Amazon.com Gift Certificate

With a $50 gift certificate to spend at Amazon.com.....and a huge variety of products from which to buy (it's amazing that they sell everything from books to clothes to electronics....)....it seemed that my options were endless! At long last, I settled on 3 magazine subscriptions, and a pair of wellies....and the total was just barely over $50 (yippeee -- now that's some serious bang for your buck!). So now I'm excited to read 3 new magazines regularly, and the wellies have arrived and I like them so/so, but will keep them b/c they'd be a bit of a hassle to return. I know that gift certificates can be seen as a bad gift, but I'm pro-certificates, so long as the store makes sense for the recipient!

Adorable Clutches

I am still in the process of selecting gifts for my beloved bridesmaids. So far I've purchased pearl necklaces from Turq Jewelry (I love their stuff!!), but I need just a little something extra. Today I found these adorable clutches on this Etsy site. I have not yet bought anything from people selling on Etsy, but I've already written the woman who makes these, so hopefully I'll learn a bit more about the process -- but it seems easy enough!

Aren't these cute!!??!! Now I just need to narrow down to 6....(or maybe 7 including the bride!!!)

I'm exhausted

So the weekend was wonderful. The highlight BY FAR was the wedding dress fitting. I am so in love with my dress that I did not want to take it off after trying it on. Seriously....love. love. love the dress. I'd share pics, but I'm fairly certain that SB would see them, and well that would clearly ruin the surprise factor! You will most certainly see pics after the big day though!!

Other fun times...the Caps game yesterday was awesome. I also loved the tennis match -- I've played competitively since I was 8, and when I'm on a tennis court I'm just totally in my element. Now that we're in DC, it's tough to get court time in the winter - so I cherish every opportunity to play. Atlanta was a tennis playground....with ALTA, great public courts and tons of other leagues and great players - I just loved it. Tennis is one of the things I miss most about that city.

The weekend totally tired me out though. I'm suffering a mid-afternoon slump...and the diet coke I just drank did nothing to improve the situation. What I'm really craving is one of these.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm................................

Looking forward to the weekend!!!

I am so excited for the weekend....TGIF! Here are all of the fun things happening between now and Monday....

• Meeting up with friends at the Caps game tonight....especially looking forward to seeing one of our Atlanta friends who's in town for the game
  
• My college roommate is in town! We're going to meet up post-game
  
• Taking Daisy to the dog park nice and early on Saturday
• Doing the super intense bootcamp class at my gym....I hate it while I'm cranking out push-ups and doing suicides, but I love the feeling of accomplishment afterwards
• Getting my hair cut and colored!!
• Doing my first wedding dress fitting!!
• Date night with SB
• Going for a run with Daisy Sunday morning
• Meeting up with another friend at Sunday's Caps game
• Playing tennis with the Sunday night ladies group

I haven't had a weekend this jam-packed in awhile, but I am so looking forward to it!!!

PS!!! A big shout out to Lis at Lis Loves for a super sweet comment yesterday....thanks so much to you for visiting and commenting. Your blog is awesome!

Wedding Details ... Part 1

SB proposed last March (it was wonderful and perfect in every way!!)....and due to the fact that he works for in the NHL we had to schedule our wedding date around any possible game conflict....which basically narrows down the year to a short window: late June to early September. After consulting our venue....the date was settled -- July 11 (aka 7/11...easy for SB to remember, I hope!) It's going to be awesome and I can't wait for the big day to have all of our loved ones in one room together and to say I DO! to the best guy in the world.

In Atlanta I worked as an event planner....so once the ring was on my finger, my planning instincts kicked in and we booked as much as possible as soon as possible to get our first choices. While it feels like we've made a lot of decisions and plans already, it still feels like there's a ton to do!

One thing that we've crossed off our lists is selecting/ordering/delivering bridesmaids' dresses!! I will be having 6 bridesmaids....and they will all be wearing this lovely little number from J.Crew:SB will also have 6 groomsmen....and they'll be wearing their own navy suits, white shirts, and this adorable tie from Vineyard Vines (SB and his friends are all big fishermen....they've traveled everywhere from Florida to Alaska to Belize and everywhere in between together to find the best places....so the pattern is very fitting!):
More to come...!

SODA vs. POP

Ok, call me a giant dork, but I think it is so interesting to learn about cultural differences within in the US. Maybe my sociology major has something to do with it, or the fact that I grew up in Wisconsin and have since lived in North Carolina (for school), Atlanta, and DC.

So at work today one of our advertisers had a blurb on their landing page about regional differences and 'carbonated soft drinks' -- anyways, take a look:

• Soda - "Prevalent in the Northeast, greater Miami, the area in Missouri and Illinois surrounding St. Louis and parts of northern California"
• Pop - "Dominates the Northwest, Great Plains and Midwest"
• Coke - "Predominates throughout the South, New Mexico, Central Indiana and in a few other single counties in Nevada, Utah and Wyoming" (Source )

I definitely say "soda" (contrary to the area where I grew up) -- but SB says "coke." What do you say??

20 Things About Me

Happy Monday! I saw this on Seaside Prep's blog, and thought that I'd fill it out! Here goes nothing...

1. Make a list of things you can see without getting up: TV, Daisy to my right, SB to my left in our “internet café” (aka: living room, with both SB and me on our laptops)

2. Favorite football team: NFL: Green Bay Packers ... College: University of Wisconsin (I grew up in Wisconsin…can you tell?)

3.What are you wearing now? Comfy clothes….grey yoga pants with light blue hoodie

4. What’s the last thing you read/are currently reading? I am currently reading John Irving’s A Widow for One Year (and while I usually love his books…..esp. A Prayer For Owen Meany and Cider House Rules…I am SO not into this one, but am still trying to finish it)

5.Who was the last person you hugged? SB

6.What’s your current obsession/addiction? I guess I would sort of consider blogging my new obsession…but I'm also obsessed with a new bootcamp class I've been doing on Saturday mornings. The instructor is like a machine - she's unbelievable!!

7. What was the last thing you said aloud? “That’s cool, are you friends with him?” – talking about SB’s facebook connection to a semi-famous person

8. What was the last thing you bought? Groceries….this morning

9.What are you listening to right now? A ridiculous show on E! about unbelievably expensive “toys”…..24 karat gold facials and $1 million “kick bars” – so unecessary

10. What is your favorite weather, and why? I love HOT, sunny weather! It makes me feel like I'm at the beach.

11. What is your most challenging goal right now? I signed up to run my first half-marathon….it’s on March 21 and while I’m doing well training, I’m having trouble increasing the mileage beyond 7. March 21 is fast approaching so I'm getting a little nervous.

13. Say something to the person who tagged you: Ms. Seaside Prep…..your blog is adorable! I’m just now finding it

14. If you could have a house–totally paid for, fully furnished–anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? Charleston, SC

15.Favorite vacation spot? Anywhere that includes a hot sun, sandy beach and tennis courts nearby!

16. What is your favorite children’s book? Where The Wild Things Are

17. Name one thing you just can’t resist no matter how bad it is for you: Birthday Cake!! Chocolate, yellow, vanilla, red velvet....I can't resist any of it!

18. Favorite hair product? Aveda’s “damage control” conditioner

19. What was the first tape or cd you ever bought yourself? Yikes, I seriously don’t remember

20:Who is the most famous person you know? When I worked in the front office for two of Atlanta's sports teams I met a ton of people....Ludacris, Lil Jon, Collective Soul (in fact, the lead singer stole my cell phone and called all the women in it at like 1am....which included my aunt and older cousins...very funny!...or maybe only funny after I got the phone back!)

And...like Seaside Prep, I tag anyone and everyone who would like to give this a shot!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Wishing you a day filled with much love and happiness!! Daisy and I went running this morning, and now SB and I are contemplating going for a hike with Daisy. I love Saturdays!!

Ugg-tastic

Like many of you, I've been on the fence about Uggs since I first saw them. Actually, when I first saw them I thought they were atrocious...granted, I was living in Atlanta at the time, and it rarely gets below 40 there. Now that I live in the DC area, they sort of make more sense to me since we actually see a bit of winter. They're totally warm and super comfortable. But still.....I'm not sure if they're for me. Anyways, while I've debated getting them since like October of last year, I'm definitely not doing it now that winter's on the way out. However, this article is interesting -- basically it says that despite a recession, people are still justifying buying Uggs in record numbers....mostly due to the comfort factor.

Love is in the air!

So Valentine's Day is 2 days from today.....and while SB and I aren't going to do any serious gift-giving this year (it's actually never been a big gift-giving holiday for us), it's still fun to look at what's out there that's red, pink or just plain fun :)

Lacoste....**this one's actually on sale for $38.99, and I just snatched 1 up :)

Boden...cute summer tankJack Rogers...I have yet to own a pair of these, and I'm liking the platinum color!Kate....I love Kate :)

Boden again...I bought this pair in the brownish color and they are too cute. With the right outfit, these red puppies would be FUN!

And with that.....now I need to figure out exactly what SB and I will be doing for V-day!! My first thought was to try doing lobster at home. My mom did that one year for Christmas and I just loved it.....but SB recently said he doesn't know if he likes lobster....so perhaps I'll start looking for a fun new restaurant. We moved to DC just over a year ago, and we're still getting acclimated to the whole area. It took awhile for us to find restaurants that we both really liked and that weren't $50 per person.....but now we have a few faves and aren't branching out as much....so maybe this is just the occasion to do that! I'll let you know what we decide :)

Today is a HUGE day in the world of college basketball. Maybe more so in my mind because I happen to be a Duke grad. Today is the DUKE v. UNC game.....at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke students have been "tenting" (for some of them....the most ridiculously insane ones) since the day after Christmas just to be granted admittance for this game. The lawn in front of Cameron turns into "Krzyzewskiville" -- a quasi-city in which crazy Duke students form groups of 10-12, and man the tent at all hours to stay in line (abiding by certain rules dictating how many people have to be in the tent at any given time...(ie: 1 person 8am-8pm, 8people 8pm-8am or something like that...and they do "line checks" at all hours of the day and night in which you have to show your student ID to be counted....if you miss 2, then your whole tent is bumped to the end of the line, which could mean they won't get in the game). There's a "head line monitor" which sounds totally geeky, but he or she's basically the mayor of Krzyzewskiville, and calls all the shots. K-ville also has some interesting features, including power outlets and ethernet in the light posts (though maybe it's wifi now...) The night before the game, Coach K usually orders pizza for the whole place, all the players come out, and it's a big party.

While I was at Duke, I was totally basketball crazy (well, actually I'd basically cheered for them since birth) -- but I wasn't insane (ie: no body paint, and no tenting beyond a night or two except for my sophomore year......but it was worth it to do it once!!) If Duke wins, they always host a HUGE bonfire on West Campus, burning the benches that different housing groups construct in the early fall. The bonfires were awesome.

Anyways, I know where I'll be at 9pm tonight...texting away to all my Dukie girls during the game.....but it sure won't be the same as when we were part of the whole experience in Cameron!!

To Keep Or Not To Keep

I'm having a bad case of buyer's remorse!! This weekend SB and I stopped by the mall while out doing errands, and I came home with a cute pair of white jeans (30% off, mind you!), and a neutral sweater (both from Banana Republic) that could go with a ton of things. At the time, I thought they were great purchases....but now I'm feeling like I should just wait for spring to see what I really need. I'm trying to really evaluate "needs" versus "wants"....and this probably doesn't fall in the category of "need" per se... Anyways, I brought them in to work with me with the receipt, but can still totally rationalize that I'll wear both items a bunch! (pics courtesy of Banana Republic)

First Things First

Introductions!!! First, I absolutely must introduce you to my very sweet and wonderful fiance, SB. We met while working together in Atlanta in my first post-college job. We were great friends at first, and after a little more than a year or so, we started to hang out more and more and more.... We've now been dating for just about 4 years, and we have the best time together, making each other laugh out loud every single day. He's the best.
Second, one of the other key characters in my life is our absolutely adorable, extremely rambunctious chocolate lab...Daisy! Little Daisy is one of the very best birthday presents I've ever received. SB surprised me with her right before my birthday, right after he had convinced me that our jobs wouldn't allow us to fully care for a puppy (so typical....always surprising me!). Needless to say, I was thrilled beyond words, and can't believe that it took me this long to learn how magnificent it is to have a dog in my life. She's 2 now, and has more energy than I can believe!! Here's a pic from our Christmas with SB's family in GA....our mini family!!

Day One!

After getting engaged last March, I soon became slightly obsessed with the blogging world. I am loving reading everything out there about adorable weddings, preppy finds, and life in general. While I'm not sure if my own life will be equally exciting, I thought it would be fun to start my own blog in 2009. This will be a big year -- SB and I are getting married in July, we are still learning the ins and outs of our new city, and our chocolate lab and crazy jobs tend to keep us quite busy! So, here we go -- I hope you will join me on my new adventure...one preppy day at a time!