under construction my friends...

for the next few days, i will be changing the old blog. excuse the mess.

deciding what i want it to look like.
what colors i want.
how my header should look.

can't decide now so off to bed.
goodnight loves.

veggie

for almost a month, i have been eating a vegetarian diet. i had given it a lot of thought and decided to try it for a weekend. then for a week. then for 2. never stopped so now i'm just going with it. 

at first, i wanted to see how it affected my life {ie: going out to a restaurant, cooking for A, etc} and i must say, that i haven't really noticed an inconvenience at all. i am not a big meat eater in the first place. i don't eat steak or hamburgers ever. no fish. the only meat i ever consume is turkey sandwiches and chicken for dinner. i already ate tofu and boca (a line of vegan/vegetarian options) and so it hasn't really been that different. i have noticed it is a little difficult to go out to eat. not because there aren't options...only because i haven't really educated myself about what places are the most "veggie friendly".

i think i will continue with it. i am not sure for how long. but for the past month, i have called myself a vegetarian and i am proud that i have made that decision. i am learning a lot and look forward to seeing how going vegetarian affects my body and how it feels in the long run. although, i should say that i have not made the decision based on health but rather the animals and how they are treated.

i also want to say that going vegetarian is a completely personal choice and one that should be made thoughtfully. i have really loved learning about food and i think it is such an interesting topic to discuss with others. (A is not a vegetarian and i would never ask/expect him to be. but we have had some awesome conversations about food in general and he has been incredibly supportive of my choice).

so let's talk. what do y'all think? ever thought about going veggie? any vegetarians out there with tips/recipes?

weekend and some zzzzzz

a post dedicated to z gallerie.

backstory:

last weekend, A and I decided to take a little day trip down to ATL. we have been wanting to go to ikea and h&m down there for quite sometime. and i personally couldn't think of a better way to celebrate getting a new job. so i took my tax dollars and off we went.

our plan was to go first to h&m (an awesome clothing store. think forever 21 but more. and better organized). then to eat. then to ikea. no stops in between.

so down we went. first to h&m {found a few cute things}. then to eat. i spotted a california pizza kitchen in the shopping center we had landed in. umm..yes please. have you ever been? please go. and get the tostada pizza. yum. (tangent...tried to repeat the recipe and make my own earlier this week. not nearly as good. but props to shan for trying right?) after our delicious pizza excursion, we walked out of the restaurant to go straight to ikea. lo and behold, right before my eyes a huge z gallerie store. heard so much about it. had to just take a peek. right A? he happily obliged.

umm..it was heavenly. here is everything that caught my eye in that store. i wish i could have taken it all home.

i wanted this. i wanted this. so bad. so bad. but i didn't. now i wish i would've.

and this was my purchase. the shorter blue cloud vase. i'm in love.

what a great store. really. fabulous. go.

one of my beefs...it is expensive. you can find affordable things but i'm sorry. i will not pay $400 for a chandelier. especially when i am going to go buy one for $40 at ikea.

to sum up the story, ikea was wonderful as well. walked out without drowning my bank account and got some wonderful things to make my apartment more girly and lovely {in my eyes at least}. i'll share soon. however, my apartment looks like a disaster. i have come home from 2 weekend trips, dumped my bags in living room {where they exploded}, my shopping bags are still laying around and furniture is being traded out to make room for new purchases. its crazy. but i love it all so much.

all photos courtesy of z gallerie.

a spring treat

seeing as though summer is just around the corner, i have been attempting to change my diet to accommodate the upcoming bathing suit season. i mean, nothing gets your attention more than trying on swimsuits come march/april. (however, the see-through skin probably doesn't help my self confidence either).

my problem is that i have a sweet tooth. or maybe the correct term would be sweet teeth. so with my new "eating healthy" campaign, i needed to find a healthy alternative to my after-dinner cravings.

cue my healthy treat...

this sorbet is so very good friends. have y'all tried it? it's my favorite. they have multiple flavors (i have only tried strawberry and lemon) and strawberry is by far my favorite. however, i now need to convince myself not to eat the whole container in one night. seriously...it's that good.

do y'all have any go-to healthy treats to share? please do!

where the heart is

our weekend in kentucky was absolutely perfect. i felt like we were running around all weekend long. from my parents house, down to lexington, visiting friends all over and squeezing in as much hangout time with my loved ones as possible.

let's go over my little list of things i wanted to do while there, shall we?

*spend some time with my family. it was wonderful. i love them so much.

*see my kitty, milo.

*meet baby james and spend time with cory.

look at that little belly. he is so tiny.

*visit with my besties. and visit i did. a lot. and it makes me miss them that much. absolutely blessed i tell ya.

*hold baby silas and hug angie.

angie...i adore this picture with all my heart. and i love his little plaid shorts.

*eat pazzos. (delicious pizza place. be jealous.) i even ate it with some besties. doesn't get better than that.

*a little trip to forever 21. forever 21? check. my first trip ever to H&M? check. both very successful.

and thank you for all the comments about my job. i am very excited and can't wait to share more with y'all.

exciting news

guess who accepted a job offer this afternoon?

this girl!

it has been in the works for the past few weeks. or maybe i should say the past year. that would actually be closer. the economy wasn't kidding around.

i took a marketing internship when i got here in SC. i was having the most difficult time ever finding a job. so i have been working at that company for about 8 months now. and recently i have been looking for a new job. a full time, permanent position.

and i got one today. i couldn't be more thrilled. and i am hoping that it makes SC feel more "homey". like i have some permanent routine in my life now. we will see.

i am beyond excited and i actually start this friday. i am extremely ready to begin my career.

i can't wait to share how my first few days go!

kentucky love

greetings from kentucky! this weekend, A and I are taking a much needed trip to kentucky. it has been 4 months (too long) and i have been counting down the days to visit.

this weekend will look a little something like this.

*spend sometime with my family.

*see my kitty, milo. i love him. don't think i have introduced you yet so...

dang i can't wait to be tan again. moving on...

*meet baby james and spend time with cory.

*visit with my besties (so excited).

*hold baby silas and hug angie.

*eat pazzos (delicious pizza place. be jealous)

*a little trip to forever 21.

and so much more. i can't wait. it will be a jam-packed weekend so i will be signing off until next week. but i will try my hardest to take pictures and be back to document all the fun from my weekend at home.

happy weekend sweets.

easter sunday {part 2}: spring cleaning

on easter sunday, i got down to business. my apartment was a disaster a little messy so it needed a good clean. and for the past week or so, i had been trying to get some spring cleaning done. the apartment needed a whole lot of love and easter sunday was my day.

first, i made a list. i am obsessed (y'all probably know this already). i like crossing things off and i needed as much motivation as i could get to cross all of this off of my list.

i wasn't kidding. my list of to-do's ranged from making my bed and cutting up fruit/veggies all the way to cleaning the baseboards in my kitchen and the little corners of my bathroom that rarely sees the swiffer. i wasn't joking around. i was going to whip the apartment into shape.


i even took some pictures to document. ok so only one makes it on here. i had A take a few pictures of me in my spring cleaning glory {i just knew y'all would be chomping at the bit to see} but they all got the boot. no make-up, hair thrown into a pony-tail with a flowery headband, all while wearing shorts with watermelons on them paired with a tank top that has skull and crossbones (i'm that tough people). yep. all of those action shots got shot down. but i'll share my one picture...my giveaway pile.





when all was said and done {6 hours later}, my apartment was a shiny, springy, sparkly little apartment. i was so proud. all of those to-do's were crossed off that list. heck to the yes.

My bestie Rachel is having a fabulous giveaway on her blog. Check it out here.

easter sunday {part 1}

my apologies friends for being so bad about blogging this week. still no internet in the apartment so i either have to haul it over to the library or wait for A to come over (we can pick up a shared internet on his computer). so here i am...finally.

easter sunday was wonderful. A and I decided to not take any road trips but rather to stay in town and hang out together. he came up and we took off to church for the morning. it was so great to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. a part of the message in church that really stuck with me was the resurrection should be a day to day part of our lives as followers of the Lord...not something that we celebrate just once a year. and it is so true. i have been

chewing on that for the week and trying to think through what it looks like to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord daily.

switching to less important gears...i was ridiculous and didn't take any pictures of A and I in our easter outfits. not that they were fancy. they weren't even new (although i did break in a pair of fuschia flats that i got for spring awhile ago). but nonetheless, i wish i would've gotten a picture to share.

after church, we came home and made brunch. we made omelettes (is that how you spell that word?) and biscuits. the brunch was delicious (and yes. i am tooting our horns here).

our little easter brunch set-up. not fancy but perfect for us.

then i got down to business. and by that i mean was a cleaning master easter afternoon/evening. to be detailed in the next post my friends.

maxxinista

i work super close to a tjmaxx, which could be lucky or deadly, depending on how you look at it. many days i like to take a little break from work and walk around the store. i browse the home decorating aisles the most {duh} and love my little afternoons of trying to find something good.

last week i took a little trip and found so many things that i wanted. i was so proud of myself seeing as though i walked out of the store without making a purchase. trying to live on budget here people. but i did take pictures like a crazy person with my blackberry to share with blogland.

first thing that caught my eye was this little side table. totally for use indoors or out. i have liked these for quite sometime and really wanted to take this home with me.

they had these little boxes that you could store lots of things in. papers, receipts, recipes. it would instantly add a little chic to your desk or kitchen, don't you think?

i have been looking for a big woven basket for awhile. most are like 50 bucks or more. this one was ?. it didn't have a price. but most of the ones around it were 15-20. i just needed it to be a little bigger so i could store my blankets in it.

they had some super cute lamps (as always).

and last, they had some rugs that i really liked. this first one was a smaller black and white ikat print. {y'all know i love my ikat}. the 2nd one was a super cute tan and cream striped one. that one was huge. i wanted it. but my bank account decided $130 was just waaaay too much for me right now.

going back through these pictures, i apparently was on a light blue, green and natural color kick (except for the b&w rug). cute huh?

have y'all found anything good at your local tj maxx stores lately?