Beautiful Scandalous Night

 As a "Flashback Friday," I figured it was the perfect weekend for one of my favorite high school chapel songs, 

"Beautiful Scandalous Night."

Go on up to the mountain of mercy 
To the crimson perpetual tide 
Kneel down on the shore 
Be thirsty no more 
Go under and be purified

Follow Christ to the holy mountain 
Sinner sorry and wrecked by the fall 
Cleanse your heart and your soul 
In the fountain that flows
For you and for me and for all

CHORUS: 
At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree 
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me 
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white 
On that beautiful, scandalous night

On the hillside, you will be delivered 
At the foot of the cross justified 
And your spirit restored 
By the river that poured 
From our blessed Savior's side

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree 
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me 
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white 
On that beautiful, scandalous night

Go on up to the mountain of mercy 
To the crimson perpetual tide 
Kneel down on the shore 
Be thirsty no more 
Go under and be purified

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree 
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me 
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white 
On that beautiful, scandalous night

Another favorite is the Tale of the Three Trees children's book.

Happy Easter Weekend, y'all!

72 and Sunny

Despite the title, it is not 72 in M-town today (more like 27), but it is sunny; so, I'll take it. In keeping with the Bachelor theme from the past few posts (here, here or here), I wanted to dig a little deeper into the past of a few of the lovely ladies. I'm particularly interested in their jobs, since most of them actually had interesting ones this go around.

Starting of with Sarah Herron, a fan favorite for sure. Sarah is a Jr. Designer for 72 and Sunny ad agency (named best ad agency by Ad Age in 2013) in the city of angles. I'm particularly intrigued by working for an ad agency since I imagine most of them to be extremely cut-throat, but since Sarah is basically as sweet as pie, there's hope.

She's stylish, sweet, a "sister wife" with some of my other fav. contestants, and a work-related book nerd (much like myself). Easy to see why she was a fan favorite from the beginning.

 {sister wives: L to R, Lindsay, Ashlee, Jackie, Sarah, Lesley, and Des}

 

{Navajo style}

 {advertising books + wine = epic}

 May or may not have a job crush on Sarah.

Ombré Obsessed

As much as I love to hate the Bachelor, I have to admit that I found this past season (season 17 with Sean Lowe) wildly entertaining. First, there was Tierra's eyebrow, her psycho rants, and let's not forget her "sparkle."

 

{image courtesy of another obsession: the Inslee blog}

But one of my most favorite things was watching the style of each lovely ladies vying for Sean's heart. I also have to admit that this season is one of the first (and I've been semi-watching since Trista and Ryan) that nearly all of the ladies seemed super personal and "real," for lack of a better term. I now follow Lindsay Yenter, Selma Alameri, Sarah Herron, Ashlee Frazier, and of course the winner, Catherine Giudici on instagram. 

  
I found Catherine precious from the beginning as I can appreciate the weirdness of an uber-nerd/graphic designer as the type of person I spent hours laughing with in the mac lab at good ole Sammy U. But, that's not the mane (see what I did there?) reason I'm obsessed. Nope, it's her long dark locks that have me captivated, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I have a hair crush on her, and why shouldn't I? She pulls off this look better than most I've seen.

I am envious partially because it'd be super easy to maintain, but also because I think very few people pull it off well. I'm dying to try it, but I don't know how well ombré + curls pair... merrr. Alas, Maybe one day the ever-talented Claire-bear Strate can practice on my hair.

 

Celeb Concoctions

SAw news about Kenny Chesney debuting his own brand of rum, and since owning a wine label is a dream of mine, it struck a nerve.

Kenny is not the first celeb to brew his own libations, not by a long shot. The list is long and filled with impressive names from every genre and palate, I'm sure.  Here are the ones I'm aware of (which means I'm sure many other exist).

1) Kenny Chesney's Blue Chair Bay Rum

2) Drew Barrymore's "Barrymore Pinot Grigio"

3) Justin Timberlake's 901 Tequila

4) Brad and Angie's Miraval rosé 

5) Willie Nelson's Old Whiskey River Bourbon

6) George Clooney's Casamigos Tequila 

7) Fergie's Ferguson Crest wines

 

8) Dave Matthew's The Dreaming Tree wines

9) Train's "Drops of Jupiter" wine (this is not a joke)

even 10) Hanson's "MmmHop" beer

 
I'm curious to see if these mixtures are actually tasty or just fueled by brand awareness/celeb status. Guess I'll just have to try them all, budget allowing, and report back. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

Flashback Friday

This morning on my commute I heard Kenny Chesney's "I Go Back" on the radio, and while I was singing along I made me think about all of the songs that take me back to certain times. So, here's my list of songs that instantly remind me of a specific time/place/group of people.

Just a few, but these most definitely send me back in time.

Try It Thursday

I've been attempting to cook here and there for a while now, but I'm making a resolution to actually be domestic. After all, a gal's gotta eat (that and I also find the process of cooking and baking therapeutic). 

That said, I've stumbled upon a recipe for "low fat baked ziti," and since I'm never one to turn down pasta, it seemed too good to be true. (spoiler: it isn't. it was fabulous)

 {picture from skinnytaste.com where the recipe's from}

The recipe (click here for recipe) was easy, even for a newbie chef like myself, so I have faith in anyone reading this. And bonus, I got rave reviews from JT, Lulu, and George. 

 {clearly I need some work on food photography but in my defense this 

was taken with an iphone under the stove light just to prove that I can cook}

Cheers to low fat recipes that actually taste delish!

(hopefully more to come as I navigate the kitchen with the help of pinterest)  

Spring has Sprung

Happy First Day of Spring 

(even though the low in Memphis today is 28 degrees.. woof). Looking forward to enjoying the longer days, warmer weather, pastels, holidays, and springy goodness!

Music Monday

Most recent jams include:

Match Point

You've probably heard it said that,

 "comparison is the thief of joy." 

Well, it's been on my mind a lot lately. Why must we always want what we don't have? Why does the grass always seem greener on the other side? Enough is enough. My new goal for myself is to enjoy every minute of every day and not try to match my life up to others. My mom, wise woman that she is, has told me that if everyone in the world dumped their problems into a pile, you'd probably grab yours right back. So, it's time I started living as such.. by dwelling on these helpful reminders:

 

Wise words from Dita Von Teese. 

It's literally impossible to please everyone.

 1 Peter 3:3-4

Handbag Heaven

As it's almost the weekend and very nearly spring (c'mon warm weather), I find myself daydreaming about weekend travels. JT and I have been making a list of places we'd like to visit, and I found myself drifting into dreams of adventures of weekend getaways to New Orleans (shout out spring breakers, I was there this time last year), Atlanta, St. Louis, and Nashville among others (like my Memorial Day trip with my girls to Litchfield beach). For the perfect getaway one needs the perfect weekender tote, right? 

Maybe I'm just using my hypothetical trips as an excuse to shop online, but either way, here's what I'm currently obsessing over.

A sensible weekender tote:

 click here for red bag link

 found here

 available here

 

click here for monogrammed tote

 

available here

Then, of course, toiletry bags for inside the tote:

 

  

available here

And what better way to enjoy travel adventures 

than a cross-body purse?

 

 

vintage LV, i die.

 click here for tan purse

click here for above purse

If you need me I'll be on my dream vacation, dream handbags in hand.

Mane Maintenance

It's time again for me to get my hair done, and every single time I find myself annoyed. Partially because I'm no longer a natural blonde (shocker), but mainly because, if I'm honest, I've had the same hair style since 7th grade (yikes!).  

I get that the saying is "you always want what you don't have," but is it really so much to ask to have a slightly updated do after a decade?? 

My process is always to google or pinterest "curly hair" and (yikes again) apparently everyone has had the same hair style since 7th grade. unless, of course, the go to the dark side aka straightening it. Don't get me wrong, I like straight hair just fine. You can brush it, style it, cut it, and even put bobby pins in it, all of which I cannot do. But, as those who know me can attest, I value sleepy substantially more than style (and the fact that my hair is never actually ever technically straight even after hours of work); hence, the curls.

So, here's what I'm workin' with people. If you have suggestions, by all means, shout 'em out now:

 A very large part of me says screw it and fro it up like some of these ladies. Thoughts?