Help me!

I got a lovely new template from April Showers, but when I try to apply it to my blog, it wants to mesh with my old Shabby Blogs background.  It looks awful!  I need some serious help!  Anyone?  Bueller?

So please, pardon the mess.  Hopefully someone can help me straighten this out.

Sad face,
A

I like pretty things.

It's Wednesday, so I'm linking up with The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays.

I absolutely love this.

Aren't these gorgeous?!

I love this watch.

This is so lovely and I'd love to have it hanging in my apartment.

All it takes is one.

Gorgeous.

Get in my belly.

This is a scientific fact.

Be sure to follow me on Pinterest!  Link up so I can see what makes you swoon.
Love and Rockets,A

Let me paint you a picture...

It's Tuesday again, so you know what that means...Talk To Us Tuesday with Impulsive and Shawn!





I'm a little brain-dead after the Thanksgiving weekend, so I'm going to share a few thoughts and pictures.  I promise I'll do better next week.

Princess Fiona does not approve of rainy Mondays.

I love this sign outside of the bathroom at Moe's.

I decided to get fancy with a DIY manicure: OPI Dating a Royal with Nicole Snow-Man of My Dreams.

Here is an owl necklace that I made this weekend for a friend. [Check out my jewelry--Copper Alley--here.]

And here is a monogrammed Copper Alley necklace that I made for The Pink Monogram.

Another DIY manicure with Orly Shine and Orly Luxe (before I cleaned it up).

Talk to me and let me know what you've been up to!
Sparkle hearts,A

Black Friday

Yes, I was one of those crazy people out shopping on Black Friday.  I went several places, but only ended up buying things at Target and Best Buy.

Here's what I scored at Target (I just bought DVDs):
Parenthood, Season 1 - $7.99
Dexter, Season 1 - $12.99
The Blind Side - $5.99
Inception - $5.99

Here's what I scored at Best Buy:
Twilight - $3.99
New Moon - $3.99
Eclipse - $3.99
Dexter, Season 2 - $12.99
Dexter, Season 3 - $12.99
Due Date - $3.99
And the best part...a Samsung 40" LCDTV for $429.99!

What did you lovelies buy?

Shopaholics Anonymous,
A

I'm thankful for Pinterest.

It's Wednesday, so I'm linking up with The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays.

Alpacas make me giggle.

I have this on my bathroom wall in pink.

I need Kate Spade earrings in my life.

So pretty.

Gotta love it.

Who doesn't want a sparkly Kate Spade purse?

Oh, J.Crew...I love this.

These wooden rings are so great.

OPI Wooden Shoe Like to Know

Be sure to follow me on Pinterest!  Link up so I can see what makes you swoon.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving!  Anyone else crazy enough to go shopping on Black Friday?  What are you shopping for?

Turkey kisses,
A

Stuck a feather in my cap and called it macaroni.

It's Tuesday, so you know what that means...Talk To Us Tuesday with Impulsive and Shawn!





I don't have anything too exciting to share today, but I do have a bit of awkwardness.  I got dressed for work this morning in black pants and a grey sweater--cheery, right?  As I was walking out the door, I threw on this cute new headband to add a pop of color:

My boss walked by my desk this morning and stopped and stared at my head.  Oh, great. 

Boss: So does that have some kind of tribal significance?

Moi: [stares, puzzled]

Boss: You know...for your heritage?

Moi: [stares, dumbfounded]

Boss: Or are those special turkey feathers for Thanksgiving?

Really?  Do I look remotely tribal to you?  I'm about as pale/Caucasian as they come, y'all.  And does it look like I'm wearing turkey feathers in my hair?  That's it...I give up.  No more being trendy in the office.

Is my boss right?  Do I look like a tribal turkey?  Or is this cute?

Snuggles,

A

I'm a little weepy.

For those of you new readers who may not know, I have several jobs.  One of those jobs is as the Youth Director at my church.  We have a very small group with about 7 regulars.  Quality not quantity, people.  The kids have adopted Stop Hunger Now (an organization that provides hunger relief aid to more than 120 countries worldwide) as their mission for the year.  I recently asked them to brainstorm some fundraising ideas and they unanimously decided that they wanted to do a yard sale.  I put a lot of time and effort into planning and collecting and this past Saturday was the big day.  The kids had worked hard to organize and price everything and I knew the hard work would pay off.  
I have one boy in 10th grade who has been in this church his whole life. He has recently started choosing social activities over the youth group and I worried I was losing him. He was there to help with the yard sale on Saturday, and was a tremendous help. About halfway through the day, I went up to him with a stack of money and asked him to guess how much money we had raised so far. (I wanted to let them know what a great job they were doing.) He estimated we had about $300 so far. With a smile on my face, I told him we had $680. Without skipping a beat, this 16-year-old boy that I had watched grow up, pulled a $20 out of his wallet and said, "Make it $700.". My eyes filled with tears as I realized that my kids understood the magnitude of what we were doing.  It only takes $0.25 to feed 6 people for an entire day.
All in all, we raised $941.78, which will feed 22,602 people.  I am so proud and humbled by those kids.


Thanks for letting me brag.  Want to help in the cause?  You can donate here.


Weepy hugs,
A

Fun Facts Friday

I am dubbing today Fun Fact Friday.  Because this is my blog.  And I do what I want.  I'm the boss.  Plus it'll be fun!

I've been watching a lot of bloggers' accent vlogs and I'm contemplating doing one, but I'm awkward in front of a camera (even more so than in real life).  It got me thinking about words, specifically words that I refuse to say.  I can't make my mouth pronounce "rural" (I sound like an old car that won't crank.) and "folks."  Just can't.  I also hate the word "kneecap" for no real reason.  It just makes me cringe.

When I was about 10, what I wanted most in the world (other than JTT returning my fan mail and falling madly in love with me) was to have my ears pierced.  Daddy had a firm rule that I couldn't get my ears pieced until I was 16.  It was pretty much his only rule.  Mommy Dearest took me to the mall one day and we saw magnetic earrings at Claire's and devised a plan.  We came home and I proudly showed Daddy my newly "pierced" ears.  He freaked.  He gave us the silent treatment all night.  Finally one of my earrings fell off in my pizza at dinner and the charade was up.  He's still angry about it. (But he did cave and let me get my ears pierced for my 13th birthday.)


I hate checking my voicemail.  Sometimes, I get extremely slack about it.  Sorry!


I'm getting excited about Black Friday shopping.  (Yes, I'm one of those.)  Last year, we went to my Grandparents' in Alabama on Wednesday and then drove back home after lunch on Thursday.  I slept the whole car ride home.  (A full belly = a good nap!)  We got back home around 10pm and I decided I wanted to go stand in line at Old Navy.  I think I will be doing that again this year.


If I ever get mad enough at someone, I am totally doing this.  Beware.


One time, I ripped off my big toenail with the vacuum cleaner.  Cleaning is dangerous, y'all.  It took it a whole year to fully grow back.


Well, there you go.  Some Fun Fact Friday goodies for you.

Peace out,
A

So very Pinteresting.

I've given in and decided to join in on The Vintage Apple's posts, Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays.

Here are some of my latest favorites from Pinterest:

I absolutely love this color! [OPI Dating a Royal]

Isn't the detail on this cake breathtaking?!

I need these earrings.

Emma Stone is so pretty.  And I love that dress.

I love this.

Too funny!

If only I had an occasion to wear this...

OBSESSED.

So great for Fall.

Booyah.

Too freaking adorable.

I whole-heartedly believe this.

I am not a morning person.

So unique!

Be sure to follow me on Pinterest!  Link up so I can see what makes you swoon.

Snuggles,

A

Here's another reason why cats rule and dogs drool.

Today is the day after Monday, so that means it's time for Talk To Us Tuesday.  It's this great thing over on Impulsive Addict's blog and y'all should check it out.  (And thank you, Impulsive, for giving me interwebs knowledge via Twitter in the wee hours.)

Now, what shall I talk about?

Poop.  I think that's a good start.  

I live in an apartment complex and most of my neighbors have dogs.  I do not.  I have Princess Fiona and I love her.  My complex has those handy doggy clean-up stations.  You know, the ones with the trashcan and the little baggies for picking up poop?  Well I apparently either live with the dumbest people in the world or the laziest.  I went outside last night to take the trash out and decided to go for a little walk afterwards.  I got back up to my apartment and I bent over to feed Fiona.  This put my face in close proximity to the litter box.  I smelled poop.  I checked, but her box was clean.  And then I saw it.  There was a giant turd on the bottom of my shoe.  And all over my beige carpet.  I was livid.  One of my stupid/lazy neighbors couldn't take the .2 extra seconds to pick up their dog's poop and I ended up stepping in it and tracking it back into my home.  Needless to say, I spent the remainder of the night cleaning, but I couldn't get the poop smell out of my nostrils.  I wish I knew who the guilty party was because I would have words with them.  And then I might scoop up the rest of the poop from the grass and leave them a nice present on their doormat.  Jerks.

Does anyone else have this problem where they live?  How would you deal with it?

Sparkle hearts,

A

Special Delivery?

I'm going to tell you a story and then you're going to tell me if you think it's weird.  K?  K.

Last week, I ordered some Hunter rain boots from Gilt and I was impatiently awaiting their arrival.  I came home to my apartment and saw that I had a UPS slip on my door saying they'd been delivered (yay!) to the apartment complex office, but the office had closed at 6:00pm (boo!).  I made a point to go directly home after work the next day.
Sidenote: I have been living in my apartment since March 2009.  I have a terrible habit of buying goodies online, so I get a lot of packages.  However, I also work full-time so I'm never home during delivery hours.
I got to my complex office before 6:00pm (yay!) so I could get my new boots.  The UPS delivery guy was dropping off the packages for the day.  The office lady paused their conversation to get my package for me.  I politely said hello to the UPS man.  Here is how the conversation went:

UPS Man: Hey, I know you.  You sure do get a lot of packages.

Moi: [sheepishly] Haha, yes, I do a lot of online shopping.

UPS Man: And you're NEVER home.  Like ever.

Moi: Yea, I've got a job so that means I'm at work when you're delivering.  Sorry for the inconvenience?

UPS Man: So how's your Mom?

Moi: [Did he just make a "Yo Mama" joke? Why is he asking me this? What is going on?]

UPS Man: [interrupts] Because I remember you saying that she had surgery...I hope she's okay.

***Okay, people, he's right...she did have surgery.  In APRIL.  I have had one encounter with this man.  It was back in April after Mommy Dearest's surgery.  I had ordered something online (shocking) for her birthday (also in April) and there were delivery issues.  That's it.  That is the only time we have ever spoken.  I couldn't have picked the man out of a line-up if my life had depended on it.  

Is this creepy that he remembered?  Or am I just skeptical?

Love and Rockets,

A

Hair Chronicles

I have a very important topic to discuss.  My hair.  It needs help.  Here are some pictures from over the years so that you can see how plain my hair has been.  I tend to grow it out, get bored, chop it all off, cry, repeat cycle.  

These are my hair chronicles.  Pretty boring, huh?  I always part my hair on the same side and it basically just varies in length.  When I'm feeling fancy, I will curl it.  I don't take the time to style it if it has layers, which makes it look like crap, so I generally stick with a straight cut.  

I'm bored with my hair, y'all.  I love it long, but it's a lot to manage.  I have TONS of hair.  This is a recent picture of how long it is and how big it is when it's curled.

Don't mind the pacifier.

 What should I do?  I need help.

Snuggles,
A