What I'm Loving Wednesday 9.21.11

 

Welcome to What I'm Loving Wednesday... which I am getting very good at posting on Thursday... Que Sara, Sara. Here's a list of things that are making me smile this week:

1. Premier week. Hi, my name is Caroline... and I am a TV addict. Are you ready for this... my DVR is recording  FOURTEEN HOURS of television this week. Oh my gosh. I cannot believe I am admitting that on the interweb. But there it is. I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem. But I don't know how to take the next step... you know, getting better. Here's hoping that a lot of the shows are terrible this year and I don't want to watch them anyway. Bleh.... 

2. Three's Company. Come and knock on our door... that's right. I just quoted a 1970's TV show theme song. Deal with it. But I am excited that we are gaining a roomie today. Robbie is coming to live with us for a month while he does a rotation at Vanderbilt Med. Super pumped to have Robbie in town, even if it does mean that I will become a third wheel to Robbie and Will's relationship for a while. 

Besties!!

3. Shopping! So, I received a little gift from a certain fairy godmother recently... money that is only to be used for shopping for fun fall clothes! So pumped. And I will be devoting an entire entry (or two) to my shopping trip. But for now I am excited that I am going this weekend and have been excited all week. I've also been internet "shopping" to see what's out there, what's fun right now, what I will be looking for, etc. Here's a sneak peek: 

Fun Skirts and Dresses I've found.

Fun, short brown boots!

4. One Week 'Til Baltimore. I know that I keep talking about it but I'm pumped and I will be there one week from today!

Can't wait for quality time with the Ben Holmans!

5. Girl's night tomorrow! So, Bridesmaids came out on DVD this week and Will is going to the Hog game in Tuscaloosa this weekend. Do you know what that means? Yep, girls night at my house tomorrow to drink wine, have fun and watch Bridesmaids. Cannot. Wait. 

Happy Thursday everyone! Even if I am pretending that it's Wednesday in the blogosphere. 

Memory Monday 9.19.11

Breaking tradition today's Memory Monday will be about this past weekend instead of a more distant memory. As I've talked about here plenty in the last few weeks, this is a month of three day weekends! This past weekend Will and I headed to Little Rock on Friday morning for fun with family and then I kept on traveling to Dallas on Saturday for a friend's wedding. Weekend breakdown:

Will and I left Friday and started our road trip. Conversation that happened before leaving: 

Will: I'll drive.

Caroline: Are you sure? I don't mind.

Will: Yeah, it's fine I'll drive. 

Caroline: Okay, well... I will have a long day in the car on Sunday having driven from         Dallas to Little Rock that morning so I am not going to drive that day and do not want this to be held against me...

Will: Okay, you drive.

Yep, that's called marriage. Haha.

So, we got to Little Rock and dropped Dexter off at Will's parents for the weekend and then headed to Ray and Amy's for Mary Win's birthday dinner. It was SO GOOD to finally see Ray, Amy, Ada and Mary Win again! Ada has grown up so much and Mary Win looks like a different kid from the last time I saw her! We had delicious barbecue (Will and I are disappointed in the lack of good bbq places in Nashville so it was GREAT to eat some yummy Whole Hog), sang Mary Win Happy Birthday and had cake that Amy made. Here's a video of the end of Happy Birthday and Ada blowing out the candle. Ada is such a helpful big sister! So funny! 

Birthday girl in the birthday chair!!

Will and Ada eating dinner in their birthday hats .

After dinner and birthday festivities Will, Ray, Amy and I went with a group of Ray and Amy's friends to see Robert Earl Keen at Rev Room in the Rivermarket. It was SO fun to spend this time with Ray and Amy and to see friends that we don't often get to spend time with. Good times and great memories. 

Will is kind of mid-blink but the night was fun!

Fuzzy but I had such a great time with you, Amy!!

 Saturday morning EARLY SATURDAY MORNING we went to the JDRF walk with our team "We the Peeples." Will and I don't make it to this event enough but it is so fun to see friends and to come together to raise money for a cause very near and dear to all of our hearts - curing Juvenile Diabetes. In case you don't know, both Will and our precious niece Ada have Type 1 Diabetes and so we support JDRF as much as we can! It's a great organization and we especially love the group that works at the Little Rock branch. Some time soon I am going to write a guest post for Amy's blog about being married to a diabetic. But for now just know that we are committed to finding a cure - even when it means waking up super early after a fun night out!

At the Walk in our awesome t-shirts provided by the RPeeples fam! Love this new tee!

With M Dubs at the Walk. I loved holding her so much that I didn't want to give her to anyone else. Then my arms were sore the next day. True story.

When everyone set off on the walk I got in the car and headed toward Dallas for Chevis English's wedding. I stopped in Bryant, picked up Rebekah, got Chik 'n Minis from Chik-Fil-A and we were off! Not kidding, the drives to and from Dallas seemed like they took about an hour total. Rebekah and I never stopped talking and it was SO much fun! We covered every topic from her kids to my dog to our husbands leaving cups out at night so that the first thing we do every morning is pick them up to chatting fall boots! It was so great. And, for the record since I mentioned the cleaning up the cups thing, our ride was not a husband bash-fest. We really talked about how amazing out hubbies are and how unbelievably blessed we are to have them! Aaron Boone and Will Peeples = winners. And not in a weird Charlie Sheen way.

We got to Dallas and laid around, talked even more and then got ready for the wedding. After some worrying about our wardrobes (black tie optional = a little bit confusing) we were dressed and headed to the wedding. The ceremony was perfect (we discussed afterward what a great job the preacher did - it was a very meaningful but not overly-long ceremony) and Chevis looked absolutely gorgeous. Not kidding - favorite wedding dress ever. The group that was there was so fun and the night was a great mix of catching up with old friends and seeing people that I haven't seen in years. GREAT wedding, Chev! Rebekah also posted about the wedding here if you want to see more pics, including some of Chevis!

Yesterday Rebekah and I drove back from Dallas from about 9:00 - 2:00 (again, felt like 30 minutes) and then Will and I drove back from Little Rock from about 3:00 - 8:30. It was a long day in the car but the weekend was worth it. 

And now the countdown to Baltimore commences - more memories to be made. T-minus 10 days!!

Happy Monday!

What I'm Loving Wednesday 9.14.11

This blog is quickly turning into JUST What I'm Loving Wednesdays... not okay. I'll be sure to post a Theater Thursday tomorrow. And them I'm out for the weekend because tomorrow is actually my Friday! More on that shortly. But here's what I've been loving this week while I've been MIA from the blogosphere.

1. Boot season is here! If you are male (1) you're reading my blog? and (2) skip to the next entry... Anyway, boots! First of all, let me state for the record that I detest cold weather. You will not ever here me outside complaining about the heat because I know better than to complain about it. I would ALWAYS rather be hot than cold. Well, that's not totally true. Okay, unless I am sleeping I would ALWAYS rather be hot than cold. And if I am sleeping I would like to be the perfect temperature, thank you. Back to the point - I hate cold weather. But I do feel that the ONLY redeeming quality about it is that I get to wear boots. Boots go with everything and are so much more comfortable than summer shoes for me (high arches = summery flats really not being that comfortable). Also, there are so many different kinds of boots! Cowboy boots, slouchy boots, booties, hooker boots. Eh... not that I have any hooker boots. Alright, I just got way to excited about this subject. But here are some boot pics that make me excited for the fall ahead!

2. Four day weeks. Oh, did I mention that last week? Don't care. They're always awesome. And tomorrow is my Friday!!

3. Mary Helen. Her planning skills are INSANE. Will and I got a super long email today with our trip to Baltimore (9/29 -10/3!!) all planned out day by day. Love how excited she is for us to come and really love how excited I am to go!!

4. Road trippin'. Will and I are leaving Friday morning to head to LR for Mary Win's birthday Friday night (for the record - cannot wait for some QT with the Ray Peeples family... haven't seen them in almost FIVE MONTHS!), the JDRF walk on Saturday morning and then I am heading to Dallas with Rebekah for Chevis' wedding! I am so excited to see old friends at the wedding and especially excited to spend the road tripping time with Rebekah. We hardly ever get to see each other and when we do it is never uninterrupted bonding time... 10 whole hours in the car (on top of the 10 to and from Nashville, btw) that I should dread but I am SO EXCITED about!!

5. I love the fact that I wrote this on time and didn't post it yesterday! Ugh!

Happy THURSDAY!

What I'm Loving Wednesday 9.7.11

Hello there and Happy Wednesday! Here are things I've been loving this week:

1. Welch's Fruit Snacks. Yep, I'm five years old but I don't care. I love these things. They are an easy snack and I eat two packages a day at work. *Side note: I forgot to grab any this morning and I really want some right now! Mmmm... 

2. Learning new things. Listen, I will admit that I am a little prideful at times. But, I try to always be teachable. Now, this can be a very sensitive situation when the person teaching you is your spouse. And even more so when the conversations starts with, "Can I tell you about something I saw on your blog?" Last night Will (very kindly and carefully) pointed out that I had use "i.e." incorrectly. I really meant "e.g." In case you are curious, here is the difference (this is per Wikipedia because I'm lazy and it's the easiest source - sue me): 

      i.e. - "That is (to say)" in the sense of "that means" and "which means", or "in other words", or sometimes "in this case", depending on the context. It is often misinterpreted as "in example." In this situation, e.g. should be used instead. 

So, now you have your English lesson for the day. You're welcome. And, thank you Will for telling me that in a totally non-condescending way. :) 

3. Four day weeks. Obviously this week is a four day week for everyone. Well, everyone who is not in law school with my husband. Because they had class on Monday. But I digress...  I looked at my calendar yesterday and I have three four day weeks this month! Ah... so pumped. Next Friday I am taking a day to head to LR and then on to Dallas with Rebekah for Chevis' wedding! And then the last weekend of this month Will and I are going to Baltimore to visit Mary Helen and Ben for a long weekend! So much to look forward to this month and so great that I only have one five day week of work. Thrilled.

4. Adele station on Pandora. Edie set this up for me at the pool a couple weekends ago. It seems like an obvious choice but I hadn't used Adele as a station header and let me tell you, if you like her... do it. 

5. Blog Stalking. I have written about Google Reader and how awesome it is. Now that I have the RSS app on my iPhone I am subscribed to even more blogs so that I always have something new to read. I thought I'd share some of my favorites: Ornamental Habit, Sugar Savvy, The Boone Fam, Georgia James, Suri's Burn Book (incredibly silly but so hilarious), Team Bradley, Truthful Conversations and there are many others but these are the ones that I most frequently read and that I am not ashamed to say that I stalk. ;-)

Hope everyone has a Happy Wednesday!

Memory Monday 9.5.11

Today I spent a lot of time on the couch - woohoo for a day off! I worked on a fall wreath that I found on Pinterest last weekend and it has turned into QUITE the time consuming project. But it is fun and I've taken progressive photos so I'll share those later on this week once I have a finished product. Anyway, today's Memory Monday will be photos (and captions) only because I am kind of sick of sitting around so Will and I are grabbing dinner soon. I literally scrolled through my iPhoto and grabbed these at random. And they're in totally random order. So... enjoy the randomness. 

Bid Day 2004 - can't believe how many of you girls became my best friends and we didn't even know each other that night!! Except Haley - 9th grade. Ha.

Eden's wedding weekend - unbelievable amount of fun.

The night we went and saw New Moon at midnight. In t-shirst we made. What do you think about that, Will? :-)

Bid Day on the KKG lawn 2007 - Senior Year. 

Vegas. Ahh.... Vegas.

Christmas break at the beach with Susan and Mom 2007. I love this picture because this trip was so great and because I remember how much Susan made fun of me for my hair being so big. You were right, Suze. Too big.

Handy man shower with the new sisters 2008. Love. These. Women.

After the Alabama game 2010. That weekend was SO much fun.

Whitney's bachelorette party in Nashville 2010. You all have GOT to come back for another girls weekend.

Beers from Dierks Bentley 2011. NBD.

Rachel's Wedding 2011. I am the adopted Davis sister in this pic.

Dancing at Ray and Amy's wedding 2006. Can't believe this was 5 years ago! Happy late Anniversary Ramy!

I, of course, do not actually remember this. But the picture sits on my vanity and I love looking at it everyday. 

After Mary Helen's wedding. Mustang Sally!!

First day of forever. Ahh... what I wouldn't give to relive that night just once...

Age 3. Once a diva, always a diva.

Peeples family vacay 2010. Already pumped for Peeples vacay 2013 (hey, when you're family is so big you have to plan that far in advance, okay).

Yep, Senior Prom 2004. We were hot stuff. 

*I would also like to clarify that Andrew Tunnard told Will about HBO GO and has, therefore, changed our lives for the better. Thank you so much, Andrew. You're the best! 


Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend! Happy Labor Day!

The Drive Home

(Can we discuss how awesomely random it is that I found a picture of myself driving?)

 This is so very random but it's Friday and I'm especially cheery and wanted to share my favorite part of the week... the drive home on Friday afternoon. First of all, the point of this is not to say (at all) that I am miserable all week and just can't wait until Friday. Not the case. But... who doesn't love Friday?! I know Rebecca Black does. So, without further ado this is why the drive home on Friday is the best ten minutes of each week:

• A whole week of work is behind me. Praise God!
• There is so much hope for what the weekend could be. I mean, no matter what is planned or not planned this could be the best weekend of my life. You just never know.
• It's the part of the weekend that is furthest from Monday morning. It's all a downhill slope toward going to sleep on Sunday night from here if you ask me. 
• Bonus awesome drives go to beautiful days and days when I catch an amazing song (e.g. anything Britney Spears, Katy Perry or Brad Paisley - random, I know, but these all make me sing along in the car). The best drive home I've ever had was when it was a gorgeous day and I caught a 2000's marathon on the radio so they were playing N'Sync, Britney, Backstreet Boys, etc. Amazing. 
• Unlike other week nights I find it less inappropriate to have a beer or glass of wine immediately after walking in the door at 5:20. 
• No matter what kind of week it has been - long or short, good or bad, stressful or not... I AM in a great mood on Friday afternoon. Fact.
• My reference to getting home at 5:20 - I almost never work late on Fridays! Time to get the weekend started!!

So, Happy Friday everybody! The drive home today will be that much sweeter since it's before a long weekend!

Theater Thursday 9.1.11 -TV Edition

 So I talked about my TV addiction/obsession yesterday. So, I thought I'd dedicate today to the small screen. Here are my favorites (these are all shows that are currently on the air):

Comedy

1. Modern Family - Best comedy on TV. Single camera show that manages to be mainstream AND inventively funny. Will and I laugh so hard at this show every week. Phil and Cam are our favorites. I hate putting a show that's gotten so much hype as my fav but people have talked about it for a reason.

2. 30 Rock - I am a big Tina Fey fan and I love this show. It's completely random humor, which is pretty much my favorite kind. Um... I also have a huge, inappropriate crush on Alec Baldwin. Don't tell my republican husband.

3. Parks and Recreation - This show is like a new crush for me. I've always really liked Amy Pohler but for whatever reason I didn't immediately jump on board with this show. Thank goodness for Netflix instant. This show is so amazingly hilarious. There are so many different kinds of characters and storylines. Again, semi-ridiculous humor but completely incredible. I love it.

4. The Office - This will obviously be a lot different this next season without Steve Carrel but I have faith since they did add one of my favorite actors of all time. I love James Spader. Probably a little too much since he does some creepy movies. But I think he's so funny. Boston Legal was one of my all time favorite shows and he was about 50% of why (the other 50% being split between Candice Bergen, William Shatner and the writing). I am one of those who is holding out hope that The Office will be great this year.

5. Curb Your Enthusiasm - Larry David is totally over the top and a comedy genius. He makes that awkward, "Why would you say or do that?!" humor watchable and is so funny that I can handle it. I mean, one episode this season was about him competing for a woman with Rosie O'Donnell. So funny.

Drama

1. Grey's Anatomy - I understand if you hate me for loving this show. Don't care. Still love it. 

2. Bones - I have never watched this show live. I discovered it on Netflix instant this summer and watched the entire series in about two weeks. Will walked in our house one night a few weeks after I found it and his jaw dropped, "Caroline, you are not on episode 52?!" Yeah... I have told you that I have a TV problem. But I can't wait for this season and the Brennan/Booth baby!

3. Parenthood - I. Love. This. Show. It embodies everything that an overly dramatic show should be but is still somehow very grounded to me. It's about four siblings and their respective nuclear families. I think each one of their stories is great. AND it stars Lauren Graham. I could watch her chew gum. Is that even a saying? Well, now it is.

4. Does Keeping up with the Kardashians count as a drama? No. Right. Yeah... I don't watch that anyway. Filth. Who would spend time watching that? No.

5. Glee - Okay, Glee is CLEARLY not a drama but I don't think it's really a comedy either. Also, I apparently don't get my drama from TV. I like to laugh at TV. So I'm putting it here because I don't have any other dramas that I really like right now. But I do love me some Glee. Now, I am concerned that it's going to become a hot mess this season but I am hoping against hope that it stays good. Because I love musicals!

RIP - the shows I loved that are no longer on:

1. Boston Legal - Hilarious. So hilarious. I kept the series finally on my DVR for over a year. I loved that show. 

2. The Sopranos - I know that it's dark and over the top but I really liked this show. One of the best of all time in my opinion. 

3. Gilmore Girls - I will never forgive the CW (or WB or whatever the heck the channel was when this show was on) for canceling this show without any sort of fanfare or really wrapping things up the way I would have liked. The last episode of the season was filmed before they officially decided to end the series so it just felt weird at the end. But this show is magical. Seriously. I love that they talk crazy fast and there are weird characters and Lauren Graham is a nut. I love it. And I miss it. I am not usually a fan of the TV show to movie model (with one notable exception - SATC 1 not 2) but I would go see the Gilmore movie opening day. Or midnight the night before. Gah - please make a movie!

4. CSI - I know that it's still on but I miss CSI when Grissom was on it! I might give it a chance again since Ted Danson is joining the cast. But I have a lot to watch on Thursdays so, yeah, probably not. 

5. The West Wing - I honestly didn't watch this show when it was actually on the air. This was my first Netflix obsession. You know, back when you had to get the DVD's in the mail and then wait for the new ones to come before you could keep going. Yeah, I actually worked out a system in college so that I was rotating my three rentals correctly and could watch this series all the way through. Gosh, I miss college and being able to do stuff like that. 

Happy Thursday!