Birthday Celebration Weekend

After an exhausting weekend, I was ready to get to work so I could rest!

How crazy is that!?!?

It was my "Birthday Celebration Weekend" so it was jam-packed full of fun!
Friday night I chilled out in the LaZBoy and wrote a bunch of Thank You notes. I took this night to take it easy before the craziness started early the next morning.
The insanity began at about 5:30am Saturday morning when I crawled out of bed. Not only did I have to do the normal morning routine, but I had to spend a little extra time and effort since I was prepping for a "photo shoot." Yes, it was the day Bobby & I picked to do our "maternity photos"....I don't really know what else to call them, but they weren't really "maternity" pictures. They were really pictures of us and the belly. We had a friend take the pictures, and we used a couple of our friends houses and a nearby park. Since the pictures were all going to be outdoors...in August....in Austin, we opted for an 8am start time to avoid the worst of the heat. After 3 "costume changes" and 3 location changes, we wrapped up about 10:30am.....just as it was getting a little too hot.
We got some really great pictures, and the sunlight was just right!
(Thanks to G & T for all their help on this!)

After the photo session Bobby and I headed downtown to hit up the big sale at REI. We bought our BOB jogging stroller and a couple of extra attachments. Since we waited specifically for this Labor Day Sale, we saved about 100 bucks! We then enjoyed at nice lunch in the shade on South Congress. If you have not yet had a Mighty Cone, do yourself a favor and do it! Yummy!

We had a Dog Training appointment at 2:30, so we loaded up Bobby's truck about 2:15. Didn't get out of the driveway before we realized we had a flat tire...a really flat tire. So we loaded up Holly in the Mama car and headed for the appointment.
When we got back home I had to get ready for that night's girls slumber party...which included packing a little bag, and taking a big nap. Bobby went outside to change his tire, but couldn't find the jack. Instead he found a tool box full of oil from a busted bottle. So he completely cleaned out the tool box and back end of the pickup while he waited for AAA.

After a nice long nap, I made a stop at the grocery store to stock up on junk food for the slumber party, then headed that way. We talked and laughed from the moment we got there until 2am!! It was a great night of girl bonding, and exactly what I needed!

Sunday morning we got up had a light breakfast and headed our separate ways. G & I went to my house to get ready for an afternoon of more food and Wicked fun.
Brunch was at 11 with my family and G & J. Thankfully I had allotted 2 hours for Brunch at Chez Zee...and it pretty much took up the entire 2 hours due to slow service. Good thing the food was outstanding!!!
We then headed to UT Bass Concert Hall to see WICKED! It was so AWESOME, and I was so glad we had paid a little more for the good seats at this show. I highly recommend seeing this anytime you get a chance! I am sure it is amazing to see on Broadway in NYC!

After dinner and a few loads of laundry, Bobby & I went to bed early.....exhausted.

Now I just have to rest up this week before another busy weekend with my Dad in town for the Holiday weekend.
~~~

Week 32: Baby Shower - Dr. Seuss Style!

Yes, it’s official. I really do have the best friends in the world! I am not sure how I got so lucky, or if I even deserve them, but somehow I have them and I will NEVER let them out of my life!

In all my life I have never had a group of girlfriends. I have always had one or two friends here and there in every stage of my life, but they have come and gone with the years. I never really thought it was possible to have a group of girls that actually get along with each other all the time. Of course I have heard of such groups, but I doubted they could sustain the years and changes in each other’s lives.

Our group is still relatively new, but I do believe we actually have one of those groups. We bonded so quickly and easily, and have already overcome adversity as a group, which only made us stronger. We all fully intend to still be the best of friends in 10-20----50 years. I think if we all outlive our spouses, we would be totally cool living out the last years of our lives “Golden Girls” style. :-)

Going through these last 7 months of my life being pregnant, has made me realize just how important these girls have become to me. They are all so different, but each has the same goals when it comes to our group…. Take care of each other, and make time to be together. They have definitely taken care of me, more than they know. I believe the reason my pregnancy has been so easy and even enjoyable is due to the support and love I have received from my husband, my Mom & Sister, and my girlfriends.

I had the most awesome Baby Shower this weekend! It could not have possibly been more perfect! They went with the Dr. Seuss “theme” to go along with Punkin’s nursery theme (which was the big secret they were keeping from me). Everything was decorated so bright, colorful, and fun! My girlfriends made it perfect right down to the smallest details, and it went off without a hitch. Everyone seemed to have a great time, even the ones who walked in not knowing anyone there. There was a ridiculous amount of food (always is with this group)….all the food was bright and colorful, and there was even green eggs & ham!!! The cake had the “Oh Baby the Places You’ll Go” theme, and it tasted as good as it looked. I got to take home some truly gorgeous flowers decorated up Dr. Seuss style. Probably the biggest perk was having a neighbor friend of G’s take all the pictures so I didn’t have to pose for 10 different cameras. :-) We played several fun games, ate delicious food, laughed and chatted, and I opened a ridiculous amount of baby gifts for Punkin. She is one really lucky girl to be loved so much….and she hasn’t even made her appearance into the world yet!

I went through all the gifts yesterday and tried to organize everything in the nursery. After doing that, I feel like we are now prepared to bring a baby home. I am only saying that we could bring her home anytime, and we would be able to take care of her and meet all her needs….. I am not saying I am ready for her to be here yet. I have actually enjoyed my pregnancy and I know our lives are going to change so much when she arrives. I know it will all change for the better, and will be incredible….but I am not yet ready to give up what “free” time I have left. I fully plan to enjoy these next few weeks and soak up the time I have with my husband, family, and friends before the big change.

BIG THANKS to everyone who made Saturday so special for me! I am so Lucky to have each and every one of you in my life!!!

~~~

One Lucky Chick!!!

Almost all of the ladies that mean the most in the world to me will be gathered in one place tomorrow….and I could not be more thrilled!!!
My best girlfriends are throwing me a baby shower tomorrow, and somehow they managed to pick a day when most of my closest friends will be able to attend. There are a few that will be missed, but unfortunately that is almost always the case. Honestly, I am amazed at the amount of my friends that plan to attend. Not because they wouldn’t want to attend my baby shower, but because the location is about 30-45 minutes from most of their homes in Austin…not so convenient.

My girlfriends have basically been working on the details of this party since I told them I was pregnant….at 5 weeks along. Now I am 32 weeks along and the party is finally here!!! I know they love me and are having a blast planning this thing, but the fact that every part of it is a secret from me is driving me crazy…

· They had an initial planning session Happy Hour that I didn’t get to attend.

· I am sure there have been numerous email chains I’ve been left out of.

· Tonight they are all getting together to decorate, and of course eat and drink.

Not that I don’t appreciate all that they are doing for me, but I hate being left out of these special girl times with my best friends. I am so glad all the secrets will be over after tomorrow!!!

Honestly though, the fact that they have all done such a remarkable job of keeping details from me has me completely intrigued. I absolutely cannot wait until tomorrow!!! My week WAS going by fast…until this afternoon. Now it feels like the day is just dragging by just to torture me.

My big day tomorrow starts with a mani with my sister, then we’ll get ready for baby shower. On our way out of town we’ll grab some lunch so I won’t be devouring everything in sight as soon as I walk in the door. :-) The girls are letting me get to the shower early so we can take some pictures and chill before the festivities start. And then the mayhem will begin. I am sure they have some crazy, silly games planned that will have everyone laughing and having a good time. After the shower a few of us will crash another party where we’ll find our husbands having their own “good” time.

So yes, I am truly looking forward to a fun filled day with people I love!

*** I genuinely do have the most amazing girlfriends in the world. How did we get so Lucky to come together like we did? Now that we’ve come to this point, I know our friendship will never fade. We have so many years ahead of us to look forward to with big, little, happy, and even sad events. I feel so good knowing I have such an awesome circle of girlfriends to go through life with.

I Love You All So Much!

Thank you for Everything!

~~~

BEST CONCERT EVER!!!!

$100 concert ticket
10 hours in the car
2 hour walking tour of down(dead)town Dallas
$40 concert t-shirt
Girl Time and an Awesome Concert = PRICELESS!!!

NO DOUBT STILL KNOWS HOW TO ROCK!!!!!

3 girlfriends and I traveled to Dallas this weekend to see No Doubt & Paramore in concert.

BEST CONCERT OF MY LIFE!!!

The band was not promoting some new album, so they played all their best hits. We sang and danced right along with everyone else in the crowd. The band really knows how to play for the fans.
Paramore put on a great show as well. I think Paramore & No Doubt are two of the few bands that sound even better live...(i.e. The Killers)
We girls all had an amazing No Doubt experience and agreed it was totally worth the trip!!!



Such an amazing concert!
~~~

CostCo Freaks and Good Luck at Stein Mart

I went to CostCo during my lunch break today to order a cake for my sister's upcoming birthday party....

I wasn't really wanting to make the trip if I could just call in and place my order. So this morning I looked all over CostCo's website looking for their decorated cake options. (I had stopped by the bakery once before so I knew the selection was very limited.)
I found nothing on the company website about their decorated bakery cakes. So I googled "CostCo Cakes" and this is how I found all the information I needed.

Can you believe there are blogs dedicated to all things "CostCo"? I found several blogs by people just crazy about CostCo. One of the blogs even had the CostCo Cake Order Form available, so I was able to print it out before my lunchtime trip. I was pretty happy about that.
So if you are curious to see if I am full of crap...here are a few of the ones I stumbled upon:
http://addictedtocostco.com/2009/02/03/costco-bakery-makes-an-excellent-cake/
http://costcocakes.blogspot.com/
http://www.costcob.com/

Anyway, since I was in & out of CostCo in a flash I stopped in next door at Stein Mart. I was wondering what my chances were of finding a little black sweater to wear over my sleeveless dress at dinner tonight. (Restaurants in Austin are always so freaking cold.)
I was hoping to find something thin like both G & K had during our outdoor lunch on Sunday. I know I wasn't really asking for much...a thin, plain, black sweater. But still, I never find what I'm looking for if it's something specific...
The retail gods were with me today!!! I found exactly what I was looking for and it's going to work perfectly for dinner with the girls tonight, as well as many more times in the future. YEA!
~~~

Girls V-Day Party Night

Tonight is our 2nd annual Girls Valentine Party...and I am so excited!
We are having Mexican food and lots of Margaritas. :-)
We'll have a blast exchanging our Secret Sister gifts.

Then the fun will really start.....
Our chick band will most likely be playing ROCK BAND on the Wii until we drive our pregnant host crazy. ;-) Then the "sleepover" part will ensue in which we will spend hours talking and giggling like a bunch of high school girls. Good Times!

Without a doubt tonight will prove to be fun and memorable for everyone!!!
I love you chickies!
~~~

Hallmark Conspiracy ?

So next week my girls group we will be doing our 2^nd annual Valentines Party.

We decided to do this for a few reasons:

1) A few of my girlfriends are strong, independent, single ladies.

2) Some of our husbands just conveniently forget about V-day.

3) Some of our husbands just despise Valentines Day and don’t understand why it’s an important day to us chicks. Some of them even like to use the cop-out theory that Valentines Day is a Hallmark conspiracy. Well, maybe it is….but I think for the majority of girls, it is still an important day.

I for one, cannot help but get sucked in every year. The red and pink slap you in the face every time you walk into any store…including the grocery store. Hell, I think the grocery store is the worst….they have the pink and red out when the Christmas stuff goes on clearance. If you try to play it off and tell your guy that it isn't a big deal to you, you'll just end up with hurt feelings on Valentines day...and that doesn't do anyone any good.

Regardless of the alleged Hallmark Conspiracy, it is an important chick day…always has been, always will be. For me it started really early in life. Before boyfriends, my dad always got my sister and I flowers, or candy, or both. As we grew up and started getting flowers from boys, he started giving us each a box of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies…we liked those more than any heart shaped box of candy.

Side Note: I remember one year my dad gave us each a box of chocolate covered cherries. (Well that is just gross.) So my sister left her box on top of her stereo speaker which was on the floor. Our Sheltie dog Tippy got a hold of that box, chewed through the plastic wrapper, and ate ALL the chocolate covered cherries. When my sister got home and realized Tippy had eaten the entire box, we all freaked out and knew we were going to have a dead dog on our hands soon. Surprisingly not, a few hours later Tippy had a very upset stomach and gave my sister her chocolate covered cherries back.

Back to the Girls Valentines Party....

We had so much fun with our party last year that we decided to do it again this year. Instead of at a loud happy hour spot downtown, we will have our party at one of the girl's houses. (We've been doing this more often lately because it's a little more intimate in that we don't have to yell over the music and the happy hour crowd.)

For fun we do a Valentines version of the secret Santa thing. We draw names and buy a small gift for the person we drew. Last year we did $15 max dollar limit, and this year we are doing $10 max dollar limit.

(Because we are all saving for our 1st annual Girls Birthday Celebration Trip.) :-)

So for the next week I will be on the hunt for the perfect $10 Valentine. I don't want to do the boring bath soaps gift, and surely I can do better than a gift card....this is for someone I call one of my closest friends.

I am positive that I will find something completely cute and unique while I am out searching... but if you do have any suggestions, by all means, send them my way!

~~~

Team Edward!

"I coveted you." His smile darkened. "I had no right to want you- but I reached out and took you anyway. And now look what's become of you! Trying to seduce a vampire." He shook his head in mock horror."
— Edward Cullen (Eclipse)

Yes I am one of those.....
Thanks to my girlfriends (Madison in particular) I am fully invested in the Twilight mania.
I am not proud of the fact that my reading level is apparently the same as a 16 year olds.....but I have to be honest about it... I LOVE THIS S**T!!!!!
I have just started the 4th (last) book of the series. Thank Goodness! Once I finish the last book, I can finally get back to my life. My mind won't even let me concentrate on anything else. The Twilight series is completely addicting. And that addiction gets stronger with every book. I have not talked to anyone who has read it, who does not feel the same.

Since finishing Eclipse last weekend, I have been chomping at the bit to get started on the Breaking Dawn. Apparently T knew I was likely having withdraws because she brought me the 4th book yesterday when we met for an impromptu lunch. Thank you T!

I admit, even though I have been in between books, I never started twitching because I was getting my Edward and Bella fix online. The author, Stephenie Meyer has a partial book on her website: Midnight Sun. It is the Twilight book, but written from Edward's perspective rather than Bella's. There are always two sides to a story, and it is fascinating to read this future classic from the other side. The author wrote Midnight Sun for fun, to help her develop the other main character in her mind...which helped her write the other 3 novels in the series. (For the full story see her website.)

Last night I compared the lengths of the books Breaking Dawn and Eclipse. I was so excited to see that the last book, Breaking Dawn, is even longer than Eclipse!!! I can promise you, I have NEVER in my life been excited about a longer book.

To all of you skeptics....just start reading Twilight. I promise you'll be hooked - quick....although you'll probably also be pissed off that the rest of your life will be put on hold...
I have never been a big reader.....so there you have it.

I REALLY hope there will be future additions to the Twilight series.
To quote T: "I am really going to miss Edward, Bella, Jacob, Alice, and the others!"













~~~

Holiday Update

I FINALLY got my Christmas stuff down and cleaned up yesterday. I am glad Christmas is officially over at my house. I am already starting to look forward to springtime!!! Winter Solstice has come and gone, so slowly but surely the days are starting to get longer. Whew! Once again I made it through the hardest part of the year for me. The holidays and a few trips always serve as a good distraction.

After the Costa Rica trip I had about a week at home before our trip to Georgia. During that week I hosted my girls group Christmas party (the only reason I even decorated this year at all). We had so much fun laughing and having good girl-bonding time. I hated that the evening seemed to go by so quickly. A few of us stayed up late after the party was over...guess we weren't quite done with the girlie night....we watched the Sex And The City movie. Due to a slight hangover, work the next day was long and torturous. I warned the girls that future parties MUST be on weekend nights! I am getting too old for this.....

Bobby and I spent Christmas at his sister's house in Georgia. We flew in Christmas Eve, rented a car, and drove 2.5 hours to just outside of Evans/Augusta. His sister her best friend had recently finished painting and decorating their beautiful home. We had the perfect Christmas holiday with lots of eating, drinking, games, eating, Wii tennis/golf/bowling, movies, drinking more.....and did I mention eating? Bobby loves to remind me that his sister and I bonded over 4 bottles of Champagne we drank on Christmas Day alone....he thinks there were 7-8 empty Champagne bottles by the end of visit....but who's counting?!?!? (that isn't including the wine and misc other mixed drinks.)
I loved spending quality time with Bobby's family, but especially his sister. She, her husband, and their two girls only recently moved back to the U.S. after living overseas for about 3 years. Before this visit she and I had only hung out one other time....which was the week of our wedding. It was great to just sit and talk and find out more about each other. Of course when I've been drinking I get all kinds of chatty...so she probably learned more about me than she really cared to know.... :-)
Bobby has twin nieces....and I absolutely love them! The were little princess flower girls in our wedding and they called me the big princess. That is when they stole my heart. I was slightly concerned that I wouldn't get that same kind of admiration without the big white dress, but that wasn't the case. They warmed up to me again quickly and were soon calling me Aunt and wanting my attention as much as I wanted theirs. :-)

We stayed indoors all but one day of the visit, which we took a day trip to Stone Mountain. I can best describe it as a theme park, without the rides. Well there were two rides, one was a cable car that takes you to the top of the mountain.
The main thing about this place is the Confederate Memorial Carving int he side of the stone mountain. For all you locals...the actual Stone Mountain was like Enchanted Rock times ten thousand.
In the same concept as Mount Rushmore, there is a carving of three figures of the Confederacy on horseback.

I won't bore you with the details...however, I do want to mention the 2nd "ride"... a train that goes around the mountain. OMG! The headache we all acquired by the end of that ride was indescribable and unforgettable. The brakes on that train needed several gallons of WD-40!!! Ridiculous that people were actually standing in line to get a massive headache. The important thing was that the girls had a blast and we all got to spend the day together....and got out of the house.

Sunday we got up extra early and headed for the Atlanta airport. We were at the airport over 2 hours early and it's a really good thing that we were. We walked in the door to see the Delta check in-line was super long and full of pissed off people. So remembering that we had booked 1st-class for this flight, we found the first class check-in line. This line was not nearly as long, but it hardly moved. Evidently many others had not allowed that 2 hour cushion and missed their flights home. So now they stood at the check-in counters trying to change their flights. Unfortunately, we were unable to check-in online or use the kiosks for our check-in. Bobby had purchased the tickets using credit card rewards through Continental for this Delta flight, so long check-in line for us....at one of the busiest airports in the U.S. on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
The airport was no problem at all once we finally made it through the check-in line. After about an hour flight delay we finally made it home....so happy to see our four furry kids.

We ended 2008 at a dinner with some friends, and we started 2009 at family lunch at my Mom's house. Friends and Family....the most important things in life.



~~~

Where did the Weekend go???

I had a really awesome weekend! It was over way too fast!

Friday night Bobby & I had our usual debate about dinner. We eat out often (too often - we know) and we get tired of the places around the corner from our house. If he lets me pick, 90% of the time it will be Mexican food. So Friday night we were headed to Chuy's until I mentioned Hooters shrimp....Bobby jumped on that idea since it was something besides Mexican.
Driving north on Mopac I realized just how glad I was that we had ventured outside of our little area. THE MOON WAS MAGNIFICENT! It was dark orange, low, and huge...just over the skyline of Austin. It was one of those moments you know will not happen very often. I only took my eyes off of it long enough to text a few people to tell them to check it out. It was absolutely beautiful.
Hooters was not great. I used to always love to go & get the buffalo shrimp. This time, not nearly as good as I remember. I only make it there once every few years....it will probably take a few more years until I'll try it again.

Saturday afternoon I met up with some friends at the Hill Country Galleria for lunch, girl time, and some serious shopping. We all found a few good deals and spent too much money on Christmas decor. :-) Some of the husbands met up at a bar in Austin for some live music.
While the rest of us were out shopping and listening to live music, Bobby was home slaving away in the kitchen. Don't feel too bad for him....he really enjoyed his afternoon cooking for friends. He cooked a "practice turkey" along with some sides in prep for next week when he will be cooking the turkey for my family's Thanksgiving meal. The food was all (of course) delicious.

After dinner we all rocked out to Guitar Hero World Tour. Most in the group were newbies, so it took us several tries to make it through a song and not get booed off stage. But once we all found our niche, we jammed through lots of songs we knew and even some we had never heard before.
Surprisingly Madison was the Rock Star of the night on the drums. She rocked those drums for over 5 hours straight! Very Impressive!
We were all wiped by 1 am...Madison and N even stayed over. I am pretty sure Madison's hubby did not believe her when she told him she was staying over due to too much GHWT.

Saturday morning we got up early and kicked the girls out about 6:30am. Bobby & I headed to San Antonio to watch my sister run a half-marathon. Not exactly something we were all fired up to do after a late night of drinkin' & rockin'.
We cheered for my sister at the 8 mile mark and again at the finish line. Then we waited for her to get through all the post-race stuff. We all had lunch on the riverwalk then split our separate ways. Sister headed home to re-coop. Bobby & I headed to the mexican market and browsed around for while before heading back home.
On the way home I thanked Bobby for pushing us to make it to the marathon. It was really cool to see my sister complete a goal she has been working toward for a while. It really made me wish I had not given up running & training with her.
This made me think back to when she and I first started running. It was about 2 years ago when I found a beginner runner training group to train for 5Ks and 10Ks. I forwarded the information to her and asked her to go with me to the information session. She was pretty hesitant, but I finally did talk her into just going and listening to the spill. While there they handed out separate sign up sheets for the 5K & 10K training groups. I told her I wanted us to sign up for the 10K...she was like NO WAY! I finally convinced her to just sign up for the 10K, with a promise that we didn't have to actually run the 10K, we could always just do the 5Ks. We training together for about 7 months and then ran the Cap10. I remember what a huge accomplishment we both felt afterwards. I am sure she felt that x 10 yesterday.

I am so proud of you sis!

~~~

Saloon Girls??? WHERE???

Weekend in Review...

Friday night our girls group split in a few different directions. 2 went to the Jason Mraz concert, 2 went to the Brad Paisley charity event, 1 was moving from north to south Austin (about time!) and the rest of us hung with our honeys.

Bobby and I went to dinner with the couple that sealed the deal for our Costa Rica trip. We meet them a couple of months ago at a party and talked to them for hours about having kids, scuba diving, traveling, and their wedding-moon in Costa Rica 1 year ago. After talking to them we decided if we wanted to do an eco-adventure trip like Costa Rica, we should do it before we have have kids. Apparently everything changes when you have kids to drag along, and you start taking your vacations to Six Flags and Disney World.

Saturday was all about Halloween Party! We headed out to Spicewood early to prep for the party and for a pre-party. :-) We spent hours getting all dolled up with lots of dark makeup, faux lashes, lace, feathers, and fishnets. The time we spent getting ready was almost as much fun as the party itself!

One of my girlfriends summed up the party best in an email to the rest of us this morning:
Good times on Saturday night, not wild and crazy like last year (I personally think it's because Anna Nicole didn't make an appearance!!!), but still lots of fun and made some good memories! All you saloon girls ;) looked super hot (yeah, I was jealous!), T's cape rocked, and L worked that witch costume!!!! Props to the boys and their costumes too...watch out for those gold running shorts to make an appearance at Town Lake someday, hehe.

Ummm.....BTW K, we were NOT Saloon Girls! Geeezzz! There weren't any saloon girls at that party at all, I checked!!! We were Moulin Rouge Hotties -- get it straight!
just kidding K, I know you were not the one that had it sooo wrong! ;-)
There were lots of great costumes, but Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf took home the prize! Even with some minor drama, the party was a huge success! Our hosts did a fantastic job!

Sunday morning most of us made it out for breakfast at the lake. It was great to reconvene and laugh about the previous nights events. After breakfast I am sure that most did as I did....camped out on the couch for the rest of the day. Of course there are the troopers who made the most of the beautiful day for shopping, hiking, unpacking....

Overall it was an awesome weekend and some of us are already planning our costumes for next year's bash!
~~~

Halloween Party Weekend!

--- TGIF! ---
I am so glad it's finally FRIDAY! I am especially excited because this is the weekend of our big Halloween party! This is the 3rd annual and it has really become our group's big event of the year. It's one of the few events that everyone shows up for because no one wants to miss it. Something good always happens, and someone....or several someones get completely obliterated. Last year I happened to be one of those someones...so that made for a short night for those who rode out there with me. Not This Year! I have a plan this time so I will be the one laughing at the drunk people....not one of them! ;-) oh well, it happens to all of us!
This year a few of the girls and I are dressing in Moulin Rouge costumes. A couple of weeks ago we had a little costume party of our own...we all tried on our costumes and helped each other with final touches. We all had so much fun that night...kinda felt like I was in high school again! We intrigued our men by telling them that it was the kinda party guys fantasize about: lots of wine & bubbly, sexy costumes, naked chicks, hot tub...more bubbly. We didn't even have to mention the pillow fight! ;-) Just kidding, we are saving that one for next time! And now that I've seen the other girls costumes, there is no doubt that we are all gonna be some hot-ass chicks! Or maybe we'll be the cold-ass ones since there really isn't much to our outfits. ;-)

I have been studying the Lady Marmalade video with Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil' Kim, & Mya.....for make-up tips and tricks. Doing makeup on others is one of my little-known passions. I love to play with shadow colors on eyes. Of course I don't do it daily, or even weekly....just usually for special occasions, but I do love it! In fact, my most favorite job in my life was working for Lancome as a "Beauty Advisor." I also did a stint for a while as a "Featured Make-Up Artist" at other Lancome counters in Texas. Those were my good 'ol days.

Since some of us girls decided to do our own theme, that left the guys to their own devices....I am interested to see what they come up with!

CHEERS to the Party of the Year!


Enjoy the Lady Marmalade video for yourself. It's a classic! :-)



~~~

M&H and Chihuahuas

WOW!!! Everyone should have great friends who give you a gift certificate for your birthday for a facial at Milk & Honey!!!! It was such a wonderful experience... I'm already trying to figure out how and when I can go back for more.
I definitely recommend it....ask for Britney!

This is what I got:
m + h Facial This is our most popular facial. And it's no wonder: you'll leave milk + honey with glowing, healthy skin that will be the envy of all of your friends. Our multi step process is carefully customized to your skin type and skin care needs. Includes cleansing, masques, extractions, toning, and intense moisture.
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I also went to see the Chihuahua movie this weekend. I met some friends there...1 was Madison who has a Chihuahua of her own......and 2 friends who brought their kids. I am pretty sure M & I enjoyed the movie more than anyone else in the theater....including our friend's kids. In fact, at the end of the movie one of the kid's only comment was "That was silly."
So there you have it.....you have to be a chihuahua owner to appreciate this movie full of dead-on chihuahua personalities. My friends without chihuahuas were only slightly amused....at least they didn't hate it!
I went home and told Bobby that we are sooooo buying that movie. He can hardly wait. ;-)
~~~

...for every you

Rather then being good and attending our regular Wednesday class at the gym after work yesterday, my friend S & I opted for something way more fun....SHOPPING of course.
Starting at DSW... S found some shoes to finish out her Halloween costume and I found some "work" shoes on the sale rack for $17...of course I had to get them.
We stopped at Babies R Us for a gift, and Jamba Juice...S & I love our Jamba Juice! ;-)
Amazingly, the highlight of the shopping trip was not the yummy berry JJ.....it was discovering a new store that will be taking lots of my $$$$$ in the future....and I promise it will be taking yours too!
After being in this awesome new place about 5 minutes, S & I decided that this store will be the death of our friend Madison. M- we want to be there to see your eyes light up when you walk in this place!!!
Ok, so I know you are waiting anxiously for me to tell you the name of this place........

CHARMING CHARLIE

Located in Sunset Valley at Brodie & Hwy 290. S said that she has been to one in Houston, but this is the 1st one in the Austin Area...and I promise you are going to love it!
They have an amazing selection of Jewelry, Handbags, cute & flirty Tops & Dresses, and fun & funky shoes. They also have some really fun girly stuff. Best of all....the prices are surprisingly affordable!
I considered keeping this one a secret so that only S & I would have this place to find our secret Christmas gifts....but I decided to share this hidden gem with my best girlfriends. It wouldn't be fair to not let the rest of the girls in on this with the Christmas shopping season now upon us.
GO FORTH AND SHOP MY FRIENDS...... enjoy!
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