what i'm lovin' wednesday!

I know, I know- I've been a little MIA lately. Of course, I have to lay the blame at the feet of two people:

     #1- This trainwreck

Jodi Arias

I spend basically every free second I have at work checking the live blog for this trial. Seriously, it's an obsession, a sickness, and I can't stop. I was the same with Casey Anthony. I'm sure I'll be the same when the Aurora psycho goes on trial too. If I had been old enough to understand/care during the OJ trial, there's no doubt I would have been addicted to that as well. When I get sucked in and am convinced someone is guilty/deserves justice, I follow the trial with the same passion that I watch, for instance, the Iron Bowl. For all you non-Bammers and non-Barners, that's an in-state college football rivalry, and I am fiercely passionate about the outcome of the game. Likewise, I'm absorbed by every detail of this trial and find myself subconciously "cheering" whenever the prosecutor makes a slam-dunk in court. This trial has read like some sort of trashy romance/criminal suspense novel. The kind you can't put down even though you're embarrassed to admit it. Sex, lies, deceit, cheating, religious scandal, murder, blood... you name it, this trial has it. It's riveting to watch, and hopefully when it is over, I'll have a little more time on my hands.

     #2- Matthew Crawley

So now that you know how I spend every free second at work, it's only fair to tell you how I've been spending every free second outside of work. That's right folks- I'm 100% on the Downton Abbey bandwagon. I kept hearing so many good things about it that I just had to give it a shot. I watched an episode or two on Netflix a couple of months ago, but got busy and never got back to it. A few weeks ago, a friend loaned me Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, and since then I've been living on a British rollercoaster of love, war, and social class division. LOVE IT. The hype is for real y'all. I'm almost done with Season 2, and I dare say I'm a little nervous to see Season 3 after hearing so much recently about the finale. DON'T TELL ME if you have seen it! I've heard so many people discussing it that it's been almost impossible to avoid a major spoiler. But so far, I've successfully managed to stay in the dark until I watch.

So there you have it, my two very time-consuming guilty pleasures of the moment. And how appropriate that I shared this secret for "What I'm Loving Wednesday" because I'm most certainly loving the courtroom dramatics of the Arias trial and the "Will they or won't they?" saga between Mary and Matthew on Downton.

Here's a VERY brief recap of some of the things we've been up to since my last post:

Valentine's Day

Pink Sugar Cookies

Red Velvet Milky Way Cookies

Whole morning at the spa courtesy of Mr. M

Birthday Celebrations

Group birthday celebration at Cocina for our friend Jesse

Sweet Tate's 2nd Birthday Monster Party

Nashville Trip

Paradise Park- our fave

Love some Mal

Traditional group guitar pic!

And last but not least, I leave you with some of my favorite Oscar looks (via):

Charlize

My absolute favorite- Naomi

Jennifer

Cutest couple - the Tatums

Royal Reese

Jessica

Amy

miscellaneous monday

The weekends sure fly by, huh? It's already time for Miscellaneous Monday again!

~school spirits (pun intended)~

A friend surprised me with this prize over the weekend. He knows I love wine and Alabama football- win/win.

I'd prefer Rolling Red...but who's complaining?

~bebes~

Babies are coming at me in ALL directions these days. I've been spending some free time addressing baby shower invitations...

Visiting new babies at the hospital....

Kate at Children's Hospital following heart surgery

Kate at HOME! Yay!

And it seems like every day, a different friend has news of an upcoming bundle of joy! Most recently, one of my high school best friends announced that she was expecting, my college friend discovered she was expecting a girl, and my sweet former coworker learned that she would be welcoming a precious little boy! And I know approximately 10 other people who either just had a baby or are still expecting. So exciting! So many new chubby cheeks to kiss and love!

~grammy wins~ 

The 55th Grammy's were last night, and there were some phenomenal performances!

I just loved seeing JT back on stage doing his thing.

Kelly Clarkson's voice blew me away.

Rihanna got a standing O in my living room.

And the "Take a Load Off " mashup was definitely a highlight.

Lots of good music! And now for some good fashion, too:

Rihanna looked ravishing in red. So firey hot!

Does Carrie EVER look bad?

I can't believe that I liked PANTS on the red carpet. Glam nonetheless!

J Lo needs to take note...THIS is how sexy is done!

So dapper!!!

grammy WTFs

Katy Perry's Boobs were in attendance. And I think Ellen's face sums up everyone's reaction.

J. Lo's Leg was also on the guest list. I wish Leg would tell J. Lo to stop it.  

Girl's got pipes. No denying that. But the dress lightshow? Lame. 

Have a great Monday everyone!

WILW

Link-Up!

Hump Day is here! And that means it's time to share a few things I'm loving this week...

~SMASH~

Last night was the 2-hour Season 2 premiere of Smash. I adore this show and am soooooo happy that it's finally back! It's so well written and the music is simply amazing. If you aren't already a fan and find yourself with some free time on your hands, go back and watch Season 1. If you love musicals at all, you won't regret it! Or if you are one of those people who actually has important stuff to do and you want to jump right in on Season 2, I found this very brief recap of Season 1. It leaves out a lot of things, but it's thorough enough to provide a foundation for where the show is at when Season 2 kicks off. You can thank me later!

~gelato~

One a whim at Publix the other day, I picked up this coconut gelato by Talenti. Ah-mazing! Each bite is like a sweet little taste of summertime in your mouth. I'm not sure how I've missed out on this for so long. Word is they have a chocolate mint and a pistachio flavor that I'm dying to try as well!

~Signing Day~

Luckily I have two computer monitors at work. One of them will be emblazoned with the above screenshot all day today as the live fax camera notifies the Crimson Tide faithful which lucky guys will be "Built by Bama" next.

~WINTER~

Down here in the South, we don't get too many months of true winter weather. But nonetheless, I still get dry skin this time of year. A couple of months ago, the Miller High life switched from our normal soap/body wash to this Winter Care line from Dove. I love it, and I have not experienced my normal dry skin since!

That's all for this Wednesday! Have a good rest of the week!



miscellaneous monday

Hola. Monday morning following the Super Bowl is pretty rough as is, but add a quick Mardi Gras trip into the equation...AND plug in several coworkers being out "sick"... and well, you've got yourself the perfect storm of a Monday. The only thing keeping me going (besides multiple cups of coffee):

Daydreaming that I can someday be THIS awesome.

via

Bey pretty much rocked it out last night, dontya agree? Having no emotional connection to either team, she was pretty much the highlight of my night. Oh, and THIS and THIS. If that first link didn't make you tear up just a little, I'm gonna need to check your pulse. I also thought that Miz Alicia Keys did a very moving National Anthem prior to the game. And those Sandy Hook kids? So sweet. Aside from that, I wasn't very invested in the game. On one hand I was pulling for some of my Bama boys on the Ravens' roster, but on the other hand I was pulling against the recently-over-killed Ray Lewis. Very internally conflicting. Anyway, I'm glad that thanks to the blackout, it turned out to at least be a very entertaining game.

Enough about the Super Bowl, here's a few miscellaeous pictures from our weekend in Mobile. So much fun!

Brother <3>





My 3 favorite guys

Lawbreakers

Mayfields throws ice cream sandwiches instead of beads. Clearly my favorite float.

Even Phil from Duck Dynasty was feeling the Mardi Gras spirit

These Mardi Gras virigins sure had a good time!

Me and Becky

Mama

A sure-fire way to get pelted with throws

Ball blurriness

Hope you all had a great weekend, Super Bowl, etc!