sparkle, glitz, and spandex

I love pretty much any country music awards show.  They are one of the most fabulous things ever.  I especially love Reba.  She's always so happy for everybody and gets teary eyed at least once.  It's great.  Her music isn't my favorite but she seems like such a nice person.  Anyway.  I always have a running commentary during any awards show, I'm sure my husband loves it.  Awards time is probably a time it would be good to have a female friend living near by to greater appreciate my fashion opinions and betting on who is going to win.

The Band Perry.  What the heck.  Why did they win so many things?  They are terrible!  I mean they sound horrible.  Their music makes my ears sad.  And their hair.  I'm just perplexed.  It looks straight out of the 80s but in a way that wasn't even fashionable in the 80s.  I just don't get it.  Ug.  Come on people.

Taylor Swift.  Oh Taylor Swift.  I accidentally used her as an example of a good famous person role model the other day.  I may not love her music but at least she doesn't act like a total moron like some people do.  And then there was the first year she won female vocalist or something and the cameraman showed Faith Hill going "What the f*@&"  That was amazing.  I was disappointed in her song this year.  It wasn't nearly as dramatic as her performances usually are.  

Brad and Carrie.  I love them so much.  I want to hang out with both of them.  Carrie Underwood always has the best hair.  I wish her stylist would come do my hair just once.  And her clothes are usually super cute.  This year they were a little out there but I guess if you're that skinny and that famous you can wear whatever you want.  And then Brad Paisley.  The black camo suit jacket.  Amazing.  It could have only been made better with some sequins.  I love Brad Paisley but you can totally see the Little Jimmy Dickens influence.  Also, I love Little Jimmy Dickens.  I was lucky enough to be at the Opry for his 60th anniversary.  It was amazing.

Luke Bryan.  Luke where did you get those very tight sparkly pants?  I'm a little afraid they came from the women's section of some store.  And those dancers....  There are no words.

And then there's Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.  Love love love both of them.  I totally made my husband watch the opening Footloose at least twice.  So great.  But poor Miranda's dress.  Adorable but it looked like it might fall off.  I did love that they got male and female entertainer of the year.  They are the cutest!

Thompson Square.  Okay, even their name is adorable.  I think they are so cute!  They are both gorgeous.  However, when they had them on camera for duo of the year (I think) the camera was totally focused on whoever was in front of them.  I wasn't paying enough attention to realize Thompson Square was actually behind these people and all I could think about was how freaky Keifer's hair was.  Or the guy I thought was Keifer.  He had these big floppy weird curls.  I seriously ran the show back like three times freaking out over his hair.  Insane.  I was glad when I realized what was going on.  Whew!  And that they kissed at the end of their song.  Adorable!  Loved it.  

leggings, tights, and flats

Okay.  I love leggings.  But only if they are worn with something that covers ones ass.  I also love tights.  But there are tights no one should wear as an adult.  I mean, I am a child of the 80s/90s and I definitely wore black tights with little pink bows all over them.  But, even in my quirkiness, I have the wisdom not to wear super patterned tights.  There is a line that should not be crossed.  You should not wear argyle tights that are black with light grey diamonds and red lines.  Even if they match your red dress.  You will look silly.  Now if the argyle is all black and just a texture or like those cute sweatery tights, those are fine.  Not bright patterns.  Never bright patterns.

Back to leggings.  Something should always cover your ass.  Other than just the leggings.  We are adults people.  I had a teacher in 5th grade who wore leggings and very short t-shirts.  It wasn't pretty.  A sweater dress, a regular dress, a tunic, something.  I do love leggings though.  They make up 1/3 of my favorite winter outfit -- sweater dress, leggings, and some sort of boots.  It's like wearing your PJs to work.  Fabulous.

And flats.  I love flats.  They are some of my favorite shoes.  However, in the rain they suck.  I was at a conference this weekend and the only shoes I wore/packed were flats.  And my feet have been wet since Sunday.  It's gross.  I do not approve. 

I did use all of my shopping will-power though.  I went to the Coach outlet.  And I had a 30% coupons.  And I bought nothing.  I also found a pair of zebra print flats in my size and walked away.  And a cute brown sweater dress that I loved because even though it had black in it, it really needs tall brown boots and I haven't found any I love yet.  So that would've meant I had to wear it with black or with flats.  And as previously mentioned, flats and I are having a fight this week.

things that make me smile

Middle-women saying "Hey girl!"
I work with quite a few women older than I am.  At least two of them frequently begin conversations with, "Hey girl!"  It never ceases to crack me up.  I mean I'm 28 and I never greet my friends with "Hey girl."  It's kind of cute though.

Finding M&Ms in my purse
This doesn't really happen often.  But yesterday I had bought a bag of peanut M&Ms and dropped them into my bag.  Then I proceeded to forget I had put them there until I went to eat lunch today.  It was a fantastic little treat.

Rain
It's finally raining.  We haven't had any rain in at least a month.  Our pond is so incredibly low it's ridiculous.  It did mean though we could pull the old lawn chair out of the pond that some former homeowner had thrown in.  Anyway.  Rain smells wonderful.  Especially in the...  well, anytime except winter.  I love it.

My husband.
Always.  Specifically though because he went to Hobby Lobby to buy me a styrofoam wreath so I could do my project.  My husband is a total outdoorsy guy, not the type to go to a craft store.  So sweet.

Windex wipes
Okay, this sounds weird.  I've had a streak of something down my windshield since last winter.  For a long time I thought it was on the outside.  Wrong.  But I just kept staring at it, forgetting to grab the Windex and go clean the inside of my windshield.  Today I finally got smart and bought a package of Windex wipes for my car.  And I cleaned my windshield.  Then I did what my friend Mandi does, wiped down the whole inside of my car.  Except she always uses Wet Ones, she's a mom, so it's a logical thing she has on hand.  Anyway, my windshield isn't all gross inside anymore.  And that gross spit trickle I get on the windshield from my Garmin is gone.  Hooray.

Cupcakes
I'm hosting a thirty-one party on Saturday.  I am known amongst my friends for always having delicious goodies at events.  So I finally planned my menu -- pinwheels (delicious!  called my best friend for her recipe), some kind of dip, and cupcakes.  I'm going to do orange cupcake papers and orange colored icing with a little green candy on top to make them look like pumpkins.  I only wish I could buy half a cake mix.  Who really wants or needs 24 cupcakes most times.  Definitely not me.

feeling like fall

It's been another warm and beautiful fall.  I don't even remember the last time it rained.  I know it's been over a month.  But they are predicting rain tomorrow.  And the leaves are starting to turn.  And it's finally starting to cool off and feel like fall.  I like fall, I just wish it didn't lead to winter.  I love pulling out my cozy sweaters and boots.  I love that wearing leggings, knock-off Uggs and a big wrappy sweater is socially acceptable to wear out in public and even to work because it's basically like wearing your pajamas.  And I love scarves.  I do not love snow.  I repeat, I do not love snow.  In college we always decided to go shopping or do something ridiculous when the weather was terrible.  Somehow we survived.

Anyway, fall.  My husband and I just celebrated our first anniversary.  We went away for a long weekend and I came back obsessed with fall.  And doing fall craft projects.  We just bought our house last spring and haven't had any real decorating seasons yet.  But now that it's fall I'm ready to go crazy.  It's possible that I'm already planning how I'm going to decorate for Christmas.  Anyway, a few weeks ago we planted a couple of mums and bought a pumpkin for the front porch.  But now I'm pretty sure that isn't enough.  I am going to put more pumpkins on my porch and do a couple of wreaths.  I am so excited about it.  Get ready for some DIY pictures of my fall wreath.  It's going to be great!

So I went to purchase all of my wreath making supplies after work.  I live in a small town surrounded by other small towns about an hour from any major city.  So that means I am very limited on my shopping.  My only shopping options in our town are Dollar General and a grocery store.  So I stopped at Wal-Mart on my way home.  No styrofoam wreaths.  Grr.  Despite desperately searching the store there weren't any to be found.  So I assume, okay a bigger Wal-Mart or craft-ish store will have these.  Well, the woman at Hancock fabrics looked at me disdainfully when I asked about styrofoam wreaths.  They didn't have any either.  Nor did the second Wal-Mart I went to.  Looks like I will be begging my husband to buy me one tomorrow at a real craft store. 


I also didn't get any more pumpkins because I was too busy being sad that there weren't any wreaths.  I know these wreaths have to exist, I've seen other people make them.  I am going to persevere, I am in serious need of fall decorations.  And fast.  I'm having people over Saturday and my house needs to be festive.

things i love that make me feel like an old woman

Bobby pins
I have those "cute side swept bangs" -- they are great in theory.  When my hair is all fixed and cute I love the bangs.  But when I am trying to get work done -- you know, paper work, clean my house, cook something delicious they drive me crazy!  These are the moments I am tempted to grab a pair of scissors and chop them off.  I made the mistake of the blunt cut bangs a few years ago, my husband (boyfriend at the time) was not impressed.  I wasn't either, but it did keep my hair out of my face.  So now I resort to a bobby pin when doing any of the previously mentioned tasks.  Eek!  It is not a good look.  Every time I do it I am pretty sure my granny would be proud, she hated girls with hair in their face and would always offer you a bobby pin.  So if you ever catch me at a hectic day at work or cooking anything, chances are there is a bobby pin or two jabbed in my hair.

Shapeware
Let me be the first to admit I appreciate the invention of Spanx.  I really truly do.  I am a curvy girl, more convex than concave and I need a little help.  However, I am pretty sure they are just a couple of slightly more comfortable steps away from my granny's girdle.  I always buy the Target brand because well, they are cheaper.  I am sure real Spanx are better.  I'm not sure how we all survived before Oprah introduced us.  Anyway.  The other day I put on a Spanx style cami and bottoms.  Well the cami refused to stay where it was meant to be.  So I came up with the perfect solution, ridiculous and embarrassing, but it worked.  I tucked my cami into my Spanx knock off bottoms.  It worked and I swear I looked like I lost like 20  pounds.  Best, most uncomfortable idea ever.

Jello/Fruit Salads
I have suffered lots of mocking for this.  I cannot help it.  You give me a wacky fruit salad and I will be a happy girl.  Watergate salad, the one with Cool Whip, pistachio pudding, pineapple, and marshmallows.  So freakin delicious.  There's another one with cream cheese, lemon pie filling, sweetened condensed milk and pineapple.  Holy cow, yum!  And then there's fluffy Jello, when you mix Jello (usually red with pineapple) with Cool Whip.  I love them all.  I don't care that no one my age still makes or really eats them except maybe at family functions to prevent hurt Great Aunt Fifi's feelings they are absolutely delicious.  Love it.