The sun will come out....tomorrow??

I'm in major countdown mode right now.  Counting down the weeks until I give birth, counting down the weeks until my baby showers, counting down the days that I have to get my mostly-empty house ready for a baby shower to be hosted at our home.....you get the point.  This morning, I was seriously counting down the weeks until Aaron goes back to school.  Don't get me wrong, I adore my child, but as I've stated before: mama needs a break.  Yes, I'm in major countdown mode and won't deny it.  I know you're supposed to live each day as if it's your last....yada, yada, yada.....but sometimes you just need to freakin' count. 

I posted yesterday about my weight gain, and how my Doc (and the friendly worker at Subway) both informed me that it was time to cut back.  I got some really nice feedback on FB from dear friends that made me feel better about my new preg bod.  Thank you, loves!  Anyway, last night around 2AM I turned over to lay on my left side and.....the bed broke.  Seriously.  Well, more like collapsed.  I just laid there in a daze; embarrassed because I am obviously an elephant.  Adam, half-asleep said, "what happened?"  Um, I broke the bed.  Sorry...I'm a fat ass.  Turns out, the slats gave out, and therefore the mattress fell down.  My poor hubby, he was giving me every excuse in the book to make me feel better.  I spent the rest of the night worried that any movement might cause the bed to fall through the floor into our basement.  Therefore, I slept maybe 3 hours.  No sleep=a rough day.  I even had to take a Zofran for the first time since first trimester today; I've felt terrible.  I'm blaming all of this on lack of sleep; I just began third trimester yesterday- this can't be the standard for the rest of this pregnancy.  Tonight, I'm going to bed when Aaron goes to bed.

Third trimester has also brought back my distaste for coffee.  I've attempted to drink a cup every day, and after two sips ended up dumping it down the drain.  I just want something cold to drink when I wake up.  My fellow Keurig friends, do they make ice-coffee k-cups?  This is probably a dumb question considering all I need to do is make a regular cup, and pour it into a glass with ice, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

I hit up Marshall's early this afternoon for some home decor.  Have I ever said how much I love this place??  I bought a black entryway table for our foyer, a canvas for our den, a vase of pink (artificial) roses for our dining room table, some yellow and gray throw pillows for our bed, and some new dog bowls for Sophie May.  I could have spent at least two more hours in that place.  This is going to be fun!

Off to order Chinese.  This overcast weather give me no drive to whip up anything in the kitchen.  Looks like a couch/movie night for us.  Enjoy your evening, friends!

~LL

Summer Makeup

This hot weather has me seriously over wearing makeup.  Yeah, yeah, I know it's only been a few days since it's been "hot" outside.  Up until last weekend, I was wearing a cardigan to keep the chill off (Hello? Am I a grandmother??).  Well, the eighty degree days are back in full force and I believe they're here to stay.  You know what's totally not about to stay on my face?  Eyeliner.  This is maj, y'all.  I am a total eyeliner sociopath.  I'm obsessed.  Always looking for new ways to wear it, switching from a pencil, to powder, to gel, etc.  Lining the outside, lining the inside, yada, yada, yada.  I'm an eyeliner freak.  I've watched so many videos on YouTube on how to expertly apply eyeliner (among other things) that I probably could do people's makeup as a side job.  Seriously.  Some days my makeup is a hot mess, but for the most part I think I do pretty good.  (If my makeup sucks, please just send me an anonymous letter/email; OR just don't burst my bubble, k?  Thanks!)

Okay, I might be a little too drastic in saying eyeliner's completely off the table.  I've decided my look this summer will be eyeliner just on the top lid.  I love it too much to completely part with it for 3 long months.  Of course, I'll do the typical going-out smokey eye at night for special occasions (Now that I think about it, that's doubtful as well.  I'm going to be as large as a hippo and probably sweating like a whore in church (Ha! Kidding!)  Might just be best to stick to my new summer makeup regimen of "less is best."  Don't want to scare anyone.)

Anyway, I think my summer makeup basics will include: tinted moisturizer (or BB cream), a light powder to prevent the shinies, some bronzer and highlighter, eyeliner (top lid only), mascara, and of course lipstick.  I know lip gloss rules the roost in the hot days of summer, but I am a total lipstick fool.  And the less heavy eye gives me more drive to wear a bright pink lip.  And when I say bright pink, I'm totally thinking Kourtney K:

So pretty, right?  Via

Here's some of my pinspiration:

Pretty much what I'm thinking of  my summer makeup essentials.  Via

 

 

 

So effortlessly pretty.  Via

If I could afford every item in this pic, I'd buy in a sec.  My birthday is less than a month away..... ;) Via

What are your summer makeup must-haves?

~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

I am totally a blonde at heart

I am such an idiot.  I am on my third iPhone........in a matter of seven days.  I cannot blame pregnancy on this one- just plain stupidity. 

A little background: my original iPhone (the one that I bought at my last renewal in December 2011) has been without a cover since March.  I've been meaning to scour Amazon for an Otterbox (??sp??) and just haven't gotten around to it.  I think we all know that an iPhone without a cover is an accident waiting to happen.  So, last Thursday while getting Aaron out of his car seat, I lay my phone on the trunk and BAM- it hits the pavement.  Aaron runs over to pick it up and all I hear is "uh-oh, Mommy."  Screen shattered.  I mean shattered so bad the fiberglass is coming out in pieces.  Plus, I quickly realize that the sound has been lost when I can't hear Adam on my emergency freak-out call.  Luckily, my sweet mom had just gotten her iPhone 5 and was able to pass on her old iPhone 4 which (of course) was in mint condition because she actually takes care of her things (unlike me).  Last weekend I popped over to Verizon, got them to transfer my number and contacts to her old phone and was set.  Easy peasy.  Cut to this morning when I'm in the tub shaving my legs, my text message notification dings, I pick it up, and PLOP- phone's in the tub with me.  Seriously?!?  I jump out of the tub as fast as I can (I literally thought I was about to be electrocuted), and run my pregnant a$$ into the kitchen, stick my phone into a plastic bowl, and pour a whole box of rice over the phone.  Freaking out.  After observation I see the phone's still working, however; the sound is not (shocker).  After trying a few tricks (i.e. googling "my phone fell in water and I can't hear a damn thing!") like twisting a q-tip around in the headphone jack, etc. phone still was not working.  Grrrrr!  Aaron Mo and I ended up driving up to the Apple store where they informed me there was nothing they could do: I could either wait it out and see if the sound would come back, or they would trade in an exact model for $160.  I chose the latter.  I called Adam when I left and all he said was "order an Otterbox (??sp??) now!!"  Some days I feel so bad for Adam that he got me; today is one of those days.


In other news, we (as you know), are in major house-hunting mode.  We still haven't found anything we're in love with yet, and we are not going to settle for less.  Really, really hoping the right house with the right price will pop up sooner than later, but in the meantime I can't stress about it.  With all of that being said, we've decided to put a little money into our house to make it more updated.  We definitely can't afford to spend an arm and leg to remodel the whole house, but we feel there are some tweaks we can make without breaking the budget.  Our first project will be our kitchen floor (hopefully).  We've had this beige linoleum since we bought the house in 2006 and I've despised it since the moment we've moved in.  We're thinking we want to tile the floor provided it falls within our budget.  Our kitchen is relatively small, so while it won't be cheap, I don't think it'll be horribly expensive either.  Adam's going to measure the kitchen, write an estimate, and we'll go from there.  The other "tweaks" on my list include:

• Re-tile bathroom floor in master bathroom (again-super small bathroom so I don't think it'll put us in the hole).
• I'd like to put in a new bathroom vanity in the master bathroom, too.  I'm sure this probably would be the last thing we do.
• Instead of installing new kitchen cabinets (would love to do this but that would most definitely be out of the budget) we're probably just going to put new hardware on.  Our cabinets are already white and I think going any darker would make our kitchen look smaller.
• Another thing I would love to do but is not cost effective is new interior doors.  Hence, new door knobs!  Less expensive and I heard new doorknobs can do a lot for interior doors.  Have to check the pricing on that.

Do y'all recommend Lowe's or Home Depot?  Who has better prices?

Have a good day!

~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

I want to be just like Zooey...

Do y'all watch New Girl?  It's mine and Adam's favorite show.  If you aren't watching it- WATCH IT!  My mom was actually the one that told me about this show over a year ago, and we haven't missed an episode since.  Zooey Deschanel is adorable.  This is coming from someone who used to think Zooey Deschanel was annoying.  Seriously- you can ask my husband.  Have you seen her Cotton commercial?

My annoyance with Zooey soon disappeared once I started watching this show.  Now?  I can't get enough of her!  I really do think that her character, Jess, is based on herself.  She just doesn't really seem to be trying that hard, if you know what I mean?  I just adore her and feel that if she lived in Macon, G-A we'd be the best of friends.  For real. 

Anyway, one of the *many* reasons I adore her is her girlish sense of style.  Her look involves lots of feminine pieces.  (i.e. dresses, leggings, tights, flats, hairbands, etc).  Here's a sample picture of Jess' wardrobe on New Girl:

I would wear every single piece.  Including the glasses. (image via)

Now, I know her wardrobe is super prissy.  But God, I can't help it.  I love it!  I kinda want to dress like her.....every day.  Thoughts?  Too much?  Adorable?

Another reason I love her?  Her hair and makeup.  (Disclaimer: this post is making me seriously miss my long, dark hair.  Dammit.)  Hence, this photo:

(image via)

 I like that she's not afraid to pair a strong eye with a colored lip without going overboard.  You see, I'm one of those that loves my eyeliner and loves my lipstick.  I've always worn both and worried (at times) that it was too much.  However, girlfriend gives a sista hope!  As this photo suggests, sometimes the eyes and lips can work together.  Lerve.

(image via)

The hair's pretty fab, too.  I've googled to see exactly how she styles that gorge mane of hers, and it seems that she uses both rollers and/or a curling iron.  My hair up in rollers = hot Shirley Temple mess.  Therefore, I'll just stick with my curling iron.

So that's it.  I let the cat out of the bag.  Zooey Deschanel/Jess Day is my ultimate girl crush.  If you watch New Girl she might be yours, too!  Here's some clips of the hilarity:

WATCH IT!!! ;)

~LL

What is Santa bringing YOU??

I cannot believe Christmas is only 5 days away.  Heck, Christmas Eve is only 4 days away and it's almost as big of a deal as Christmas day is!  I was just talking to my sister-in-law on the phone about who's bringing what to our family gathering Monday, and we both agree that it doesn't really feel like Christmas.  With all of the turmoil and devastation of last week, it's been a very difficult week for many.  Hopefully, I'll get into more of the "Christmas spirit" over the next few days.  In the meantime, I'm excited about giving (and of course, receiving).  Of course, the real reason for Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, and I've been reading the Christmas story to Aaron this week so he can somewhat understand.  However, he sees Christmas presents and his eyes light up with excitement.  I can't help but be excited for him.  I'm excited, too.  I mean, what time of the year (besides your birthday) can you tell people what you want?  Sooo....without further ado, here's my ultimate wish list.  Hope I've been good this year!

The Naked 2 palette.  Dying.  Obsessed.  All those pretty colors.....all the different combinations......all the different looks....agh!  Love.it.  Ashley over at Kindredly had this on her "wants" list a few weeks back and I followed suit.  It's just too fabulous not to!  Luckily I was able to send this palette via my +Sephora app to my mother-in-law.  Fingers crossed!

 Mix No. 6 Orion Wedge Boot.  I was online shopping at DSW for Riding Boots and found these instead.  I can't resist a heel....or in this case a wedge.  The color is "cognac" so I can wear it with both brown and black....hopefully!

An ifinity scarf.  I wear a scarf as much as possible.  In fact, most every day.  Since my daily attire usually involves jeans, jeggings, or leggings, tunics or tees, and boots/flats I need something to make me feel better about myself when my biggest outing of the day is a trip to the McDonalds playground.  A'la: a scarf!  And since I basically have worn out the whole loop the scarf through the hole, tie it in a knot look, I needed something different.  That's where the infinity scarf comes in!  All you do is put it around your neck, make a figure 8, and, VOILA- a chic, new way to wear the scarf begins!  The one above is from Target.

The Clarisonic Mia 2.  I don't know what it is, but ever since I've turned 30, my body has gone into pre-puberty wack-out mode.  My hair is greasier than ever, as well as my face.  I've had more zits on my mug in the past 4 months than I've had in the past 4 years!  I've done everything: brought the mildest face wash on the market (Cetaphil) and alternated that with an apricot scrub every other day; that didn't work.  Bought the expensive Mary Kay Timewise cleanser; that didn't work.  I'm over it.  After doing my research I decided this might be the answer to all my face woes.  And yes, I've made sure Santa (AKA Adam) is giving me this as I've already ordered it for myself.  Here's to hoping and wishing it all works as planned!

Now you tell me, what's on your wish list??

~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

Twilight Thursday

Tonight is Breaking Dawn premiere night.  I am pumped.  My girlfriends and I are going to the 10 pm showing at Tinseltown and I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with myself for the next 9 hours.  Torturous.  I'm also sad that the whole franchise is over.  Where did the time go?  I remember in late 2008 when everyone was talking about "Twilight."  I just didn't see the appeal.....until I finally picked the book up in December 2008.  Whoa.  At the time I was working as a Financial Aid Counselor at a local college, and in between working and lunching, I read.  I could not put the book down!  Luckily, the staff was given a two-week Christmas holiday, and between Christmas presents/money I was able to buy the next 3 books (which were, I swear, like 500 pages each) and finished the next 3 within 7 days.  That's how crazy I was.  I remember I finished Breaking Dawn New Years Day and I cried.  Horrible.  I had invested so much time and emotions into those damn books that I was depressed when they were over.  That's when the vampire obsession began.  Cut to late 2011, New Years Eve, when I picked up the third book in the Sookie Stackhouse series and the vampire obsession went from this:

(http://robertpattinsonwho.com/?p=8901)

To this:

(http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/alexander-skarsgard?before=1336823750)

You're welcome.


I've totally been stalking the Breaking Dawn premiere photos, and although I'm certain she's a hein witch, KStew has been looking pretty fierce thus far.  Exhibit A:

(http://www.sheknows.com/beauty-and-style/articles/976863/kristen-stewart-at-the-breaking-dawn-premiere)

Here she is in Zuhair Murad at the Los Angeles premiere.  I know critics have been off and on about this dress, but I think she looks stunning.  And (I will probably catch flack) LOVE this dress.  I do.  I think it's fabulous.  And, she has the perfect bod for it.  Somebody super curvy (a' la: Kim K, Sofia V, ME!) couldn't pull it off.  It's made for super skinny, straight people, but hello?!  Girlfriend's got bootay!  I'm impressed.  No wonder RPattycake can't stay away. He's an ass-man.  Taking note.  Moving on.

Here she is at last night's premiere in London.  This is my fave:

(http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2012/11/14/twilight-kristen-stewart-style-breaking-dawn-london/)

She looks hot.  Love the lacy, see-through bodysuit.  This is also designed by Zuhair Murad.  It shows just enough in my opinion.  Looks like the days of this are over.  Thank God. 

Now, off to catch a nap while my baby naps.  Got a big date tonight. ;)

~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

Thoughts

I went to Tarjay today to pick up a few essentials and non essentials (shhh....Adam doesn't know.....yet).  Check out my loot:

Beige Lacy Dress

I'm thinking I'll wear this to Natalie's baby shower that I'm co-hosting Sunday afternoon.  It's short so I'll have to wear leggings/black tights underneath, but I'm thinking this with my new BCBG's and some fancy earrings.  What do you think?

Colored Tights

Eeeekkk!  I love these.  I love wearing tights/leggings, and hello??!  Colored tights/leggings??!!  A prissy girl's dream come true!!  Too much?  I'm thinking they will add oomph to a LBD or any solid dress for that matter.

And finally, above is the F21 dress that I'm planning on wearing to Jessica's Bach party Saturday night.  The whole shebang (minus the accessories).  How does it look?  Can you tell I'm majorly sucking in?  No Chick-Fil-A  (at least until next week), shawty!

~LL

Weekend Review

This weekend has totally flown by.  Today I have done nothing.  Well, me and my boys went and indulged in Mexican for lunch and I grocery shopped, but other than that- nothing.  It's been fabulous.

Yesterday was busy.  Last night, me and three of my girlfriends hosted a couples shower for my friend, Jessica, who's getting married in December.  We also have her Bachelorette party in "The A" next weekend which I'm insanely excited about considering I haven't experienced a GNO on the town in quite awhile.  I am positive it will involve: lots of Spanx, a penis necklace and a crown, a dance-off of some sort, some drunk tears, and possibly some vomitage.

Anyway, the shower went off without a hitch.  The food was delish, the guests seemed entertained, and most importantly, the Bride and Groom were happy.  The only thing that was terribly embarrassing (of course, on my part) was when I mistakenly asked a guest if they were going to the Bachelorette party, and she had no clue what I was talking about.  Hello?  Social radar!  Stuck.foot.in.mouth.  I felt horrible....so I drank.

Here are some pics:

The hostesses w/ the Bride: L-R: Laura, Me, Jessica (The lovely Bride), Kristen, & Nicole

BTW, every time I say "Bride" do you think of "Franck" in FOTB?  I do.

Here are a few other pics of the evening.  One thing I learned after looking at the pictures: only tall and thin girls need to wear a dress that hangs straight down that while absolutely adorable (shop my friends boutique Ella Bleu- the clothes are amazing!) made me look like a chunky midget.  Here's proof:

Exhibit A: Me with Eric and Jessica.  Love the top of the dress.

Exhibit B: Me w/ both Jessica's (aren't they lovely?).  Should've worn heels instead of cowboy boots.  I look like a hobbit.

Exhibit C: Uhhh....not good.  Especially standing next to these hotties.

 Moral of this story: I need waist definition in dresses.  Taking note.  Moving on.

I hope all of you have had a wonderful weekend!  If you get a chance, send my father-in-law, David, a positive thought.  He is an avid Dawgs fan, goes to every game, and is at every tailgate cooking up some yummy food for every body, every weekend.  Yesterday, while cooking up a low-country boil at the tailgate, accidentally walked in flip-flops through boiling water (that someone had poured out without him knowing) and got badly burned on his feet.  So bad in fact, that Athens ER rushed him via ambulance to the Augusta Burn Unit where he had surgery today.  :(  Positive thoughts/prayers appreciated!

Enjoy your evening!

~LL

This is my life

Happy Belated Halloween!

I meant to post yesterday, but I had a cooking disaster yesterday morning that has left my hand looking like this:

FYI: Never let me fry sausage patties....like never, ever.  I was channeling my inner Pioneer Woman yesterday morning: turning a rotisserie chicken into chicken salad, and thought "Hey, while you're at it, why don't you fry up those sausage patties in the fridge and make your own version of a Sausage McMuffin?"  Um, never again.  My inner voice told me this was a bad idea as soon as I put the skillet on the stove (always listen to your inner voice, people!).  As the sausage was frying I flipped a patty over and hot grease splashed all over my right hand (cue bloody murder scream).  I think I might need a skin graft.  Regardless, my career in hand modeling was over before it started.  Dammit.

So that little kitchen mishap kicked the day right on off.  I couldn't even take a shower and wash my hair because my hand was in so much pain.  I had to break out the ole' 80's shower cap, and bathe with my left hand...hilarity.  I'm going to tell you what I wore yesterday so you can have a good laugh: black velour pants (because I think I'm JLo circa 2002), a gray tank, a long white cardigan, brown Uggs, and my greasy, unwashed hair pulled back into a pink baseball cap.  Sexay.  AND, I wore this classy number all day yesterday.  Heck, I couldn't even wear makeup- just lipstick, because of this hand injury.  To add to all of the drama?  Sophie May had her annual Vet check-up yesterday afternoon (shots, etc) and a new Vet has taken over the practice, and he's HOT.  I mean like, "What are you doing in Forsyth, Ga hawt?!?"  I literally couldn't have gotten out of there faster.  I started breaking out in that horrible upper lip sweat I do when I get nervous, and my ears had turned a bright shade of tomato.  As a side note, whenever I'm in a situation where I'm nervous, anxious, excited, etc. my ears always turn a bright shade of red.  Never fails.  If I ever do run into ASkars he's probably going to run because it looks like I might spontaneously combust.  This is my life.

Anywho, my hand is better today and I can actually move it without feeling pain.  Aaron and I hit up the dreadful Walmart last night (Tip: if you go to Walmart on Halloween hardly anybody's there) and I got some good burn cream.  We ended up staying in last night.  Aaron had already done the "trick or treating" thing last weekend, Adam was working, and I honestly didn't feel like getting a 2 1/2 year old out in the mix.  I was bummed, but Aaron's still too young to understand what Halloween is.  I definitely think next year will begin the fun, door-to-door trick-or-treating that we loved so much as kids.  I ended up cooking a pot of chili, and catching up on Modern Family eps.  Not the best Halloween, but not the worst either. 

This morning while the little tater tot was at preschool, me and my friend, Jessica, hit up Dillards, Belk, and DSW.  I was looking for some hot pumps for a Bachelorette party next weekend, and y'all I found them.....on clearance at DSW, nonetheless!

BCBG....originally $84.95 got them 30% off for $58.  Still a little bit too much, but they are BCBG, and I do need a pair of platform pumps as I don't have any.....I'm totally trying to justify this purchase and I can't.  It's frivolous and that's that.  I love them and if I don't bust my ass in them, they will be the best 58 bucks spent on shoes in a long time.

Alright, lovers.  Enjoy your day!

~LL

Dead Recap & other shenanigans...

Alright, first things first.  Let's talk Walking Dead, folks.

• Rick is quite the a-hole these days, huh?  Okay I get it.  Your wife cheated on you with Shane.  Technically, she thought you were dead, and let's all just admit that pre-psycho Shane was pretty damn hot.  Then, Shane went all Fatal Attraction and ending up "making" Rick kill him.  Whatevs.  It's over....Shane's gone...move on, Rick.  You've got a lil' bambino on the way, and your son is seriously on.my.nerves.
• Hershel survived.  How on earth that happened, I have no idea.  I kinda wanted him to get all zombie-fied, y'all.  Wouldn't that have been the most freaky/hilarious thing ever?
• Carol killed a zombie and then performed a "caesarean" on said zombie.  Whattt????  That's cray, girlfriend.
• Rick killed 2 convicts without the blink of an eye.  Someone's taking this "take no prisoners" thing seriously. 
• And, since I am such an obsessive WD fan, I also DVR Talking Dead which comes on at 11 on AMC Sunday nights. Annnndddd, guess who's making a reappearance next Sunday??!!!!

MERLE!! T-Dog betta run!!  (image courtesy of: http://tvfilmnews.com)

 

 

 

 

This weekend flew by.  We traveled to Winston-Salem, NC to visit my in-laws for the weekend.  It was truly a great, relaxing weekend.  We always come home rested and at least a few pounds heavier as my mom-in-law is the best cook ever.  Thanks for the R&R, Grandaddy and Ba Chan (as Aaron Mo would say)!

I voted today and it was easy-peasy.  Glad that's out of the way!

Came home to find that my Loft Curvy Skinnies had arrived.  Dolls, they are cuuuuute, fit like a glove, and are so well-made!  Will post pics this week.  

I purchased this dress from Forever 21 yesterday for my friend, Jessica's, bachelorette party in just a few short weeks:

Do you likey?  I do.  I think the high neck takes away from the short skirt.  Just hoochie enough for "da club." (ha!)  Plus, I like the bibb necklace as well- might have to scoot over to Charming Charlie's. Now to see if it'll actually look this good......looks like calorie counting starts NOW!

~LL

Catching up

Okay, fess up.  Who watched Nashville last night?  Was it not great?  New fave.  As if I don't have several other shows that I'm obsessed with, let's just add this one to the list.  Love that it's filmed in Nashville (which btw is gorge) and love the country music.  Connie Britton is so attractive, right?  She's 45, y'all.  If I look that good at 45 I can die a happy woman.  Hayden Panettiere plays a good mean girl and she, of course, is adorable.  My only complaint?  Besides Connie Britton, the fake southern accents are annoying.  Especially the blonde that works at The Bluebird Cafe and calls Joshua Jackson (AKA Lucky) her boyfriend; her accent is the worst.  Like Anna Paquin's "Sookie Stackhouse" awful.  Writer and Producers: if you're going to film a southern TV series/movie about southern people, get actual southern people for the job.  It's almost offensive how bad they make us sound.

So we didn't end up going to the beach this week.  :(  Sad, sad face.  Turns out, the owner of the condo we were supposed to stay in, was trying to tack on $250 in fees (100- pet fee/150- clean-up fee) for only 3 nights.  Um, no.  Ridiculous.  And stupid.  This guy could have made some quick cash this week considering that we just decided to book a condo this past Sunday; if the condo was not already booked by that point I'm sure it was not going to get booked.  Uhhh.....some people are annoying.  That's my rant for the day..

Beach trip nevertheless, I truly have enjoyed this week with it's beautiful weather and fall breeze.  We took Aaron to the Griffin Fair Tuesday night and he had a blast, wanting to ride every ride that he could (just like his Mama).  I didn't take a lot of pics, but the ones that I did take were adorbs.  Check my Instagram.

Yesterday, Aaron, my mom, my sister, and I went shopping in Senoia at the Senoia Historic District.  I.Love.This.Place.  I want to move to this town....for reals.  We shopped at the Pink Door boutique (super cute clothes and amazing prices), and Table Talk (I accidentally broke a candelabra.....oops), and ate lunch at Redneck Gourmet.  Another huge reason to move here: The Walking Dead is filmed here.  And of course, I'm obsessed with that show as well.  New season premieres this Sunday.  What could be more awesome than casually running into a zombie as you head out to dine at Zac Brown's new restaurant, Southern Ground Social Club?

That's it.  I've mustered all my creativity today.  A good portion of that creativity was focused on styling the perfect flip-out for my hair today, and while my left side looks Posh, my right side looks more like Nick Nolte's mug shot.

TGIThursday.

~LL

Sweet Sundays

Hey dolls!

Are y'all enjoying your weekend?  No complaints here.  I love Sunday's, but I especially love Sunday's at home with my boys and my sweet puppy girl.

The one thing that's suffered this weekend?  My diet.  Blah.  I have the My Fitness Pal App on my phone, and y'all, that app really is great.  It's so easy to just plug in the amount of calories you consumed at each meal, and it even has a scanner that let's you scan the barcode of the box/package of whatever you're eating without having to plug the calories in manually.  I did SO good last week.  Seriously.  I recorded everything I ate, and managed to stay under 1200 calories each day.....then Friday hit.  Aaron and I were out and about running errands Friday morning, so (I told myself) it was just more convenient to swing through Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  I didn't do horrible (Grilled Chicken Sandwich), but I could have done better (Medium Waffle fries).  For dinner?  Since it was the big Braves game and Adam had a friend over, I thawed out last week's Taco Soup (Delicious and low fat), but topped that off with tortilla chips and Sausage dip (complete with Velveeta Cheese).  Then I added 2 glasses of Riesling on top of that.  Bad, bad girl!

Yesterday, me and one of my besties, Katie, drove up to Atlanta to visit another bestie, Kim.  It was the perfect girls day of shopping, and well, lunching.  We ate at Social Vinings (which by the way is amazeballs), on their outside patio enjoying the perfect weather and warm breeze.  We even indulged in dessert (don't judge), and although my jeans were totally hating my guts, my soul was happy and that's all that mattered.

Afterwards, we did a little sidewalk shopping at some of the precious boutique/antique shoppes in Smyrna.  Check out the loot:

Skull scarf, Silver Chandelier earrings (b/c you just can't have enough), & a Keep Calm & Carry On mini book (love these)

Sorry the picture quality's not great.  Anywho, I am absolutely obsessed with this scarf.  And no, I didn't buy it because I saw Kris Jenner wear it on KUWTK (maybe I was a tad influenced but I would've loved it anyway).  Cannot wait to pair this with a white tee, jeggings, and flats and GO!

Sunday's normally aren't my favorite days, but today has just been exceptionally wonderful.  Besides the 6:30 AM wake-up yell from Aaron Mo, it definitely made it worth it when after putting him in the bed between me and Adam, he grabbed my cheeks and said "Mommy, I wuv you."  Ahhhh......heart grows as big as the Grinch's.  I thought, since we're up early we should go to early church.  Did that happen?  No.  And I'm still feeling a little guilty.  Yes, I do think Aaron should be brought up in a church.  But today, I just wanted to cuddle with my boys and Sophie May, and enjoy an early Mexican lunch (while beating the church crowds- ha!).  

And in other news, I just found out we're going to the beach this week- Whoop!  Just me, Aaron Mo, my mom, and sister.  Only for a few days, and only to St. Simons, but hey- it's the beach!  I'm making a note to take my laptop so I can blog while I'm there.  I always seem to get inspired with my toes in the sand.

I hope you're enjoying your day doing whatever it is that pleases you. 

XOXO,
LL

Less Is More

In an attempt to keep things bipartisan (hehe) following the Presidential Debate, today I'm talking nude lips.  Yep, I never thought I'd be discussing how much I love a nude lip but I absolutely do.

I'm a lipstick girl.  Always have been.  I love my pinks, berries, roses, and sometimes reds.  I always have.  I think I've worn lipstick since I was in eighth grade....seriously.  Luckily, my 8th grade experimentation (i.e. brown lipstick- think Kim Kardashian in the KUWTK early years) happened so long ago that there's no evidence of my lapse in judgement.....I don't think there is, anyway.

Anywho, I got a text a couple of months ago from my gorge friend, Heather.  (Her and her hubby are responsible for our adorable header above.  Their company, Graceology Photography, is awesome!)  Heather knows how much I love makeup, and had texted me a picture of a nude lip combo she had purchased at CVS.  Feeling inspired, I bought my own nude combo at Target a couple of days later.

Loreal Colour Riche lipliner in Au Naturel, Loreal Colour Riche lipstick in #800 Fairest Nude, & Milani Glitzy Glamour Gloss in #50 Center Stage

It's soft and simple.  I am digging the nude lip for Fall.  Seriously.  InStyle posted a great article about the nude lip, and how pretty it can be- go check it out.  Of course, I'll always love my berries/roses/pinks, but a change can do you good.

I would post a pic, but I'm having a seriously bad hair day (am really wishing my hair would grow out but that's a whole other post for a different day). 

That's my makeup obsession of the day.  MWAH!

~LL

Up All Night

Hey peeps!

How was your weekend?  Mine was great.  Since the hub's is working in Atlanta, I dropped Aaron off at my parents and headed to The A Saturday night.  It was so fun to get away for the evening, even if it was spending the night in a hotel room with my hubby. 

When Adam goes out of town for work he always gets a rental car for the trip.  So, as we were walking out of the Marriott Saturday night, Adam whipped the keys out and cranked up a 2011 Silver Yukon from the sidewalk.  Y'all, we felt so high class.  Usually his rentals are a nice, reliable, good gas mileage car.  Needless to say, we were loving driving around a big gas guzzler Saturday night.  I was hoping if I told Adam how hot he looked driving it, he might be interested in making a purchase, but it hasn't seemed to work thus far.  We'll see how that goes...

We ended up driving to North Marietta to see my sister and her husband's new home.  It was, of course, beautiful.  I'm ashamed to admit, but I have a jealousy streak that's a mile wide.  It's not a great quality, but at least I'm owning up to it.  Anyhow, when we pulled into the driveway in their fancy subdivision, and I laid my eyes on her wonderful new home, all I could feel was happiness for her and Dillon.  No jealousy, no envy, just pure joy.  It was so nice walking into her home, and not comparing, nor feeling sad because Adam and I don't live in a fancy neighborhood, with a Homeowners Association, and a garden tub.  Right now, we're good in our cozy, little brick home.  Maybe we'll have that one day...maybe we won't.  Among the many blessings we do have, the most important one is asleep in his little room, snuggled up with his "night-night," and that makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

With all of that being said, I am SO ready to move to Atlanta after this weekend.  I absolutely loved being there amongst it all.  The good restaurants, the great shopping, the convenience of everything, the fact that I might run into JHutch at any moment (because he is filming Catching Fire in Atlanta right now).  I loved it.  It's no secret that my hubby's looking for a job closer to home, and if that job takes us to The Atl, I wouldn't mind one bit.

Enjoy your Monday, friends!