A True New Year's Resolution

2011 was a very productive and exciting year. I finished my first full year of teaching and am still alive to talk about it... shocker..., bought my first house (and haven't burnt it down) and traveled north of West Virginia...that in itself is a feat people! I saw my fair share of both success and failure, happiness and heart-breaks, but all in all this past year was pretty great.

But goodbye 2011... you definitely weren't my favorite year to boot. But 2012, we just might be best friends.
With many exciting things lurking in this fresh year including my best friend's wedding and turning the big 25, I have decided that this year I'm going to write my first list of resolution ever. I know this may be hard to believe. But no, I am not one of those lunatic crazy enthusiastic people who set goals on January 1st that I know I will never achieve. Why would I resolute to work out in the new year when obviously I haven't stepped foot in a gym in years... and don't plan to any time soon. Eat healthier? Riggght! That's not going to happen either and the strawberry cake covered in icing waiting in the fridge for me is proof of that. And I'm not even going to start on the "finding true love" resolution because love is just one of those things I'm not willing to bet on.

Yesterday I had the constant urge to read Facebook statuses about everyone's goals for the new year just to see what amusing fascinating things people were striving to do in 2012. This obviously was a more daunting task than I had expected considering people were writing novels about what they wanted to accomplish in the next 12 months. However one of my friends posted something that really resonated with me:

"New Year's Resolution: don't make any resolutions. Be happy with life as it is but strive everyday for greatness!"

If only the whole world could live by this. Be happy with life the way it is. What a novel idea. Wake up everyday ready to make that day the greatest yet instead of setting goals on a certain date that you might not get to until months later. Or even worse; break a day later.

So yes... I am going to make a list of resolution for this new year and the first is to be happy. Happy to have a job and place to live. Happy to have family and friends that I love. Happy to be loved. Happy to live. That right there is the first of my many resolutions for 2012.

-With health, wealth and happiness in 2012

Showtimes of Fall

It's that time of year again...With September comes Fall TV Premieres! It seems like the wait has been forever but we are only a few weeks away from the premieres of all of the fall shows that we love and the new shows to join that favorites list. I thought my DVR was in overload this summer but who was I kidding... I'm going to have to clear out my DVR on weekly basis to keep up with all of these shows! A few oldies but goodies have of course made the list: Grey's Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, Gossip Girl and Glee. But those favorites now have new kids on the block. Check out these trailors and start putting together your DVR list of Fall!   

 

Sunday 10-11 Pan Am

Premiere Sept 25

Monday 8-9 How I Met Your Mother

Premiere Sept 19

Monday 8-9 Terra Nova

Premiere Sept 26

Monday 8-9 Gossip Girl

Premiere Sept 26

Monday 9-10 Hart of Dixie

Premiere Sept 26

Tuesday 8-9 Glee

Premiere Sept 20

Tuesday 9-9:30 New Girl

Premiere Sept 20

Wednesday 8:30-9 Suburgatory

Premiere Sept 28

Wednesday 10-11 Revenge

Premiere Sept 21

Thursday 8-9 The Big Bang Theory

Premiere Sept 22

Thursday 9-10 The Secret Circle

Premiere Sept 15

Thursday 9-10 Grey's Anatomy

Premiere Sept 22

Because My Mother Said So...

Labor Day is finally here and with it comes cooler weather, football tailgates and the breaking out of my fall wardrobe. This past week I tried my best to squeeze in most every white shorts, pant, skirt and dress that I own. Labor Day always sneaks up on me and suddenly I realize that I've not made the most out of all of my white wardrobe essentials. But my mother taught me early in life that there is no breaking the "No white after Labor Day" rule. So today, along with completing lesson plans, doing loads and loads of laundry, cleaning the house and running errands on my day off, I took some time to move all of my white into the special occasion closet (yes I just admitting to having a separate closet for special occasion clothing.. don't judge.)

But this Labor Day week is already looking up, starting with free breakfast tomorrow morning! Don't miss out... ChickfilA is giving away free breakfast for Labor Day week. This week only, you can reserve your free breakfast entree at ChickfilA with the click of your mouse.

http://www.chick-fil-aforbreakfast.com/Start

Head over to this website, select your choice ChickfilA location, and reserve your "breakfast date." I chose to have my breakfast tomorrow. I figured I'd need a pick-me-up on the first work day of the week. What are you waiting for? Get to clicking!

Thirsty Thursday- Back to School

No doubt about it! The school year is back into full swing. Getting back into the routine of things has proven to be easier than I expected... probably because it feels like I never left. To celebrate the beginning of a new school year, I thought I leave you with a "Back to School" cocktails to treat yourself on this Thirsty Thursday.

Cheers!

Teacher's Pet
1.5 oz Skyy Citrus
.25 oz Zen Green Tea
.25 oz Skyy Midori
1 oz pinapple juice
1 oz grapefruit juice
Squeeze lemon
Splash soda

Lilly Inspired Tuesday

This Fall's Lilly Pulitzer collection has finally hit their new and updated website.

Sadly I missed out on the Summer Blow Out Sale last week and I cannot believe what amazing deals I let pass me by. Did any summer must-haves make their way into your shopping cart last week?

The first thing about the Lilly Fall collection that caught my eye was this fabulous print, "Break a Leg." And to my dismay it only comes in Little Lillys!?! I'm in love with this print and am crossing my fingers that it will find its way onto a women's dress so that I can get my hands on it!

Other new prints that I am dying to add to my wardrobe are Thrill of the Chaise, Dress Rehearsal, and Standing Ovation. Not only have I fallen in love with these prints, Lilly has a few looks that I just have to have this fall. Instead of my usual Fall blouse and trouser routine at work, I'm hoping to switch it up every once in a while with a stunning shirt dress or shirt and skirt combos. 

Love Love Love the pop of color with the shoes!

Must have this Christy Shirt Dress!

24th Celebrations

Once again I fell off the face of the blogger world for a week. But don't you worry; I'm back. Last weekend was my birthday and celebrations proved to take everything out of me. One year older, with new adventures right in front of my eyes, I know that 24 is bound to be another fabulous year. Celebrating with friends and family a week ago was beyond perfect, but was surely short lived when work started back in full force the following Monday.

For my birthday, the girls and I went to dinner at PFChangs where we managed to order enough food to feed a small village.

But of course we still managed to find room for dessert and I cannot wait to see if my birthday wish comes true!

After dinner, we met up with the guys and others at my new house for a  few drinks before heading downtown. Another successful birthday under my belt and who better to spend it with than the best friends a girl could ask for!

Wrong Side of the Bed

To say that today was "just not my day" would be an understatement. Let's just say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. This week has been nothing short of stressful. If I had made a list of the things that I didn't wanted to do on my final week of summer vacation then I would be very close to checking all of those things off... everything from 4 hour meetings and doctor's appointments to locking myself out of my house (for the second time... and in my pj's.)

So after a few hours of crying through reruns of Grey's Anatomy... thank you Lifetime for having the saddest episodes of the show's existence on today... I started trying to think of things that had actually gone right this week to attempt to cheer myself up.

1. My order from Marley Lilly finally arrived yesterday! I'm loving my new monogrammed croakies and wristlet! The color of the wristlet turned out better than I could ever have expected. I'm usually not a fan of purple but this "longchamp" inspired wristlet is perfect for a day of shopping or night out.

2. My classroom is finally complete! Yesterday, I was determined to not leave the school until everything was done. Now I can actually try to relax a little bit tomorrow on our first Teacher Workday instead of pulling my hair out. Pandora and Cheerwine have replaced bulletin boards and lesson plans on my agenda.

3. Mom and I stopped in Raleigh to do some shopping on our way to pick up M (our foreign exchange student) from the airport. After hours... literally hours... of indecisiveness, I finally chose what new bag I wanted for my birthday. It was a close battle between Longchamp and JPK but I couldn't sway from my loyal Longchamp.

4. I finally sold my paper wreath on Etsy! I've actually sold quite a few paper wreaths this summer by word of mouth but I wanted so badly to actually sell the one that I've had listed on Etsy dot com. I wish you would've heard me scream when I got the email about the purchase while sitting at a stop light today. The guy beside me may have thought I was little more than crazy dancing around in my car

5. Birthday plans are finally made. I'm so excited about celebrating my birthday this weekend and cannot wait for it to finally get here. It's been too long since I've gone out with all of the girls and dinner at PFChangs is just what I need to finish off a week like this. Daydreams of Skinnygirl Margaritas are hopefully going to get me through tomorrow's work day!

Sweep Me Away

If you had asked me in June what I was most excited about for this summer, I would've told you that all I wanted to do was finally have time to sit down and finish a book. I made a trip to the book store the week that school got out and bought 8 new books and even ordered one on Amazon... now the sad fact is that I've yet to finish one of those books in the past 3 months!?!

Summer was everything shy of relaxing and almost as hectic as the school year. Packing, moving, redecorating, appointments, meetings, you name it and it took up my free time. Isn't it sad that when you plan to relax, life throws you a curve. But I'm not complaining about have summers off so please don't start cursing me under your breathe. I'm just saying that even when you have free time, most of your time isn't truly "free."

Now instead of looking forward to a break from work; I'm actually looking forward to the normalcy and routine of work. I cannot wait to know that I will be off work at 2:45 and be able to relax and hopefully pick up a book every afternoon.

Here are just a few books at the top of my "MUST READ ASAP" list:

1.

2.

3.

4. 

5. 

 6. 

 Have you read any of these book? What did you think?


I'll be sure to share my reviews as soon as I find a comfy chair in the corner to settle into and a cup of coffee by my side as I get swept away for hours of reading!

Weekend Whereabouts

This past weekend was a much needed get-away before the "real world" hits me head on this week. It is hard to believe that the school year is almost here. I went in to work today to get most of my classroom set up so that I can avoid the migraines and knots in my stomach on Friday (our 1st teacher work day.) After suffering through hours in a classroom with no air conditioning, my classroom is finally put together (minus a few touches here or there.)

Here are a few quick pictures of my classroom for those of you who don't follow my teacher blog:

Door without the lily pads with students' names on them.

Now back to this past weekend... On Friday, mom and I went to get long overdue manicures. Not only was this a treat because I needed some relaxation, but I officially found my new favorite polish color. Usually I stick with Esse polishes because of their vibrant colors and they stay on forever. But on this trip, I planned to switch it up and try out OPI's Bubble Bath. I'd seen the color on several of my friends and even saw it mentioned in a few blogs that I follow. Needless to say, I stumble upon a color that I ended up loving even more than Bubble Bath and its name is so fitting....... Mimosas for Mr. and Mrs.!!!

Mimosas for Mr and Mrs

Later Friday night, I went to have dinner and drinks with some amazing friends where I spontaneously decided to join said friends at the Panthers game the next night. What's better than a weekend of friends, football and tailgating? Exactly... nothing.

We road tripped to Charlotte Saturday morning and the festivities began. Despite the horribly hot and humid weather, we managed to trek a few miles to the tailgate. Needless to say jerseys might not be the best thing to wear in 90 degree humidity. No sooner had we stopped complaining about the heat that it started pouring rain. Rain and tailgating don't quite mix... unless you find the brilliant iPhone app iDeck!!

Who needs corn hole when everyone can play F* the Dealer with your phone. Let the tailgating continue! All in all the game was great... a little wet but well worth it. And I finally went to a game that the Panthers won... maybe my bad luck streak is over (crossing my fingers.)

Concerts and Cocktails

As summer is coming to such a quick end, I am trying to get in my last few weeks of relaxation before the real world steps back into my life... welcomed or unwelcome. What better way to spend a Thursday night than at a summer concert?! And that is just what's on my agenda tonight. I've been so busy this summer with buy the house and getting settled that I almost went the whole summer without going to a concert! What was I thinking?

But luckily my amazing little not so little brother is letting me tag along to the Tim McGraw concert tonight. He's playing with The Band Perry (who I am in love with!) and Luke Bryan. What better than a little brother/sister time.

As we are all trying to soak up the last weeks of summer, I figured I would leave you with a great cocktail recipe to try on this Thirsty Thursday. A Bethenny Frankel inspired delightful drink with a kick... oh and it's skinny (of course.) Let me know what you think!

Skinny Girl Black Eye

What you need:

3 tablespoons clear rum

3 tablespoons club soda

1 tablespoon citrus liquor

1 tablespoon pineapple juice

1 tablespoon orange juice

Mix all the ingredients together over a glass of ice (on the rocks people) and enjoy a summer drink with a kick!

Hello Birth-Month!

Who only celebrates the actual date that they were born anymore? Why not celebrate the whole month!? August is finally here and with it comes gorgeous weather, last weeks of summer and MY BIRTHDAY! With MY day quickly approaching, I've been trying to figure out what exactly I want for my birthday this year. The older I get, the harder it is to think of things to ask for... probably because neccessity starts to out weigh want. But here are a few things that are on my wish list so far:

1.

14ct gold Monogram Necklace

2.

Navy Longchamp... mine is now 5 years old!?

3.

Jack Rogers Ballet Flats

What would be on your birthday wish list right now?

In the Mail...

This past week, I stumbled upon a fabulous new store online that is now my go to shop spot for gifts and a little something for myself. If you know me well, then you know that I get weak in the knees when it comes to anything monogrammed. And take my word for it... anything can be monogrammed!

Marley Lilly is the perfect place to find anything monogrammed from jewelry and clothing to bags and floppy hats. If only I had known about Marley Lilly before Carolina Cup this past year...but you better believe I am getting a new hat from them for next year's Cup.

This week I decided to treat myself to some new monogrammed pieces for my birth-month.

I am in desperate need of new croakies so they of course were my first purchase. Not only are these croakies perfect because they are monogrammed; but the price is better than great. The last store that I looked at for croakies had them priced at $16 and this didn't include any personal touches. Marley Lilly has a wide selection of colors in strap and tread and they are only $12.99!
I finally decided on navy with white monogramming.

The other item that found its way into my shopping cart was this gorgeous wristlet. Fashioned to mimic a Longchamp bag, this wristlet is the perfect addition to a night out. It is the perfect size and also comes in stunning colors. Being extremely indecisive, this choice took me quite a while but I finally made up my mind and ordered the purple wristlet with tan monogramming in Victor font. I cannot wait for this gem to arrive!

I have a feeling that if I love this clutch as much as I think I'm going to, then the black, grey and tan wristlets might make their way into my closet before Christmas!