when friends feel like family, and why i need to know more brides

if you don't already know this gorgeous girl sharing a photo with a hardcore-cheesin' hayley....you oughta. in blogland, she's Mrs. Prepperoni, but in my world...she's my brain twin. my ashley. my very first internet BFF.

see, we met on the knot, bastion of snarky brides and wayyyyyy too much bling to ever be classified as "classy", and more women who claim their favorite color is tiffany blue than you've ever seen in one place.

but despite all the crazies...we found each other, combined our snarky comments for good (at least good for our amusement, maybe not for the collective good attitude of the planet), and bazillions of texts and BBMs and phone calls later...she's my homegirl.

and this lady is about to take the wedding world by storm. for realz. see, by the time you read this, her gorgeous creations that up until now have been solely online, at her etsy shop, will be brick and mortar-ing it ya'll. my girl's absolutely fan-freaking-tastic creations will be featured at atlanta's own Paisley Umbrella.

stuff like this bout....

um, hello...where the heck is mine to wear in my hair like a super fab accessory?! i LOVE this thing.

and more importantly....how can i talk the hubs into another wedding, because this...

NEEDS to be in my bling-loving hand. NEEDS. TO. BE.

my only issue with miss ashley is that she didn't get into her passion of brooch bouquets until AFTER i was married. cuz you better believe...i'd have had this in a heartbeat.

so if any of you are brides-to-be, and want something people will talk about for YEARS, in the best way possible....please hit her up. because she SOOOO deserves great things to come of this side-project turned full-on life goal.

LIFE GOAL YO. i need one. i want one. i want to find something that makes me as happy as this makes ashley. i want her to be proud of me the way my heart swells when i hear her latest round of good news, because this woman DESERVES it. all of it.

plus, when she's rich i'll make her let me tag along =)

plus, any mom who's first photo of her daughter looks like this...
deserves major freaking props.

that's my internet niece, debuting in december =)

oh to be a blonde in hollywood

every time i watch an awards show...it makes me wanna be a celebrity. cuz the clothes are too fab. and at the emmy's...i was longing to be one of these blondes.
okay, so she looks a little cray-cray, to borrow a line from one of her projrun minions, but I. LOVE. HEIDI. and when you look that good...you can literally wear anything. remember when she dressed as a snake for halloween and was still hot?! it's hardly fair yo.

plus, those shoes are FIERCE.
when i say i am in love with january jones, i mean it. and i don't even watch mad men (but it is on the list of things to check out if we ever get netflix). but her name!! and her potty mouth!! and the fact that she is super freaking smokin' hot.

LOVE the blue, and even love her flyaways (is that weird?).

honest to goodness, i'm more envious of her awesome name than anything....january jones!! it's so cool.
um, claire danes has literally never looked this amazing EVER. in her whole life. not even with wings on, making out and doing the dirty with leonardo dicaprio. nope, not this hot.

certainly not on my so-called life.

the sparkly dress?? i DIE for it. i wanna wear it.

and her hair is the perfect shade of blonde. and love the curls. and her makeup?? gah, i want the whole package on my several-sizes bigger frame.

who's emmy outfit were you digging?

it was a really rough tuesday

you know when you have those days/hours/afternoons/evenings that it literally takes you another day to even step back and not be overwhelmed by it??

yeah...mine was tuesday.

i did my workout (shout out to the biggest loser:cardio max....bob and jillian should be shot. but at least i got a break from anita and her bitch-faced smug smile), and then i hung out with the dogs.

i'm sitting there, and i look over and see bo standing in the middle of lots of little dark pawprints.

my first thought:: "oh shit"....literally.

except he hadn't pooped and walked all in it....

all those dark spots?? WATER. SQUISHING UP FROM UNDER THE CARPET.

commence my complete and total freakout.

we're renovating the bathroom that's to the right of that little hallway-thing in the pic (don't worry, THOSE adventures will be a whole other post) and so i'm freaking out....somehow the toilet clogged for the first time ever, and overflowed, but really quietly...couldn't hear it running. all this was about 90 minutes of flow.

i figure out how to turn the water off to the toilet (after a frantic call to the hubs), and when he gets home like 10 minutes later.....we literally spend the better part of an hour using the bissell pro-heat to extract water from the carpet, plus some old-school stomping on a towel.

oh yeah, and then that night, because the carpet was still damp...my wet foot slipped on the way up the stairs, and i kicked the stair and busted my big toenail on my left foot like halfway down.

NOT COOL UNIVERSE.

anyone else dealt with flooded carpets? did you also want to febreeze the room every time you walked in?

a little monday afternoon man candy

ever wondered what all these yummy dudes have in common??





other than the fact that they are all SUPER. FREAKING. HOT.....they're also all in the new movie "takers" that opens this weekend.

i don't even know what this flick is about...i think about stealing. or shooting. or blowing things up. or some other kind of dude-movie biznass.

but i have GOT to find a way to talk the hubs into wanting to see this movie, without mentioning the fact i'll be all googly-eyed for 2 hours..

say it with me now ladies....YUMMM.

feeling like a bad parent

on a warm august day about 2 years ago....our family of 2 became a family of 3.
when this little nugget of adorableness came to live with us. Bojangles Knowshon, the best pug in the whole world (even cooler than the talking pug in Men in Black, which people ask us about EVERY SINGLE TIME we take him somewhere). and since he was itty bitty....we just let him live in our downstairs bathroom. so he could use puppy pads and learn to hold his business.

well...then we litter trained him. yes, they make litter for dogs. no, i don't know any other person on the planet who's actually used it but us. so since he was go in his box....we kept entertaining the idea of getting him a crate....partly because he has scratched giant holes in the drywall. he's kind of a drama queen.

right after christmas...he became a brother.
when keno came home with us, we got him a crate because he was a shelter dog and totally used to the whole thing....no probs.
now bo is this big, NOT a little nugget anymore....and since we're working to get our home fixed up and put on the market....we need to reclaim his room. and so yesterday....he got kicked out.

and into a crate made for golden retrievers or german shepards. for a 16 lb dog.

HE IS HELLA PISSED.

it literally makes my heart hurt when he looks RIGHT AT ME and whines his pitiful little whine, like "mama, WHYYYYYY am in here?? i know i've got my box and my cozy bed....but it's WRONG".

even keno thinks he's being a little too dramatic...he'll bark at him when he whines for like 10 minutes straight...it's very "seriously dude, CHILL. OUT. we get treats every time we come in these things...it's not a bad gig. plus, mom leaves us top 40 radio to listen to, and i love me some ke$ha".

my mom swears he loooooooves the crate he stays in when he visits them, and he'll hop right in there when nate puts them up...does he know mom is a softie??

anyone crate trained a dog that's not a puppy? do they stop being total crybabies??

if you want a revolution

so, commercials lately have been a pretty good place for finding music...or at least some good brain worms.

you KNOW you've googled some ad to find out who sings the song in it....like THIS


or the sweater song from old navy a few years back.



and don't even get me started on the holiday 2009 commercials from the gap...between the adults and the little kids with their "how cute are these boots?!", that ish got in my head FOR DAYS.


well, i've got a new one. and of COURSE, it's just in time for football season. the hubs thinks i am RIDICULOUS every time i make him watch this commercial, or rewind the dvr so i can hear the song...I. LOVE. IT. i don't even know why...but i do.




i apologize ahead of time that you're totally gonna be singing this song for the rest of the day....maybe whistling the tune, if you know how ( i am whistle-challenged and CANNOT do it).

so tell me....what's your favorite song from a commercial?!

mother nature and the universe hate me

so, i'm sitting here sweating to death after my daily date with jillian AND sweltering trip all the way to the mailbox....and i'm pretty sure the universe is messing with me. cuz i want it to be fall and mother nature is all "SWEAT IT OUT BITCHES!!!!"

first, my coke zero can had a football on it. which is awesome, BUT i like it to be chilly when football rolls around. breezes blowing, cute little tees and dresses, NOT tees drenched in sweat because it's a bazillion degrees out.

THEN, during my trip through the amazon/to the mailbox....i get my fave magazine in the mail. AND IT'S 600 PAGES OF INSTYLE FALL FASHION GLORIOUSNESS. for realz....i feel like i'm being taunted by autumn.

i'm also trying to decide if this qualifies as a transitional piece....
is she strictly summer? or could she be rocked with black tights and booties and a cropped motorcycle jacket? honest opinions ladies...cuz i'm thinking of pulling the trigger today, but i don't want to have to retire her until next year in a month or so...