31 days

so i've decided that i need to get my blogging crap together. i've been doing a lot better about blogging consistently lately, but sometimes, i really find it challenging. it's quite sad that my life is so boring that i can't even find things to write about. 

jenni, over at story of my life, challenged all of her readers (sooooo many readers) to partake in a blog-every-day-in-may challenge. i have decided to formally accept the challenge and get to blogging! YOU should take part as well! 

here's the list of topics. be bold, boring, or whatever you'd like, but always blog. :)

Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)

Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)

Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable

Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it

Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. 

What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member

Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?

Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of

Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)

Day 10, Friday: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill. 

Day 11, Saturday: Sell yourself in 10 words words or less

Day 12, Sunday: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)

Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.

Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy

Day 15, Wednesday: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day - this could be "a photo an hour" if you'd like)

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why

Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.

Day 19, Sunday: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them

Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.

Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives

Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off)

Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you

Day 24, Friday: Your top 3 worst traits

Day 25, Saturday: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad)

Day 26, Sunday: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.

Day 27, Monday: A letter to your readers

Day 28, Tuesday: Only pictures

Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post

Day 30, Thursday: React to this term: Letting Go

Day 31, Friday: A vivid memory

loving this right now

you guys have to hear my new fav jam. i'm absolutely looooooooving paolo nutini right now.  i went to my go-to "relax" playlist on spotify  earlier and realized that i just HAD to share this guy with the other 5 people that read my blog. anyway, he's so good and the epitome of easy listening and relaxing. 

enjoy, friends, and if you feel like it, follow me on spotify!

boston

is there ever really a way to explain terror or tragedy? there never seems to be a shortage of situations like columbine, the oklahoma city bombings, 9/11, the virginia tech shootings, and in this particular instance, the boston bombings. time will eventually tell the "who," "what," "when," and "where" for every aspect of this disaster, but i find it hard to believe that anyone, especially myself, will ever be able to explain the "why." the one thing i cling to when i see madness like this, is that there is hope for mankind. 

a blogger that i follow, jenni, shard the quote below. sometimes, someone else just says exactly what you can not figure out how to say. 

patton oswalt nailed it. 

"Boston. Fucking horrible. 

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, 'Well, I've had it with humanity.'

But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths. 

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness. 

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago. 

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, 'The good outnumber you, and we always will.'"

-patton oswalt

wicked

you guys. my mind is officially blown. 

michael has always told me that wicked is his favorite musical. ever. surprised that michael is even a fan of musicals? you shouldn't be. he was quite the thespian growing up, actually. truth be told, he went to state in one act play NOT one, NOT two, NOT three, but FOUR years in a row! he even had the lead role our senior year! (class of '06--holla!) anyway, he always told me what a great show it was, but i've never had the opportunity to see it. a few months ago, i found out that the broadway show was going on a national tour and would be making a stop in dallas. could it be fate? i think so. to my dismay, though, the tickets practically sold out as soon as they went on sale (at least the ones i could afford). 

earlier this week, my friend, jennifer, text me and said she had an extra ticket to see the show in fair park, and asked if i wanted to join. my answer? ummmm....heck yeah! jennifer's boss has season tickets to the music hall at fair park, and had already seen wicked, so he passed the tickets along to her. and THEN she invited me!!! score!!!!! 

so last night, me, jennifer, her roommate, tara, and tara's mom, all loaded up and headed to fair park. we stopped and enjoyed the quaintest little pizza place--pizza lounge! we got a couple of different personal pizzas and salads (and wine, of course!) and shared. i seriously recommend the hawaiian...it's sweet and savory, with the perfect amount of sauce. also check out the pear and gorgonzola salad. de-lish! i've always been afraid to try gorgonzola cheese because i was afraid i wouldn't like it (have i mentioned that i eat like a 5 year old?), but i was pleasantly surprised. the pears were sweet and delicious and the pear-vinaigrette was top-notch. you will not be disappointed with this place. 

so! we ate dinner and headed to the theatre. tara and her mom made their way to their seats, and jennifer and i headed to our. one word: WOW! we seriously had some of the best seats in the house--8th row, center section. it really doesn't get much better than that. obviously, you aren't allowed to take pictures during the show, but i did sneak a quick pic of the stage prior to the show's start. 

look at that crazy dragon! yikes!

me and jenny-boo before the show started.

you guys, if you ever have the chance to see this show, you have GOT to! i would go into a full synopsis of the plot, but don't want to ruin it for anyone. in a nutshell, wicked is somewhat of a prequel to the wizard of oz. it's the life story of both witches from the story, and explains how "the good witch" and "the wicked witch" became good and wicked. it was phenomenal. 

go see it! you won't regret it!

added bonus? the show featured one of the songs that we sang at chi omega's pref night at tech. PC '06, you know what i'm talkin' about. check it out...

later gators! xoxo

mrs. lee 2.0

so i decided that i needed a change with my hair. i had been wanting to cut it for a couple of months, but to michael's (and everyone else i know) forbiddance strong encouragement, i waited to do it until after our wedding. this ended up being a great idea. had i done it beforehand, i wouldn't have been able to have those long, luscious, curly, locks, and let's face it...long wedding hair is just fab. 

so, fast forward to three weeks after our wedding. i made an appointment with britney at OMGhairsyles. she was referred to me by my bff, erica, and i'm soooooooo glad! she's so fun to just chat with. we talk art and gossip and drama, and all the other good things you get to dish about with your hair dresser. major plus? she does badass hair. so badass, in fact, that it's her own tagline. now to the fun part--my hair transformation!

the cut inspiration:

julianne hough. what a babe.

the color inspiration:

love the brown. love the blonde. love the ombre. done.

the before & after:

photo courtesy of britney at OMGhairstyles.

first, i love how fun and summery my new 'do is! it's so bouncy and full all. the. time. i lost about 9-ish inches of hair (at the longest point), and i've never felt better! it takes me half the time to dry my hair, now, which not only saves me time, but it also saves energy. kudos to me for being a teensy bit greener. i've been re-mastering how to curl my hair with my straightener, and have to say that i'm getting quite good at it. it's so fun to try out different styles! anyway, enough babbling. my hair looks awesome and if you're in the dallas-area and want YOUR hair to look awesome, too, check out my girl, brit, at OMGhairstyles. you won't be disappointed. 

ps. jam for today: icona pop-i love it. and i really do.

snapshots

of the best day of my life. i know, so cliche, but sometimes, just because something is trite, doesn't make it any less true. in short, everything was perfect, and michael and i were surrounded by the ones we love and we celebrated, and laughed, and danced, and had the happiest of times. more coming soon, but until then....

with my cousin, alex.

besties from junior high shae & piper

bridesmaid & bff from college, jennifer

with the best stepdad...ever, tray.

with my soul sister, amy

my best friends, natasha and jennifer