KRH - Southern Web Girl

My new home

2011-06-02T23:34:00.002-05:00

http://www.kristenheptinstall.com

I hope you will join me there!

How to put on a successful Disney World travel event in your hometown

2011-05-25T00:34:00.001-05:00

Author Bob Sehlinger

Event planning is an emerging interest of mine. It goes hand-in-hand with my interest in social media -- get to know people online, then get to know people in person. Event planning is something I'm practicing as executive director of the Alabama Social Media Association, especially as we move toward our annual conference this fall.

So it all came together this past weekend, as I coordinated the Magic City, Magic Kingdom Disney World travel event at AAA Alabama headquarters.

Want to do a similar event in your hometown? Just follow these simple steps:

Disney World Mom's Panelist Andi Sims

1. Get to know your local Disney World travel experts. Surely you have a Disney World Mom's Panel member or renowned guidebook author in your hometown. No? Well, keep searching, until you find someone. Or just use yourself, silly.

2. Find an awesome travel agency to host your event. Surely your local AAA branch has a huge TV playing Disney travel video, plus lots of neat Disney decorations, activities for kids, and a conference room. No? Well, then use a public library meeting space, or the YMCA, or a restaurant, whatever you gotta do.

3. Find an awesome restaurant to provide food free of charge. Oh, so you don't have an awesome chain based in your hometown, like Zoës Kitchen, that has such a sound commitment to community events? Well, then arrange for a discount for a large party at a local restaurant.

And so, voila! You have yourself an event.

In reality, it's not always as easy as it was for me in this case to put on a Disney travel event. Not only am I lucky to know two great local experts - author Bob Sehlinger and Disney World Mom's Panelist (and Disney cruise specialist) Andi Sims -- but they were happy to take part. AAA Alabama headquarters was more than equipped to handle our crowd, and Zoës Kitchen provided a great spread for the guests.

Several families came out on Saturday to hear from Bob and Andi -- we had DVC member families and complete Disney newbie families. It was the perfect mix. A Disney Mom Beth came down from north Alabama. Hi, Beth! And I look forward to hopefully having more events and meet-ups for Alabama Disney fans in the future. Mouse of Zen suggests a beach meet-up. I could definitely go for that!

I've compiled a Twitter list of Disney fans in Alabama. Let me know if you or someone you know should be added.I can't wait for more Disney events in the future!

(I apologize for the photo quality - we had some technical Nikon issues. AND! video forthcoming as soon as my videographer returns from out of town)

Magic City, Magic Kingdom: Tracing the ties between Birmingham and Walt Disney World

2011-05-14T23:40:00.003-05:00

As you may know, I'm a big fan of Disney World. I'm also a big fan of social media. Through my interactions with other Disney World fans through social media, I realized that there are a lot of Disney World fans right here in Alabama. (By the way, here's my Twitter! @KristenHeptin).

If you think about it, this does make sense, considering that besides Georgia, we have the shortest travel distance to the World. Most families in Alabama have been to Disney World at one time or another because of the proximity -- from our home, it's just a hair under 600 miles and about 9.5 hours to the World. For those in southeast Alabama, it's only about 6 hours' drive.

In my interactions with fellow Disney World fans on Twitter, Facebook and through blogs, I was able to meet two very special Alabamians who are serious "VIPs" in the world of Disney. And what's so great is they're both right here in Birmingham!

First, there's Andi Sims. She's a busy mom of four here in the Birmingham area, and she is a member of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel, and the 2011 Disney Cruise Line Specialist Mom. She is a former marketing and PR executive, and with her bright smile and Southern charm, Andi is the perfect fit for Disney World as she helps spread the word about the magic of Disney World and Disney Cruise Lines.

Then there's the renowned author Bob Sehlinger, creator of the Unofficial Guide travel series of books, including a cult Disney World "Bible" of sorts, the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Bob is also founder and publisher of Menasha Ridge Press in Birmingham. Bob is not big on social media himself, but his coauthor Len Testa is, and Len is the force behind touringplans.com, the official home of the Unofficial Guide on the Web.

This all got me to thinking, and I decided to take all this great local Disney magic public. Bob, Andi and others here in the state, such as Dr. Chad Emerson, author of Project Future and Four Decades of Magic, were my inspiration for my Ignite Birmingham talk, titled "Magic City: Magic Kingdom," in which I shared why I love Disney World; introduced folks to these local Disney VIPs; and challenged folks to take a Disney World vacation of their own. (Video of my talk should be available soon -- I'll share it here when it's up)

But I didn't want the magic to stop there. I took it a step further and I'm now planning Magic City, Magic Kingdom: the event!

It will take place at AAA Alabama Headquarters in Birmingham on Saturday, May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with lunch provided by Zoes Kitchen. Starting at noon, Bob and Andi will both speak about their Disney World expertise. Then we'll have a Q&A and meet-and-greet with the Disney experts.

If you're in the Birmingham area, I hope you can attend -- and bring the kids, too! You can get full info and RSVP at http://disneyinbham.eventbrite.com.

Oh, and afterward, for those who want, we'll be going as a group to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides at 2:10 p.m. at the Patton Creek Rave in Hoover.

I hope to see you there! Let the Memories Begin!

My heart aches for Alabama

2011-05-01T15:45:00.001-05:00

There are simply no words. No words to explain the hurt here in Alabama after Wednesday's tornado outbreak.

In Tuscaloosa, I have friends who are homeless. A new initiate of my sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, was killed, and another sorority member remains in the hospital. One of my husband's groomsmen had the tornado track through his backyard, but luckily -- his house stands.

And it's not just Tuscaloosa. That same tornado tracked to the northeast and at one point was aimed straight at our house. Instead, it veered north and struck western Jefferson County and areas just north of Birmingham.

Other tornadoes struck, too. From Elmore County near Montgomery to the south, to Huntsville and Dekalb County to the north, and all points in between, the tornadoes raked across Alabama and the Southeast like fingernails on a chalkboard.

My home, my family, my dog, my place of work -- they were all spared. I was lucky. But many were not.

Alabama is hurting. But there are many ways you can help:

1. Donate money and goods. Connect with your local Red Cross chapter to see what is needed.
2. Give blood.
3. Volunteer. Call 2-1-1 in Alabama or toll-free 1-888-421-1266.

Some resources:

From Christie Dedman of The Birmingham News: How you can help victims of Wednesday's deadly storms
Toomer's for Tuscaloosa - A relief effort started by Auburn fans. On Facebook and Twitter.
Gamma Phi Beta Relief Fund information
Red Cross - Mid Alabama Region
And here's full coverage of the tornadoes and relief work from al.com.

I can make you a celebrity overnight: SPJ, See Jane Tweet, and Ignite Birmingham

2011-04-19T14:30:00.000-05:00

Somehow, over the past month or so, I've become in demand. A hot commodity. Coveted for my great knowledge, humor, charisma and panache.

Well, not really. But I have started dipping my toe into public speaking, and educating others on my two big passions: 1) social media and online community engagement, and 2) Walt Disney World!

SPJ Region 3 Conference

First up, I spoke at the Society of Professional Journalists Region 3 conference here in Birmingham on April 1st. They wrote a great recap of my talk on social media and online user interaction in a newsroom setting.

I had no idea I was being videotaped, but alas! I was. It's a little dark, but you can view my talk, split up into 5 videos, here. I really enjoyed speaking to a "class" of mostly college students. I had conversations afterwards with student journalists from the University of Alabama, Florida A&M, and University of Central Florida. Great group!

See Jane Tweet

Next up, my Alabama Social Media Association cohort and new gold-shoed pal Erin Shaw Street are presenting together for a new organization here in Birmingham called See Jane Write, a networking group for female writers, bloggers and journalists. We're presenting a program on Thursday, April 28 called See Jane Tweet, where we will present an overview on social media and using Twitter as a way to connect with other writers.

I recently did an interview with Javacia Harris Bowser, the founder of See Jane Write, about my work with al.com and the Alabama Social Media Association ahead of See Jane Tweet. We've also gotten coverage from RSS Birmingham and Magic City Manifesto leading up to the event, and Erin recently put out a call for questions ahead of our presentation.So if you plan on attending, tell us what it is you want to learn!

Ignite Birmingham 5

Thursday, May 5 is Ignite Birmingham 5, and for the first time, I'm presenting! My 5-minute talk is titled "Magic City: Magic Kingdom -- Birmingham’s ties to the wide world of Disney World fandom, and why you should visit WDW as an adult." See the full list of speakers here. (It's a fabulous lineup!)

I'm very excited to introduce attendees to some local "Disney celebs," and convince folks that they need to start planning a Disney World vacation, with or without the kids. At the end of my speech, I'm going to tease to a special event here in Birmingham for Disney fans -- and for those curious to learn more about Disney World --on Saturday, May, 21. Arrr, ye mateys! Mark ye calendars! It will be a magical good time!

------

To say I'm thrilled to be taking part in these events, along with serving as executive director of the Alabama Social Media Association, is an understatement. I've already met some amazing people here in the past few months, and have turned social media connections into real-life connections. I'm excited for more to come.

Disney World writing round-up, 4/4-4/10

2011-04-10T22:10:00.002-05:00

I haven't blogged about this much over here at Southern Web Girl, but since summer 2010, I've been writing about Disney World at several Disney World fan sites in my spare time. It's a lot of fun, and a big reason why I haven't blogged as much over here in the past several months.

The sites I write for are:

WDW For Grownups - It's a site geared toward adults who love Disney World, with or without the kids. It also has a very active message board and a lot of nice people - check it out!

Disney World Basics - A great site for Disney World beginners.

I also maintain the blogs for 5 Disney resort fan sites. I've been lucky enough to stay at 3 of these on our recent trips:

PopCenturySite - Pop Century is a popular Value resort with really fun themeing spanning the 1950s to 1990s. Oftentimes you can score a room there for less than $100 a night. We stayed here in April 2010 and will return here this fall!

DisneyCaribbeanBeach - Caribbean Beach Resort is a Moderate resort with a tropical vibe and a great theme pool. We stayed here on our latest trip in October 2010.

AKLResort - What can I say about the Deluxe resort Animal Kingdom Lodge? We stayed here for our honeymoon in April 2009, and it has some of the best themeing and dining you'll find on Disney World property. I'd stay here again in a heartbeat.

WildernessLodgeSite - Haven't yet had the pleasure of staying at this Deluxe resort, but I've eaten there and marveled at its themeing. Plus, it's close to the Magic Kingdom!

DisneyContemporary - I have to admit, writing about the Deluxe Contemporary Resort can be intimidating, seeing as it's one of the original resorts at Disney World -- you know, the one that you drive through on the Monorail! It also has my very favorite Disney World restaurant, California Grill, which I've eaten at twice so far.

For those of you who are interested in Disney World, I thought I'd start to do a weekly round-up of my writing so you can see what I've been up to.

At PopCenturySite.com, I cover Pop Century Resort Discounts. A lot of Disney World die-hards make it a game to find the best discounts possible for their vacations - as they should!

Over at Disney World Basics, I discuss Best Disney World Rides for Teens. Hint: lots and lots of thrill rides.

Over at AKLResort.com, I've covered What's Your Animal Kingdom Lodge Top Tip? with tips from AKLResort's Facebook fans.

And over at Walt Disney World for Grownups, here's a round-up of my posts there for the last two weeks:

When to go to Disney World - What time of year is best to travel to Disney World? It's a personal decision, but I have some tips to share on times of year with lower crowd levels, and some special events you should look at, too.

Wishes dessert party Um yeah, so... take the Magic Kingdom Wishes fireworks spectacular, add a dessert buffet, and BANG! - you've got a fantabulous experience.

History of Horizons at EPCOT Center Do you remember this classic attraction? Housed where Mission: SPACE stands today, Horizons closed for good in 1999.

Most romantic times of year at Disney World Anniversaries and honeymoons can take place any time of the year. But consider other times of the year, too, for a special couples-only vacation.

My Blogger shame

2011-04-06T21:57:00.006-05:00

For the past few months, I've been a little ... ashamed of my blog.

Granted, the design is super cute. It's exactly what I wanted when I worked with Krizzy Designs on it. I still adore my header. The image of the gal at her laptop, with the chocolate Lab by her side -- well, let's just say that I'm typing on a laptop, and I have a big chocolate Lab sprawled out on the floor next to me.

But lately, I've started to grow ashamed of Blogger, and of my blog name. Southern Web Girl.

In my head, it goes something like this: "Gosh darn it, I'm 28 years old, I'm not a girl anymore! I'm a woman, a professional, DO YOU HEAR ME?" Sidenote: Why would I say, "DO YOU HEAR ME" to myself in my own head? Um yeah. I digress.

Some other things: I don't have a URL of my own. I don't have sexy plug-ins and a custom blog design. It makes me feel ... amateur. When the fact is, I'm a real live web journalist and social media professional. Promise. Pinky swear. Really!

Back in January, I got involved with the Alabama Social Media Association. So involved, in fact, that they appointed me their executive director. And I quit blogging. I saw my colleagues on the ALsocme board shout from the rooftops how excited they were about ALsocme, and I stayed silent. Because I'm ashamed of Blogger.

Blogger shame. Many bloggers blogging on Blogger get a case of the Blogger shame. Just Google "Blogger to Wordpress" and you'll find a slew of websites and services out there to help you make the transition.

But I'm just not sure yet.

Blogger is easy. Blogger is where I've been since 2008, when I started blogging about planning my wedding.

So what's a girl (sorry, woman) to do? What would YOU do? I'm contemplating: 1) Staying here on Blogger as is, no changes, 2) Staying on Blogger but purchasing a URL and new design, or 3) Making the transition to wordpress.org, complete with a hosting service, new URL and new design.

Bloggers, I would love to hear your thoughts below!

Why I love my Nook Color

2011-04-03T15:29:00.006-05:00

Back in January, my husband surprised me with an early birthday present: A Nook Color.

I had been researching e-readers for a few months, and had come to the conclusion that the Nook Color was the best solution for me. Here's a few reasons why I chose the Nook Color, and why I'm still enjoying it today:

1) It's in color. The regular Nook and the Kindle are not. Why is this important? I'm addicted to magazines. I vowed to my husband that I would clear some of my magazine clutter, and the Nook Color has allowed me to do this. I've switched my Glamour and Marie Claire subscriptions to digital, and added on subscriptions to Spin, Oxford American and National Geographic Traveler. I'm still waiting on a couple other favorites -- Allure and Real Simple -- to make their way to the Nook Store, and I'd love to see all of the Birmingham-based Southern Progress titles there too, like Southern Living and Coastal Living.

2) It has a Web browser. It's simply great for viewing the Internet on the fly. It wouldn't be the best for data entry, blogging, or anything very typing-intensive, but most would say that about iPad, too.

3) The Nook Store is growing. As a fan of Disney and Disney World, sometimes I get discouraged when all the obscure book titles I'd like to read aren't in the Nook Store, but are available via Kindle. But over the last two months of owning the Nook Color, I've seen more and more titles added. There are a lot of free books (there's a free book offered every Friday!) and lots of books under $5. On the opposite end of the spectrum, though, there's lots of books that are $9.99+, which can be a little steep.

4) Building a wishlist. Granted, this is something you can do at Amazon, on a Kindle or iPad, anywhere else on the Internet. But there's something so satisfying about deliberating on a title, then hitting that BUY button when you know it's time. I have a wishlist full of books on social media, business and online community management, as well as novels and non-fiction books about pets and Disney World. I've just finished reading a great Disney World memoir called Mousetrapped, and connected with the author via Twitter -- and I'm not sure I ever would have found the book without the Nook Store.

5) It's getting the Android store this month, AND Flash support. As a certified Apple addict (iPhone and MacBook Pro), I'm glad to get the chance to learn more about the Android platform -- because I love me some Google, too. And Flash support, too? Well, that's more than Apple can say. Essentially, once we get this critical update, the Nook Color becomes one of the cheapest, most useful tablets on the market.

6) It can hold all types of documents. Hook the Nook Color up to your laptop, and transfer over PDF e-books, Word documents, photos, Powerpoint presentations, and more. Can you do this on a Kindle? No. You can't even do it on an iPad without the help of apps or iTunes. You can even add up to 32G of memory with a microSD card. That's a lot of books!

7) The price point. At $249, it's half the cost of a base iPad model. And while I'd still love to own an iPad, both my husband and I are able to have our own Nook Colors for the cost of one iPad. My husband is reading more as a result -- hooray!

So, what type of e-reader do you have, or are thinking about buying? I think there's great pluses to all the e-readers and tablets on the market today, so what are your thoughts?

Baby, you're a firework

2011-04-01T21:56:00.003-05:00

To say that I've been going through a spurt of personal growth these days would be an understatement.

Let me ask you this: When did you first get that feeling that you were a full-fledged adult?

Me? I've only gotten that feeling in the past few months.

All of a sudden, a lot has come my way. Good things. Great things. Things that I'll be ready to talk about soon.

But for now, I will say that 2011 has shown itself to be a year of growth for me, for my career, for my marriage. That's not to say that there's not some growth pains along the way. But mostly, it's transforming and inspiring.

I'm making it a goal to shed a lot of things this year, like insecurity, weight and worry... and replace those things with positive, proactive things, like goal-setting, mentoring, and good health.

Wish me luck as I shine.

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

How has your 2011 been?

2011-02-20T23:29:00.002-06:00

So far 2011 has proven to be a very busy, productive time.

I turned 28 earlier this month, and my husband surprised me with a Nook Color! He loved it so much that he had to go out and get himself one, too.

One of the things I love best about the Nook Color is magazine subscriptions. I've cancelled my print subscriptions to Glamour and Marie Claire and switched over to getting them on the Nook. I also subscribed to Spin Magazine, since it's only 50 cents a month! My other favorite magazines -- Allure and Real Simple -- aren't on Nook Color yet, but I'm sure they will be soon.

I've been busy volunteering with some professional organizations here in Birmingham too, and spending some time with some great new socially-minded friends. I'm also thinking about a complete blog/personal brand makeover, complete with the hop over to Wordpress. Any advice? I'm hesitant to pay for monthly hosting and all the bells and whistles, but I know I won't be happy unless I get it a certain way design-wise.

I'm also in the midst of merging my two Twitter accounts -- I'm retiring my closed "personal" account and going forward will use my open "professional" account.

So please, don't mind the dust as I get things situated around here over the next month or two.

The Choco Blog

2011-01-30T11:50:00.002-06:00

My friend Amy and I were joking on Facebook the other night about our dogs. They are both female chocolate Labs within a year or two in age.

What came out of our little exchange on Facebook is this: http://kokomoeandmango.wordpress.com.

They are now chocolate Lab pen pals! Amy and Koko Moe are in the LA area, while we of course are here in central Alabama.

What fun!

Happy New Year 2011, and my plans to declutter, learn, create and experience!

2011-01-01T11:44:00.004-06:00

Earlier in 2010, I created a "30 Before 30" list of things I want to accomplish before I turn 30.

The other day, I took a hard look at it and reorganized and edited the list.

I've managed to knock off 2 items -- I found THE purse, the one I'll carry for years and years, and I found a go-to wine. But most of the other items have yet to be touched on.

I divided each item into one of four categories: 1) Get my learn on, 2) Clear the clutter, 3) Create, create, and 4) Travel and experience.

The deadline on this list is February 2013. Honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to accomplish all of it. But I'm going to try my hardest.

Two of my goals are fitness-related. One is to lose 55 lbs. Yes kids, I weigh 34 lbs. more than I did at my wedding in April 2009. I think some of the gain is medication-related, and I'm about to make some adjustments there, but most of it can be chalked up to bad choices. To those who say, "You always gain weight after getting married!" -- well, that's no joke. Make it your goal to not just look good in a wedding dress, but look good for life. So, my goal is to knock off those 34 lbs., and another 20 or so after that.

My other goal is to run a 5K. I've never been a great athlete, or a great runner. I'm not expecting to break any land speed records here. I just want to say, "I did it." And feel good about it.

For the month of January, I'll be walking The Mango daily and getting back into Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred video. Then in February, the husband and I are rejoining the YMCA and will begin working out the way we did before the wedding -- 2 to 3 times pr week, with 30-45 minutes of cardio and a circuit through the weight machines. For the cardio portion, I'm going to do the Couch to 5K program on the treadmill. Then, I hope to run in a 5K by mid-year!

Wish me luck on my goals. I hope you all will help to motivate and cheer me on. You can find me on SparkPeople too!

The Christmas gift rundown

2010-12-29T13:13:00.018-06:00

The Christmas gift rundown. Haven't done this in a few years -- probably the last time I did so was on Livejournal a few years back. But, this year was a good year for me -- I am loved.

From the husband:A Disney scrapbook set. Just ordered 50 prints from Snapfish and will FINALLY scrapbook our April/May 2009 honeymoon.

2 pairs of Nike Tempo running shorts. Part of our Operation: Get Fit 2011!

A pink Ralph Lauren Polo oxford shirt. Looks great under my grey sweater coat.

A key lime coconut Wood Wick candle. I seriously LOVE this brand of candles, the wick crackles like a fire in the fireplace.

Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 on Blu-Ray. I donated all my old Disney Classics VHS from childhood to a local charity (Should I regret this? Would they be worth something someday? Don't know). And so now I'm in the process of replacing those with Blu-ray. So far I've got Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Beauty & the Beast, and now, Fantasia. Bambi and Alice in Wonderland are out on Blu-Ray next.

Ghirardelli chocolate squares, Orbit gum, Three Musketeers truffle bars, Hershey's cookies & creme drops, mini Reese's cups, and various other stocking stuffers. He knows my favorites!

From husband's mom:

Pinocchio on Blu-Ray. Add that one to the list of replaced Disney classics, too!

Stella by Stella McCartney perfume. She got the only bottle of this stuff in Gadsden, Alabama!

A HUGE bottle of Philosophy gingersnap body wash.

From the husband's brother and wife:

A pair of Brighton earrings.

From my sister and her family:

An Amazon gift card. Love these. Always. What to buy? Epic Mickey for Wii, maybe?

From my parents:

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion -- a small tube of the shimmery champagne Sin color (which can act as an eyeshadow by itself) and the HUGE professional tube of the original. This stuff is AMAZING! Your eyeshadow will not budge. Dab some under your eyes to hold liner in place, too.

A new Columbia rain jacket -- the Ramblin' Rhodie in black. I LOVE it.

A pink Clarisonic Pro! I already have the travel-sized Clarisonic Mia, but the Pro is AMAZING with its multiple speeds. My skin is looking much improved. My mom got a HUGE discount on this through the dermatologist she works at.

Four sets and a serving set of our silverware -- Oneida Curva! We only received two sets of this as wedding presents, so I am thrilled to finally have enough sets to use it when we have company! I love the clean, modern lines and the weight of this silverware.

And from husband's dad and stepmom:

Cash money, which we put toward gas (ha!) and a new Sony Blu-Ray Home Theater System! This thing is beyond cool. When connected to our wireless network, we can watch YouTube, Netflix (which we recently subscribed to), Hulu, listen to Pandora, etc. Hubs set up the speakers and we watched Fantasia 2000, it was amazing.

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and I'll be back and blogging more soon!

Vote for me! I'm a DDL Academy Award Nominee!

2010-11-30T12:26:00.002-06:00

Quick plug and a request for you to vote for me!

I've been nominated for an Academy Award as 'Most Active Neurotic Disney Wife' over at The Disney Driven Life. Certainly, I qualify for this.

I would really, really appreciate your vote. I never win stuff like this, and just to be nominated is a great honor.

Go over here to cast your vote. My nomination is No. 11 on the form. If you don't know much about all the Disney websites and podcasts, just vote for my favorites: Disney Food Blog, WDW Today Podcast, Studiocentrals.com, and Touringplans.com!

Thanks in advance!

My Real-Life Land

2010-11-23T15:25:00.001-06:00

Sometimes other adults ask me why I love Disney World so much. Sometimes, they get it -- they're Disney enthusiasts too and want to talk about their favorite things there, or ask for travel advice.

But more often than not, they're just not theme park people, or they view going to somewhere like WDW as a kid's thing, or as cheesy, hokey or even redneck. Some think my husband and I are strange for going to Disney World without kids, though they might not express it. To those, I say, "pish-posh."

I read a great guest column in the AllEars.net newsletter a couple weeks ago that I truly identify with. It was written by another woman within a few years of my age.

After returning from a trip to Disney World, the author writes:

When I arrived to work, my boss bit my head off. Multiple times. Then I had to fight downtown traffic to retrieve a very heavy box, that I then had to haul back to my car, which was several blocks away. By the time I got back into my car, I was ready to cry. My re-entry into the world from the Most Magical Place on Earth had been very rough. Why, I wondered, couldn't everyday life be more like Disney World?

The author goes on to lists all the magical things that happen at Disney World, such as At Disney, you get to wear pins on your shirt declaring a special moment: 'Just engaged!' 'Anniversary!' 'First trip!' and everyone congratulates you. (One of my favorites, too)

Then, she goes on to say:

As I was driving back to my office (and calming down), it occurred to me that perhaps I needed to look at things a different way. Maybe the kick-start everyone needed was for someone to be nice to them. Since then, I've been trying to incorporate that Disney feeling into my everyday happenings. While it is impractical to wear mouse ears to work, or to expect your house to be clean whenever you come home, I have found a few little things that make a big difference. ... While I might not have a chance to have breakfast with Mickey and Pluto every morning, Real Life Land does come with some pretty good perks.

Disney World is an escape from reality, a place to get away from all your adult responsibilities and revert back to childhood.

And I, like the author, have started thinking of my life here as Real-Life Land. There's no need for fun ONLY at Disney World -- you can incorporate that into your daily life, too. So I'm trying.

I'm trying to release a lot of that worry that I have here in Real-Life Land, and to be nice, and positive, and optimistic, and take charge, and make plans -- and prepare for Real-Life Land just as much as I plan our Disney World itineraries.

Some crappy things have happened lately -- an emergency trip to the vet with our dog Mango (she's OK, and more to come on that later); the loss of a child for one of my coworkers; and of course all the normal stress of everyday life. But if I can learn to make Real Life just as great as a trip to Disney World, then my life will be all the richer for it.

A first-rate version of myself

2010-11-17T20:46:00.003-06:00

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e.e. cummings

I do my best thinking in the car, on my way home from work. I often compile whole blog posts in my head, or resolve to cross off some important task from my to-do list as soon as I get home. Doesn't always happen, but I try. Tonight I was thinking about how I'm always investing myself in some big project.

In 2008, my big project was being chapter advisor to my sorority, and planning for our April 2009 wedding. In 2009, the wedding planning continued, then after the wedding, my big project became job-hunting and interviewing for a new position.

In 2010? I'm not really sure what my big project was, outside of settling in at my new (old) job. For a while, I invested a lot of energy in getting our house on the market and praying that it would sell, so we could move to Mobile as I promised for my new position. Unfortunately, the sale of our house looks less likely by the day. But I'm not stressing anymore, for once. And I'm starting to feel more content than I have in a while, despite the stressors I do have.

So for 2011, I can already tell you that my big project will be me. I've expended a lot of energy the past few years on serving and teaching others, and I've suffered somewhat as a result. So, Brian and I are starting our weight loss journey with the Couch to 5K program. We're a week in. I want to get into a healthier lifestyle for myself for the long run.

And hopefully something full-time will come of all the freelance and part-time jobs Brian is working -- please cross your fingers for us, so that things can improve financially.

I'm also starting to think about the next 5 years -- where do I want to be at age 32, going on 33? Will we still be here in Alabama? Will we decide to have a child? I can't answer those questions now, but I'm learning now that every choice I make has an impact on my life down the road.

Any Mac people out there?

2010-11-03T10:50:00.005-05:00

So, husband and I are plotting our way to upgrade our personal computers.

He has a MacBook Pro from summer '07. I have a MacBook from fall '07. Neither are running at their peak performance. Hubby needs more firepower for his freelance work -- he shoots, edits and uploads video on a consistent basis, and his battery and memory are not passing the test any longer.

So here are our options. Both plans involve a new Pro for him, but different options for me.

1) The upgraded MacBook Pro plan.

Hubby buys new MacBook. I then take his old MacBook Pro and we install new battery (where he is having issues). We then sell my MacBook.

Total cost = $2,149 for new MacBook Pro he wants + cost of installing new battery on old MacBook Pro (let's estimate $100) = $2,249 - money made on MacBook (estimating $250) = cost of about $1,999 plus tax.

2) The new iPad plan.

Hubby buys new MacBook. We then sell his old Macbook Pro and my MacBook. Then we purchase a new 64G iPad for me for personal use, with external keyboard.

Total cost = $2,149 - amount made on old Macs (estimating $750) = $1,399 + cost of iPad and accessories (estimating $800) = $2,199 plus tax.

So either way you cut it, we are looking at about the same price, a difference of about $200.

Keep in mind that I have a Dell laptop on me at all times for work and any heavy duty stuff. And, iPad does have iWork as apps -- so I can essentially work in Word and Excel there if I need to. If I do get an iPad, I'm getting the one with the most memory, so I can rest assured knowing that all my music, photos, documents, etc. can fit. And with the new iOS coming out this month, I can print wirelessly and whatnot. But having hubby's old Pro means I have access to a lot of software and have a lot more computing power. But I'm not sure that I really need all that.

So, what would you do?

A feathery tale from my dad

2010-10-02T19:19:00.002-05:00

Here's a funny story from my dad:

Since the weather is so wonderful right now, we had one of our front double doors open this afternoon.

While we were on the back deck a small warbler flew into the house through the front door. It hung out in the dining room for a little while and pooped on the dining room table. Thank you very much.

After closing all of the interior doors and opening both of the front double doors I was able to move the bird toward freedom with the help of a waved broom. Once it saw the front doors open it took off for freedom.

Wild wild times.

My new hair and our upcoming Disney trip

2010-09-13T12:24:00.005-05:00

I am shamed. It has been more than a month since my last blog post.

I left off where I got my hair chopped. I LOVE the result. Here's a photo I took the day it was done:So cute and easy to style! Of course it's about an inch longer now, but I am going back to my new favorite hairstylist at the end of this month for a cut and highlight before we leave for Disney World!

Husband and I have been busy planning for our upcoming WDW trip. We have changed out minds a million times, but it appears that our dinner reservations are now set in stone: Via Napoli in Epcot, Teppan Edo in Epcot, Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Cat Cora's Kouzzina at Boardwalk, and Artist Point at Wilderness Lodge. Via Napoli, Kouzzina and Artist Point will be new experiences for us.

We also have booked 5 low-cost wine and culinary demonstrations at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Sufficed to say, we will be spending a lot of time in Epcot. And, we have 6 table-service meals and 6 snack credits apiece throughout the week too. I definitely want to try Captain Cook's at the Polynesian for sure. The rest will be determined upon lunchtime hunger. (:

Aside from planning for our trip, we also traveled to my cousin's wedding in Kentucky the last weekend of August. And my sorority at Alabama took about a zillion new members during Recruitment -- so proud of them!

I must confess that I've also been very busy with my full-time job, as well as my new part-time job, which is writing for a family of Disney travel-related websites. I struck an alliance with a super awesome, semi-famous Disney blogger through social media, and it turns out they were looking for someone to write a bit. So, I partook, and it's keeping me busy outside of my full-time job hours. So I just don't have a lot of time to blog for myself. But for that I truly cannot complain!

I also just applied to be a member of the WDW Mom's Panel, even though I'm not a mom. But I do feel that I have a good slant as a young newlywed who honeymooned and 1st anniversary-ed there. So we shall see!

I can't believe that summer is drawling to a close already.

Short hair! eeek!

2010-08-11T15:19:00.002-05:00

So tonight after work I have a hair appointment with the fabulous Elenie of Kissin' Frogs (though, considering she is engaged now, I think she is no longer Kissin' Frogs. lol.) Elenie recently switched hair salons to be closer to home and she is now working out of a salon in the Birmingham area, which is right down the street from my old apartment!

I am taking the plunge for real this time, into the world of shorter hair. I have not had my hair cut since March. Yep, March. I got it cut to that length between chin length and shoulder length, but of course since then it has grown out about 4 inches. It's just blah, limp and lifeless, because I had been saving money by going to a local hair school and getting a $10 haircut.

But this time I am going to a REAL stylist. And a bloggie friend at that!

Here is what I am going for. I put this out on twitter and facebook a little bit ago and already got some positive responses.

Yep that's Kristin Cavallari. So what do you think?

Where did July go? What I've been up to...

2010-07-27T19:01:00.000-05:00

Wow, it’s been a long time since I have posted here on the bloggity blog.

July has been a busy month.

Here’s some of what I’ve been up to:

I traveled for work and spent time in the media tent at the Jimmy Buffett & Friends Live from the Gulf Coast concert, which was broadcast on CMT. I’m also working on some great projects at work involving social media and community engagement. I love my job.

I got a massage after I developed some really horrible knots in my back/shoulder/neck area. I really wish I could afford a monthly massage!

I realized that I’ve been gaining weight – sadly I can’t fit into most of my pants anymore, and I am most definitely a solid size 14 at this point. So sad, too, after I got down to a really solid size 12, and closing in on 10, at our wedding last year. So I’ve started walking the dog more. Brian and I also renewed our Sam’s Club membership and stocked up on some healthy eats. I’ve slipped up several times though. But I’m working on it. I just like food, OK?

I’ve started reading the book Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Doland, the editor of unclutterer.com. I’m going to start this weekend on doing the things the book tells me to do, which says to start in your closet. Lord knows I wear maybe 25% of what I own.

I’ve teared through all but the latest (Heart of the Matter; it’s still on my paperbackswap wish list) of Emily Giffin’s books. They’re good. I’m also all the way up to the newest Jen Lancaster memoir, My Fair Lazy. And I’m up to Book 9 of the Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood books. Quality entertainment!

I saw Toy Story 3 and Eclipse in the theatre. Both were wonderful, in very different ways. And I’m counting down the days until the next Harry Potter release this November, then the next Pirates of the Caribbean May 2011, then the last Harry Potter release July 2011, then the first Breaking Dawn release November 2011. I wholeheartedly love all 3 movie franchises!

Speaking of counting down days, we’re counting down the days until our next Disney World vacation! We’re crazy Disney people at this point. We’re going in October for 5 nights, mainly for the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival and the water parks, all new experiences for us. We’re staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort and taking advantage of the free dining promotion Disney World has put out for a good portion of the remaining year. At first we didn’t think we would be able to afford the trip, but I think we’ll be able to make it work, especially because…

We got ALABAMA FOOTBALL season tickets! We’ve been on the waiting list for 3 and a half years, and we got the call 2 weeks ago that our number is up. And while the up-front cost is a lot, we think that after selling 2 highly sought after sets of tickets, we will be in the black and able to put any additional ticket sales toward our Disney vacation. There are 7 home games, and I don’t think I’ll want to go to more than 3. Yes, I’m a fan, but the hassle of traveling down to the game, finding parking, hiking a mile, etc., gets a little old! I can watch it on TV if it means green in my pocket.

Finally, the move to Mobile is still on, but we still don’t have a lot of interest in our house, which needs to sell before we can move. I’m scouting around for Realtors to list with, as our by-owner MLS contract runs out in 2 months. Sigh…

How has your summer gone?

Finding "the purse"

2010-07-05T12:08:00.004-05:00

So, on my 30 Before 30 list, 2 of the items involve handbags/purses.

15. Find THE purse.
16. Then, sell or donate a bunch of other purses.

"The purse" that I've been thinking of is large but not too large (large enough to carry my wallet, cosmetics bag, iPhone, sunglasses, camera, keys, and a paperback), easy to carry over my shoulder, and made of a soft, buttery brown leather that looks good year-round. I have yet to decide exactly what style I want, but I think once I see it, I'll know.

The idea here is to have ONE very versatile leather bag, along with a couple smaller ones for nights out, and eliminate the majority of my purses that just hang around and never get used.

I'd really rather NOT spend $300+for a bag, but if I absolutely fall in love, I would consider saving up for it, then consigning some of my older purses to help make up for the cost. I have a small blue suede Coach hobo, a nylon Coach, and a few Vera Bradley bags that I think could fetch at least a few bucks.

So, with that said, here are a few contenders for "the bag":

I LIKE:

Juniper Leather Tote by
The Sak Handbags

I LIKE:

Calf Large Nina by
Dooney & Bourke

I also like the Coach Large Madison Maggie in Brass/Walnut.

and the JCrew Brompton hobo in henna.

Which do you like? Do you have any additional recommendations?

Thanks, One King's Lane!

2010-06-29T11:23:00.005-05:00

So a while back, I had invited a lot of friends to join One King's Lane. It's a by-invitation private sale of luxury home items.

Today they were having a Lilly Pulitzer paper sale, and not one, but 2 of my invited friends opted to buy, and therefore I received a $25 credit for each!

Here's what I made out with, for free!

A set of 2 mugs:And a set of 3 sticky notepads!

I am one happy girl!

If you would like an invitation to One King's Lane, I invite you to e-mail me at southernwebgirl@gmail.com.

How-to Disney cooking videos

2010-06-22T16:41:00.006-05:00

Just wanted to share the first 3 how-to cooking videos that my husband Brian has created for some of our favorite Disney World dishes.

I apologize in advance if some of the embeds are cut off -- if you're having trouble seeing them, just click through to YouTube.

First, pot roast from Liberty Tree Tavern at the Magic Kingdom:

Then, Tonga Toast from Kona Cafe at the Polynesian Resort. YUM.

And finally, the Italian Breakfast from the former Spoodles (now Kouzzina) at the Boardwalk Resort.

What do you think? Brian has been having a lot of fun playing around with iMovie.

On branding and work vs. personal

2010-06-08T16:20:00.004-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I work as a Web producer. It's a newer type of journalist -- though my company has had Web producers for more than a decade, other companies are just now hiring folks like us to oversee all content aspects of a website -- news-related or otherwise.

And it's sort of strange -- because I work online for a living, I have developed 2 online personas -- the work, and the personal. But lately I've been thinking about that. I'm considering letting the two worlds collide.

Basically, what I am thinking is of buying a domain name (I have one in mind) and running that site on Wordpress or Typepad Pro -- I have accounts with both.

Then, I would use that site to link up to this blog -- which I don't wish to move from Blogger -- as well as to my online professional work and all my social media accounts. It would be a one-stop shop for everything Southern Web Girl.

Because I don't have anything to hide, and because I work as a Web producer, I think it would behoove me to brand myself appropriately, to show that I can work on multiple CMS, manage several social media accounts, and have fun while I'm at it.

I think the only negative to this is that I might worry about people knowing too much about me. It also means that all of you would know where I work, and that those I work with professionally would have access to this blog if they wanted. But I'm sure that right now, you could probably connect all the dots with a few clicks of the mouse anyway.

So, thoughts? And if you prefer Wordpress vs. Typepad Pro, I would love to hear thoughts on that as well.

Finding peace with a "30 Before 30" list

2010-06-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Do you ever get the feeling that you'll never be content? That there's a void of some sort? That you need something to keep you going, other than the normal day-to-day?

I've been feeling that way lately. We just returned from Disney World for our 1st anniversary and already I want to return, to have something to plan for and look forward to. Because I'm bored, and restless.

I know I should be working toward health and freedom from debt, and more worried about selling our house and moving, but I want to have fun, dang it, to have things to look forward to, to plan for. I want to laugh, to play, to *feel.*

My husband makes me laugh, our dog brings me joy, but there is something missing. We all deserve vacations now and then, but I wonder if perhaps I should be getting back into something creative or outdoorsy to help fill the void I'm feeling -- painting, pottery, scrapbooking, kayaking, camping?

I'm really enjoying my new job, we're enjoying our second year of marriage, but I'm just having a hard time putting my finger on what my purpose is, on what really makes me tick beyond the husband and the dog and my job and and planning for vacations.

"Real life" is so much harder than college because you start working, get into a daily routine, and ... then what? Already, 5 years have passed since I graduated from college. And what have I really accomplished -- beyond the getting married, buying a house, getting a dog expected sort of things?

So, with that said, I'm coming up with a "30 before 30" list that combines fun with duty-- some of these are just fun things I want to do, while others are things I've struggled with or I'm not so comfortable doing or learning. This is a list of things I want to accomplish before my 30th birthday. That gives me approximately 2 years and 8 months to get these crossed off my list. I'm going to put this list in my blog sidebar and hold myself accountable.

1. Lose at least 30 lbs., and fit into a solid size 8/10.
2. Learn how to dive into a pool.
3. Learn how to turn a cartwheel.
4. Go on an overnight camping/kayak trip.
5. Create a scrapbook for our honeymoon trip to Disney World...
6. ...and another for our 1st anniversary trip to Disney World.
7. Visit Disney World again in 2011 ...
8. ...and in 2012/13, after the Fantasyland expansion is complete.
9. Volunteer for an organization associated with animal adoptions.
10. Write a fiction piece.
11. Figure out my signature cocktail.
12. See at least 2 Cirque du Soleil shows.
13. Learn the basics of sewing.
14. Learn more Web and video/photo skills.
15. Find THE purse.
16. Then, sell or donate a bunch of other purses.
17. Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.
18. Go deep sea fishing.
19. Pay off as much debt as humanly possible.
20. Find my favorite go-to wine.
21. Read at least 64 books (2 per month).
22. Connect with my nephews at least monthly.
23. Take an art class.
24. Go horseback riding. Preferably in Montana or Colorado. But Alabama would do.
25. Keep a houseplant alive.
26. Tour a winery.
27. Get a stamp on my unused passport.
28. Bake my mom's cheesecake recipe from scratch.
29. Sell our house and settle in Mobile.
30. Learn how to drive stick.

Who wants to place a bet that I get it all done ... or not?

My guest post: Disney's California Grill

2010-05-30T14:36:00.003-05:00

Hey y'all!

I wrote a review of our 1st anniversary dinner at California Grill at Disney World's Contemporary Resort. It would mean a lot to me if you would check it out!

Here's the link.

Guest blogging and some odds and ends

2010-05-21T22:25:00.002-05:00

Wow! Has it been a week. Husband and I left last Friday and returned Monday to go to the Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of great acts. My favorites were Brett Dennen, Alison Krauss, Ray Lamontagne and Trey Anastasio and TAB. Michael Franti and Spearhead were a lot of fun too.

On the way home we looked at a good apartment complex in Daphne, right across the bay from Mobile. It's affordable and a 15-minute drive to work. I would still prefer a rental house over an apartment, but it's nice to know that there are apartment options that we like in the area.

I'm working on a guest blog post for Disneyfoodblog about our first anniversary dinner at Disney World. I'm really excited to share our experience and be featured on such a great blog. I will pass along the link when it is posted.

I'm already wishing for a return to Disney World, as well as wishing for a Vegas trip! I have only been to Vegas once, 4 years ago, and husband has connections to some really low hotel and condo rates out there. Only problem is all the other funds needed for a trip like that, and frankly we need to be concentrating on selling the house and moving to Mobile.

I'm way behind on blog reading -- like behind since April 23 behind, the day before we left for Disney. But I'm working on it. (:

Checking in

2010-05-05T13:40:00.005-05:00

So I come home from Disney World to find out that the Gulf Coast might get covered in oil tar goo and thus I have been working non-stop since Saturday night. To say that this has been draining emotionally is an understatement. I am the type who worries about the ecosystem and the cute turtle babies and my precious noms of shrimp and oysters, not to mention that the Gulf Coast is my future home.

But! Tonight is the Jen Lancaster book signing at Barnes & Noble, so that will be a nice little respite from the oil tar goo. I've read her first 2 books and already I am hooked.

Back to Disney... I took a ton of photos at Disney World, mostly of food, and thus I may be doing a couple guest blogs about my two most favoritest restaurants that we visited over at my new blog obsession, DisneyFoodBlog, run by the wonderful A.J.

No plans in my future at all right now -- no travel plans, no selling of the house because no one wants it (yet), so I am planning on some major cleanage of the house to get it in even better shape for potential buyers. As well as eating of the best pizza ever this weekend with Brian and his mom for Mother's Day. And at some point before they leave to go see my sister and BIL and nephews, Thai with my parents for Mother's Day.

I shall leave you with this:

No, that is not Johnny Depp or a wax figure of Johnny Depp, it is a real dude Disney World hired to be Jack Sparrow. Yes, seriously! Where do they find them?

Disney World, Part 3: FOOD! DINING! YUM!

2010-04-22T20:50:00.000-05:00

So, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, one of the reasons I am so excited about returning to Disney World for our first anniversary is for the amazing dining experiences. Before our honeymoon last year, I had not experienced fine dining at Disney. But getting on the Deluxe Dining Plan last year truly opened my eyes to a world beyond burgers and hot dogs at Disney World. It was so much fun to pick out exactly what I wanted on every menu without worrying about price!

If you are a foodie traveling without children, I highly recommend the Deluxe Dining plan! It's the highest tier available. It includes 3 sit-down meals per day (you can also opt for walk-up quick-serve, but we don't do that -- we prefer sit-down restaurants!) and 2 snack credits per day. Be warned, it is a LOT of food. Each lunch and dinner includes an appetizer, an entree and a dessert per person. Click here for more on the plan.

So without further ado, here is our Disney Food Plan 2010!

Restaurants in *BOLD WITH STARS* are those that we are returning to because we LOVED THEM so much last year. Restaurants in +BOLD WITH PLUS SIGNS+ are restaurants that we are trying for the first time. Links go to menus.

Day 1:

Check-in at Pop Century Resort
Lunch at *Kona Cafe* at Polynesian
Afternoon at Animal Kingdom
Dinner at +Boma+ at Animal Kingdom Lodge

Day 2 -- Our First Anniversary!:

All Day at Magic Kingdom
Lunch at *Liberty Tree Tavern* at MK
Dinner at *California Grill* (premium 2-credit restaurant) at Contemporary with a view of Wishes fireworks.

Day 3:

All day at Epcot
Lunch at +Teppan Edo+ (Japan) in Epcot World Showcase
Dinner at *San Angel Inn* (Mexico) in Epcot World Showcase followed by IllumiNations.

Day 4:

All day at Hollywood Studios
Lunch at *Hollywood Brown Derby* (premium 2-credit restaurant) at HS
Dinner at +Ohana+ at Polynesian with a view of Wishes fireworks.

Day 5:
All day at Animal Kingdom
Lunch at *Yak & Yeti* in AK
Dinner at +Jiko+ (premium 2-credit restaurant) at Animal Kingdom Lodge

Day 6:
All day at Epcot
Breakfast at +Whispering Canyon Cafe+ at Wilderness Lodge
Lunch at +Chefs de France+ in Epcot World Showcase
Dinner at *Le Cellier Steakhouse* (Canada) in Epcot World Showcase followed by IllumiNations.

Day 7:
All day at Magic Kingdom
Breakfast at *Kona Cafe* at Polynesian
Lunch at +The Wave+ at Contemporary
Dinner at +Narcoossee's+ (premium 2-credit restaurant) at Grand Floridian (Sadly, no Wishes that night, sad face.)

Day 8:
Check-out from Pop Century
Lunch at +Everything Pop Food Court+

So, all in all, we will return to 8 restaurants and are trying 9 more. All 8 of the ones we are returning to were absolutely OUTSTANDING last year. My absolute favorite experiences from last year that we are returning to again are California Grill (I had ostrich, but this menu changes all the time), Kona Cafe (for breakfast -- Tonga Toast!), Le Cellier (Pretzel bread and steak. Nuff said.), San Angel Inn (filete moltuleno, amazing!), and Yak & Yeti (Shaoxing Steak & Shrimp).

Looking at our itinerary, you'll see that we're only scheduled for breakfast twice. We prefer to save some of our breakfast credits and use them toward 2-credit premium dining experiences at restaurants that would normally be at least $60/head. We're visiting 4 of those restaurants on this trip -- California Grill, Hollywood Brown Derby, Jiko and Narcoossee's. After this trip, there are 4 remaining premium restaurants that I hope to eat at on subsequent visits.

Lastly, may I point out that all of our meals and days at the parks are planned out? If you don't make reservations beforehand, it can be nearly impossible to walk up at a lot of these restaurants hoping for a table, especially during peak dining hours with a larger party. If you're planning a trip to Disney World, you can book your reservations up to 180 days in advance.

I'm also looking forward to certain snacks at Disney World. Some of my favorites from last year were apples and caramel dip at carts and restaurants throughout WDW and the cream cheese-filled pretzel at Tomorrowland's Lunching Pad in Magic Kingdom.

And for the first time this year, I will experience the magic that is the Dole Whip (thanks Wikipedia!).

These can be found only at Aloha Isle at Adventureland in Magic Kingdom and at Captain Cook's at the Polynesian. They come in a cup or as a float with pineapple juice -- YUM!

Planning resources:

Allears.net menus - comprehensive and amazing!
The Disney Food Blog - wonderful coverage of all things food at Disney! It's hard to believe this is a one-woman show. You can also follow the Disney Food Blog on Twitter.

I plan on documenting all our wonderful dining experiences this year and putting them here.

Amazing video of my two favorite Disney parks

2010-04-20T14:18:00.002-05:00

These videos are absolutely beautiful and capture the essence of why I love Disney World so much.

First up is a day at the Magic Kingdom.

Now, a day at Epcot.

Disney Parks has also added a video of a cruise on the Disney Wonder if you're interested!

Disney World, Part 2: Disney resorts

2010-04-19T16:34:00.011-05:00

Countdown: 5 days til Disney World!

Today, I am discussing Disney World resorts. I am a huge proponent of staying at Disney resort hotels. The resorts are like a park in themselves -- there's so much to see and do to keep you occupied. It's also common knowledge that most of the best dining at Disney World is found in the resorts.

The lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge, where we stayed in April 2009 for our honeymoon.

Disney resorts are divided into 3 tiers of cost -- Value, Moderate, and Deluxe. Value resorts are more like staying at a Best Western or something along those lines, but with fun theming and a food court. Moderate resorts have more to offer in the pool areas and include a sit-down restaurant in addition to the food court. And Deluxe resorts have lots of extra activities, the most spacious rooms, beautiful architecture, numerous pools and hot tubs, and several sit-down dining options to choose from, including some of the best restaurants in central Florida.

Some deluxe resorts are also available as villas, aka condos, and these villas are the "home resort" for members of the Disney Vacation Club (aka timeshare club). If only I had thr cash for that...

Here's a full list of the Walt Disney World resorts (Click here for a map to see the locations):

** Denotes that I have stayed at this resort or plan to stay there this year.
+ Denotes that I have visited this resort or will visit this year to eat and take in the sights.

Deluxe Resorts:

**Animal Kingdom Lodge
Beach Club Resort
+Boardwalk Inn
Yacht Club Resort
+Contemporary Resort
+Grand Floridian Resort
+Polynesian Resort
+Wilderness Lodge

Deluxe Villa Resorts:

Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas
Bay Lake Tower
Beach Club Villas
Boardwalk Villas
+Old Key West Resort
Treehouse Villas
Wilderness Lodge Villas
Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

Moderate Resorts:

Caribbean Beach
Coronado Springs
Ft. Wilderness Cabins
+Port Orleans Riverside
**Port Orleans French Quarter

Value Resorts:

All-Star Movies
All-Star Music
All-Star Sports
**Pop Century Resort

A lot of times, the question is, "Why should I pay more to stay at a Disney resort when I can stay at the Holiday Inn, Best Western, La Quinta, etc., just outside the park for much cheaper?" That may be true -- you *can* stay for cheaper outside the parks. But when you're not staying on Disney property, you don't get all the extra perks, which oftentimes can save you money. So, what are these resort perks?

1. Free parking at the parks. If you're staying off-property, this costs $10 per day.
2. Extra Magic Hours. This is when select parks open early or close late on certain days. I have yet to take advantage of this, but I hear it's really cool.
3. Complimentary airport transportation, known as Disney's Magical Express. We'll be taking advantage of this for the first time on Saturday. If you're flying in, you get luggage tags in the mail. You check your luggage at your home airport, then when you arrive in Orlando, you get directly on a Disney's Magical Express bus. Your checked baggage is delivered a couple hours later to your resort room. No lugging around heavy luggage! Hooray!
4. Package delivery. If you buy souvenirs at any of the Disney parks, they will deliver it straight to your room.
5. Key to the World card. I mentioned this in my last post. It's so convenient having park tickets, dining credits and your room key all together on one card.
6. The Disney Dining Plan! This is my favorite benefit available only to guests staying on WDW property. There are 3 tiers of dining plans and I am a HUGE fan of the Deluxe plan, which I'll get more in during my next post.

Even more benefits are listed here.

Even though I have yet to visit or stay at all the resorts, I've seen enough of them to pick out a few favorites: the three Deluxe resorts situated on the monorail near the Magic Kingdom, (Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Contemporary resorts) as well as the Animal Kingdom Lodge. If money were no object, I would stay at one of these four resorts on every trip to Disney World.

We were lucky enough to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge last year, which, surprisingly, is one of the cheaper Deluxe resorts, even though it is the newest. It's highly rated and houses some of the best restaurants on WDW property, which we will be visiting next week.

In 2006, we stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter resort, a moderate resort. And this year, we are saving some green and staying at the highest-rated Value resort, Pop Century. So by the end of this trip, we will have stayed at one each of the three pricing tiers and will have a better sense of what you get with each price point.

If we are happy enough with Pop Century, I would consider staying at a Value resort over a Moderate resort just for the pure cost savings, because I don't think there's a huge difference. Ideally, I would go to Disney World twice a year -- a longer trip while staying at a value resort, and a shorter trip while staying at a Deluxe resort.

Coming up later this week -- Disney World FOOD!

Disney World tips and tricks

2010-04-10T19:01:00.005-05:00

So over a week ago, I promised 3 blog posts on Disney. And drumroll, please….here is your first post!

So maybe you’ve been to Disney World before, maybe not. Maybe you went as a kid in the 80s or 90s, but haven’t been back since. I was in that boat myself up until 2006. I had been as a kid on 3 separate occasions, but up until 2006, I hadn’t been to Disney World since 1997 as an 8^th grader, and I had never stayed on property either.

Brian and I lived in South Florida for a year in 2005-06, and we decided to go in February 2006 to celebrate our birthdays – he was turning 27 and I was turning 23. Our birthdays are only 2 days apart, so we got birthday pins and ran around in the rain visiting all 4 parks, including our first ever visit to Animal Kingdom. We had a lot of fun, and were treated really nicely by the cast members for our birthdays, but still didn’t get that full dose of Disney magic because we stayed off property.

In June 2006, we returned to WDW with a friend of mine who came to visit us in Florida. We stayed on property for the first time at the Port Orleans French Quarter and we were really impressed with the resort. But we didn’t really eat at a lot of Disney restaurants, other than a few in the parks, and we still weren’t getting the full “Disney treatment.”

Then, we got engaged in January 2008. We were tossing different ideas back and forth for the honeymoon – California wine country and a Caribbean cruise were the two choices we were thinking of the most. But then in fall of 2008, I got an e-mail from Disney World touting a "Buy 4 Nights, Get 3 Nights Free" deal, and I brought up the idea of a week at Disney for our honeymoon. Brian really liked the idea, and we decided to book at Port Orleans Riverside with the regular dining plan (more on that later).

Over time we ended up switching to the Caribbean Beach Resort to get a king room (none were available at POR). But then we got a huge surprise from our Best Man – he was going to pay for an upgrade to a Deluxe resort as part of our wedding present! (Brian’s parents were already paying for the rest.)

We ended up booking at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and somewhere along the way we decided to upgrade to a Deluxe Dining Plan as well – the best choice we could have ever made!

We had an absolute blast on our honeymoon being immersed into the whole Disney experience – not just the theme parks, but the excellent dining and the excellent resort. I highly recommend staying on Disney property so that you can take advantage of the perks, like the Disney Dining Plan (which can only be used if you’re staying on Disney property) and free parking at the theme parks.

Something we researched while booking our honeymoon was crowd levels. To me, crowd levels and weather are absolutely key to enjoying your time at Disney. I could go fall, winter and spring, but you would have to pay me to go during the middle of summer, during spring break (mid-March-mid-April), the week of Christmas or the week immediately after. Those are the absolute peak times because kids are out of school.

Personally, the only times I would go to WDW are September-mid December, mid-January-beginning of March, and late April-end of May. The weather is great during these times, school is in session, and there are great special events – the Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot in the spring, the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot in the fall, plus the decorations for Halloween and Christmas are out of this world.

Something I really liked about staying on Disney property is the Key to the World card. When you check in at a Disney resort, you receive your card, which stores your park tickets, dining credits, and also acts as your room key. It’s great to have it all in one spot – just don’t lose it!

A lot has changed at Disney since the 1990s. My favorite innovation is the FastPass. The FastPass is something Disney thought of to give park visitors a more enjoyable experience with less time spent standing in lines. The way it works is this: There are machine kiosks at all the most popular rides. Insert your park ticket or Key to the World card into the machine, and you get a ticket printed and spit out back at you that gives you a 30-minute window of time to return. You can then go ride other rides, go eat, do whatever until your 30-minute window. Then when you return, you present your FastPass and are ushered into a “VIP” line that gets you to the ride very quickly.

My advice with the FastPass is – when you arrive at a park, go directly to your favorite ride of choice that tends to have long lines. Get your FastPass right away. Rides that tend to have very long lines are:

Magic Kingdom: Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mtn Railroad, Splash Mtn. and Peter Pan’s Flight.

Epcot: Test Track and Soarin’. Sometimes Mission: Space as well.

Hollywood Studios: Toy Story Mania, Rockin’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror.

Animal Kingdom: Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids (especially in the late afternoon), and Dinosaur.

The absolute WORST wait is at Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios – if you plan on riding that, go get your FatPass right away. When we were there last year, FastPasses for that ride ran out around noon.

Don’t waste your time getting a FastPass for something with less than a 30-minute posted wait time. We found that lines were almost always shorter than the posted time.

My favorite parks are the older ones -- Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Magic Kingdom is a no-brainer for me -- I like to start and end our vacation there. It's just plain magical! I love pretty much every ride there, especially Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain and Space Mountain. It's a Small World is always a classic, along with the Jungle Cruise and the Tiki Room. Mickey's Philharmagic is my favorite new attraction, it is the cutest thing ever. We're also excited to check out the Hall of Presidents, which was closed last year to make room for Obama. And I absolutely LOVE the nighttime fireworks show, Wishes. It makes you feel like anything is possible.

As for Epcot, it's an adult paradise. All the rides and attractions at the front of the park have been updated, and my favorite by far is Soarin'. And I lovelovelove the World Showcase. I could spend all day just looking through the shops, riding Maelstrom at Norway and eating and imbibing my way through every country. And the IllumiNations fireworks is AMAZING -- so unique and inspiring -- and wonderful to watch after a dinner at Le Cellier or San Angel Inn (both are our dinners at Epcot this trip).

Not to rain on Hollywood Studios' or Animal Kingdom's parade -- they just don't hold the same amount of magic for me. My favorite attractions at Hollywood Studios are the Great Movie Ride, Toy Story Mania, Muppets 3D and the Tower of Terror. I was also pleasantly surprised by the Voyage of the Little Mermaid stage show on our last trip, and I plan on seeing the Beauty and the Beast stage show this time. We saw Fantasmic for the first time last year, but are opting to skip that this year in favor of dinner at Ohana at the Polynesian Resort with a view of Wishes at the Magic Kingdom.

We decided to use our 7th ticket for our upcoming trip for Animal Kingdom, for the day we arrive. We're going to go for a few hours and devote our time to seeing the animals and walking the trails toward the back of the park. Then when we go later in the week, we'll visit our favorite attractions -- Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur!, and the safari. The It's Tough to be a Bug show is cute, as well as the Finding Nemo stage show, but both are a little kiddie. Note that there is no nighttime show at Animal Kingdom and it usually closes around 6 p.m., so if you're park hopping, be sure to visit in the morning and end our day at one of the other parks.

So, speaking of park hopping – to Park Hop or not to Park Hop? For me, this really depends on the length of your visit. If you only have 1-3 days at Disney – absolutely get a Park Hopper. If you’re staying for 4 days or more, save your money and savor a full day at each park. This is how we do it since we are getting 7 days of park tickets.

Lastly, there are a ton of great Disney Web sites out there to get you acquainted with Disney World, and they’re absolutely filled with tips and tricks on making the most of your time there.

Here is just a sampling:

allears.net (their newsletter is great)

disboards.com

Stitch Kingdom

The Disney Blog

There are seriously a million Disney sites, but those are just some of my favorites. I hope y'all found this informative! My next post will be on Disney resorts, followed by Disney dining.

House for sale! And more Disney talk

2010-04-01T16:08:00.006-05:00

Well, now I'm realizing it's been a week since my last blog post!

The makeup bag I won last week is now resting snugly in my purse as a wonderful catch-all for all my cosmetics and odds and ends. It's gorgeous.

I've been busy the past week at work, and also busy getting our house listed for sale.

Yep, that's our house. I don't want to post up a link to the listing for fear of Internet stalkery, but if you know of someone in the Birmingham, Ala., who might be interested in becoming a homeowner, taking advantage of the $8K first-time homebuyer credit by April 30, feel free to e-mail me: southernwebgirl@gmail.com.

So, happy April! For my new readers, April is our anniversary month. We got married on April 25 of last year at The Beach Club in Gulf Shores, Ala., honeymooned at Disney World, and are now returning for our first anniversary.

I recently gave Freck some great advice on getting around Disney World and some dining recommendations. So that got me to thinking about my dear old blog. To celebrate our first anniversary, I'm going to do a 3-part blog post on my best tips for visiting Disney World.

Post 1 will cover Disney parks. I'm going to talk about my favorite attractions, getting around the parks and some of the newer innovations that someone visiting for the first time or someone who hasn't visited since they were a kid might not know about.

Post 2 will cover Disney resorts -- the ones I've stayed in, the difference in the pricing tiers, fan favorites, etc.

Post 3 will cover my favorite topic -- Disney dining! I'm going to dig through my camera and find some great pics of some of the best food I've ever had in my life. No lie.

The truth is, I should have blogged about our Disney honeymoon in depth in oh, about last May, but I just never got around to it. So this will be a great way to get some of it out there while imparting my Disney wisdom upon the (mostly uninitiated) masses.

Lauren Nicole giveaway

2010-03-25T11:10:00.003-05:00

I am so excited!

I won the giveaway for a Kate Spade makeup bag at Lauren Nicole Gifts. Here's the proof!

Lauren Nicole Gifts has great giveaways every week. Check them out and look at all her stuff too -- it's the cutest! Right now she is giving away a Vera Bradley tote. Ironically, I already have the exact one she is giving away!

A great couple of weekends

2010-03-22T15:10:00.006-05:00

Brian and I have had a great couple of weekends.

The weekend before last, Brian and I traveled to The Beach Club, our wedding venue, for the weekend. We had a free 2-night stay in a 2-bedroom condo and a free dinner for two that had to be used by the end of April, so we went ahead and took advantage.

It was really nice to be at the wedding venue in a totally relaxed state -- no hustle and bustle, no planning -- just relaxation! And even better, I was working in Mobile on Thursday and Friday, so once I was done with work Friday, it was just an hour's drive to the beach.

On Saturday, we steamed shrimp and potatoes and ate those for lunch with Coronas and limes on our balcony.Brian posted the above pic on his facebook page and got lots of envious comments. lol. We hung out at the pool all afternoon getting some sun and drinking margaritas. It was just too windy to be on the beach, and there was a red flag too, so we never actually touched the sand.

Saturday night we took advantage of our free dinner for two -- he got steak and I got mahi. Yumyum. And we split a creme brulee for dessert.

This weekend was also a good one. On Friday night we did some shopping and I was able to find a black dress, long aqua necklace and matching earrings at Belk for my friend's Hindi wedding next month. Based on the bride's advice, I decided on a little black dress for the reception, and I am going to wear my wedding rehearsal dinner dress -- a silk print Lilly -- for the ceremony the following day since it's a 1 p.m. wedding.

Then Saturday afternoon, we ate at Flip Burger at the Summit here in Bham for lunch. The food was amazing, but we found the atmosphere to be much too trendy, and the music way too loud. We did some running around and then Brian made a Chicago-style pizza for dinner. Yumyum.
Also Saturday, we bit the bullet and got this:

A 26-inch Vizio HDTV for our bedroom! Woohoo! Hooray tax return $$! And Saturday night, we rented 'Up in the Air' from Redbox and it was awesome! Lovelovelove George Clooney, and Anna Kendrick was outstanding!

And then Sunday night, Brian made homemade spring rolls, crab rangoon and chicken stir-fry, then we went to go see 'Alice in Wonderland' in 3D. A good movie, but now I just want to go see 'Avatar' since 'Alice' was my first 3D movie, attractions at Disney World nonwithstanding.

Speaking of Disney World, we are just 33 days away from our arrival!

Celebrating our honeymoon in April '09 at Magic Kingdom with Walt and Tink.

We are celebrating our 1st anniversary at WDW and staying at the Pop Century resort. To say we are both excited to return is a wee bit of an understatement. We're also excited because we were able to get round-trip airfare for both of us for a total of $198 through Southwest. We were planning on driving, but with that great of a deal, we simply couldn't pass it up, and in my SUV, gas cost would have been close to $198 anyhow.

I plan on doing some more blogging about our itinerary and the restaurants we are visiting. Our two favorite Disney sites are Disneyfoodblog.com and allears.net. If you are planning a WDW visit anytime soon and are foodies like us, bookmark both of those sites. They are great. I plan on taking a ton of photos to share with AJ at Disney Food Blog.

How was your weekend? I'll tell you what, I'm ready for the crazy weather to end and the spring weather to set in for real.

Losing the newlywed happy weight

2010-03-15T13:51:00.003-05:00

So since the wedding last April, I have gained 15 lbs. This comes as no surprise, really, since we slacked off on exercising over the summer and fall, and starting with the Disney honeymoon full of fabulous food, we stopped watching calories as closely as we were before the wedding.

My goal is to lose those 15 lbs., plus another 25 lbs., to get to my goal weight by December. That should also put me down from a size 12-14 to an 8 or so. It kills me that I'm basically starting over from scratch, per se. Brian and I are both using the 'Lose It' app in our iPhones to calculate our daily calories. I'm allotted about 1,700-ish calories per day to lose 1 lb. per week.

I don't want to set all these crazy fitness goals and not be able to achieve them, so my goal is work out 2-3x/week for 45 minutes, which is realistic for me. I want to start doing some upper body strength training again too, as I've noticed my arms getting flabbier since the wedding as well. And I want to start exercising with Mango more. It's been a really cold winter here in the South, so she hasn't been getting the exercise she needs because I'm too freakin' cold to run around the block. Also, I'm lazy.

Anyone else experience the winter fitness doldrums or the newlywed happy weight gain? It was definitely a perfect confluence of both for me.

In other news, we bought a new sectional sofa and a new IKEA bedroom suite. I'll work on taking some photos and sharing with y'all. We've managed to sell some of the furniture we had for sale, but we still have one queen bedroom set that no one seems to want, even though it's nice-quality furniture. Although lots of Nigerian scammers have been interested in buying.

I'm currently lusting after...

2010-03-10T11:42:00.007-06:00

1. Old Navy Dreamer jeans in color Rinse B.
Haven't even tried them on yet but I have a feeling they would fit my body type -- a seriously curvy pear.

2. Clarisonic replacement brushes.
I've been using my new Mia for about a month now and I'll need some replacement brush heads in the next month or two.

3. Old Navy foldover jersey skirt.
I'd like to get this skirt in heather gray, black, and either dark night or coffee grounds for our Disney trip. Would be a cute comfy alternative to shorts, which just seem to ride up as I'm wearing them.

4. Old Navy The Diva Low-Rise Cuffed Denim Capris in Azure.

I've about worn my only pair of denim capris I own out. These would be a good replacement.

On another note, I seriously think I could shop almost exclusively at Old Navy, Gap and Kohl's for my entire wardrobe. I don't think I've bought from much of anywhere else in the past year, except the Macy's clearance rack. Oh, and I bought one long-sleeved shirt from Target and did one online clearance order from Delia's. I've walked by Express, American Eagle, and several other stores and just haven't been interested.

As much as I drool over J.Crew, Boden, Tory Burch, Banana Republic, etc., unless I'm in an outlet store or it's seriously marked-down, it's just not clothes I can aspire to buy all the time. To spend more than $100 on jeans or shoes is not something I can stomach on a regular basis. I am a bargain shopper and proud of it.

In memory of Drew

2010-03-05T08:00:00.002-06:00

Drew,

Your battle with leukemia, and now, your journey to heaven have been weighing heavily on my heart. I’ll always remember you as a sarcastic, always-on-the-go teenager; as the only boy who ever broke up with me at that crucial young age and broke my heart.

I’ll never forget when my best friend Melissa and I first discovered you, Bryntly and Alex at Sparkles roller rink in the winter of 8^th grade. Finding cute boys who were not attending our middle school was always a plus and made the flirting seem all the more exotic. I remember one of the first things you did was promptly LIE to me about your age. You claimed to be 14 and in 8^th grade when you were actually 13 and in 7^th grade. I do not think I would have minded knowing the TRUTH, especially since you are only 7 months younger than me and had already reached past the 6 foot height mark, which was crucial in my book at the time. (:

I partnered up with you and we “dated” off and on over the course of a year. I say “dated” in quotes because since we were not attending the same school, “dating” at that age mostly meant talking on the phone (which I don’t think any teen boy especially LIKES) and meeting up at Sparkles on the weekends. We also hung out at Bryntly’s house after he and his family moved right next to the middle school. That summer, we went to White Water and a 311 concert. The next school year, in Dec. 1997, I took you as my date to the 9th grade Poinsettia Ball (or something similarly named). I still have the photos taken on the front steps of my parents’ house and the formal posed photos from the dance.

But the “relationship” eventually deteriorated, as they tend to do for kids that age. You broke up with me, and since previous to you I had never had a guy “break up” with me (I always “broke up” with them), I was heartbroken. You made me a mix tape to express your feelings, and I wrote tortured poetry as teen girls tend to do, especially once I learned that you had moved on to date some of my friends. But eventually I got over it, and eventually we developed a friendship, albeit a bit strained -- because your family moved and now you were at my high school, and I had started dating another boy in your grade, and well, he didn’t like you, and you didn’t like him.

Despite that, we still hung out occasionally. One time you came over to my house and I bleached your hair for you, of which I have “before,” “during,” and “after” photos that are quite hilarious. The summer after my freshman year of college, in 2002, I came home and we hung out a little bit. I took you and your best friend John to the movies one time because your Jeep had broken down. Little did we all know that your leukemia diagnosis would come just a few months later, around your 19th birthday.

Drew, I’ll always remember you for your twisted sense of humor, your magnetic energy, your great sense of style, and your love of music and the happiness it brings to us all. On the mix tape that you gave to me in 1998, you included a Bob Marley song, “Trenchtown Rock,” as covered by Sublime:

One good thing about music
When it hits you feel no pain
So hit me with music
Hit me with music now
Hit me with music, hit me with music

Drew, I know that you’re being hit with music and feeling no pain now, in heaven.

In memory of Drew
Sept. 13, 1983-Feb. 27, 2010

A traditional Hindi wedding -- help!

2010-03-04T11:53:00.003-06:00

Hi ladies!

I could really use your help. I've been invited to a dear sorority sister's wedding in Destin, Fla., in April. I am so thrilled to have made the limited friend guestlist for the bride, and I can't wait to be there to join in the festivities.

My sorority sister is Hindu, and this will be a huge gathering over many days. You can read about the Hindu Wedding Celebration here.

I'll arrive on a Thursday in time for the reception, which will be held starting around 6 p.m. I'll be driving in from Mobile and will need to change into a dress prior to the drive.

Then, on a Friday afternoon starting around 1 p.m. is the ceremony.

So, I will need 2 outfits for this wedding. I don't want to show too much skin or stick out like a sore thumb. It would be neat to find a couple dresses that nod to Indian dress and traditions -- silk, brocade, batik, etc., without looking like I am a white girl trying to dress as a Hindu.

I am 5'5" and a size 12ish with a D-cup, so I'll need something that looks good on my figure. Also, it's the middle of April in Destin, which has average high temps of 78 and lows of 51. So, any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!

Come to Mobile, the Port City!

2010-02-26T15:36:00.003-06:00

Even with the 1980s video quality, this still makes me kind of excited for the big move!

Fingers uncrossed; sharing the news!

2010-02-25T14:50:00.002-06:00

So I know I’ve been asking you guys to “keep your fingers crossed” and told you that I “had exciting news” to share. Well, now I can come out with it.

I have a new job! And it’s with an old employer! And I’m loving it! So let me explain the job odyssey…

I’m a journalist. I have a journalism degree. I went to journalism school; I’m a writer, an editor, and all that jazz. But if you know anything about the news industry, you know that it is changing rapidly.

I switched pretty darn quickly (over the course of 15 months) from being a bona-fide newspaper copy editor and page designer to online content. I feel lucky to have made the switch quickly and at a young age. And I know that’s why I have remained employed throughout the economic downturn.

After the switch to online content, I found myself at a good online job here in Birmingham. But after a year and a half of doing tasks that I felt a trained monkey could do –- a lot of copying over old code, and not a lot of decision-making or forging ahead –- I switched jobs and became the head of Web content for a TV affiliate here in the Ham.

There were pluses and minuses to the job, and it taught me a lot. But I know in my heart that TV news is not where I belong. Add to that thought massive layoffs. Our newsroom was cut in half during my time there. I had 3 weeks of furlough in 2009 -- “furlough” meaning a pay cut in exchange for time off. I had a pay cut of about 5 or 6 percent. It was rough. But I still felt fortunate that I had least made a good decision in switching to online content, and my job felt secure.

And so, the trained monkey job? I’m back. But this time around, I’m no monkey. I’m in a senior role with a wonderful new boss – a new boss who came onboard in December, the one who came a-calling. Things have changed so much here in the span of the 2 years I was gone that my head is still spinning. But it’s all for the better. And I’m learning to get back on the bike and pedal hard.

And with this job, I will eventually be going rogue from the rest of the crew. Translation? We’re moving to MOBILE, ALABAMA!

…as soon as we can sell our house.

So please forgive me for being so spotty in posting here the past couple of months. In trying to get the job situation sorted out, I felt like I had nothing ELSE to talk about.But now I will have plenty to regale you with as we sell our home and set out on our newlywed adventure to the Port City.

My new love!

2010-02-13T19:03:00.005-06:00

The Clarisonic Mia! Wow wow wow, what a great beauty tool! I got this about 2 weeks ago and already I am starting to see an improvement in my skin. I have an oily t-zone and have been plagued with blackheads on my chin and nose since about age 12. They're starting to clear up, and I've noticed a reduction in acne breakouts as well.

I just finished using the cleanser that came with the Mia and now I'm on the hunt for a new cleanser to go with the Mia. The only requirement is that it cannot be a foaming cleanser.

DaisyJD suggested Bliss Steep Clean Cleansing Milk. If I want to go the cheap route, I guess I could just get some Cetaphil and be done with it, but I'd like to get something a little thicker.

Any suggestions?

New blog layout!

2010-02-10T21:06:00.002-06:00

A big hearty thank you to Krystyn at Krizzy Designs for her great work in getting my new blog layout installed.

She knew exact what I wanted and I am super pleased with the final result. If you're in Google Reader, come out and take a look at my new look! What do you think?

Blog tagline help!

2010-02-07T09:40:00.006-06:00

Right now, the fabulous Krystyn at Krizzy Designs is working on a new blog layout for me! Woohoo!

I've been thinking for a while now of a blog tagline/quote to go below my "Southern Web Girl" blog title in the header.

Here are some contenders:

1. It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e.e. cummings

2. Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~Confucius

3. I like my new iPhone, my computer works just fine, my HDTV is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind!

4. Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Do y'all like any of these? Or do you have any suggestions?

P.S. I have AWESOME news to share in my next post -- the news I've been crossing my fingers about for the past 2 months!

A perfect goodbye

2010-01-27T22:23:00.004-06:00

Conan's perfect goodbye has been weighing heavily in my mind.

Conan, you are a class act. And I, too, hate cynicism. I look forward to seeing you, Andy and the crew elsewhere this fall.

Delurk!

2010-01-12T16:13:00.004-06:00

The waiting continues. And it may be that way for another month or so. We'll see. No worries.

In the meantime, I thought I would mix things up and ask for everyone reading this to please leave a comment. DELURK!

If you're reading this and I'm not already following you on twitter, I would love to do so. Leave me a comment with your twitter name, or just request to follow me.

I want to start blogging more and quite frankly I've been so focused on other things. I need some inspiration. So you could leave me a comment with some blogging inspiration too.

If you've scored some good deals lately, I'd love to hear about that as well.

Or, you could just tell me a good book or movie you've read or seen recently.

Books? I just finished 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett and I'm on Book 4 of the True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse series. I'm hopelessly addicted.

Movies? I watched both 'Mamma Mia' (beautiful scenery, horrible Pierce Brosnan vocals) and 'He's Just Not That Into You' (can't we all relate?) this weekend.

Or, just ask me a question. About anything. I'll answer.

Happy Tuesday y'all. And Roll Tide Roll.

Waiting...

2010-01-10T13:40:00.006-06:00

This photo is me these days. I haven't been blogging much because I'm waiting on some things to happen, and then I would have SO MUCH to blog about. But, these things haven't resolved themselves yet. So please keep your fingers crossed for me and feel free to request to follow me on Twitter if you would like to know more about my situation.

Brian is at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Miss., writing freelance for the Southern Poker Championship. He gets home the 28th so until then I am on my own with the pup.

We had low-key New Year's at home and this past week at work was insane with my beloved Alabama Crimson Tide winning the BCS National Championship! And it will continue to be a bit crazy this week, with a parade this coming Saturday and other celebrations around Alabama.

We have had iPhones for 2 months now and I am in LOVE. I love that there are apps for so many of my favorite services, like MyCokeRewards, Goodreads, Redbox, SparkPeople, and so much more. I'm also slightly addicted to Tap Tap Revenge, which is like Guitar Hero for iPhone. Am I 12? Now all I need is a Paperbackswap app and I'm good to go!

I've been daydreaming about new bedroom and living room furniture. If money were no object, everything would come from Pottery Barn, but I was browsing Rooms To Go and actually found some stuff I really like!The Aniston 8-piece king bedroom: includes bed, dresser, mirror, 2 nightstands and chest.

The Cindy Crawford Home Metropolis Espresso Sofa Living Room which comes with the

Krista 3-piece table set.

I could get all of this plus delivery for about $5,500. Not bad for 2 brand-new rooms of furniture.

Ah, to dream....and to wait.

Numerous blog awards!

2010-01-01T13:30:00.000-06:00

So over the past month or so I've received some blog awards and I have neglected to pass them on...so here goes!

Thanks so much to Maegan at Classy & Fabulous for two awards --the Fabulous Sugar Doll Blogger Award and the Kreativ Blogger award!

Maegan and I both went to undergrad at Alabama and she is in grad school now. It turns out that we know a lot of the same people, but we never knew each other (that I know of) while at UA. It's always a small world! Thanks Maegan for the awards!

For this award, I tell you 10 things you may not know about me and then pass this on to 10 of my favorites.

I have one blue eye and one green eye. People usually don't notice it until they have known me for years. One day we'll be talking, make eye contact and they'll go, 'Oh! You have 2 different color eyes!' It's the same reaction every time. lol.
I've had only 2 serious boyfriends in my life -- my high school boyfriend and my husband!
I have never broken a bone, been in a car accident, or had a cavity -- knock on wood!
I have, however, had a biopsy. Thyroid problems run in my family and while the thyroid growth is not cancerous, I have to keep an eye on it.
I'm into all sorts of music -- pop, rock, alternative, jam bands, R&B, country, punk, electronica, etc. I have a few favorite artists but I truly love most genres.
I was not an Alabama football fan until I decided to go to college there! And I didn't know who Bear Bryant was when I first started school there! (for shame!)
I've only had 2 cars since I started driving: a 1997 Honda Accord and a 2002 Toyota 4Runner.
I am a sorority volunteer advisor and active in my local alumnae chapter for my sorority. I know a LOT about Greek Life and consider myself a Greek Life advocate.
I'm a media professional. I've worked as a copy editor and Web editor since graduating from college.
I may soon be sharing some really wonderful news that I have been working on make happen for a long time! I'm talking within the next week, hopefully Monday or Tuesday!

I am going to cop out here and give this award to any of my 52 blog followers who have not received this award!

Next up is the Kreativ Blogger award...

The rules are I have to tell you 7 things about myself and give this award to 7 people.

My favorite color is blue. Light blue, sand and cream were the colors of my wedding.
One of my favorite Web sites is cuteoverload.com. I have the Cute Overload page-a-day desk calendar and our Labrador, Mango, made Cute Overload as a puppy!
I am pale and (usually) proud of it. I've never been a regular tanner other than before a spring break in college and a few sessions before my wedding. My skin type is susceptible to skin cancer, so I try to take very good care of my skin!
I have a Macbook and an iPhone and I wouldn't have it any other way!
I have a major interest in the future of social media, online content and content strategy. I got a book called 'Content Strategy for the Web' for Christmas -- does this mean I'm officially a nerd?
I played flute, and later piccolo, for 9 years and I have been missing it lately! I would love to start lessons again if money allowed.
I am 5 feet, 4.5 inches tall. That half inch means a lot, you know.

I am going to cop out again here and give this award to any of my 52 blog followers who have not received this award!

USCEmily over at From the land of cotton... AND Brittany over at Southern Belle and her Beau both awarded me the Happy 101 award!

The rules are simple: 1) list 10 things that make you happy and 2) pass the award on to 10 bloggers who brighten your day.

10 things that make me happy:

1. When my husband makes me laugh.
2. When my dog makes me laugh or is in an especially cuddly mood.
3. Traveling and eating great food.
4. Getting a great deal on ANYTHING!
5. Pedicures, massages and facials.
6. A sunny day with the big white puffy cumulus clouds.
7. Thinking of our wedding day.
8. Settling into a warm, clean, soft bed with a great book.
9. When Alabama goes undefeated and is playing in the National Championship!
10. The good health of family and friends.

And yep, yet again I am going to cop out again here and give this award to any of my 52 blog followers who have not received this award!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My husband's best friend is awesome

2009-12-22T13:00:00.001-06:00

So every year, my husband and I exchange gifts long-distance with his best friend. This year we got him a Columbia fly fishing vest.

I was completely bowled over by what he sent me last week:This Versace Versense gift set! It smells heavenly! A mix of fresh and floral.

He spoils us! Truly!

Just call me Mr. Grinch

2009-12-21T12:12:00.004-06:00

This Christmas is pretty much a no-go for Brian and me this year. As in, we have already exchanged presents -- he got me my new iPhone and Target-brand Ugg boots last month, and I got him a much-needed new hair trimmer kit last week. We're not huge on secret gift exchanges.

We've also not decorated at all at our house this year. Some of this was because of money -- we didn't feel like buying a tree after replacing our furnace, for example. It's also because of a lack of time. I would have preferred to do it the weekend of Dec. 5, but we were traveling for my high school best friend's wedding. And I was traveling this weekend too....

So instead, we're letting our families provide the Christmas cheer for us. We'll be visiting his family on Christmas Eve and coming back to be with my family on Christmas Day. My parents have gone all out this year with a 10-foot tree and all the decorations.

This past Tuesday night I went to Kohl's with my mom and found gifts for everyone. I was able to get several gifts for a total of about $200. I think we did good. (c:

I'm working today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, and I'll be off work through the 31st. My sister and her family will arrive on Wednesday I believe. They're in the process of visiting family on a cross-country journey as they move from San Diego to Jacksonville, N.C. So while they LOVE San Diego, my brother-in-law is military, and orders are orders, so they're making the best of it. They're closing on a great house soon that will double their square footage. And I am SO excited to see my nephews, who I haven't seen since the wedding in April.

I suppose this is a holiday season of transition for Brian and me. I hope to have some exciting news to share soon. And no, I'm not pregnant. EEK.

What a week

2009-12-11T16:11:00.001-06:00

Wow. What. A. Week. I am way behind on blog reading.

This week I had to get my brakes fixed and we had to get a new furnace installed. On top of that our AT&T modem broke and had to get replaced today. Luckily at least the modem was free.

And it can't go without mentioning that my beloved Crimson Tide is going to the BCS National Championship! I am beyond elated. And I have a feeling they will win the game.

I very much hope to have some good news in the next week or two to share with you all. Please think happy thoughts for me!

-K

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Our first anniversary celebration

2009-11-30T15:23:00.006-06:00

So, Brian and I have been talking for about a month now about our first anniversary and what we want to do to celebrate it. It's hard to believe that we have already been married for more than 7 months!

The traditional first anniversary gift is paper. So, we decided that our gift to each other will be a return "ticket" to....

Disney World! We had such a wonderful time on our honeymoon so ultimately we decided to return. We had thought about a trip to the Beach Club on Fort Morgan where we got married, or perhaps a trip to Vegas. But Disney is such offering great deals these days, and when you add in the dining plan, it makes it all-inclusive and so much less expensive than a Vegas trip. The room may cost less in Vegas, but the airfare, rental car, show tickets and gambling money really add up.

So, we'll arrive April 24 and leave May 1. Our anniversary -- Sunday, April 25 -- will be spent in the Magic Kingdom. In total, we will visit the Magic Kingdom twice, Epcot twice, and Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom once each.

For our honeymoon, we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, a deluxe resort. For our anniversary, we're staying at the Pop Century Resort, a value resort. It's a step down, but we spent so little time in our room during the honeymoon. It was basically a place to shower and sleep.

We're also downgrading our dining plan from deluxe to plus. Deluxe give you 3 sit-down meals and 2 snacks per day, while the Plus plan gives you 1 sit-down meal, 1 quick service meal and 1 snack per day.

We really enjoyed all the sit-down meals on our honeymoon, but we didn't really see the need for all those meals this time around. We're going back to 3 of our favorite sit-down restaurants from the honeymoon and visiting 4 new restaurants. I'll blog some more about our favorites from the honeymoon soon.

If you have never been to Disney World or haven't been since you were a kid, I highly recommend a trip. So many things have changed over the years, such as the addition of the FastPass system, and the food, especially at Epcot World Showcase and the resorts, is to die for!

Just don't go June-September (too hot and kids out of school!), during spring break, during Thanksgiving week, or the week of Christmas and New Years. I would recommend January-February (nice weather and no crowds!), late April-early May (between spring break and summer break. Also the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival) and I would love to go in the fall during the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot.

While blogging about our future plans, I realize that I haven't even blogged about our honeymoon yet, nor have I finished posting about our wedding! I'm such a horrible blogger, lol. I think I am going to do photo posts from here on out to finish it up before I forget everything. I also plan to scrapbook our honeymoon. Guess I can go ahead and buy extra supplies for our first anniversary scrapbook too!

Lastly, I just wanted to acknowledge that I've reached more than 50 followers through Google Friend Connect widget thingie. Thank you for reading my little blog. Lord knows I do not have the time to update daily, so I do appreciate my readers!

Is there anything in particular y'all would like to hear about my beach wedding and Disney honeymoon? Or, just introduce yourself! I'm following all of your blogs but I would love to get to know all of you a little better!

Our Thanksgiving plans

2009-11-25T12:45:00.005-06:00

Brian and I are forgoing the trek to his aunt’s house and his dad’s house this year for Thanksgiving, though we’ll make the rounds at Christmas. Instead, we will be hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year! How appropriate for our first year of marriage. Brian has been dreaming of cooking his own Thanksgiving for years.

We will host Brian's mom and her best friend, as well as my parents. We can technically only seat 4 at our dining room table, so my parents are bringing their card table and 2 extra chairs. Oh, I dream for a time when our dining room table can hold 6+!

Brian's Thanksgiving menu:

Smoked turkey
Honey ham
Dressing
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Green beans
Corn casserole
Sweet potato fluff
Cranberry sauce
Sister Schubert’s yeast rolls

Brian’s mom is bringing a Death by Chocolate concoction that involves Heath bars and a trifle bowl.

My mom is bringing her famous mac & cheese.

And I am making this!

Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake. The recipe looks easy enough. I wanted something appropriate for the season but with a twist. And since Brian's mom is bringing the chocolate dessert, I'm making the pumpkin dessert.

Brian and I are making one last dash to Publix after work tonight, then spending tonight and tomorrow in a cleaning, baking and cooking frenzy!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, and please travel safely!

P.S. New Moon was amazing! I'm about to start re-reading the Twilight Saga for the second time.

Tag! I'm it!

2009-11-20T21:26:00.007-06:00

Ha! So I think I need to create a group of blogs in my Google Reader titled "Bloggers who read my blog and are totally awesome" and start giving you ladies more love.

I posted on Twitter earlier tonight that I was following 300 blogs through Google/Blogger Friend Connect, plus I have even more blogs (those with a large reach/national audience) in my Google Reader. As a result, it's hard to keep up with all of them and I've fallen behind on reading some of the blogs that really matter -- the blogs of you who have connected with me here and on Twitter.

I've culled those 300 blogs I was following down to about 250 and I plan to go through them even more and get down to somewhere in the 150-200 range, possibly lower. But for my 47 followers who have blogs, I promise that I will be following and reading your blogs for sure!

So in going through my blogs tonight and catching up, I realized that I had received a blog award almost a MONTH ago and I just now have seen it.

Thank you SO MUCH Brittany of A Southern Belle and Her Beau for the "Tag, you're it!" award!

The rules:
1. Answer with 5 answers.
2. Tag 5 friends.

1). What were you doing 10 years ago?

1. I was 16 and had been licensed to drive for about 6 months. I drove a champagne 1997 Honda Accord SE, which I still see on the road a lot!
2. I was madly in love with my high school boyfriend, Erik. We had been dating for about a year and a half at this point. We stayed together until I left for college, then the distance got tough and I met my husband, ha!
3. I was playing piccolo in the high school marching band. The season would have just wound up and we would be transitioning into concert band season and practicing for our big holiday concert.
4. I had just joined the high school newspaper staff for my junior year. The next year I was co editor-in-chief, setting myself up for my career!
5. I was stressing about my grades and about getting into UGA. Little did I know that I would end up at Bama instead. (c:

2). What 5 things are on your to-do list for today:

1. I saw New Moon.
2. I went to work.
3. Ha, that is all!
4. Tomorrow we are going to the Bama-UT-Chattanooga game.
5. And enjoying the weekend, lol.

3). Snacks you enjoy:

1. Kettle corn.
2. Fiber One bars.
3. Fage Greek yogurt.
4. Any kind of cheese!
5. Diet Dr. Pepper.

4). Places You've Lived:

1. Marietta, Ga.
2. West Palm Beach, Fla.
3. Franklin, Tenn.
4. Katy, Texas
5. Irvine, Calif.
(adding more)
6. Tuscaloosa, Ala.
7. Birmingham, Ala.

5). What are 5 Things you would do if you were a billionaire?

1. Pay off all our debts and invest wisely.
2. Buy properties in our favorite places and travel the world.
3. Surround myself with people I love and trust.
4. Hire a fitness trainer and a personal chef for me and my husband.
5. Donate to charity and become big Bama boosters.

And the nominees are...

Whoever is reading this and would like to keep it going! I know that sounds like a cop-out but all of y'all are amazing. So if you are reading this and have not received this award yet, please consider passing it on!

Selling old iPods & cell phones

2009-11-19T10:48:00.005-06:00

 So, Brian and I switched to iPhones a couple weeks ago. LOVE!

We were left with 2 iPods and 2 cell phones that we no longer need. We found buyers for our iPods, but who wants an old cell phone? So I discovered Gazelle.com, where you get an instant quote on the devices you want to sell.

They're sending out a shipping label and an environmental-friendly box to me right now. I just put our phones in the box, send them in, and after about a week they will send me a check for just under $90 for our phones! You can opt to be paid via check, Paypal, Wal-Mart Visa card, Amazon.com gift certificate (they pay you 5% more this way), or you can donate your money to charity.

So, if you're interested in getting rid of some of your old devices, please click here: Get Cash For Your Gadgets at gazelle.com! I will get a referral this way. For anyone who signs up and sells at least $50 worth of electronics, I will get $10.

Items Gazelle.com will buy from you include not only cell phones and mp3 players, but also camcorders, desktop PCs, laptop PCs, LCD monitors, satellite radios, calculators, GPS devices, cameras and lenses, external hard drives, the list goes on and on. And they don't have to be in working condition, although I'm sure that will lower your quote.

So if you have old electronics just laying around, try this out and put some cash in your pocket!

Helen GA weekend!

2009-11-13T16:35:00.001-06:00

I am taking the opportunity to test out my new Blogger app on my iPhone.

I am heading straight from work to Helen, Georgia for my high school best friend's bachelorette weekend! I am so excited to meet the rest of the bridesmaids and take advantage of the hot tub at the house we are renting!

As soon as I can find my camera cord I will post some photos from our weekend! And I am sensing a stop at the North Georgia Premium Outlets on the way home!

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Kristen

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Nike Tempo running short backlash!

2009-11-09T11:58:00.004-06:00

I got a really hilarious blog comment on Oct. 29 on my post Funky Friday in which I was inquiring about the Nike Tempo running shorts. And I just have to share.

John had this to say:

Burn the NIKE TEMPO SHORTS this fad should die. die die die. It makes girls look sloppy. So many girls at the University of Alabama only wear Nike Temp shorts everyday. They aren't running anywhere. They are in class. They wear Nike Temp shorts and oversized greek event shirts. They all look terrible.

John cracks me up. It sounds like he would like female UA students to make more of an effort. Luckily I am no longer a UA student, having graduated 4.5 years ago, and I only wear my Nike shorts (which I LOVE) when I am working out, walking my dog, or doing yardwork.

John, I do agree that always wearing running shorts & t-shirts to class does look sloppy. My uniform toward the end of college was either New Balance running shoes or Rainbow leather flip-flops, bootcut jeans or jean capris, and a Greek t-shirt or Polo oxford button-down. And I always did my hair and makeup, which girls seem to do less and less. And I NEVER wore shorts to class. I would not have ever considered wearing shorts to class for several reasons, one of which is that the lecture halls are usually FREEZING.

I was on UA's campus last Wednesday and Friday and I noticed a LOT of girls wearing exactly what John mentions above -- oversized greek t-shirt, Nike Tempo running shorts, and Uggs. I LOLed at that combination. Thankfully none of them were members of my sorority. It seems that trends like that hit the UA campus really hard, especially among sorority members.

Hmm, so Gracie Beth, any thoughts on John's comments?

On imperfections

2009-11-05T12:14:00.008-06:00

Brittany Ann over at Living in the Moment wrote a wonderful blog post today that I think speaks to a lot of us female bloggers out there.

I'm going to borrow from Brittany and tell you a few things about myself that make me not so perfect:

-I struggle with food on a daily basis. I cave in to my cravings too often.

-Sometimes I question going into news, and studying journalism. The economy has taken its toll and I'm starting to get jaded.

-Sometimes I'll leave a load of laundry in the washer, or the dryer, and completely forget about it.

-I've been gaining and losing the same 10 lbs. for a couple years now. And beyond that 10 lbs. I still need to lose 30 more.

-I hate cleaning the bathroom, mopping, and doing yardwork. Luckily my husband does all three.

-I still have moderate acne breakouts and get very self-conscious about it. I never leave the house without at least a couple items of makeup on my face.

-Sometimes, I have a hard time letting loose, letting go, and just having fun.

-Sometimes, I feel very burdened by the fact that I have so many financial obligations. The house, the car, the bills... Sometimes I wish that I could quit my job, leave everything behind and go on a cross-country road trip with the dog and the husband, not a care in the world.

-I don't think I'll ever be a domestic diva. My husband is a fantastic chef. So why should I even bother?

-Sometimes I would like more credit for the things I help create or make happen. I let others take the glory too often.

-You can often count the tumbleweeds of Mango's fur as they move about my house.

-I don't have a huge circle of close friends. Most of my few best friends live in other states. But I think I'm finally beginning to accept that I'm just not the type to have a gaggle of gals with me wherever I go.

-I hate talking on the phone, especially to strangers. I prefer e-mail.

-I judge people. I get jealous. I covet clothes, shoes, handbags, home furnishings, and other women's metabolisms, athleticism, and physical fitness.

-I'm not sure that I'll ever get the urge to be a mother, and that's kind of scary. Because having kids is what society expects.

So, there you go. None of us are perfect. I know that the blog world, for women, is about sharing ideas, getting inspiration from others, but it can't be perfect all the time, can it?

My celebrity crush list

2009-11-01T16:20:00.009-06:00

So, because my fingers are still crossed, and because I don't feel like blogging anything wedding-related, I give you...

My celebrity crush list. Which only has two guys in it. Whatever, I'm picky.

1. Gavin Rossdale. He just turned 42 and still looks AMAZING.

Look at him with his son. Is that not adorable?

My love for Gavin goes back to approximately age 12 or 13, when Bush's Sixteen Stone was uber-popular. Remember Everything Zen, Little Things, Machinehead, Comedown and Glycerine? I was OBSESSED (And Comedown remains my favorite Bush song). I saw Bush on tour for Razorblade Suitcase in 1997, and a few years later at Music Midtown in Atlanta. I also saw them during spring break 2002 in Panama City, Fla. I digress. Anyway, I personally think Gavin is one of the most beautiful human beings alive, and the fact that he is married to Gwen Stefani makes him that much cooler in my eyes. There's something about those British rockers, no?

2. Bret Favre. Just turned 40.

So while some may criticize Favre for his team-hopping as of late, I don't. I just look at him and drool over his looks and marvel at his arm strength, even as he turned 40. I think he is a guy who has gotten even more handsome as he's aged, a la George Clooney. He's also part of the other demographic of men I love - Southern. He even has a chocolate Lab, just like Mango!

So there you have it. My two celebrity crushes. I wish I could say I had more, and while I think guys like Chace Crawford an Robert Pattinson are beautiful, they're younger than me. So um, no.

Twitter, tweet, twit

2009-10-26T15:27:00.005-05:00

Hi y'all!

I just wanted to throw out my Twitter account for everyone out there. I am southernwebgirl. I have a work account too, but southernwebgirl is my personal, locked account. However, if you are a fellow blogger or friend, I am very happy to let you read my tweets, and in fact, I would love to have more followers. You might be able to gain some insight on just what the heck I've been talking about in the past couple of blog entries.

Also, if you have yet to get on the Twitter bandwagon, I highly suggest it! I think this video explains it really well if you have yet to dive into the Twitterverse:

Lastly, I just wanted to thank everyone for all the sweet comments I've gotten lately. I know I'm not nearly as active a blogger as some of you, but I hope that can change soon. Let's just say I've been a little bit distracted lately. And I hope to get back to blogging about the wedding some more soon. Yesterday was our 6-month anniversary, can you believe it?!?

Fingers are crossed!

2009-10-26T11:46:00.001-05:00

Do you ever?

2009-10-20T18:11:00.004-05:00

Do you ever get that feeling that everything might just fall into place for you?

Like maybe you were feeling down about some things. Worrying, brooding over some issues, be it your weight, your finances, what have you. Then maybe a couple small, positive things happened to you over the course of a few days. Nothing big, just small things like a good meal, accomplishing some things at work, catching up with old friends.

Then... maybe something BIG happened and it might, just might lead to something great.

Well, that's how I'm feeling these days. (c:

Pumpkin recipes!

2009-10-12T23:12:00.006-05:00

I have been majorly craving some pumpkin sweetness. Here are a few recipes that I'm thinking about for fall and Thanksgiving!

Chocolate chip pumpkin cookies

Pumpkin sandwich cake

Pumpkin praline cheesecake

Pumpkin-chocolate cheesecake pie

Pumpkin chiffon pie

Hmmm....I wonder which I will make first?

My favorite discount clothiers, because "clothiers" sounds fancy!

2009-10-07T16:18:00.005-05:00

Like Miss Northern Belle, I have champagne taste on a beer budget. Though these days it's more like champagne taste on a Natty Lite budget, I suppose. (c;

Despite including a couple of items from Target and Delia's in my last post, I haven't shopped at either of those stores for clothes in a while... especially Delia's, as I can't attest to being able to squeeze into junior's sizes anymore. Although I MIGHT have just placed an order for the Delia's coat and scarf from my last post, as well as these babies:Converse All-Star Ox in blue surf.

So thank you, AngryJulie, for bringing these back into my mind's forefront as I was ordering my coat and scarf today. And thank you Mrs.SouthernBride and MojitoMaven for your Converse All-Star seals of approval via Twitter today. (c;

So, provided that I like everything and it all fits, the red dress and Target-brand Uggs from my last post will have to wait. I'm not sure if I'll be going to any Alabama games this season, so the dress can wait for sure.

Because I don't make tons 'o cash, I can't afford my favorite brands such as J. Crew, Banana Republic, Lily Pulitzer, Boden, or Tory Burch on a regular basis (although I will hit up the J. Crew clearance rack from time to time.) Instead, I've found some other stores that carry the same sort of styles at half the price.

Kohl's. Kohl's is my only store credit card, and they treat their cardholders really well. I'm constantly getting coupons in the mail for 15% and 20% off my total purchase. And their clearance racks are great if you have the time to scour through them. I really like their Apt. 9 line, as well as Daisy Fuentes, Vera Wang and the new Lauren Conrad Collection.

Macy's clearance rack. I always find cute tops here. I recently got a $25 gift card for filling out a bunch of surveys with e-rewards. I found 2 really cute tops on the clearance rack for a total of $10 -- a very preppy long-sleeved blue and white stripe button down shirt from Charter Club (with ruffles!) and a short sleeve blue dipdye top from Style&Co.

JCPenney. Believe it or not, they have some CUTE stuff. I really like their Common Genes jeans line -- they are usually on sale for $29.99 and look and feel like a much more expensive designer brand. I have these and I hope to get a pair or two more. And I found a cute top from the I heart Ronson line. I also like their American Living line (so obviously Ralph) but have yet to buy anything from it.

Old Navy. Always good for basics! Nuff said.

Ross, Marshall's, and T.J. Maxx. I haven't bought anything from any of these places in a while, but they're always fun to scour if you have the time.

What are your favorite places to shop when you're on a Natty Lite budget?

My fall wishlist

2009-10-06T21:09:00.012-05:00

Some budget fashions that I am craving for late fall and winter.

First up is Tar-jay:

Target's brand of Ugg boots. They're only $24.99 and they have some great reviews on their site. I have yet to fall for the Ugg trend, but honestly, these would be so great for taking the dog out in the morning among other things.

New Alabama gameday dress! Merona wrap dress from Target, $24.99. To be worn with the Gap houndstooth flats from this post, except they seem to be sold out, boooooo!

Now, my favorite place to shop from while in high school, Delia's:
Then, when it gets colder, I'll don the Devin military peacoat from Delia's in pomegranate, which is currently on sale for $69.50.Add the $19.95 Juliet houndstooth scarf and voila!

This teenage Delia's model has no idea that she is sporting typical cold-weather Alabama Crimson Tide fashion.

Since we're in the Crimson Tide mood, let's head on over to Old Navy.Some knockoff Wayfarers in crimson? For $5? I think yes! Although I have tried these on a few times and I think I look ridiculous.

I recently acquired 2 pairs of Nike running shorts on sale from Kohl's, one of which is the Nike Tempo short. I am in LOVE. I also got 2 new Champion sports bras that are so supportive and comfortable. I also got a pair of black leggings from the shop that I am doing Web work for, but I have yet to muster the courage to open the package and try them on.

Camping time!

2009-09-30T22:24:00.003-05:00

Yep, it's that time! Camping time!

Brian and I bought a tent a couple years back, but we have yet to use it. We recently bought matching sleeping bags (duh, so we can zip them together!) and a LED lantern. We're bringing fishing gear, and we already had a camp stove, so just add in a cooler stocked with good food and we are all set!

We are going to northeast Alabama, to one of the state parks. We're getting an improved campsite that will have running water and electricity. We plan on fishing, hiking, swimming, and taking lots of photos of the beautiful scenery. Deer sightings are very common. We're really just looking forward to having some quality time together more than anything else. There have been so many distractions lately.

I haven't been camping since I was young enough to be a Girl Scout, but I think I'll do OK. There is a bathhouse with showers and sinks so as long as I can shower off every day, I will survive. Brian is daring me not to wear any makeup at all, so we'll see how that goes. Yikes. Pretty sure I'll still be wearing some mineral foundation.

We're leaving Saturday and coming back either Monday or Tuesday. Hey, if I'm going to get handed more furlough days at work, I'm going to take advantage of them.

Funky Friday

2009-09-25T17:01:00.001-05:00

So I don't know if I'll keep this up or not, but I've decided that Fridays will be my day to post whatever funky, random stuff is on my mind. I tend to be a little bit on the random side and I think getting all these random thoughts out of my head before the weekend will help me feel more organized, and maybe get some comments going on since so many different topics will be discussed.

-Who out there wears Nike Tempo running shorts?

I've been thinking about getting a pair or two to try them out. I hate wearing workout shorts because I am not super skinny, so shorts always ride up on my thighs. However, I don't want to pay more than $20 a pair, so if anyone finds some at a discount, please let me know!

-Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred is a great workout! I've only done it a couple times so far, but starting tomorrow, I am going to aim for doing it 4x/week. I'm going to be on Level 1 for a while. The sad fact of the matter is that after losing about 10 lbs. for the wedding, it bounced right back and I'm back to where I started.

-Does anyone reading have thyroid issues? I've had to get retested every year since I was 19 for thyroid issues. I have a multinodualar goiter. I even had a biopsy done on it. That was scary. But I have yet to actually come up as having low TSH levels, I'm always on the border. My dad has Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, the most common thyroid disease, and my sister was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism as well. So I'm just kind of frustrated that my issue hasn't gotten addressed after several years. I'm waiting for my most recent bloodwork to come back, and I'm actually hoping that I DO test at a level that will need medication. My sister says her energy level is so much better since getting on medication. Any advice or thoughts?

-Whatever happened to manners? The lovely Daisy and I got into a Twitter discussion about this today. We both have had trouble with guests not RSVPing to our weddings, and I openly bitched a while back at the lack of gifts at our wedding. Teaching your children to RSVP, write thank-you notes, and give gifts is so very important! AngryJulie has even gone so far as giving Emily Post's etiquette book as gifts. I think I'm just going to order a bunch in bulk and do the same!! I know the economy is bad, so if you can't afford to attend a wedding or send a gift, at LEAST RSVP. //end rant.

-I recently had soymilk for the first time, and I LOVE it. It was Silk Vanilla flavor. And it was good! My mom and I split a pack from Sam's because I'm starting to think that I might be slightly lactose intolerant, and my dad definitely is. I don't know that I could switch over completely, but it's definitely a nice change. I think it would be great for coffee and hot chocolate. Anyone here a soymilk drinker?

To close, since this is my first Funky Friday post:

Some funky, weird, unique or just totally random things about me:

-I have one blue eye and one green eye.

-I like to alphabetize words in my head. For example: example = aeelmpx. I do this a LOT.

-I was the 4^th person at my college to be on facebook back in 2004.

-I cannot dive into a pool or do a cartwheel. I hope to do both, someday!

-I am really, really nearsighted. I have worn glasses, and later contacts, since I was 7 years old.

Have a wonderful weekend and Roll Tide!

My bridal avatar, sushi, and Tiger Woods!

2009-09-18T21:17:00.007-05:00

I created a bridal avatar at The Knot! How cute is that? It kind of DOES resemble me on my wedding day! You can make yours here!

I had a WONDERFUL weekend! I worked late Friday, slept in on Saturday, ran to Aldi, then picked up Brian at the airport. He managed to win some money at the blackjack table in Fort Lauderdale, so we went out for a sushi dinner date! We went to Sekisui Birmingham in Vestavia Hills City Center and it was the best sushi dinner we have had here in Alabama. We used to go to a sushi place when we lived in West Palm Beach in 05-06 that was AMAZING -- just a little hole-in-the-wall -- and we haven't been able to find anything good here in Birmingham since. To me, a sushi restaurant should not try to be a nightclub or be overly concerned with its $10 martini selection. I also don't like for it to be lumped in with teppanyaki, a la Stix or Sumo. I want it to be about the SUSHI!

I used a $25 gift certificate from restaurant.com. Right now they are running a special -- all certificates 60% off with code ENJOY. So our $25 gift certificate was only $4! With appetizer, 2 entrees and dessert, our bill was only $36! Not bad at all. I had chirashi sushi, Brian had the sushi supreme, and we shared a beef sashimi appetizer that was out of this world! And tempura ice cream for dessert. Yumyumyum.

Today Brian decided that he was going to make homemade kimchi, so we ran to Winn-Dixie and Publix to stock up on groceries and get the ingredients for his kimchi. We also might have run by the used CD and game store and bought Guitar Hero World Tour for Wii on sale and Tiger Woods 08 for PS2.

A rockin' storm is about to come through, but let's just say that my mood is much improved over 2 posts ago. We will get through this year just fine. I love Brian so much and being married has put us at a new level together that's hard to explain, but if you're married, you know just what I mean! I can't believe we'll have been married for 5 months in just 5 days!

New giveaway!

2009-09-17T12:57:00.002-05:00

$100 Cambria Cove giveaway over at Her Southern Charm! Check it out!

You have until Sept. 29 to enter!

Woe is....

2009-09-16T22:47:00.004-05:00

I found out today that I have 5 more days of furlough for the year. I will lose 1.5 paychecks in 2009 when it's all said and done.

I also just committed to being in my high school best friend's wedding in December. But I WILL make it work. I will find a way to make up for the lost income and pay for the dress, the travel, the hotel, the hair, the nails.

There are a lot of people in much worse situations than me. I am still employed. That is my mantra.

For the meantime, I might have to stop reading blogs in which writers blab incessantly about what sort of clothes or home furnishings or cars they've bought. Bless them because they're the people feeding the economy these days, but I am not where they are, and I fear I never will be.

I grew up in a household in which my mother never had to work. We had bi-monthly visits from the cleaning ladies and lawn service. My father was a successful insurance executive bringing in six figures. I don't know if that's exactly the sort of life I want or not. But I at least want to survive.

/end soul baring.

Alabama gameday wear

2009-09-14T18:03:00.004-05:00

So I found these flats above at gap.com. They are PERFECT for an Alabama gameday. I've been trying to find a dress to go with them online, but I'm coming up empty-handed. The dress must be Alabama CRIMSON. Not Georgia red, not Mississippi State maroon, but Alabama crimson. So finding something in the right shade, cut and material can be daunting.

I think this dress in Alabama colors would be adorable. But this collection is only sold in boutiques and I'm sure they're not cheap.

I also don't even know if I'll actually be GOING to any games this fall, but I'm sure hubby and I will end up in Tuscaloosa at least one Saturday.

Sigh. Being cute at SEC games is such a pain in the butt.

Small ways I'm saving money

2009-09-11T21:26:00.004-05:00

Certainly, things have gotten tougher this year for my husband and me in the economic sense. I've mentioned before that I'm on furlough with my company, which translates to a paycheck lost over the course of 10 months. It may not seem like much, but I'll tell you what -- it's made things tougher for us.

Couple the loss of that paycheck with adding hubby to my health insurance plan at work, and my paycheck is a lot smaller than it used to be. Hubby was out of work for a while, but got a steady kitchen job earlier this year, before the wedding. It doesn't pay much, but it's something, right?

So with the financial strain, I've had to find ways to scrimp and save. Here are a few things that I've been able to save money on to help us through our financial slump:

1) Cosmetics. Hubby and I both have quit buying fragrances, and we're just using what we have. We're nowhere close to running out! I quit buying superfluous makeup, such as pretty eyeshadows and lipsticks -- I have tons of it laying around anyway -- and I switch to drugstore brands when I run out of something. I've sworn off Sephora and switched to CVS and Walgreens. I've found that Maybelline's mineral makeup is just as good as Bareminerals for a fraction of the price, as long as you're using a good-quality makeup brush and not the horrible one that comes in the packaging. I love their concealer too!

2) Utilities. In our house, we pay a gas bill, a water/power bill, and a TV/Internet bill. About a year ago, I switched off our landline phone, saving us about $30 per month. Then in June, we switched to AT&T U-Verse for Internet and TV, saving us an additional $25 per month. Shop around for deals with your local cable/satellite companies. You'd be surprised at what you can save. And cut off that landline if you never use it. It's possible to have DSL Internet without a phone line these days.

3) Salon services. After the wedding, I decided to start coloring my own hair again to save some moolah. My preferred shade is L'Oreal Superior Preference in Champagne Blonde. Then once my roots become visible, I use Clairol Root Touch-Up in Medium Ash Blonde. I love that Clairol's Web site has a dropdown menu to find the shade you need, even if you use another brand for your regular haircolor. And I love that Clairol hired Angela from The Office to be their spokesperson, she's too adorable all glammed up! I also get my hair cut at the local Paul Mitchell cosmetology school. Sometimes it takes FOR-EVER to get a haircut, but they always do a good job, and it only costs $10-$15 for a cut and style. And I've sworn off regular pedicures for now -- I have a few bottles of my standby OPI nail polish and I take care of my tootsies myself for now.

4) Eating out. Hubby and I are eating at home more regularly, and I rarely eat lunch out of the office anymore. I consider eating out a special thing to do while traveling, or in extreme emergencies, like when there is virtually nothing to eat in the house -- as long as we swing by the grocery store to stock up immediately afterward! I've also had to turn down friends' invites to eat out or go out for a night on the town, because unfortunately, my pocketbook just can't handle it. I feel embarrassed telling them that, but they understand! I think learning to say 'no' sometimes is a good thing.

What small actions have you taken to save some cash in your household?

Dreaming of Chuy's

2009-09-10T11:42:00.003-05:00

I flew back from Austin on Tuesday night. I had an awesome time and I really love the city!

I plan on uploading photos and blogging some more about the trip tomorrow night.

Hubby is still out of town for another 9 days, and my parents leave to go out of town tomorrow, so this weekend, it is just me and Miss Mango!

My weekend plans:

Hike at a local park with the Mango pup if the weather cooperates.
Cleaning out my closet and dresser! It's getting beyond ridiculous.
More wedding recaps!

ATX!

2009-09-04T18:25:00.006-05:00

In almost exactly 24 hours, I will be landing here:

AUSTIN, TEJAS!

It is my first-ever trip to Austin... it's a city that the hubby and I are interested in relocating to on down the road.

On the agenda:

Chuy's!

Seeing the bats at the Congress Avenue bridge!

6th Street nightlife!

Any more suggestions?

Gym bag giveaway

2009-09-02T10:30:00.003-05:00

Brittany over at Living in the Moment is hosting am awesome gym bag giveaway.

So hop on over and enter!

We're Internet famous

2009-09-01T11:45:00.007-05:00

Hubby and I are kind of Internet famous.

That is, if you're looking at the Web site of our wedding videographer, Superium Productions. Their Web site header features several rotating photos of brides & grooms, including two photos of the hubs and me -- one from our "Love Story" video session at Fort Morgan, Ala., and one taken immediately after the wedding ceremony during beach photo time. Have I mentioned how wonderful the weather was and how beautiful the clouds were that day? It was just gorgeous.

Nick at Superium (You can follow him on Twitter too! I totally take credit for getting him on there.) was kind enough to send me the original jpegs of those two photos. Just the stills he has posted on their blog and the wedding trailer are enough to make me nearly pee in my pants with excitement. I might need a Xanax before I actually watch the wedding video in its entirety. haha. It should be ready soon. Superium has been swamped with a lot of weddings this spring & summer, so I am trying to be as patient as possible!

Anyway, here are the stills he used in his blog header that thereby make us famous:

I love this photo, almost more than some that our photographers were taking on the beach at the same time! I'm thinking about getting this printed as an 8x10 and framed. You can see the buildings at Gulf Shores Plantation behind us, although we were actually at The Beach Club.

Here hubby is rocking his Tommy Bahama shirt, Costa visor and cut-off khakis and I am rocking my silk Lilly Pulitzer halter dress. I can't remember the name of the print but it has a little bit of orange in it. I'm not a fan of the really "Lilly" looking shifts & dresses, but I just loved this one, and it was on sale at Belk too! Hmm, it looks like hubby was cracking a joke at the time this photo was taken. Funny how hubby has lost about 15 lbs. since this photo and I have gained 8 lbs.! Not fair!

I love the blue door -- this is inside the actual fort itself at Fort Morgan. if you're ever in the Gulf Shores area, I highly suggest the drive out to Fort Morgan -- so much history and the fort itself is so beautiful and great for photos, obviously.

Practically Perfect Giveaway!

2009-08-31T10:58:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Practically Perfect, has moved her blog on over to Wordpress and in honor of her move, she's hosting a fabulous giveaway!

Click here to go on over and enter!

The giveaway includes 1) a Mary Poppins DVD set, 2) the Korres Sugar Crystal Antioxidant collection, 3) Trilliant leave-in thermal hair protection by Sebastian, and 4) a pink grapefruit and pomegranate candle by Crabtree & Evelyn!

Where I've lived

2009-08-28T17:54:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking about where I've lived a lot lately and how it's shaped me as a person. It takes some explaining! Here goes:

I was born in Atlanta, Ga., at Northside Hospital. At the time, my parents lived in a home in Roswell, Ga.

Around the time I turned 1, my parents moved to Franklin, Tenn. They lived there for less than 2 years. Had we continued living there, I would have gone to Franklin High School (I think).

Then, shortly after I turned 3, we moved back to Georgia and this time settled in Marietta, Ga. for another year and a half. Had we continued living there, I would have attended Pope High School, the high school next door to the one I actually DID attend.

When I was 4, we moved to Irvine, Calif. I attended my last year of preschool and kindergarten there. I went to Bonita Canyon Elementary School and had we not moved, I would have attended University High School, right next to the UC-Irvine campus. I have a lot of great memories from this time.

When I was 6, we moved to Katy, Texas. I attended first grade at Pattison Elementary School. Had we not moved, I would have gone to Taylor High School.

Finally, we moved back to Marietta, Ga., where I attended Timber Ridge Elementary starting in second grade. We stayed put there. My dad had to change jobs a couple times to make it happen (he worked in the managed care industry, there were always a lot of changes about) but I was able to stay in one spot until I graduated from Walton High School in 2001.

2001 was the year I set out for The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. I spent 4 great years there. Best time of my life.

After graduation in 2005, I headed back home to Marietta, Ga. to work at the local paper. That lasted all of about 3 months. I was living at home and so stir-crazy!

So, I set off to West Palm Beach, Fla., to join the now-hubby who left Tuscaloosa to work at the famed Mar-A-Lago resort (owned by Donald Trump) on Palm Beach. We were there for a year. I was just too homesick for my friends and family in Georgia and Alabama.

So in 2006, we moved back and settled in the Birmingham, Ala., area, where we've been ever since.

So, all in all, I have lived in 6 states and 8 cities!

Where have you lived? Just one place all your life or frequent moves like myself?

My Myers-Brigg Type Indicator

2009-08-27T21:51:00.004-05:00

Have y'all seen the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator test that's been floating around Facebook?

I am an INFJ. Introvert, intuitive, feeling, judging. One of my coworkers spent 10 minutes trying to convince me that I am an ENFJ, but he's seeing me in a work environment... I HAVE to have "recharge" time at home in order to function correctly! But he's nearly right because I'm only about 55% introvert.

From Kiersey.com:

Idealist Portrait of the Counselor (INFJ)

Counselors have an exceptionally strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others, and find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential. Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. Counselors are both kind and positive in their handling of others; they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. Not usually visible leaders, Counselors prefer to work intensely with those close to them, especially on a one-to-one basis, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes.

Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors tend to work effectively in organizations. They value staff harmony and make every effort to help an organization run smoothly and pleasantly. They understand and use human systems creatively, and are good at consulting and cooperating with others. As employees or employers, Counselors are concerned with people's feelings and are able to act as a barometer of the feelings within the organization.

Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena.

The Counselor (INFJ) is a more private person than the Teacher. They, too, can be found in the field of education as a professor , teacher, counselor, or educational consultant. Sometimes they feel a strong calling toward the religious life as clergy, nun, or director of religious education. Social service jobs, such as social worker, social scientist, or mediator can fit their needs. Some Counselors work in human services, marketing, or as a job analyst. Others are drawn to the arts as a novelist, designer, or artist. Says Benito, "My art is very personal. It expresses who I am at the same time reaching out to draw the viewer in. My art changes the viewer's perspective of reality."

-------------------------

That is all ME to a T! Sometimes I'm so intuitive and caring more of others' feelings that I really start to neglect myself. And I never give myself the credit for good work and good ideas...something I am trying to do more of at work.

Blogging slump...and my pretty flowers!

2009-08-26T22:47:00.007-05:00

Well... I suppose you could say I've been in a bit of a blogging slump.

I keep promising more wedding recaps, but it seems when I've posted those in the past, I got no feedback. But then I remember that this is really for my benefit, to document our wedding day so I don't forget everything!

Part of the reason I've been stalling is because I am really anxious about receiving our wedding video from Superium Productions. I think having the video would help bring back some of the details that I've forgotten or may have never even seen. So I am debating on whether I want to hold off on more wedding recaps until I get the video or not.

However, I did get the other thing I've been waiting on in the mail via UPS the other day....my preserved wedding bouquet!

I apologize for the poor photo quality...I took it on my cell phone!

I am really, really pleased with the final product, even though it cost upward of $500. Ladies, if you are thinking of doing this, do know that most will cost $500+, so be sure to factor that into your budget!

I chose Keepsake Floral to do my bouquet preservation. I opted for an 11x14 shadowbox, which is priced at $466 on their Web site now. Add in $25 for silk dupioni fabric background, $50 for embroidered monogram, $25 for bouquet resemblance fee and we're already at $566 plus shipping! So you get the idea.

The background fabric I chose is the taupe silk dupioni, the monogram was done in cinder blue in the master circle font style, and while I opted for the antique silver frame, I think they might have actually given me the the antique gold frame...probably because it looked better with the taupe background and my ribbon and flowers. Originally I wanted one of the "weathered" shadowbox styles, but the upcharge for those type of frames is $50, and I think the antique gold/silver (whatever it is) is a more classic look anyhow.

So while the bouquet preservation cost a great deal, I am VERY happy with the result and I plan to keep it in my family for generations!

I'm alive!

2009-08-21T10:32:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note to let y'all know that I am still alive, haha!

I spent nearly 72 hours straight inside my sorority house last weekend, and as a result I contracted "the crud." It felt like flu for a couple days, but luckily I did not test positive. I stayed out of work Monday and Tuesday and have been in meetings and trying to catch up ever since I returned on Wednesday! I also have that hacking cough thing going on, so sexy huh?

Stay tuned for more details on Alabama's sorority recruitment!

Taking stock

2009-08-12T15:00:00.003-05:00

I suppose after getting married I am taking stock of my life, and our life together and what we want. We're thinking about where we want to be in a career sense and in a geographic sense.

My family moved often when I was growing up. My sister is a military wife and will swap coasts in January. My parents are here with us in Alabama, but they have expressed a desire to go elsewhere in a couple years.

So... I'm taking stock. Thinking about what is best for us financially. Thinking about what I want to do, and what he wants to do, and about what we want to accomplish as a married couple. About where we should be. And about what I like.

Things I enjoy:

Animals. I have a big thing for animals, especially dogs, and especially retrievers like my lovable Mango. I know most of the breeds by heart and I've often wondered what sort of jobs I could get working with animals in a less-obvious way. As a child I wanted to be a veterinarian.
Words. This one is more obvious. I majored in journalism and minored in creative writing. I've had a blog since 2004 on Livejournal. I have worked as a copy editor. I suppose you could say reading goes hand-in-hand with words. I'm a big reader.
The Web. I have a genuine interest in the Web beyond my job description as a Web editor. I was the fourth person to join facebook at my alma mater. I Google everything. But a lot of people enjoy the Web and want to know how it works. So where do I fit in?
Planning. I like planning things. I really, truly enjoyed planning my wedding. I think I could plan larger events. I'm detail-oriented and I think I could work well with vendors, clients, etc.
Travel. I really enjoy traveling. Brian and I have a lot of favorite places. I would love to travel and not be chained to a desk all time time. Or to have a job where you get the summer off!
Beauty. I am a makeup maven. There are certain brands I really like and the notion of playing with cosmetics all day, writing about them, etc. is exciting to me. You could also put shoes and handbags in this category. (c;
The beach. I love the beach and coastal decor. This one is pretty obvious as I got married on the beach and all, but seriously! I love the beach. having a job that would allow be to travel there or write about the beach would be heavenly.
Greek Life. I'm a sorority alum (Gamma Phi Beta, if you haven't figured that out by now, ha.) and I know a lot about sorority and fraternity history and lots of neat facts. My cousin works in student affairs and he has told me that he thinks working in Greek Life might be my second calling. But of course that requires graduate school. Bleh.

While I know that I would enjoy a teaching career, or a job in university Greek Life (or even for my sorority itself), or working with animals, I think what I'm most interested in doing is continuing down my current career path. What I'm tired of is "the news" -- the hard, breaking, continuous news that I work with on a daily basis. It's too unpredictable and depressing for me.

But I do love content and the Web. So I'm thinking that my career goal will be to work at an e-commerce or lifestyles-focused Web site. Sites like Amazon, Google, Zappos, eBay and several other interactive marketing and media companies are what excite me as hopeful, possible, eventual employers. (A girl can dream, right?) I want to continue learning the marketing, design and tech sides of the Web and align those skills with my content skills. I think the process of getting where I want to be will take a while, but I can definitely see it happening if I put my mind to it.

G-Phi, G Phi B, Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta...

2009-08-10T12:16:00.004-05:00

Just a quick GOOD LUCK to my sorority as they begin Recruitment 2009! I'll be down there to volunteer for the last 2 rounds on Friday and Saturday.

1,479 girls are going through Recruitment at Alabama, and I predict pledge classes of 70-75 girls for each sorority! According to the head of Greek Affairs, 5 girls have already passed out due to the heat. Yowza!

The busy just don't stop

2009-08-05T19:52:00.006-05:00

Wow, it has been a busy week! I know I promised more wedding recaps a couple posts back, but I have yet to be able to sit down and upload photos and gather my thoughts just yet.

Instead, I've been busy at work, with my freelance side job, and with things around the house. And it looks like things are going to continue to be busy for me.

This weekend my MOH is coming into town and so we'll be meeting up. Also, Brian and I are visiting his great aunt who is in rehab after breaking her ankle. And lastly, I am getting a tall pine cabinet with a pull-down secretary door from my parents and we're planning on painting it a glossy dark red (I prefer to call it crimson, haha) and rehabbing it to put in our entryway as I posted about recently. It's literally just been sitting in their garage and my mom remembered it the other day. I'll be sure to post some before and after photos. Oh, and I have a much-needed eye doctor appointment on Saturday morning.

The weekend after this I will be helping out my Alabama Gamma Phis with Recruitment 2009! I'll be there for the last two rounds doing what sorority advisors do. I'm actually taking Friday off work to help -- what can I say? I'm a devoted volunteer. I have heard nothing but FABULOUS things about their preparation for this year and I know they're going to get an excellent pledge class! They have been in Recruitment workshop since Monday -- at Alabama, Recruitment is a weeklong affair and workshop is another week on top of that. There are 1,500 girls signed up to go through this year, which is down about 5 percent from last year due to the economy. But honestly... the pledge classes were getting SO large so I think it's a bit of a relief to everyone.

I hope everyone's week is going great!

I'm a freelancer!

2009-08-01T22:15:00.004-05:00

I am so excited, I just had to share...

I have my first freelance client outside of my full-time job. I'm going to be doing Web content and social media marketing for a local consignment boutique! And a blog, of course. (c;

The owner has tentatively accepted my proposal and the money I'll be getting will more than make up for the salary cut at work. I'm really looking forward to working with this shop, I think there's HUGE potential for the shop and the area of town it is in. Hopefully this will lead to more good things... I plan on working my butt off for this client!

Conquering entryway clutter

2009-07-31T16:47:00.001-05:00

I suppose since I’ve gotten married it’s actually occurred to me how dirty my house gets, and how quickly it does so. Not to mention that hubby has left a lot of home renovation projects unfinished due to lack of time, money or both. I find that things bother me more easily. I think this is because this is officially OUR house now.

Here’s the thing: I want a home that if, when a friend or family member calls and says “I’ll be over in 5 minutes,” I could actually straighten up in that amount of time and have the house be presentable to a guest. If you walked into my house right now, you would find that the coffee table is covered in mail, magazines, and detritus that hubby and I have taken from my purse and his pockets and left there.

I've pored over realsimple.com, marthastewart.com, unclutterer.com looking for the perfect solution for this "point of entry" clutter. But the perfect solution involves a purchase – a purchase that I can’t afford to make right now.

This is what I'm coveting now:

The Graham Smart Technology Secretary from Pottery Barn.

I really want a secretary desk like this for our living room, one in which I can store & sort the mail; have stationery on hands for thank you notes & correspondence; store & charge our iPods, digital cameras and laptops. I'll even take IKEA -- I saw a great article in Better Homes & Gardens a few months ago that detailed how to turn an IKEA Alve secretary desk into an entryway organizer, and that’s basically what I’m going for. They even suggested drilling a hook in the side to hang your purse when you come home.

We have the Clark Wall Shelf & Bench with Baskets set in red from JCPenney (which by the way is on sale and looks just like the PB version) and I think the set was a good investment, but I need storage for the things I mentioned above.

What do you do to keep things organized at your home's entry point?

My lunch out with mom

2009-07-30T14:38:00.003-05:00

Mom's proscuttio ham & provolone panini is pictured at top. My salmon with fried green tomato, crawfish cream sauce & sweet potato "hay" is pictured at bottom. Yummo!

It was really funny directing my mom in to my workplace today. She had her Garmin but has no sense of direction and still got lost trying to get into the station.

Then after lunch she wanted to come inside to "use the restroom," but I knew that was really an excuse to talk to some on-air anchors & reporters. And she got her wish -- we ran right into one of our female reporters, then into our head evening anchor. As I'm taking her down the hall to escort her out, my mom leans over and whispers loudly, "That was totally a toup!"

Back into the groove

2009-07-27T12:53:00.004-05:00

I'm finally starting to fall back into the groove after a crazy, crazy week. Covering Southeastern Conference football Media Days last Wednesday-Friday totally took it out of me. I ended up working the equivalent of 4 days in 3 days' time, so I'm taking a little bit of comp time this week.

Then this weekend, one of my BFFs/bridesmaids came into town with her new man on Saturday and we all went out for Thai food and martinis. They stayed at our house Saturday night.

Now I'm busy writing several sorority recommendations for ladies going through Rush (we call it Recruitment now!) at the universities of Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Plus I have some paperbackswap.com books to send out, and I think hubby and I are FINALLY going to see The Hangover tonight.

Also our poor Mango has been having some skin allergies, so we've got to get her to the vet this week for an allergy shot. This happened last summer too.

We're also trying to plan out a Labor Day weekend trip to Austin, so hopefully that will all fall into place this week. I have been DYING to go to Austin for a long time. Hubby's best friend is moving back into his house there, plus another groomsman lives there as well, so it will be nice to have some locals to show us around.

My next post will be part 4 of our wedding day recaps!

SEC football Media Days

2009-07-21T22:59:00.003-05:00

I am going to be OOL (out of the loop) until the weekend while I am busy covering Southeastern Conference football Media Days for work.

It's thought of as the official kickoff of the season...and, it's about as crazy as you think it would be.

Roll Tide!

Magazine addict, reformed.

2009-07-19T20:07:00.004-05:00

I am a magazine addict, you see. Reformed. In the near past, I subscribed to a dozen or more magazines. Sadly, some of my favorite magazines have folded -- RIP Jane, Domino and Blueprint. Others I simply did not renew, such as Lucky (nearly all items featured are out of my price range) and Vanity Fair (all ads and would just rather read the articles online). I believe I've even let my Allure subscription lapse, and that was (still is) truly one my my favorite mags.

WHY these magazines folded and why I've let other subscriptions lapse is a whole 'nother post. I studied magazine journalism in school, and I can definitely say that the rise of the blogosphere is just one reason why interest in magazines is waning. Personally, I'd much rather hear about YOUR beauty routine and must-have products, YOUR fashion finds, and YOUR latest home improvement project.

So by attrition and lack of interest, I suppose, my magazine subscriptions have dwindled and now I receive only Glamour, Shape, Marie Claire and Better Homes & Gardens. Each of these I receive because they are offered through mycokerewards.com or other rewards programs that I'm signed up with. In Glamour's case, they were offering $1 one-year subscriptions a while back.

BUT of course there are still some existing magazines that I appreciate. Real Simple has always been one of my favorites -- its layout and photography are to-die-for and I think the mag itself looks pretty on a coffee table. At the same time, it's useful & informative. Very few magazines are both beautiful and useful. My mom receives RS, but I could never pull the trigger on coughing up $20+ per year for the mag. But some of you lovely bloggie ladies alerted me to the $5 one-year subscription sale, and I received an e-mail tonight telling me that my first issue will arrive in 6 to 10 weeks. Hooray!

I think if I could subscribe to any more magazines, it would definitely be Cooking Light and Coastal Living. I could use some photo inspiration of coastal-style exposed ceiling beams for our latest project in the laundry room, and some low-cal recipes for hubby to make in the kitchen. But magazine subscriptions cost money, don't they? Sigh.

What are your favorite magazines?

Comment issue fixed

2009-07-17T12:15:00.002-05:00

Just an FYI that there was a problem with the word verification for comments. Thanks Blogger!

It appears to have been fixed and you should be able to comment away.

Thanks Gracie Beth for alerting me to the problem!

The next stage

2009-07-17T11:21:00.007-05:00

I suppose I'm going through a bit of a post-marriage crisis. For a year and a half, I was defined as "engaged." Now I am a newlywed and all the hoopla of putting together a wedding is over.

I am not depressed by any means; in fact, I'm very happy with my hubby and the home we have built together. But I'm ready to move on. I'm ready for us to move on, together, into the next stage of our lives.

I don't yet have the urge for a baby, and if I do, I can guarantee that it won't be until after age 30. I'm 26 and a half now... and personally, I want to enjoy my 20s with my husband. I don't know if I'll ever have the urge for children. Right now they just kind of freak me out.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm ready for the Big Change/Move (as Brittany Ann puts it) to happen for us in the next year or two.

Financially, we are not doing so hot, just like everyone else. My salary has been cut this year. (Um, hello, I am but a po' journalist.) And I added hubby to my health insurance at work, which has taken another bite out of my paycheck. There's a chance of more paycuts for the 4th quarter of the year. And I don't make that much in the first place. I have yet to crack $40K.

Hubby works 2 jobs-- one in a restaurant kitchen and another as a publicist/personal assistant. His two passions are poker and food. He has a culinary associate's degree and a good bit of experience writing/blogging about poker. Our desire is to get more money pumping into both of our paychecks so that we can live more comfortably, pay off our debts, and not feel as though we are living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Oh, and by the way, we own a house. Not only is there a mortgage to pay every month (which is not too bad, comparable to an apartment rent around here) but there are the costs of repairs and renovations to our home, which is a cute little cottage built in 1949. In short, we can pay the mortgage and the bills, but we don't really have the fundage to continue making improvements like we had been doing in 2007 (when we bought the house) and 2008.

So I think our plan is to put the house up for sale at some point. Right now is not the time as the housing market is so bad, plus there are a lot of homes for sale in our neighborhood, but perhaps after the first of the year. I think we would really feel more comfortable if we could sell the house, then plot our next move from there. Hopefully we could make enough from the sale to get us on our way.

Our home is definitely a starter home -- it's a 3/1 with a pretty small kitchen and a carport rather than a garage. So we could definitely let it go. Wherever we end up next, I hope to have a 3/2 with an ample kitchen and a 2-car garage. Even a townhouse would be fine.

I don't know if we'll stay in Alabama or go elsewhere. We have some ideas -- a couple cities we are interested in -- but I certainly don't want to jeopardize my job by blabbing about that sort of thing on the Internet. If we do move, it won't be for a while. We're tethered here by the house. And did I mention that I love my job and the people I work with? ☺

I can tell you our criteria for what we want in a place: no super cold winters, tourism, good restaurants & nightlife, no super high cost-of-living, opportunities for hubby with restaurants and/or poker, and opportunities for me with online media, e-commerce, PR or marketing. Oh, and there must be a Jamba Juice. haha. Any suggestions?

New layout

2009-07-14T15:57:00.002-05:00

I am a Web editor by trade, you know. So, I am happy to report that I figured out how to make my blog into a 3-column layout all by myself. Hooray!

I also got a new background and banner from cutestblogontheblock.com. What do you think? Until I can shell out $50 or more for a blog makeover, I think this will do just fine!

My banner now reads "Southern Web Girl" instead of "Something Blue." Because this has turned into much more than just a wedding blog.

Speaking of the wedding, I plan to post more recaps and photos soon. You can see parts 1-3 of the wedding day here.

I have my sisters with me

2009-07-13T23:12:00.005-05:00

So, I was in a sorority in college. Gamma Phi Beta at the University of Alabama, to be exact. I was Panhellenic Affairs VP as a junior and Administrative VP (or just plain VP) as a senior.

Stroll on over to my chapter's Web site if you want. As head chapter advisor in 2008, I helped them switch over to this new Web site powered by Chapter Communications (which I highly recommend, by the way). It's one of the several things I'm proud to have accomplished last year.

By the way, aren't the girls just adorable? They're doing so well. Their colors are pink and brown, their flower is the pink carnation, and their symbol is the crescent moon. I think all of those are precious. My sister was also a Gamma Phi, at UGA.

And while Gamma Phi isn't as "well-known" as other sororities in the South, it's one of the oldest nationally and a founder of the National Panhellenic Conference. Famous Gamma Phis include actresses Kristin Chenoweth & Cloris Leachman (both hilarious!), as well as host of CEOs and politicians, including one of Alabama's Supreme Court justices.

So, last year, when I was in the midst of planning a wedding, I was also traveling 90 miles roundtrip an average of twice a week to cater to my lovely girls. If you were in a sorority in college, you know what it means to be the chapter advisor: the disciplinarian, the counselor, the shoulder to lean on, the bridge between the chapter and the alumnae volunteer structure... the hero, the villian.

I oversaw the elections process, dealt with mental breakdowns and parent drama, spent long hours dealing with Recruitment, made sure paperwork was up-to-date, and accompanied the girls to International Convention last June in Cincinnati. (Gosh, was that really 13 months ago?) And that's just the beginning. And no, I wasn't paid for my work, nor did I get any special recognition. But I loved it. I loved being in the thick of it.

In December, I made the hard decision to step down as head chapter advisor and pass the baton on to one of my pledge sisters, who just happened to be moving back to Tuscaloosa and who is an expert on Recruitment. I wanted to devote what would be their spring semester to planning my wedding in April -- there were a lot of loose ends to tie up and I was afraid I wouldn't have the time for my girls. There were also some things going on professionally that I needed to tend to as well.

I'm still on the advisory board, but I'm not involved in the day-to-day business of the chapter anymore. It went from full throttle to a few bits & pieces within the span of about 2 weeks. And to be honest, sometimes I really miss it. Other times, not so much. In this digital world, members, parents and alumnae expect answers almost instantaneously. My e-mail inbox filled up very quickly.

Wherever Brian and I end up next, I hope to get involved with active collegiate members. And this year I'm serving as Public Relations VP for my local alumnae chapter. If any of you are considering volunteering with your sorority, absolutely go for it. My days with Gamma Phi are nowhere near over...like they say, it goes beyond college, but only if you make it so. I treasure my membership and my sisters dearly.

Here is what my sisters sang to me at the wedding:

All my life's a circle
Sunrise and sundown
The moon rolls through the nighttime
Till the daybreak comes around
All my life's a circle
and I can tell you why
I have my sisters with me, here in Gamma Phi

Cue the awwwws

2009-07-10T21:33:00.005-05:00

Exhibit A. This is our dog Mango, back when she was a wee little 6-week-old 4 lb. ball of fur. This photo was taken the week after Christmas 2007.

This photo is, in fact, so cute that Mango made CuteOverload.com. Really. You can see it here.

Exhibit B. This is another one of my favorite of Mango in March 2008 at 4 months old. Around this time, her ears started getting really big. They had this tendency to flop inside out and it never seemed to bother her. She NEVER grew out of it.

Exhibit C. Finally, here she is late last year in her fully-grown 80 lb. glory. Yep, 80 lbs. She has really long leg for a Lab too.

She's the zaniest girl I know. And we love her.

Name changing checklist

2009-07-08T11:50:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to share this great name-change checklist from The Nest. (It's a PDF.)

I totally thought I was almost done with all the name-changing business, but I still have a ways to go. Sigh.

What I will do before I turn 30

2009-07-07T16:53:00.001-05:00

So even though my wonderful husband Brian is already 30, I still have about 3.5 years to go. Here is a list of things I want to accomplish before then:

Things to do:

Backpack through Europe. I want to hit Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. I want to stay in hostels, pack just 3 outfits and a little black dress, eat fabulous food at littles holes-in-the-wall, and travel by train through the countryside with my hubby.
Go deep sea fishing in the Gulf. We are planning out a trip with friends for this next spring! I am really excited about this!
Go camping for real. Like I'm talking just a tent, a couple sleeping bags, cooking over the fire, "real" primitive camping. I've never done this before.
Visit New Orleans, Savannah, Austin, and Las Vegas! We have friends we can stay with in almost all of those cities.
Watch Tiger Woods play golf. Not on our HDTV at home -- in person, preferably at The Masters.
Renew our vows at Disney World or Las Vegas. This might end up happening after 30, perhaps at our 5-year anniversary.
Visit local "staycation" destinations. I want to visit Desoto Caverns Park, Morgan Creek Vineyards, the Huntsville Space & Rocket Center, and several other local Alabama tourist destinations that we just haven't gotten around to seeing in the past 3 years that we have lived here!

Things to learn:

Learn how to drive a stick shift. Brian and I have had a few lessons, but overall this is something I am really anxious about. Not sure why.
Learn Web and graphic design -- CSS, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc. These are all things I've dabbled with in my work, but I want to know enough to create Web sites and graphics on my own, without going through support at corporate, lol. I want to feel equally confident in both my Web content abilities and my Web technical abilities.
Learn how to shoot a gun. I want to take lessons and get a gun license. There's no reason for me not to know how to use a gun properly.
Learn how to sew. I want a sewing machine and I want to learn how to sew. I'd love to at least know how to replace a button!
Learn how to dive! I cannot dive head-first into a swimming pool. I don't know why. Nevertheless, this was a problem during my swim team days as you can imagine. Those swim team days didn't last long!

Monday morning stress plus our 3-day weekend

2009-07-06T10:57:00.006-05:00

Last night around 9, hubby gets a call from work. He tells me he is going to go in for a couple hours to clean some kitchen equipment that apparently really needed cleaning. This is all fine with me -- more hours equals more paycheck for him.

Hubby leaves around 10. I get in the shower, pack my lunch for work today, and am all ready to tuck into bed and pick up where I left off reading HP & the Half-Blood Prince (I'm re-reading it before the movie release). Well I can't find either of my cell phones. I can't find my purse, period. And I can't try to find my phones by calling them because hubby is at work with his cell phone, and we have no landline.

So I just go to bed, thinking that I probably left my purse at my parents' house last night when we stopped by after the grocery store. When hubby comes in the bedroom, I tell him as much and he agrees that it's probably there.

So this morning I get ready for work and go to my parents' house. Mind you I have my car keys -- they weren't missing. I always hang them up my the front door. I arrive at my parents uannnounced, it's pouring down raining, and the purse is nowhere to be found. They let me use their phone to see if my purse/phones are somewhere in my car. Not there.

So I mid my parents farewell and go back home. I grab hubby's phone. Takes me about 5 minutes to figure out how to dial -- he's got one of those crazy touch-screen Verizon phones. Finally I dial and I hear my phone in the other room. I search, search, and finally find my purse UNDER THE SOFA. The culprit? Our Labrador Mango. She had been playing with her bone last night and in her excitement I'm pretty sure she pushed my purse under the sofa. It had been on the floor by the coffee table.

So finally I arrive at work today almost an hour late -- wet, stressed, and exhausted because I didn't sleep well last night not knowing where my purse was. All this running around business could have been averted if I had just been able to call my cell phone last night, or this morning before I went running to my parents' house. Blargh.

Today and tonight's stress aside, hubby and I had a great 3-day weekend. Friday we went to the local water park, hubby washed my car, and we stocked up on a few things at Sam's Club, including Rainier cherries, which are the bomb.com.

Saturday hubby had to work from 11-7, but I washed our sheets and quilt and got some other things done around the house, and when he got home we went to the Thunder on the Mountain fireworks display in Birmingham.

Sunday I gave the dog a bath and Furminated her, we did some gardening, we made a quick trip to Publix, we stopped to see my parents, watched Ocean's Thirteen, and hubby cooked steaks on the grill for dinner.

I hope your holiday weekend was fun!

Bag lust and other thoughts

2009-07-02T13:30:00.004-05:00

I am lusting after this bag from The Sak (in teak).

Of course The Sak is not quite Kate Spade or Coach (or Marc Jacobs, swoon!) but the bag is genuine leather, in the size and color I've been looking for in a more comfortable price range for me. It's also a very soft, buttery leather; I've seen it in person. Currently this bag is selling for $104.25 with free shipping and a free gift. But I still do not have the funds for it.

You see, in February of this year, my company announced that everyone would go on a mandatory 10-day furlough. It's essentially a 3.8% pay decrease in exchange for an extra 10 days off for the year. And there is a chance that we could get another 2, 3 or even 5 days of furlough at the end of the third quarter. This almost 4% pay cut has really cut into funds I used for shopping and eating out. And I'm a web editor. I'm not a doctor, lawyer, accountant or CEO. Hubby and I have a long way to go before we hit 6 figures together.

So, I've signed up on a few Websites to provide English/language arts tutoring and pet sitting for people in my area. No babysitting. I'm sure I would get more business with that, but it's been so long since I've babysat children. Maybe I will work that into my offerings at some point, but right now it's tutoring and pets. So 2 nights ago, I got my first bite, from a young couple with 4 dogs who will be gone to the beach next weekend. And it just so turns out that the total amount of money I will make from them in 7 visits to check on their pooches is the exact same amount as the purse I'm coveting.

But, I'm trying not to covet. My mother and I are purging this summer; getting rid of "stuff." We both know that we won't be in Alabama forever and who wants to add to moving costs with endless amounts of stuff that we never use? If I were to get this bag, I think I would have to, at the very least, go through all of my current purses and bags and purge the majority.

There's one bag that stands out. I have a Dooney & Bourke barrel bag circa 2004. Remember when the logo bags were really in and Dooney had the multicolor logo design with a black or white background?

It's still selling for $155 at Zappos.com. It's waterproof bag too. I loved that bag. It was the first "expensive" bag I had ever owned and it made me feel very grown-up during my last year of college. But over time, some bubbles formed between the protective waterproof layer and the leather layer. And then, during my very last week of college, when I was out celebrating my graduation with my now-husband, a guy tried to steal it from me.

The guy didn't get it. He ran from across the street and came up behind me and tried to surprise me, but I had the bag on my shoulder the same way as the mannequin in the photo above, clutching the straps with my right hand. And ladies, you know when you are holding your bag that way, it is very secure.

The guy actually dragged me down on the ground trying to get the bag, but he still didn't get it. My now-husband ran after him through the Publix parking lot and lost a flip-flop in the progress. The guy was never arrested.

What should I do with this Dooney bag? I still have it, but I haven't been able to wear it since that incident. One of the straps was torn a bit during his attempt to yank it from my arm. I had terrible bruises all up and down my right arm for 2 weeks. I had to receive my diploma with those horrible bruises on my arm. Luckily those robes are long-sleeved.

As for my other bags, I should be able to toss most of those pretty easily. I'll hold on to my brown Fossil, to my blue Coach, to most of my Veras. But the rest can go, if I can just get this new bag. Or should I even get it? I, like everyone else, question every purchase so much more than I used to, and regret some of my past purchases. I'm working on paying off credit card debt, but it's a tough road. I have the right outlook, but not the right income to match.