Random Bullets

• I finally bought a tennis skirt this past weekend while shopping with my SIL, Sarah. Boy these things are short! It didn't help my tennis game much, but it did help me on the treadmill last night.
  
• It is hard to concentrate on your tennis game when the ice cream truck keeps circling the park!
  
• I was pretty disappointed with The Bachelorette the other night. I was pulling for Reid or Kiptyn, although Ed was one of my top picks. They were very cute together last night on the show. I love Jillian's style. If you love her style too, you can visit this site to find out where her clothes are from.
  


• Do you ever have a shirt, skirt, dress, etc. that you search for, for years? {yes, that is a horrible sentence, but I couldn't come up with anything else. leave me alone.} I love striped oxford shirts. I have one that is light pink and white that I LOVE. It is my go to shirt. I have been searching for a blue and white one for years. I have had the pink one since probably junior year of college. It is just a classic shirt that will be in style forever. If you look closely you can see the stripes. They don't show up very well in photos.

A few weeks ago Chesley and I were searching for a few clothing items for her to take on vacation. We just happened to wander into JCPenney, which is where the pink and white striped shirt is from. I came across a blue and white one! I was so excited, but not excited about the price. I know, I know I had been searching for this shirt for years, but they have a different sale every week so I decided to wait. I went online yesterday it was on sale for almost 1/2 off! Whoo hoo! Ches and I headed to the mall and I bought it. {I realize that several stores sale a shirt similar to this every year, but they never fit me right. They always seemed to be too boxy.}

• I know I have had several self-portraits lately. I promise I'm not incredibly vain!

*Update: The belt is from Forever 21.*

Book Worm, review time

One of my favorite authors is Sophie Kinsella. She is the author of the shopaholic series and a whole lot of other great books. She has a brand new book out that I can't wait to read called Twenties Girl. She was recently named Glamour's Author of the Year. I just discovered that before writing as Sophie Kinsella, she wrote several books under her real name Madeleine Wickham. I checked out a couple from the library. This is the first one that I read.

It was a cute, chick lit book and not at all risque like the title might lead you to believe. I can't wait to read the other books that she has written under this name.

I just finished this little gem of a book by Kristin Chenoweth.

This book was so cute, charming and funny! I loved reading all about her life, especially since she is from my home state. She makes a lot of references to growing up here and the South in general. She was at a Border's in my city recently. I had no idea she was going to be there. Chesley just happened to be there by chance and got to see her. I'm so jealous.

**several of you asked where my red patterned dress was from that I posted a pic of in my last post...it is from lulus.com**

Weekend Recap

This past weekend Ty's little sister got married. It was a beautiful wedding! We got to see lots of family and friends that we hadn't seen in a while. I'm too tired to recap much, so I will let the pictures do the talking.

The bride, Heather, and I at the rehearsal dinner. I loved these old cigarette ads on the walls.

And one with the flowergirl, Lillian

The rehearsal dinner was bbq and at a place called the County Line. The perfect place to wear my boots. I don't get to wear them very often, so I jumped at the opportunity.

Lillian couldn't wait to get back to the hotel for this, hence the reason for the life vest in the earlier picture. haha!

These centerpieces were on about half of the tables and then they had big tall ones on the others. I love these huge hydrangeas.

Ty's nephew, Lucas. Such a cutie!

I loved the back of her wedding dress!

The Bride and Groom with his grandparents. Jesse's grandma had on the CUTEST outfit. It is the best grandmother of the bride outfit I have ever seen. I just had to show you all.

My parents

Ty's brother and his family.

Ty and I are still recovering from this weekend. Nuts stayed with Chesley Friday night and he must have had a good time, because he laid on the couch all day yesterday. {Thanks for keeping him friend!}

A Very Patient Man

In order for you to get a good understanding of this story you will need some background information. I belong to a pretty athletic family and I am the black sheep. Instead of playing outside with the fam as a child I would read a book in bed with a Hershey's Cookies 'n' Mint candy bar. These candy bars aren't sold anywhere any more. A few years ago Hastings carried the king size ones at Christmas time. My stocking was full of them. If you ever see them anywhere--buy them all and send them to me. I would love you forever! But my story is not about this candy bar...

So fast forward to college...

My best friend, Laura, had a very light load her senior year. One of her classes was racquetball/tennis. We would go play at the workout facility. She taught me how to do it all and was extremely patient with me. I had played racquetball with my family at the YMCA, but I'm pretty sure it ended with me getting hit in the face with the ball or me hitting someone in the face with the ball. Whatever it was it ended badly.

Summer break came around and I convinced my Mom to buy tennis racquets and play with me. My Mom and sister were very impressed that I could hit the ball and we had a lot of fun playing. Although it wasn't really playing--just hitting the ball back and forth w/no rules. Probably the first time in my life that playing sports with the fam ended well. {side note, my parents are very encouraging people; I just sucked and knew it.}

Ty and I played racquetball a few times together in college and there were always scary moments where Ty would get tired of going easy and hit the ball HARD and I would be scared of the ball for the rest of the playing time. Ball bounce around like crazy in those enclosed rooms.

Enough background information, I think you guys get the point that I am unathletic and uncoordinated. Oh and I am scared of the ball.

We discovered tennis courts right by our neighborhood. I was really excited! We went Sunday night and played. We were the only ones there and I was SO happy! I hate trying new, athletic things in front of people. Ty is so incredibly patient with me and it was going okay. Then, two guys show up and decide to play right beside us. This might not be a big deal to those of you who are good at tennis, but this was a HUGE deal for me.

I'm excited when I hit the ball. I don't care where it goes as long as I hit it. Well, this usually means it goes over the fence or bounces onto the court beside us. So, when these guys showed up and decided to pick the court right beside me and not any of the other 5 courts I was pretty upset. We continued to play for a little while, but I was pretty discouraged so we left. {so discouraged that I might have cried when we got home. I said might have...}

I didn't give up completely. We went back the next day and I improved quite a bit. Ty wasn't having to chase the ball quite as much. He made me get the ones that went over the fence. haha! I can tell he really wants to zing one past me, but he holds back and barely lobs it over to me so that I can hit it back. Such a sweet, patient husband.

Then tonight it was a huge improvement! I smiled the whole time that we played. I was actually hitting the ball inside the lines, Ty wasn't having to run all over the court(s) as much as last time, and I was having fun!

My sweet, patient husband isn't always so patient when it comes to my picture taking.

Everytime we have gone we always play a short game. Last night I scored for the first time!! I scored 7 or 8 times! Ty won, of course, but I scored and that's all that matters!

I keep telling Ty that I will probably be an amazing player

once he buys me a tennis skirt!

{That got pretty lengthy; you guys still here??}

I don't want to give you all the wrong impression about last night. I'm still an awful tennis player, but I was so bad to begin with, that last night I felt like Anna whatsherface.

Bloggy Friends

Last night I met up with two bloggy friends. I love getting to hang out with other bloggers! It is always a good time! We had dinner at PF Chang's. Can you believe it was my first time to eat there?! I used to despise japanese/chinese food, but my taste buds are a changin'. I had lettuce wraps--they were amazing!

Me, Megan and Whitney

Now that Whitney is a stay at home mom, I miss her so much. Work just isn't the same without her here.

We were sad because Megan and Emily couldn't make it.

I need to work on my sad face, so not cute. Look at Whitney, she has a cute pout.

Megan is one of the sweetest girls I know! She bought Whitney a present for Levi (the cutest little shoes that just scream Whitney) and she didn't want me to feel left out. She is so sweet! Isn't that the cutest oven mitt you have ever seen?!

If you don't read these girls blogs you should check them out. They are some of my favorites.

I'm off to practice my sad face in the mirror....

The Perfect Summer Salad

I love finding recipes on other blogs. If I like one of them I will add it to my favorites, so I can go back to it at anytime. I have been holding on to this yummy recipe from Quite Contrary for quite a while, just waiting for the perfect occasion to make it. Our Wicked girls weekend was the perfect time! I made brunch after church on Sunday. We had quiche lorraine, fruit salad, and this sweet strawberry salad with cupcakes for dessert.

Sweet Strawberry Salad:
Ingredients:
fresh spinach
strawberries
red onion {I omitted, of course}
walnuts
plain goat cheese {I also omitted, b/c the store was out of the cheese.}
1/4 c olive oil
3 tblspn lime juice
3 tblspn vinegar
3 tblspn sugar or splenda
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
-Smash 1/3 c of strawberries. {smashing strawberries is harder than you think, so I just put them in the magic bullet and had it do all the work.} Whisk oil, vinegar, lime juice and sugar and add to smashed strawberries. Assemble salad with spinach, sliced strawberries, crumbled goat cheese, chopped walnuts, sliced red onion...as desired. Toss with dressing and season with salt and pepper.

I'm pretty obsessed with this dressing! It is so yummy and different from the usual dressings I put on my salads. Don't worry, the recipe makes a lot more dressing than what is pictured in the container in the first picture.

Thanks for all the sweet comments yesterday! There is nothing better than checking my e-mail and having lots of comments to read! You all make my day!

A New Do

I got my hair cut on Saturday. The Bachelorette, Jillian, was my hairspiration. It's not much of a change--just a few more layers and some shorter bangs. (Which I shortened up even more yesterday morning on my own. Not my best idea.)

Leaving the salon. {It's hard to get a pic of yourself in the car. Ty was driving and wasn't too willing take the pic.}

After I murdered my bangs...they are just kinda choppy now, but only if you are up close. Oh well--lesson learned.

Pink Sass commented a couple of posts back about my hair and wanted to know what products I used. She has great hair and I know she is very consistent in how often she visits the salon. She probably doesn't need any of my suggestions, but I decided to just do this as a post. I don't feel like I have good hair. I'm sure most girls feel like this. I wish it was thicker, healthier, shinier, etc...


I used to have extremely oily hair. So oily that in the 6th grade some of my "friends" told Ty that he shouldn't go out with me because I had oily hair. Thank goodness he wasn't concerned with the state of my hair. Although at the time he was extremely obsessed with his. haha!


Now, I can go two days without washing my hair. I guess it's a perk of getting older! I try to stretch it two days, sometimes three if I'm lucky. I hate blowdrying and the blowdryer is responsible for a lot of my split ends. Not to mention the extra time it gives me in the morning!


I am using this sulfate-free shampoo from Loreal. I love it and it comes in different formulas. I use the volume line.






I use a Brocato Vibracolor conditioner. I love the way it smells. I'm also using a deep conditioning treatment from Loreal's sulfate-free line about twice a week.

Before I blow dry I use Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave in Conditioner. And I use Big Sexy Hair Root Pump. I have to do everything I can to get some volume.

And there you have it. What is your favorite hair product?

Wicked Weekend

I had a fantastic weekend! It was a Wicked Girls Weekend. Wicked came to town and my MIL bought all of us girls tickets. Ty had to work at the hospital this weekend, but did get to spend some time with everyone. But for the most part it was all girls. They got here Saturday right before lunch. We headed to an upscale, outdoor shopping center in my city and had lunch at one of my favorite sandwich shops, Queenie's. Then, the shopping began.

After the shopping we came back to my house to get ready for dinner and the musical. I made CD's from the Wicked soundtrack for everyone along with themed cupcakes. (I'm kinda obsessed with cupcakes lately.)

Pink for Glinda the Good Witch and Green for the so-called Wicked Witch.

This is the type of picture you get when you ask the hubs to take it.

The whole gang

We ate at Tucci's, an amazing Italian restaurant. Probably the best alfredo sauce I have ever have. Yummy!

At dinner: My MIL, Beverly; SIL, Heather; SIL, Amy

The in-laws, Sarah and I.

The Wicked set

This was my second time to see Wicked. I saw it last summer in Chicago. It is such a cute musical, but also has a deeper meaning. I LOVE it! If you ever get the chance to see it, take it!

After church this morning I made brunch. I will have to share one of the recipes with you all later this week. It was definitely girl food.

Ty and I will get to see everyone again next weekend for Heather's wedding. (She is the girl in the blue dress.) We can't wait! She is going to be a gorgeous bride and I will probably have several pics to share.

It was such a fun weekend! I'm so glad we all got to spend time with each other. We had great conversation, entertainment and way too many cupcakes!