Happy (Belated) Birthday America!

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We had such a great time. We met our great friends down at their beach house in Rosemary Beach. The weather was beautiful! I didn't want to come home today. We ate at a few great restaurants while we there. Here's a quick recap:

Thursday: we ate at the Southern Cafe in Seaside
Friday: Shades
Saturday: Destin Chops

If you are ever looking for a great place for fireworks for the 4th, Rosemary Beach is the place to be. You have the best view of fireworks from Panama City Beach to Destin. I hope that everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July. Thank you to all of our troops for defending our country and helping keep our country safe.

And of course one more thing......some things that I picked up while I was there. :) Although I do have a full set of Vera Bradley (Vibrant Black, since unfortunately retired) I've never been obsessed like a lot of my girlfriends in college. But I couldn't resist the following items and 5 years later, all of my VB is still in top condition.

Maybe it was the salt air that made me go shopping crazy. :)














Vera Bradley Pinwheel Pink Clutch Wallet















Mod Floral Slippers with Pouch




















Vineyard Vines Logo Hat (I got REALLY burnt on Friday so I needed to cover up my freckly face. It wasn't pretty)

I've been SUPER boring the past few weeks - but one exciting thing has happened lately was...drumroll....we got new granite counter tops! Woohoo! We're trying to "design to sell" our house so that we can move a little bit closer to my work. My hubby got all Tim "the tool Man" Taylor on me and did the backsplash himself. It looks great! I'll try and post some pics of the before and after soon.

I am trying to resist this week's J.Crew final sale......it's so hard! I keep making excuses, like "I've been looking everywhere for a critter polo!" Oh, yeah, like I can't live without a $30 polo with turtles all over it? I blame it on the models. They make everything in those pictures look good. :)

Okay, enough about the clothes.....hubby and I are going out of town for 4th of July weekend. Can't wait to get the heck out of dodge for a few. I hope that everyone has a great weekend. I'm looking forward to reading about everyone's adventures next week! Take care, Mrs. LSL

2 Post Thursday

Today I order this cute bag from Bath and Body Works online . Only 20 bucks and it's super roomy.

I've Been Tagged!

1. What were you doing ten years ago?
I was in high my first year of high school probably looking SUPER awkward. I loved school, singing, and had my first "real" boyfriend.

2. What 5 things are on your to-do list for today? (But since it's late, I'll do tomorrows)
1) Buy a gift for my friend's daughter's Baptism on Saturday (suggestions welcome)
2) Pick out what I'm going to wear to said baptism
3) Take my pups for a long overdue walk
4) Get cocktails with my friend who is home from Nantucket
5) Catch up on work, cleaning and sleep that all have been neglected for the past month!

3. Snacks you enjoy? Chocolate, pretzels, popcorn, cookies. Did I mention that I love chocolate?

4. Places you've lived?
Uh only got 2 significant ones
- Atlanta, GA
-Milwaukee, WI
Hmm.....time for something new, huh.

5. What are 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1) Buy a beach house (ie. St. Simon's, St. Augustine)
2) Buy a boat for my hubby
3) Shop to my hearts content
4) Donate to my hospital
5) Buy my rents a mountain home and my Dad's dream care, a BMW.
I'm cheating and add a 6) Pay for my sister's PT school.

Calling All Fellow Shopaholics

This is way overdue, but I finally started and finished the first Shopaholic book in the series! A while back, I had asked my readers for book suggestions. I got some fabulous ideas, and decided to start the Shopaholics series. I'm a series reader - I always get really attached to the characters, speed read through a book and then feel almost sad when it's over. Like with the "Something" series (Something Borrowed and Something Blue). I was so into those books; then when it was over I missed reading about them! (I know - I need to get a life. :) ) So that's why the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella was perfect for me. And did I mention that it involves a Brit? Too good to be true.

So over the weekend, I went up to New Jersey to visit when of my very favorite friends over the weekend. She had just gotten engaged so my hubby, sister and I went up to celebrate. We had a fabulous time - we even went into NYC on Saturday. It was a whirlwind trip - engagement party, BBQ, visiting, etc - and we had a great time. Until the flight home. We flew through customs and security in Newark. We were sure that we were going to make it home ahead of schedule for once. I guess I jinxed myself.

We got on the plane effortlessly. Cut to 3 HOURS later, when we hadn't even left the runway yet. Ugh. Apparently there were 30 other planes ahead of us on the runway or something. I just really don't understand how that happens! I've had a few days to cool off about it, but they committed some of my biggest pet peeves: no apologies, no attempt to smooth things over. We were suppose to get in at 8, we didn't end up getting in until 10:45! Ridiculous. But it did give me time to read 200 pages of my book. I finished it last night and wow, did it worry me how much I could relate to her shopping woes! For those who haven't read it (which you def should), it's the story of a 25 year old, recent grad who is working a job that she doesn't care about, making very little, yet still shops to her hearts content. There are bits and pieces in the story about her love life, family relationships, etc. but the main theme of it is her shopping. Many of her antics I am guilty of myself. Like passing by a shop and going in for something but leaving with more items. Or having a crappy day and doing a little retail therapy.

My husband just can't understand my love for shopping. Not like going out and picking up an expensive piece - it's the love of picking up little things here and there. Which of course add up BIG TIME. He seriously thinks that I have a problem! (I don't think that it's a problem until you run out of funds. hehe :) ) What I want to know is: am I alone in this shopping thing? I never go outside of my means. I think that I'm sensible. I would never shop if it meant not being able to afford the necessities. I just love the excitement of getting a new dress, or new item for the house. This list could go on and on.....

Ladies (and gents if you're out there :), help me out. Am I alone or are there others of you out there with the same "problem"? I'd love to hear your stories too!

My J.Crew dress FINALLY went on sale.

Oh, it's the simple things in life that are oh so sweet. Like, the smell of freshly popped popcorn, or, the sound of waves right outside your beach house. But for me, it's discovering that the dress that you've been coveting at J.Crew FINALLY went on sale. You see the problem is, every since my experiences in retail, I literally can not bring myself to pay full price. The GAP spoiled me all of those years with their 50% off employee discount. So what do I do instead of sucking it up and buying? I call it J.Crew loitering. (Actually stalking is really more like it). I check the website what seems like 100 times a day to see if my favorite items (pretty much everything that they make) is on sale yet. But since I've been pretty busy at my new job (oh and the hospital has websense, blast!), I haven't been loitering lately. My hubby and I just returned from a much needed vacation in St. Simon's (beach time) and Savannah (wedding time), and I thought, why not check in with my friends at J.Crew. And finally it was put on sale. Sadly, once tax and shipping were added, it was really the steal that I was looking for but hey, I love this dress. I can't wait to get it in the mail.



















Speaking of the wedding that we attended in Savannah....it was so beautiful. I'll post pics soon. But I had my first wedding outfit faux pas as of late. I posted the pic of the dress that I wore, and I really loved it. Really breezy, which was perfect for the coast of Georgia over the weekend since it felt like 115 DEGREES! So long story short, I asked my little sis who was in the wedding party, what was appropriate attire for the wedding. The invitation didn't say, so I wanted to know. She said, oh I don't know, a sun dress? I thought okay, no problem. I can find one of those. I get to the ceremony, feeling good, and then I see that almost every guy is wearing a tux and the ladies were wearing these luxe silk cocktail dresses! Whoa was I under dressed. So what did I do to fit in? Yup, got smashed. Yeah, Sunday was rough. And actually I still feel a little rough today. Pathetic I know. So now back to reality.

P.S. I love St. Simon's. I told my hubby that when I start to make the big bucks at my not for profit job I'd buy us a beach house. I also told him, don't hold your breath.... :)

Dress Update

Well.....after buying and returning a dress for the wedding this weekend, I finally decided on a dress. I have a really cute lime green clutch to wear with it and black sandals with white piping. It's nothing like my usual dress choices - a little busier than I usually get - but the shape is really flattering. And I leave tonight so it was a little rushed. My first choice was this dress from Ann Taylor, but it was really short! And I couldn't find a cute pair of navy heels anywhere - and I looked everywhere. Trust me.

Hope that everyone has a nice weekend! I'm going to the beach for a few days before, then heading to the wedding on Saturday. Maybe I'll see you there, Miss Preppy in Pink! :)

I will post some wedding details next week!