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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

My Naked Neighbor

Don't go thinking I'm some kind of Peeping Tom. I am not. Even if I was, though, out in my 'burbs, I wouldn't even have try...

My neighbor likes to cook in the buff. No lie. He lives alone, keeps always to himself, so if that's his thing, who am I to judge? My only thought is this: he needs new blinds.

His have a small break. It isn't huge, and even if he wore JUST an apron it'd be fine for the most part, but the breach in the blinds is big enough to know that when I see buns, it's not because he's cooking hamburgers. And when I see a weiner, it's well....you get it: not hot dog night.

He starts his supper about the time I pull in from work every night. The first time I saw {all of} him I was, admittedly, a little phased. I told Dan. He didn't believe me. Like I'd make up a naked neighbor?! It wasn't too long, though, before an innocent run to the mail box for Dan turned into....a peak at the male box. Oh yes. Now he believes me.

So...who wants to come over for dinner {heehee}?!

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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Cargos in Carolina

Read this HYSTERICAL Letter to the Editor from a paper in Chapel Hill.

I guess I'm not alone in the contempt I hold for the cargo short...





Disclaimer:  As you know, Dan swears by the cargo short. I judge not should you or your loved ones love them, but in our house, the cargo short is a constant source of humor and good-natured mockery. 
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No Wire Hangers!

This weekend, I filled one construction-sized garbage bag with nothing but WIRE HANGERS.

Not even kidding.

I sent four more filled with clothes to Goodwill.


Over-crammed closets are truly the least of the problems inside our 1970's townhouse (think blue bath tub...) but it was something I could tackle in about 36 hours.

If I wasn't worried it'd bring shame to my mother, I would've just called Hoarders to come remedy all the non-essential clothes and other sundries causing chaos to our days.  So, this weekend, Dan + I forced ourselves to clean out some closets, clearing space for the clean laundry that has been on the couch for two weeks a while.   Here's a peak (in photos with no make up and pajamas) at  a few of our the lovelies we'd been holding on to:


Dan: But this is a nice sweater.
Me: It is...if you have plans to go back in time to be in a Christmas card photo with Bill Cosby.

SAVED - but only for an ugly sweater party.


Me: When I wore this suit to work I felt like Elle Woods.
Dan: No woman your age should dress head to toe in that color.

GONE



Dan: What's so wrong with tear-away pants?
Me:  Nothing.....if you're Nathan Scott.

GONE

Dan: What the hell?

Me:  An eyelet blazer seemed like a good idea at the time

GONE.


Me: Do those sweats have elastic on the bottom?

Dan: Yep. Think Cassie's dad would want them?

Me: Maybe.

Two closets down, one basement and an office closet full of board games to go......
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Monday, June 27, 2011

In Pounds, Not in Days

As I've mentioned, I'm dieting {once again!} these days. I've lost nearly 20 pounds.  I'm about to top any amount of weight I've ever lost during one diet. Still, I have more weight to lose than ever before, so there's a long way to go before meeting my goal...but that's another story for another blog (one you'll likely only hear if I'm actually successful...).

When you are successfully shedding pounds, it becomes such a focus in your phsyce that it's all one thinks about. It's pretty much all I think about lately. In fact, when on vacation with my family, Dan pulled me aside and said, I think you talk about your diet too much. At one point, my mom said to me, after I was weighing food options for the day, Why don't you go call that girl? That girl being the simply fabulous Kris of Simply Flabuloss, who has been my diet buddy and calorie confidant.

Kris posted not long ago about how now that she is slimming down, she's more into jewelry + accessories. I feel the same way lately about clothes.

In general {and likely by a fat default} I don't get too into fashion. I like pretty clothes as much as the next girl, but labels and brands don't really matter to me.  Since I've spent the bulk of my adult life losing and gaining and losing and gaining weight, I've never invested too much in my closet. During the times of gaining I've especially shied away from shopping for anything but....black. I do, however, own 12 sets of dishes. Hmm....and I wonder why I struggle with the scale???

I was talking to a friend about a necklace I bought this weekend*, and the outfit I would pair it with for a party out on the water. She asked when the party will be, and I told her the date, followed by...or in 7-10 pounds.I have a lot of fun events on my calendar this summer, and already I am mentally playing paperdolls with how I want to look at weddings, lunches with old friends, sailing trips on the Chesapeake, seeing Dolly at Wolf Trap.  As I look at the calendar, counting down to all my fun engagements, I think not in days...but in pounds. Specifically, pounds lost.



I don't know how healthy that is. It's obsessive, indeed. But...it can't be as bad as thinking in terms of food** which, let's be honest, I've also used as my countdown!

*It's on sale for $19 at Target,  people - do NOT pay ebay prices!
**Homemade Ice Cream recipe coming up this week for 4th of July - you'll love it!
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Friday, June 24, 2011

A Bicycle Built For...

 I'm thinking about buying a bicycle this weekend.


When we were down at the beach, cyclists kept catching my eye. And, I keep seeing how cute my friends look pedaling around....

Jenni is extra "Speedy" on two-wheels, isn't she?


Monty was clearly born to ride.


Photo-ops, though the above are pretty presh, arent  the reason I have bikes on the brain. I'm trying {yet again!} to find hobbies {because reading, writing and wine tasting don't produce real calorie burn} that will help in my efforts to slim down. I need fun exercise. I think a bike is the way to go.

If I still lived on Capitol Hill, I wouldn't need my own bike. D.C. has a really great bike share.


But, alas, I live in the 'burbs. Still...all of my town is connected by trails and greenspace, so...biking would be a fun way to squeeze in some exercise without having to slow down traffic the way some DC bikers do morning and night during the middle of rush hour while pulling small children behind in bike trailors WTF! often do. In my head I'll ride on the weekends to my nail place. When Dan's grilling and we realize we need an extra ear of corn, I'll just hope on my cruiser and head to the store. I'm not aiming to Livestrong or anything, so don't think Lance Armstrong. Think...active, happy, stylish lady from a tampon ad.


Minus the socks.

I need a bicycle built for an out-of-shape 30-something that doesn't require any fancy gear changing, but comes, preferably, with a basket.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Miranda Lambert + Blake Shelton Wedding Video

They've been hitched for a while now, but People magazine just posted a video on its website of Miranda Lambert + Blake Shelton's wedding weekend.  Since I love country music and weddings, I watched. Three times.



The Sheltons got married on a Texas ranch. Celebrations surrounding my wedding were held on a ranch, too, so obviously I'm a tad partial to a rustic, downhome affair.

Table from Dan's and my BBQ Rehearsal Dinner - denim + burlap

You'll see in this video, so worth the 8 minutes of your day, these gorg vintage cowboy boots that Miranda gifted all her bridesmaids.  At my own rehearsal dinner, I changed into cowboy boots...


making Miranda + I, like, practically sisters, true? 

These girls, pictured here at our rehearsal dinner, are some of my oldest friends, and are like sisters to me.


I think if I could have attended any celeb wedding this year (save for the Cambridges, of course) I would have loved an invite to Blake + Miranda's wedding because it just looked like a crazy party! Not that some of my own guests didn't end the night napkin atop head......


 No matter how formal or casual wedding celebrations are, I think it's the personal touches that set another cake, another dress, another buffet line apart from the next ceremony or reception, and from this video, you'll see see the Sheltons' weekend was one-of-a-kind! You'll also see lots of their famous friends!

Tables at our rehearsal dinner were named after country songs. My friends sat here.

Withouth really* knowing Miranda and Blake, this wedding seems SOO very "them"!  What celebrity wedding would you have liked to attend this year?

*Back when "Austin" was just hitting radio, I interviewed Blake Shelton when he was rolling through Knoxville for some radio station gig. His manager said it was his first-ever interview. How, then, could  I have been left off the guest list?

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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tales From Zumba - The Cargo Shorts Guy

I've been to a couple of Zumba classes lately, and I must start sharing some stories because what happens during these 45-minute segments of cardio are a tad off-the-wall. If I could sneak in a camera Tales From Zumba could be a blog in itself.

photo credit - here

If you don't know what Zumba is, it's like Dancing with the Stars meets a Beyonce video.  There's lots of box-stepping, hip thrusts and even arm shimmies. It' a full on dance routine, and even a little sexy/grindy at times.

When I first started going I took great comfort in the fact that most of my classmates were just average people - no Fly Girls or Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader-types. This made me feel so much more comfortable in my own, cellulite-dotted skin.  Before taking a class in a studio with mirrors, I actually thought I still had my high school cheerleader mojo; I don't. But that's another story...


photo credit - here

I'm oddly private and self-conscious when exercising anyway, so I stand at the back of the class. After all, it's not 1994 anymore. At the front of the class, however, is this white man, probably mid-40's. He's not totally without rhythm, but sporting a t-shirt, tucked into his belted cargo shorts that hit past the knee and stark white tennies, socks pulled mid-shin...well, let's just say he's no Drew Lachey. Still, at my 'burb gym, anything goes, even cargo shorts which I think are the biggest crime of fashion ever (even though I know men, Dan included, love them and I'm told by fashion forward male friends that they are once again "in").

Love the man. Hate the shorts.

Shorts aside, this guy is out of place only because he's one of maybe 3 men in a class that's mostly all women.

So, he's dancing away and I'm thinking, Good for him. Until....he starts turning around, facing me, and the rows of women behind him. From ear-to-ear, he's grinning. He's also chomping on gum. In an instant, he goes from a case of Bless his heart for trying to just kind of pervy. If you want to watch everyone, go to the back row, right?

But it gets worse....he starts partnering up with a girl directly  behind him. He's close to her now...like at a Catholic school dance the nuns would be intervening. He's just short of being the J-Lo to her Marc Anthony, Idol Final 2011. Not kidding. Bless her heart.

I feel for this woman; I am SO distracted just watching from a good 15-feet away, but she's surely feeling his sweat. He does this the ENTIRE class, moving from one victim woman to another. He'll work out facing front for a while, like every normal exercise class attendee in the history of the world, but then boom, he turns around to face the class again....grinning, chomping, sweating.

I lose my ability to concentrate on the instructor because I'm mentally preparing what I would say if Cargo Shorts guy starts to Zumba up all the way to the back row. 

Now, I could be wrong - it's been years since I consistenly darkened the door of a gym - but this is not normal behavior, especially in the 'burbs, for communal cardio, true?


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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Pimento Cheese Withdrawal - Our Charleston Trip

Two weeks after our trip to Charleston, I'm still suffering a bit of pimento cheese withdrawal. Since my when-not-on-vacation diet prevents eating it, I shall blog about it.......

Over the Memorial Day week, Dan and I flew to South Carolina.

"Lowenstein, Lowenstein"*

My parents, who'd driven down from Knoxville...

photo credit: Leanne Trodeau Photography

...scooped us up at the airport and we rode off into the sunset.
photo credit: LeAnne Trudeau Photography

This trip proved to be one for the record books as:

1. PR + I avoided our infamous mother/daughter love spats

photo credit: Leanne Trudeau Photography

2. The weather was perfect, every day

3. I became one of those bitches that actually loses weight on vacation

 
Maybe it was all the morning strolls around the Battery, shuffling magnolia leaves underfoot, dreaming about living the highlife in the Low Country.....


...that countered the calories from my daily pimento cheese intake. Though back on my diet** hardcore now, I am still very much nursing a PC hangover that, quite simply, will not be cured til I eat it again...on crackers, atop a filet, or as I love it most, on plain, white bread.



Now....because I'm not one of those Bs that is pretty with fatface, I'll just be candid: the South will rise again before you see most pictures of me from this trip, save those shot by professional photographer, Leanne Trudeau.

photo credit: Leanne Trudeau

Because without the tricks and skills of a trained professional, despite grand progress from my diet (and having trained Dan, when posing for side shots to "belt me" in an effort to create a waist; see above)  I still photograph like an old Civil War canon these days....

Inside Fort Sumpter

....short and round.

So, it's all-tourist-pics, all-the-time for this recap:


Save one daytrip to Fort Sumpter, and one afternoon shopping on King, then carriage riding South of Broad, we spent our days reading on Folly Beach, then breaking for lunch at Taco Boy.

At night, we'd head downtown for drinks + dinner.

Dan and I went to HUSK, voted Southern Living's best new reastaurant. I LOVE the HUSK concept: farm-to-table and NOTHING served, down to the salt + olive oil, comes from above the Mason-Dixon Line. Magnolias, however, remains my favorite place to eat in Charleston, and we dined there twice! A new place opened up on Queen Street called Petticoats - it's adorable, casual and the food (especially the pimento cheese!!!) is really good, too.


Charleston is among my favorite cities. Its Southern coastal vibe is unmatched. Now that Southwest has a direct from Baltimore, I hope we can get down that way more often.

If you're planning a trip to Isle of Palms/Hilton Head/Folly Beach/Kiawah/Charleston anytime soon, I couldn't recommend Leanne more if you want to schedule a beach photo shoot.  She is SO fun to work with, she is so quick to respond to questions via email (before + after the shoot)....she even brought water and towels and all kinds of extras along during our session. Visit her photography site here!


* If you get this reference, we are soul mates
** I'll eventually*** talk more about my diet
*** By "eventually" I mean when I've lost a crazy amount of fatface and can report significant skinny strides

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Monday, June 13, 2011

My Adventures with Dee!

Last week I got to meet Dee, from Dee's Adventures. She was in town for a wedding, and popped over to Capitol Hill where we strolled around the Congress a bit before lunch outside at Bullfeathers.


I should probably offer this disclaimer before telling you how much fun I had: When bloggers talk about how they have met some of their "BEST FRIENDS" from blogging, I give it a big eye-roll.

That's wrong and judgemental of me (especially since I met my husband on match.com), but in real life, I am lucky to have a huge group of friends. Though it's proved a real perk, making new friends was not the reason I started blogging. 

When I read about bloggers doing trips with other bloggers I think that sounds fun and all, but I barely have the time to do girls trips with friends I've know for ages. How - and moreso why- I wondered, do these girls give priority to people they met on the internet? (Again - match.com - but still..I judge...just being honest here.)

Dee + I have "known" each other for a while through our blogs. Blog commenting quickly turned to emailing and emailing quickly turned to Facebook and phone texts. Then, we met in person and in the course of our two hours together, Dee and I talked and gossiped about things like we'd know each other for a lifetime.

We're at the exact same place life: 30-something newlyweds without children entertaining parenthood.  That alone gives us a lot of common ground, but toss in things like both of us are former newsies, SEC grads married to Hokie husbands and...the list goes on and on......

Not to go all Single White Blogger on you, but...I may have just met one of a my best friends through blogging. We might even meet up for a trip.

And I take back all most of my eye-rolls.

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Friday, June 10, 2011

Summer Loving


Boots No. 7 Wipes
When I stayed at Mary's house for the Royal Wedding Party, I forgot to pack my face-wash stuff. She had these, so I used them and it was love at first wipe. Since then, I've gone through about three packets. Recently, I threw them in my really junky beach bag down in Charleston, and LOVED having them handy for wiping my face after being in the ocean, or before re-applying sunscreen. If, like me, you're a lazy nighttime face washer, these are also fantastic.


Trader Joe's Cilantro Salad Dressing

Down at Folly Beach, near Charleston, there's a great little place called Taco Boy.
My family ate there every day we were at the beach, and I fell in love with the Mahi tacos, or more specifically, the cilanto lime sauce that came on the tacos. In an effort to recreate that now that I'm home, I bought this. It's not exactly the same, but it's super close, and super delish! I've used it twice for cooking since buying it on Monday, and it's in tonight's supper plans, too!

Reading by the Water

I LOVE to read in the summer.

Here's the view from the hotel where we stayed in Charleston. I'd curl up on a sofa on the porch and turn a few pages every day...after doing the same on the beach. While I was gone, DC Ladies posted a blog I wrote on great Southern books for summer.  Now that I'm back home, I have vowed to spend more time at the pool, with a book...instead of with a book on my couch! This weekend, I'll be reading the new Jen Lancaster, If You Were Here. What are you reading this summer?


Coach

My love for Kyle Chandler, the actor who plays Coach on Friday Night Lights runs deep. Like, so deep, I bought the final season of FNL months ago when it came out on DVR (before it aired on NBC) and watched it all in about 2 weeks. FNL fans - you'll love how it ends. LOVE. Anyway...Coach is in a movie this weekend, Super 8. It's Sci-Fi. I hate Sci-Fi. I love Kyle Chandler. Thus, I will go watch Super 8. What can I say, I'm brand loyal.


The Dress, The Hair, The Princess

Not that she wasn't a sight as a bride, but I think last night Catherine looked even more stunning than she did on her wedding day. LOVE her dress.










Meeting Dee!

I love that today, I'm meeting one of my blog besties, Dee, of Dee's Adventures! She's in D.C. for a wedding, so I get to give her a little VIP tour of the Capitol before lunch somewhere on the Hill. I feel like I already know Dee because we're like the blond/brunette/Vol fan/Tiger fan version of each other!

What are you loving this summer?

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

They Don't Make Beach Totes for Solid Gold Dancers

No one has ever described me as practical, which is why it feels like I'm going against the grain as I place an order for this guy...




...the classic, handy L.L. Bean Boat and Tote.


Truth is, at my core, I'm just not a Boat and Tote kind of girl. 
I'm a big, blingy, will-break-when-you-pack-too-many bottles of rum hardback-books, can't-pack-it-when-you-fly, can-never-get-the-sand-out- of-the-bottom, itches-when-it-bumps-against-your-sunburn straw bag kind of lady.


I'm a little gaudy, like in my first life I was likely a Solid Gold Dancer...and Solid Gold Dancers just don't shop the Bean, right?


It's not so much a desire to put fashion over function, it's just personal preferance. Sometimes, though, being true to yourself just isn't worth it. 

For the past 5 beach trips I've taken, honeymoon included, I've arrived without a beach bag.

I'll just buy a something when I get there...turns into You're not paying that much for a straw bag are you? or not buying anything at all and taking my purse - classy!


Last week, Dan and I were in Charleston with my parents. Of course, I arrived sans tote. In route to the sand on our first day, my family was kind enough to stop at Wal-Mart so I could run in and buy something in which to stow my sunscreen + books. I bought a $7 straw bag, in black, and no joke, before the first day ended, my bag had popped a handle and started to unravel. By Day 2, it was in total ruins.

At that moment, I swore that upon my return home I would break down and order the LL Bean Boat + Tote. And so I did.....



in solid gold Sunrise.....





It's cute and all, and the yellow is fun. Though I wouldn't exactly describe my style as preppy, I've never met a monogram I didn't love. This bag just doesn't feel like me...but I guess that's half the fun of travel, living a little outside of yourself for a few days.


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