a little slice of heaven

Ok, I'm going to be quick, because the Oscars are on, (YAY!!!), but you have to try the Red Velvet Cupcake cappuccino available at Circle K/Marathon gas stations.  It is a-mazing!  It's the best couple dollars you'll spend all day AND if you go on Mondays any size of coffee is only $0.99!  So, get your butt out there and indulge yourself! 

the devil wears prada

First of all, let me just do a little family PR work.  Apparently my sister and brother are both trying their hand at blogging, so check out their blogs and follow them!  They each have their own flavor, but you won't be disappointed!

Brooke's blog

Clark's blog

Now, on to some very exciting news...for this past Valentine's Day my hubby surprised me with the best Valentine's present ever!  We weren't planning on exchanging gifts since we are bombarded with beautiful celebrations of life, marriage and holidays from October through January (a.k.a. we already had bought each other numerous gifts), so you can imagine my surprise when I opened a card from my sweetie with a note that said these were on their way!

Oh how I had drooled over these when I saw them in the store.  I tried them on and oohhed and ahhed over them, never expecting I'd be the proud owner of a pair.  But here I am a few months later and I can't wait for it to be sunny every single day so that I can wear them 24/7.  The sunglasses, or SGs as I like to say, are incredibly lightweight, yet sturdy.  The frames are large, which I love, and somehow are square, yet rounded at the same time.  Very retro.  The hint of gold adds a little touch of glam and the gradient lenses are oh so sultry and sexy.  A definite summer accessory!  And one that won't be taking any boat trips, float trips, kayak trips, at all--I have other SGs for those purposes.  :)

Here's a sneak peak of my wonderful and glorious surprise...

box #1--how exciting!

box #2--the tension is building!

oh how beautiful!

just breathtaking...i bet you didn't know SGs could be breathtaking ;)

a little attitude never hurts.

Now, all I need is a beach, a bathing suit and the sun and I'm set.  Well, the beach might be a stretch, but the sun and suit are definite possibilities.  Here I come summer!

i'll shatter till i drop

Yes, yes, I know...I'm a little late in discussing my extreme love for OPI's Black Shatter Polish, but hey it took me awhile to track a bottle down.  All salons in my town were sold out, (I  mean they only get one or two bottles a piece) and they couldn't even order more!  I had a friend in St. Louis try to track some down, but to no avail.  So, I had to resort to ordering some from Amazon and paying extra money, but it was sooo worth it!  I even got the new Serena Williams color, Simply Smashing, for my extra effort.  You better believe I followed the tracking on the package from the day it left its home facility.  And of course, I had to try out the shatter the day the box arrived in the mail!  (See the amazing results below!)  I'm hooked and have already planned out what my next shatter project will be.  So, be prepared to fall in love. :)

you won't believe how quickly it shatters.  a quick swipe of polish and voila!

simply smashing!  on my fingers, above.

a new adventure

So, this blog is my therapy, (much cheaper than retail therapy, which I'm pretty good at, too) and this is why:

I have a wonderful husband, a fabulously close family and an amazing job as a high school librarian in a local school district.  Yes, I love working with teens.  Yes, a teacher's schedule rocks.  And yes, we still complain about not having a long enough winter or summer break.  But hey, we can dream too, right?

BUT...I want to get out and experience the world and that does not mean working at the high school from where I graduated.  I had a few brief spurts of freedom while living away from my hometown during my college and grad. school years, but that's not enough and hardly counts.  Maybe if I was from a bigger city I wouldn't be so antsy to get away, but I'm not.  The cold, snowy winters (it snowed again last night!) and the lack of a big city feel makes me yearn for a different place, preferably some place much, much warmer!  Now, don't get me wrong...I love my hometown.  I had a great life growing up and will defend my hometown till I'm blue in the face, (so, no talking down of my town!),  but I feel like there's more out there to see and experience.

But because I can't just up and leave, I've decided that I need to focus on the positives.  So, to help me see the good in my life, (which there is a whole bunch of), I'll be blogging about whatever makes me happy--books, movies, clothes, shoes, food, traveling, warm weather, etc., etc., basically anything and everything that puts a smile on my face, a spring in my step, a flutter in my heart or whatever other cliched expression you can think of.  :)