My Crooked Life

Show us your singles! Jane! :)

2011-06-23T21:47:00.005-05:00

So I am resurrecting the blog to get the word out via Kelly's Korner blog about how awesome my friend Jane is! I normally am only on twitter which is where Jane and I got to know each other well. She is a med student in Oklahoma. As she puts on her blog in response to "Who am I?" She's "med student, friend, wanna-be runner, reader, daughter, writer, traveler, sister, Christian, baker, connoisseur of adult beverages, comedian, I'm Jane."

Super smart, super sweet, and owner of a precious dog Ollie :)

This past year Jane came up to DC and got to tour the Pentagon! (Super jealous DC resident here!)

Jane is a giving friend, close to her family, and all around awesome :) Any person who has her in their life will be very lucky. We have an amazing time when she's out on the east coast.

So if this amazing friend of mine catches your eye with her blonde hair and gorgeous grin, leave a comment or send me a note! :)

Recovering and cooking up a storm!

2011-02-07T20:41:00.007-06:00

Hi all! Surgery went REALLY well. They were thankfully able to remove just the lumbar portion of the hardware which made it a 1.5 hour surgery vs possibly 3-4! Thankfully the portion remaining is completely enclosed and secure. After an overnight in the hospital (which coincided with crazy snow/travel making getting a room an adventure), I came home to have my mama and sister take care for me for a week. The recovery in the last week is incredible! I'm decreasing pain medicine, energy level is up, and I'm starting to think about when I can go to work.
In the mean time, I've been cooking a lot. Since I first knew I was having surgery, I've been trying to eat lots of extra protein and veggies. In college I waitressed at a family owned thai restaurant and have a weakness for thai food. So I searched the internet and came across an awesome video of how to cook chicken thai fried rice, khao pad gai.

I have transcribed the recipe and added some hints. First off, prep EVERYTHING first.

The actual cooking takes less than 15 minutes. Also the drier the rice is the better. I've been using uncle ben's as it's what I have in the house. I cook the rice several hours before, but you could do the night before too. Jasmine might work way better.
Also the recipe calls for half chicken half shrimp, but I'm just using chicken as I have it on hand. I also am adding a second egg to up my protein levels.

Thai Fried Rice (Khao Pad Gai)

3 tbsp oil, 2 cloves garlic (chopped), 5 oz chicken cut in 1/4 inch slices (cut breast in half first to slice more easily), 5 oz shrimp
(peeled, cleaned), 1 med onion diced, 1 med carrot diced, 1 egg (whisked), 3 c rice, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tomato chopped, 2 stalks green onion sliced, 5 stems cilantro sliced, 1/2 lime, hot sauce to taste, cucumber slice for garnish

In wok or large fry pan, heat 2 tbsp oil on med-high to medium heat. Saute garlic for just a bit. Then add chicken breast and cook until white. Once that is cooked, add carrot and onion. Then add shrimp if used. Stir fry until shrimp is almost all the way done. Push all to sides. Add bit more of oil. Then cook egg. (scramble). Then stir all ingredients together. Add rice and mix in well to avoid clumps. Add fish sauce, then soy sauce, then sugar if desired.
These first steps should take ~10 minute. Then stir in green onion, tomato, and 1/2 cilantro. Top with lime and hot sauce if desired when serving.

If you do just one egg, and the recipe 1/2 chicken 1/2 shrimp with 6 servings this is the nutrition info.

Hope y'all like it!

EDITED TO ADD:
I can often get away with using 1/2 the oil which cuts 4 g of fat.

Fun meme!

2011-01-25T11:52:00.003-06:00

We interrupt your normally scheduled surgery related posts for a bit of fun! :) I was given a Stylish Blogger Award by the lovely lovely Worthy Style!

Here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 15 recently discovered bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

Now, I don't think I *KNOW* 15 new bloggers, so I will share 5 blogs/websites that I think are really fun. Hopefully that works!

Seven things about myself:
1. I am the youngest of four girls. You might think this makes me a bit spoiled, and you'd be right! ;) But now that I have a precious Niecey girl, I have passed the spoiling torch to her.

2. I got my first pair of glasses at 18 months.

My cheeks were so chubby that when I cried, my tears would well up behind the lenses. May be part of why I was a smidge spoiled ;)

3. I grew up in a military family and am very proud of that heritage. Both my grandfathers served, as did both of my parents. Two of my sisters married guys who have served in the military.

My daddy's father

My mama's parents

Mama being sworn into the Air Force by her dad!

My daddy

4. I have an addiction to fuzzy socks! I own about 10 or more pairs. As soon as I get home, I always take my shoes off (Blame growing up in the south). But in winter my feet get so cold, so I have tons of comfy socks.

5. While I *am* big about manners and things (particularly when I meet new people), I have a complete potty mouth when it comes to hockey! This made some friends I'd met at church a little surprised when we went to our first hockey game, but we all had plenty of fun yelling at the refs and booing the other team :) The only really tricky thing was checking the 4 row radius for children before the game started!

6. I love to sing. Adore it. Sang in church choirs growing up. Went to a lion's club exchange camp called "The Sound of Music" in Austria. Sang in church choir at my Nashville church which I loved. I haven't found a place to sing here in DC and I really miss that. I am known to sing along with Alison Kraus or Sarah McLachlan in the car :)

7. I have a life goal of seeing every US state and a dream of seeing all the major National Parks. I was a girl scout growing up and really miss camping. Haven't camped in years, but used to be able to make some pretty awesome pancakes over an open fire!

8. Remembered one more! I LOVE playing cribbage and canasta. While these may seem like old fashioned card games, my grandma taught all us girls how to play and it has such happy family memories. Anyone in DC like to play?

Five Fun Blogs/Websites/Things! (I'm running low on ideas!)

Some of these y'all already know but some may be new. These are all things that make me smile.

1. Mad Hattery Blog
I shared this with the Preppy Princess via twitter yesterday. I still have a little princess obsession and a LOVE of sparkly things so this website feeds both!

2. Acting Like Animals
This is part of the "Squee" section of the icanhascheezburger site. Just too cute and happy.

3. Polyvore
I'm pretty new to this but I'm using it to try to play with what's in my closet and get more out of what I already own. Almost like Cher in Clueless.

4. The Chillout Song
Someone else tweeted this the other day, and I think it's the most awesome idea. It made me happy about the state of the world. (Something rather hard to do these days)

5. STFU Parents
Now a warning, this website has foul language at times, but if you've ever wanted to Gibbs Slap someone for posting about their child's bowels on facebook, this is the site for you!

Thank you so much Whitney for tagging me! This was a really fun way to relax until Mama gets here!

Surgery date set!

2011-01-18T15:17:00.004-06:00

Well this time next week it'll be less than 24 hours until surgery. I am so glad it is set. I can plan my life again. I've had 3 weeks just disappear pretty much as a result of this. The surgeon, Dr. Y, is someone I have GREAT confidence in. I've only seen him twice but he comes well recommended and I really like him. A good thing since he's going to be going into my back and removing hardware. The plan is for a 2 hour surgery and 1-2 days in the hospital.

The MRI showed my discs are good underneath the fusion which is WONDERFUL! Also the fusion seems solid. If there's anywhere the surgeons are concerned about, they are going to add bone graft. But shouldn't need any new hardware. Dr. Y said it'll be about a week that I need people here to help take care of myself. But no brace or anything.

My mama and one of my sisters are going to come and help take care of me. Mama for the surgery itself because when I get out of surgery I'm going to want my mama! :) The doctor said 4-6 weeks to be totally healed (and no lifting more than 20 pounds during that time) but that I could be back to work in less than 2 weeks if everything goes well.

But this is still a really big thing. It's going to be a strange week. Going through all the pre-op stuff. Going into the office tomorrow to meet with my PI about a meeting this coming Monday that I had SO been looking forward to. It's hard. I don't feel like I've accomplished anything workwise since I came home from my one day in the office last week. But my boss is being really supportive so I am very very grateful for that.

The idea of getting my life back is incredible. It's been so long since there hasn't been some sort of pain. And while I doubt this surgery will get rid of all of it, I am very hopeful it will help make a BIG difference.

Waiting waiting waiting....

2011-01-16T11:40:00.003-06:00

WARNING: Major Whine Today!!!

I can't believe it's Sunday again. This has been such a long week, but it feels like times been melting. I know that's a big phrase, but I can't think of a better one. Although pain medicine is the only way I'm getting through this waiting, I hate it. Hate, HATE, HATE! My head's all loopy. I can barely even remember to eat right and get enough water. I can't drive. When I try to not take the pain meds, it feels like I'm being stabbed from the inside. And it sucks.

BUT! And I have to make myself focus on the "buts." On the things that ARE going right. Because otherwise the fears and the anger could just suck me down into anxiety and depression.

I've been there before and I *don't* want to go back. Anxiety is something I've learned to live with on an everyday basis. It's not near as bad as it was in the past. I don't spaz out. Fewer nightmares than I used to have. The worst it's been was during my last semester of grad school and during college. But I saw someone. Took meds for a while. Learned coping methods.

But this situation is making me more anxious. My health coping style is facts. What is going to happen? What are the details? Why did it happen? Facts, figures, plans.

So the past 2 weeks of knowing what is wrong (detached rod), theoretical plan (surgery), but NOT knowing when. NOT knowing details. NOT knowing what my recovery will entail has been extremely hard for me.

So I'm trying to focus on the good. My biggest way to cope is to purposefully be a Pollyanna. As annoying as that is (even to me) I know it helps.

Things I am grateful for definitely include all y'all. My friends on here and twitter. To know I have people who care for me and are pulling for me makes a big difference. Also, I tend to be ridiculously hard on myself. I feel guilty and lazy for not working. To not even be writing papers right now. And having people to give me perspective is HUGE. I can't even explain, but in particular with my family not being here, this community makes me not feel alone.

This post is a thank you for helping me get through this wait. I will let y'all know once I know something Tuesday.

MRI done!

2011-01-12T19:13:00.003-06:00

Thank y’all so much for the support! I can’t say enough how much all the support on here and on twitter has meant. In the past week, a grad school BFF sent cookies and a Twitter friend brought red beans. The little things mean a lot right now!

I was able to get insurance approval for the MRI Monday afternoon and managed to get in for a 6 pm one that night! Thankfully my dr had given me a happy pill for those not fond of small places.

Yesterday I went and picked up the disc and my pain meds. Sadly the next appointment to see the surgeon, to go over the MRI and actually plan/schedule my surgery isn’t until Tuesday morning at 8.

The waiting in this is the hardest for me. The pain med does the job of helping me cope, but I am not fond of strong medicines for long periods. On the other hand it’s only been 2 weeks from the day the rod shifted and I’m already this far along.

Today a coworker gave me a ride and I was able to go in and work from 7:30 until 5. Completed one of two experiments I have going and now I can work from home tomorrow/rest. Coming home and lying on the futon under a fuzzy blanket felt like heaven!

So I found the MRI really cool seeing how the spine curves and rotates still. (Not that it is a good thing, but seeing inside my body is cool to me.) I am still hoping the surgery will just be rod removal as that will be a much easier recovery. I know the Dr. said that would be 1-2 days in hospital. But I have no idea of what would be the plan after that/how long until work/able to take care of myself.

Hopefully Tuesday will bring more answers again. This is what the hardware in my back looks like.

I really hope they don’t need to put anything back in. I wonder how much of my pain these hooks have caused. :( It’ll be good when it’s done.

I want this done. I hate waiting. I’m scared. I also hate that I’m whining. And that I’m wondering how long all this will last.

But I am so grateful for family and friends. For a job that is working with me. For health insurance. That I am seeing the head of spinal surgery at a major teaching hospital. That I have pain medicine. That I have a cuddly kitty for the hard days.

I don’t really know how often I’ll update. Because I worry the updates until I know anything could just be whining. But I know I feel better mentally even after this short update.

PS If anyone knows of someone who could design a cute header, that would be awesome. I have a friend who can but she is SUPER busy.

I'm back! A little history...

2011-01-07T15:28:00.003-06:00

New blog name, new blog focus. Since I finished graduate school this blog went into hiatus as you may have noticed. I can’t really talk about my real-world work like I did graduate school, and just ran out if ideas.
But as life does things change. I don’t know how much of this has come across on the blog over the years, but I have had scoliosis since I was diagnosed back in junior high. This has been a major part of my life over the years, and scoliosis has just jumped back up to the forefront. So this is the tale of my crooked life.
I think this blog is going to be my way of coping with the left turn things are taking. I know it won’t be the pretty pink shopping and hockey blog it once was, but that’s not where my life is now. I hope people will read and it won’t be hideously boring or too medical. Maybe some of my old readers. Maybe new scoliosis people. But no matter what, I need somewhere to release all this inside my head. Tada! Blog time!
The whole diagnosis and the road that took is quite a tale! But that road took me to a spinal fusion in January 2000, when my major curve had grown to 47* with 2 compensatory curves of 37* and 24*. I was originally going to have it done my senior year and had donated my blood and everything was scheduled, until we found out I had MONO! So I went off to college and took my spring semester off for the surgery. I had a T4-L3 Cotrel Duboset spinal fusion. After some non-spinal complications, all healed well.
So that leads to the present. Since the summer I have had a number of lower back pain issues. SI joint, general low back pain, etc. The Monday after Christmas, while I was home in Alabama, we drove down to visit some of my daddy’s family in the southern part of the state. It was a wonderful visit. All was well. No pain or anything. On the drive back I had been slouched down in the seat some and was getting a bit achy. When I pushed up on the seat to sit up straight, all of a sudden it felt like I was being stabbed in my back. I stretched my self as best I could while buckled in going 55 mph, and it eased up some.
But later that night, I pushed myself out of one of mama’s glider type chairs, and the pain came even worse.

It hasn’t really eased up since. It’s been 11 days.
I now have been diagnosed as having the hook that secured of my rods come loose. When it came loose is unclear, as July xrays show it out then. (Yet another story for another day as this is getting really long!)
Apparently the rod shifted on 12/27 and is now pushing out at my skin causing severe pain. I saw my new surgeon yesterday. LOVE him. He really inspired confidence and respected my intelligence. I’ve been dealing with this diagnosis for over 15 years so I like having a dr who knows I am used to the xrays and terminology.
Big news? I am going to be having surgery to remove all the rods and hooks. They are unstable and causing the pain (and possibly past problems). I don’t have a date for the surgery as I have to have an MRI first to examine my L3-L4 to see if there is degenration. But it will be this month according to my surgeon. Until them I am on pain medicines (ie loopy and unable to drive or work) and mostly lying in bed.
I’m kind of scared of the surgery. It won’t be as complicated as original one (probably 1-2 hours versus 8 for first surgery) but still major spinal surgery. So that’s where I am now. I’ll probably be writing more about how I got here, where it’s going, and hopefully a marvelous recovery.
ALSO! Poll question for the comments. Would things like xrays be too much? I’ve already subjected my twitter friends to them but don’t want to gross people out too much. :)

Super fun wreath!

2010-02-22T18:52:00.004-06:00

JillyinMN was asking about a post of how I make my wreaths. It's super easy. It takes a bit of time but I love how it turns out.

If you can find a single metal ring, at JoAnn's or Michael's, that makes it so much easier. The Michael's near me only carries these four ring ones, but I make it work!
I pick out about 20-25 yards of the ribbons I like. (Based on the four rings, I also pick out plain ribbon with 5 yards). Cut the ribbons into about 4-6 inch lengths. (I do a test tie to see how much I need to make a good shape. Wider ribbons need to be longer to tie right. Then you tie and tie and tie :-)
Once the wreath is nice and thick, I weave a ribbon around the rings that I didn't tie on. This takes a while, and if you can find a single ring you can avoid it. :)
I use the last of the wrapping ribbon to make a tie. I've made a Christmas wreath doing this same way and really love it because it can be packed flat and then just fluffed up. Hope y'all enjoy!

Luck be a lady...

2010-01-19T19:57:00.003-06:00

Here's three of my favorite things I brought back from Seattle

My first ever four leaf clovers! And I actually found two four leaf clovers and in the last picture – it's hard to tell – but it's a three + leaf clover which I'm calling a pi leaf clover cause I'm nerdy like that! :)
I pressed them in the book I was reading over the trip "The Quantum Ten: A Story of Passion, Tragedy, Ambition, and Science"

It's a really good read even if you don't understand quantum physics cause I sure don't! It's about the lives and fears and dreams of ten of the men who shaped the world of science. I'm really liking it :)
For now I'm off to sleep since I only caught 4 hours sleep between my two red-eye segments yesterday/this morning. I can't wait to see what kind of good luck my clovers bring :-D

Hello from the home of Starbucks! aka grad school mecca

2010-01-18T17:12:00.005-06:00

Hey y'all! I'm in the Seattle airport waiting to catch my flight to SF and then back to DC! There's all sorts of delays talk, so in my waiting time I am going to use the free wifi to fill y'all in! :)
The trip was awesome. My friend C was at a university in the area for a meeting so we decided to make a vacation of it. I managed to get great deals through Virgin America and Priceline for the flights so it was an inexpensive trip too!
Rather than have only one really picture heavy post of the trip, I'm going to break it up over the next couple days. Here are my faves from the first part.

The view from our hotel room in the rain. Apparently I can be easily hypnotized by living in a tall building overlooking a road because this completely relaxed me. As did staring at other tall buildings as I fell asleep. I had no idea I'd like to live in a highrise!

Me overlooking the sound. One of the first pics we took. Notice my hair. I don't usually resemble Medusa, but it was WAY windy and rainy. Too windy for umbrellas. But we had a blast!

A really nice cabbie took this one of C and me.C was really excited to take his picture with the fish thrower guys!

Okay normal pose!

Some of the gorgeous produce!

That's most of day 1! Still to come, the first starbucks, the art museum, and space needle! :)

I missed a couple days! Oops!

2010-01-12T21:11:00.002-06:00

Sorry I missed a couple days blogging! It's been busy but good here. Work is going well and I fly off to Seattle Thursday afternoon. Need to pack tomorrow night but am getting really excited. I've never been there before. As a weekend update, here is one of the bridesmaid dresses I tried on on Sunday for BFF S's wedding this summer. Time to get my arms into shape! ;)

Latest snow storm!

2010-01-09T22:34:00.003-06:00

Happy weekend y'all! I haven't accomplished all of what I wanted today but I did laundry, got a mani/pedi, and am having a bridesmaid powwow with BFF's G and S (S is the bride). I'm going to to try on the bridesmaid dress tomorrow, so think skinny thoughts for me! Tomorrow I HAVE to get a bunch accomplished on writing and experiment prep so that I can go to Seattle with an easy mind.
Here's the latest pics from our snow storm on Thursday night/Friday morning :)

I swear there will be a longer post coming but at least I'm keeping up with posting, right??

TGIF

2010-01-08T23:09:00.001-06:00

Thank heavens it's the weeked y'all! I promise I'll be back with a
full post when I wake up in the morning but just remembered this in
time to make my deadline of postif every day! :-) so enjoy the typical
view of the monument in DC... Stuck in traffic ;)

Tired Thursday!

2010-01-07T20:57:00.003-06:00

I have some pictures from today but am super tired after all the seminars and repeated "dog and pony" shows of our research this week in the lab. Add into that the faceplant I did into the sidewalk while hurrying to one of the seminars, and I am done.

Here's my scraped up chin (Forgive my total lack of makeup!)

And here is the evil sidewalk!

Considering I was going full speed and skidded on my hands and chin, I was pretty darn lucky. Thankfully I was wearing super thick gloves so my hands were okay, and my target tights stayed intact and I just have about a quarter sized scrape on my knee. I'm glad it wasn't worse than it was, but I'm ready for bed for sure.

I had dinner with Julie which was a nice break. I have to be at work at 7 tomorrow for the VIP who is visiting and unfortunately they are calling for anything between a dusting and 2 inches. I'm really hoping it's just a dusting.

But looking forward to sleeping in Saturday even though I'll be going in to work a good bit this weekend. I need to make up for the time I'll be in Seattle next week! Which I totally can't wait for :) It's gonna be so nice to have some vacation and spend time with C. I'm off to bed.

Y'all have a good night!

P.S. Hook 'em Horns!

The week's half over Woohoo!

2010-01-06T21:00:00.003-06:00

This taking photos every day thing is very hard with the work photo restriction (no cameras) and not getting out of work before dark! I am going to have to take extra pictures on the weekends to bank them for the week :)

Today was finally a full day at work, no appointments, but still ended up losing 3 hours. I'd known there would be filming in the lab space today so I just planned on being out of the way, but instead ended up being filmed! Hello crazy curly hair, no makeup, and jeans! :-P ;) But that was actually kind of fun. I'll be curious to see how it turns out. Tomorrow will be busy with seminars and Friday with an important visitors to the lab. I'd love a straight forward day at work, where I can have time to work out after but not this week! Tomorrow is dinner with Julie so maybe Saturday I can get in some exercise??

Anywho, for your viewing pleasure, here are the lovely sunset I caught at work and tonight's dinner :) Please let me know if this photo thing gets old!

DC tour!

2010-01-05T21:22:00.005-06:00

Today was worlds better than yesterday even though I was stuck with needles about 65 times today! I had my first appointment with the allergist and am going to subject you to a picture of what my arm looked like, but I promise I will end with a pretty picture! :)

This is what my arm looked like after the first part of the test.

Turns out I wasn't allergic to anything! But I do have a chronic sinus infection. It's crazy that I'm happy to be diagnosed with that, but I have averaged 3 or so severe sinus infections a year that don't always respond to antibiotics. I'm talking Cipro level here! So to have a doctor realize they haven't been going away and want to do something about it is awesome!

The other thing was "vasomotor rhinitis" aka it seems like I have allergies (sneezy, runny nose, itchy eyes) but it comes from something else. The doc is doing lots of tests so hopefully I'll find out why my super sensitive immune system is freaking out :)

Here is the promised cute picture – with an extra thrown in for good measure :) This is what happened when I got out of bed to set the alarm clock last night!

There's a heating pad thief in my bed! He was none to pleased when I knocked him off :)

This other is of the National Cathedral as I was driving back to work from the doctor's office today. I just love the cathedral. It is absolutely gorgeous and I highly recommend you see it if you're ever in DC.

Tomorrow will be a regular day of work, and I am actually really looking forward to it! It'll be good to get my routine back after the last two days. :)

Happy Monday! (aka all's well that ends well!)

2010-01-04T21:04:00.002-06:00

Today was a beyond frustrating day, starting with my 7 am PT appt being canceled at 6 am but my non-functioning ringer didn't let me know and I didn't check my phone until I got there. Once I finally made it to work at noon (LONG story which twitter folks were subjected to!), the day got much better though. I made a chicken with white wine sauce tonight and am getting ready for bed before my first allergist appt tomorrow. Cuddling with a kitty makes the day much better. But for now I'm going to leave you with a photo of my kitty boy that makes me very happy. :)

New Year Improvements!

2010-01-03T20:37:00.005-06:00

This evenings photo was my amazing entree last night when I went out to dinner with Julie, her husband and B. It was a steak salad with cayenne and espresso rubbed steak, fingerling potatoes, haricots vert, and gorgonzola cheese tossed with spring greens and "dragon honey" I don't really know what dragon honey was but it was delicious!

We went and saw Up in the Air which I really enjoyed. This has been such an awesome year for movies and I still want to see Invictus.

Today my BFF G had a 2 hour layover at Dulles so I drove out there. She was able to come out from security to have lunch with me! So awesome to see her but I miss her already. One of us needs to switch coasts!

After that I went to a local traditional Korean spa which I adore. I have been baked, steamed, boiled, scrubbed and polished! So marvelously relaxing and not too expensive either! I can never believe how much they do when they scrub, but my skin feels like silk. :) I figured I shouldn't go into this year with last year's skin ;) (Ick I know! Sorry!)

This week is going to be a week of tons of work and a couple big medical appointments so think good thoughts for me! I have my allergy testing Tuesday so hopefully I'll find out what's been causing me to have bad reactions of itching and breathing issues to food! Now I've got on a pretty really rich dark red nail polish that's almost a brick red and am watching Iron Chef so that will help prepare for the week! Have a good one!

January 2! (Ignore your calendar!)

2010-01-03T00:39:00.003-06:00

I was just in bed in my jammies and realized this didn't post! Enjoy! :)

Today I went to a charity hockey game between the FBI and US Secret Service to benefit the center for missing and exploited children. I knew it would be fun for a good cause but had no idea what a good game it would turn out to be! The game went one way then the other, and ended up getting tied up at the very end and even going to a shootout! The Secret Service won – the side I'd decided to cheer for :) Here's some of my fave pics of the day.

Oh and one other cute item...I had a little 5 year old blond boy sitting next to me who told me that the Secret Service had to win because his daddy was a Secret Service agent. I asked if his daddy was playing, and he said "Nope, Daddy's too chicken!" :-D

Here's the FBI jerseys!

And the Secret Service jersey

Aren't law enforcement types supposed to OBEY the rules? ;)

The winning team!

p.s. Check back for more pics tomorrow :)

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T21:07:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holidays! Spending time with my family was wonderful and my New Year's Eve with Julie was great. :) Inspired by Lisagh of Grosgrain Garage and some things I've seen on twitter about Project 365, I am going to try to make that one of my goals this year - to post a picture that I took every day. Now I am not going to try to make it one I took that same day, but it will be one that I took recently. It'll be complicated by not being supposed to bring a camera to work, but with an iPhone I don't really have an excuse now do I?

Today's picture was taken during the ice storm we had Thursday morning. It was just beautiful to me.
I have seen more winter weather this year than I've ever seen in my life (yup I'm from the south!) I have all sorts of lovely photos of that to share too. Hopefully this will get me back into blogging which has been a big outlet for me and a way I've met amazing people!

christmas baking!

2009-12-17T19:49:00.000-06:00

We had our work holiday party today, and I baked a gingerbread spice
cake! How cute is this igloo pan I found last weekend!?! Hope y'all
have a great weekend! They're predicting up to 6 inches of snow this
weekend. I'm hoping they're wrong! :)

Pic of the day!

2009-12-15T20:56:00.001-06:00

How cute are these baby apples I saw at whole foods last night? ......Hey at least I can get mini picture posts back in my life :)

What I've been up to

2009-10-12T18:38:00.002-05:00

I hate leaving my blog out here un-updated but can't seem to make myself make time to post or just give up on the blog. It's mostly Twitter these days (@sbcvandy) but here's what I've been up to as you can see tonight. :)

*watching my fave fall sports of hockey and football
*restarting fall crafts - in this case learning to crochet and making a pink and green scarf Ethidium Bromide helped me design the pattern for
*getting ready for my fiend L to visit this weekend when the Preds come to play the caps
*went to New Orleans/MS for work the beginning of the month
*making myself make time for PT

So as you can see things are pretty much just going along. Feel free to follow on Twitter if you want to see more of what I'm up to when I'm not posting here!

Pork Chop deliciousness!

2009-09-29T20:44:00.004-05:00

So I posted about my dinner tonight and one of my grad school friends on twitter wanted the recipe. So here goes. :)
It is the simplest easy yummy recipe. Not HORRIDLY bad for you either. :) Here's the finished product.

You sear each porkchop 5 min on each side,

[I overcooked mine tonight as you can see and so they were a tidge dry]
then mix together in a fry pan with a lid, [You can use one pan throughout, I just couldn't find the lid in time :)] 1 can Campbell's french onion soup, half a can of water, and a 1/2 c of chopped celery. Add the pork chops and cook covered for 20-25 minutes, and then add 3/4 c. plain rice. Bake another 25 minutes covered and then enjoy! I did :)

Pretty flowers

2009-09-23T20:05:00.002-05:00

I'm going to act like it's fall even if it's 85 outside! I had to turn back on the AC today which annoyed the bejesus out of me. But maybe that'll help my allergies or sinuses or whatever has me feeling so icky! I came home from work and slept and worked on excel here so hopefully I can do a full day tomorrow. Hope y'all are good!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

2009-09-22T20:51:00.004-05:00

So I had an awesome weekend. Did some gardening, saw a WAY too exciting Auburn game, and then baked the most awesome pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I looked at about five hundred recipes online and ended up making one of my own, by combining several.

My favorite part was the addition of vanilla.
I of course wore my favorite apron :)
About to mix in the Ghiradelli 60% cocoa chips
All ready to cook!

And of COURSE I overstirred and they ended up really dense and short, but boy are they yummy! According to Lisagh posted this weekend, stirring less is the way to make fluffier muffins. I've managed to give away (or eat!) all but three of this batch so I'm looking forward to trying some pumpkin cranberry muffins this weekend or maybe tomorrow night. I'll post some picks of my latest fall fans tomorrow or Thursday. But considering it's going to be in the 80's both days, it sure won't feel like fall!

Amazing giveaway!

2009-09-22T20:46:00.002-05:00

Mrs. Newlywed is hosting an awesome giveaway on her blog! Go check it out :) I'll post some pics of the weekend in a couple minutes. I'm in NCIS land!

http://www.misadventuresofanewlywed.com/2009/09/giveaway-alert.html

Saturday morning at Home Dept

2009-09-19T10:07:00.001-05:00

I'll post the results later! :)

The taste of fall

2009-09-16T09:03:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like a pumpkin spice latte to make a cool morning of
equations go more smoothly! :) I had super early PT this morning so
needed the caffeine. It got me wondering. What are y'all's favorite
pumpkin and/or fall recipes?

Happiness is...

2009-09-14T20:15:00.001-05:00

An icepack and a gin & gingerale. At least on a day like today when my
back hurts like a son of a ..... gun! Hope y'all had a good Monday!

Happy Fall Y'all!

2009-09-13T20:36:00.005-05:00

I had a GREAT first weekend of the fall. I spent a good bit of it with Disgruntled Julie and had a blast! We met up around noon Saturday and went to have brunch out in Georgetown. I had the most amazing chocolate hazelnut pancakes. I could only eat half and I am a COMPLETE chocoholic!

In the afternoon, we went to a bar that advertised that it plays all SEC games (which it did) but it was filled with some of the most OBNOXIOUS Bama fans ever! Now I am a HUGE Auburn and Vandy fan so I have no love lost for the Tide, but these guys were the worst! Yelling at the top of there lungs when there were like 10 people in the bar. Basically all the worst stereotypes of a drunken Southern fratty. BUT Ms. Julie and I had fun! Auburn won and Vandy didn't get shut out so all in all it was a good day :-)

One funny story is that we had to go to the bar to order our own pitchers and snacks, no one ever came by the table despite it being pretty empty most of the evening. The pitcher came with two Solo cups, and we never got a napkin even with our food. Randomly I'd had cocktail napkins in my purse that I'd wanted to show off to Julie They say "Football. TV. Beer. HAPPINESS" I love them! Thankfully I had them so we had napkins :)

Today I slept in a bit and then went to go watch the Capitals practice. It was great to see them skating, but SO weird that it wasn't my Predators! I can't wait until the Preds come up here to play the Caps in October :)

After practice (and a yummy Panera lunch) I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up some mums to decorate my front steps. I'd gotten out my fall decorations so the house is ready for cool temps and fall leaves. :)

It's been a good weekend. I had fun and managed to clean house and decorate too. I've got a 7 AM physical therapy appointment so I'd better get to bed. Hooray for blogging twice in one week!

I'm back!

2009-09-09T21:21:00.005-05:00

So I twittered tonight that I thought I was thinking about stopping blogging for good since I hadn't been blogging much. (When I signed on today to post pictures from a great trip home, I realized I hadn't posted in over TWO months!) (Hardly shocking to yall!) But I got some good feedback from some of my fave folks (Wila's Way and BethAnn) so I'm back!

I think a lot of why I stopped blogging is that I am not supposed to bring a camera to work which got me out of the habit, but I'm back in! (Plus some mama guilt this weekend that she missed reading this helped!)

SOOOO this past weekend I went home for labor day and my birthday. I had an amazing time and got to visit some of my relatives who I don't get to see as often as I want. They have the cutest Chihuahua who I just love!

My Aunt is like a second grandmother to me, and I am so happy I could get down to see her and my uncle while I was home!

In addition to the visit home and my birthday party, I spent a lot of time looking through old family photos and learning more about family history which means so much to me. All of my grandparents have passed away, three of them when I was in elementary school. So learning all I can about where I came from, what my relatives were like, is so special to me. Plus finding fun pictures and stories is a blast! Here's some of my favorites

My Irish greatgrandfather was so handsome!

Daddy loved his new bike

One grandfather was a handsome sailor

And the other an Army soldier who went off to WWII when mama was a baby

My grandmother showed some leg!

And my mama banged the stroller with her cousin inside into the flagpole!

Plus finding cute pics of me as a kids always a benefit!

Curlylocks!

We've got an escape artist!

Concert pianist!

But I want to ride the hippity hop!

It was a wonderful trip, and exactly the break I needed. I have been having a bit of a time adjusting to my new lab, and being in a new city, so it was so good to be home where people know who I am. I feel a lot more sure of myself and so happy to be back in my own place with my kitty who missed me a bunch! This week is going to be fun with NFL kickoff with Disgruntled Julie, and college football on Saturday! I can't wait to get my fall decoration out! Thank heavens it's fall!

Can you guess who's in love with summer tomatoes?

2009-07-07T18:58:00.001-05:00

Me! I'm really enjoying rediscovering my kitchen after weeks of too
much work and not enough taking care of me. Plus the veggies are so
good right now!

Happy Independence Day Weekend :)

2009-07-05T18:28:00.004-05:00

I hope everybody had a great Independence Day. I had a great weekend where I had two nights of more than 10 hours sleep! Yesterday, I attended my first ever bat mitzvah for a coworkers daughter. It was a really cool experience. I didn't understand too much of the service (whenever I'm around another language I wish I knew more than just Latin!), but the daughter did a great job with the reading. Afterwards, there was a reception at a DELICIOUS Italian restaurant. I danced to Hava Nagila and did a Conga line. It was a lot of fun and you could just see how proud the daddy was of his daughters. I got home around 4 and relaxed for a bit.

I knew I wanted to watch fireworks, and several of the friends I know here had other plans. SO I put on my big girl pants and made great plans for myself :) I ADORE the 4th of July and other patriotic holidays like Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. Both my parents and both my brothers-in-law served in the military. I grew up on a military base in a military town. One of my dearest and last memories of my grandmother is of her, within a month of passing, teaching my niece to wave the flag and sing "You're a Grand Old Flag" We had patriotic beads around Mama and Daddy's house that year and it started my niece's love of jewelry, any type of which she called beads for the first year. :)

Anywho, I knew I wanted to take advantage of all the things going on here in the district, but I'm not a huge crowds person, so I went to the Air Force Memorial to listen to the Air Force band play and watch the fireworks. I had a great vantage point that more than made up for some annoying neighbors (I will admit I gave a couple screaming kids glares, but mainly cause they were letting out ear piercing shrieks!)

I had views of most of the district, and the fireworks were awesome. Getting home less than 4 miles took almost an hour with half that to get out of the parking lot. Next year Metro it is :)

Today I've relaxed watching the Wimbeldon final, which was amazing but I really wish Roddick had won. Then I made potato salad. Like a lot of my family's recipes it comes from the 1963 McCall's cookbook.
Our lasagna, apple pie, potato salad, lemonade, all come from here. It's called "traditional potato salad" in the cookbook and I love it cause it doesn't have eggs or mustard. I've edited the potato salad recipe to make it healthier.
I mentioned it on Twitter, and Ali asked for the recipe, so here you go!

Traditional Potato Salad
2 lb Yukon gold potatoes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2.5 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp parsley (chopped)
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
3/4 c chopped celery
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/4 c mayo
1/2 c Fage yogurt or other greek yogurt.

Cook the potatoes with skins on, ~20 min or so. Let the potatoes cool, then peel and cut into small pieces. I like to put the coat the potatoes in the vinegar, oil, and herbs to soak up some of the flavor before adding the veggies, yogurt, and mayo. Makes 6-8 servings.
The original recipe also calls for a quarter cup of bell peppers, but I HATE bell peppers so I left them out. By cutting the mayo, the recipe now has only 250 calories if you have 6 servings, but six and a half grams of protein! Not too shabby :)

Fabulous summer recipe!

2009-06-28T20:05:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been more than a month! I'm mostly on twitter these days, so follow me there if you want to know the day to day :-) Life has been work for the most part, with a couple fun visits thrown in. I'll try to post pics from the last bit tomorrow or Tuesday.

But tonight, I was twittering about how I was fixing one of my favorite summery foods and Wearing Mascara asked me to post the recipe. Tabouli is one of my favorite summer foods from growing up. My mama has real ideas about eating certain foods in certain seasons. Beef Stroganoff and stews are winter foods. Grilled foods and salads – summer foods.

Tabouli is a middle eastern salad of parsley and bulgur wheat with veggies. In a traditional version, it's almost 90% parsley. The recipe Mama would make is more like 50 – 50. I love foods like this, because in the summer it is FAR too hot sometimes to even turn on the oven. When the tomatoes are super fresh and red and juicy, this can't be beat! Plus it's healthy and full of vitamins and fiber and all that good stuff :)

Tabouli

Ingredients

1 cup bulgur wheat

4 cups water

1 cup finely chopped parsley

1/3 cup cilantro

1/3 cup finely chopped scallions

3 red ripe tomatoes, cut up

1 medium cucmber, chopped

Dressing:

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 t. garlic salt

sm. amt. freshly ground pepper

1 tsp. dried dill weed (or 1 T. fresh dill)

Soak bulgur in BOILING water until soft – about one hour stirring a couple times; drain well. Chop all vegetables and stir into bulgur. Combine dressing ingredients; pour over salad and mix well. Chill.

Serve on lettuce leaf or in pita bread. Add Kalamata olives and/or feta cheese if desired.

Makes 8 1-cup servings.

Nutritional Info
Fat: 7.5g
Carbohydrates: 19.0g
Calories:144.8
Protein: 3.3g

Gorgeous day!

2009-05-18T15:11:00.000-05:00

Too gorgeous to sit inside and read articles so came to National
Harbour. (Yes Mama - I'm in the shade!)

Saturday lunch

2009-05-16T14:54:00.001-05:00

Strawberries, grapes, cheese, and a glass of wine. I <3 weekends!

Graduation weekend!

2009-05-14T18:33:00.009-05:00

I had the absolute most amazing graduation weekend! :-D It was the culmination of almost 6 years of hard work and was a wonderful time with friends and family. I don't think I took a single picture myself this weekend. However, between my dad, sister, aunt and cousin, I had my own personal band of papparazi! ;) These are some of my favorites that my dad and sister took. I can't wait to get more back from everybody else!

I can't put into words how special it was to have my family there and friends (including one who flew in from California!). I am even getting choked up now thinking of it. I had to explain to niecey girl a couple times what happy tears are :) One of the best moments was having one of my toughest committee members – who's known all over campus for being a hard committee – giving me a hug and telling me he was proud of me. I wish he'd told me that during the hour and 30 minutes the committee grilled me at my defense, but better late than never! ;) I just feel so blessed to have made it through.

This evening when I came home, this was on my front porch...
Inside was a gift from my parents and when I put it together, all the blood, sweat, tears and hard work were worth it.

Prettiest sight I've seen in quite some time :-D

Being back at work this week has been good, but weird too to realize that now I'm the expert. I don't have my advisor just up the hall who knows so much more. Now in the lab here, I'm the echem guru. It's a good thing for my self confidence, but a major change from lowly grad student! :)

Freebie invitations!

2009-04-30T17:49:00.005-05:00

I have 3 and a half boxes (about 65 invitations) left over from a bridal shower I hosted over a year ago. (Swoozie's shipped 4 extra boxes!) If anyone getting married, or who has engaged friends, would like these, I would be happy to ship them to you rather than having them sitting on my shelf. Just leave a comment and let me know.

Life has been going well...some of it amazingly! The end of last week, my new rug for my living room came and I absolutely LOVE it. I managed to find it on sale at pottery barn for a steal!
I'm going with a red, white and blue thing in the living room, sort of nautical — sort of patriotic. I won't be doing more decorating for a while with settling in, but I am really starting to feel like home.
On Sunday I went to the National Cathedral again for services. They seem to have a relatively big 20's and 30's group which I really want in a church. There are parishes closer, but the one I've tried nearby hasn't felt right.

After church though, I got to meet up with the Northerner to watch the Capitals play the Rangers. I had a great time meeting her, as well as her husband and one of his friends. Speaking of hockey, on Tuesday, I was AMAZINGLY lucky enough to get to go to game 7 of the series with a guy friend. The game was tied until about 4 minutes left and then Federov scored and the place went nuts!!!

I am going to go to the game Saturday as well, which will be versus the Pens. (Boo Pens! — Sorry Julie!) BUT I would love to have a get together for the game Monday night if anyone is up for it (Julie or Northerner this means you! or any other DC hockey fans). I figure it could be a early cinco de maya hockey watching deal. If that doesn't work though, I would love to have some kind of meetup this summer. Actual cinco partying will be out for me this year, since I will be flying back to Nashville the next day for graduation weekend. I am SOOOO excited and can't wait to see my family and friends and officially be a PhD! Thursday night party has already been set up at fave bar. And dinner at the Loveless Saturday. But first I have to finish this week. Hope everyone is having a good one!

Sunshiney day!

2009-04-23T20:00:00.009-05:00

Today it has been absolutely gorgeous in DC. Sunny 60's and a breeze. Can't ask for much better. When I got home today, I decided to go take some pictures of the area by my front door where I am wanting to garden some this weekend. Right now, there are lots of azaleas that are covered in blooms, but that haven't been shaped in years, and a good bit of empty space in between. There are also other plants that I don't even know if they should be there or not! But here's what I open my front door to right now.

What's really nice is there are still a couple bushes that are tightly budded and so should keep the flowering lasting longer. :) When I went out to take these, and some of all the empty space and things I can't identify, I closed the storm door, but left the big door open. When I went back to the door, this is what I found....

Obviously Einy-steiny wanted to go out and enjoy the weather. So for the first time since I've moved here, despite the fact my neighbors may think I'm nuts...I did this...

Yup...That's a 16 lb cat on a leash. He likes to just go out not that far from the door and munch on grass. But he just loves the sunshine and fresh air so much that I can't resist even though it may make me a cat lady! Oh and the fact I was taking pictures of the cat, may have encouraged that opinion, but come on! They were for the blog! ;)

I love the pictures of the garden in the background. I am hoping to get at least a couple containers put together with herbs to enjoy cooking with this summer. :)

April showers...

2009-04-21T19:38:00.006-05:00

Apparently never stop in DC! I have joked (probably once too often to be funny) that I didn't realize I'd moved to Washington state. But what's been nice is that the last two weekends have been lovely. Last weekend, the Saturday before Easter, I met up with Julie of Disgruntled Julie: A PhD in Progress – who by the way is quite lovely and not disgruntled all the time ;) – and we went and explored the monuments. Thankfully the cherry blossoms were one week past their prime tourist season so the crowds weren't too bad, and there were still pretty flowers. Here's some of my favorite pictures from the day :)

It was an absolutely wonderful day. I am really going to have to take advantage of all there is to see here in DC (when it's not raining that is!). The next morning I got up bright and early to go to the National Cathedral for Easter. It is such a beautiful space and was a lovely service. I definitely want to go back and explore the grounds and take a tour.

After church I came home and made eggs benedict and mimosas, that I posted earlier. I didn't have any plans with people for Easter, but with my new kitchen, I decided to go all out with cooking. SO after an afternoon relaxing on the couch, I roasted a leg of lamb. It turned out SO yummy!

I have TONS of yummy leftover lamb. I ate off it for lunch last week in pitas as gyro type sandwiches. This week I'm planning to make mini shepherd's pies in ramekins. That was what I was all ready to do tonight but I forgot to thaw the leftover lamb! Oops! But hey! Now I'm posting! I don't know why I haven't been since I have wireless internet in my apartment and tend to chill on the couch after work, but I promise I'll try harder!
This past weekend I got highlights and a haircut on Saturday and then did some shopping. Sunday I explored another church. Yesterday turned out nothing like I'd planned. I knew I was down to 10 days left to register my car for the tags, get a VA license, and city decal. SO I took what I planned to be just the morning off. It took an hour and a half at the DMV to get just the license and a 30 day registration. I had to get emissions and safety inspection for the year long one so the auto shop was my next stop. Daddy and I had found a nice family owned one when we were returning the uhaul, so I went there. When they did the safety inspection they found I had less than 2/32 of an inch on my back brakes! AND as I mentioned it's been raining at least 4 days a week! I am so glad they found it before I realized there was a problem the hard way, but that repair was not something I'd planned on so I will have to wait a bit longer to do more decorating on the apartment. I had already ordered a great rug (on sale at pottery barn) so I'll show yall that when it gets in.

Other than that, I'm just working and then relaxing in the evenings. Thankfully Einstein kitty has settled in. He's still eating a lot less than in Nashville, but I think that may just be from having more to do and not being bored :) I'm trying to follow his example as my eating habits hadn't been the best with the move and all. That and finding a gym will be my major tasks for the next month! Oh and I'll post my latest adventure in clutzy-ness later this week :)

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T11:01:00.000-05:00

Eggs Benedict and a mimosa. Does it get any better?

2009-04-04T22:06:00.004-05:00

I just moved in on Monday, but my place is already starting to feel like home :) Somebody is feeling rather comfy if you can't tell from the picture below.

I'm really happy with how Einstein adapted. He was in his carrier on my lap for a whole day, and then in the carrier in a hotel Sunday night. Daddy and I left Nashville at 7 AM and made it to DC by 8:30 Eastern. Daddy was so amazing with driving the uhaul, pulling a car behind. I am SO grateful to my parents and sister for all their help with the move. We hired people through uhaul to load and unload the truck, and it was the best money I'd ever spent. It made it so much easier to just worry about unpacking and not being totally worn out from lifting. Daddy was here until Tuesday morning and was a major help. By the time he left, my kitchen was totally set up. :)

I'm going to be purchasing a sleeper sofa and upgrading to a queen size bed, but for now (aka until my first paycheck ;) ) I'm going with what I already had. I LOVE the windows in my place. There is a TON of natural light, and the way the windows are set up, I can get a great breeze.

Here's my dining room table, which I have no chairs for currently, but check out the pretty spring table cloth with my Easter basket :)
The living room is pretty empty for now, I'm thinking of sort of nautical/red-white-and-blue colors in here. I want to get a rug for in here – at least under the trunk/futon – but haven't found one I like yet
This is the little entry way when you come in. I have a great storage closet under the stairsto the place above mine which is coming in very handy. So far, I just have the one bookcase. I have some metal ones, but am not sure where/if I want to use them.

THIS is my kitchen. It is such an upgrade from my old one it's not even funny. I am in love with having my own washer and dryer and dishwasher – none of which I had in Nashville.

This little coffee nook/counter is a great place to eat in the morning and I lvoe all the sweet cards I've gotten from people in Nashville, as well as a really sweet note from Lisa for the swap gift I sent her.
This stove is so great. I am adoring cooking with gas. Tonight I had a friend from college over for dinner of roast chicken with green beans and stuffing and it was so easy!

This is the current setup of the bedroom. The bed is going to become a queen, but with the same quilt pattern. I am thinking of painting the bedside table white to match the bed I am going to get
I put up some really cute sheer curtains in the bathroom that have butterfly appliques on them. Also the floor is heated, with a programable thermostat, so I don't have to step on a cold floor in the mornings :)

So for less than a week in the new place, I am really starting to feel settled. It's going to be tempting to just shop and shop for the next couple weeks, but I think I will make myself wait until after I go back to Nashville for graduation to do any major purchases. I finally got internet today. I'd been surviving with the iPhone, but the screen is just so tiny! The cable guy was supposed to come between 11 and 2, but as of 3:30 there was no sign of him. It took MULTIPLE phone calls, but they finally sent out another tech (the original had had some sort of family emergency they said – it would have been nice if he'd called!) who came at 5! But he was really great and now I have home internet access and cable with a DVR.

I'd better get to bed since I'm not used to this east coast time! Have a great weekend!

Preppy Paper Swap!

2009-04-04T21:18:00.004-05:00

I came home Thursday night from my second day of work to this lovely package on my doorstep....

It had been a long day at work, so it was lovely to get all these great goodies!

I have brought the super cute Vera Bradley sticky notes and the pink page notes to the office to brighten up my very typically blah desk in my new office. The pink and green defintely spruces up the desk and makes it more my style. I have really enjoyed this swap with Lisa from Like a Valentine. She is super sweet and waited to send my package until I got to my new place so I could get a present here! I am loving DC and my new place. I'll post pictures of the place in a bit. But I had to post this now that I finally have internet again :)

First dinner in new place!

2009-03-30T18:40:00.001-05:00

Daddy cooked corned beef, cabbage, carrots and baby red potatoes! And
my landlords' left me brut in the fridge :) so sweet of them!

2009-03-05T07:58:00.001-06:00

I love that song! :) This morning I'm flying to DC for a trip to see one of my best friends from college, Z, and to pick a place to live. The move is starting to feel so real. I mean I've known it was real, but it's starting to sink in that I'm really done graduate school and will be moving on. I've lived in Nashville for almost 6 years and love it here, so moving will defintiely be a change but I'm really looking forward to having a new place (bigger than the studio I've lived in during grad school) with my OWN washer and dryer. Sometimes it's the little things :)
I'm meeting with the realtor tomorrow at 10:30 so hopefully by tomorrow night I'll know where I'll be laying my head soon! Here are two of the kitchens in the main contenders. I love to cook so kitchen quality is critical to me.

I'll be flying back Sunday EARLY to be here to volunteer at the Preds charity ball, so by Monday I should have plenty of stories and pictures for yall. Have a great weekend!

And the winner is.....

2009-03-03T17:14:00.004-06:00

Megs! I used the list randomizer and number generator at random.org and then had my friend J press the button for the winning number. (Not that I'm paranoid like that or anything!)

Megs, if you email me your pick of these cutie headbands and your address, I'll pass it along to Tucker Blair, who'll get it in the mail to you right away!

Thanks so much to everybody who entered. I've loved doing the giveaway and will keep my eyes open to pass along something cute again soon! :)

Happy Monday!

2009-03-02T15:51:00.003-06:00

Hope y'all had a great weekend! It snowed here Saturday night, but that didn't stop the shenanigans! :) The Preds won 8-0 over the Red Wings Saturday which was AMAZING! And then after party at the Roof. I had a blast.

Oh the stories I could tell ;) Today has been back to work with data analysis and experiment prep, but I am in such a great mood I don't even mind. I've printed out the names for the headband giveaway and will draw a name tonight and post it in the morning. Sorry for the delay! I've loved finding all the new people reading :-)

Nautical flip flops at Target

2009-02-28T13:59:00.000-06:00

So cute! Anybody else ready for spring?

P.S. No, Mama, I resisted :)

Happy Friday!

2009-02-27T20:10:00.003-06:00

Hey all! I hope you had a great week :) Mine went waaaayyyy too fast. I can't believe it's down to 4 weeks until I move to DC. I am going up next Thursday to Sunday to find a place. I've got a couple that I'm looking at and it's making the whole thing way too real. I am really excited for the job and moving to a new place, but I am really going to miss Nashville and my friends. PLUS I have a ton to do. BUT I'm making sure to get certain things in while I'm still here. So last night I took one of my friends for her first NHL game. Managed to score second row seats through a season ticket holder deal.

We had a blast and the Preds won 4-1. In the last two games, they've scored 9 goals which is as many as they scored in the six games before that combined. I am really going to miss the Preds too.
Tonight is catching up on TV shows I missed this week online. Namely, NCIS and Burn Notice. Tomorrow will be doing all of the laundry in creation and cleaning the house. I am having my going away night/shindig at my fave bar tomorrow night and my friend L is going to crash here so my place needs to be less of a sty ;) I am really looking forward to hanging out with my friends.
I'm also trying to come up with ways to decorate my place in VA so it'll look like less of a grad student place. Now everything is very futon and dorm-esque. Do any of yall have ideas for inexpensive decorating?

Pics

2009-02-23T20:36:00.006-06:00

So the ONLY pics I have from the last month are hockey related (yeah I need to branch out!) but that reminded me of a great story from this month. A couple weeks ago J and I were running an errand for the lab when we got a phone call that the Preds were on campus, and we immediately to a u-turn to go ~~drool~~ check out what was happening. When we got to the building we found this guy!
We went upstairs to find out that Willie O'Ree was giving a talk for "Hockey is for Everyone" Month. Mr. O'Ree was the "Jackie Robinson of hockey."

And what was even more amazing he lost the vision on one eye before he ever made it to the NHL at age 20, but managed to play professional hockey until he was 43. His talk was so inspirational to me as he spoke of overcoming obstacles and how he succeeded because he was scared of failure. I could relate to that concept as not wanting to fail is what has led me to where I am now. (In a good way). There's a neat story on him from last year here. It was an honor to meet him and get his autograph. He is an amazing man, who is doing wonderful things today in sports outreach to underprivileged kids. It was a very cool experience.

Tucker Blair Giveaway!

2009-02-23T15:37:00.006-06:00

Tucker Blair has so graciously and awesomely (yeah it's a me word) offered to help me host my first ever blog giveaway! I am super excited and hope y'all are too! They have the cutest things and I think I'll be getting some new belts soon to spruce up my wardrobe for the capitol city! As the lucky winner you'll get your choice of their super cute embroidered headbands.

SO to enter, leave a comment. If you follow or already are one, you'll get one more entry. And if you post about the giveaway and link, you get one more! I'll leave the entries open until Friday night midnight. And draw a winner over the weekend. Good luck! :-)

Has it really been almost a month!?!

2009-02-23T15:32:00.003-06:00

Hi people (if there's still an audience)! Things are good in PreppyChemist land. I have been really busy trying to complete things at my current position and get ready to move to DC in about 4.5 weeks (EEK!) I am really excited and can't wait to get to see a new place and meet all the GREAT preppy bloggers up there. Of late my life has revolved around lab hockey and church so not too much to report. But this week/weekend should have TWO nights of going out so I should have some good shenanigans to report on Monday :) We're doing my going away early since life is only going to get crazier. I'll post more about the move this evening since I have internet at home. AND in the morning I'll be posting my first bloggy giveaway EVER! I hope y'all like it! I'll try to find some cute pictures from the last two weeks to spruce up the place :)

EDIT!!!!: I accidently posted the giveaway, but it won't start til tomorrow!

Reality vs blog

2009-01-31T17:35:00.004-06:00

I got to thinking today about how I (and I think a lot of us in bloggy land) try to "put my best foot forward" online/in our blogs. I know I am probably more cranky, less neat, and more real than I am on here. I eat microwave popcorn for dinner as often as I cook sometimes. I am wearing comfy pants today and even wore them to the mall.

I don't always like myself as much as I wish I did. BUT I also am more loving, more compassionate than I seem sometimes. I wish I could be more open sometimes. But I worry about real life and blog colliding. Cause there are parts of me and my thoughts I share here that I don't in life.

I hope to meet some of the people I've gotten to know online from here someday and who knows if we'll like the real people but I know I've gotten a lot out of my blog. What are y'all thoughts on life vs. online?

EDIT: I just reread this and it sounds morose which wasn't what I intended. I'm more just reflecting on blogging. Hope I'm not too Debbie Downer!

Cute Christmas PJs!

2009-01-29T20:55:00.001-06:00

On an amazing clearance deal at Target today! With a fleece robe for
under $15. So comfy :)

Calling DC bloggers!

2009-01-28T15:51:00.002-06:00

So there is a HIGH probability I will be moving to the DC area around April 1. I am wanting to know which areas y'all live in (I understand if you want to be REALLY vague!) to help me decide. I am thinking of either the Dupont Circle/Logan Circle area or in Alexandria. But I could use insight from people who live in the area about what parts might seem okay on paper but not in reality...Does that make sense? I'm going to try to declutter/pack a little bit at a time starting this weekend. I may actually do that during the super bowl rather than go to a party since I'm not that into the game this year...Hmmm... Anywho! Any insight is greatly appreciated.

A giveaway!

2009-01-27T13:38:00.002-06:00

A Touch of Whimsy is giving a way a super cute stamper! Go here to enter! :)

Happy Tuesday

2009-01-27T12:41:00.005-06:00

I haven't blogged in a while. Things have been amazingly busy in a very good way. I am currently working as a postdoctoral research associate for my PhD advisor and writing a proposal for a research associateship up in DC that I interviewed for in December. The application for that is due this weekend so things are busy, busy, busy. Which leads me to today's photo...

Do I own EVERY color of highlighter or what?!?

Things are going well. I am starting to dream about moving to DC. Where to live etc. I figure I will pick the brain of all of y'all who live up there for ideas :) I think I would like to live in Alexandria or maybe Arlington in terms of where I would work. Sadly the job would not be near a metro so I would have to drive in. Hopefully it will all work out well. For now it's just dreams, but I hope to know more by the end of next month! :) This week will be almost all work, but this weekend I hope to get out to my favorite bar with friends. Hope y'all all had a great weekend and are doing well!

You know you're Southern when....

2009-01-19T09:45:00.002-06:00

You stop for an iced tea...

while walking to work in the snow!

LOL :)

I've been tagged!

2009-01-15T14:24:00.003-06:00

I've been tagged by Dugout Daisy for a book tag! I love her blog especially the new puppy on the way!

Here are the rules:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 2 to 5 sentences, along with these rules.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual book. Pick the CLOSEST!
6. Tag five other people to do the same!

I actually got this while I was home last night so I used the closest book then. It was "Streams in the Desert" - a devotional I read about on Angie Smith's blog. Her story is amazing and she really inspires me.

Anywho.. The sentences are:

My child, I have a message for you today. Let me whisper it in your ear so that any storm clouds that may arise will shine with glory, and the rough places you may have to walk will be made smooth. It is only four words, but let them sink into your inner being, use them as a pillow to rest your weary head. "This is my doing."

I really like this devotional and try to read on it on a regular basis. It's helped me through some rough stuff this year.

I'm tagging...

1. Tanja
2. Kimba
3. Wila
4. Belle
5. Kate

Brrrr!!!

2009-01-15T14:02:00.002-06:00

I know there are people who live in far colder places than I, but it is cold here! This morning the low was 14 F (-10 C) and windy. There were supposed to be flurries, but instead it snowed!

Tonight the low is 3 F (-16 C). Um...BRRR!
I've been working on a proposal for a job that I hope to get at a government lab in DC (the one I interviewed for last month) so I've been mainly reading articles, writing and working out. Three of four days this week so far at the gym. My back is feeling much better as a result of that too.
The big news I mentioned last week is that I finished my PhD the end of last month before I went home for Christmas. I'm now working as a postdoctoral research associate for my advisor while I write the proposal for the job in DC. Life isn't all that interesting other than that, but I'm finding I'm using Twitter WAY more than I'm blogging so I'm going to add that on here if I can find it. This coming week two of my mama's coworkers will be up here in town so I'll be showing htem around. Hopefully that will lead to some good blog material! :)

Shopping at the brand new publix

2009-01-14T19:03:00.001-06:00

So excited!

Lunch break! :)

2009-01-09T11:28:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T16:29:00.003-06:00

EDIT: I realized I forgot to put captions :) These are of my niece and I and then my mother and sister in another one. The ball game is the Music City Bowl where Vandy won for the first time since 1955! It was absolutely freezing but so much fun :)

I hope you all had a wonderful marvelous holiday. Mine was absolutely lovely. I got to go home and spend time with my family. I have a TON to update you all on, but for now here are some Christmas pictures and pictures from the bowl game. I'm going to do a redesign of a couple elements on the layout that should clue y'all into what my biggest news is. :-D

New reality show

2009-01-05T20:49:00.001-06:00

Is it just me or does the show "True Beauty" look horribly good?!?

At the Music City Bowl

2008-12-31T14:48:00.001-06:00

Go Dores!!!

A perfect winter Saturday

2008-12-20T16:01:00.000-06:00

Knitting away with my kitty warmig my lap. I'm trying to finish this
for Daddy by Thursday! :)

Home sweet Nashville

2008-12-19T20:47:00.001-06:00

Made it back to Nashville after mucho flight drama. Had an amazingly
tummy dinner at the Loveless Cafe with this raspberry peach cobbler.
Full recap tomorrow :)

2008-12-19T15:53:00.001-06:00

Flights been canceled and reinstated then on the plane and now....just
sitting. It's 64 in Nashville. What's the problem?!?

Interview went amazingly!

2008-12-19T14:07:00.000-06:00

Trying to fly home stand by but airport is nuts with irate jfk
passengers.

2008-12-19T06:10:00.000-06:00

Down in the lobby getting some caffiene before the interview. Had a
lovely dinner with my friend Z from college last night. I hope today
goes just as well!

Dear Santa....

2008-12-18T16:40:00.000-06:00

Sapphire IS my birthstone.

(from the national jewelry collection)

In DC

2008-12-18T11:56:00.001-06:00

Now to the hotel and then hitting the museums. :) thanks for the
suggestions Nautical by Nature and Stimey!

Somebody doesn't want me to leave!

2008-12-17T19:48:00.001-06:00

At the Christmas pagent

2008-12-14T17:21:00.001-06:00

I'm still here!

2008-12-01T16:44:00.007-06:00

Hey y'all! I swear I didn't fall off the face of the planet or disappear or anything. Things have been going very busily but very well. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my friend L and her husband. Other than that I've been working on my dissertation revisions which FINALLY got to my committee on Friday. I've gotten two out of five to sign, one to agree once another one does (confusing and frustrating – just like that committee member), and two others I need to hear from.

On an amazingly exciting note (!) I have a job interview THIS Friday at a government lab in DC. I hadn't wanted to jinx it by posting before I had flight arrangements, which finally came through today. It's all happened very quickly. They contacted me less than two weeks ago to see if I was still available (YES – please hire me!) and I'll be flying up Thursday and then back late on Friday. I feel really optimistic as this is the type of job I've always wanted. It would be doing research in my field, but on a topic I haven't studied before. As a government post-doc, the salary and benefits would be amazing.

I am just so excited and nervous. It's all coming through very fast, but the fellow I'll be interviewing with and who would be my boss seems like a very nice guy and my current advisor knows him and said he's a good guy.

Other than writing, I've been working on crafty gifts to give my friends this year – I think everybody is trying to be frugal this year! I'll post the crafty idea if anyone's interested – AND still reading my oh so slacker blog! :) And I've been knitting a bunch.

Basically work, go home, sleep. With a little bit of hockey and a couple Saturday evenings with friends. I've finally gotten my swap gift together and will be mailing it tomorrow (I'm late!). The handmade gift is what took me a while to figure out.

I don't have internet at home right now other than on my iPhone which is very tricky to post to the blog on. Other than pictures that is. If anyone has tips, I'd love them! I want to get high speed to go with my new laptop, but I don't want to sign up for anything when I could be moving to DC in February or March if I get the job. Not that I should live on hold, but it's all just so up in the air right now. I'm a very type A person who likes to have things mapped out in advance so I'm trying to be flexible. :)

ANYWAY! I'm rambling. I'll leave y'all with some pictures from the last month or so and the usual promise to be a better blogger *Sheepish grin*

The weekend of thanksgiving, my friend R got married and I went with my friend L from Georgia (This would be so much easier if they got blogs and I could link to them!) Here's some of my favorites from the wedding.

Here's my little Christmas tree with a sneaky kitty checking it out!

A TINY bit of snow :)

One of my friends and I who LOVE the predators have fun making heckling signs when certain teams/players come to town. Here's the one we made for the Stars last week (with glitter of course!)

I'm a Dr! {almost}

2008-11-24T17:02:00.004-06:00

I passed my defense! I still have revisions that are the center of life right now but as of Thursday at 3 pm, I never have to meet with my entire committee again. I will take each of them the revisions to sign off, then turn it into the grad school, and then I'm Preppy Chemist, Ph.D. The defense itself was hard but I think it's meant to be. Afterward we had bubbly and cake and then went out to celebrate.

Friday, Daddy came up and we went to Ruth's Chris for dinner. We went to pancake pantry the next morning then to the Vandy UT game (the game was so cold and so sad!)

Sunday after church I even did some Christmas shopping. I feel like I am finally myself again. Mama's description was that I had been running on a treadmill inside a tunnel. Suprisingly true. Now I even took time to fix organic veggie soup thats' waiting for me in the crockpot when I get home. I have a good bit of work left to do (putting it mildly) but a HUGE weight is off my shoulders. Hopefully I'll be posting more now that I can make time to have a life again! :)

Sunday Sunday

2008-11-16T19:30:00.002-06:00

Hi! I'm still here! :) Things have been crazy busy with life and the end of my grad career(!) I've been busy with church stuff which has actually been really good because it's helped keep me grounded in what really matters.
I turned in the written copies of my dissertation this past week and my defense is this Thursday morning at 11 central. I'm going between excited and petrified but excited seems to be winning. I'll be using y'all for clothes ideas/approval later in the week so hopefully I still have readers!
I'm in the lab working on polishing my presentation. I'm giving it to the group at lunch meeting tomorrow so I want to have it pretty polished then. I'm loving my new laptop. Wish I hadn't had to get one spur of the moment, but glad to know I have a nice new reliable one.
I was just checking blogs and found this on southern sugar and decided to try it. I really had no idea who I'd get but I find if cool that I got one of my favorite figures from the era. Hope everybody's well!

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Marilyn!

You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical."

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

* Be direct and clear

* Listen to me carefully

* Don't judge me for my anxiety

* Work things through with me

* Reassure me that everything is OK between us

* Laugh and make jokes with me

* Gently push me toward new experiences

* Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Marilyn

* being committed and faithful to family and friends

* being responsible and hardworking

* being compassionate toward others

* having intellect and wit

* being a nonconformist

* confronting danger bravely

* being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a Marilyn

* the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind

* procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself

* fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of

* exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger

* wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right

* being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations

Marilyns as Children Often

* are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn

* are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger

* form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent

* look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel

* are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents

* are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty

* are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence

* worry more than most that their children will get hurt

* sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Image of new planet

2008-11-13T22:25:00.001-06:00

This is from the top article on CNN.com. Anyone else think it looks
the eye of Sauron?

Great googly moogly!

2008-11-10T18:28:00.000-06:00

Getting my dissertation printed for my committee at Kinkos! Setting me
back a pretty penny but it's crazy it's actually happening!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T07:32:00.003-05:00

Since I am smack dab in the middle of writing my dissertation with time running out and sleep disappearing, I have been a bad blogger! So to let yall know I'm still alive, here's some of my favorite cartoons from PhD comics. Hope yall have a great halloween with lots of candy!

P.S. Found a great dress for the wedding next month. Thanks for the advice! :)

Dress for a wedding

2008-10-18T14:04:00.003-05:00

I need advice. I have a friend's wedding nexy month on the 29th at 6 in the evening. What sort of dress is that? The website of the couple (two dear friends) says "Sunday dress/formal" which is the biggest range ever. I'm going shopping with L after the Vandy Georgia game but still want input :) Thanks!

I'm still here! And Several Random things

2008-10-18T10:11:00.003-05:00

I swear I'm still here! Things are going crazy with writing my dissertation (due in 19 days - not that I'm freaking out or anything). It is so stressful for me because I've been in school every year since I was five. So that's over twenty two years of my life. And it's all leading up to ONE day with my committee. The dissertation must be turned in to my committee by Nov 6 and I defend on Nov 20. Then I'll have two weeks to make all the changes they suggest (read "dictate") and get it printed and turned in by December 5. IF I pass the defense. I keep getting told I will, but it's scary. So I've been burying myself in the library and typing away. The hardest part has been the introduction and trying to tie together 5 years of different projects. Here's the conversation a fellow grad student and I had about it. (I find it hilarious - hopefully you will to!)

Other grad student: No kidding. I'm trying to come up with a title for my dissertation. Somehow I don't think "All the random things I did the past five years" won't quite fly ;P

Preppy Chemist: Lol. Or "Things I did when what I meant to do didn't work" ;)

Other grad student: Or "things that seemed like a good idea at the time"

The funny thing is that that's how it really is. Last week I was super excited to find an article that helped justify part of my research and when I showed it to my boss, his response was "you know it's always good to have the motivation ahead of time" I restrained from saying "Hmmmmm Wouldn't that be your job when you write the grants?" I'm finding my snark factor is way up, but thankfully I have good friends who help me off the proverbial ledge. I'm going to watch the Vandy Georgia game with one of them today even though she's a Dawg fan :)

But AGES ago I was tagged by Marketing Gurl and Dugout Daisy to share random things about me. I promise I will post these within the next two days! :)

Grad School/Economy funnies

2008-10-02T11:40:00.003-05:00

As y'all know I'm in grad school. My favorite comic in the whole wide world is PhDComics. They've had a couple really funny ones the last couple days with the economy and all. The funny part is that the economy played a major role in my decision to go to grad school in the first place.

Busy week!

2008-10-01T14:30:00.004-05:00

This week is going to be all over the map, but I'm excited. The Vandy-Auburn game is Saturday. I managed to get Mama and Daddy tickets at regular price (QUITE a feat since they're going for $150+ a piece now). I have my student ID validated and so should get in fine as long as we get there early. I'm hosting a tailgate at my place since I live right by campus and it seemed easier than fighting for a parking spot, etc. I need to get the house company ready too. The ESPN gameday show is going to be on the Peabody side of campus so I will most likely go by and jump around and try to get on TV :-D I'm equally excited for both teams (Raised Auburn, go to Vandy). But am actually pulling for Vandy because how cool would it be if they went 5&0 my last semester! And hit a bowl game for the first time since '84. I'm planning on having both Auburn and Vandy decorations at the party and wearing my Cutler jersey with my Auburn purse :)
Also I have a research presentation on Monday so I need to have my powerpoint all done my Friday so I can enjoy the weekend. I've spent the last two days analyzing the experiments from the last month. I'm realizing ones I need to repeat which is stressful, since I wanted to be done experiments by today and just write for the next month. But I can do both and multi-task. I found this picture of my two favorite muppets to keep me amused.
I need to come up with a cute pink and green sciency pic for my profile.
Oh, and I'm teaching Sunday school this week and need to get stuff together for a demo there. Hopefully it will all fall into place and I can keep on top of it.

EDIT: OOPS! I have an Earl Bennett jersey not a Cutler. That's disappointing. I knew I'd gotten it back when Cutler was here. *Blush*

Spotted

2008-10-01T11:16:00.001-05:00

A nice black suit with pearls and scuffed white heels on OCTOBER 1.
Why?!?

Giveaway week at Life of A Southern Belle

2008-09-30T14:07:00.002-05:00

Belle is having a giveaway week this week, and I just had to share. She is so fun and was an awesome fall swap partner. Plus she's a football fan :)

Happy Hockey Day!

2008-09-25T13:30:00.004-05:00

I am in a super good mood today (despite a slight weirdness in my experiment) because tonight is the first Pred's game of the season! Yay!

I am in such a good mood that I decided to dress up more even though it will all be covered in a lab coat most of the day. Here's today's outfit. (I took the picture of the shoes while sitting in the chair so I wouldn't touch the lab floor Yes I'm a goober!)

It's only 55 days until I'm supposed to defend and I'm getting nervous but all I can do is keep plugging away. And hope that I find a job between now and then. It would stink to be unemployed as a newly minted PhD. But for now it's a gorgeous sunny blue sky day. And I've got hockey tonight :) This weekend I'll be watching football with L and then church on Sunday. Next weekend will be the big weekend with the Vandy Auburn game and my parents coming up and the tailgate. Still have to figure out the menu. Any ideas for a tailgate for a 5:00 game?

Cabo

2008-09-23T18:16:00.003-05:00

I'm back from San Diego and San Jose del Cabo. I had an absolutely lovely relaxing time. It was one of my best vacations.
Now it's back to work to try to finish up experiments by the end of the month. It's going to be one long stretch until November 20 when I defend, but it will so be worth it :)
Here's the slideshow of the trip.

On vacation

2008-09-17T01:02:00.000-05:00

From my flight to San Diego. Tomorrow down to Cabo. I'll be sans
Internet (I think - don't know of iPhone would work and if I want to
take it. I may bring it just for the music). I think the time off is
just what I need. Loads of pics and fun stories when I get back!

Holy Lilly Pulitzer Sale Batman!

2008-09-10T20:34:00.002-05:00

I just got two bathing suits marked down from $150 each to $19.99 each!
EDIT:
Here are the pics:

I am super excited about finding these because I leave on Tuesday to go to San Diego and Cabo for a week off! I am literally counting down the minutes :) I'd looked at Macy's for a new suit over the weekend and they had NO suits left. SO after choir last night I stopped by Belk's and they had Lilly Pultizer suits 75% off and another 50% off that! so I got them for 12.5% of original cost - Talk about a steal :) And I was super excited to find a cute one piece which is almost immpossible these days. Today I am running another cell experiment (just got it started) so hopefully that will go well to help leave without stuff hanging over my head.

P.S. SQUEEE! I just got good signals on my first try! Hooray!

Autumn Swap!

2008-09-09T20:15:00.003-05:00

Look what was waiting for me when I got home!
I am so excited about my lovely gifts from Belle! I received an Autumn candle, Unbelieveably good chocolate lava cake (that I can't wait to try!), a book about life in the South called Turn Left at the Next Magnolia, Useful autumn dish towels, a Magazine (southern living - my fave for recipes!), and a harvest Notepad PLUS!!!! a spool of fall ribbon, a book of gift mixes and a folder for organizing. I definitely lucked out in this swap! I hope that everyone else will share what they got soon since I find that as much fun as sending them out. Thanks again, Belle! I have loved finding her blog through this swap and much thanks to Running Just as Fast as I Can for organizing!

Happy birthday to me!

2008-09-05T20:37:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to open my birthday loot tomorrow :-D 27.....eeeeek! ;)

2008-09-05T20:00:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to open my birthday loot tomorrow! 27...eeeek! ;)

Somebody likes the new fall tablecloth

2008-09-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

A.K.A. The reason I use plcemats ;)

Free shoe giveaway!

2008-08-27T17:43:00.003-05:00

So I was blog-wandering this afternoon and found this shoe giveaway! I love shoes and so decided to be generous and share ;)

P.S. Football starts tomorrow! I'll be breaking out the Vandy jersey! :)

After the storm...

2008-08-26T18:52:00.000-05:00

...comes the rainbow :)

A pretty ending to a long day

2008-08-26T18:50:00.001-05:00

I <3 failblog

2008-08-26T11:56:00.004-05:00

EDIT!: I realized that failblog can be rude/offensive to some people and it's definitely PG-13 at the least. That said, I find it funny. Hope I don't offend anyone.

Here's another example:

This is from failblog.org I love this website and find it a fun break. Sadly today's experiment could easily go on the top ten list at failblog. *Sigh* Why would someone let a pH meter get off by 0.5! So that my cells were run at 7.0 instead of 7.4....Sheesh. But at least we fixed the problem and I realized that only one experiment besides today needs to be redone.

Only 50 hours until football! :-D

Einstein

2008-08-26T08:32:00.001-05:00

It kind of complicates/ slows down the morning shower when you turn
around and see this......