets need color.  Especially now that there's a two-toned white dominating the canvas.  We've decided that we'll pick out a color once we get the new flooring in.  That should be within the next two weeks.  Do y'all have any suggestions?  Here's another picture of our flooring:

I'm kinda digging the idea of bright, colorful cabinets.  Adam thinks we need to stick to beige/brown.  Thoughts?

Enjoy your day!

~LL

Somebody went cray cray in the A....

and it appears that person was Reese Witherspoon.  And you know what?  I kinda love it.  Was this news just released yesterday?  Because I had no idea of this occurrence until last night when a friend called and informed me of Ms. Reecey's indiscretion.  Lo and behold, this picture is everywhere on the net:

via

Okay, I feel bad for her.  She was drunk, her man was getting arrested, and as they always say "you can take the girl out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the girl."  I'm sure those Tennessee roots/ Sweet Home Alabama twang came out, and as embarrassing as this is to admit, I probably would have acted the same way when I "had one too many."  Ha! Here's her statement if you're interested in reading.  Honestly, I like her more for it.  I know that sounds weird, but it just makes her more relatable.  I know there are people out there that thinks she's terrible, and their opinions have been changed, and yada yada, but let's face it: we have no room to judge anybody.  She made a mistake, she owned up to it and apologized, now all she can do is move on.  And hello, girlfriend looks great as a brunette.  And let's look at the bright side: her and Chelsea Handler probably now have a lot more in common!


I have more updating about the house to report; however, I have to go fix my lovebug some lunch.  Turns out: we're probably going to have to paint the kitchen cabinets.  Grrrr!!!!  I'll update more this week.....

This is the big week!  We find out what we're having Thursday.  Eeekkk!!!  So excited!  And scared.  Just praying that this baby is healthy.  That's all we want.  I know it's in God's hands.  Just trying to let go and trust.  This will be okay. 

Talk soon!

~LL

Crushworthy

Confession: I watched the MTV Movie Awards last night.  For those that know me this is not so shocking, as I'm a huge awards-show-celebrity-watcher; for those that don't- if you no longer want to read my blog I understand (kidding.....please read!).  Two hours of my life wasted.  I only watched to see the teaser trailer for Catching Fire, and of course, they didn't show the freakin' preview until 10:50.  I was passed out asleep on the couch at this point.  Luckily, I was able to rewind and watch what I missed......which was not much.  Where was Peeta??  He was barely featured in the trailer!  Mama does not like this one bit!  I wanted to see a glimpse of the Katniss/Peeta makeout sesh on the beach and live vicariously through Jennifer Lawrence!  Grrrr......

I realized that I might have a crush on Tom Hiddleston.  He played Loki on The Avengers.  Yep, I just said that.  I did go see The Avengers in the movie theater (with my hubs) and I do know every character's name.  This is what happens when you let your husband pick movies on date nights. 
Anyway, I adore him.....just a little bit.  Here's a pic of him at the Movie Awards last night:

Via

My fave celebrity gossip site, Cele|bitchy thought he was douchy and cheese-tastic. but I thought he was delish. 

In other exciting news of that evening, Kim K finally wore an outfit that complemented her baby bump and her badonkadonk at the same time.  Winning!  She actually looked really pretty.

via

Selena Gomez sang her new song "Come & Get It" and it was horrible.  Either she can't sing, or.....she can't sing??  At least she looked beautiful.  Go here if you want to watch.


Look who was spotted at Coachella this weekend looking gorge........

via

Sorry for the lack of good posting today.  I'm sneezing like crazy and feel as if I could go to bed now and not wake up until tomorrow morning.  Damn pollen!

~LL

Is it Friday yet?

Aaron's at preschool this morning.  Hallelujah!  As much as I love being home with my favorite person in the world, Mama needs a break.  I don't know about y'all but this week has just dragged by for us.  Sunday afternoon we headed up to Kennesaw to spend time with family.  We had a wonderful time!  I noticed that afternoon Aaron started coughing, but I didn't think anything of it.  Monday the cough continued and he woke up from his nap with a low grade fever.  Monday night he woke up at 2 AM coughing with a fever of 101.8.  Bless it.  I gave him some Tylenol, got him some juice, and put him in the bed with me (poor hubs got assigned the couch).  So of course, I take Aaron to his pediatrician Tuesday morning where I'm informed that it's viral and has to run its course.  Ugh!  So after a long week of coughs, congestion, and fever it looks like we're on the up and up today.  Aaron has been fever-free for the past 18 or so hours (yay) and was able to head back to school today.  I blame the pollen.  I know allergies don't necessarily cause fever, but it seems like when the yellow stuff gets to swirling around your body reacts as if it has the flu.  Needless to say, we haven't spent much time outside since Sunday.  Ready to get back at it this weekend!

I also had a doc appointment Tuesday morning.  I got to hear that glorious heartbeat (156)!  I still have no clue what is growing in this belly.  I'm thinking it's a boy for sure.  Actually, most everybody thinks it's a boy.  We'll see soon!  My next appointment is April 25th and it's the big heart ultrasound appointment.  I'm incredibly nervous.  I feel confident that this baby is healthy, but of course there's the worry that lingers.  Praying every day!  I'm pretty sure I'll find out what I'm having at that appointment.  Eeekk!  I'm so excited!  I think it's crazy how this ultrasound will fall on Luke's due date.  April 25th.  I think that's him smiling down at me.  It blows my mind that I have a child in Heaven that I've never met.  One day I will.  But for now, I know he's my angel.  He's Aaron's angel, Adam's, and he's this unborn child's angel.  How blessed we are.

On a totally different note, are y'all watching Nashville?  I love this show.  Anyway, Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere are the big stars and they always looks fab.  The shows website has videos on how to get Hayden's look on Nashville and I (of course) love it since I'm obsessed with makeup.  Plus, Hayden is gorge so who doesn't want to know what makeup she wears?!  Anyway, watching these videos makes me want to become a full-fledged Neutrogena girl.  I've never really worn the brand's makeup, but I think once I finish my Makeup Forever foundation/powder combo I'm hitting up Walgreens for some Neutrogena goodies.  This kind've stuff thoroughly excites me, y'all!  I'll keep you posted.....

Which brings me to the question, where's my Birchbox this month??

Before I leave you, here's a little eye candy in the form of ASkars:

I heart him. Via

Happy Thursday!!

~LL

Just when you thought I was gone...

Hi friends!  Wow, I haven't blogged in almost 2 months.  Eeek!  I'm sorry.  I kinda have a way of disappearing sometimes- sorry about that.  I promise to elaborate further on this soon.  I'll just say that this year has proved to be very busy (and exciting) for us! :) 

Let's catch up, shall we?

• I am completely obsessed over the Bachelor Sean Lowe and his fiancee, Catherine Giudici.  Like, stalking them on Twitter and Instagram.  I just think they're two of the most beautiful people on earth, and I am so freakin' excited that they're getting married.  You'd think I knew them or something?  It's getting a little cray.  In other crazy news, I've also found Sean's sister (MixandMatchMama) on Instagram and am now stalking her, too.  They just need to go ahead and get the restraining order.  If this relaysh doesn't continue I might cycle into the deep depression I entered when Edward left Bella in New Moon.  It's getting serious, folks. 
• To add on to the above, I'm also a little stressed that Sean has joined the DWTS cast and his partner is the beautiful Australian hottie, Peta.  Not that I think he's a douche because I honestly think he might be the sweetest/most handsome guy on the planet, I just feel a little bad for Catherine.  Don't you know that all she wants to do is enjoy this delicious man and not share him with that blonde bombshell.  If I were her I would not be waiting on that ABC televised wedding special to make it official; I would go straight to the courthouse.  I mean, let's get real here: there's only so much "making out" you do with Sean Lowe before you say that's it and you get naked.  Just saying what we're all thinking, folks.

image via

image via

• Walking Dead: Gosh, I've totally blanked on covering any of the ep's since it came back on in February.  Honestly, I don't think too much has been going on besides the fact that Rick and the "Guv'nah" are about to do the damn thing.  My sister made a good point this week- she said that she thinks Andrea's going to take the Governor down.  Fingers crossed.  I wish Rick would stop being so mean to everybody, it's not fitting on him.  And I'm sorry, but the whole Glenn/Maggie sex scene just grossed me out; I mean, I think Maggie's adorable and all, but who wants to hook up with Glenn?  Why doesn't Daryl ever get any l-o-v-e?  Now that would be hawt.  Also, what other show/movies has the Governor's right-hand man (you know, the geeky guy with the glasses) been on?  It's driving me crazy!  And Morgan in the ep from two weeks ago just broke my heart.  I still love you, Morgan!!  What are your thoughts?  Only 3 episodes left!

So I totally missed covering the Grammy's and the Oscars (go, JLaw!) but I promise to get back on track!

Happy Hump Day, friends!

~LL

Favorite Things Friday Part Deux

I love Friday's.  Don't we all?  Today, although overcast, has felt (in the words of Penny on Happy Endings) "ahmazing."  Aaron's in shorts and a t-shirt; I'm in cropped jeans, a tee, and flats.  Love it. 

In addition to having coffee this morning with one of my nearest and dearest, I got to hit up "Tarjay" during Aaron's naptime for a few essentials....and a few nonessentials.  Check out my new flats:

Thirteen bucks, baby.  I know they're nothing special; however, the only flats I have right now are hot pink and can be a bit too much when paired with yellow skinny jeans. 

I also came home to two packages in the mail: my leggings order from F21 and my January Birchbox- whoop!

Cute puppy girl not included

I ordered 4 different pairs of leggings Sunday, because I'm over jeans.  I wear them every day.  As much as I love them, some days I just want to throw a cute tunic over some leggings, put on some flats, and be done with it.  I got a gray pair, navy pair, a black, ribbed pair, and an Aztec patterned pair.  Nothing special- they were all on sale so I paid 20 bucks tops on them, and got some free press-on nails with it (just a tad trashy). 

Birchbox included some face/hand cream, eye "gellies" (excited about trying these), perfume, eye primer, and some hair stuff.  Not my fave BB, but nevertheless, they're always nice to find in your mailbox.  The $10/month is totally worth it in my eyes!

Before I forget, I have to tell y'all about my new favorite thing: Caress Sheer Twilight body wash. 

(image via)

Y'all, this junk smells amazing.  Like Bath and Body Works delicious.  Plus, the most you'll pay is $5.  I'm wondering if this is what Bella must smell like to Edward.  So far, Mr. Sparkles hasn't shown up and impregnated me with his half human/half vampire babe, but I'll be sure to keep y'all posted. ;) 


I forgot to mention this yesterday: People's Choice Awards.  Did you watch it Wednesday night?  You know I did.  I only watched to catch a glimpse of my younger lovah', JHutch.  Of course, I got tired of watching it, turned it off at 10:45, and lo and behold, he made an appearance in the last fifteen minutes with JLaw and Liam. 

Look at my little nugget.  I could just put him in my pocket and carry him around. 

They kinda make a cute couple.  Heffa. (image via)

And one last thing before we depart for the evening: Beyonce's GQ interview.  Thoughts?  Celebitchy covered this today.  Can we say egomaniac?  Someone's been hanging around Kanye too much.  Seriously, who does this woman think she is?  Yes, she's beautiful, and enormously talented.  Yes, her concert is the best concert I've ever been to.  But you know what, there are millions of people in the world doing their thing and rocking it, and we don't hear them saying, "I'm more powerful than my mind can even digest and understand."  Girl, get off your high horse and take that blonde weave out of your hair.  When it comes down to it you're a person just like every one else.

And that's my two cents.

Off to love on my most favorite person in the world!

~LL

Happy New Year!!

It's NYE!!  I'm actually excited for our plans tonight.  We're meeting friends for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and then headed back to our friends home for games, drinks, and (I'm sure) a dance party or two.  My sweet parents took Aaron Mo for the night so we can indulge in some much-needed adult time.  I honestly can't remember the last NYE that we got dressed up and went out (that's sad, right?).  Cheers!

So, let's just go ahead and get it out of the way: Kimye's having a beybey.  Celebitchy predicted this last week.  I don't think it's that shocking.  I guess she felt that her clock's ticking and her divorce is dragging, so she might as well get knocked up.  Please God, let this child look like her.  Or Mason.  Or Penelope.  Check out this link for the hilarious twitter reactions to baby Kimye.

What are your resolutions this year?  I have a few.

• To wear a bikini next summer.  I really, really need for this to happen.  For great beach pictures, of course.  MyFitnessPal app is downloading on my phone as I type...
• To let go.  Of everything.  To stop worrying about everything.  To pray and trust that God's in control.  To grow closer in my relationship with Him.  To be a better person.  A better mother.  A better wife.  A better friend.  Just be better.
• To read more. 
• To blog more.
• And finally, to stop cutting my hair off. We don't work well together.

Some things I'm looking forward to in 2013???

image via

The return of this guy (well more like True Blood) in June.   I'm sweating right now.

The return of this show next month.  Eeekkk!  Love them.


And of course, I can't talk about 2013 without talking about this...

Aghhhhh!  JHutch!!  Finnick!!!  Too much excitement for me to handle!!!

Is it bad that all of my excitement involves televisions shows and/or movies?  Oh well.


Anyway, from our home to yours...........

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a side note, Aaron got a helmet to use while riding on his "Show-Wheeler" AKA Four Wheeler, and he refuses to take it off. 

~LL

Let's just call it what is is...

In Anne Hathaway's case, a bad decision. 

The divine, now Mrs. Hathway (or is she Mrs. Shulman, now?), appeared on the Today show this morning to promote her new film, Les Miserables.  Of course, Matt Lauer got down to the nitty-gritty as soon as the interview began and questioned her about her wardrobe malfunction (AKA not wearing underwear) to her premiere.  You can see that video here. 

If you don't feel like watching the whole video, this is what Anne said regarding the incident:

"Well, it was obviously an unfortunate incident ... It kind of made me sad on two accounts. One was that I was very sad that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment, and rather than delete it and do the decent thing, sells it. And I'm sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies sexuality of unwilling participants, which brings us back to Les Mis, because that's what the character [Fantine] is. She is someone who is forced to sell sex to benefit her child because she has nothing and there's no social safety net so yeah—let's get back to Les Mis." (via)

Let's just call it what it is, girlfriend: YOU SHOULD HAVE WORN UNDERWEAR!

You know, normally I support Anne Hathaway.  She's always been one of the "Good Girls" of Hollywood (except for that rumored hook-up with a very married Christian Bale while filming "The Dark Knight Rises"- naughty naughty!) .  She has one of the best mouths I've ever seen, and I think that she should totally rock the hair/bangs combo she sported in "The Devil Wears Prada" because she was ferosh.  However, acting like everyone else is to blame for pictures taken of her brit-brit out and about Tuesday night is just stupid.  Honey, what were you thinking?  Haven't you learned from Britney?  I don't care if you're wearing a thong, wear something!
 Just because she's considered one of the best actresses out there doesn't mean that she can downgrade her situation to our "culture commodifies sexuality" yada, yada,  yada.  It's no one's fault but her own.  If you're a celebrity, in her case a big celebrity, you know a pap is just around the corner with a camera in hand.  BE PREPARED.

Ohhh, Anne.  I hate to say it, but you just went down a few notches with me.  Why couldn't you just come out and say "Yep, probably wasn't my best move."  Why justify something as dumb as that?  Let's get real here.

Moral of this story: underwear is always, always your friend.


~LL

Rant

The past few days these Instagram photos of Rihanna and Chris Brown have been leaking all over the Internet:

image via

image via

Uhhh.  I'm sorry, but they disgust me.  I know that's not a nice thing to say, but if you put it out there people are gonna talk.  Rihanna is the one of the biggest singers/celebrities around; for goodness sakes, she's supposed to be a role model.  And she instagrams/tweets pictures of this?  Her straddling the guy that beat her down 3 years ago.  He tweets a picture of her practically naked with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.  It's gross.  They're gross.  Sorry, I'm not sorry.  (BTW, I want to give a shout out to Ashley over at Kindredly for letting me steal her awesome phrase.) 

What happened to self-respect?  Does she even know what kind of message she's sending out to young women?  "It's okay for a man to hit you.  It's okay to act like a slut."  I know this blog entry is harsh, but I'm so sick of it.  What happened to good role models?  I know there's something to be said for not caring what other people think, but have a little self-respect.  Posting classy pictures like this are doing you no favors:

image via

The thing is, I love her music.  And I'm sure she's probably a really great person.  She's probably just very confused.  I can't imagine living under the telescope she lives under.  It's a double-edged sword.  However, if I see one more picture of her and Chris Brown.....together.....looking like they just crawled out of the bed or are about to hop in the bed.....I'm going to puke.  For real.

Getting off my pedestal...

Walking Dead: I'm glad Sunday was the mid-season finale.  I'm getting bored.  I actually fell asleep 15 minutes before the show ended, and had to re-watch the last thirty minutes yesterday morning.  I will say I was worried that Michonne was going to get taken down by the Guv'nuh's zombie daughter.  Guess we all know how that ended....

Looking forward to seeing Daryl take care of bidness' next year.  Love him.

Sad to say, but those are my thoughts.  I'm kind've in a mood today if you can't already tell.  Luckily, tonight five of my girlfriends and I are going out for a Christmas dinner/gift exchange and we're heading to my fave- Carrabas.  Stoked.  Excited about some vino.  And pasta.

Laters, baby!

~LL

The rundown

It's Monday, y'all!  I'm still recovering from our busy weekend in the Big Apple.  We had such an amazing time.  It was so nice just being away from everything and everybody for a couple of days.  I am so proud to be married to such an amazing, wonderful man.  5 years!  Wow. 

We arrived in NYC around 4 pm Friday afternoon.  The crazy thing was, it was already dark by 4:30.  So what was really 5pm felt like 8pm.  I'm guessing it's because of all of the tall skyscrapers and such.  Anyway, it was breathtaking.  All of it.  I've been to New York twice before and stayed on Times Square both times, and still the sights/sounds/smells never cease to amaze me.  You truly feel like you're in a whole different world.  Anyway, with all of the traveling we were hungry, so needless to say, we found a local burger joint in a side street off of Times Square and had a drink while munching on buffalo wings.  Afterwards, we were ready to explore.  We ended up walking.  We did A LOT of walking.  I have finally figured out how Gisele, Miranda, Alessandra, and the other Victoria Secret baby mamas are able to shed the baby pounds in enough time to fit into a diamond-encrusted bra and panty set for the Christmas Fashion Show: they live in NYC and walk everywhere!  Geez.  If I lived there I'd be a freakin' size 4.  Well, maybe not, but I'd definitely be a size 6!  (wink!) 
Anyway, we walked over to Rockefeller Center and saw the huge Christmas tree.  Breathtaking.  Walked all the way to Radio City Music Hall.  Beautiful.  The Christmas decorations were massive.  We ended up stopping at an Irish Pub for dinner, and then headed back to our room to warm up, and take a break before our next outing.  It was only 7pm but felt like 10 pm!  After gearing up for a second outing with a cup of coffee, we were ready.  The plan was to hop on the subway to head further downtown to see the Empire State Building.  (As a side note, we didn't take cabs at all.  Well, I take that back, we took one cab ride from the airport to our hotel.  It was $60.  At that point, we decided we'd either walk everywhere, or take a page out of JLo's book and hop "On the 6."  Ha!)  This is where the planning should have been better.  You see, if you don't study a NYC Subway map before hopping on said subway you will be confused.  As hell.  Adam and I bought MetroCards, then hopped on a random train thinking it would take us to our destination and we ended up in freakin' Brooklyn.  Um, no thank you.  After an hour spent walking around the Subway station trying to get our bearings, we agreed to start over Saturday, and made the trek back to our hotel. 
The next morning we were ready to take on New York.  Once we had gotten back to the hotel the night before, we made a plan: wrote down everywhere we wanted to go, the train(s) we needed to take, and the paths we needed to walk.  We learned that once you get the hang of the subway system, it becomes A LOT easier.  Our fist stop: SoHo/Tribeca.  We headed to Bubby's for breakfast per my in-laws recommendation.  I'm so glad we did because it was delicious.  All organic.  All "free-range" this, and "fair-trade" that.  We split a breakfast plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon and we both agreed that the pancakes were better than any IHOP combo we'd ever had.  After we left, we walked at least two miles, if not three, to (you guessed it) Dash- the Kardashian baby.  Upon hitting Spring Street (their boutique location) I immediately broke out into a sweat, and my heart started thumping like it was going to pop out of my chest.  "What if Kimye's in there?  What if Kourtney has those presh babes in there?  What am I going to do??!"  I was freaking out.  FYI, as celebrity-obsessed as I am, I'm not the psychotic fan that's going to attack you.  I'm the psychotic fan that cries and has a panic attack when I see you.  I honestly don't know which is worse. 
The doorman (who oddly looked just as excited as I was to be at a Kardashian shop- stalker.) opened the door for us and there we were, in Kardashian territory.  And I was unimpressed.  The clothes were beautiful; you definitely could tell which sister picked out which piece.  The prices were weird, though.  You would pick out a dress thinking it was going to be $700 and it'd be $300.  On the other hand, I found just a simple white tee with Dash embroidered on the front and it was sixty freakin' bucks.  What??!  Knowing that it was one wash cycle away from shrinking I put it down and walked out the door.  Again, I was not impressed.  Not impressed with their super smug employees and not impressed with their weird prices.  The one thing I regret is not getting a picture of the store.  I was so frazzled!  Moving on...
We left from there and made our way to the Financial District in Manhattan.   We were both wanting to see the World Trade Center Towers and how much was rebuilt.  It is still a very somber place.  So much has been rebuilt, yet so much still needs to be done.  I just kept on seeing the pictures in my head of these terrified people running down those same streets 11 years ago as I walked in the very same location.  We didn't have passes to the World Trade Memorial, but I was glad that I finally got to see the rebuilding of these massive buildings.  It truly was extraordinary. 
Since we had basically done everything we wanted to do in the SoHo/Tribeca area (which is so utterly cool by the way) we got back on the subway and headed uptown to Fifth Avenue.  We went from an area where the locals/celebs live and hang out that's not crowded at all to an area where we were once again shoulder to shoulder with every other person.  Major switch-up!  We walked past Harry Winston, the St Regis Hotel, the Trump Towers, Bergdorf Goodman, The Plaza.  Ahhh.....I felt like I was in a movie.  Absolutely amazing.  We stopped at FAO Schwarz and picked Aaron up a collector's box of Hot Wheels.  Talk about panic attack.  FAO is HUGE (2 stories large) and there were no less than a 700 people in the store- no kidding.  I totally felt like I was in the Hunger Games arena  Adam and I walked out breathless, sweating, and grateful we were still alive.  Where's the Xanax when you need it?
At that point we headed straight to Central Park.  Ahhh....paradise.  It was as beautiful and peaceful as it looks in the movies.  As soon as Adam and I got there I started crying.  I don't know if it was because we had just escaped the zoo at FAO, or because it was so amazingly gorgeous, or even because I felt so incredibly blessed, probably all three of those things to be honest, but in that moment I felt like the luckiest girl on the planet.  It was my favorite part of the trip by far.
Afterwards, Adam and I walked the 10 or so blocks back to our hotel and ended up eating a late 2 pm lunch before heading back to the hotel to rest and watch the SEC Championship game.  We were truly exhausted.  I'm not kidding when I say we walked at least 5 miles that day. 
That night, we went to see The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.  It was my second time seeing it; Adam's first.  We were in the very top row of seats, nosebleeds, but the performance was still awesome.  And surprisingly, Adam loved it.  I wore my leather-coated leggings from Fab'rik and felt very New York chic.  I even got a compliment from a local....winning! ;)  All in all, a wonderful night with my hubby.

We had to be out of the hotel by 6 AM Sunday morning to make our 9 AM flight.  It was excruciating.  Then once we got back into town yesterday, we had a family photo shoot late afternoon.  Oh my goodness.  Between flying, dealing with a wine hangover, and trying to get two toddlers to cooperate on a two hour shoot- it was insane!  Needless to say, I'm still recovering today.

I'm so glad Adam and I were able to take this trip.  Our official anniversary isn't until next Saturday, and with Adam's work schedule we celebrated a little earlier.  I will never forget one second of our trip. 

Check out my Instagram or Facebook for pics.  If we're not friends, friend me!

I heart NY.

~LL

Oh.Em. Gee.

Before I even begin, can we count the number of things wrong with this picture??

Ohhh Britney.......where do I even start?

People has this picture on their Star Tracks slideshow today.  I could say that I'm shocked, but I'm not.  The only thing cute about this picture are Tater Tot and Small Fry.  And look, they're growing up!

Britney (and Jamie Lynn) on the other hand?  This is not good, y'all.

Britney is modeling what looks like a summer ensemble from Roses.  The too-tight sleeveless button-down and the vomit-colored denim shorts (hello?) look like they were purchased for a total of $12.99.  I love me some outlet stores, but if I'm going cheap it's going to at least look like I paid a penny for it.  And what's up with that wig?  Girl, get your stylist to straighten out those extensions and pull it back into a nice pony.  Now I'm not claiming to be some fashion connoisseur, but I know if I'm going out in public (even if it is to Walmart) I'm going to have on some pants that cover my ass, and a shirt that covers these girls up.

Jamie Lynn?  Geez.  The shirt would be cute with skinnies/jeggings and flats.....not Uggs.  Which brings me to my next two questions: 1) Who said it would look great if you paired your Uggs with denim cutoffs?; and  2) Is it really that much hotter in LA than everywhere else?
(FYI: I just searched weather.com and LA's High is 64 degrees.  Way too damn cold for booty shorts.  Bam.)

Britney, I am begging you.  Hire me to be your stylist!!  I would have you rocking jeggings, a long tunic with a scarf, and flats so fast you'd be giving Kate Middleton a run for her money.  Let's make this happen.


In other Monday news, it's time for our Dead Recap!  What what.

• Michonne joined our favorite gang of Apocalypse survivors and Carol came back from the dead (or more like a prison cell).
• Andrea is already totally obsessed with The Guv'nah.  Shocker.
• Guy with glasses (forgot his name) thinks he can cure a zombie.  He learned his lesson....thanks to Andrea.  At least she's good for something.
• Okay, I admit.  Merle's a psycho.  But if people would just answer his questions they wouldn't be put in the awful situations they're in: Glen and Maggie duct taped to chairs; Glen having to kill a zombie while stuck to a chair (impressive); Maggie almost getting raped while being stuck to a table.  Sorry, I would just tell Woodbury and company where Rick and camp are.  Baby Judith would be able to live safely (somewhat), Rick and the Guv'nah (as well as Daryl and Merle) could hash it out, and Michonne would just kill everybody.

Blah, blah, blah.  Last night was boring.  And honestly, I found myself checking my Twitter feed through the last 15 minutes of the show and I kinda don't know what else happened. Rut-roh.

I'll be better next Sunday!

~LL

One more thing.....

That I'm thankful for this year??!  My newly discovered love for......

JHutch!

And his fantastic jaw line, and the way he wears a t-shirt, and his Peeta blonde hair (although I totally dig his brunette locks, too)......the list goes on.....

I'm 30.  What's wrong with me?  Oh well, if you can't express your cougar love on your blog, where can you??!

Here is that sweet doll baby in an MTV interview.  Tell me you don't think he's adorbs.

Get More: Josh Hutcherson, Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

And for the last time, Happy Thanksgiving!! ~LL

Tuesday Ramblings

I was so busy yesterday trying to update y'all on celebrity sightings and baby showering, that I forgot to mention one very important thing.........

HAPPY BELATED 32ND BIRTHDAY, RYAN GOSLING!!!

(http://www.ananasamiami.com/2011/01/ryan-gosling-by-mario-testino-for-gq.html)

May all your dreams and wishes come true this year....including dumping Eva Mendes, starring as Christian Grey in 50 Shades, and filming a Drive sequel.  Wait- those are my dreams and wishes! ;)  MUAH!!!


Now for our Walking Dead recap:

• As if I couldn't be more in love/obsessed with Daryl, he went on a frantic search for formula for baby girl, then rushed back to hold her, feed her, and possibly name her.  As Chris Hardwick said on Talking Dead, "I just ovulated." 
• Rick is mental.  I can't decide if I'm surprised or not.  I will say that I'm still quite disturbed over the bloated zombie that consumed Lori; I don't think that picture will ever leave my head.
• Michonne hightailed it out of "Woodbury."  Thank God.  I really don't think I could have handled another week of that attitude.  Girl, chill and go eat a hot dog.
• Governor's walker daughter.  O.M.G.  I kinda love her.  Was it just me or did she calm down when the Governor told her to?  Is there still some human lurking around in that zombie brain?
• I heart Merle.  
• As a side note, Daryl needs to get rid of the poncho.  It's hein.
• Zombie Fight Club?  Normally I am anti-Andrea as I find her extremely annoying; however, I did find that whole shindig weird.

Okay, something needs to be said so I'm just going to say it.  I'm real stressed by all these people sleeping together in this post-apocalyptic world and their hygiene.   Whenever there is sex involved (Glen and Maggie) all I can think about is, "When did they last bathe?"  I know it's weird but it bothers me.  I mean, have y'all seen them shower since the first season at the CDC?  It seems that while breaking into all these houses they would have found some Bath and Body Works Country Apple shower gel or something, right?


Alright, one last thing.  Let's appreciate how gorge our Robby Patts looked last night at the Breaking Dawn 2 premiere:

Delicious

Word on the street is, KStew's being a biyatch and not letting RPatty touch and/or kiss her.  I say dump her and her cheating arse.  She doesn't deserve him and his amazing head of hair, pretty baby blues, and hot English accent.  Girlfriend is lucky he even took her back.

That's my rant for the day.

Oh, and Aaron has Pink Eye.  Grreeeatt.

Enjoy your afternoon!

~LL

"Want a sugar cube?"

Oh my goodness.  So much has happened over the past 48 hours that this blog entry might have to be divided into two.  Wow....where do I start?  From the beginning, folks:

Saturday afternoon me and my Macon girls headed to Atlanta to start the bachelorette festivities for our bride, Jessica. Upon arrival at Atlanta Marriott Midtown (and before the glamming up began) we settled in the lobby to wait for the the rest of the party and have a glass of wine.  While people-watching, we noticed that two big, good-looking, bald men in black sweats walked in together (AKA Bodyguards).  My other friend, Jessica, looked at me and said "what's going on?"  And that's when the first sighting happened.  Sam Claflin.  You may have heard of him.  He's playing Finnick Odair in CATCHING FIRE.....the second installment of THE HUNGER GAMES!  Oh My Jesus.  Here's a Google image:

Before I continue, let me give you some background: I've known exactly who this guy is from the minute they announced the Catching Fire casting.  If you don't already know, I'm obsessed with The Hunger Games.  Well, I'm probably more obsessed with Josh Hutcherson (lovingly known as Peeta), but you can read more about that here.  Anyway, Mr. Claflin is not very well-known, but rest assured, after Catching Fire he will be.  He was also in Snow White and the Huntsman with KStew and her mustache lover and director, Mr. Rupert Sanders.

So while sitting in the lobby, drinking some Pinot Noir, and getting ready to get crunk (yep- I said it) in walks Mr. Claflin.  Looking hot as hell.  Running his fingers through his hair, wearing a scarf, and looking all like a deer in the headlights because he had been caught by the biggest celebrity stalker of all (yours truly).  I was in such shock because here we were, out in Atlanta, me being JHutch/Hunger Games obsessed, and a Catching Fire star walks into the hotel we're staying at.  Craziness. He walked past us and my mouth fell open.  All I could say was, "There's Finnick Odair.  That's Finnick Odair.  Oh my God, that's Finnick Odair."  My sweet friend, Brooke, taking one for the team, walked up to one of the bodyguard's that had lingered behind, and asked him if that was "Finnick Odair." The bodyguard laughed, smiled, and winked at Brooke while nodding his head.  By that point I had recovered and was able to tell Brooke his name was actually Sam Clafllin.  Hilarious. 

An hour or so later, after being advised by my oh-so-smart friend, Kristen, that if a celebrity(s) is in a hotel with a bar, they will indeed be hanging out at that bar, we headed to the bar.  (FYI, I just said bar 3 times.)  At this point we were dressed and ready for the evening festivities.  Got to the bar, sat down, ordered a beer, and I'm not even kidding, within fifteen minutes of arrival Brooke nudged me and said "Is that him?"  Sure enough, I looked out into the lobby and there HE was.  Mr. Sam Claflin AKA Finnick.  Holy Moly!  Brooke, taking another one for the team, (she's so fabulous), walked right up to him, and asked him if he would come over and meet us.  (BTW, how adorable is this?  Brooke said to him "I bet you get this all the time.  And he said, no, I really don't."  Agh!  Love him!).  Anyway, I was trying to keep my composure and remain cool (which I am so not) when I could see him making his way over through the bar mirror.  OMG!!!!  Basically, this is how our conversation went from what I remember:

Me:  Hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finnick:  Hey, hello, hello. (In an adorable English accent)
Me:   How are youuuuuuuu???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finnick:  Great, thank you.  How are you?  Are you the one getting married?
Me:  (Busting out laughing)  No!  I'm already taken!  (More laughter).  (Then I proceed to wave my left hand in the air like Beyonce does in her "Single Ladies" video.  Not good.)
Finnick:  Oh okay.  (Great smile).
Me:  So, are you still filming Catching Fire?
Finnick:  Yeah.....
Me:  And you'll be going to Hawaii soon to film, right??
Finnick:  Yeah.....(getting real nervous because he has just realized he's in the midst of a stalker)
Me:  Awesome!  (How annoying am I?)  Well, I'm a big fan of the Hunger Games and I am so excited for Catching Fire.
Finnick:  Great!  (Another great smile.)
Brooke:  Would you mind if I took your picture with Hayley?
Me:  Before Finnick could answer, "yes, that's a great idea!!!!!!!!!"
Finnick:  Not answering because I have just wrapped my arm around him and am holding on for dear life.  He's scared to death.
Me: After picture, "Mmmmm.....you smell good.  What do you have on?"
Finnick:  Oh, I'm not sure, just bits of everything.  (Great smile- eeeekkkkk!!)
Me:  Oh okay.  Well, congratulations on the movie!  You probably need to run, right?
Finnick:  Yeah, I kinda need to go.  Nice to meet...

And then he was surrounded again.  By my friends.  And me.  Another picture taken (well more like 4 pics taken as everyone was throwing their Iphones at a nice bar patron that offered to take the pictures).  Here's proof people:

Yay!!  How adorable are his dimples?  And hair??  Can we say Finnick OYeah??!

For those of you that have asked me (or are wondering), no, he does not have on a cape. (lol!)  He has on a red sweatshirt that he had tied at the top.  Why?  I don't know.  He's from England.  And you know what, he's hot.  If he wanted to wear a cape, he could wear a damn cape.  Ya feel me?

Did I mention he smelled delicious??!!

Here he is with the bar gang.  We're not excited or anything.

My face is about to crack from happiness.

So that's that.  We met him.  It was fabulous.  I'm still grinning.


However, none of this would have been possible without our bride.  My sweet, precious, wonderful friend, Jessica.  Jessica, is one of the best people I have ever known.  You know how you meet people in life and you connect immediately?  That's what it was like when I met Jessica.  She is the yin to my yang and I love her to pieces.  She is such a beautiful person, both inside and out, and deserves all the love and happiness in the world.  Cheers to you, my friend!!  The big day's almost here!!!

~LL

Would you rather??

People finally released the much-anticipated Justin/Jessica wedding pic cover today.  Here it is in all of it's (or should I say Justin's) glory:

Image courtesy of people.com

These are my thoughts:

• I feel bad for Jessica.  She got the raw end of the deal.  She picked the wrong Mouseketeer!  Hello?!  Ryan G??!  Do I need to break out the "Cry for You" performance??  

• Another reason I feel bad for Jessica: that hein dress.  Why, why, WHY???  She's so beautiful.  I think a touch of pink (a sash, a pair of shoes, a garter) is great.  A dress dipped in pink?  Too much.  Plus, she's the bride.  It's her day.  Why is he the center of attention?  So not surprising.  Look at her face: she's totally questioning what the hell she's got herself into.

I give it a year, y'all.

Those are my thoughts.  Honestly, I'm just over it.  He hasn't done much for me since 2007.

This guy on the other hand:

Um, yes. (image courtesy of people.com)

 I can only imagine the dramz I will inflict upon myself once he and Eva (biotch that pretty Cuban actress) announce their engagement.  Lots of heavy drinking, no showering, Edy's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream consuming, double features of Murder By Numbers/Crazy, Stupid, Love replaying over and over again.  Adam's seriously going to divorce me.

Which do you prefer?  This?

image courtesy of nypost.com

Or this hotness:

image courtesy of abcnews.go.com

I thought so. ;)

And one more for the road:

image courtesy of blogs.babble.com

Happy Wednesday!

~LL