Things that make me happy today

This is my friend Ally. She's reading "I Like You" by Sandol Stoddard Warburg at my wedding. She is one of my dearest friends and recently got engaged (!!!!!!!) to her boyfriend of 4 years. I'm going with her to try on wedding dresses next week and I absolutely cannot wait to begin celebrating such an exciting time in her and Patrick's life with her and her mama who once cooked me some of the most delicious ribs, ever!

On the same day that I get to celebrate Ally I get to celebrate my niece, Gracie. She is turning 2 years old and I absolutely can't wait to see her eat cake, open presents and be the birthday girl. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that the shipping industry is on my side and her present arrives in time for the big shindig.

I'm reading Water for Elephants right now and it's so good! Why in the world did it take me so long to read? Thanks to a Target giftcard I picked up this one and Something Borrowed and Something Blue for next to nothing out of pocket!

I'm teaching myself how to coupon and it actually is a lot of fun! You won't see me on any TLC shows any time soon (a girl can dream though, right?) and I'm not creating stockpiles of things that I'll never use (why would someone without a cat buy cat treats, even if they are free?), but I've saved about $30 off my grocery bill the last three times I went to the grocery store. And that's money I can use on something else like a pretty pedicure or a haircut, both of which I plan on treating myself to this weekend.

Finally, because my break is almost over, Pinterest. It's an amazing website that sent me an invitation to joint about a week after I sent my request. You make boards and "pin" different pictures to them. I currently have "new house ideas," "holidays," "A girl can dream...." and "You look delicious" boards. The first two are self-explanatory. A girl can dream...is devoted to things that I want/want to do to the new house but just aren't feasible right now (in-ground trampoline, anyone?). You look delicious is devoted to recipes I want to try. I'm obsessed, I tell you. OBSESSED!

What makes you happy today?

How I feel today

http://chalicaa.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/angry-puppy.jpg

Bad Title

The closer Paul and I get to buying his parents’ house the more excited I’m getting to get in there and make it mine. It finally started to feel real the other day when the replacement windows and our new door were installed. We have this door:

http://www.lowes.com/

And this hardware, which I’m obsessed with:

http://www.lowes.com/

Something about it isn’t quite right yet, though. Maybe the door is just too white and I’m used to wooden doors. But the contrast is just too much.

But nevermind that, because what I’m REALLY excited for is the inside. Specifically, I. Can. Not. Wait. To get my hands on the built-in-bookshelves in the hallway and in the smallest bedroom/office. Right now they’re wood but I plan to go at them with paint, using this as my inspiration:

http://www.younghouselove.com/photo-gallery-2/our-current-house/

Since my parents aren’t the redecorating sort and I’ve lived in rentals since I moved out, I don’t have a lot of experience with renovation, but I’m confident that I can get a handle on painting fairly quickly and creating a scaled down version of these shelves.

For a few minutes today I fantasized about painting the fireplace white because there’s few things that set my heart aflutter quite like white painted brick. That was before Paul informed me that the fireplace is stone, not brick. I’m not sure why I thought the fireplace was made of brick all of a sudden, but I was convinced. But seriously, how gorgeous can painted brick be?

http://dhomeinteriordesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/White-painted-Brick-Fireplace-Design-by-Angelo-Surmelis.jpg

High Five, America!

We're Buying a House!

And we're not just buying any house, we're buying Paul's parents house after they move into a maintenance-free condo. I've fallen in love with the white/yellow/stainless steel kitchen and I knew I wanted to do something very similar to the kitchen before we move in. But then I saw this:

Source: http://www.myhomeideas.com

I don't want this kitchen. I don't think it would be nice to have. I. NEED. THIS. KITCHEN!!! Just look at that aqua/yellow/stainless steel/wood floor comibination. It's beautful. This is the type of kitchen to make me say, "Hello Lover," as if I was Carrie Bradshaw seeing the perfect pair of Louboutins for the first time. I would just throw in some nice faux granite countertops and bing, bang, bong, you've got perfection. The only problem? Paul doesn't seem to think that I NEED this kitchen. He is sorely mistaken.

This One Goes Out to Taylor Wilson

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

People who cheer for a team solely because they are playing against a team that they don't like. Last night was the Orange Bowl so my facebook was covered in posts that said some variation of either "Go Hokies!" or "Go Stanford!" Now the Hokie fans? That's normal and I'm used to it. It comes with the territory of having lived within 30 minutes of the school my entire life. But Stanford? Excuse me? When did an Ivy League football team garner so many fans from camo-wearin', tobacco spittin', southern drawlin' southwest Virginian? Oh yeah, since they're playing against Virginia Tech who, for whatever unexplained reason, they hate. What's the point in acting like you like a team just because they're playing against a team that you don't like? Why not just not watch the game? With 60-some odd channels in the standard cable package, it's not like there's nothing else on.

Just as annoying as those people are the fair weather fans who only stand by their team when they are winning. One of my facebook friends/real-life acquaintances apparently can't hold his alcohol because whenever he has a drop in him he turns to his smart phone and becomes belligerant. Last night, not only did he seem to be attempting to will the plane carrying Stanford's players back home to crash, but he even said that his beloved Hokies suck. I've never rolled my eyes toward him more dramatically.

Some fair weather fans are also the ones who, when talking about their team of choice, refers to them as "we" and "us." Excuse me, but you are not a member of that team. You are a fan (when it's convenient for you), which is admirable, but you spend game day drinking beer and eating greasyy food while the actual team is, you know, competing.

On another note, here's a picture of Ginny eating a doggie cookie:

**High five to you if you picked up on the title reference.**