The countdown begins...(and rambling about my rambling)

I'm awfully ramble-y lately! I'm not sure what the deal is but I feel like I'm much more talkative than usual. I'm 99.9999956% sure that it's because I'm rounding my last days in my 20s. I guess instead of going out & blowing money on things I don't need, I'm gushing with random babble. God bless my friends for bearing with me. Luck for you that you only get my 2 cents if I click "publish post". The loves of my life get a dose of me by way of phone call, BBM, GChat, text, carrier pigeon and sneak attack. There's not nearly enough wine, chocolate & shiny things by which I could sufficiently repay them for the energy they expend to keep me sane (and from running off to be a nun who sneakily drinks wine in her room of the convent while waiting on the hot Italian guy who delivers the bread each day. If I'm going to finish my days in a convent, at least, allow me to view the merchandise since I can't touch it!). As I was saying, My friends are the bestest that a girl can have & I don't take them for granted a single day.

Speaking of awesome friends, I'm planning to couch surf at a friend's in the very near future. Since my trip last summer, I've spent over 365 days craving pizza from Gino's East in Chicago and I think I will explode if I do not consume it soon. So to Chi-town I will go! I'm not really up for a Dirty 30 party so I'm just going to hang with my friend, eat my way through the Gino's East menu, frolic on Pennsylvania Avenue for a few days, then bring it back home. This is how I want to welcome my 30s! I'm silently counting the days until my feet touch Midwest soil!

P.S. I got the Instructional Design Specialist position that I've been going after & I am so excited! It's taken a month of exhausting interviews, pushing myself and encouraging words from friends. Again, I feel blessed beyond measure!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub!

Lame title, I know, but here's the 2nd part of my adventures at the TN Natural Hair & Wellness Expo!

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of bath and body products, even more so if they are all natural. The expo was packed to the brim with ladies proving that we can "cook" in the bathroom, too!

First up is Andrea of The Bubble Bistro! I heard many great things about her before I could even find her shop nestled inconspicuously in Midtown. I was ecstatic to see she was on the list of vendors for the event. She's always a pleasure to talk to & her work in unbelievable. She carries products for men & women including bath bombs, body oils and shampoo bars. If you live in Memphis, you've definitely heard the buzz of her products by now. I couldn't resist leaving without a few goodies for my stash!

I snatched up 2 soaps, a scrub & a body butter!! SCORE!

Peeking my curiosity was table featuring Divine Clementines's Dope Soap on a Rope. How could you not love these adorable little soaps! The line is made of four scents: Lavender Goats Milk, Teatree Goats Milk Oatmeal Cookie, Peppermint Goats Milk and Coconut Ylang Ylang. The creator of this line is based out of Atlanta with roots here in Memphis. With true Southern charm, she juggled her line of customers while giving me the back story of how she got started. I scooped up a couple of her heart-shaped soaps for the road & let her get back to business. Her table was selling out fast!

Another Atlanta-based line getting quite a bit of attention at the expo was Miss She Body Cocktails! No doubt that we ladies need a cocktail here & there and here's one you can enjoy without feeling bad. Of course, I was digging for info on how the line of bath teas, body washes, salt scrubs and signature Beurre Mousse came about. Turns out the founder, Shelia Driver, has a background in the Legal field. This former Legal eagle has definitely found her niche here in the world of bath and body products.

Looking back at my goodie bag that I amassed at the show, I'm surprised that I didn't go broke at the expo. I have enough products to last me until the end of the year. The best thing is that everything has a long enough shelf life (when kept out of water) to sustain until I can get around to it. Definitely, a great investment if you keep the schedule I do and love to pamper yourself every once in a while.

I felt this was totally appropriate!

See you later!

Gimme that!

The other day, I had a tad bit of free time after work and I decided to swing my Anthropologie. This place normally gets me in so much trouble. (Not so) surprisingly, it's not the clothes that I have a hard time resisting. It's the random knick-knacks they sell that I must have. Only in Anthropologie would I feel completely justified in purchasing a $25 notebook. Despite my weakness, I ducked in and quickly fell back into bad habit. I resisted as much as I could by leaving with just a belt. I wore it out on a date last night. (I'll spare you the sad details of that monstrosity!) I can't wait to wear it more!

Here's what caught my eye! Maybe I'll get something with the 15% off birthday card they sent last week.

Don't act like you're surprised that I'd be drooling over a book!

Love this cute dish for keeping up with my rings!

Despite my coffee addiction, I thought this would also work as a cute alternative flower pot!

I have such a weakness for skirts & dresses!

The kangaroo pouch pocket on this Dolce Vita number is a plus!

Though I have been keeping shopping to a minimum for essentials, I did "splurge" a bit on a recent trip to Starbucks. Overall, Beyonce did pretty good with 4. It's taken me a while to like most of the songs. My favorites are Party, Countdown, Rather Die Young & Run the World. Bey rarely does wrong in my eyes & she delivered for me on this album. It's worth checking out!

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

I had a real post that I planned to publish today but it'll have to wait because...

I got my braces removed yesterday meaning no more being confused for a teenager or one of the summer interns! I'm now free to eat all the apples, almonds, sushi and popcorn my heart desires!

***And yep, that's a toilet in the background! Courtesy of my work bathroom!

Tumbling 'Round

Tumblr is one of my guilty pleasures & I've been going insane since it crashed the other day. Man, I wish everyone had a Tumblr! You can really learn a lot about someone from what post. I love it a million times more than the traditional blog because there are no words to sort through or explanations to trip over! Here are just a few of my fav Tumblr gems:

Happy Hump Day! ♥

It's not easy being GREEN!

Same stuff; different day except for my newest jewelry acquisition. Thanks to my super talented & creative friend, I am in love with my one-of-a-kind gingko leaf drop earrings. Inspired by PeaceImages' Leaf earrings, I gave my buddy a super cheap pair of drops & she delivered these beauties! Few know of my love for gingko leaves and how elated I was to actually spot a few trees downtown. Now I have my own pieces of sunshine to wear about town!

And just for the hell of it...

Imperfectly Quotable (& Apologetic)

"I'm afraid that the older I get the more I'll have to regret...what do you do with regret...especially for an admitted perfectionist"

Kanye West via Twitter

Sorry for the sporadic posting! It's not that I don't love you but I've been a tad bit busy trying to avoid regret! I woke up this morning & as usual, Mr. West was tweeting away while I was catching some zzzzzzz. (Sadly, catching up with his & Erykah Badu's tweets are the highlights of my very early mornings! What else am I supposed to do at 5 a.m.?) I love that he allows the world into that Rubik's Cube of a brain of his! Back to my point, the older I get the more aware I am of potential opportunities that may never come around again. I'm trying like hell to catch them all! Whether if it's nothing more than a quick lunch with a friend or an 18-hour road trip to Washington, D.C. (best ever!!!), I don't want to look back and hate that I didn't do something. In my early 20's I missed quite a few significant life moments of friends that I hold close to my heart. At the time, my life was such a whirlwind full of hard bumps and I couldn't be there. Now I look back & realize that my presence in those moments were needed for them and myself. I should have taken the break from my insanity to focus on someone else's moment of happiness thus opening up a stream for that to trickle into my situation. Living life with no/minimal regret takes conscious choices while weighing out the risk but, most importantly, the gain!

Dabbling in a bit of everything!

I've been trying my hand at some DIY projects that I've spotted online. So far, all have been a success. One was so much of a success that I've been spending my free time making them for others. That being, none other than...zipper headbands! Random, I know! I'm not really sure where I saw them originally but I couldn't resist taking a stab at it. This now officially makes me a dorky, headband-wearing, crazy cat lady! I'm not too proud of the title but I look pretty good wearing it (the headband & title). And for shits & giggles, I decided to post photographic proof in the form of the ever popular car photoshoot. Luckily, I snapped this earlier in the day before my hair grew to epic proportions & started swallowing the headband whole. I thought you'd also appreciate that I was abiding by the law & wearing my seatbelt! Click it or Ticket, people! Not sure if you can tell but I'm wearing my newest Mac Plushglass in Oversexed...LOVE THIS COLOR!

I'm sure you want me to offer something of substance but I'm all whooped so I have nothing to really offer. EXCEPT for a great article that my co-worker/friend & reader of my blog posted to Facebook. Maybe it's just the current mood that I'm in but I wanted to scream "Hallelujah!" & high five anyone walking past my desk as I was reading the article! I confess that I have a difficult time conveying my feelings. I use way too many words & fly off into random stories that pop to mind as I relive the emotions. This particular article got about 97% of how I'd describe myself without confusing you with my high definition styled stories. Hopefully, you'll find a part of the article that resonates with you!

the initiated woman

Congratulations! If you stand on your tip toes, you can see the weekend!
Make the most of the rest of your week!

Almost broke a promise!

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I'd entered into a local art project hosted by the Rozelle Artists Guild. I was really pushing the deadline on getting my submission in time for the book & exhibit. After a few late nights, I finished. It didn't take me so long because I'm just that good of an artists but because I'm a manic perfectionist. I just couldn't decided on what I wanted to draw & then if I wanted to keep it in pencil or color. After doing most of my sketches in pencil, I went to Walgreens to buy crayons and colored pencils. I had to basically, erase everything except the outlines just to recolor everything. Crazy, I know! I tried to scan the final book but the copies were all wacked out but I did snap a few on my trusty BlackBerry during the process. I promised you pics so here they are. Enjoy!

I took this as I was racing to the post office before it closed at 7:00pm on the last day to have it postmarked to be featured in the book.

Sign of the [Good] Times

For the last month, I've been hearing a weird rattling whenever I'm driving. Like the typical women, I didn't poke around to see what it was. I just figured that I'd mention it to my boyfriend* at the dealership when it was time to get my oil changed. After weeks of this noise, I reached in that little knick-knack nook under the radio and pulled out the source of this clamor. It was the remnants of my once-favorite vintage belt! Poor thing met an untimely & premature death while I was...ummm...carousing downtown during the July 4th weekend. Literally, I watched a chunk of it plummet to the sidewalk. More than likely, I yelled out in despair! Complete details on that night will forever stay under wraps! *hangs head in shame* All I have to show for it is my shattered buckle & even more randomness on my BB memory card. And to that, I say..C'est la vie! Small price to pay for good memories!

*I use the term boyfriend very loosely! The serviceman assigned to me when I bought my car is a doll & takes very good care of me so I return the favor in random snacks or lunch during my maintenance visits. Plus, it doesn't hurt that he's Reggie Bush FINE!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

Premeditated slackage alert:

My birthday is in 10 days! Depending on the trouble that I can find to get into, it could either result in complete adventure win or epic blogging fail. Whatever the case, be patient as my posts could get even more sporadic than they are now. Can you believe that?? ♥

What about the way you love me?

This past Friday, I got to see one of my favorite singers in the ENTIRE WORLD! No, I seriously ♥ him like no other! (Well...maybe a few others but that's neither here nor there.) By him, I elude to the one & only Reverend Al Green! He was a part a concert series here that we have called Live at the Garden. When I bough the tickets, I had no idea what a great show that was in store. The event was sold out & the most diverse audience that I'd ever seen. Because it's outside & you have to get there early to jockey for prime position on the lawn, I forgot to get pictures. Here are just a few that I snapped on my BlackBerry while baking to a crisp in this crazy summer heat!

Our concert "neighbors" were some guys that drove from Nashville & they brought ribs!

Discreet photo FAIL!

If you know me, you know I'm anemic & keep a mean sock game for my cold footsies! LOL

Summer concert survival kit!

I've been on a bangles kick lately...these are my favs all stacked together!

Sweaty, tired, frizzy-haired & ready for Al to hit the stage!

Happy Hump Day!!

P.S. If you're an Al Green fan, then you recognize this post title as lyrics from his song Simply Beautiful! ;D

I D.I.Myself!

Last week, I was goofing off on the interwebz & catching up on Bloglovin' when I ran across an interesting D.I.Y by Leslie of FASHION du jour. Funny that I'd worn a skirt that was perfect for it just that day. Plus, I was attending a friend's engagement dinner this past weekend & it seemed like the perfect controlled setting to try it out. Check out some (unedited) pics I took after the dinner:

If you're interested in seeing how it's done, check out FASHION du jour's video here. My skirt/shirt was the AA interlock a-line skirt & was perfect for this. I added a tank underneath because I didn't want to flash anyone at dinner! Plus, it's hotter than monkey balls here and I hate feeling like I'm sweating through my clothes. Gotta keep it classy at all times!

~Tree Hugger~

The result of a cancelled lunch date & nothing else for me to do!