That's what I am talking about!

I got my snow, I got my snow!!! Can you believe it? On March 1st at that.

I was in Athens on Saturday night (bach pics to come) and my grandparents live nearby so on Sunday morning I went over and met them for lunch. It was nasty and raining when we walked in to the restaurant and less than an hour later when we walked out there was at least 2 inches of snow on the ground. Since this Georgia Peach has no experience with snow or ice everyone though it would be best for me to stay the night with the g-parents. Good thing! The snow kept coming and kept coming and last I checked we were up to six inches ... yes, I was the girl out in the yard with a ruler measuring the snow. Ha! My grandfather said he had not seen snow like that around here since 1977. This is serious stuff, folks! We lost power around 3 pm Sunday afternoon and it was finally restored around 2 am. We were living "Little House on the Prairie" style for a couple of hours but it was fun.

Puppy paw prints!The g-parents sassy cocker spaniel did not know what to think about all the white stuff!

I think she liked it much better inside where it was warm and dry!

So I got my fix ... we may not see weather like that again for another 10 years!

xoxo~

Gettin Ready for a HootNanny!

First off, I must say that the term HootNanny makes me laugh hysterically inside. I wrote the title of this blog and then got scared that it might have an underlying meaning that I didn't know about so I give you a disclaimer: I think that the term HootNanny means a big par-tay! Thus I am going to a HootNanny this weekend in Athens-town, G-A! Bacherlorette-ing with the girlfriends and it is gonna be fun.

In mental preparation for the trip tomorrow I was looking thru pictures from my bachelorette party ... we went to Destin and I had a ball. Probably because I have the coolest friends this side of the Mississippi :) The pics are quite humorous (and some quite inappropriate) and let me remind you that behavior like that is only acceptable once in a lifetime! On your Bachelorette Party, of course.

I am sure to come back with a story to tell. These pics can hold you over in the mean time!

I have no idea what could have possibly been so funny!

"Stage diving" in the limo ... by everyone's reaction it does not look like they were amused :)

The final product. A Bachelorette Bash with good times had by all: Mission Accomplished!

Have yourselves a fun weekend as well!!!

xoxo~

Can I get a Yee-Haw!!!

Can I get a Hellz Yeah!!!

Today is MONUMENTAL in the life of A Belle and her Beau. As of 8:39 a.m. we are officially 100% out of credit card debt!!!! Hallelujah ... I want to shout from the roof-tops! In all honesty it only took us a couple of months to pay off our credit cards once we really became serious about doing so. But it wasn't easy and it wasn't always fun. Saving money and/or paying off debt is much like dieting, at first it completely blows and you are miserable but after a couple of weeks you begin to get used to it and it becomes second-nature, so to speak. For the first month it definitely sucked to write down every single solitary penny I spent (even if it was just 97 cents on a coke) when I was so used to just running a debit card and trashing the receipt. But when the Beau and I totally grasped the concept of Every Penny, On Paper, On Purpose our spending habits have completely changed.

We are not in the clear yet though. We still have student loans and the Beau's car is not paid off. Before I began Financial Peace University I had the mind-set that student loan debt was "not bad debt" and that everyone had a car payment. Well, if I would have just used a little bit of common sense I would have realized that all debt (minus your home) is bad debt and if you owe $20k on a car, in fact you are in $20k in debt. With lots of prayer to be strong and faithful in paying down our debt we hope to have my student loan paid off by the end of this year and the Beau's loan and car paid in the following 2 years. Again, that will come with lots and lots of prayer.

Proverbs 22:7 says,

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

The bible gives us over 800 scriptures on how God intends us to handle our money ... you can find them here.

xoxo~

Blogger Blahs and Catching Up

I have the Blogger Blahs in a bad, bad way. I have been averaging about a post a week but that is all I have been able to muster up. **Point is case .... I have just sat here staring at my computer screen for five minutes thinking of what I should write next** Basically, I got nothin. I should possibly go back to my original intention of making this my online scrapbook. We will see ...

I do have just a couple of pics from Monograms and Mimosas on Saturday morning. I have been waiting on some more pictures {helloo LEF} but I will show you the ones I have, or the ones I stole rather.

First of all, if you are a bride you totally need to request a Monograms and Mimosas shower. The bride got the CUTEST stuff! Let's be honest, you could monogram a piece of poop and it would be cute. It was really fun to plan as well. However, it was at my house and I took on the "catering" ... I now know why caterers charge an arm and a leg - it is serious hard work! Especially when you are working in a kitchen as small as mine.

The bride in her adorable new monogrammed apron!

The "party favors"

Me with the bride and I am pa-pa-pa-pasty white. Come on spring! {APK, I promise I will not be this white in your wedding dear}

Hope you all have a terrific Thursday!

xoxo~

Showers and Sleep Overs!

At 5 o'clock EST my 3-day weekend begins. I took tomorrow off to prepare for Monograms and Mimosas. Ya'll I am beginning to panic ... I have enough food to feed an army, the hostess gift has been purchased and wrapped, the decorations are cute, I have gift favors, the mimosas will be flowing HOWEVER none of this is going to matter if everyone can't fit in my house!!! Last night 11 girls were over for book club and that is when worry set in. If 20 people show up on Saturday we will be tight (real tight) but if more than that come I am basically screwed. My calculations are showing that we will have between 16 and 18 but if peeps are feeling real shower-y on Saturday morning I might be out of luck.

Oh well, I can't worry about that now. This is what we will "brunch" on:

Breakfast Casserole

Sausage Pinwheels

Pigs in a Blanket

Party Ham Rolls

Strawberries and Fruit Dip

Cheese Ring

Cinnamon Rolls

Orange Blossoms

Cheese Straws

To drink we will have Passion Fruit Mimosas, Strawberry Mimosas, Traditional Mimosas, and coffee.

I probably went a little overboard on the menu but I would much rather have too much than not enough. Pictures to come on Monday.

Tomorrow night 2 of my besties from out of town are coming in early to slumber-party-it-up with me! Very exciting ... aren't they cute??!!

In book club news, we chose to read Jen Lancaster's Bitter is the New Black for this upcoming month ... changing it up quite a bit from Redeeming Love :)

I knew I would love this book when I read "...or why you should never carry a Prada bag to the unemployment office!" Who has read it? Thoughts?

A few of you have asked over time about my book club ... it is not a bloggy bookclub, its the real deal, but I would love for anyone to read along and I will be more than happy to chit chat with you about the book!!!

xoxo~

V-Day Weekend

I have enjoyed reading about everyone's Valentine weekend. It sounds as if many of you were spoiled by Cupid! The Beau and I started out the Valentine weekend by doing something very, very romantic ... I am not sure if it is even appropriate to share on the blog. However I don't like to hold much back so here goes. I had been out of town for an entire week so ..... we did ..... (keep in mind we only do this kind of thing once a year) .... our taxes. I know, right? You wish you were me.

Saturday afternoon we drove up to Atlanta, shopped for a couple of hours and then went and met up with one of our favorite couples at their house. The boys lounged around and the girls prepared a fancy feast (not really all that fancy but it was fun). On the menu was Cajun crab dip from Fresh Market (my fave), the Beau's favorite kiwi-mandarin salad, shrimp pasta, strawberry cupcakes and petit fours.

After dinner we went to Cafe Intermezzo, which I highly recommend, for more dessert and coffee cocktails!

Sweet, simple Valentine's Day with my sweet husband and sweet friends!!! I wouldn't have had it any other way.

xoxo~

Yummie Tummie!

Please tell me that you all know about Yummie Tummie tanks and I have just been living in a hole! I am in Birmingham this week for work and I had a little bit of free time yesterday so I ran in to a little boutique ... and this is where I struck gold. On a little table with the Spanx were these amazing tank tops/ camisoles called Yummie Tummie!

As I have illustrated in the first picture the cami is basically broken up in to 3 pieces. The top is just your basic camisole or tank. The middle is where the magic happens!! It is tight stretchy material that is supposed to suck you in real good and eliminate muffin tops! Whoo Hoo! Then there is an extra piece of material at the bottom for extra length ... always good if you are tall like me.

Bad news is that these come with a hefty price tag. Boo! The tank in the first picture retails for $62 and the cami in the second picture retails for $72. Yikes. But what a great concept!!! I didn't try one on but when I came home and went to the website I found out that it was one of Oprah's Top Picks for Summer and Heidi Klum also endorses them. And we all know we can always trust Heidi and Oprah ... except when it comes to politics :)

Beau- I didn't buy one so don't freak out in case you are reading! Dave and FPU is really crampin' my style! But we are "living like nobody else so later we can live like nobody else" ... then I will be living like nobody else with no muffin tops!

If you have one of these let me know how it works for ya!

xoxo~

Party Pics

Here are some pics from Cupcakes and Cocktails ... finally.

my cupcake hand towel ... courtesy of Tar-jay.

pink, black and white m&m's ... you have no idea how many bags of Valentine m&m's I had to pick through to get only the white and hot pink ones. I bought the black ones from the m&m station at Swoozie's.

I got this Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake recipe from Buford Betty's blog and they were sinfully delicious! I completely copied her by putting the diamond rings in the cupcake for decoration. Thanks BB for your help - yours were much cuter than mine though :)

I molded a cheese ring that I made in to the shape of a heart ... served with strawberry preserves. Yummmm!

The beautiful bride-to-be with her special pink/black wine glass. Sportin' her pink and black attire in true fashion!

All the pretty bridesmaids ... excluding me - I was having a crazy bad "face-day". Ha! Ironic that the heart said UR HOT. Should have said UR NOT!

xoxo~

Cupcakes & Cocktails

Is it only Tuesday?!? There is a lot of week left but that is actually a good thing because I have lots going on! I am in full party-planning mode. I know that I showed you the invitation for Monograms and Mimosas but I haven't told you all about Cupcakes and Cocktails yet ... and it is actually occurring this Friday!

*Invitations ordered from Wedding Paper Divas ... such a fun company!

So for months I knew I wanted to have a Cupcakes and Cocktails par-tay for my girlfriends around Valentine's Day and I began planning this party in my head. Well my friend Page got engaged so I decided to definitely have the party and give it in honor of her. It is going to a small little gathering of her bridesmaids and in my mind it is going to be super cute ... lets just pray that I execute! Haha!

I am a little bit nervous because this is the first real party that I have hosted at our house AND I am giving it all alone. So basically if it sucks it will be all on me. Kidding, kidding. I really think that it is going to turn out fab! I am serving appetizers, wine, a "pink drink", and 3 different types of cupcakes - I am making 1 myself but the other 2 are being "professionally" done! Everything is going to be pink and black ... I have lots of little details that I will share but they will have to be revealed on Monday because I don't want to spoil everything for the bride and any other guests that are readers! In keeping with the pink and black theme I think I am going to sport this number ...

the pink dress and maybe I will add some black jewelry. I had this on in a picture I posted previously and a couple of you asked where it was from (I am very bad at answering questions sometimes). You can find it here ... all the way at the bottom on the left!

So if this party is a success Cupcakes and Cocktails might become a tradition ... next year you all can be invited!!!

Wish me luck! I probably won't be around anymore this week because I have some work travel and such but I will give you all the details from the shin-dig on Monday.

xoxo~

ps- I have to make it known that I have the world's greatest husband ... we ordered a leather chair and ottoman for Christmas and long story short it was delivered to his parents house who live 4+ hours away. Guess who took off work and is making the 8 hour journey for the chair? Yep. Bless his heart but I had to have that chair by Friday. You understand.

Super Bowl Snack

You all know I wouldn't leave you on the Friday before Super Bowl Sunday without a recipe to serve at your party on Sunday! Now until yesterday I didn't know who was playing or what time the game started but I sure did know what I was going to whip up! This is a super easy, super good recipe that I promise you all will enjoy. It is called Redneck Caviar and there are all sorts of versions (so feel free to add or leave out any ingredient) but this is how I make mine ...

2 cans of white corn, drained
1 can of black eyed peas, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of Rotel
1 large can of diced tomatoes (or you can chop up fresh ones yourself)
2 large bell peppers, chopped (I will probably use one red and one green for lots of color)
a little bit on cilantro
a couple of chopped green onions
a few shakes of garlic powder and garlic salt
about 3/4 a bottle of zesty italian dressing OR ceasar dressing (I prefer ceasar because it is creamier)

Shake up all ingredients in a large bowl and place covered in the refrigerator for appx. 12 hours. Best served with Tostito Scoops.

Now for all you weight watchers ... don't hold me to this because I do not know for 100% positive but someone told me that this is 0 WW points. Obviously excluding the chips. But like I said that is just hear-say!

What are you serving at your Super Bowl soiree??

xoxo~

What's IN a ring?

A couple of weeks after we got married the Beau's mom gave me a gift ... the ring pictured above. It was the Beau's great great (maybe another great) aunt's wedding band. It is a thin, platinum band with some etching and 4 teeny-tiny diamonds embedded across the top of the band. I thought that it was so sweet of her to give it to me, it fit perfectly, and I have worn it on my right hand since the day I received it. However, I didn't fully appreciate the significance of the ring until last night.

I was laying on the couch watching a Seinfeld re-run waiting for the Beau to get home from work. I had the ring in my hand and I was just twirling it around when I noticed engraving on the inside of the band. It took a couple of seconds to figure out what it said because the engraving was faint. My eyes finally adjusted and in a fancy font was written:

John to Anne 12-23-1925

Chills went down my spine. This was not just some old ring. It was the legacy of a marriage ... a bride who was married 2 days before Christmas just over 83 years ago. Wow!

My imagination begin to turn as I started thinking about John and Anne. My immediate thought was that their love story was similar to Noah and Allie's in The Notebook or at least set in the same time period (although I read that their story did not begin until the 1940s). I began to wonder where this couple lived? How many children did they have? How old was Anne when she got married? Maybe John had returned from war just a few years prior. Did he have to leave 14 years after their marriage to serve in WW2? I hope not but its a good possibility. Its a good possibility that he didn't return. Yes .... this is how my mind works!

I will treasure this ring forever and will hopefully have the opportunity to pass it down one day to my daughter or possibly my son's wife.

Later I begin thinking that the Beau and I did not have either of our wedding bands engraved. But that will be done soon ... very soon. Maybe 83 years from now someone will lay on their couch and wonder about my love story. Good thing I have a blog :) lol.

xoxo~

Ms. Wang, my husband agrees completely!

"You don't alter VERA to fit your body, you alter your body to fit VERA!" - Bride Wars

I had about 7 extra pounds sticking to me like white on rice that were accumulated during all of my fall travel and over the holidays. I finally got sick of it and I have been "dieting" (I use the term extremely loosely) for about 3 weeks and the majority of the extra weight is gone. Fyi - my only tricks are portion control and lots of water. Anyway, I was cooking dinner the other night, the Beau walked in and tugged on my semi-sagging pants and our conversation went something like this:

Him: You are about to lose your pants there buddy!
Me: I know man,what are we going to do about that? (thinking that the only logical answer to that question would be for him to say that I needed to buy new ones)
Him without missing a beat: I guess you better start eating more! Exits room.

Seriously? Seriously. At my house we apparently don't alter (or buy) clothes to fit our bodies, we alter our bodies to fit our existing clothes. You can't win for losing at my house. And I mean that in the most literal way possible.

xoxo~

"Whys" of the Week

I can pretty much guarantee that I went through a stage of being one of these annoying children who asked Why multiple times a day/ after every statement. You know the kind.

Go get in your bed.

Why?

Because it is time to go to sleep.

Why?

Because we sleep when its dark outside.

Why?

Please Lord don't give me kids like that! Anyway, here are my Whys of the Week ....

Why are all my favorite shows re-runs this week (ie. Desperate Housewives, Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Grey's, etc.)???

Why are the Ice Storms effecting me when we have had no bad weather whatsoever??? I have eaten dinner by my lonesome for the past 2 nights because the Beau has worked until after 8 pm because of the Ice Storms. Boo!

Why am I almost-25-years-old and my face continues to break out every single solitary month??? It will be real cute when my teenage daughter and I can share acne medication!

Why can I never remember everything I need at the grocery store??? And on that subject, why is my grocery bill always out of control??? There are only 2 people living in my house!

Why have I just now discovered these "faux twinkies"??? I don't think I have ever even had a real Twinkie but, boy, I have been missing out ... if the real ones are better than these I think I might die and go to heaven!

Why do the Cirque du Soleil Kooza tickets at Atlantic Station have to be 100+ dollars a piece??? I really want to go for Valentine's but I know the Beau isn't going to fork over $200+ for us to go (especially after I refused to go with him to see the Bodies and King Tut exhibits). Although I know it would be totally worth it! That might have to be a mother/ daughter event.

Anybody got the answers???

xoxo~

Please don't make me pay for my advice!

I have a question ... a boring question (possibly a stupid question) but I figure that you all are here to help me with the fun stuff and the not-so-fun stuff. Right? All you finance peeps listen up. For the past couple of years (since I have had a real job) I have claimed 0 and 0 on my taxes so I have always received a tax refund. I understand now that you should really try to break even ... receive nothing, owe nothing. But hindsight is 20/20 and nonetheless I am expecting to receive a refund this year of about $2,000 and the Beau will most likely be eligible for a refund of the same amount. So since we are getting refunds I would like to maximize the refund as much as possible (obviously). Here is my question - should the Beau and I file together as married or file separately? We don't qualify for any major deductions because we don't yet own a home or have anything significant to write-off. I am just a little confused ... marriage sure does complicate these kind of things :) Any help or advice you could give me will be much appreciated!

In other news I have been quite busy preparing for 2 showers I am hosting this month at my house!!! I LOVE giving showers and I have the tendency to go a little overboard but I have had the best time planning and I can't wait for it to all come together. One of the showers I am planning is for a college friend and it is going to be Monograms and Mimosas and I have to tell you that it is the most fun themed-shower to plan!!! I am going to try and wait to share all the details until after the shower so I can share pictures, etc. but I have to show you the invitation now because they are so cute I can't stand it. My "in real life friend" Emily at Savannah Redtops designed them for me and I couldn't be happier. I emailed her letting her know the type of shower and the colors I am using along with the basic information and she worked this up for me in just a few hours. She totally read my mind ... Thanks, Em!



xoxo~

Rebelling against technology.

You could say we are living in the dark ages. In fact, it would be a pretty fair statement. The Beau and I don't own a lot of gadgets. Neither of us have an i-pod {gasp!} ... I know, I know, we are like the last people on planet earth. We don't have fancy phones or a Wii or any other game system for that matter. We don't have satellite radio or any sort of sound system hooked up to our television (surprisingly enough we do have a flat screen, hdtv or whatever you call it). We don't even have a digital camera any more for crying out loud ... mine broke this summer and we have yet to replace it! I am truly not complaining - these are just not things that we ask for for Christmas, birthdays, etc. We would prefer to go on a weekend getaway or a nice dinner out for our anniversary rather than buying a video camera. It's just us. And of course I would prefer jewelry or clothes or furniture if you are buying solely for me :)

Anyways, for Christmas this year the Beau's parents bought us a GPS which is awesome for me because I can't find my way out of a paper sack ... I seriously have the worst sense of direction. It's actually quite embarrassing sometimes. We haven't really been anywhere since Christmas so on our way to Atlanta this past weekend we decided to use the GPS even though we knew where we were going, we just wanted to try it out. Bad idea. Since we knew where we were going I was getting uber frustrated when it wasn't giving us the most efficient directions. Then it kept saying things like this .... turn right on to Lakewood Doctor or turn left on to Hammond Doctor. Are you kidding me!!!???!!! This is a 200 dollar NAVIGATION device and it doesn't know the difference between DRIVE and DOCTOR??? That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. We were both so mad but it was also quite humorous.

So in conclusion I think that the GPS is an idiot and I am frightened to use it again ... although I am going to South Carolina later today for work and I am depending on it to get me there. Maybe I am the idiot.

xoxo~

The Ultimate Girls Night Out & Pearls Night Out!

The Beau works in Atlanta. We live about 50 miles south of Atlanta so that I can be close to my job and family and he commutes. It works for us. We have definitely toyed with the idea of moving half-way between here and there and we have even given thought to moving to Atlanta. But for now (and most likely for forever) we are 100% happy with where we are. You get the small-town living without being too far removed from a major city. There is one reason that I desperately want to move to the ATL .......... Nail Talk & Tan. We are talking about a nail salon ladies. Yes that is right, I would uproot and move given the opportunity to visit this particular nail salon once a week. First off let me tell you that every single nail place in my town is horrible - I am talking about nasty, filthy, disgusting, needs to be shut down asap. Let me also tell you that I don't spend money frivolously but I do love a good mani/ pedi every couple of weeks. It is my special little treat to myself. I enjoy every single solitary second of being pampered on! Since I don't like to go within a 5 mile radius of any nail salon in my town I will get my pedi in Atlanta at Nail Talk & Tan (specifically the one in Dunwoody near Perimeter Mall) any chance I get.

So when the Beau told me that he wanted to go to Atlanta this past Saturday for a boys night out with some friends from work I told him I was riding with him and immediately started planning the Ultimate Girls Night Out with one of my Atlanta besties. Of course our first stop was to my fave nail salon. With your standard pedi at NT&T you also get a massage and I am talking about a real, wonderful, full-out massage. Well of course you don't lie down on a bed or anything but you get hot washcloths on your face, they massage your temples, rub your head, and work on your back and shoulders for a good 20 minutes. 20 minutes of pure bliss. The whole experience takes close to 2 hours so you can't be in a hurry. Also note that this place is squeaky clean or I would never in a million years let them put a washcloth on my face! During the 2 hours 2 magical things happened. The first being that it snowed and we all know how much I love snow! The second being that I found my new favorite polish color ... OPI Pearls Night Out! I just took a picture of my foot with my new polish but I decided you all might be grossed out so I won't post it. Ha. I will try to explain instead - the color is a pearl white with a hint of metallic making it look like a winter wonderland on your nails! Very appropriate since it was snowing outside. It is a welcomed change to the dark reds, purples and blacks I have been wearing on my toes all winter. White is the new black!

Our next stop was to a little place called Chocolate Pink where we shared a Cookies and Cream cupcake and a Red Velvet cupcake. Heaven on a plate!!! And then we were off to see Bride Wars ... the ultimate chick-flick for our ultimate GNO. Good times, good times!!!

xoxo~

My Theory.

My theory is that .... alackofcaffeineismakingmeatotalemotionalandhormonalwreck!!!

Did you get that? Oh sorry. What I said was: a lack of caffeine is making me a total emotional and hormonal wreck.

Do you think that is possible?

I told ya'll that my NY Resolution was to drink only one coke per week. Let me emphasize that nothing in the whole wide world is better to me than a fully-leaded coke in a big ole styrofoam cup with crushed ice. I haven't had a sip of caffeine in 5 days! I had cravings and they have subsided for the most part. I had headaches and they too have finally subsided. But I am a basket-case (remember my post from Wednesday) and the lack of caffeine is the only variable that I can blame it on.

Am I the only one who cried (okay, sobbed) through President Bush's Farewell Address last night??!! No snide comments please and thank-you ... I might cry. haha :)

PS- I am saving my one coke for tomorrow when I go and see Bride Wars. Whoop, Whoop!

xoxo~

Coming out of the closet isn't so hard after all.

When I first started blogging it was sort of a secret. Not a huge secret because my mom knew and after a couple of weeks I told a couple of my close friends. But never in a million years would I go and post my blog address on my facebook page or anything like that. It's just not that kind of blog. Now that I have been blogging for about 6 months more people that I know have come to find out about the blog ... and that is totally fine with me. Many of my friends read it and many family friends read and I like that they find me interesting :) However I don't go around blabbing about having a blog and I get really mad at the Beau when he talks about my blog in front of a large group of people. We were at a wedding shower the other day and a group of us were about to take a picture and he said something like .... I hope you know that all of you are going on the blog. I wanted to punch him because a.) he doesn't even know what I write about because b.) he doesn't even read it! Which, by the way, does not hurt my feelings in the least. Anyways, you get the point ... I don't so much like to talk about my online life offline. haha :)

Last night my book club met at a cute little restaurant downtown for dinner, drinks, dessert, etc. As I mentioned in a previous post, we extended Redeeming Love for 2 months. We won't discuss the book until February but we wanted to get together in January just to catch up and have some girl time. This is the first time we have all gotten together outside of someones home and I had the best night! Well somehow blogging came up, a few of the other girls have blogs, and I divulged about my blog. gasp. And then this morning I emailed them all my blog address. double gasp. And they all are probably about to come over. triple gasp. Hello Girls!

So basically I came out of the closet to my book club and it wasn't so hard. What was I so worried about? Who knows! Here we are last night in all of our glory ...

xoxo~

Calling my name ...

It's been one of those days!

xoxo~