Here we go again...

So I tried this once before with the organic thing...um...yeah here's the update on that:

I drink organic milk, eat organic cereal, gravitate towards organic other stuff when I see it, and well that's about it. Reason: started the organic stuff the last week of March; opened the pool the first week of April, there went the money and the time!

What has changed to get me back to here?

I got a new computer (yay!) so I'm not at my OLD dinosaur anymore thus making it easier (even easier when I get the wireless router hooked up). Plus I have found several blogs that I am becoming mildly obsessed with, plus I think I'm kind of funny and hopefully you agree! Not to mention I'm going to need somewhere to vent over the next semester with all that's on my plate (a plate that looks like a compulsive over eater at a $2.99 buffet by the way...more on that shortly). I also plan to interject what I have learned about pool maintenance over the last few months as well (those are the REALLY funny stories!).

Tomorrow (well Saturday, may be today by the time I finish this) is the last day on my phone calendar that has nothing on it until December 11. Here is what we have:

• Working 40 hours per week (including a MAJOR move at the end of September to combine two offices into one)
• Taking 9 hours of grad school (which is full time, Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-9, and one online class)
• Becoming a new member of the Junior League of Norman
• Helping with CrossTimbers’ (my church) youth group
• Prayer Team at CrossTimbers
• Book Club at CrossTimbers
• Planning a charity golf tournament (though I don't play golf!)
• Keeping up with the pool
• Relay For Life (though I will miss all the meetings this semester due to class)
• My adopted son (friend Michelle’s 12 year old)’s football games
• Landon’s (friend Lisa’s 16 year old) football games
• Spoiling my new “nephews” (my beautiful friend Valerie’s little one, JJ, born July 6 and my beautiful friend Brittany’s little one, Chase, born August 17)

I think that’s it…oh and breathing and sleeping from time to time :)

I did say “no” to something though! I REALLY wanted to apply for Leadership Norman, but the deadline was today and I did not do it. I have time in the future, when I’m done with school. Hopefully I don’t regret that decision!

So for my last week before school starts I had a very exciting week! Baby Chase made his grand arrival. His mommy, Brittany, is one of my very favorite people. She understands the power of a great pair of shoes! (She’s one of my blogging inspirations!) We go to church together and Chase is just adorable; the only problem is that he was supposed to be CHARLOTTE! We were so very convinced that this baby was going to be a girl and were so very surprised when the ultrasound revealed otherwise. I even walked into the hospital and said “so he really was a Chase not a Charlotte?” Nonetheless I positively adore him and will spoil him rotten. It will be quite fun for him to have JJ to grow up with at church and I will be secretly be turning them both into OU fans! (Brittany is a Texas Tech fan and Valerie is an OSU fan!) Tonight I took dinner to them tonight and will share my newly tweaked recipe (recipe sharing is my favorite part of blogging!) I will get better of taking photos of stuff to post on here! And when I get a release from Mom I will post baby Chase pictures!

Easy Chicken Enchiladas (started at a Tasty Tuesday with a few minor adjustments!)

1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4)

1 cup shredded cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup salsa

1 cup nonfat organic Greek yogurt

1-2 tsp chili powder

8 burrito size whole wheat tortillas

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut chicken into manageable chunks and cook on stove until cooked through. Allow chicken to cool and shred into bite sized pieces. Meanwhile combine soup, salsa, yogurt (originally sour cream, but a whole lot less fat and calories!), and chili powder. Combine a little more than half of salsa mixture with chicken and cheese. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture and place in 9x13 pan. Cover enchiladas with remaining salsa mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until heated all the way through. Serve with Mexican rice.

Generally one enchilada is plenty for a meal for me! I hope that the Pillers enjoyed these tonight, with my healthy tweaks. I told Brittany to be honest, so we’ll see! :)

Tomorrow is going to consist of a lot of sleeping in and then even more pool work. It has been the dreaded 8 weeks since I last cleaned the pool filter so that has to happen. I really would offer food, alcohol or maybe other things to get someone to do this for me. This time I will backwash before I open the filter (now that’s a fun story for another day!) More to come! :)

Tick Tock

Tonight was one of those bittersweet evenings spent in a hometown.

I came to Ardmore for Landon's graduation (which I made it through with no tears I might add), but it ended up being a reunion of sorts with several people.

First off I walked in and saw all of the Riggle clan, which was to be expected, but before I got too far into the convention center I met up with my middle school, high school, and still best friend Crystal (who used to babysit Landon and was the one that brought him to our Stage Crafts class most of the time we were in high school). We were sat with Lisa's high school choir so that we could be close to the action. The girl sitting next to me, a freshman will be sophomore, asked how we knew Lisa and we admitted that we were alumni. She then asked if we were best friend types that were in choir together or the enemy types. Crystal piped up that we've been best friends since sixth grade. It is hard to believe that almost twenty years have passed since we were stuck in charm school together and were bonded every since. She is now married with two little boys (who are eerily similar to Reece and Landon) and about to start her last year of nursing school. We realized how quickly the time has passed and that we're going to blink and we'll be watching her youngest graduate.

After I hugged the graduate, chatted with Lisa and Randle, and dropped off the graduation gift I headed to the local pizza kitchen to listen to my friend Tyler play. (Side note: my dear cousin was SUPPOSED to meet me there, but he went home to "rest" following two pitchers of margaritas and I guess rested too hard, so I got stood up...BAD cousin!) As I'm sitting there listening to Tyler play and eating pizza alone (real bad cousin) I couldn't help but think of when I first met Tyler. He had just finished his freshman year of high school and played on the tennis team with Haley. It was one of the many summers I kept her and they were living in a house that had a tennis court next door, so Tyler and another friend would come down to play tennis (and maybe because Haley was really pretty) and I got to know him pretty well. He has grown up (way up, he's really tall) to be a great friend and a talented musician.

As Tyler and Meredith were wrapping up (and the restaurant was closing at 10:00...on a Friday...got to love small towns) in walks a darling young lady named Taylor who was headed to the bar next door and happened to see me through the window. Even more memories came flooding back with this one. Starting around fifth grade she was Haley's best friend and lived around the corner. Many days I showed up in the morning and had not one, but two babysitting charges. Taylor has grown up into a beautiful woman with a wonderful husband and and adorable daughter. I met up with them after I talked to Tyler at the new bar next door (kind of forgot I was in Ardmore actually!) and she bought me a glass of wine. Crazy that I'm old enough (by two years) to have my former babysitting charges buying me drinks!

On the way home I was driving a road that I've driven thousands of times before, but memory after memory kept hitting my brain: trig homework at Melissa's, trying to build an airplane at JR's grandparents', pretending a baby doll was a real baby to fool everyone with Lexi, and a million more. I realized just how quickly time is passing. I wouldn't trade my life for anything, but it's amazing how fast the clock is ticking.

As I said to the young lady sitting next to me at graduation, the best is yet to come, but that doesn't mean it won't be hard. High school is wonderful and are memories that I deeply treasure. I also told her to take more pictures than she takes now (she said she took a lot, but I said to take more!). I wish I had more photos from high school, and college, and every part of my life. I still have every memory etched in my brain though.

I probably didn't think thirteen years ago when I graduated that I would be back in Ardmore for Landon's graduation or that I would end up with such a wonderful, adult, friend in Lisa. I didn't think about the fact that as the years pass by the six and eight year age gaps between the kids that I babysat get closer and closer every year. I am thankful that I was able to be a part of these kids' lives when they were kids, but I think I am more thankful that they still put up with me as a friend now.

Time moves faster and faster the older that we get and it is important, in the hustle and bustle of life, to slow down, take a deep breath, and remember the people that have shaped the person you have become. All too quickly life can get in the way and years have passed between the times you talk and in our hyper connected world there is no need for that.

BLOG HOMEWORK: call an old friend you haven't talked to in years; go have dinner or a drink with them; I promise you won't be sorry that you did.

PS
Take a picture while you're at it!

Baby Landon Is Graduating!

He's not even close to a baby anymore, but I've known him since he was about two, so he'll always be Baby Landon to me!

At any rate tonight Mr. Landon will graduate high school. I promised him on Tuesday at his spring concert that I would thoroughly embarrass him via facebook on graduation day, but first some stories (fun pictures to follow).

Landon's mom is my dear friend Lisa, who also happened to be my high school music teacher (nope, I don't sing, but I was in Stage Crafts and was the sound tech for the Show Choir...all the perks, none of the sequins!). Landon and his older brother Reece got out of school before we did so someone would pick them up and bring them to the high school every day, so for three years of high school I saw the boys every other day in the afternoons (we were on block scheduling).

My junior year we did Wizard of Oz and the witch melted into an itty bitty witch that ran around before melting entirely...guess who the baby witch was! Landon! The joys of being the music director's son.

Senior year he got a little better deal when he and Reece were little Indians in Annie Get Your Gun. At the end of senior year we all piled onto the Big Red Boat for a show choir competition and I can remember Landon crashing out during our nightly "pow-wows" in Lisa's room.

At the end of my senior year I started going to the youth choir that Lisa directed at First United Methodist Church and was sucked into the world of the church. I helped with VBS and the next year a little camp called Joy Camp for third through fifth grade students where they learned about God through the arts (and in the air conditioning). There were many fun times at Joy Camp that I forgot about until I decided to write this particular post and searched through pictures.

As much fun as posting funny kiddo pictures is I must say how proud I am of the young man he has grown into. He is smart, funny, polite, talented, motivated, goal oriented, and pretty darn handsome. I am so thankful to have been part of your life.

Congratulations Landon! I wish you nothing but luck in college and in the future and I mean it when I say come down to Norman for a home cooked meal (and cookies!).

Declaring for the Draft

Okay not REALLY, but that's kind of what I feel like this post is. Three years ago (and a few weeks) I was engaged and planning a wedding that was doomed from the beginning. That came crashing down around me. I spent the first six months or so wishing, hoping, and praying we would get back together. Then I started grad school, which became the major fixation of my life along with CrossTimbers and Junior League. Now grad school is over (or at least for the summer before I start on LPC classes in the fall) and if feels like something changed yesterday. Yes I realize this sounds crazy. Mom and I went to the designer show home, like we do every year, and it was in Heritage Hills, by St. Luke's UMC, while driving back I detoured around all these fun places in OKC (yes there are fun places in OKC, I just choose to ignore them and stay in my Norman bubble) and all I could think about was "oh that would be a neat place for a date".

Damn it.

So, that being said, I am declaring myself for the dating draft. I have been out a few times over the last two and a half years with little success, but the timing was wrong and I didn't have the time for it. Right this second I don't really have the time for it either, but this summer JL is on hiatus, school is on hiatus, and CT will slow down some. My plan is to lounge in the pool and read a lot, and with that maybe, just maybe, I could go out with cute boys.

Here is where you, loyal readers, come in. I am thirty and have forgotten how to date. Yes, yes, it has been a very long time since I was out there meeting boys. Under absolutely NO circumstances will I do the online dating thing. Yes, yes, I know there are tons of people that do this, and do it successfully, but I am not one of them. Pretty sure God is well aware of this unwavering fact and I will happily die alone in my fabulous new living room before I join eharmony or match.com. I don't particularly care for anything super serious, just fun dates, NO DRAMA ALLOWED.

So friends, bring on the boys. I prefer they to not be creepy, no active (or past) VPOs, no girlfriends, fiances or wives, I do my research (OSCN is my friend), but I am actually for the first time, in some time, not entirely opposed to the idea of dating...ugh. I guess if I want to get married and have kids dating is kind of a requirement at some point.

The Story Behind the Palm Tree (aka: I Hold a Grudge)

That's my cap for my Masters graduation. "Why a palm tree?" you might ask. You will especially ask this if you heard the story of how much I am not a cruise or beach person, so since you asked (whether you did or not) I will tell the tale.

It all started about thirteen years ago in a little town called Ardmore. It was the day of my high school graduation and my friend Ashley had decorated her cap for graduation that evening. Hers was pretty and sparkly and said "gimp" as she was hobbling around following an injury during the senior powder puff football game. When I heard about this I thought "I need to decorate my cap too!" and after a quick thought I came to the idea of a palm tree. You see my high school show choir had just gotten back from a cruise on The Big Red Boat and our prom theme had even been "Bon Voyage" with a cruise ship in the background of our formal pictures. It seemed natural. So I grabbed some paper and markers and drew a palm tree, cut it out and taped it to my cap.

Then the drama unfolded.

I must say that I didn't feel too much of a closeness to my high school class through our four years at AHS, but that all changed the night of graduation. We bonded. We bonded over the ridiculous rules of our administration. Now I have to admit that I already had some "issues" with our current principal (who had taken over the position the second semester of my senior year), but we'll just leave it there.

We all walked in, Ashley and I were the only decorated caps. Our lovely former principal, who was now an assistant, pulls me into the office of the field house and explains that if I don't remove the palm tree from my cap I will not be allowed to walk.

SERIOUSLY?!?!?

This is MY high school graduation, not his, or the other principal's. They wanted to keep this ceremony very serious, I suppose. I guess it was supposed to reflect the maturity of the school and whatnot. Well, funny story, we might not have been a class that got along, but by gosh we came together that night to make our high school graduation memorable and very unique to us.

After he tells me to remove the palm tree (and wouldn't let me take it with me), in one of my more rebellious moments in high school, I slammed it on the desk, said "this is the biggest bunch of bullshit I've heard", and stormed out. Now I am not advocating that every high school senior does this, but I'm also hoping that the administration of your school respects you more than ours did and allows you to be individuals and take ownership of a ceremony that is meant to celebrate you.

After that I was furious, just as I had been many other times in the past. Luckily we had two pretty amazing teachers that calmed us all down. Ashley had to walk without a cap at all (since hers was done with glitter and paint), but Alex was the smartest of us all! He had a paint pen or a white out pen and as we were walking used it to write "#3" his class rank (he thought, along with most of the rest of us, that he would be valedictorian). Ah, we were a smart class and in the end we won.

Through the ceremony we also had four beach balls that were blown up and bounced around, one friend who got up in the middle of a forty five minute speaker's speech and started applauding, and a silly friend that danced across the stage and left the president of the school board with a perplexed look on his face. Overall it was probably my favorite memory of high school, so for that I'm glad. I'm glad that were able to come together against a common enemy. You might be reading this thinking that I'm crazy or at least disrespectful to authority, however I believe that in order to get respect you must first give it and the administration had little respect towards us through our four years at that school.

Now all of this being said, last year I was at Haley's convocation and saw all the caps that were decorated. That was when I got the idea to recreate the palm tree, only better! I spent ten months planning. The Friday before Graduation Gear Up I went and got the jewels. The first day of GGU I bought my cap and gown, pulled the cap from the plastic, found a palm tree in clip art, made it the right size and started laying out the beautiful jeweled palm tree above. I am quite proud of it, even though the cruise that I went on before graduation this year was kind of a bust, it was perfect. A lot of people figured I would have the New York City skyline or something of that nature, but what can I say? I hold a grudge.

The Graduate

Well I did it. After two and a half years I have a Masters degree. It really seems like yesterday that I got this crazy idea and started asking friends with MHRs what I could do with it. I won't lie, it has been stressful and exhausting, but I am so glad I did it. So glad, in fact, that I'm going back in the fall to work on my LPC and figure out a Ph.D. program. So I'm a glutton for punishment. I figure if I'm not changing my name anytime soon I should at least accessorize it, right?

And here is the story of graduation.

Friday night was commencement. This is when all the graduates hang out on the football field while they announce the doctoral candidates and there is a speaker. I skipped this detail in undergrad and since I decided I was going to do everything for my Masters I was going to go. Then I talked myself out of it. Then I heard who the speaker was and talked myself back in. Then Friday it rained all day and they moved it inside to Lloyd Noble and I almost talked myself back out, but I didn't.

So as I'm walking into commencement I had no idea how to work my Masters' hood. I figured someone inside would know. I was wrong, but I made two new friends while we all tried to figure it out. We fussed over the hoods and sat ourselves down. Then we got moved. I had decorated my cap (story to come later) and was mildly worried when I walked in that I would be the only one. That was silly, there were decorated caps everywhere.

We settled in for the ceremony. First they did the honorary degrees. I actually think this would be the best way to get a doctorate because you get all the bells and whistles and no classes or papers. However, I am way too impatient for that, so I'll just bust through school to get one. Apparently my two new friends came from the same line of thinking I did because we all noticed that the doctoral candidates had different hats. Some had the flat mortarboard and some had the nifty poofy hats.

The speaker did her thing and was truly inspiring. She talked a lot about being a community and having empathy towards others. These are things I truly agree with, so I knew I had made the right decision to go. She also talked a lot about football, being that she grew up in Texas, and I knew I'd made the right decision!

After that the doctoral candidates were recognized and I tried my darnedest to figure out the hat thing, but every time I would catch a name and find it in the program it would be the same degree with different hats. The night ended with me having no idea why they were different, but knowing that I had to figure it out because I would be VERY upset if I made it through a PhD. program only to end up with a flat hat again.

At the end of the ceremony we sang the OU chant, yes the chant is a song and the fight song is more of a chant, oh well. They gave us all glow sticks and turned the lights down. After that instead of throwing their caps people threw their glow sticks. I got pegged with at least two and they hurt! They also shot off streamers, which weren't as cool as fireworks, but I guess they were okay.

This is the only picture I got of commencement.

Then came the College of Arts and Sciences Convocation Saturday morning. This is the one where my name is read and I get to walk across the stage. The morning started off not so great as I hadn't slept the night before because my dog was sick and wouldn't calm down enough to go to sleep. After I kicked her out so I could get some sleep (yes I felt horrible) I got up to her still feeling bad. Needless to say I was pretty much ready for the ceremony to be over so that I could get home to check on her. (For those concerned she was fine when I got home and is as good as new today)

So for my graduation ensemble I chose a new black dress and pearls with hot pink peep toe high heels (shoes are very important). When I say I "chose" an LBD and pearls I mean that Brittany pretty much informed me that I would be wearing it, which she was spot on right about and it was the perfect choice. The heels (4 inches) were a bit of fun. I had to walk down the ramp at LNC, I was praying the whole time that I wouldn't fall. After that I was ushered into the A-L room for my major (Human Relations) and given the card to fill out with my information on it. I had managed to get all my flair on before walking down.

My flair included:

• Graduation gown, complete with wings - I totally freaked out when I pulled it out of the bag Tuesday, but everyone explained that's how it was supposed to be, I still think it looks dumb, but was a nice place to stash my phone while I walked across stage
• Masters hood - while there was no one to help with the hoods on Friday, Saturday morning one of the HR professors came by and checked all hoods to make sure they were right...thank goodness!
• Chickasaw honor stole - I went back and forth on wearing this, but ended up doing it, even though it had feathers, I figured they paid for my Masters they should get some credit, plus it made me stand out a bit more, though there were at least three others, including a guy getting his MHR
• Phi Kappa Phi honor cords - I worked my tail off to keep a perfect 4.0 GPA through grad school and was extremely excited to be nominated for PKP, which honors the top 10% of graduating Masters students
• PKP pin - see above
• Golden Key pin - okay I just did this one to have more stuff for the resume and more flair
• Human Relations pin - I knew other MHRs in the past had gotten pins and I was happy when they went through and handed them out before the ceremony (I like my flair)

Okay so I was decked out. Surprisingly for all the people that were graduating I really didn't know that many, so I made more friends. I am very introverted, but in certain situations (graduation apparently being one of them) I make friends very easily. I met a guy who was a Marine who had done his whole program overseas, mainly in Japan (yet another thing I love about the HR department) and a guy who was in the Air Force (he was VERY tall). Also, I must admit, when I walked in and got lined up and knew I had another hour of waiting, I took off the good ol' 4 inch heels. Hey it worked, don't judge.

A little while later my friend Kelsey came in. She was a student athlete at OU (track and field) and had gone to the student athlete reception the day before. She had the prettiest ring that was clearly OU inspired and I asked where she got it. She said it was her gift from the athletic department for graduating. I immediately decided that I have four years of eligibility left and I need to find a sport! Okay I am totally kidding, but the ring was really pretty!

We lined up and headed in (I got my shoes back on just in time!). We walked to our assigned area and sat down. I must remind you that when you are in LNC the smart phones (or mine) aren't very smart, so getting text messages were few and far between. Eventually I had three come through from Chris and Jason asking where I was. I FINALLY got one back to Chris saying to look for my hat and described it (the specifics will be in another post all to themselves :)). I learned today that Chris was being ornery to Jason (big shocker) and kept saying things like "oh there she is, she's in a black robe and has something hanging from her hat" Jason would look and then realize that EVERYONE had on black robes with stuff hanging from their hats. Then when they asked the graduates to please rise Chris said "oh she's standing up" and Jason looked and realized that everyone was standing up. Apparently everyone around them was laughing. I certainly did when I heard the story!

Okay so next Dean Bell gives a little talk. Then the chosen student (always an undergrad) gave her speech and it was time for us to walk. My favorite part about Dean Bell is something he says every year:

If you read above the closed captioning says "other demonstrations of support and affection are strongly" the whole thing is this:

Noisy outbursts and other demonstrations of support and affection are strongly encouraged.

As you will read later in my post about my cap this was not the case when I was in high school and it made me a little bit angry (as did most things at my high school).

So I watch as many friends come by who were also getting their Masters. The guy next to me was checking out everyone's shoes (I told you shoes were important!). Kelsey and I were chatting. Chris said he and Jason figured they would look for someone playing on facebook during the thing (who me?) but because of the lack of cell service I resorted to talking, so they weren't surprised when they finally located me and I was talking to the person to my left and then the person to my right and back and forth...always the social butterfly.

We finally got to get up and head for the front. They took our pictures and then the lovely gay guy had us move our tassels to the back for the photo of us shaking hands to get our diploma cover (he was quite fun). I got my cover, shook a lot of hands, said a lot of thank yous and walked back to my (new) seat. Waiting to go up and walk wasn't so bad, but waiting for the thing to be over was awful. Needless to say we were counting down the departments left and everyone cheered for the last person to walk. After that it was the fun madness of trying to get out, with feet that were killing me, so I took off the shoes and peeled the robe as soon as possible (those things are hot!).

Overall it wasn't too bad, fun stories that I will remember, just like the last two. I'm very appreciative to those that came to support me in person and those that were with me in spirit and those that liked my check in on facebook or made comments. All of you have helped me get to where I am today and for that I am extremely thankful.

PS

My friends from Friday night figured out the doctoral hats! One came over and told me that you just pay more for the poofy ones. I can so do that! Next stop: PhD!

Hunger Games

I was not supposed to like these books, at all. In fact I only read them because my youth group kids were so excited about them and the movie was coming out. When Kali said they were about kids killing each other I truly wanted nothing to do with them, but wanted to know what the kids were reading, so I grabbed the first one and took it on vacation with me. I also saw a youth group series that a friend of mine was doing called the Hunger and Thirst Games and it was kind of necessary to read the books so I knew what the heck the series was talking about.

It took the first section before I got hooked and then I couldn't put it down. The same followed with the second one and not as much with the third, but I had to know how it ended. After reading all three and watching the first movie, which I hear the screenplay was written by Suzanne Collins, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed them. I have a political science degree, though I forget, so the political chaos that runs through the book got me. I also have a natural rebellious spirit, so that kind of grabbed me too. And who doesn't love a love triangle? It was interesting, I must say, that I read these as I finished rewatching Dawson's Creek (the complete series) and some of the parallels between the characters in both with people in my own life. Kind of gave me some closure actually. Very interesting.

The three books are easy reads (literally two days max for each). I enjoyed the second one the best. The ending was pretty much what I expected. I am super excited for the next two movies because I think they are great accompaniments to the books. Overall, go read them and learn what the hype is about!

Mere Christianity

Oh C.S. Lewis, you and I are just not friends. This book made me angry more than it made me happy. Honestly I didn't finish it. We were working on it for our small group and we threw in the towel and gave up. It was a recommendation from someone and I just couldn't handle it. Lewis is very black and white in this and in my world there is a lot of color. I have been told to read his other works because they are a lot better, but it's going to take some time before I want to try Mr. Lewis again.

I Heart New York

I have a habit (bad for my wallet) of going to the bookstore and just roaming the shelves until something jumps out at me. That's how I found this jewel. Clearly this was going to be a perfect book for me because in fact I do heart New York very, very much. What I didn't realize is how much I would actually relate to the book. First off it starts with a girl at her best friend's wedding who finds out that her fiance was cheating on her (catches him in the act during the reception actually) and then finds out that her best friend knew about it the whole time. Now that's not exactly my story, but it was close enough to have me enthralled. The next day after a good cry (and peeing in his toiletry bag) she hops on a plane and goes to NYC knowing no one. I threatened to do this many, many times following my own wedding being cancelled, but never got the balls to do it. I got to live out what I wished I had done through this. She ends up making friends with the concierge at the hotel she stays in, meetings beautiful men and has fun dates (after a fabulous makeover). It was kind of cathartic to read this having been through something similar (minus the dating, but we'll get to that). Overall it was wonderful, it was set in the best city in the world, it was fun to imagine all the places that I have been to countless times, and I just loved it. Absolutely a must read.

Back in the Swing of Things

Okay it has been a minute (or a month) since last I blogged. One might have thought I gone blown away with the tornado from the last post, but I didn't. Instead I have been fighting with a fun (I use that term extremely sarcastically) home improvement project (or ten) that have thrown me into a nervous breakdown (or several), plus school wrapping up, plus Junior League, plus CrossTimbers, plus juggling that thing I call a social life. Enough for excuses, I'm back! In the meantime of regular blogging I have redecorated my living room, started on the kitchen, and have decided to mix up the bedrooms, plus work on the pool (we'll get to all of that soon, I promise, the stories are way too crazy not to share). I also graduated with my Masters! (insert screaming, laughing, crying and a huge sense of relief) I'll also get to that. So all of this being said, get ready blog world, there is a log of blogging coming up at Little Black Dresses and Pearls, so stay tuned!