So Close!

It is so close to football season, that I can taste it! T-minus 5 days (till Auburn football) and counting!

Nothing, and I mean nothing beats Auburn football! Packers come in a close second, but hey, I graduated from this school! It is such a part of me. I wanted to share some pictures of ultimate tailgates, plus the gorgeousness of the university itself.

Trust me, there will be some originals this year, now that I know how to use that crazy camera of mine!!

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I am so excited for Saturday's game. I mean, come on! Defending National Champions?!! I can't wait to see what our new tunnel song is. I can't wait to see Trotter (QB) in action, and to see how Dyer (RB) is going to be this year. I'm completely sure he's going to be amazing.

I can already smell the chick-fil-a breakfast and the bourbon and diet dr. pepper. I can feel the mini's (shhhh) being snuck into the game, and the itch of the face tattoo. OMG. I can not wait. Saturday, hurry up!!!

Dancing Blues

This weekend has been a rough one. For so many different reasons. I really just don't feel like myself.

I had a dance competition yesterday that, unfortunately, I did pretty poorly in. Ballroom dancing is something that I love. I love going to practice during the week, but for some reason, I feel like I am disappointing my instructor. I don't know if competing is going to be for me anymore. I clearly don't have the ability (like the person my instructor pointed out to me) to be good at this.

I feel like I put in so much practice time and heart into dancing, and it just isn't paying off. I have no real dance partner to practice with, so most of the time it's me just turning on MusicChoice to the Latin station and practicing my cha-cha and rumba by myself. Which is admittedly pretty damn difficult.

The bad thing about everything is how much I love it; and how much I think my instructor just doesn't like me. It kind of tears at my heart strings to think of how much time and effort (not to mention, moo-lah) into learning how to dance, and I am terrible at it. I'm trying to decide now whether to continue with it, or just give up. And I hate it, because I really do love it, and don't want to quit just because I'm "not good." But I also don't want to put 100% of my heart into something and have it blown off by other people.

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Absolutely gorgeous.

I hate looking at this and seeing that I may end up giving it up. It really breaks my heart.

Oh well. Maybe I'll throw all of my energy into training for that half-marathon now.

Dog People

You know how some people categorize themselves as dog or cat people?

Well, I am totally and completely a dog person. If I could go to the humane society and adopt every dog there, I would. However, my unfenced yard and lack of space indoors, wouldn't be ideal for those little pups. But you rest assure; once I have the room, I will have more dogs. Lots and lots of dogs...

But what got me thinking about this? Please let me tell this heart-breaking story.

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This is Jon Tumilson. He was a Navy SEAL. He was killed while overseas. This is his pup. His relatives had said that his dog was like his son.

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Notice the pup lying at the foot of the casket. Please just try to tell me that you don't have tears streaming down your face right now. I just had to look at this picture and the tears fell.

And then I just started thinking about how much I love my little bundle of fur... I mean, look at her....


Those sweet sweet eyes. I dread the day that she is no longer with us. I just don't know how my heart is going to take it...

I am a true believer that a dog loves his/her human(s) unconditionally; that they know when you are sad and that's when they're prone to cuddle; that they know just the perfect time to give you a big ole doggy kiss.

I am a dog person. 110%.

Excuse the Mess

Please excuse the mess that is my header right now. I have been playing with it all night, and now I'm tired and going to sleep.

That's right.

Without fixing it.

Any suggestions from you blog savvy gals are greatly appreciated!

My Husband Loves Me

This past Thursday-Sunday would have been hell on any husband. There would have been yelling and fighting and possible threats of divorce.

But not my boo....let me count the number of things he could have put in his petition for divorce.

• 2 -13 hour car rides (one from 4:30pm Thursday to 6:30am Friday)
• Meeting a whole bunch of family at a family reunion at a lake.
• Having to deal with the girl who brought the alcohol to the state park that doesn't allow it.
• Having to canoe with a girl who splashes backward every time the paddle went into the water.
• Making him get up early Saturday morning to go to a high school scrimmage game for some kid he and I hardly know. (Hey! Any excuse for football!! And he may go to Penn State, so we can say we knew him back when.....)
• Making him take apart a huge leaning bookcase when we got up on Sunday before we left. Then having to squeeze a dog, two boxes full of books and knick-knacks for that bookshelf, tons of Labor Day decorations, plus all of our luggage that seems to multiply into a Volvo S60.
• And then having to deal with moi complaining of absolute boredom all day yesterday, because I was so restless!!

(this was from a wedding a while ago...total geekster!)

Poor guy...he totally deserves the greatest husband ever award.

Coffee: My New Love

I have never been one for coffee. I've always loved the way it smells, but could never bring myself to drink it.

So today, my co-worker, who is a super health nut, tells me that my Diet Dr. Peppers in the morning are not a healthy way to get my caffeine fix. He said that coffee is the most natural way to get caffeine. He told me that he would bring me down a cup of coffee, and I was going to try it again. So he goes upstairs, and comes back and places the steaming hot cup of coffee right on my desk.

I immediately love the way it smells; he said, "It's creamer." And I'm all like, "well, this can't be any better than Diet Dr. Pepper, I mean, how many miles do I have to run to work this off?". And he said, there's not that many. So I trusted him and took a sip....

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And it was AMAZING!! I was so proud of myself!! I felt like such a grown up!! Maybe I shouldn't be so excited about finally growing up, but really? I secretly am. And the fact that it lets me bounce off the walls and be so cheery? Oh bring it on!!

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Whoever would have thought this would have been me??

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And I just had to throw this one in here because it's oh-so-cute!!

I'm so excited to hit up Starbucks and try all these iced coffee things and to drink all the fun warm drinks in the winter.

So a big hecks yeah to coffee! I'm excited for my next cup at work!!

Dave's Pizza in SOHO

This weekend was full of perfect weather. It finally stopped being above 90 degrees more than two days in a row, and get this, it was 67 this morning!!

I smell Auburn football......

But I digress..

We had looked at the weather, and to our dismay it said there was a 90% chance that it was going to rain, which ruined our grilling out plans. So we decided to go to Dave's in Homewood. By the way, it never did rain. We actually had quite an enjoyable evening sipping on cocktails at the Blue Monkey. Again, I digress...

Dave's is nestled into a sweet little spot right in the middle of South Homewood (SOHO). During lunch they have an amazing pizza buffet (can you say, bbq chicken pizza, margherita pizza and buffaloc chicken?)

But they don't offer that at night....what they do offer however, are $7 pitchers of PBR. Trust me, it's really not that bad. I never said it was good either, but it's perfect for a big 'ole meaty pizza. Take a look for yourself....

Wasn't kidding . We really call it SOHO.

The outside. Believe it or not, this was the only place on the building that had their name on it. Sorry it's so blurry. I was working with some bad lighting...

Also was not kidding about the football...21 days till AU kickoff!!

Hi hubs.

The whole place is outdoors. When it's cold out, they let the plastic cover the windows and put on some heaters...

The Black and White: if you want to find out where to go and what to do on the weekends, this is the fun little mag/newspaper to read.

Our (enormous) pitcher for only $7. Perhaps that's why the first couple of pictures are blurry?

They even give you the top 10 reasons why you should go to Dave. In case you couldn't figure them out while you were there...

Enjoying my beer...after about the 2nd glass, you can't even tell it's PBR.

And of course...the pizza!! We got the DynoDave. Amazing and full of meat. They have amazing crust, and it comes out not too hot to eat without having to cut it with a fork and knife first.

I loved it; although it's hard for me to find a pizza that I don't like. Yes, like a five year old, my favorite food in the whole world is pizza. "A whole cheese pizza all to myself..."

That's right...I just quoted Home Alone. Don't act like you didn't know where that was from...

Sunday Thoughts...

For some reason, this weekend has made me think. I thought about a lot of things that I haven't allowed myself to think about for awhile. I have been for so long trying to put on a happy face for all those involved; but this weekend, it was a lot harder to keep it in check.

I am not going to my high school reunion. I absolutely refuse. Since the majority of you didn't know me in high school, here is my story. I was never very popular. I had my own group of friends, and I had a job, so I never really got into the politics of high school, or even tried to integrate myself into being one of the popular kids. I had my friends, and left it at that. But if you asked the majority of people I went to high school with, they'd be like, "Laura, who?" I had some mean comments thrown my way, had gum put in my hair, and I have no desire to go and spend an evening with those people. Everyone's like that's precisely the reason you go back, to shove it in their faces. But I don't even care enough for that to happen. So I'm not going.

I've been pretty self-deprecating lately. I'm sick of my hair; I'm sick of my clothes; I'm sick of my body. I usually use sarcasm about my appearance to leverage how I actually feel about it. Sometimes I just get incredibly frustrated; sometimes I just go for a run and I'm better. But the self-confidence level has just not been there lately.

All I've done my whole life is transportation. I have rented trucks; became a manager; became a sales person, and now I'm a recruiter for an over-the-road flatbed company. I sometimes wonder where in the hell I went wrong to be so stuck doing this. I've recently been thinking about going back to undergrad and doing school right. Maybe do some engineering, or nursing. Anything to get me out of this logistics/transportation field. It's also another company where I feel that being a woman holds me back from being able to move up.

Sorry for being such a bummer for the weekend, but sometimes it helps to get it out.

Even if it is just to a computer screen...

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Friday: Outdoors!!

So guess what I did this week? I played on pinterest!! And it was fun. So for a rousing rendition of What I'm Loving Friday, here are some amazingly beautiful outdoor spaces that I would give my right arm for.

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I love a great outdoor space. I guess it may be because I don't have one. My one requirement for moving into a new house was to have an amazing front porch. Well, I'm sorry, but I don't have a front porch. I barely have a back one. There is no deck. Our chairs are on a slab of concrete. Granted, the hubs did make it bigger, but in all honesty, it is still concrete. I want an amazing 2-story deck with speakers built in, and a place to hang Italian wedding lights. It will happen, damn it. It needs to happen.

Like now.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Good Wife Part 2

So remember way back to a couple months ago, when me, the self-proclaimed bad cook, cooked my hubs dinner? Well, it's happened again! Take a look!!

What You Need:

• 1/2 lb shrimp (I'm lazy so I like the peeled, already cooked kind)
• Garlic, 3 cloves
• Sun Dried Tomatos
• Feta Cheese
• Linguine noodles
• Fresh basil (in the back yard! thanks hubby!)
  

• Drop the spoon in the sun dried tomatoes, and get a little of that oil goodness. I usually use 2 spoonfuls. Add just a touch of canola.
• Then throw about half a cup of sun dried tomatoes and the three garlic cloves (minced!!) into the pan. I love garlic. The recipe calls for three; I like more.
• Put the already cooked noodles in the pan and toss with the tomatoes and garlic.
  
• Shake the feta cheese over the noodles. Do it to taste. If you don't like feta, then use another cheese. We put some pepper jack on there, and it was still amazing.
• Put the already cooked shrimp in the pan just to heat those suckers up.
• Chop the basil finely and then add to the pan.
• Toss all ingredients together and serve!
  

Then, if you live in this household, add a glass of Shiraz and plop yourself in front of the TV. A piece of garlic bread with this never hurt anyone either...(gosh how I love Texas Toast!)

I hope you get a chance to try this one out for summer! It's not too heavy for a summer meal, since there really isn't any pasta sauce, and there's shrimp!

Enjoy!!

(recipe adapted, though not followed exactly from Southern Living)

Day Dreamin

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Even though I was incredibly busy today, I found time to day dream. I think it's necessary during the day to just zone out for a second and think about something that you want to think about. Not worrying if this driver is going to get mad because, oh yes, you do in fact have speeding ticket of over 20 mph, and no, I'm sorry, that does make you unsafe.

I dream about ballroom dancing and pretty dresses. I dream about the Jimmy Choos that one day I will own. I dream about moving to Austin and re-decorating a new house. And sometimes I'm even tempted to get onto Pinterest and waste my day away. I don't. I'd still be at work if that were that case. That place is so addicting!!

Anyway, I'm not a fan of a straight 8 hours of work. You have to have a reason for being at work. You have to know what you are going to do once you're free.

Daydreaming? Yes please!!

Local Dive: NOLA Edition

There is just something about place that only locals know about. A lot of people take pride in not being a tourist in a different city, and a lot of people are proud of the places that only them and a few select others know in their hometown.

Whether it be a bar, a restaurant, a cute boutique; you seem to get that special feeling that not everyone knows about your special place.

We found such a place when we were in New Orleans. I know that I talk about this place non-stop, but you have to understand my love affair with this incredible city.

It is nothing like you have ever experienced before. It is full of culture and amazing people, amazing musicians, fantastic food, fun little boutiques, great local artists ( see Curtis Courtney), and even, if you want it, an Urban Outfitters and Anthroplogie.

So imagine our excitement when we found this cute little Italian place tucked away between a house and a tapas restaurant (which we will be hitting the next time we're there!). We walked in, and it was full of Italian families. There was one guy behind the Subway looking glass, and he served pizza, his special of the day, and fun little knot bread.



The outside of Cafe Nino. I wish I would have gotten a better picture of all the fun Italy stuff painted on the front windows.

The inside. You can see that it's not in the best shape ever. I'm glad that we didn't let that fool us. And wouldn't you know that this place didn't even take credit cards?! We were so happy that they let us give them a check!

The food!! Chicken Parm with lasagna and the bread. It was so amazing. I mean, amazing. We couldn't even finish the portion, so luckily for us we got to have the leftovers for dinner that night.

One of the best things about going to visit a new city is to not only see it like a tourist, but also learning what the locals like to do. I mean, they live there, so they obviously know what they're doing!