Friday Five (12)

I've decided to make the theme of this Friday Five "girls from my online book club" because they have seriously filled my week with joy and excitement!

1. Julie, Andrea, and I are currently in Savannah for the Savannah Book Festival, Mardi Gras (WOOOO! Book Nerds gone crazy!), and the beach. Julie's uncle owns a resort down here and is letting us stay in a 3 bedroom condo dirt cheap. This place is AMAZING so I've included a few photos. Another thing worth mentioning is on the drive in, we saw Barbie Beach!

 Yes, someone made a Barbie diorama in their front yard somewhere in Georgia

2. I've known Andrea online for a few years and I'm SO happy we finally got to meet. She is so cool and she knits! I don't think I've talked about it much on here, but I've been desperately wanting to knit or crochet and have been trying to teach myself via YouTube videos but it's so much better having a real live person to instruct you and she's a fantastic teacher. Look what I learned how to do last night!

3. Some of my friends did a Valentine's gift exchange and my good friend Jennie drew my name. She sent me The Hunger Games illustrated movie companion and my mom told me there's ANOTHER box from her waiting at home. I'm excited to be in Savannah this weekend, but I'm a bit anxious to get home because I LOVE fun mail!

4. The same friends set up a Secret Sister thing through Elfster and over the next few months we'll be sending out draw random little things like notes, candy, or whatever else tickles our fancy just to let them know somebody is thinking of them. I love this idea because sometimes all you need is an unexpected surprise in the mail to make your day a little brighter.

5. The lovely and uber talented Smash is presenting at an awards show in her town and Chita Rivera will be in attendance. To be honest, I'm not up on my Broadway stars but I was informed by various people this is BIG and I'm so excited for her and I've seen her dress. You guys, this girl is going to look absolutely fantastic. Which, if you know her, is not unusual.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Friday Five (10)

1. Remember that short film I got to help with back in August? Well it's getting SO CLOSE to being a finished product and it is beyond exciting. Yes, this is going to be a little bit of a plug, but that's ok because I really do think it's awesome. You should follow us on Twitter or feel free to check out my friend Stephen's blog update about the current status. I also get to FINALLY share the final one-sheet for it. Ready?

Here you are!

I feel like Geppetto because all I can think is "it's a real movie!"

2. Tonight is my monthly Magic City Lit Night and I'm looking forward to hanging out with such wonderful people. What I like about this dinner is that it's the perfect balance of writing talk and life talk. Feel free to check out the blogs of my dinner pals: Anne, Natalie, Harley, and Jodi.

3. Our house is REALLY moving along and I can't help but be amazed at how far the progress gets every couple of days. As of yesterday we have shingles, windows, piles of brick, and the house is wrapped.With the warm weather we've been having, I would be surprised if we were able to move in next month!

4. Blogger is starting to irk me. I really want to have in-line comments on my blog but it's not giving it to me as an option. I've looked through my settings and whatnot, but can't seem to find a place to "turn it on." Any ideas? Was it just a Beta test?

5. I'm going to Savannah in a few weeks and I'm so excited! It's a beautiful place and I can't wait to experience it WITHOUT my face melting off!

Friday Five (9)

Ok so I didn't get a chance to type up my Friday Five this morning, so please bear with me as I try out this blogger app for iPhone. Let's also pretend we don't see any typos, ok? Ok!

1. Friends of ours are visiting their families for the holidays and we got to have dinner with them last night. It reminded me just how much I miss living down the street from them like we did in Auburn (they now live in Florida). The majority of our friends live out of town so I love getting together whenever we get a chance to.

2. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I somehow got the day off. I'm not complaining because it'll make Christmas day SO much easier because we'll have a chance to visit Adam's grandparents then instead of Christmas. I would much rather spend the holidays at home before I go to work that night.

3. We drove by our lot yesterday and they've cleared it! I never thought I'd be so excited over a weedless area but I am and I can't wait to go back and take a picture (it was POURING when we went).

4. This weekend I will no longer be a Love Actually virgin! I finally saw it was going to be on tv, so I set my DVR for it and get to watch it tonight or tomorrow. The only bad part is apparently the cable rebooted itself and there's going to be about 5 minutes of the movie I miss. Oh well.

5. My work Christmas party was last night and I'm glad I went because OMG SAUSAGE BALLS! I love them things and plan on making them for the first time tomorrow night to go with my Christmas morning breakfast quiche. Hopefully the quiche turns out well because that'll be a first too!

Hope you all had a fabulous week!

Friday Five (8)

Now that things have calmed down a bit (no more exams to study for), I can finally start paying attention to my blog! Multitasking is apparently not my thing. I have updates coming from YallFest and a book giveaway but first I bring you my Friday Five!

1. JOHN GREEN IS COMING TO BIRMINGHAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that's really all that needs to be said.

2. All this Hey Girl with Ryan Gosling makes me happy. HE IS EVERYWHERE and again, no elaboration necessary if you know me AT ALL.

3. Like I stated before, exams are over which means my first semester back in school in over 2 years has come to a close. I couldn't be happier with the end result, I passed all my classes and although I got a 78 in Stats, I'm happy because I got a "C" in Stats! I also got a "B" in Accounting 1 and have no idea how I pulled that off. YAY!

4. I'm so behind on my Christmas cookie making but I'll finally have a chance to catch up on that tonight and tomorrow. I had all these grand plans of making cookies for everyone and somehow it hasn't happened yet. Yesterday was my only time free so far though and I spent it lounging on the couch watching Crazy Stupid Love and Supernatural with my mom.

5. The husband and I went out with some friends Wednesday night to a Christmas concert and sometime during the night, my drivers license fell out of my back pocket. Don't ask me how it happened because I have no earthly idea. Last night when we were playing xbox, there was banging and incessant doorbell ringing happening and it freaked us out. It ended up being a cop checking to see if I still lived here because my license had been turned in. He gave me another officer's number and when I called him he said that last night a homeless man found it and flagged him down to give it to him. Thanks to that man, I now have my license back and don't have to waste time at the DMV. I am totally planning on paying it forward. Not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I have a few ideas.

How was your week? Anything good happen?

Friday Five (7)

1. I think I'm bowing out of NaNoWriMo. Why? Well I'm super behind but that's not the entire reason. On the way to YallFest, I tried writing and realized that I was not ready at all for it. I still love my idea but there are so many tiny (and some big) things I haven't quite figured out yet so I will turn the rest of November into figuring out those thing. Most of those things are pretty important to the story and in the long run, it's just the best thing for me to do.

2. We didn't get the house. In my opinion, and quite frankly I'm not the only one who feels this way, something shady went on with the sale. I don't really want to go into it here but it all came down to the selling agent. After our agent did some research on him, turns out other people won't work with him anymore. We're back to searching and found a few contenders yesterday and I'm hoping to go back to see them tomorrow with my husband. If you have any house hunting juju, I sure could use some!

3. I had to work the Breaking Dawn midnight premiere last night. My shift was from  8-Close and this meant me not getting home until almost 1:30. The bad part? I have to open this morning and should be getting ready instead of doing this. It was semi-packed. We had 6 of our 14 auditoriums showing it and a total of 1,208 people last night. Considering the number of people, I think it turned out good. I will say that there was a meth mouth customer who did NOT understand the concept of a personal space bubble.

4. My mom's cat may have cancer. She told me yesterday that the vet told her red and white blood cell counts are way down and she's lost five pounds this year. She's on some medicine to see if it will help because he couldn't feel a tumor or anything. If the meds don't work, he'll do an ultrasound in two weeks. He ran a few tests and everything but that came back normal, so here's to hoping she'll be ok.

5. I signed up for GISHWHES and I'm looking forward to the weird I'm in for. Misha Collins is the mastermind behind it and after last year's scavenger hunt, there's no telling what we'll have to do. It should be fun though!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and check back because I'll be updating about YallFest AND doing another giveaway!

Friday Five (6)

I hope that everyone has had a fabulous week! My week so far has been pretty quiet but good, however, it's not over yet!

1. The husband and I are leaving tomorrow morning to head to Charleston, SC for the first ever YallFest! I can't tell you guys how excited I am for it! I know I mentioned this last week, but it deserves another mention. Especially because it'll be my first time visiting Charleston AND I'll get to see Jennie again! I met her for the first time (in person) at DBF and I can't wait to see her again because I think she's pretty awesome.

2. I turned 27 this past Wednesday. It was a pretty low key day that consisted of a Macroeconomics test, a movie (the Hubs and I saw In Time), and dinner. Afterwards we went back to my mom's house for cake (that my husband made) and presents. I got some money, a music box, a Hogwarts blanket, cake/cupcake caddy, and Crazy Stupid Love. I don't know about you, but a cake made by my husband who also got me Ryan Gosling for my birthday = most awesome husband ever!

3. NaNo is NOT going well. With everything going on I've kind of stalled at just over 2k. I plan on taking my netbook with me to Charleston because I'm going to ATTEMPT to write in the car. If I'm being honest, I don't think this is going to work well because when I try to read or even play on my phone, I start getting carsick. I've never tried typing but I'll be surprised if that doesn't happen. Here's to hoping though!

4. Yesterday before I left for class I opened the front door for the cat to look out of (Husband had taken the day off for my birthday) and I noticed our mailbox had died during the night. I had a feeling it was done on purpose and while I was in class, Husband talked to our neighbor and found out that about 2am, her son heard a noise and when he looked out the window, he saw a dark car speeding up the street with someone hanging out the window holding a garbage can. Classy, huh?

5. The best news of the week didn't even happen to me. My good friend Jessica now has an agent! I might be a little biased, but Jill Corcoran has FANTASTIC taste in clients. I can't tell you guys how absolutely THRILLED I am for Jessica. She's such a cool person, great friend, and amazing teacher and totally deserves this awesome thing to happen to her...with the quickness too! Congratulations again Jess!!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Friday Five (5)

1. The husband and I found a house! It's absolutely gorgeous and the second I walked in the door I had the "wedding dress" feeling. I could see us living there for a long time and can't wait to hear back from the agent. The only bad news is that it's a foreclosure and it had taken a drastic price drop and we're not the only ones who want it. I think our offer is a solid one and I hope we're the winners. I'm going to be seriously bummed if we don't get it.

2. I turn 27 next Wednesday. I don't know why, but this is the first birthday I've started freaking out about. I think part of the reason is that I don't feel like I've DONE anything and that I'm just behind in life. I look at all these other people my age who have and it's kind of depressing. BUT, for said birthday, Husband and I are going to Ally Condie's book signing next Thursday and after that we're heading to Charleston, SC for YALLFEST! I'm so excited about it because not only do I get to spend an afternoon listening to fabulous authors but I get to meet Michelle Hodkin (finally!) and see my nestie friend, Jennie, again.

3. I'm doing NaNoWriMo. I'm already behind but I hope to be able to get caught up today. I'm at just over 2k words but I plan on getting some stuff done at work since Friday afternoons are usually slow.

4.I finally ordered a new point-and-shoot camera. I've been wanting a new one for MONTHS but there just wasn't anything out that I thought was worth getting. This is the camera I got and I should be getting it today. Now I'll be prepared for good pictures at YALLFEST.

5. My friend Anne is heading up the Magic City Literati and tonight is our first dinner/get together. I'm really looking forward to seeing her and my other friend Natalie. I'm also pretty excited to meet new writers in my area. It should be fun!

Friday Five (4)

1. About two weeks ago I was watching tv and a really stupid commercial came on. I started thinking back to some of my favorite commercials and I must say, this one is probably one of my all-time favorites.



There were a few more from this same group of commercials that were great, but this was the first one and quite brilliant.

2. We're leaving for California soon and when I was going through my activities, I noticed that the only two things I had planned fell on the same day. What are the odds of the happening? Of course it would so I made a decision and I think it worked out for the best. I get to see Jess and Tameka and do bookish things and I'll still get to go to a taping (Jimmy Kimmel instead of 2 Broke Girls) but my husband will get to come with me so that's even better.

3. I passed my 4th test! This is cause for major celebration because I did SO much better than I thought I would..in accounting. The thought of taking accounting has always scared me (ditto for statistics) because people were always saying how hard it was and whatnot. Plus, it's no secret that anything math related is definitely my weakness. Here's to a great outlook on the rest of the semester.

4. We ordered a nice little memorial stone for my mother-in-law for Annie. It also came yesterday and it was absolutely beautiful and when we gave it to her she teared up. If you ever need to buy one, this is the ETSY seller I used and although I would totally buy from her again, I hope I won't have to for a LONG time.

5. Finally, Lola and the Boy Next Door is finally out!! I pre-ordered my copy and it arrived yesterday. I couldn't wait to start reading but I had to until last night and I ended up reading it til after 2am. It's really good so far and I can't wait to continue later today!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Friday Five (3)

1. Happy Autumnal Equinox everyone! I'm so happy that fall is finally here because it's my favorite season. I don't really care for the shorter days but I love everything else. The cooler air and being able to go outside and actually enjoy it instead of feeling like you're choking on thick air. Watching Auburn football with my husband and even going to a game or two to reunite with old friends that have moved to other places. The changing of the leaves to bright golds, reds, and oranges. My birthday (and my husband's), holidays, and so much more. What are your favorite things about fall?

2. My husband spent the better part of the work week in St. Louis for work. He came home last night and gave me this:

Be jealous :-)

What's awesome about my new headwear is that I was looking on an ETSY shop yesterday afternoon at one of these! As you know, I'm a huge fan of Supernatural and Misha Collins has one and is pictured in the sales photo for the sock monkey hat. I thought they were cute when I first saw them and really wanted one of the owl ones. Then yesterday I saw Jared Padalecki re-tweet a photo of him and his bodyguard wearing them so back to the shop I went and I ALMOST ordered one. The problem? Which did I want: owl or monkey. Good thing I didn't.

3. I've passed 3 of my 4 tests so far! Test #4 is this Monday and in Accounting so I'm nervous. It has been taking me FOREVER on the homework and I still have to submit some of that plus do my quizzes. I can't wait until 12:15 rolls around on Monday so I can not have to worry about tests for a few weeks. If you have any good luck dust laying around, I could sure use some!

4. I took my car to the body shop on Monday to get the hood fixed after a pick-up truck ran over a piece of blown tire and it hit my car a few weeks ago. The tire was pretty big and after hitting here

it popped up and hit smack in front of my face. Thank god it hit the hood first otherwise I don't think my poor windshield, or my face for that matter, would have survived. The crazy? It cost $804 to get fixed. We ended up paying for it out of pocket since insurance would only cover $300 and we figured our rates would probably increase. 

5. The Big Bang Theory premiered the new season last night and it was HILARIOUS! I honestly don't think I've laughed at a show as much as I did during their second episode, especially when this happened.

If you don't know what this is, please go watch episode two, The Infestation Hypothesis. Man, I love this show.

That's it for this Friday's five, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and check back later this weekend for a giveaway!

Friday Five (2)

I'm going to being by saying that most everything on my list has A) to do with my husband and B) is really exciting so prepare for a lot of !!'s. 

1. We're going to be buying a house soon! Ok, so I'm not entirely sure how soon the soon part will be but it's going to happen. Over the summer we finally sold the mobile home we had before we moved back to Birmingham and not only was it a relief financially (who wants to pay for something you're NOT living in?) but it is allowing us to move on to the next step and finally get a home of our own. We've been looking at different areas for almost a year and have found, what we think, is the perfect area for us. We just have to go get pre-approved for a loan amount and go from there. We do have a few different homes in mind but we'll see what kind of loan amount we get.

2. The husband got a promotion! I can't tell you how proud of him I am. He's been where he's at since February of last year and he loves his job and he's got great bosses and co-workers. I'm so happy that he was saved by this place from his previous job because it was a mind suck. Yay husband!

3. We're going back to California the first week in October! The hubs got picked to go to a work conference and I'm going with! While he's doing all the boring (to me anyway) work stuff, I'll be laying on the beach reading, going to a taping of 2 Broke Girls, seeing Jessica and Tameka, and visiting family.

4. My new favorite obsession is the Bath and Body Works Hot Chocolate candle. Seriously, you need to go smell it ASAP. Years ago I fell in love with a Cinnamon Toast candle being sold at Wal-Mart. For some reason it didn't last long (I still have a little saved) and I have been on the hunt for a scent that I would love just as much, if not more. The search is over.

This bad boy smells JUST like Hot Chocolate, possibly even better. I had a coupon for a free mini candle with a $10 purchase and figured why not. It smelled good in the store but I wasn't getting my hopes up in case it didn't smell like it when it burned but It smelled even better! I decided I needed to stock up so I went back and got another mini candle and the largest one they carry (I had to spend my $10 off $30 coupon of course) and I fully plan on going back to get more. I'm planning a giveaway soon so don't be surprised if you find one of these included.

5. I'm SUPER excited about 2 movies this weekend. Can you guess which ones? I'll give you hints...

and

Could this movie weekend get any better?! My all-time favorite Disney movie is being re-leased and my all-time favorite actor has movie #2 of the year out! I have 2 tests next week (one of which is Statistics on Monday) but you can be damn sure I'll be making time to see both of these this weekend!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Five (1)

In order to back to regular blogging I thought I'd add a meme to my blog so here we go.

1. Does anybody remember the 90's boyband 5ive? This was their hit single and I was reminded if them while typing the word "five." Enjoy. If you were wondering, yes, I had their CD and probably still do somewhere.

2. I'm back in school! I'm currently going to a community college nearby to get a few courses under my new major in, Business Administration, then hopefully transferring to the local university. College has been a bumpy ride for me but after taking the last 2 years off, it feels good to be back in the classroom. It DOES help that my head is in a better place too. I'm currently taking Statistics I, Accounting I, Macroeconomics, and Business Law.

3. I was recently given the chance to be production manager on my friend's independent film. It was absolutely amazing. We wrapped filming this past Sunday and I cannot wait to see the finished product. Everybody that worked on it did a great job and I really hope I get to work with them all in the future.

4. The Decatur Book Festival is next week! I can't wait because I get to see some friends again and I get to finally meet some other friends from my online book club. It's going to be a fabulous weekend of book nerdery and it is going to be much needed.

5. Today was one of the most emotionally draining days I've ever had. My Mother-in-Law, my husband, and I had to say goodbye to their dog of the last 14 years, Annie. She's been having a a rough time lately and it had gotten to the point where her tail was always tucked and she couldn't even squat to go to the bathroom, among many other ailments. The three of us said goodbye together and dug a grave for her in my Mother-in-Laws backyard under a tree. I've cried so much today I didn't think I had any tears left. I just proved myself wrong. You will be greatly missed and forever loved pup.

RIP Annie 6/9/1997 - 8/26/2011