Good Day, Sunshine

So this morning I hopped up and about to head out to my parents' house. After rushing around to get ready, I loaded up my pup and hit the road. Once inside with my Momma and niece, we dropped the dogs off to get groomed at Barkingdale's down the street.

Then, we pulled back into the driveway so I could go through my car before heading to the repair shop. I left my car at the mechanic's and we stopped at the salon and spa to get manis/pedis before my Momma's trip to Florida with work.

I halfway relaxed as I watched my three-year old niece while sitting in the massage chair for my pedicure. Once they had successfully dolled up my feetsies with a very Springy coral-color, I watched my niece get polka dots and flowers on her teensy fingers and my Momma enjoyed a mani-pedi combo for the beach preparation.

Daddy met us at our local chinese restaurant on his lunch hour and we picked up the pups shortly after the buffet.

Poor Laila. They shaved her and left her poor little face in a froo-froo cut with a pony tail. She doesn't even look like my Laila, and I had to attempt to redo the bow placed directly atop her little head.

Now, I'm sitting with her soft self at my prettily polished toe nails before heading out to have the rest of the afternoon with my neighbor as her personal organizer. She's cleaning up her house and sorting through her life. Sometimes Spring cleaning isn't just designated for the dusting of windows and knick-knacks. Sometimes, it's more about enjoying the blessing of a life renewed. The rain is gone and the sun is here for the rest of the day. Good Day, Sunshine.

Mandisms

So, I have a friend named Mandi. She has to be one of the quirkiest people I have every met. Honestly, she is hilarious. Any time I get to see her throughout the week, it makes me smile. She gives the best hugs when you're having a bad day, and her heart has to be made of pure gold.

If you have not yet been graced with her presence, you just won't understand the personality Mandi has. Today, I ran into her in the hall before going to eat lunch. During our less than 30minute visit with one another, she decided:
a) Cardiovascular activity is bad on the heart
b) My boy has something special up his sleeve for my upcoming birthday. Like 1) He has been working on building me (yes building me) a cake, 2) he's getting me a horse, or 3) he has been building me a lifesize cake shaped like a horse for the past three weeks.
c) It was better to take the elevator up to the 4th floor so we didn't put stress on our knees, but it is best to walk down the stairs because the decline is good for the heart.
d) Starbuck's can make any day better.
e) Apparently if you read a sign aloud at Starbuck's while with Mandi, she is going to purchase whatever it is that you read. (Ie. The sign for today said, "Dark Chocolate Cherry Mocha. Admit it, you want one.") So...she got me one.
f) You can never go wrong with a "Grande"...unless it has laxitives in it (verbatim Mandi).
g) Mandi owns a "magic bullet blender". (I know this isn't a Mandism, but it's a fun fact about her).
h)It's best to scoop off the icing on my lifesize horse cake so that I can eat the cake underneath, re-cover it with the removed icing, and save it for next year. ("This would be good for Earth Day")
i) Apparently Mandi says so many "Mandisms" that you cannot even remember them in the amount of time that it took you to walk from the door of my office to the desk...aka. 10ft.

All-in-all, I am now enjoying a Tall, Dark Chocolate Cherry Mocha Frapuccino (courtesy Mandi) before strolling to class for the day. It's going to be a great day :D

The Food and Fellowship

Apparently I tend to write a lot about what I eat. To continue with this trend, my day was filled with enjoyable moments of food and fellowship.

After a long morning at work, my stomach was starting to tell me that I shouldn't have skipped breakfast. About the same time, my phone moved in my side pocket and my sister asked if I wanted to meet her for lunch.

Well...of course I did! I pulled around the corner and picked her up from work to head over to Spicy Pickle. For those of you that haven't experienced the joy that comes from biting into a delicious slice of Heaven-on-Earth pizzetti from the "Pickle", you're missing out. Somehow the yummy goodness of freshly grated mozzarella, warm artichoke hearts, roma tomatoes, and feta cheese make up for the $9 I was planning on saving by eating my lunchable.

After lunch, we stopped to look at a new boutique next door. I was shocked at how expensive everything was. Close to $200 for a froo-froo skirt for a little girl. I can make that myself! Which is why my big sister and I have decided to create our very own store. No, we haven't got a business backer to spend mega-bucks to put our name on things; And, we don't have a pretty store front to decorate. However, we are crafty people and fully capable of making a few simple pretty things that others would enjoy.

Lunch ended all too soon, and it was back to work for the two of us. Reality.

I managed to fully redo filing systems for two of my co-workers. I guess it was beneficial to both of us because I received a gift card for appreciation in doing so. I like when people are grateful that you exist...and sometimes I don't feel that.

After work, I headed to class for the evening. Biology. Honestly, the professor makes me somewhat look forward to the learning experience that comes along with the drawn out lectures every Monday and Wednesday evening.

I walked (and walked) to my car which I intentionally parked at a greater distance to counteract the entire pizza I demolished at lunch. After almost breaking a sweat, I hopped in the car and drove out to meet my boyfreen. Yes, he has been working the day shift lately (and I'm spoiled rotten because of it).

Oh a whim, we decided to drive out to Eischen's to eat with a friend that lives down the street and his "date".

Again, if you have yet to experience Eischen's, you need to. Their chicken and okra are to die for (literally, I think I clogged an artery in the process of enjoying dinner).

As we wrapped up the lefProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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ve you aluminum foil to place over the cardboard containers for "to go boxes"), we twisted the foil into the shape of a swan. Well, sort of. It ended up looking like a dragon at first. Then, it transformed into a beautiful...turkey?

We practically crawled to the pickup we were so stuffed, and we started the dark drive back to the house. Once we dropped off the neighbors, we were pretty much to the point of exhaustion from being so full (I think it was because of the chemical that's in turkeys...at least that's my excuse). We called it a night and I finally enjoyed a full night of sleep for the first time in over a week.

Thank you, food.

WANTED!

This flower for my garden: If spotted, please let me know ASAP.


Seriously, is it not the prettiest flower, ever?

The Grass is Greener...

...because we've been watering it.

Actually, we've been doing a lot around the yard lately. We decided a couple of weeks ago that we were going to crack down on the yardwork and start babying it. You could tell that it really hadn't been touched in...ummm...20 years. Therefore, we put in a little tender loving care and started pulling weeds.

First off, we moved the large rocks away from the front archway and down to the curb. With "big trash day" coming up in the neighborhood, it was crucial that we pull everything up and out so they would haul it away.

So, we moved onto the "monkey grass". At first glance, I sincerely believed we had onions growing in our yard. Have you SEEN monkey grass roots? Seriously, they look like onions...and lots of them! It took us two days to pull up the three 10ft. sections of gardens because there were so many bulbs. After struggling with the weeds, we raked up the gardens and watered the yard.

The lawn/landscaping guy came out our second round of fertilizer and treatments, so the yard is starting to perk up...a little. Truth-be-told, it's the lack of lawn that is still struggling. Apparently Mr. Ed had allowed weeds to take over so much that when we killed off the weeds, half the lawn went with them.

With Mr. IreallyhopeIgettoworkdays getting off early from work Thursday and Friday,we made a couple of phone calls and literally ran out the door to make it to the competitor before they closed...Home Depot. Ironically, they were less expensive than Lowe's was on a set of french doors that we were interested in so we could replace the sliding glass out back.

The next morning, I received a heart-wrenching phone call from the neighbor. I threw on some slouchy clothes and made it there as fast as I could. We talked for a while, and I decided to let the girls across the street stay with me for the day and help plant flowers. Well, it was really only one flower since I didn't want to put anything into the ground until we dug up the bushes and got the grass to come back to life.

So, we ventured out to eat lunch and stop by our favorite weekend stop. You guessed it, Lowe's. Since we're regulars, we knew some of the in's and out's of their policy. Basically, they would match the competitor's price AND take an additional 10% off of the price.

Also, I was convinced that I was going to find some of my new favorite flower (special thanks to my big sis for introducing them to me). However, everyone else must have had the same idea because all of them were gone. This led to the girls helping me pick out a pretty PINK flower for my flower pot out front. (The fact that it had to be pink was really the only stipulation).

We picked up a potted, coral-pink geranium; a set of french doors, single-paneled with blinds; and distressed door levers and locks. Then, we headed out the door to load it up...thank goodness for good people. As soon as my guy stepped a foot out the door, three men asked him, "Son, are you doing that by yourself?" Then, they started to lift the doors off the cart and into the bed of the pickup...bum deal. Apparently with the casing and everything, the doors wouldn't fit in the truck. Plus, we couldn't lean it on the sides because it would either break the glass or scratch the truck. So, I ran in for help.

Spotting a friendly face, I asked Steve if he had scrap plywood or anything that could help us out. He immediately grabbed two 2x4's and walked with me to the car. He slid them under the doors and they propped them up perfectly to avoid damage. (Again, this is the reason I LOVE Lowe's.) The boys strapped the doors into the truck and we started truckin' along...very slowly.

Low and behold, my parents were sitting on the front porch just waiting to save the day. I stepped outside and planted my geranium with the neighbor, painted her nails, and baked a few chocolate chip cookies before she loaded up into the car to go with her family for the night.

In no time at all, the door was hung, locks were in place, and we were ready to celebrate. We took my parents out to eat as a Thank You...their choice. To our surprise, they started to drive out to Okarche, Oklahoma...Eischen's. Two fried chickens and two orders of okra later, we headed back into town to call it a night.

After church the next day I mowed the lawn/dirt. I admit, I was a little bitter due to the fact that I was eating dirt the whole time from the absent grass patches. We took a quick break to enjoy dinner with his family at McAlister's, only to come back and finish up the final touches. We removed railroad ties, raked the backyard, put down some bug treatment, spread some fresh grass seed throughout the dirt-spots. and watering the grass until it was thoroughly soaked.

Cross your fingers that it grows!

Oh, I Hope I Win, I Hope I Win...

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http://lovestitched.blogspot.com/2010/04/guest-giveaway-scentsy.html