Revlon and Crabbin'

I thought it was high time that I wrote an actual post instead of a polyvore collage! My polyvore mania has ebbed a little bit, which is good since one can only live on 3 hours of sleep every night for just so long. I've recently moved back into my previous position (at the same place I've been working for 7 years - SEVEN years and 2 months; isn't that crazy?!) and I am so happy! I love the people I work with and they always manage to make every work day into something enjoyable. ♥

Jason and I are about to embark on the house hunting adventure and it should be highly entertaining. We've started doing drive-bys of houses we've found online that we like and that's been fun. Unfortunately, the stop and go driving while writing in a notebook ("Tore up driveway", "Paint color best described as 'barf buckets'", etc.) makes me wanna hurl, so we've made a note to always bring a can of Coke to settle the heaving beast that is car sickness! We're looking in the neighborhoods near our current place and hope we can find something groovy. We would love a 3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms and a 2-car garage.  I'm lobbying hard for a yard that is already fenced-in so we can procure dream pups shortly after moving in and they can romp and stomp around outside to their heart's content! Cue the wimpering puppies video!

We're getting excited about wedding planning! And when I say "we", I really mean Jason. I personally could care less about these shenanigans. Ha! Hopefully we can find a great venue that's not ludicrously expensive and set the mothereffin' DATE! Lord knows I get asked all the time if we've set it. I wonder how people with really long engagements field this question? Although I guess anything more than a year IS a really long engagement, but what can I say? We're not too stringent on our time piece. We looked at the Trolley Barn last month, which was beautiful but we had some concerns. It's BIG. Like 250 people would be comfortable doing the macarena (with full extension on the arm moves) or the wobble {Shoutout to ATL, Jo-Ja!) which is good on one hand, but we're not having that big of a wedding! I think everyone would be huddled around 6 tables and it would feel very cavernous. They also have a lot of rules about what you can and can't do, and the amount of your deposit you can kiss buh-bye should any of the items listed on the "Can't" list happen to occur (they are especially not joking about your guests stepping on the grass). You can't hang anything from the rafters (like floral balls, overzealous party goers, or twinkle lights) except for drapes from an approved vendor (starting at $1,000...for fabric sheets...dangled from the beams), nor can you hang anything up on the walls. Which I totally understand the fact that it's a historic site and they can't have things being constantly nailed into the walls, but there are some ideas I have for cute shiz like family memory boards and photo collages that would have to be scrapped if we rented the Trolley Barn (unless I could construct a lean-to of sorts for the boards to rest against). We have an appointment to go check out another venue in Decatur this week so I'll keep you posted! Bottom line, once we find a venue, we can see what their availability is and set the date. People don't realize this, but you don't really set your date - your venue really dictates that based on when the space is available for rent. Hopefully soon we'll get that nailed down and can get to steppin' on the next task!

Outside of the Trolley Barn

Lately, my spare time has been monopolized with crab fishing. Well, watching crab fishing on TV! Alaskan king crabbing, baby! My mom got me hooked (#punning) on Deadliest Catch! I've been watching the current season on Tuesdays with Jason, and then we've also been getting caught up on the previous seasons thanks to my friend Netflix. I love this show! My current favorite boat is the Time Bandit because they are crazy and FUN. They keep a double carton of eggs on their deck for the sole purpose of throwing them at other fishing vessels. These are my kind of people!

I have been quite lax in my reading as of late; who has the time when there's red and orange gold to be caught on the Bering Sea? I've only read 7 books all year, which is paltry compared to last year's grand total of 53! Alas, I've noticed a pattern that I read like there's no tomorrow one year and kind of don't read very much the next. I am reading a book right now that I'm really enjoying; it's called "Too Close to Home: A Thriller" by Linwood Barclay and it is JAMMIN'. I haven't read a book this suspenseful and layered since Cammie McGovern's "Eye Contact". I'm only about 35% through, so it could take a turn for Shodsville, but so far it's great! If you like suspenseful/"THRILLER! THRILLER NIGHT!"-style books, I definitely recommend this.

In other TV news, she who will remain nameless (ha!) got me into The Bachelorette! I know. I can't even believe myself. All of the things I said about this show with disgust, I am now saying with delight. "It's SO ridiculously CORNBALL!" "Does anyone expect to find love this way?" "This is HORRIBLE!" Emily Maynard? Love her. And yes, it is horribly corny, and I think these guys must sign something at the beginning of the season deeding their balls to ABC for life, but that's the magic of it! You almost can't believe anyone would say this cheesy, romance novel-esque B.S. aloud, much less on television, but they DO and the result is often so cringe-worthy that it becomes wildly enjoyable! This Sunday's the finale and this household is rooting for 1 F Jef, but realistically, she'll probably choose Arie because she's been crunching on him (how long's it been since you've heard that 90's phrase?!) since the first day.

 Lastly, on the beauty frontier, the products I'm loving right now are as follows:

☞ DIY lip scrub that works better than lip scrubs you buy: 1 teaspoon of brown sugar & about half a teaspoon of honey. It works like a dream! (If you don't have brown sugar, plain old white sugar works just as well. After all, the only thing brown sugar has that white sugar doesn't is a dollup of molasses.)

☞ Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Soft Nude (1 swipe'll do ya - anything more and you get that Jerseylicious pie-hole look)

☞ Revlon Super Lustrous SPF 15 Lip Gloss in Pink Whisper (Lovely soft pink that looks great over lipstick or on it's own)

☞ MAC Cremeblend Blush in Brit Wit (dusty rosy medium pink)

☞ BareEscentuals Blush in Thistle (dusty rosy pink)

☞ Aussie 3 Minute Miracle (my HG conditioner, fo sho! I've used it for years and it's a fantastic deep conditioner that magically doesn't weight hair down. It rinses clean and your hairs are left looking quite fab.)

☞ OPI Shorts Story Nail Polish (bright blue-based pink that really pops)

☞ Fresh Hesperides Grapefruit (Smells SO divine! Crisp, clear grapefuits comin' atcha! My only thumbs down is that it fades crazy fast - about half an hour! I'd recommend the rollerball form so you can take it with you for touch-ups!)

I hope you're all having a great summer! Much love!