Sweet Saturday + Some Links

And by sweet I mean chilly and wet. Oh so wet. It's been pouring all day long and apparently it's supposed to snow tonight! Snow in Tennessee... in December?! Hardly ever! It's "supposed" to accumulate so I'm hoping that it does. That'd be a treat!

I guess I should start with last night. I went to work last night hoping I'd feel better and I'm happy to report that I did! It's much easier to feel better when you're out and about as opposed to being cooped up all day complaining about being cooped up and sick! Luckily we were fairly busy too so it flew by. We came home however and Mike passed right out to bed and I laid awake for 2 extra hours. Finally found myself sleeping at 4:30am but waking up at 9:30. Fortunately I feel fairly well rested so it was okay.

Today we got dressed and headed into town. We ran to the mall [bad idea in December!], grabbed lunch at Garcia's, picked up a few things and then came home. We ran to Target, baked brownies and watched "Love and Other Disasters" on Netflix. Now I'm updating here, going to get dressed, and do the work thing all over again! It's crazy that Christmas is two weeks from today! Sheesh! Where did 2010 go?!

I was interviewed by Fresh Fashion Faces a few weeks [months?!] ago and the interview finally went up. You can check it out here if you desire.

Who is pumped about the season finale of Dexter tomorrow night?!?! I cannot contain my excitement. Mike and I are positively giddy and nervous and just... ahhh! I'm ultra excited there will be a season 6 because I really started to worry! My Sundays wouldn't be the same without Dexter!

I have a few links to share that I haven't in a while!

The first is for SHOP IT TO ME. If you haven't heard of SITM yet, it's a site that sends you all these rad sales [in just one convenient email] to brands of your choice. Marc Jacobs, Free People, J. Crew, Urban Outfitters.. etc... up to 50% off! You can also invite other people to join and then you get giftcards. Woo hoo! CLICK HERE if you'd like to sign up!

EBATES is an online shopping site that gives you a percentage of your purchase back as a rebate! Places like Target and such give you 5%+! Save on lots of your shopping. It's the perfect time for saving! CLICK HERE if you'd like an invite code!

Hopefully I'll have some giveaways up from our sponsors tomorrow! Be sure to check back and enter to win some lovely prizes in time for the holidays!

Now I need to rush off and find something to wear! Too-da-loo!

PS; What are your favorite movies to watch on Netflix Instant Play?!?! Give 'em to me! ;)

TiMER.

I just woke up from a several-hour Nyquil induced nap and let me tell you, I shouldn't have got so excited about feeling better yesterday because it came back with a vengenence. I couldn't sleep until 4am, and even then I got up at 9. I'm fighting with my FTP for my portfolio site and let's just say that I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. Not to mention I have to be at work tonight and I'm a hot mess all around. I hope I can make it!

But enough of that hullabaloo. The other night Mike and I laid on the couch and watched "TiMER" on Netflix. We're suckers for Netflix Instant Play because we've had the same DVD for about 4 months now. [Probably longer] It's that bad. I vow to send it back the minute I leave the house... whenever that is. Anyway, Netflix gave this a 4.6 in terms of our taste so we were like okay, let's watch it. 

Basically the idea is: They've invented a timer which is implanted into your wrist and when your soulmate gets one it starts counting down until the exact moment when you will meet them. Of course, both people have to have the timer for this to work. But it seems that everyone is doing it and it's not a new idea either. Well this gal has her timer but it hasn't "zeroed out" yet [the time where it starts counting down] so she knows her soul mate hasn't opted for one... yet. She meets this guy 8 years her junior and they hit it off. He refuses to get a timer, but they love each other. Is this her soul mate? DUN DUN DUNNNN.

I almost hate writing a synopsis of movies because I don't even like to read the "preview text" on the screen. I like to be surprised. So here's the trailer if you want to watch it!

Anyway, I really enjoyed it. We both did. [By the way! Our favorite detective to hate, Quinn, is in it! That's right! Dexter fans unite! He's got a chubby face and facial hair, too!]

So my question is: If you could have a device that would tell you the exact moment your soulmate came into your life, would you?

My answer: No way. At least, I don't think so. [Though when you find yourself single for a certain period of time you're guaranteed to want to go "check it out". That takes all the fun out of it. Sure, you might be able to forego heartbreak and disappointment, but you're likely to avoid all relationships until that moment because you know they'll end. It's like the worst thing to hang above a relationship.... a big ol' sign saying "Destined to fail!".

I highly recommend the movie. It's on instant play so you can stream it immediately! Let me know if you've seen it [and what you thought!] or if you decide to give it a go! xo

Friday Favorite: Romantic Comedies!

This week's Friday Favorite is just a teensy bit different than normal. It was Mike's suggestion on the subject matter (and I couldn't agree more!) so I'm going to post my all-time favorite rom-coms! I'll probably forget most of them but feel free to chime in with your own, too! [Also, a lot of these won't be your typical poster-child for romantic comedies, but they have an air of romance and humor about them!]

That's just a handful because I realized quickly how hard it was to remember rom-coms that I loved on the spot. Mainly because you've got stuff like Knocked Up which is traditionally just a comedy but you know what, whatever! 

What are YOUR favorite romantic comedies? Feel free to suggest some so I can snag them on Netflix!

Tuesday, again?!

Howdy ho there, partner! Two updates in one day you say? Whaaa! Okay okay... Liz and I just got back from seeing Toy Story 3. We decided to forgo our usual gym routine and treat ourselves to some childhood flashbacks, laughs, and probably some tears, too. 

First off, can you believe the first Toy Story came out fifteen years ago! I was only SEVEN! Oh my! While I can't tell you too terribly much about the second one (it's been a while!), I can tell you that without a doubt, this was the best movie I've seen this year! Tuesdays were always my date night with Mike, so I had to do a little compromising but we had a wonderful time. Movie tickets are so expensive in NYC ($16.50 each! Eep!) but it was well worth it! There wasn't a single minute of the movie that wasn't entertaining! So much laughter and so many memories. I thought it was awesome how it was definitely made for our generation. Not even for our little brothers or sisters. There's so much that kids today wouldn't understand and it was a wonderful ending to a great story. I held back the tears (for the most part) until I saw a guy 2 rows up from me crying. Then I just kinda decided to go with it. There was a girl behind me that at one point had to catch her breath. It was definitely a treat and I recommend it to anyone who wants a little taste of nostalgia.

Afterwards I popped over to The Lyric Diner and grabbed a veggie burger to go. You'd think that all I ever ingested were pickles, Naked juices, and oj by the looks of my fridge! Grocery shopping tomorrow... a must! Now I'm hanging out at home while I wait on Mike to get back home so we can Skype.

Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week! I have Thursday, Friday, AND Monday off since Mike is in town! Woo hoo! You can be that this weekend will be full of photos, picnics and adventures! I'm so excited he gets to come visit for the holiday! Do any of you have any sweet plans for the 4th?! This is my first year away from home [and by away I mean "away away" aka 1000 miles from my family]. I don't know what we'll get into, but I can for sure tell you that we will NOT be going to Governor's Island! She and Him are playing a free show but I can't even imagine the mad house! 

Anywhoo, I'm off of here! Im gonna try to catch the series premier of Huge online! There was a big ruckus over it at work today and apparently everyone loved it. Did you watch it? What did you think?  I'll be back with my daily photo soon!

xoxo

PS; Thanks for everyone's reactions and comments on the last post! It was really great to hear what you had to say! The gal who asked followed up on my FormSpring and I directed her here. Hopefully she'll gather some reinforcement from all of your amazing words!

PPS; Danielle of Sometimes Sweet featured me on her blog today for Tattoo Tuesday! Such an honor to be asked and I'm still incredibly flattered. Thanks so much Danielle! CLICK HERE if you'd like to read it!

Tuesday's coming... Did you bring a coat?

Sunday night was topped off by cooking some DELICIOUS veggie stir-fry and watching both 2012 and Accidental Husband before bed. We throw our pillows and blanket up on the giant sectional in our room and cuddle up for movies every night. These two were brilliant! If you haven't seen 2012, I highly recommend it. And if you like sweet romantic comedies (and Uma Thurman!), Accidental Husband is for you! Two of my new faves!

Yesterday was nice because I didn't have to report to Print 2 class... In light of an unfortunate occurrence, we were granted the day off to work on our books and print pieces to be shown on Wednesday. I woke up, catered to a sickly boyfriend, packed my shark backpack and set out for the coffee shop. With a tall house-brew in hand, I sat and worked tirelessly on my project... or did I? It's pretty safe to say I actually spent my time accommodating a huge influx of Formspring questions and watching people get their cheeks pierced via YouTube (I'm still toying with the idea.) Then I spent hours researching all the things that could go wrong, just to be prepared. I headed back home before too long and just hung around with Mike and Georgia for most of the day. We had the windows open, the back door open... Yesterday was THE most beautiful day of the year thus far. We made cookies for dessert after we made quesadillas for dinner and we ended the night by watching Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (It ended before we knew it began....) and Super Size Me (interesting...). Then it was cuddles and snuggles and sleepy good times.

I sat my alarm for 9:30am and I woke up in a wonderful mood. I had a feeling today's weather would play a major part in my overall spirit for the day... Sure enough, it did. Glorious! I put on a white sundress with pearl buttons and a black cardigan, packed my stuff and headed to class. It was a good day at school. We just went over our current projects in Portfolio class. I like that class because everyone is doing a different project at the same time. It's nice to have the distinct differences. My new campaign is an advertising campaign for Happy Tales Humane Society and I'm running them like old school newspaper personal ads with goofy animals and super-imposed props (think: wigs, pipes, bowties, etc). It should be fun!

Some Georgia:

All cuddled up. D'awwww!:

After class I came back home to check on Mike because Panera was packed. I opted to do homework here instead. We made runs to Michael's for crafty stuff and I proceeded to spend a few hours hunched over my computer at this very desk churning out a design for an email blast, oversized postcard, and a book for a $2.3 million dollar house's real estate listing. We made some yummy veggies, rice and quesadillas for dinner and we're going to pop some popcorn and settle in to watch Pretty Woman. I haven't seen this movie in SO long. It was one of my favorites when I was little (it's still tied with Clueless and Grease as my favorite movie EVER). Silly that it's about a prostitute but I love Julia Roberts!

Tomorrow I have to go to school early, get printing estimates for the presentation, mount all of my spreads and then give an award-winning presentation speech to knock 'em dead!

Just gotta get through 3 classes this week and I'm home free for Spring Break! You can bet I'm looking forward to going to work this weekend because money is nice. I'm hoping a friend of mine can swing by a few apartments in NYC for me and check them out so I dont have to fly up there and find them myself. So far a place in Williamsburg Brooklyn is looking promising. Maybe being out of Manhattan will help me reign in my spending! Eep! I'll probably go visit my parents for a day or two during break and I can't wait to see their progress on remodling the house! It'll be nice to just kick it and relax for a bit.

Off to watch our movie! Hope you're all having a fabulous Tuesday!

XO

This is Thursday (& things I love!)

Last night I left off saying I'd be up 'til the wee hours of the a.m. working on a cd redesign... well I'm happy to say I managed to slink into bed around 2:30am! Huzzah! Homework was defeated! I was very very pleased with how the (still not quite *done*) booklet turned out. The original wasn't bad by any means, but the redesign is better. Isn't it always? Redo, redo, redo! Lucky enough, Kylee (the female lead) has asked to see the new & improved and post it on the Loquat blog. Silly little fact... I'm such a "super fan" (I'll get to this in a second) that I flew 2,300 miles across the country in November 2008 to attend Loquat's record release at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. Back in the day, when I was dating "you know who", he arranged for me to meet and hang out with Loquat... all that jazz. I had JUST missed them the weekend before in NYC (bummer city USA!) Well Kylee is a total doll and I handed off my redesign, blah blah blah. We had our photos taken by a local photographer and ended up on the front of the entertainment pages for the East Bay newspaper and I was interviewed for being a "Super Fan" haha so random but whatever! Not stalker-esque! Anywhoo, that was really all just supplemental (and unnecessary) information but I felt like sharing because I DO love love love Loquat. I'll mock up the actual booklet next week and scan it in. Then I'll send it to Kylee. Win!

Go check out their stuff. If you only listen to one song, listen to "Swingset Chain"... It was the first song I heard of theirs and I fell in love. I designed the entire booklet around my favorite line of the song "You're a dandelion seed that flies through the air, lands on the ground and randomly disappears"... brilliant. CLICK HERE to check out their myspace.

Here's a little snippet of the booklet. All artwork is copyright protected by me so please don't get any sneaky hands! The typography (the header type) is all hand-drawn.

It went over well in class today. Just a few subtle things to change (don't judge me based on the above... this is before I make the necessary adjustments!), but other than that, I just need to do the disc and fix up the inner and outer traycard!

Mike picked me up from campus (he's been driving me to school everyday.... cute, yes?) and we ran some errands. We always migrate towards the pet stores. Typically I save those for my "bad" days... holding little fluffy animals always cheers me up! But we just popped in to check on the critters. We snagged Georgia some new tennis balls (she's in heaven!) and grabbed a late lunch at Panera (black bean soup! yes!). We played fetch with Georgia in the backyard for quite a while before heading in. We just hung around for a while and then I decided to surprise Mike with an impromptu movie date! We headed over to see When In Rome (Josh Duhamel and Kirsten Bell). Well, not before we could load up my purse with drinks and candy. THEN we went. I like our little date nights. I think it helps keep things fun for us :D

I'm not going to lie... I was expecting to be a total bomb. I was pleasantly surprised! We had seen Valentine's Day two weeks ago and I LOVED it. It was going to be hard to live up to that kind of entertainment. It wasn't AS good, but it was definitely worth seeing. Hell, give me any quirky, cliche romantic comedy and I'm sold! It was a fun little night.

We just got home and we're settling in. I have Art History in the morning and then we're job hunting for Mike. (Anyone need a bike mechanic?!) I'm excited (and incredibly nervous) about the videos and blogs going up on ModBlog tonight (3 hours and 18 minutes!). I wish I had a voice for mine so I could have talked, but either way, I'm happy with it. I've seen Ed's and Nae's thus far and they're both brilliant. I wish absolutely EVERY applicant in the running the BEST of luck. Regardless of who goes, it's going to be such a thrill. I've made a lot of awesome IAM friends, so no matter the outcome, I'm a happy camper!

Okay, I'm freezing! Going to settle in and see how Mike's pasta turns out (he JUST informed me that he's pretty sure he botched it to Hell and back haha!) Happy Thursday, y'all!

PS; Here are some of the things I'm loving this week! (I didn't want to bog down your dashboards with TWO posts in a row!)

THINGS I LOVE THURSDAY! ♥

1. Natalie Dee: She always knows how to say exactly what people are thinking/feeling.

2. Brilliant Hand Tattoos: And so different from your ordinary knuckle tattoos! (Photo taken from ModBlog's post about Magnet Implants)

3. Interesting... I don't even wear lipstick... But still! How do you measure up?

4. Dreamy Hotel Rooms: Okay, so we ALL know I'm a shark freak. LOVE! How amazing would this hotel room be?! I remember finding out where it was way back in the day, but I've since lost the information! Does anyone know?! Tell a sister!

5. This. It's true... every single day.

6. Gorgeous tattoo work. I believe this is Ashley Garcia's? Correct me if I'm wrong! (Photo courtesy of FuckYeahTattoos). The colors remind me vaguely of Nikko Hurtado.

6. THIS BIKE! ughhhhh dreamy! Love the pink tires and the overall pastel color scheme. Mike and I are going to paint my bike a pale pale yellow (or maybe a soft creamy ivory... we haven't decided!)

7. All of Gala Darling's most recent posts, including the Radical Self Love project. So great! She's truly a gem and such a sweet sweet gal! She can make you feel so in love with your body no matter how much you may despise it currently! Recent favorites: ♥ ♥ ♥

Food, Inc.

Mike and I have this usual tradition of watching a movie or something before going to bed. We'll crawl up on the big ol' sectional in our room, cuddle up, and put something on Hulu or Netflix. Last night we went through our Instant Queue and decided to watch Food, Inc. It was an hour and a half long, and there were many points I had to turn my head in disgust. Before watching it, I wasn't 110% sure on my stance of whether or not I'd ever eat meat again... I can say almost without a doubt, I won't. Some people in my class yesterday had a conversation about how "hard" it is to be vegetarian. That's just silly. It's incredibly affordable, you just have to know how/where to shop. (Same with being vegan). Granted, faux-meat products are a bit spendy, but you don't have to eat them. Anyway, I'm babbling. Point it, it was an incredible incredible documentary. We both really enjoyed it. There's this one-way mirror on the meat industry (and even soybeans!). The very least we can do for ourselves is become aware of whats going on around us, and better yet, what is going IN us.

If you're interested in watching it (for free!), you can sign up for Netflix's First-2-Weeks-Free Offer. (I signed up and now I'm a huge fan! Go Netflix!) Just CLICK HERE to sign up and watch away!

PS; visit the Food Inc. website HERE!

xo

SUNDAY FUNDAY!

Maybe I should start where I left off... last night I had to work so off I went... the weekend grind. I guess I shouldn't complain TOO much... I mean, I only work 10 hours a week. I definitely feel sympathy for retail workers this time of the year. My heart goes out to you if you're one of them! Having to bear the brunt of holiday frustrations, then following it up with less-than-satisfied shoppers who return almost everything they're given. my oh my! the bar is an interesting place this time of year. We stayed fairly busy, which was good, because the night FLEWWWW. However the end of the night wouldn't be the same if we didnt have a huge fight break out. Luckily I was able to calm some people down and after explaining it to my mother, I dont feel like typing it all out again. haha.

Here are two pictures from last night. I was trying to decide at work if I liked my hair better down, or with my bangs up in a pomp. Everyone seems to choose pomp, but i really just feel like i have a seventeen-head haha. awkward, i know.



I sped home and Mike was already asleep. He had tried fixing my sewing machine while I was at work but no dice! Sad! We both went straight back to sleep and I slept an amazing 10 hours. gosh! We finally got up at 1pm. Sooo lazy! It made up for my lack of sleep Friday night. We got dressed and went about our day. Went to PetSmart (where a Chinese Crested bit Georgia on the face! She was bleeding so we brought her home), went back out and went to Lowe's where I bought my parents a giftcard seeing as their week can't be complete without a trip there (they're currently remodeling so it'll come in handy). After Lowe's we went and ate at Genghis Grill (mongolian stirfry) because 1) i love it 2) mike had never eaten there before and 3) it's super easy to eat vegan/vegetarian there. He loved it and we went to the mall. Mike bought some new plugs and I got two new pairs of shoes (I'll post photos soon!). (I feel like this post is like the Asian lady at the drive-thru in Dude, Where's my Car?... "and thennnn.... and thennn..... and then and then and then!" haha). We went to walmart and got some groceries, some yummy new hazelnut candles, etc etc, then Target where we bought Four Christmases. Now we're at home where we made dinner and we're about to watch the movie. We were going get The Hangover, too, but it's sold out EVERYWHERE! GAH! I mean i know it's a good movie people, but dannng!

Here's what I wore today (excuse my faces in the photos, i look absolutely stupid haha) And a picture of mike, too! So you can put a face with the name. yay!


Several people have said in the formspring that they like when I post outfit photos and a run-down of where everything is from, so please excuse the fact that they're iphone photos, i just dont have the patience to get my tripod and all that jazz, and granted I could have mike take them, but i lost my memory card reader for my camera. need to buy a new one this week!

Outfit details:
Dress: Target ($20! win!)
Tights: Target ($7)
Flats: Walmart ($9)
Cameo Brooch: Forever 21 ($5)
Headband: Charlotte Russe ($6)

Here are some ridiculous photos of baby G about three minutes ago... What can I say? I'm a proud Mama Bee!



Peep the cut on her lip from the mean mean dog at PetSmart today. :( Georgia has NEVER snapped at anyone, any dog, any cat, any animal EVER. She's soooo friendly so she wanted to say hello to this dog and it just flipppped its lid. sad baby G. luckily she isn't actually hurt. It never really even fazed her.


Now we're going to go watch our movie! Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon are hands down two of my absolute favorite actors ever! I love this movie.

Who are some of your favorite actors? And what are your favorite movies?!

xo happy sunday!

clueless.

my obsession for shopping (and the gorgeous & hilarious Paul Rudd) started in 1995 when i was seven years old, with THIS movie. i credit every bit of it to Clueless. i cannot tell you how many times i watched this movie and how many times i sang along to "kids in america" from the clueless soundtrack. i love love love this movie and it will forever be one of my favorites.

and watching Knocked Up last night just reiterated my sincere infatuation with all things Paul Rudd. loveee!