I'm leaving on a jet plane...

    Hi all! I just got back from a trip to Ft. Lauderdale, FL with two girlfriends (Kim & Meike) for a conference.  This was my very first time flying without my husband, the traveling/airport/flying expert.  In fact, he travels so much for work that the dogs and I sometimes forget he lives here (just kidding). 

   I had a little trepidation about flying solo, even though my friends were there, I wanted to seem confident on what to do all by myself.  You know, fake it 'til you make it sort of thing.  I got myself checked in at Delta without an issue. $25 for a piece of checked luggage? Fine.  I wouldn't need to check luggage if I didn't have so many hair products that were over 3oz of liquid.  And yes, my 1 allowed ziplock airline regulated bag is STUFFED full of liquids under 3oz, including: Purell, chapstick (is that a liquid?), a teeny tiny bottle of hairspray, and toothpaste. I never flew before the regulation, so I guess it's best to not know how it was flying "back in the day". 

 
   When we got on our first flight, the first thing I noticed was that people were ordering alcoholic drinks right away, as soon as they could order. I assumed this was either because they are:
1.  Afraid to fly, 2. On vacation and want to start drinking as soon as possible 3. Just plain alcoholics.
Either way, does flying give you a pass to day drink as early as humanly possible? Adam and I have been on flights as early as 7am and people were drinking.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging, I'm just impressed by your ability to get drunk on a 45 minute flight and still make your connecting flight in ATL without ending up in the wrong terminal.  I would be passed out and never make it off the plane. 

   The first leg of the trip, I sat at a window seat next to an older man making his trip to Omaha, NE.  He
entertained me for a bit with a story about his "vacation" with his wife to visit friends in Colombia.  At first I thought, why would someone visit Columbia for a week's vacation? But when he said they flew into Bogota, I got it. He described this "vacation" as a week long trip to see long lost friends that lived near the Amazon River. They were excited to sleep in beds with nets (this was to keep bugs and the huge tarantulas away), without any electricity until 3-5pm everyday when everyone charged their cell phones. 
    I'm pretty sure he just described my own little pit of hell.  Any bed that requires a net saving you from gigantic spiders, snakes and who knows what else, does not a vacation make. He wife needs a medal or at least a small trophy for surviving that trip.  Needless to say, I told him I rode an ostrich on my last vacation and therefore, I was too cool to speak to him. j/k He read some John Grisham book and I delved into the luxurious Sky Mall Magazine.

    Sky Mall has EVERYTHING! And at 50,000ft. everything is super interesting!  I am obsessed with the iPad paintbrush (I'm not sure what I would paint or what app I would even need, but for only $49.99, I can paint a masterpiece!)

I don't see Adam carrying this at all.  First of all, Beau would be a pain in the butt to drag at 120lbs.  And at $95, I'm not sure why you wouldn't just put your dog on the leash and walk him? 

And for only $29.95

Maybe I should have shown the guy seated next to me so that he'd know he should have been afraid of the tarantulas.  *shivers* On the other hand, the t-shirt is in App State colors. Go Mountaineers!


    By the time we made it to ATL, we literally had about 10 minutes to make our next flight. My friend Kim and I were practically running and made it!  I turned around to ask where is Meike and she had texted me she was stopping for a crepe. I've never had a crepe, but it looked delicious!  We made it onto the flight and Meike got upgraded to a fancier seated section with her crepe.  Kim and I were on the LAST row on the plane, next to the bano.  The flight attendant said she'd thought we were trouble.  Perhaps.  And trust, there would have been trouble if we didn't get our free pretzels because I was "hangry". 

   Our flights back were exhausting and we were just ready to come home. I started reading a book by Beth Harbison, When in Doubt, Add Butter, a delicious chick lit easy read.  Although I have to say, if you're reading it make sure you have a snack handy because the main character describes her meals a lot and you're likely to get hungry. 

    The last flight was so turbulent we didn't even get a drink or snack! I sat next to a pilot and since he wasn't panicking, I wasn't going to either.  Am I the only one that likes that stomach drop feeling?

    Of course there is a lot of other stuff that happened on the trip, but I'll have to tack that on to another blog another day.  Time for dinner.

   Also? Sky mall has this available for $1999  - I'm thinking about getting it for Adam for our 5th anniversary.  5 Year traditional gift is wood, so it would be appropriate.  And who wouldn't want a life size growling grizzly bear? 

Until - we meet again .... ciao!  xoxo, Becca

"Airline food is the tiniest food I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Any kind of meat that you get — chicken, steak, anything — has grill marks on each side, like somehow we’ll actually believe there’s an open-flame grill in the front of the plane" .Ellen de Generes

Who is signing me up for this?

    OK, I admit, I like to play scrabble, I enjoy doing crossword puzzles, I'm a "cautious" driver and I take my medications in a MTWTF pill box.  According to Adam, these habits are things that "old people" do. I defend these things because I am not old, nor should enjoying scrabble, reading, and crossword puzzles be labeled as such.

  Unfortunately, others must be fully aware of my hobbies as well because I'm receiving things in the mail about being a senior now. 

  I received this in the mail today:

   While it's nice someone is thinking of me for benefits, I am NOT a senior.  And you can cancel the AARP magazine while you're at it! 

Waterbeds and such

   When two people merge into a marriage, you also merge all of your belongings into one space.  While Adam and I quickly got rid of his sloping black leather couch and nasty, decrepit, covered in salsa stains 80's recliner that came apart in two pieces (that he amazingly got $75 for on Craigslist!), we have somehow hung on to his "this end up" furniture from when he was 3 years old and my bedroom dressers from when I was 13. 

   Coincidentally, my old bed was ruined in a tragic loss at a storage unit several years ago when I moved from college back to my hometown.  There had been a small hurricane which sprung a leak in the roof, creating moving day morning at 6am a fun treat and surprise for me and my dad, who was helping me move at the time.  Moldy mattress anyone?  ugh.  So I ended up getting a new bed and mattress and box springs that day!  Well, I ordered it anyway, my beautiful sleigh bed didn't show up for 14 weeks!!!!! I guess now we know why Rhodes Furniture went bankrupt and out of business. 

   Unfortunately, the storage unit disaster didn't even touch my 17-year-old dresser, chest of drawers, mirror and night stand.  I remember picking this furniture out like it was yesterday!  Being the youngest in the family, I had all hand me down furniture and nothing matched.  Apparently, I was OCD even back then, because the non-matching furniture really REALLY bothered me.  So I ended up getting a beautiful, Charleston gate like, iron cast, hunter green daybed, with matching pop-up trundle of course.  The furniture that matched was briefly used and returned to the furniture store because whomever bought it had a dog that chewed a few of the edges of the drawers. I remember my Dad negotiating a special price and then the furniture was all mine! I remember the pieces had a matching queen sized bed, but we didn't get that, as I already had my daybed.  

  There is a reason that our tastes change from when we are teenagers into adulthood. There are no words to describe the hideousness that is this furniture to me now.  Adam despises it; as he should, considering he's a grown man stuffing his socks and t-shirts into a 13 year old girl's dresser.  The furniture isn't white, but rather a creamy, off-white shabby chic, if you will.  It has a beautiful stenciling of a floral design and scrolls on each outer edge.  Wait.   I'll just take a picture and show you.  Before I show you though, in my defense, I once babysat for a family who had this EXACT SAME FURNITURE (including the fancy queen sized bed to match) in their master bedroom.

Behold... the dresser in all it's glory!!

Notice the fancy scroll, ribbon and rose motif. 

Adam really can't stand these ribbon details on the side.  I think its a wee bit too feminine for him. 

Where the previous owner had some bite issues, or perhaps it was some s&m party into biting? Or misplaced vampire?  I guess we'll never know. 

    Needless to say, Adam and I are looking for new bedroom furniture.  Did you know Paula Deen has furniture?  It's at Infinger Furniture in Goose Creek.  It's actually really pretty, but also a bit pricey. Also, I'll never be able to go back in that store again because after I told Adam my parents had a king sized water bed back in the 80s/90s, he found it to be hilarious to ask, "Where are your waterbeds?" to the sales lady when we walked in.  He acted dead serious too, I had to tell her we were kidding.  I'm sure my face was bright red.  I live in the Creek, so I feel comfortable saying this, but I'm actually quite shocked that they DIDN'T have waterbeds. HAHAHA

   Of course, he was just kidding, we've found our perfect bedroom furniture and now we're patiently waiting for it all to go on sale soon. 

  Until then, I guess we'll have to just keep living in the a teenage girl's room.  At least I don't have a WHAM! or Madonna poster taped to the wall. 












 

Soundtrack of my life (well, through my childhood anyway)

Let me take you back to the 80's, unfortunately I don't have a hot tub to get you there, but I can describe to you my childhood memories and the music that helped er, shape me, if you will.

I remember living in the very small town of Walterboro, where the only thing to do on a Friday night is go to a bonfire party and get drunk or drive up and down the main strip to see who else was out and about for the evening. Since I was 4 years old at the time of this story, neither of those were happening to me or my 10 year old sister, so we had to be creative and make up our own stuff to do.

Most times this included us pretending to play "Church" in our formal living room. My sister would play the piano (our pretend organ), I would walk in the room and read from a huge family Bible and pretend to be preaching, (really, the Bible was like 30 pounds - it couldn't be lifted!). I would "HEAL!" whomever was in need that day in our audience, Barbie, a Puffalump, a glow worm or even My Little Pony.

After "church", we would find it appropriate to listen to Madonna's "Like a Virgin" album on our record player. We would dance around foolishly, singing all the words to every song, all the while not knowing what we were REALLY singing about. And really, what were our parents doing buying this for us? The title of the album didn't tip them off that perhaps this wasn't the best choice for children? All I knew is that we wanted to be JUST like her, we even had a white lace glove to wear! My favorite song on the entire album, naturally, was "Material Girl".



Side note: Sesame Street also came out with a similar video around this time called, "Cereal Girl", which I also loved and sang all the time.



During our boredom, we'd also listen to my Dad's old 8 tracks, yes, I said 8 tracks. We'd play Elvis or The Beach Boys as loudly as possible and have a dance party in the den. It was all Soul Train, all the time. We also listened to my favorite album of my Dad's, "The Big Chill" soundtrack; possibly the BEST soundtrack...ever! Every song on the album is a classic, but of course, "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" was my absolute favorite! I never saw the movie until years later, and it was the most depressing movie I've ever seen! Did you know its about funerals?!! How can such an upbeat soundtrack be for such a depressing movie?! The songs like "My Girl", take me back to the Fourth of July, spending time at the Rickenbaker's pool, while our parents sipped on Bartles and James wine coolers and I got fried in the sun (thanks mom for the sun damage).



This leads me to a few years later when I was still listening to Madonna, but had also branched out to the likes of Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, and Wilson Phillips. Oh yes, I "Held on for One More Day" and didn't think "We're Alone Now" for a while! My sister and I would get home from school and video tape each other playing dance party! I remember her teaching me all the dance movies to Debbie Gibson's "Electric Youth", which I mastered perfectly, as proved by the video taped version. Speaking of, I wonder where that VHS is these days?



(Bonus points if you can do the dance!)


That brings me to the end of the 80s, which means I can't leave the decade without mentioning New Kids on the Block. While there were many songs that all of the guys sang (who was your favorite? I liked Johnathon b/c my sister liked him and I copied everything she did). And I can also tell you that I had a NKOTB duffle bag that I got for my b-day from Susan Quarterman, but my sister had the best....it was a denim vest with buttons of faces of each and every NKOTB-er. oh yeah. We kissed the buttons, well, all except for Donny, whom we referred to as "monkey face". Man, kids are so mean!!
While it was hard to pick the one NKOTB song to embed, I'm going with The Right Stuff b/c I had it on cassette tape as a single (other side was "Cover Girl"!!!). Ok, so play this and get up and do the dance, you know you want to!




In 1989, my family moved from Walterboro and it was a sad end to an era. New exciting things were happening in our lives; my sister was growing up and driving, I was still playing with Barbies and entering band. I listened to everything Charlotte listened to, trying to soak in her coolness and hoping it would rub off on me. We no longer had dance parties b/c it wasn't "cool" anymore, but I yearned for the days that she would offer to drive me around town in her new car, (a 4-door Cutlass Ciera). The songs of my youth changed from catchy pop songs to more edgy, even some rap!

In the moment, I really loved "MMMM, MMMM, MMMM" by the Crash Test Dummies. (You Tube won't let me embed, but you can watch it here). Charlotte started listening to things like C&C Music Factory's "Gonna Make you Sweat!" and I started branching off into country music, a la "Achey Breaky Heart".

Now that I'm up to my 90's years, I'll leave that for another time. Isn't it funny that a song can take you to a certain time and place?

"Mulch ado about Nothing!"

I feel like it has been way too long since I last wrote on my blog! I must update everyone on all of my goings on the past few weeks. You know I like to keep you up to the minute informed of my randomness. While spring is finally starting to be in the air, so is pollen, ragweed and freshly cut grass. So far, I haven't lost my voice, but its just a matter of time! I lose my voice every April, but maybe not this April! Adam has been working out in the yard, mulching it up, planting banana trees and "what nots"*. Since I'm the killer of all plants, I let that be his territory. I do better with things like sweeping up the tracked in mulch and wiping up Beau's slobber. Here is the banana tree that Adam is so proud of:


Alright, according to my wedding planner countdown thingy, I have exactly 172 days to go before the wedding, where I have to squeeze into my dress that fit me perfectly last September. Me? Scared it won't fit? Never!! ok, maybe just a teensy weensy little bit that the zipper might snap off of me during the ceremony, exposing my little 'something blue' to every single person I know!

I have started working out. I'll give you a moment to digest that. Laugh it up! My mom actually laughed at me on the phone when I told her I attempted to jog; she exclaimed, "you run like a girl!".

Maybe that's because I AM a girl, Mom!!!!!

I read somewhere that Kate Winslet uses her Wii Fit to get in shape, so I've been logging on to mine as well. I must say, I've really come a long way according to the Wii! When I used to step on the board, it would say, "ooi", now it exclaims, "great!!". I'm really loving the advanced step aerobics. I've given up on the jogging for now and have decided that walking Beau, our 92 pound beast, around the block is enough for me to handle in one day.
I ask you, how easy is it to try and do ab work if you have this standing over you, drooling in your face?

ps. actual photo taken today while doing crunches. I swear!


Speaking of wedding stuff, I have a fabulous, wonderful, can't say enough wonderful things about her wedding planner!! She's organizing the wedding plans for me the weekend of the wedding. Her name is Tanis Jackson (if you need info., please email me or leave a comment). Tanis came to the salon the other day to go to lunch and look over a few plans for the wedding. This is where I discovered her knack for organizing brides, penchant for creative ideas and most importantly, her skilled knowledge in kicking ass and taking names. She's trained in security, which she assures me will come in handy, and BOY will it!! My mother is invited and my parents haven't been in the same room together since their bitter divorce in 1998**. I feel ever confident that Tanis can take her down if need be.

Unfortunately, when Tanis came to the salon, she needed to ride with me to the restaurant across the street. My palms became clammy, my forehead began to sweat, immediately I became panicked! As most of you know, I lead a very clean, organized, orderly life at work, in the home, etc. However, in my car during this exact day was not the case. I have been driving all over town, eating, doing God knows what in this Ford...and now someone wants to ride in it! There was no "straightening" before she got in the vehicle, I just had to face the facts. You see, I ate my breakfast on the way to work the morning before and....




I left the rotting banana peel in the car!!!! OMG!!! And how embarrassed was I? I think I may have even blushed when she said, "oh, it smells so, um, tropical in here!".

Oh sweet Jesus!! PLEASE let it be the Yankee Candle car freshner*** that's 6 months old dangling from the visor that she's smelling!! Shore Breeze smells "tropical" doesn't it? Luckily, she made no mention of the peel and is still as fabulous as always! Also? *so shamed* I forgot to take the peel out until I went to Jiffy Lube yesterday to get my oil changed....they threw it away for me. ****


I also forgot to mention my Hoppy Easter! My sister and I always give each other a hollow chocolate bunny, the great bunny exchange! I try to find the biggest, funniest or ugliest bunny to give her as a gag gift each Easter. This year, she really outdid herself. Meanwhile, I haven't even gotten her one yet, I am soo slack! Anywho, she left this poor little Cottontail outdoors, in the Charleston sun, in her car while we ate Easter brunch and well...



Now Cottontail is a "solid" milk chocolate bunny for Easter. *shakes head* It was the funniest thing ever!!!!

Anywho, "Celebrity Apprentice" is calling my name and I need to go see who Joan Rivers is going to beat up on tonight!

xoxo, Becca

* "what nots" are not a flower, at least, not that I'm aware of.

** Should I note that they hate each other? I'm seriously afraid for other people's safety at this event.


*** Those damn things smell great, but do NOT last long enough! hmph!

**** Which they f-ing should have, considering how much it cost me there!

what are you OCD about?

So I haven't been diagnosed or even tested for that matter for OCD, but Adam is pretty sure that I have the disorder, based on a few simple "weird" things that I do on occasion about the house. I'd like to take this moment and share a few with you, in hopes that I'm not the only woman like this that I know....hopefully someone can identify! haha I try not to tell too many people about these things because some are seriously silly I know, but I'll just let you in to how my mind works sometimes. And just in case anyone reads this and takes it too seriously, I don't think there will be any impending doom if these things don't happen and ultimately that's what separates me from actually having a ritual type of OCD.

- Due to a science guy, (think Bill Nye, but less dorky), speaking to my 6th grade class about recluse spiders, I now shake my tennis shoes harder than one should before placing them on my foot. ( I also think that after reading this, if you don't do this one, you will)


- My fridge has to be pristine! All labels facing out, drinks out of the 12-pack box they came in, and for goodness sakes, all left over containers need to be put in a drawer so I can't see them until they are eaten. Also, the top of the fridge needs to be cleaned at least once a week. Living with someone can make this one quite difficult. I usually put away the groceries as to avoid any conflict.


- My closet is color coordinated. I came to this conclusion AFTER I went through several "rough drafts", if you will, of how I'd like to organize my closet. I went through a long phase of coordinating by style, length, etc, but in the end, a color coordination in the scheme of ROYGBIV is the most aesthetically pleasing to one's eye while getting dressed in the morning. And yes, I do notice if someone places a piece of clothing where it does not belong.


-It drives me crazy if the hot/cold handles on a sink aren't turned off to be perpendicular with the sink, rather than turned to the side,etc.

- In the house I grew up in, my bedroom door opened right in front of where the attic opening was in the ceiling, I would have to jump up and hit the rope hanging or else I wouldn't let myself out of my room.

- I have a weird thing about counting things. I count everything. For instance, when applying deodorant, I count in my head as I swipe, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - stop - switch arms, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. - stop - switch back 1, 2, 3, stop , switch back - 1, 2, 3. And if you've ever had the pleasure of getting a facial from me, I spray the toner 6 times too. If I lose count? I start over. I also count stairs each and every time I go up and down them. At one time, I had every stair case number memorized on Appalachian State University's campus.


- If I've seen your car, chances are that I have your license plate memorized. Try me sometime.


- I have an aversion to eating square shaped things, such as, square shaped pizza and hamburgers. If you hand me a square pizza slice, I will refuse to eat it. yuck!


- I have a thing with the number 555. Whenever I look at a clock, I swear its always 5:55! I think everyone has this time of thing happen to them, like is there a specific time you always wake up?


Alright, I think that's enough for now!!!

Also, important note, you should be able to leave comments now without having to sign up and get an account. :) ok, I'll post more tomorrow I'm sure. Until then...

xoxo, Bec

public peeing, volume 2.

Today I made a nice little trip to the mall and ventured into Belk while I was there. First off, who shops in the Women's Department anyway? The clothing in there is so depressing! Its the ugliest stuff I have ever seen, its like, they MAKE them high water pants on purpose. And don't get me started on the amount of coral shirts and ugly navy and red plaid pants. Yuck. Yuck. Yuckity. Yuck!

I drank way too much sprite before my shopping trip and needed to find a restroom quickly. I noticed another woman looking in the same direction, so I follow her into the ladies room. I was the youngest one in there by at LEAST 40 years. It was so cute, all these women out shopping at Belk for the day. I aspire to be one of those ladies. haha

Anywho, as we're waiting in line, there was an opened stall door just waiting to be taken. Lady number 1 - standing in front of me- explains that its "handicapped", and since she's not handicapped, she won't be using it. Lady number 2 (standing behind me), says..well, go on in, it won't hurt anything! Lady number 1 walks in the stall and quickly returns, someone previously had not flushed. Lady number 2, struts in the stall, flushes. *waits* Flushes again. *gives us an update that it did not correctly flush and then gives it another go* OOH YEAH!! It flushed! So she offers the stall to Lady number 1, just incase, and when she still declines, finally decides to go.

I FINALLY make it into a stall of mine own. I, like most of my fellow women, sanitize the toilet seat as best I can with a wad of toilet paper, inspecting any area that may be "damp" from the previous toileter. I then, very gingerly, pull out two strips of grainy, rough, one ply toilet paper to place over the toilet seat, just incase the first cleansing wasn't good enough. I then, proceed to sit, pee, and... WAIT JUST A MINUTE! *FLUSH* The toilet flushed on its own! Excuse me! I was not ready for *FLUSH!* it did it again!! I was still sitting! Water splashing everywhere... oh God help me! I finally get up, walk out and I've STILL made it out quicker than Lady 1 and Lady 2. I think I know when to flush by myself, thank you very much! I do not need a machine to "anticipate" the flush for me!

I try to get out of the stall. I turn the lever for the lock. I can't get it open!!!! OMG, I'm going to get stuck in this stall for-ev-er! OK, whew, just a blonde day, I twisted when I should have slid the lock.

I then go to wash my hands. Which, can I just say, I hate to do in public restrooms! I would rather take my chances and just use antibactierial soap. But because there were two older ladies in there that reminded me of my Mema, I HAD to wash them. My hands still smell like icky Belk public restroom soap. yuck.

And men wonder why it takes us so long in the restroom!

Splishin' and a Splashin' (otherwise known as, "Embarassing Moments", volume 1)

My mother decided to visit me at work yesterday out of the blue to inform me of her latest drama, but that's a whole different story that...TRUST ME, you don't want me to get into right now. I will, however, go into what she did while at my office.

I work at a very nice salon & spa, with a spa area in the back. Its very peaceful and we try to treat all of our clients as if they were to "feel at home". Well, apparently my mother took this literally because upon her arrival into the separate spa area, she went to "tinkle" in the bathroom....sans door closed! That's right, my mother peed. AT. MY. WORK. with the door wide open! I didn't shut it right away b/c I wasn't sure if anyone would walk back there, until Allison (our lovely massage therapist) popped back in the spa before her next appointment arrived. In a panic, I quickly laughed it off that my mom likes to pee with the door open and luckily Allison answered back,with a nervous chuckle I might add, "oh that's ok, we have an 'open door' policy in my home too!".

*FLUSH*

My mom washes her hands and walks out like she didn't just go pee in a public restroom with the door open. And in a splish, splash, it was over.

Then she follows up her public peeing episode, which I'm pretty sure you can get arrested for in some countries, with the fact that she's possibly moving down the street from me.

Someone pinch me, I need to wake up!!!!

Until next time, "if you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie and wipe the seatie", my mom had this on a plaque when we were growing up! hahaha

Are you there God? It's me, Rebecca.

Two posts in one day? I MUST be going crazy!!!! Actually, no, I just wanted to share some fun-ness with you all! Most of you know my obsession with "The Today Show", so of course I was watching it a few mornings ago when I saw Jennifer Skiff go on to promote her new book, God Stories. I was completely touched and ordered it online right away. I got the book today!! YAY!!! I love packages!! And the book is soo inspirational, you should definitely read it!


With all this God speak, I got in the car to go somewhere today and on the way decided to pray (I usually pray in the car b/c its my only moment of quiet time... don't worry, I don't close my eyes!). I tell the Lord, to please send me a sign, etc, you know, the usual.

And then I hear this VOICE!
A VOICE that comes from no where!! I start freaking out!
My palms break out into a sweat.

God? Is that you?


And who knew you were a woman?! And with an English accent at that, so proper and soothing!




Then I hear, "Exit right in one mile". Oh wait, did I accidentally turn on my new GPS? *Phew*



Just to be safe, I better pray extra hard tonight, you never know when it might be the real thing!

My hair.

Without sounding completely pompous, can I just say, that my hair is it's own entity. Everywhere I go, no matter what I'm doing or whom I am surrounded, someone comments on my hair. Its not like I have crazy colored hair, I don't have a weird, funky cut, I don't even have anything out of the ordinary, but for some reason, people always comment on it. And this should be a good thing, I mean, I work in a salon so it helps us to get business, but still, it has its own celebrity status.


For instance, two weeks ago, I was in the mall, minding my own business when a girl stopped me and said, "nice hair!". Ok, thank you. My pharmacist comments on my hair EVERY TIME I go in there (which is frequent b/c lets face it, I am a walking pharmacy in my purse). She said, "you're hair always looks so good!". Need I say, that was the time I decided to roll out of bed, head over there with a hooded sweatshirt on and dirty jeans, with no makeup and I didn't even BRUSH my hair! Was she just being nice, or was she genuine? who knows.


But its not just that. It doesn't just stop there. My family was out to dinner once and a lady basically lingered near our table, looking at me, whispering to her friends and then finally came over (I thought I had something in my teeth!). She stopped me to say, "I love your hair!!". Oh, thanks! You TOO can have a bob if you visit the salon where I work!

This morning is what really made me think of the insanity. My neighbor, whom I talk to on occasion, but not enough to know her last name, asked me, "oh are you letting your hair grow out? I noticed you had a clip in it the other day!". Actually, yes I am three weeks overdue for a cut, (thanks for noticing), but some of the stylists at work think I should let it grow a little longer to shape it back up before the wedding. This is getting way out of control.

I recently had a man at K-mart stop and touch my hair. He had his wife with him! I guess this is how pregnant women feel when they have people touching their bellies!

So, in honor of my hair, I thought I'd post a few photos of me with my many different styles throughout the years: The first one is recent, but not quite as blonde now, the second is from the year 2000, before I chopped it and I was quite smashed at a wedding during those photos, the third is from when I was in high school sporting the "Rachel" haircut and the last is my ultimate favorite b/c it suits me best!

'Tis the season!

Ladies & Gentlemen, it is officially the holiday season, GET READY! Its the most wonderful time of the year and I can't wait to decorate my house! And just as soon as Adam gets home long enough to pull the things out of the attic, I'll get right on that! (Just a side note, I have always been unable to get into an attic, not really for fear of the attic, but more of a fear of plunging to the floor from the rickety ladders attached to them). I've got my Christmas music and I even went shopping yesterday!

After my shopping experience, I now understand that this is also a season for drinking.


Heavily.


Yesterday, I ventured out to Best Buy to buy a few gifts. It took me over an hour to purchase one item. I pressed on! I then went into Micheals, assuming that I could make some gifts this year. Pfft! Yeah right! Micheals lures you in with the hopes and dreams that YOU TOO can paint glass and it look professionally done! I get sucked in every time! Last year I decided I could "bake cute cakes", which ended up with crumpled, burnt, un-edible items with somehow uncooked dough and a seriously messy kitchen. The year before, I thought scrapbooking was soo cute, easy, anybody can do it! I have $200 worth of scrapbooking stuff and no one is scrapbooking in this house. Its sooooooo easy that I just keep putting it off and besides that, it would actually mean that I'd have to print out the photos I want to "scrap", and that ain't happenin'. I've also tried the whole stamping thing. I mean, any idiot can stamp, even children can do it! And last year for Valentine's day, I stamped away on some homemade stationary to send to all of my friends. Valentine's day came and went....and I never sent them.

So this year, YES, I vow to complete my holiday venture. I vow to at least use the paint I bought yesterday at Micheals and put it to good use!


I also vow never to enter the K-Mart on River's Ave. ever again. Yesterday to end my shopping adventure, I stopped briefly at K-mart for some Martha Stewart wrapping paper and such (apparently she does still sell there too, hmmm). Thats when, out of freakin' nowhere, a strange man thought it appropriate to stroke my hair like an animal and tell me, "I just have to say that you have the most gorgeous hair! Just the way it lays, its beautiful! I love the cut!..etc. ". Now, don't get me wrong, I'm used to people commenting on my hair. I DO work in a salon for pete's sake! I just have never had anyone go to such lengths to touch it before. I was fearful he may try and swipe a locket of my hair to perhaps fashion his own wig later, (I swear I felt a tug!). I was on the cell phone with my dad at the time of the incident, so I wasn't able to say what I WOULD have said in this type of situation. Also, does anyone else think its weird that his wife was standing with him? Yeah. She's probably plotting my death as we speak. Perhaps a voodoo sort of doll with my hair strand on it.


I also stopped at Bath & Body works. A staple for me every Christmas. I don't know why I go because I usually just end up buying stuff for myself. Which is exactly what I did. New soap? yes!! Now antibacterial hand wipes? yes!! New peppermint sugar scrub? Why, don't mind if I do. *hangs head in shame* - I'm such a product whore.

I'm now reminded why I did all of my Christmas shopping online last year. No lines. No people. No waiting. Free Shipping and Handling. And it already comes in a box!

SO, just remember this... When you're out shopping for Christmas presents with the rest of the crazies: just say NO to crafting, its more work than its worth!

when it doubt, pack your own flask and drink your way through the holidays!

AND most importantly, retail therapy is the best kind of therapy there is...so merry shopping! oops, I mean, "Happy Holidays!"

I'm NOT McLovin' It.

Oh, don't get me wrong, McDonald's has the best damn fast food French fries known to man, but its not worth it to deal with this crap. To demonstrate my love/hate relationship with McDonald's, I must first go back a few years.

On a random trip to Wilmington, NC, Adam and I stopped at a McDonald's in Myrtle Beach for dinner, just passing through. When we showed up, I ordered my "usual" McDonald's treat, chicken nugget meal with French fries, sprite and plain honey for my dipping sauce. The girl on the other end of the speaker yells back, "We ain't got no honey here, we got honey mustard." Pffft!!! No HONEY?! What the hell?! I then tell Adam to just leave, we're not eating at a McDonald's with no Honey! (Plus, I had conveniently remembered there was another one about 5 miles down from where we were and we'd just stop there). Meanwhile, the whole way to the other Mikey D's, I was explaining how worthless the customer service in this country has become and how honey is a staple of McDonald's dipping sauces and its a travesty that they have taken it away!

So we stop down the street at McDonald's 2.0. I ran off to the bathroom, letting Adam go ahead and order for me. I walk out of the bathroom and Adam and the little guy behind the counter both look like I'm about to hurt them. Adam cautiously tells me that they don't have any honey, but that the guy heard my story and felt so bad that he didn't charge us. Fine. WHATEVER. I'll EAT THEM PLAIN!

Two weeks later, Adam bought me my own bottle of honey to keep in my purse/car just "in case". I wrote a letter to corporate and several months later I got an email explaining that honey is no longer that popular, so they had cut back. Did they send me a "sorry coupon", no, they sure as hell didn't.

But even before that, when I was rooming with my ex-roommate, Angela, we had an experience with the elusive McDonald's. Which ended up with us going to 4 McDonald's within a 10 mile radius JUST to find one that's ice cream machine wasn't broken. And P.S. why the hell do we need 4 McDonald's that close to each other anyway?! No wonder we're an obese nation.

Now....lets forward to this week. On the way back from our Thanksgiving trip, we stopped at McDonald's. Chicken Nugget Happy Meal please. Drove around to the front, and what sauce would you like? "Honey, please". NO HONEY! wtf? Adam drove off, I'm sure I looked like there was a bee in the car my arms were moving about so furiously!

Then today, I wanted a "pick me up" after shopping and thought, ooh a McFlurry would be on point! We stopped. The ice cream machines are broken!

Its a conspiracy against me, I swear it is! I mean, doesn't anyone else eat plain honey on their chicken & French fries?! Doesn't anyone else eat ice cream!? what the crap!

Also, by the sounds of this post, it looks like I eat a lot of McDonald's, but I really don't...especially now. If I'm going to eat fast food, its going to be Chick-fil-A, where they are actually nice and know how to treat customers! I would boycott McDonald's, but I think we all know that won't be happening. haha

During my afternoon trip to Wal-Mart today, I have finally figured out why Adam doesn't like for me to go there alone anymore. Here are just a few reasons why I should never enter the axis of evil (aka, Wal-mart) by myself:


- I get lured in by the "scrapbook" section. Stickers, glitter, glue guns, ribbon, paper and more oh my!


- I can spend a solid hour circling the same area trying to decide if I really DO need the $3.00 picture frame since its at a "rolled back" low price.



- Spend the next 30 minutes deciding if I need the 5x7 frame or the 4x6. Hell, their only $3.00, I throw caution to the wind and buy both!


- Go to the makeup section, "must get concealer, must get concealer, must get, oooh!! Maxfactor's new highlighter mascara!!!!! and whats this? a newly packaged purple eyeshadow..."


- I also have a knack for picking up several different languages while in Wal-Mart. For instance, "oye mamá caliente", to which I reply, "papi! Que lastima, Soy comprometido y usted no es mono".


- I browse over to the sewing section. My last attempt at sewing, I recall my Granny throwing a ball of yarn at me in frustration. All the pretty fabrics have me thinking, perhaps I'll pick up the art! If Stella on "Project Runway" can sew, then "sew" can I! hehe



- I skip over the shoe section. Lets face it, while I like rolling back prices, you do get what you pay for in most cases.



- I then head over to my favorite section..... office supplies. Its really my mini Mecca in the compounds of Wal-mart. I'm like a kitty with catnip at back to school time. I stare at all of the stationary longingly. I look over the pretty printer papers, the different types of envelopes, the clean, crisp notebooks! I quickly grab pink paper for my "pink polka dot confessions" - newsletter that I write my bridesmaids and of course.... the pink envelopes to match!



- Today I also found a new favorite section. Apparently, Martha Stewart has dumped K-mart and started hocking her Wedding Stuff at Wal-mart! ooh I love it! I'm contemplating getting the bubbles in little containers.



- To complete my trip, I glance at a few People-esque magazines.


- Look in amazement at how on a Saturday afternoon that there are 32 registers and only 2 are open.


- Look at the two bags I bought and wonder how the hell I just spent $60!



- Walk to car very quickly, I swear Papi is following me!, glance all around the car crazily, have key out and ready to gouge anyone that dare get in my way! - get in the car - lock the doors, start the car, leave parking lot, SHOOT!!! I forgot what I went in to get!!! Oh ..I'll just get it next time.


- Get home, see Adam, yell out, "como estan bitches?!"
Adam: "I see you've been to wal-mart..."

Bad Decision Friday

Woah, I found my old "community webshots" website... and look what I found!

Scene: Me looking at OLD.. and I do mean OLD photos of myself on the computer


me: Look honey!! I don't look like that anymore!

Adam: you look like your mother there.

me: *silence*

Adam: what?

me: *death stare*

I'm so embarrassed to share this photo, but I feel I must. The over plucked brows, the dark, super boy short hair, the *gasp* tan!, what was I thinking? Clearly I wasn't. Seriously, why was my hair so freakin' dark?! And total lack of make-up.

And my fiancee said I look like. my. mother.

Hehe, spell check is trying to make me change the word "Fiancee" to "defiant" - go figure.