Bahamas Bound

This week has been INSANE. I don't think I've had time to sit down and breathe since Sunday morning. It's like work always knows when I'm leaving and chooses that exact moment to cause me loads of stress.

What makes stress better?

A(n) (extra) long weekend in the Bahamas. Hello, Atlantis. There are no words to tell you how much I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

**I was planning on using my own pictures from when I was at Atlantis in 2009, but since Kodak Gallery / Shutterfly is holding them hostage (they *better* not disappear) until the transfer is done, I had to use stock pictures. Boo. But thanks, Google.


I'm coming back on Monday, hopefully sporting a delicious Bahamian tan and definitely armed with loads of pictures to share.

Friday Five: On Repeat

It's summa time, y'all.

And everyone knows summer requires some pretty fantastic music. (Indoors, of course. You all know how much I hate nature.)

Because it's Friday, here are five songs of summer I have on repeat. (Ok, so they aren't all summer-related, but all of them make me sing along and dance, so there.)


Little Big Town - Pontoon
While I may be in the city now, I was raised in the podunk backwoods country. On the lake. This lake.

And it was delightful. I was in the water all.the.time. You could always find me either being pulled behind a ski boat or hanging out on the pontoon. It's one of the only two things I miss about my hometown (the other being chicken biscuits and fountain Cokes with crushed ice in a styrofoam cup from The Trailer). If you've ever spent any part of a summer on a boat in the middle of the lake, you need to listen to this song.

Marc Broussard - Must Be The Water
I am not from New Orleans, but I've spent my fair share of time there. I discovered Marc Broussard sometime in the mid 2000s and always find myself foot tapping and knee slapping along with his music. Try it. You'll be bouncing around in your chair, too.


Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out
I don't really have an explanation for this one. I'm a fan of Flo'. I'm also a fan of shaking it out. So there's that.


Eric Church - Springsteen
Eric Church is my boyfriend. He doesn't know that yet, but who cares about the details? Moving on. Who doesn't have memories of a July Saturday night? As much as I say I hated growing up in my hometown, I can't deny some of the memories made on July Saturday nights in that mountain town. Also, who doesn't love to "whoa oh oh oh oh" along with a song? I know I do.


J.D. McPherson - Fire Bug
I DARE you to listen to this song and not immediately start foot tapping and head bopping. You can't do it. If you can, then we can't be friends because you have no soul and hate things like happiness and cheese.



What do you have on repeat this summer?

This Is My Truth

I will never be the girl who has it all together. It's a hard thing to accept, but I'm trying.

I have never seen a single Star Wars movie and I have no desire to do so.

I'm not crazy about ice cream. I can take it or leave it, but if I take it, it belongs in it's own bowl. It has no business touching my piece of cake.

I am fiercely independent, almost to the point of it being detrimental in my relationships.

Some of my best days are the ones that include conversations in any form (verbal, gchat, text, email) consisting of 80% song lyrics and/or movie quotes.

I live for cheese.

And bacon.

I love salsa and marinara, but loathe tomatoes. If one piece of that vile fruit touches my food and gets tomato snot all over it, I refuse to eat it. Mature, I know.

I recently did a purging of my Twitter and Reader in an effort to stop hate reading. It helps. Namaste.  (**If you have a blog/are on Twitter and I should be following you because I would immediately love you but don't know it yet, please let me know!)

I really want to try the spinning (RPM) class at my gym, but I'm scared. I am mega intimidated by it. This is the first time I've said it out loud. Baby steps.

I think food in mini form is infinitely better than it's regularly sized counterpart. You'll never convince me otherwise.

While Alabama is home, I will always be a Georgia girl. It's where my roots are; it's where my heart will always be.




This is my truth. Tell me yours.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend in Numbers

10... The number of times you can vote for Martie today and tomorrow.

9... Number of people obnoxiously screaming "Roll Tide, Roll" during Sweet Home Alabama. Honestly, this is the least number of people I've ever been around to do this at a gathering anywhere in the state of Alabama. It was nice.

8... Number of times I told someone I was obsessed with this red claw foot tub. OBSESSED.

7... Number of behind-the-scenes insider secrets to which I became privy as a guest of Martie Duncan at the Food Network Star gathering.

6... Number of times I thought about how much I need to do before leaving next Wednesday. Of course, I didn't actually do any of these things, but I did think about them.

5... Number of songs in an impromptu performance by Mark Alan Barnett. 

4... Number of new tires on my car, aka gold. Who decided tires should cost so much? Insane.

3... Number of hours I endured everything I hate about nature to remember why a summer night in the South is so great.

2... Number of seconds it took me to fall in love with The Sonnet House.

1... Saturday night in with delivery and DVR. It was glorious.



What are your weekend numbers?



*Apologies for the crappy phone pictures. I am most definitely not a photographer.

Story Of My Life This Week, or, I Haven't Blogged Because I Have Nothing Nice to Say

July Goals

I pretty much accomplished everything in June, with the exception of going to the gym 4 days a week and trying 2 new recipes. It was fiscal year end at work and life was crazy. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

July Goals (Please excuse the ghetto list in blue highlighter. I had to work with the current resources at my disposal.)

Cardio - My goal is three times a week. I've pretty much stunk at this lately. I need to just stick to the #1 rule of cardio and I should be fine: Don't ever look at the clock to see how much time you have left. It only leads to tears.

Somewhere New - Somewhere. Anywhere. Because I'm all about adventure. Sort of. 

Magazine Subscriptions - Thanks to friend's kids selling magazine subscriptions for school (I'm not even touching the fact that I'm old enough to have friend's with kids old enough to sell things in school), I have SO many of them. I need to get it down to the three or so I actually read each month.

Spotify Playlists - They are out.of.control. I started out having them all in cute little playlists with catchy titles. Now? I basically just throw a song wherever and then get mad when I can't find it again. It's time to get it under control. It's hard to have a dance party when all the good jams are scattered about all willy nilly.

Bahamas - I called my mom to tell her about Andy Griffith last week. By the time we were off the phone a trip to the Bahamas had been planned. I chose the location and I have a pretty good reason for this particular one. I've been a couple of times so I won't feel like I've missed anything by drinking 20 out of 24 hours in order to tolerate my mother for 5 days. Bottoms up!

Gameday Belles Site - More to come on this soon

What are your goals for the month?

Throwback Thursday: School Nostalgia

We all know how awesome our school supplies were back in the day. (Don't even get me started on the crap that is deemed "school supplies" these days. It's no wonder kids don't love school supply shopping as much as we did. Yawn.)

Aside from school supplies, there were many other things that defined our days of education. To spare you a super lengthy post, I've pared it down to five (no doubt more posts on this will follow one day).

The Coin Purse - How much did I love these? So much. They were so tiny you could barely fit anything inside them, but it didn't matter. My two quarters (for snack time, duh) fit inside and really that's all anyone could hope for. Colorful rubber? Check. Squeeze to open and retrieve your two coins? Yes.

The Note -  If you didn't take the time to fold your note properly, what it had to say didn't really matter. Did it even exist? Probably not. This note folding technique was an art form - one I spent much time perfecting. And you know what? To this day I can still achieve perfectly creased perfection. Don't forget to mark it "private" or "for your eyes only." Otherwise, disaster.

Heads Up, Seven Up - Played in classrooms across the country, this was the quintessential teacher-is-tired-and-just-can-not-so-hey-let's-have-them-play-a-game game. The super skill Heads Up, Seven Upper knew the secret to the game...peeking at the shoes as they walked by. I may be the only person on the planet who did not like this game. Hide my eyes and my face so that I am completely vulnerable to an attack by God knows who while I hold my thumb up and let someone actually touch me at any time without knowing when? No. Just no.

Lunchroom Pizza - This shiz was so good you can now purchase it on your own. For real. It comes frozen. Reheat and relive all your lunchroom glory days. What is it called you ask? School pizza, of course. And don't forget the corn. School pizza is always served with corn. (??)

The Scooter - Any day we walked into PE and saw these was a good, good day. Do you know how fast these things will go on a shiny gym floor? No? Then you are missing out and need to make this happen ASAP. You're welcome.

What were some of the things you remember from your school days?

A Look Inside: Medicine Cabinet

I have done many blog posts in the past about products I use / love / hate, but I've never actually shown them to you. Today, that changes.

We are going inside the medicine cabinet (which I've never actually used for medicine...)

Top Shelf - These are my every day products for my morning / night skin care routines.

• Shiseido Ultimate Cleansing Oil. This stuff is thebomb.com (lame, but true). I have used this for a while now and will NEVER use anything else for makeup removal. If it is ever discontinued, I'm going to go into a depression curable only by alcoholic beverage and cheesy carbs. It's an oil-based cleanser that is super easy to use. Squirt (I really hate that word, by the way) a little bit into your palm, rub on your face, rinse off. Could it get any easier? No.
• Origins Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash. I use this at night after Shiseido. A little goes a long way. It lathers up well, which I love. When it comes to face wash, I like something that gets "sudsy." If it doesn't do that, I feel like it doesn't work as well. Is it in my head? Maybe. But what I know is this stuff is wonderful. I have combination skin on the oily side and this is great at balancing it out. It smells good and leaves my face feeling super clean. Win and win. I plan on using this with my Clarisonic when I finally get the replacement for the one that never worked (more on this later...like when I receive one I can actually use).
• Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. This is supposed to be the better version (as opposed to the lotion) for people with combination / oily skin. It works, but the jury is still out on how I feel about the goopiness of it. I only use this at night.
• Almay Eye Makeup Remover Pads. I have used these forever for removing eye makeup. Quick, easy, and most importantly, they work. I typically use the Oil Free, although I am currently using the moisturizing ones. It was all CVS had at the time, so I did what I had to do.
• Origins A Perfect World SPF 25 White Tea Moisturizer. I use this in the morning. It feels good, it smells fantastic, and it makes my skin feel great. Plus, the SPF 25 eliminates the step of having to add an additional step for applying a sunscreen. Not pictured is the cleanser I use in the mornings - Clean + Clear Morning Burst Detoxifying Facial Cleanser. I keep it in the shower and use it every morning. It makes my skin feel super clean and ready for the day.
• Olay Definity Illuminating Eye Treatment. I think they've discontinued this and changed it to something about age correcting. Which is fine, as I wasn't overly impressed with this anyway. I don't know why I haven't tossed it; I haven't used it in at least 3 weeks. If anyone has an eye product they love for circles / bags (because let's be honest here: insane amounts of work hours, stress, lack of sleep, and life in general has me sporting circles that only rival those after a 72 hour bender).

Middle Shelf - These are my part-of-my-routine-but-not-every-day products

• C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Buffer. A sugar crystal scrub that I use a few times a week to keep my lips super soft and great. After finding the perfect red lip, which happens to be a matte, this is a must to make it look extra dramatic. 
• Laura Mercier Lip Silk. Love, love, LOVE this stuff. I put it on every night before I get in the bed. It's amazing. And lasts forever - apparently they've changed the packaging since the last time I've had to buy.
• Mary Kay Indulging Soothing Eye Gel. Whether or not it does what it's supposed to do, I don't know. All I know is that on those mornings that are just woof, this feels amazing. And so I keep using it.
• Clinique All About Eyes Serum De-Puffing Eye Massage. This delightful little roller ball has been my BFF on more than one occasion. It works when I need it to work. And for that, I will be forever faithful. I'm so faithful, I keep spare travel sizes on hand to use (like now) in the event I don't have a chance to re-stock.
• Origins Clear Improvement Charcoal Mask. There was some kind of deal on this the last time I stocked up on cleanser and moisturizer, so I decided to give it a try. Origins has never let me down and so far this hasn't either. The reviews were all great for it, and I'm loving it. Granted, I've only used it like three times, but they were three very lovely times.

Bottom Shelf

• Tweezers - I have them everywhere - purse, work, car, makeup table, and apparently two of them in the medicine cabinet
• Band-Aid Advanced Healing Blister - I also keep these in my purse because you just never know. I am one of those people that will wear fabulous shoes even if they hurt like hell. These come in handy a LOT. I highly recommend stocking up. 

What do you keep in your medicine cabinet?

Monday Musings

Y'ALL. How is it already July?

Big things are happening this month.

But not today. Today isn't being very nice. I didn't sleep all night - as in not even 10 minutes worth of a nap. Insomnia won that battle. It won it hard. Thanks to my lack of sleep, my eyes feel like 10,000 needles are being poked through them...which means my contacts have no chance of going in. Believe me, I tried. For fifteen minutes I willed them into my eyes. But nope. Not happening. So I resign myself to a day of glasses, and head out the door. The thing about not looking out the window or at a weather report before leaving the house is that you may make it to the lobby of your building before you realize it's POURING. So back upstairs we go for an umbrella. As luck would have it, all three of my umbrellas were in my car. Great. So I attempt the brisk mall-walk from building to car, getting soaked in the process. As I was opening the door, my purse fell into stream of gushing water that was every bit of 4 inches deep. Monday has made it's presence known. And with that, I'm telling it to F off.

So now we move on to other (more random) things.

Year end is over (for the most part). For the next week, I get to shut the door and give the stink eye to anyone who dares to open it and bother me. This is also what I like to refer to as my "dance party in the office" time.

A blurb from today's horoscope: "You stand up for something important today, surprising quite a few people who had expected you to roll over for whatever is coming." So there.

I WILL get organized and get my ish together for the coming month. Lists upon lists upon lists. As a type a list making fiend, this is my heaven.

BIG DAY TODAY. You may have remembered my constant complaining about a lack of planner since I lost mine (I'm not linking back to those posts for your own sake since there are something like 18 of them). Well, I am planner-less no more. Today is the day I move my entire life into my new planner. This is one of my favorite days of the year, and yes, there will be cupcakes.

Today I will: respond to ALL personal emails, plan blog posts, send some personal correspondence (so that I can remain the favorite...no shame), create a meal / workout plan, and otherwise do everything except the work I need to be doing (which I will no doubt do tonight when I can't sleep...again).

How's your Monday? I hope it started out better than mine.