Lady Antebellum

It's official. I love Lady Antebellum!

I think Charles (the blonde) looks like Lance Bass and I think Hillary (the chick) looks like Tia from Clever Girl Goes Blog. Am I weird? Probably. (BTW, the other guy's name is Dave.)

They were invited to perform Oprah last week and were so cute. The cameras followed Dave into the dressing room where he told Hillary that they had just gotten the call from the producers to be on the show. Hillary didn't believe him at first and then was so excited she started crying. I thought it was adorable.

Most of you are probably familiar with their new song on the radio called "Need You Now" and it has quickly become one of my favorites. My other favorite on the new album is called "Love This Pain" and well, I love it. The music seems to speak to all of us. We've all been there.

Here is the chorus from "Need You Now":
It’s a quarter after one
I’m all alone and I need you now
Said I wouldn’t call
But I’ve lost all control and I need you now
And I don’t know how I can do without
I just need you now

And the chorus from "Love This Pain":
It’s like I love this pain a little too much
Love my heart all busted up
Something bout her, we just don’t work
But I can’t walk away
It’s like I love this painI've only recently begun listening to their first album (at least I think it's their first) and I really like it as well. I'll definitely be spending a lot more time listening to it in the very near future.

And... to my utter and sheer delight, they're opening for Tim McGraw here in Salt Lake in June (I think) and I can't wait to see them. Plus, they're with Tim... Hello!!! Noelle, Odum and I are definitely going to the concert, and if anyone else is itnerested, you're more than welcom to join us!

Happy Listening!

I Forgot Something... I Seem To Do That A Lot!

Remember back in my 500th post I said I'd give away some mix cds of my favorite songs? Yeah, I forgot too. So, after looking at the comments, the people that said they wanted one were Noelle, h. justin, Miss Anne, Ali and Carol... Did I miss anyone? Let me know and I'll be more than happy to make you one. I have yet to make any, so it might be a bit before I get them to you, but I'm working on it.

That also means I need addresses from you guys: h. justin, Miss Anne, Ali and Carol (I had yours but I don't think I do anymore...), so email them to me when you get a sec!

In other news, can I just tell you how strange it is not to have any work to do?! I've got "down time" all week as far as I know and it feels really weird not to be working. Not that I'm complaining, it's just strange.

Well, I'm off for the night... Ciao bellas!

Random Tuesdayness - I Didn't Forget This Week

Working from home has its advantages... not necessarily having to get up at a certain hour; getting your work done at any hour of the day; sitting in front of the TV in your pajamas until you can't stand yourself any longer. It also means that I get to blog more often which I'm loving. Thus, I give you another installment of RTT. Go talk to Keely if you wanna play!

My toe ring broke. Not as in, not able to wear anymore, just cracked on the seam. I guess the jerk who soldered it didn't do a very good job! I guess that just goes to show you have to do everything yourself if you want it done right. The toe ring I made myself in high school jewelry class is still holding strong. We're about 14 years into wearing it!

I really want to paint and decorate my house. I'm so sick of looking at white and beige all day long. I need to paint and then find a really fabulous slip cover for the couch and some awesome art or decorative elements for the walls. I'll start with the kitchen/dining/family room and then move onto my bedroom and bathroom. Any suggestions? Wikiball, I'm chanelling you!

I ate a fairly late breakfast and then went to see New Moon for the 5th time with Odum yesterday afternoon. Naturally, I ate a lot of popcorn so I wasn't hungry for dinner until about 8:30. Around 11, I got really dizzy and then nauseous, and woke up the exact same way this morning. Yuck! I stayed in bed until around 2, and now I'm feeling much better. Hopefully I stay that way for the remainder of the day.
My brother decided he's getting a puppy and I've got mixed feelings about all of it. He and his buddy B~Love have even gone to the trouble of building this puppy a custom dog house. It's pretty fabulous if I do say so myself... but it's currently sitting in the back yard unfinished and it needs to get done! You can be sure I'll share pics of the baby if and when she gets here. I guess she's in the oven right now.

I know I've talked a lot about the most recent vampire series (The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward) I'm reading but I can't remember if I told you I finished it... Because each book in the series focuses on one of the characters in particular, I decided to go back and re-read the series because I know there was a lot from the first 2 or 3 books that I missed. I just finished the 3rd book for the 2nd time last night and I've really enjoyed catching a lot that I missed from the first time around. I know I'm weird for re-reading books so often.

Eclipse comes out in 127 days and I'm so excited. As much as I liked New Moon, Twilight remains to be my favorite of the two. I'm anxious to see how Eclipse will turn out, keeping in mind that it will be a lot like New Moon because they were shot back-to-back by the same director. I wonder what's going to happen with Breaking Dawn... Anyone heard anything?

Watching David Bromstad (Watching him in general isn't a problem as he's so damn hot. Too bad he doesn't play on my team!) on HGTV's ColorSplash has made me want to learn to paint. As in, not paint the walls, but paint pictures. I'm not a very artistic person, so the idea of very abstract art calls to me. I love watching him come up with the most beautiful paintings to add to his clients' homes. I'm going to look into taking a class.

Speaking of classes, I think I either need to watch more cooking shows, or take a cooking class soon, because I'm going to go broke eating out. It's not that I don't enjoy cooking so much, it's more of the fact that I don't know how to cook for just myself and I'm not very good at just throwing things together. Maybe I just need to mark some pages in my cookbooks and dive in. What do you think?

I'm Such a Cliche

I mentioned in one of my posts last week that I went out on a date with a new guy. I didn't go into detail about it or bother to mention that we had a second date planned because I didn't want to jinx it. Now you're going to get the story because I need to get it off my chest and move on. I saw this on FB the other day on my friend Brooke's profile and it really spoke to me. I'm trying to remember these things right now.

Just so you know, I'm getting really sick and tired of writing about how many jackasses I meet!

So the first date was the day before VDay. We went to dinner and then to a movie and had a really great time. Or at least I thought we did. During the next few days I asked if he wanted to get together in the coming week and he said yes. I offered to cook dinner at my house and suggested we could watch a movie. He said Thursday night worked best for him and I called him on Wednesday night to confirm.

I cleaned the house, got dinner ready, then sat here and cried for the rest of the night after he didn't show up.

After having so many bad dating experiences, it's hard not to wonder what's wrong with me. Everyone tells me how wonderful I am, but it's hard to see that when I'm treated the way I am by all these assholes!

A message to him:
You didn't show up for dinner... seriously? That was probably the worst anyone has made me feel in a really long time. You don't even have the decency to call and say you're not coming, you're not intersted, this isn't going anywhere?

You just decided to ditch me and then cut off all communication out of the blue? I don't understand how we went from communicating every day for almost two weeks to you just flat out standing me up and disappearing.

At first I thought something might have happened and I'd get a call or a text in the next day. Nothing. And now I see that your profile picture has changed on the dating site so I know something horrible didn't happen to you, you're just a giant douche bag with no fucking manners.

Grow some fucking balls. Have the gumption to tell me you're not interested. Don't lead me on. Don't give me false hope. Don't tell me I'm beautiful and then make me feel like a piece of shit. The least you could have done was give me an answer as to why. I think I deserve at least that much.

Why do I feel like I'm constantly writing letters to men who are assholes? Why do I get treated so horribly by guys? I honestly don't understand it. It hurts. It makes me question myself. It makes me question humanity in general.

Auri gave me some good advice after crying my eyes out to her the other night... other peoples' negative behavior has nothing to do withme or who I am, but everything to do with their general lack of decency and/or manners. Putting the situation into perspective that way helped a lot.

I find myself not wanting to tell anyone (best friends, mom, etc.) about any new guys I meet or any dates I may go on because they all end so badly. Getting stood up the other night made me feel like the biggest fucking cliche. The stupid girl who falsely gets her hopes up only to be crushed by the guy who she thought was interested. If I don't tell anyone about it initially, then I don't have to tell them that it didn't work out and save myself the pity party.

Anyway, I think I'm done bitching. There's probably more I wanted to say but can't remember it. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. I could use a little advice right now!

And the Winner Is...

I have been HORRIBLY remiss in my responsibilities as a blogger and giveaway hostess. I told you I would give away a copy of Eat Pray Love in honor of my 500th blog post. I bought a copy of the book about 3 weeks ago and I just haven't gotten around to doing the drawing. I wanted to do something fab like a vlog, but since I've not gotten around to it, I used the randomizer!

As a result, the random number is 15, and that corresponds to.... Jaime from Red Red Whine! Congrats, my love! I have your address so I'll be putting the book in the mail in the next day or two!

I have to tell you, I haven't actually finished this book yet because I haven't made the time to sit down and really get into it for any significant periods of time. I'm really trying to absorb it all and have tried to take my time reading and taking it all in. I've even gone as far as "marking" the book (you remember marking books in high school, right?) so that I can refer back to the parts that really resonate with me.

Anyway, Jaime, I really hope that you enjoy this book as much as I am. And for the rest of you... if you're looking for something wonderful to read or if you need some feel-good in your life, this book is great!

When In Rome & I Totally Suck This Week

You know, I had every intention of doing a Random Tuesdayness post and then I never got around to it. Then I started this post yesterday as Random Wednesdayness, and again, didn't get much done. What can I say? I suck this week. It may be because I'm a bit preoccupied, but that's another post for a different day.

Noelle and I went to see When In Rome on Monday night and I loved it. It's kinda cheesy, and a total chick-flick, but worth watching. It may not be a movie to pay to see in the theater, but make sure you rent it when it's released. Then again, if you love Josh Duhamel, go see it ASAP. He's adorable in it and only made me fall even more in love with him! So what if he's playing a character?!

If you'll notice in the movie poster to the left, there is a little tiny yellow car... it doesn't play a huge part in the movie, but just know, I was laughing so hard I was crying during that part of the movie. I think all the people in the theater thought I was nuts.

The other thing to pay attention to is the wedding dress Kristen Bell wears in the movie. OMG, it's effing gorgeous. Don't be surprised, if and/or when I get married, that's the dress I wear. Absolutely gorgeous!

I also saw Valentine's Day over the weekend. I actually went to see it with a date. I may or may not fill y'all in about that later. I'll think about it. At the very least, I'll give you a movie review on that tomorrow!

Vajazzling Your Vajayjay

Huh? What did I just say? Yes, I said, Vajazzling Your Vajayjay. And no, I didn't come up with this idea, although, knowing how much I love bling, you can bet I would love to take credit for it.

Either I've been out of the loop for a while or I spend entirely too little time surfing the web because I hadn't heard about this until Friday night.

Because I'm typing this from my work computer, I'm not going to be going to any uncouth websites to try and bring you the latest how-to pictures or information, but I will tell you that you can Google "Vajazzling" or "Vajazzle" and come up with a plethora of hits. The Luxury Spot has a few stories on it that probably explain it pretty well. As it mentions "Clittering" I'd venture to say it's NSFW. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Apparently, it's the new thing in New York. Manscaping is no longer acceptable. Brazilians are so last decade. The new trend in Vajayjay coiffing is adorning it with shpakles! Yes, I said Sh-pa-kles. And no, having a few rhinestones adhered to your hoo-hoo isn't good enough. Swarovski crystals with adhesive backing is the only way to go if you want the most up-and-ahem-coming Vajayjay. Think of the tattoo in the picture above, but on your nether regions. I hope for the sake of removal that there is waxing involved first.For those of us who don't have the time or money to fly to New York (as New York is reportedly the only place you can get it done) (butI'm assuming there's got to be someone in LA that will do it) I think the ready-made crystal tattoos will work just fine. I'm thinking the application might be a bit difficult to handle on your own, but that's what BFFs are for, right?!

Happy VD!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my blogger friends! Whether you're single, happily in a relationship or unhappily in one... I hope you have a fantastic VD!

I saw Valentine's Day (the movie) last night and absolutely loved it. If you're looking for a good laugh, go see it!

We're HLPs ... aka Heterosexual Life Partners

Since about 4 years ago I've been referring to Auri as my HLP. You've all heard me refer to her as such and I bet half of you (if not more) are wondering what the hell I'm talking about. Today, I unload on you, the story.

Auri and her Hubs moved to Newport Beach in December of 2004, for whatever reason, I will never understand (I really do, but am not going into it). Keep in mind that she had T-Bug who was 2.5 years old and a brand new baby Chedan who was maaaybe 7 weeks old. Why she felt it was necessary to leave me and keep me away from those sweet babies, neither one of us will ever know (she blames it on the drugs, I tend to agree with her). I went down to CA with them when they moved, and then approximately once every 6-10 weeks after that for the 14 or 15 months they lived there.

I hated the fact that she and the kids lived so far away from me, but I'm not going to try and hide the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed going on several mini vacations to SoCal that year. In approximately October or November of 2005, Auri found out she was preggars with Peaches so she and Hubs decided on a plan of action. SoCal wasn't like it wasback in the day, the cost of living had shot through the very pristine rooftops in Orange County, and much to my very delighted surprise, they decided to move back to Utah.

Since the Juans (as I like to call them) were going to now be a family of five (yes, you heard me right... the woman has 3 children) they needed to upgrade to a larger vehicle. Cue in Mo, that would be my dad, to hook them up with a new car. After they had gotten all moved back and settled in, they went down to the dealership to talk to my dad and find a car. Once they had it narrowed down, Dad took them in to talk to the finance man and get all the money stuff in order. He introduced them to each other and the conversation went something like this:

Mo: Finance Man (FM), I'd like you to meet Auri and her Hubs (and the kids)

FM: Hi Auri, how are you?

Auri: Hi FM, I'm well thanks, how are you?

Mo: You need to treat her right because she's my daughter's...uh... partner.

Auri: *quickly saying* Best friends ... we're best friends!

And thus, the Heterosexual Life Partners came to be.

You have to keep in mind that my dad is what my mom refers to as "A Foreigner" - as in he's not originally from this country. And although he's lived in the US for over 45 years and is 100% fluent in English, he still has his language hang-ups from time-to-time. I guess he was trying to portray to FM that we were bestest, bestest, bestest friends (basically as close as sisters), and not just acquaintances who happened to know each other. I think he got his point across.

How about you guys? Do you have someone in your life like an HLP?

P.S. Auri and the kids call me Tata... that is a different story for another day... perhaps, tomorrow!?

***All photos courtesy of Tom Clark (aka Auri's Pops)... He's a fabulous photographer and you should go check out his work***

Random Tuesdayness - A Nano, The 'Bama, and A Hip Replacement

Hey, guess what? It's Tuesday and time for some Random. I'm not using the RTT image today b/c it's not loading and that pisses me off when my picture doesn't show up and it's the first one on the post! Go talk to Keely about it cuz I have no idea what's going on, with that, and in general!

“In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit" ~ Albert Schweitzer

I haven't spoken of Vumpires in a while... well, I don't think I have, but maybe I just speak of them so often I forget... Anyway, Eclipse comes out in...141 days... and I'm adding a countdown to the sidebar. I effing can't wait!!!

Before I forget, I just want y'all to know (like I have to remind you) that I've been extremely rude and haven't picked a winner yet for my 500th post giveaway! I will do that sometime this week, I promise!

My personal laptop hasn't really been working well for about a year. I took it in to have it looked at the other day and the guy told me that even if I dump $300 into it to upgrade, it's probably still going to make me unhappy. I should probably trade it in and get a new one... yeah, like I have an extra $2,000 sitting in my bank account right now... whatevs! It pisses me off that technology is made to start malfunctioning around the 2 year mark so consumers are forced to buy new models. Make products that last... your customers will be happier in the long run!

So I finally gave in and bought myself a new Nano... and can I just tell y'all, I love it! It's freaking amazing. I got the 16 gb so it holds almost 4,000 songs, I can listen to the radio on it, it has video capabilities and I can also listen to it without plugging in earphones. Seriously. It's fabulous.

I'm in Alabama this week and we have finally moved to a new hotel. Well it's not new, but new to us. The old dump we were staying in got to be too much, so we moved and our new place is wonderful. It's not like the Four Seasons, but compared to the last one, it kinda feels that way!

I just realized I need to finish posting about Vegas... what? It's only been 2 months!

My hip is still killing me... at least this week I'm mobile. I think the physical therapy and electric stimulation has helped a lot. I haven't been very good at doing my exercises the last few days, so I need to get back on that tonight. I don't go in again until Friday, so I hope I can make it that long. For some reason, the electric stim really helps. If you've ever had it, you know how good it feels. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's when the therapist/doctor/chiropractor applies four electrodes to the affected area and turns on the TENS Unit (don't ask me what TENS stands for because it's been 13 years since I learned and I can't remember and I'm not looking it up) and it delivers mild electric shock through the electrodes. It sounds scary, but isn't at all. Maybe I'll buy a TENS Unit for home... there's an idea!

Ok, I've put you through enough rambling for today... If you haven't seen the toy review Mistress Auri and I did a few weeks ago, go check it out.

The Girl Gives Me Chills

As many of you know, Pink is my favorite color... well, it's really a toss up between Pink and Purple, but based on the amount of Pink items vs. Purple items I own, Pink wins. That however, is beside the point. I'm not here to discuss my favorite color. I'm here to introduce you to a girl named P!NK. If you don't know who she is, might I suggest crawling out of the hole from which you've been living the last 10 years and turn on the radio...

Or the TV for that matter... take a few minutes, please and watch this video. If you missed her performance at the Grammy's, here you go. If you saw it the first time and want to watch it again, please, be my guest. I get chills every time I see it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one!

I've done a review or two in the past on her music, but I don't know that I've ever gone into how amazing she is. If I have, I apologize ahead of time! Didja know that the woman NEVER lip syncs?! Even when shooting her music videos.... even when flying from a trapeeze 50 feet above the stage.... even when reciting lines from a song during an interview on Oprah! She rocks. 'Nuff said.

I'm trying to load the video of P!NK performing on Oprah last week, but I can't figure out how to share it. In the meantime, here's the link to the page. And looky here, I found the video.

Her most recent album is called Funhouse and is really wonderful. I've been a fan of hers since her first album was released when I was in college... so that must have been around 10 years ago. Don't quote me on that. Anyway, the songs on Funhouse are definitely different from all her other ones. It's very raw and honest and I admire that in an artist.

Anyway... I love her music, I love her voice, I love watching her perform. The girl can put on a show! Now go listen to some music, damnit!

Two Boys From NY, Jen's Birthday, and A Bar Named Sue

What a weekend! You may (or may not) remember the cute boys from New York that we met in Vegas last year (last year being Dec. 2008)... If you don't, go check out this post for some memory refreshing. Anyway, Lisa and Mr. NYPD have kept in touch over the last year and last week he came to town with one of his buddies to ski.

So I just typed everything about dinner and the Bayou their first night in town and realized I told you about it in a post from last week. I'm special. Anyway, we had such a good time that we decided to have a party over at my house on Friday. I provided some of the supplies like cilantro lime rice, while Lisa and Derek brought over the carne asada for the tacos. Dinner was divine. Too bad I couldn't have fed all of you!Saturday night was the night dedicated to celebrating Jen's 26th birthday so we had plans for dinner and then a bar afterward. A bunch of her friends all got together for dinner and then we went over to A Bar Named Sue for drinks where Lisa, Mr. NYPD and Mr. FDNY met us. (That's them in the picture above.)

I would just like to point out I'm wearing my new flower clip in my hair. I won it over on Oh! How Lovely! courtesy of Tia and her Etsy Shop, Icing on the Hair. Go check 'em all out. The blogs are worth reading and Tia's hair accessories are adorable! My picture proves it!
So yeah, we all ended up over at A Bar Named Sue and had a blast. Kasian, Mr. FDNY, Mr. NYPD, Jen, Rose, Lisa, Noelle and I (and a friend of Jen's who was kind of anti-social) were all in attendance. I even saw a few of my brother's friends over there, so if they approve, you know it's gotta be chill. I have to say, it's kinda weird to be at a bar where my little brother (by six years) friends hang out. I hope they didn't think I was being a crazy drunk... especially cuz I was sober!Nevermind Jen in this picture... her eyes are closed, in case you couldn't tell. I thought it was a great picture otherwise, so I'm sharing it. If anyone has photoshop and can give her some eyes, let me know! These are two of the four dudes we shared a table with. Greg on the left and Jason on the right. Greg was quite the player... that's all I'm saying. I kind of have the hots for Jason though, so if he looks familiar to any of you, hook a sister up!

Can I just tell you how many shots (of the photographic, not alcoholic kind) it took to get a decent picture of the three of them?! I won't mention that half the problem was Mr. FDNY spilled half his drink down the front of his shirt and it was showing up in the pictures.Miss Rosie posing with her license. She decided to pull a "rookie" and lose it in her car on her way to Noelle's. She took Noelle's car and retraced her steps and found it in her car. It must have fallen out of her purse. We thought we'd get a pic for posterity. My "blacking out" talents are available for a price. I've only seen Kasian in a rare state maybe twice in my life. That night was number three. Very entertaining to say the least. Oh how I love that girl! Love your face!This would have been an adorable picture if not for the fact that my flash wouldn't charge and it took FOREVER for my camera to snap the picture. This is them saying "WTF," to me! Mr. FDNY and Kasian have a thing... I'm excited to see where it goes. They're absolutely adorable together, dontcha think?
Here is Noelle, Lisa and Rose, half of my Vegas Bitches! No matter what we do or where we go, we always have a blast!

Well, that's the end of the weekend... the rest I can't tell you about, but I'll spill if you email me! Jen, my dear, I hope you had a fantabulous birthday weekend. Thanks for including us in the celebration! We had a ton of fun!