TGIF

Thank. Goodness. I'm. Fabulous.

[a quote from the oh so swanky Emily Dees-Boulden]

For me, though, it simply means THANK GOD it's [finally] Friday. Runnin' on empty over here these days. 

This is what I'm currently doing:

 

This is what I wish I was doing:

 

 [watching any of these]

 [laying in my PJs shopping online]

 

[decorating for Christmas]

 

[at any of these places]

Is it 5 o'clock yet...?

Surprise Fail

Okay, so the only thing surprising about JT's surprise bday dessert is that he actually ate one to make me feel better...

[this is what it was supposed to look like]

drum-roll please.... his surprise dessert was Chocolate-Whiskey Cupcakes (recipe here) with chocolate, caramel, marshmallow, whiskey, bacon bark (recipe here). (whew, talk about a mouthful.. except, er, you wouldn't want a mouthful of these)

The bark itself wasn't bad, actually kinda good. Just make sure to let it warm up from the freezer unless you want to chip a tooth.

As for the cuppy cakes...they had the consistency of chocolate cornbread (not pleasant).

Oh well... sometimes ya win, sometimes ya lose. Did I mention they were a b!#*h to make? Because they were... I think that's partially why JT ate one. (After watching me mix and bake cupcakes, icing and bark from scratch for 3 hours only to be covered in flour and confectioners sugar... he knew to try one to keep me from tears). He even took some home with him (I assume for fertilizer).

 

[my final version]

At least he still has presents to open on Thursday...

Festivus for the Rest of Us

It's officially JT's birthday week, but since I love any reason to celebrate (you just wait for the block party of holidays from October to January) more than fat kids love cake, I figured why not make a week of it?

Last night was a happy coincidence in that I got tickets to the Wine & Dine event benefiting Special Olympics at the Tower Room through work, but it was the perfect way to kick of the festivities. Tonight, due to weird scheduling, I'll be making his "surprise birthday dessert" a tad earlier than expected. I've already been given strict orders to post my progress with this new recipe, so stay tuned...

All I can say about the surprise is that it's better than this:

[quarter of a century old, get it?

clever, yes, but grey icing = not too appetizing..]

but not quite as cool as this:

[Disney World's 25th anniversary]

 

Fun Fact: It's Danish tradition to dump cinnamon all over someone for his/her 25th birthday if they aren't married.... oh. so.unique.

Here's to celebrating half a century

 of awesomeness!

Pretty Wicked Hilarious

In lieu of last night's television fabulousness [in case you didn't know, Tuesdays are my "stay in and watch hours of t.v." nights] with PLL (oMgEzIeS), Dance Moms (which has now turned into a weird talk show, ergo I won't continue watching), and the icing on the incredible cake Pretty Wicked Moms. 

Yes, I watch (and love) this show.

As if I needed another reason (besides based-on-real-events movies) to love Lifetime, Pretty Wicked Moms is beyond amazing. Pure T.V. gold, I tell you. If you've been hesitant, let me assure you, it's full of bleach-blonde, Southern women that can get a bit catty, but it's insanely amusing and I can't get enough of Emily "Swanky" Dees Boulden. Thus, the subject of my post: Emily's awesomeness.

Emily, otherwise known as the "Queen Bee," is straight from the heart of Mississippi (specifically, Philadelphia, Miss., as we learned last night) and has the thick accent to prove it. She and her oh-so-hilarious hubby, Pete (a cosmetic dentist--hence everyone's beautiful pearly whites) have one daughter, Amzie, and her store, SWANK, in the heart of Atlanta. And in case they weren't swanky enough, Emily and Pete's wedding was featured on Mississippi's MyScoop website.

As annoying as she can seem, she's honest, hilarious, and swanky to the core. 

And you don't get Emily without her trusty sidekick and doggy-momma, Nicole Noles. A few of my fav Emily moments are as follows:

Word to the Wise

Our new office remodel has left me with a larger-than-usual cubby in which to decorate, and being that I'm a pinterest freak, I've found these words of wisdom that I would hang all over my cube if it didn't make me look like a total freak.

Coffee Table Book Love

My love of large, picture-filled coffee table books is no secret ( I own this, this and this as proof), but I've never quite found a place to indulge this craving (except of course Barnes and Noble) that's convenient ....'til now.

Book lovers behold: One Kings Lane (specifically their book sale today)

I'm currently lusting over this (below)

this

this

this

this

and this

but I'm not completely thinking of myself. I'd get:

this for Mary Jane

this for JT

and this for Mere bear

 

Thanks for the mention of the sale, 

Design Darling.

June Bug

I'm horribly embarrassed at how delinquent I've been with my posts; at one point last fall I was posting every day and now I've resorted to monthly happenings. Not my finest cyberspace moment, BUT my only excuse is a saying I once heard and now believe to be 100% true: there's no time to write about life when you're actually living it.

That couldn't be more true than during the month of June 2013. Case and point:

Italian Fest/ Randy Houser concert with JT:

even in the ankle-deep mud and rain it was a blast.

JT's first trip to my old stomping grounds:

We drove down Friday after work and went out with the besties, then 

Saturday morning I took him to some of my favorite things in bham

 [including Samford, Baby Bites, and a Mugshot burger].

More exciting news was that on the way out of town that Friday, I got the official call that one of my very best friends, Kelsey Jo, is engaged to her Army hero. As the first TNB to get a rock, we couldn't be more thrilled or excited for what the future holds [still hoping for a cul de sac with all our families]

CONGRATS Kels!

 

Back in Bham, on Saturday afternoon we made the trek to Arab, AL to celebrate the nuptials of Luke and Barbara Jane. Such a beautiful wedding and had so much fun with Mere, EZ, and Bekah.

Next, my family beach trip in Orange Beach:

 so much fun with my favorite people.

Then, JT and I closed out the month of June 

with another wedding for some of his friends:

 clearly JT, Richard, Stephanie, Leslie, BRooney, Alan, Emily, Brooke, and Matt had fun with the photo booth.

All and all June was fabulous. 

Can't wait to see what July has in store!