Perpetual Blind Date

2012-02-28T14:20:00.000-06:00

Find Sarah HERE

Shame Shame

2011-12-12T13:53:00.002-06:00

I have been a bad blogger as of late - neglecting this here blog for the other.

I have a confession that goes something like this: I have not done any Christmas gift making yet. Not one little thing. Looks like next week might be full of crafting...

Lately I have been...

laughing at friends holding thousands of purses in the porta potty line

holding this sweet baby. She was on the verge of sleep and this was the face she made after I pulled out her passy

painting. enough said.

crazy to this there are only 6 days until my birthday and 13 until Christmas. My oh my how time flies!

Sippin Arnold Palmers Y'All

2011-11-30T14:12:00.000-06:00

enjoy this little gem my friends :)

you know you are single and broke when...

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

- you get excited that your dinner night out with a friend is on Dollar Taco night

- cokes don't come from home but the off-limits executive fridge at work

- thinking through things you can craigslist is an everyday occurance

- the empty light comes on in your car but you know you can push it one more trip to work before you HAVE to actually fill up

- returning $3 worth of unused wood is a must

- those little surveys at the bottom of the reciepts that enter you to win $$$ - you enter ALL of them

- you plan on DIYing A-L-L your Christmas presents this year

Yep, you read that right. This year my goal is to make EVERYTHING I give away. To me it seems not only thoughtful and more personal considering my time went into the gift but it will be a huge help to the pocket book.

I have quite a few good little gifts up my sleeve but thanks to Pinterest I wont be without an abundant amount of ideas.

via Real Simple

Via Design Sponge

Some of my best ideas came from this helpful list

I will be sure to stop in and show you all the thing I can think to make on a itty bitty budget!

Happy Dollar Taco Tuesday!

Thankful

2011-11-27T22:10:00.000-06:00

My belly is stuffed and my soul is satisfied.

Thanksgiving might be one of my top three favorite holidays, behind forth of July and Christmas of course.

We had fried turkeys and mashed taters - lets be honest... that's all I need for my thanksgiving meal. Oh and gravy.

This year my grandmother got to hang out with Lexi and love on her for quite some time. Its really nice to see especially with my grandmothers iffy health.

Okay, enough about me - how was your holiday???

Currently {new house addition}

2011-11-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

There is a lot going on over at twenty one fifty nine.

Its looking all discombobulated like this

and this

Needless to say its taking a lot of my time and attention.

Check back here after Thanksgiving for a fun Christmas challenge that I am giving myself!

Happy soon to be Turkey day, friends!!

Farmers Market

2011-11-21T09:55:00.000-06:00

I am not sure if I have ever expressed my love for the Dallas farmers market on PBD - sad story.

Seriously though, the colors and freshness of the produce is addicting. All the prices are written on funny little pieces of cardboard and vendors are most likely trying to talk you into take a piece of pineapple they just recently cut or bargaining with you on prices. The entire market is housed under large aluminum buildings that allow you to park and walk up and down viewing all the different scrumptious buys. On top of all the gorgeous produce - across the street you'll find flower nurseries with the latest seasonal bloom.

Its a fabulous time, I tell yah.

I even have pictures to prove it!

Things that never made it

2011-11-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

I noticed today, as I was shuffling through a gazillion pictures on my computer, that there are a lot of pictures that never made it to the big blog league.

In honor of fairness, I figured I would let these poor little guys see the light of day.

Enjoy!

The tornado that hit Joplin - hit the lake first. CRAZY

An Estate sale that had a line to get in... seriously. Maybe I should mention the lady was a hoarder.

Bestie Love

Homecoming in Stillwater. Enough. Said.

Precious Baby Girl

After her basketball game. The team treat? A coke and chocolate bar. Oh lordy - what happened to oranges and a capri sun?

I know it, I get it, and I want in

2011-11-17T07:00:00.002-06:00

Because we all know its a rough week when your parakeets fight..

Makes no sense?

Watch this first.

You're welcome.

Happy Thursday friends!

- Sarah

The Time Has Come

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

Friends,

The time has come for me to say goodbye to the blog world for a while. I think I just need a break. I've been feeling pressure to blog, where I use to want to blog. I had too many things to talk about and now I don't feel like I have much to say.

With the introduction of Sarah's new blog, I feel like it's the perfect time to walk away. You can still see what's going on in her life, and chances are high that I may pop up over there from time to time. I'm going to try very hard to earn friend points by helping her move and paint.

No, this is not a friendship breakup. We still talk everyday, work together and see each other on the weekends. It's just time for me to walk away from Perpetual Blind Date for a little bit. I hope you've all felt this way at some point in your blog life (or at least it will make me feel better if you have.) Who knows, maybe one day I'll be back. Maybe with a different blog, or maybe not.

Don't you worry though, I'll still be keeping up with all of your blogs!

Alyssa

New Adventure

2011-11-15T07:00:00.003-06:00

Since I grabbed the title "homeowner" and stuck it under my belt - I got all full of myself. You know, taking on more - thinking I am invincible.

With that new found personal perception I decided to go and start a Home Update/DIY blog

Along with Perpetual Blind Date, you will also find me at my very own corner of the Internet world

Lets be honest - Perpetual Blind Date readers don't necessarily want to know what faucet I chose or how to tackle carpet removal... BUT those of you that do - make sure and stop by (you can even say HI if you want)

On the agenda this week at Twenty One Fifty Nine:

* Demolition
* Paint Colors

and the ever popular ---- Daddy - Do List

See you there!

- Sarah

Secret Wedding

2011-11-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Monday everyone! Today I wanted your opinion on something that lately I've started hearing more and more about. What are your thoughts about a secret wedding?

What is a secret wedding? It's a wedding where you tell everyone they are coming for an engagement party or something and then when they all show up, surprise, it's your wedding! I've never been to a secret wedding, but this past weekend an older brother of a good friend of mine decided to shock everyone and get married on the DL.

Crazy right? Your thinking, no bridal shower? No bachelorette party? No being showered with love for a year of your life? But at the same time, what's the point of getting engaged? You want to be married. So really, why wait? I think I kind of like the idea. Or maybe I just like the idea of shocking everyone. Take a look at some of these pictures that I found on 100 Layer Cake blog.

Don't you just totally want to see your friends face like this? Wouldn't the secrets be worth it?

Also, over on Our Marriage Project ( which is no longer an operating blog) they planned a secret wedding and they are totally happy and in love and detail it all over there.

So what are your thoughts? Do you love the idea of shocking your friends? Or do you want the long engagement? Do tell!

Alyssa

Wedding Weekend X 12

2011-11-11T07:00:00.003-06:00

This is it. The last wedding of the year. I am so happy that it ended on such a high note - what's a better way to go out than with one of your best friends weddings!

I have been in my fair share of weddings and have attended much more - I have seen everything from Bridezilla to Bridenilla (you know the bride who doesn't give a rats rear and is more drunk than a skunk)

Leslie had to be the most relax bride I have ever seen. (Becca and Laura you run a very close second ;))

Lets set the stage:

It was 15 minutes before walking down the isle and Leslie's day of coordinator was steaming out the last wrinkles in her dress when the steamer spewed water all over the front of the dress. I am not sure why but the spots where the water hit turned YELLOW! I quickly started dabbing away the water (good idea) as the coordinator tried to steam more (bad idea). Leslie nicely asked for no more steaming and I went to town fanning out the dress - if anything it gave Les a nice burst of air under that huge skirt.

As I am internally freaking out I look up to Les who says "its not a big deal - nothing we can do about it now"

WHAAAAA? You mean you aren't going to cry or scream or say nasty things?

The Lord was smiling on that bride - 5 minutes before our trek down the isle the yellow water stains were GONE, no where to be found.

She was the most awesome relaxed bride

the flower girl entertained herself by taking silly pictures

the background to the head table

Even better she set me up to walk with the hottest most single groomsman! Yes he wore cowboy boots, Yes he LOOOVES Jesus, and yes he did leave the reception early to go watch OSU beat down on K-State. Its love I tell yah.

What would have been

2011-11-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

Today would have been my grandpa's 81st birthday.

Last December my Poppa passed away from a short but hard fought battle with Melanoma. He was always so strong, so healthy, the life of the party - to see that all taken away from him was the hardest part of watching him fight that cruel disease.

Some days I feel like it was all a dream and he's still here and other days I feel like I missed something that I wasnt in on the cruel joke. Needless to say, my heart still cant grasp that he's gone

In honor of my Poppa I thought I would share pictures from his 80th birthday party.

Did I mention it was a surprise?

Houston: Not to Shabby

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Last week I headed down to Houston for all of 24 hours and I have to say, I kind of liked it. I've always heard that Houston was this dirty city with lots of people and lots of traffic. Now, there was lots of traffic, but the part of town I was in, was super nice!

Granted, I was there for work, and they told me which hotel I should stay in, and I would never stay there if I was paying, but still super nice area! I was staying at The Westin Oaks Houston at the Galleria. Yes, its a mouth full.. But if you look really closely you will notice that indeed I was staying in the Galleria. If you want to make me happy, put me in a hotel where I have access to shopping, the Cheesecake Factory and La Madeline.

View from my balcony on the 18th floor.. rough life

Since I was there for work, I only had a little time to do anything I wanted. I called up my friend Stephanie who lives in Houston and we headed to dinner at El Tiempo. Boy oh Boy was it delicous! We ordered shrimp with crab fajitas. They also came with steak and chicken. Um can you say delicious! Also, if you are in the area, Stephanie and I were a little mad at ourselves for not looking way cuter, because the whole restaurant besides our table was full of young, very cute men. It must be the Houston secret. Or maybe it has something to do with the strip club next door... I hope not.

Our Fajitas... amazing

Stephanie had just gone running, are you not so jealous at how good she looks!

You may be wondering what the picture above is. Well it was so crazy! Our fajitas came out on this contraption and it had coals on the bottom that continued to keep our food warm the whole time we ate! I burned my finger on it but it was totally worth the scar to eat these!

So there you have it, my mini-trip to Houston. I was completely surprised by how much I liked it. Now, have you ever been anywhere that you thought you would hate and it turned out to be awesome?

Alyssa

Fall is in the Air

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

It's November! Which means fall is here and things can cool off a bit! It's finally getting cool in the morinngs and warm in the afternoons. Don't you just love that. Except it almost makes it impossible to get dressed. I thought I would show you some fall outfit ideas that I've been eyeing. It is just so darn impossible for me to figure out what to wear these days. Is anyone else having that problem?

This is what you'll find me rocking all fall long. A cardigan, flats and a tshirt underneath. Now if only I can look this good!

I think I have a thing for leopard flats and cardigans..

I'm definitely going to start doing this with my summer dresses to turn them fall!

So do any of you have any thing your drooling over for fall? I need some help in the wardrobe department as you can see, so all help is appreciated!

Alyssa

The real deal

2011-11-07T07:00:00.003-06:00

I thought the process of finding a house, submiting an offer, negotiating, and getting everythign squared away for financing was stressful - then came the week I closed. Honestly, I wondered multiple times throughout this process if it would be easier had I not been buying a house alone but I am not sure another person could have done anything to lessen the burden.

I had all intentions on closing November 10th - what would have been my grandpa's 81st birthday. Unfortunately, I found out at the end of October that I needed to close by November 3rd or I would lose my financing rate (which was auh-mazing). We (my loan officer, realtor, and myself) decided to shoot for Wednesday the 2nd knowing we had the ability to close Thursday if needed - in hindsight this was the best decision either of them made throughout the entire process.

Turns out as of Wednesday we werent ready to close (read: they werent). To say it got down to the wire on Thursday is an understatement. It got down to the hour before I was to close before I actually knew how much I owed in closing.

Was Thursday a stressful day? Yes. Am I glad its over? You bet.

But now I get to call this little beauty mine. I'll let you know the truth - I wasn't all that excited to show you the "before" pictures, mainly out of fear you would all think "you bought whaaaat??"

When you look at these pictures imagine the wood floors that lie under that carpet, think about new paint (in the grey family) on those walls, picture all new cabinets (white on the top cabinets and grey on the bottom ones), see butcher block counter tops and a sassy white backslash. There also might be a french door going in somewhere in there, all new light fixtures, landscaping galore, and a bathroom face lift.

So I will stop gabbing and let you see my new baby!

these are on EVERY light switch...

attic fan dial. retro love.

see that hook? its a magnet... holding those two tiles on! ha.

I took pictures from every corner of every room but I imagined you would be just fine if I left all of that out.

Just you wait until I have after pictures... let the countdown begin!

- Sarah

Game Time

2011-11-04T07:00:00.005-05:00

It's Orange Friday around these parts,, so once again what better way to celebrate the weekend with a recap of Homecoming last week. Remeber when I showed you the house decorations? Well this year they were awesome as always!

We did a little walking around, and a lot of picture taking. I just don't get to see my friends enough!

Then came game time. I should tell you that 9 of the girls in the picture below slept in one room and used one shower to get ready and that no one killed anyone! True love I tell you. (It also helps we use to live in a sorority house together)

Yep, I got to see almost my whole pledge class. And it was awesome. So I know you have big plans ahead of you this weekend! Games? Weddings? Relaxation? I need to know!!

PS- I've been getting some questions lately on how to comment if you don't have a blogger account. It's easy! Click on comments:

A pop up box will pop up, leave your comment, answer the security word then select name/url. Type in your name, and if you don't have a URL thats ok! We just want to know your name so we can say "oh did you see that awesome comment Angie left, she's so nice!"

If there is no comments yet, just scroll down a little and it says "post a comment." Click that!

I hope that was helpful!

Alyssa

Closing Time

2011-11-03T07:00:00.002-05:00

Its official. As of 4pm today I will be a homeowner. WHATTTTTT?

This process has been somewhat of a headache and I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that its over - but in that same breath I would have to say what a learning experience this was.

I now know:

- the difference between a water heater and a furnace (I might have called the water heater the furnace during inspections...)

- that asbestos is a fiber not mold

- you should always pay the extra dolla dolla bills to have an inspector come back out and approve your seller paid fixes

- there are never too many questions when you are the one buying

- always double check others work (I saved lots of $$ catching mistakes)

- you cannot get a cashiers check for your closing unless all funds are in that specific account (I was in the process of having funds sent over from another account)

- the max you can with drawl from the ATM in one day (I did that two days in a row... see above)

- pick your realtor like you pick a spouse...

The relief is immense and I am so excited to being the updating process of this journey. Get ready for tons of DIY projects around the house - not to mention all those unfinished ones (here and here) I have to ~~complete~~ show you!

too bad this isn't my new abode

Happy closing day friends. Check back Monday for a sleeeeew of house pictures :)

Sarah

Halloween is Over

2011-11-02T07:00:00.004-05:00

It broke my heart to write the title of this post. I mean, who doesn't like to dress up, buy candy and ~~eat it~~ pass it out to little children.

This year was our (roomie and I) first year to pass out candy to little kids. I think we loved it. We only had like 4 groups of kids, so let me tell you, they got tons of candy from us!

Whats that big white round thing in the back ground you ask? Well, the roomie also filled me in on the Tulsa traditions. If you don't decorate your front porch, then people don't know your giving out candy. Where I come from, a porch light is all you need! See, its so important to learn these things now so I don't buy tons of candy someday and have no one come to the door!

The only problem about waiting until the day before Halloween to buy a pumpkin is that they only have white ones left. The good thing about waiting is that they will sell it to you for the "small" price instead of the "large" price because they want to get rid of them!

So we buy this white pumpkin, turn on Twilight (because we needed something Halloween-ish) and attempt to cut the top off. Ladies, this pumpking was so thick skinned that it took us almost 35 minutes to cut the top off the darn pumpkin!

Another fun fact about white pumpkins, they smell like Cantelope, not at all like a pumpkin!

After like 2 hours of carving, taking breaks because our hands hurt, almost stabbing ourselves probably 20 times, we had a jack-o-latern. And we love it!

So, I know Halloween is over, but we have a happy pumpkin on our porch that we will be lighting every night until he goes bad. I hope I'm not breaking any rules like "no white after labor day" or "Christmas decorations down after new years."

Alyssa

Pinterest Challenge

2011-11-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

Last week I asked you beauties to help me figure out what I would be wearing for halloween. To find inspiration I went to the mecca center for ideas - Pinterest.

After much debate and lots of feedback I went with the popular choice. Seems like you ladies had a sweet tooth that day and lots of you chose the candy corn costume.

I cycled through many different ways to make this costume come to life and ultimately settled on the easy route.

White shirt. Orange tutu. Yellow tights.

Done and done!

Personally I think the candy corn hat really made the costume. In a moment of full disclosure I would like to tell you that at 7pm on the night of the halloween party that I was planning on attending I had no hat. Zero. Nadda. Nothing.

After perusing the isles at walmart I came up with this $2.11 find

Childs party hat with favors $0.97
Gift Bag with candy corn on it $0.97

Hello $2.11 hat! Add on the $5.00 tights and $7.00 for the materials to make the tutu (40% off coupon thanks to Hobby Lobby) and you've got yourself a $14.11 costume!

Had I had more time when getting ready I would have tried to do festive make up. Maybe a candy corn style eye shadow?

Either way, I was able to compile a cheap costume all thanks to a little help from our friend Pinterest!

Sarah

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T07:00:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween everyone! I didn't get to dress up for work, but I hope you did! I thought it would be super fun to share some of my favorite Halloween things today.

My very favorite thing about Halloween is the movie Hocus Pocus. It may have to do with the fact that it was my favorite as a kid, and now its kind of not that great, but everytime I watch it, I still think its amazing. My very favorite part of the whole movie is when they sing "I put a spell on you." So for your viewing enjoyment, here is a refresher:

Halloweentown is another fan favorite of mine, but it's just not quite the same. I think it has something to do with the fact that in Hocus Pocus, Sarah Jessica Parker is probably the funniest character and probably has the fewest lines. Just watch her in the background of every scene. So funny!

Along with my favorite Halloween movie, I really have a go to costume that if I could, I would wear every year. With the exception of one year, I've worn this awesome pirate costume for the last 5 years. I think I love it because I put it together myself, it's not some "pirate wench" costume from the store where I would look inappropriate and just like every other female pirate!

So I hope you have an amazing Halloween! Give out lots of goodies tonight to the trick-or-treat-ers!

Alyssa

The Promise Land

2011-10-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

Working for a company that is super involved in the community has its perks.

Most recently - attending the Champions of Health Gala in Tulsa where the Former First Lady, Laura Bush, was the keynote speaker.

Lets pause.

I feel like you should know I have an ever flowing love for the Bush family, namely George W and Laura. I know there are people out there with very strong feelings towards this family that lean a different way than mine. I stand tried and true when I say that I have so much respect for the two of them and most days wish I could somehow wiggle my way into their family.

Okay un-pause.

When I got an invite to listen to Laura Bush speak - I immediately rearranged my entire weekly schedule and jumped on the opportunity.

Lucky for me "Gala" in this circumstance didn't mean ball gowns and a date but instead free wine and a suit coat.

While waiting to enter the ballroom I kindly pulled aside a gentleman that worked for Mrs. Bush - you might know him as secret security. I told him he could pat me down, check my purse, and have the rights to my first born child if he would just let me in the room to get a picture with my idol. He kindly told me there was no need for all of that because she would be mingling with guests.

Don't get excited. That secret security man had no idea what he was talking about or, come to think of it, maybe he was skilled at getting stalker fans to stop talking to him...

Either way I only saw Laura from afar.

Not only is she a very petite woman, but she is well spoken, funny, kind, charitable, and a warm soul.

She "updated" the audience on her family and during this time mentioned that she referred to the post-presidency time as the "after life" while "George refers to Texas as 'the promise land'".

Gotta pull out the big guns for Laura Bush - VOSS water...

After her 45 minutes on stage the lovely Mrs. Bush was whisked off of stage and BOOM she was gone. So much for that picture I was going to get afterwards.

Instead, I settled on a picture with Oklahoma Governor - Mary Fallin.

Wah Wah - my mother would look at this picture and say "you need lipstick on"... my response "Mary obviously has on enough for both of us"

Happy Friday Friends

Sarah

Walkarounds

2011-10-27T07:00:00.002-05:00

This weekend is one of the best weekends of the entire year. More specifically Friday night. It is Oklahoma State University's Homecoming. Ya ya ya the game will be awesome, but Friday night is what we call "Walkarounds."

Basically, sorority and fraternity's pair up in single pairs, and build house decks. They spend about 8 weeks on them, and you basically create a huge piece of art in the fraternity's front yard. I shall now show you a picture for reference.

Yep, behind that is the fraternity house. And thats only half of it! When Sarah and I were in school, we had to contribute to these house decks by pomping. Pomping is the art of sticking tissue paper into chicken wire. Yes, you read me correctly, all of that up there is tissue paper in chicken wire. Awesome!

So I cannot wait until tomorrow because I no longer have to spend 15 hours a week putting tissue paper into chicken wire, I just get to go and look! You really appreciate the effort though!

Looking at this picture, I realize my hair makes me look fat

Of course there are other competitions too, oh I didn't mention this was a competiton? Yep, all these house decks are competing against each other. So there are other things like a flag football tournament and a sign competition. Also, I should mention Thursday night, the day before the judges come around at 5pm on Friday, is called All-Night Pomp. Literally all the women and men stay up all night long to finish their decks. They aren't allowed to hang any of the pomp until 5pm on Thursday. I say this so you know why I look totally gross in these pictures.

Also, you can watch a live feed of the construction going up if you want. Just go to this website!

As you can see, I love Homecoming! It's definitely so much fun!! Does your school have any Homecoming traditions?

Alyssa

THAT girl

2011-10-26T07:00:00.002-05:00

This past weekend I threw a bachelorette party, attended a wedding shower, took boudoir pictures of the bride in her new lingerie, and worked out a house-buying snag that I came across. Sound like a fabulous weekend full of 20-something single girl type activities - right?

Well what you don't know is what I did on Friday night.

Please don't judge.

This past week was one fire drill after another - from craziness at work to a stressful home buying experience. I decided Friday was going to be my afternoon/evening to get all the bachelorette details completed, house cleaned, errands ran, and TV time in. That I accomplished.

I also managed to take a shower and let my hair air dry with zero product (read frizz ball). Somewhere in there I made a baked potato that might have been a week or two past its prime and looked all kinds of wonk when I took it out of the oven.

Cracker Barrel to the rescue... been there? Oh girl, the chicken n dumplings are to.die.for.

I placed an order for pick up around 7 pm. It consisted of those fabulous dumplings, coca cola cake, and a drink.

At around 7:15 I drove my happy rear to Cracker Barrel to pick up my to go order. Please remember I had let my hair air dried, removed my contacts (thus wearing glasses), put on "comfy clothes" aka pajamas, and was make up free.

~~Something~~ like this:

how do you feel about that dirty mirror - so much for cleaning!

sweet wallpaper I know...

And I ask myself why I am single

In my mind Cracker Barrel had a to-go door. You know, a nice side door to pick up your food without the hustle and bustle of the Friday night crowd.

Lets take a minute and explain the Friday night crowd at this joint - you are bound to find strollers, walkers, Lincoln towncar's, grey hair, and people/children with a bedtime of 8.

So, no side to-go door for this hot spot. Instead, I had to march my make up free rear straight through the "general store" to the front check out (located next to the hostess stand) to pick up and pay for my order.

If you ever want to feel like a complete loser on a Friday night - head to the local Cracker Barrel where all the 60+ are done up and ready for a good night after their chicken fried steak. All the while you look like the flu might have taken over your body and try to retrieve your food without making eye-contact.

I should have gone to Taco Bell - its cheap and they don't have room to judge.

Sarah

Oktoberfest Review

2011-10-25T07:00:00.003-05:00

As promised, I will give you a review of my Oktoberfest experience. As long as you promise you won't be mad that I only took one picture, and I'm not even in it. I know, I'm sorry.

Ok, so Oktoberfest, in a word, was AWESOME! I thought I was going to hate it. People everywhere, probably kind of intoxicated (read annoying and self un-aware). But, I loved it. I don't like beer so I just went to enjoy the atmostphere with my friends, and let me ask you this one question: Where else can you stand on a table, and it be the norm? Oktoberfest!

I guess this is probably a lesson in not judging to quickly and I could probably go on and on about that. But, I would just like to go ahead and throw it out there that this time next year, I'd love for all of you to join me at Oktoberfest, a flight to Tulsa is worth it!

Alyssa

Party People

2011-10-24T07:00:00.003-05:00

This weekend I got to participate in celebrating a great friend. Leslie, is one of my best girl friends and when I say the girl has a heart of gold its by no exaggeration.

In 12 days she will become a wife. A WIFE! Holy moly. It feels so weird to think that she will have a husband and live 2 hours away. She won't be in the same town anymore for a last minute dinner or crafting session.

Anyone that knows me knows I am not good with change. Growing up, really, is hard to do. Letting go is even harder.

In a few short days, my bestie will go from all mine to someones spouse. Though I am over the moon happy for her and this amazing love she found - part of me, albeit the selfish part, is sad not to have her all to myself.

I digress, back to this weekend. Saturday afternoon a beautiful shower was thrown for Leslie and followed almost immediately by her bachelorette party thrown by yours truly.

Leslie is an easy girl to celebrate! Not only is she fun and always smiling she's so appreciative of anything anyone does for her and this special occasion.

We started with dinner at Mi Cocina... have you been there? If you haven't go now - run - its amaaaazing! After a fabulous dinner and drinks we headed to Amanda's apartment for dessert, presents, and girl talk! It was low key and perfect for Leslie.

This weekend was fast but so fun. Celebrating people you love always makes for a well spent weekend

- sarah

Oktoberfest

2011-10-21T07:00:00.002-05:00

It's almost the end of October (I can't believe it!) so I guess that means it's time for Oktoberfest? Now, I don't even like beer, but lots of my friends do, and it happens to be a few days after one of their birthdays! So what should we do?! Go to Oktoberfest I guess!

I've never been a festival/carnival/fair kind of person. When I picture these kinds of things, I think of lots of gross people, probably with their babies (because of course thats what you do, bring your baby to the fair at 9 pm), and probably people who shouldn't be drinking. I pray that I'm wrong, I really hate those kinds of things.

See all those people, my version of Hades....

Now, what I really hope is that the Tulsa Oktoberfest looks more like this:

See, no lines, people having fun, not bumping into each other.

So tonight, I'll be venturing to the local Oktoberfest. I hope Leigh (aka Birthday Girl) has the best birthday ever, because I would definitely elbow my way to a table for this chick.

I'll definitely give you my review next week! Now, what are you doing this weekend? Anything fabulous?

Alyssa

To be or not to be

2011-10-20T07:00:00.006-05:00

Halloween is just around the corner and I have noooo clue what to be.

I am not one of those girls that uses this one holiday as an excuse to dress like an alter slutty ego. I typically keep it G rated and tend to dress like I child. I kid you not. In years past I have been a butterfly and a ballerina (both while I was in college).

This year I am completely stumped. I have a little more than a week to figure this shiz out along with making something that is affordable.

My friends dont do any crazy halloween contests or anything but I will be attending a party where it is pretty much mandatory to dress up - I mean who would go to a halloween party as themselves?! lame.

Here are some ideas I have thus far. Lets here your input/ideas!

here

Okay ladies - whats your vote?!?!? Remember I need cheap and easy. Anyone have an awesome costume already picked out??

Sarah

School Record

2011-10-19T07:00:00.007-05:00

Just before I go into this, I do not mean to hurt anyone's feelings. I love college football but in no way am I the kind of person who rubs it in anyone's face if we win and you lose.

Ok now that the disclaimer is over, I wanted to blog about a great Stillwater Saturday two weekends ago. Yes, I know its a little late, but I still wanted to share. We got into town around 11 and met friends at Mexico Joes, which may as well be renamed 'Alyssa and Friends' because we eat there so much.

We then proceeded to go tailgate, which by the time we finished lunch, we only had about an hour until game time.

Once we headed in the game, we scored 56 points in the half, which was a new school record! Gotta love a football game where you can high five everyone around you for most of the half!

At the half it started getting cloudy and dark, and you could smell the rain coming. You know you've lived in Oklahoma when you really understand "When the wind comes right behind the rain."(That's in our state song) We made it to the car just in time for a down pour of about 10 minutes.

Anyways, all in all it was a great game! Even if we were just there a half. I know that you all are going to want to brag about your schools now, and I would love to hear it! Were you in school when any records were set? Is anything big happening at your alma mater?

Alyssa

Green Thumb

2011-10-18T07:00:00.015-05:00

...My mom's got it.

My parents backyard at home is filled with thriving plants, flowers, and herbs. Heck, my mom has even managed to grow blackberries - blackberries good enough to eat!

No matter the time of year there is always color around - something is always blooming.

Hopefully when I start on the landscaping phase of this house biz my mom will lend her skillz.

This past weekend I went home to shop for the house with my mom and before leaving for our jam packed day she wanted to show me a new "something" she had growing.

At first glance I thought they were roses

Nope.

Okay maybe some sort of fruit??

Wrong again!

Do you know what that is?

If you guessed cotton then, you my friend, guessed right.

She gets such a kick out of the fact that there is cotton growing like wildflowers on the side of their yard. These things literally appeared out of no where. She didnt plant them, wasnt tending to them, just figured she would let it grow and see what it was.

Crazy, isnt it!

Later that day she called to tell my grandma (her mom) all about this new find. When she got to the punch line she said "you'll never guess what it is" my grandma responded with "Is it pot?".

You got it folks, my grandmother thinks my parents are stoners. We still can't quite figure out why that would be her inital thought but we definitely got a kick out of it!

Maybe there is a story somewhere in there about the 1970's... my mom would have been a young adult. I am starting to think that grandma of mine might know something I dont.

So, your turn - what do you have growing?

Currently I have a lucky bamboo plant in my office that I am nursing back to health.

Sarah

Dude Where's My Keys?

2011-10-17T07:00:00.010-05:00

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I bring you another awkwardly funny story about another Hot Date I went on this past weekend. I swear, why can't I just do and say normal things...

On Friday night I went out on another date with the same guy from when I said this. I know, I guess I was nervous or something... Anyways this time around I was a lot less nervous and just more stupid. First I'll tell you what I wore.

As you can see, I wore jeans, flats, and a boring old top. He picked me up and we headed to P.F. Changs for dinner. Oh goodness I forgot how good that food can be!

After dinner, we went to see Moneyball. It actually wasn't bad. Yes, its about baseball, but its also funny and I learned a lot about baseball in 2002. Who knew?

Now, for the good stuff. We are on our way home from the date and I realize: I left my keys in the house. The house is locked. Oh no.

Yep that's right! I left my keys sitting in my room, and my roomie was off doing other things that night. So I calmly start to tell him this story about how when I come home from work I usually throw my keys in this bowl in my room. All the while he's thinking "where is this going?" Well by the time I get to the punch line of, "I'm pretty confident I left my keys in that bowl" we were sitting in the driveway.

So I called the roomie and of course she was in south Tulsa. Like as far away as possible. So I gave him 3 options: go get the keys, wait til she got home, or drop me off at my friends house where I could wait until my roomie got home. He chose option #1. What a trooper.

We drove there and back. He told me he was glad to spend more time with me, I said I secretly planned it so that he'd have to chauffeur me around.

I really hope one of these days I can tell you a story about a date where I don't make a fool of myself. But, lets be honest, that's never going to happen.

Alyssa

Tuft Love

2011-10-14T07:00:00.003-05:00

As most of you know I am currently in the process of buying a house and then looking to renovate it quite significantly.

Lately I have found myself searching the interwebs looking high and low for ideas, color schemes, light fixtures, and recently furniture.

I got lucky and lived in a house with two of my besties during my senior year of college. During that time I slowly started to ~~collect~~ acquire furniture. After college I didn't have a need to buy all new stuff because of how much I had managed to gain during that last year.

My first apartment out of college was super cute, almost all second hand, but cute none the less.

This time around - I am going to really put some thought in my furniture choices. The couch will - for the time being - be the beat up leather hand-me-down that I sported post college but fingers crossed it will be upgraded soon after the big move.

I have a good couple months before I will need to seriously consider spending the money on couches and what not but in the mean time it doesnt hurt to look....

I might have spent wayyyy too much time one afternoon at work scouring for the perfect "plush-tufted-vintage inspired couch"

Prepare yourself, what you are about to see will make your heart race and your pocket book hurt.

First two from Anthro, then Macys, and lastly Horchow

I think it's obvious I have a thing for tufted... The Macy's couch is the only one I am actaully considering purchasing due to the fact that the rest are outrageously priced. Wouldn't yah know it!

Okay, now its your turn - favorite styles? color? leather or upholstered?

Sarah

Nail Salon

2011-10-13T07:00:00.007-05:00

It's Thursday which means its almost Friday!! I thought to throw a little fun in the mix this week I would post about nails. Yep, yipee sounds like so much fun to read about right?

Well, now that it's getting fall, I have been in this awkward stage where I still want the bright summer colors but I'm also loving the berry and nude colors that are all over pinterest right now. If you don't believe me, you should have seen my nails last week. We decided to paint our fingers, but our toes were still missing summer.

I can't believe I just put a picture of my feet on the internet, don't say I don't fully disclose

So finally before the roomie got engaged, I decided to get all nails along the same season. But first, we had a lot of fun trying out every color under the sun.

I ended up going with the dark red (thumb of my right hand) for my toes, and the nude (pinky of my left hand) for my fingers. I feel very hip right now, which will last about a day, so let me just go with it..

Do any of you do this? Paint every single color in the salon on your hands before making a decision? Are any of you still in the awkward summer/fall transition?

Oh and just for fun, here is a very very funny video:

Alyssa

The Midday Type

2011-10-12T07:00:00.002-05:00

When people ask me if I am a morning or evening person I always seem to struggle to answer the question. Because, truth is I am neither. I am a mid - day after a coke kind of person.

Getting up in the mornings for work is a struggle as is staying up past 10 on work nights. Lately, I have been snoozing past my alarm for 30+ mintues! Its outrageous. I know. I have tried every secret known to man and currently my alarm (aka my phone) doesnt reside next to my bed at night but across the room on my dresser. I get up each morning and grab my blaring alarm and crawl right back in bed with it as I simulatenously hit snooze.

My name is Sarah and I have a problem.

Since I know there is no way to get me up on time I have since devised ways to get my booty out the door quicker. The trick I use most: take advantage of curly hair

I cant say I ever feel really cute when my hair is curly and never do I "go out" with friends or on dates with my hair curly. Straight for sure - I attribute it to the want what you dont have tendancy.

Typically when I wear my hair curly I will have a few straight pieces here and there along with more frizz than curl. Every so often I will have a good curl day - but those are few and far between.

That is until I read how SHE gets her awesome curls. If my hair looked like that I'd - well I dont know what I would do but it would be cool.

So, my friends I have found the trick and its all about the wet stage styling. No joke!

forgive the awful self portriats - alyssa was busy

My new process you ask? Simple!

- wrap my wet hair in a towel and get out of the shower
- comb through my hair with my fingers (no actual comb! this was a drastic change for me)
- apply product all over and scrunch (I use Redken Curl products)

THIS NEXT STEP IS CRUCIAL

- take the towel you wrapped your hair in to begin with and scrunch your hair with the same towel. This will remove moisture and also help define your curls
- defuse your hair with a defuser attachment just to get the wetness out (make sure to leave you hair damp)

I have been leaving the house with damp hair and its dry by the time I am at my desk (20-30ish minutes)

Life changing, I tell yah!

If you have straight hair do the same steps but defuse your hair upside down and keep your hair only slightly wet.

I will tell you that I still prefer my hair straight and with lots of volume (I dont tease my curly hair) but the ease of my curly hair is making it a fast second!

Sarah

Roomie Got Engaged

2011-10-11T07:00:00.004-05:00

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

I have some very exciting news to share as you can probably see from my non-obvious title. My Roomie got engaged on Friday and I tell you it is just so darn exciting!

He told me on Tuesday and I had to wait until Friday until he he actually popped the question! I just wanted to tell her every time she walked by, of course I would never do that though! Instead I made up reasons why we needed to get our nails done.

After he proposed, they came back to her parents house where family and friends were waiting for them to congratualte them! I tell you it was one very happy Friday night!

Telling their story

Just waiting for them to show up!

The Roomie and I

Roomies past, present and future haha

I feel like people are getting engaged all over the place these days! I know 3 people who got engaged this weekend and 1 who got married! I swear these things come in waves, so maybe the second wave is starting? Am I the only one who feels that way?

Alyssa

One of a kind

2011-10-10T07:00:00.002-05:00

Howdy Y'all!

I hope your weekend was full of happiness!

Friday night I took a trip to the Tulsa Fair to - well you know people watch. What else do you do at the fair?! Okay so maybe I also went to the rodeo while I was there.

Have I mentioned how much I love the rodeo? Cowboys, boots, chaps, horsies, whats not to love about the rodeo!

So for $25 bucks we got fair addmition, rodeo addmition, annnnd a Joe Nichols concert afterwards. Talk about a perfect friday night.

Toe Ring anyone?

I cant believe people actually ride in those

this is for you steph

Your eyes arent playing tricks on you - that is a jamacian banana

- Sarah

Tailgate Galore

2011-10-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

Nothing screams Fall to me then football and tailgating. I love waking up on Saturday and driving to Stillwater to spend a day with my friends eating hotdogs and cheering on Cowboys. (Sidenote, I really only eat hot dogs in the fall, and they must be cooked on a grill, with no condiments, just a bun... yummm)

My friends and I have been graduated for two football seasons now, and we are starting to get things down to a science. We know roughly who brings what, we know we will want places to sit, and we know we need cute outfits because heaven forbid you repeat the same shirt in a football season.

In case your trying to imagine the atomosphere, I grabbed a quick pic. I will give $10 to whoever can find me in the stands!

I decided since it's Friday, I would show you what our tailgating essentials are. We are in no way fancy, we generally end up walking around the whole time to see people we haven't seen in ages, so there is really no need to make our tent something extremely grand.

We are not overly picky on what you wear, as long as you have orange on. I love this!

It is very important you have a tent, and if you want a good spot, it's really important you set it up the night before!

Then there is the food. Hotdogs, Chips, Dip, Pop, Candy, Brownies and anything else you can think of! We try to keep it simple, even though I oooh and ahh over tailgate setups all the time on Pinterest. I wonder if anyone is really that on top of things. If you are, send me a picture please, I'd love to know how you stay on top of something like this.

So I hope you have a happy weekend filled with football! I know I will! Is anyone else cheering on a favorite team??

Alyssa

As promised

2011-10-06T07:00:00.002-05:00

Today I bring you baby photos galore!

This baby is just the cutest thing ever - those cheeks, that hair, those little baby hands - Its like I could just eat her up.

Being that I am single and no where near having kids of my own I think about what it must feel like to bring your OWN baby into this world. I L.O.V.E my nieces and nephew - so much so that I treat them as if they were my own babies. However, I didnt create them or house them in my tummy for 9+ months but my heart still swells everytime I love on them.

I cant even imagine the love a mommy and daddy feel when they have babies of their own.

Here is Ms. Lexi in all her new baby glory!

Sarah

I Need Credit!

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

I know sometimes it sounds like we just never stress, but today I'm going to talk to you about another single lady issue, finances.

When I graduated from college, I had a problem. I never had a credit card. I knew that I needed to get one for obvious reason of building my credit. I was scared though; so many people get into trouble with credit cards. I can still hear my parents drilling financial words of wisdom into my head. I definitely couldn't get into trouble with a credit card just out of sheer terror of disappointing my parents.

I really wanted to be able to use a cute credit card holder!

So, I started to apply for credit cards. Well turns out, it’s hard for people who don't have any credit, and just moved to a new city to get a credit card. Half of them said my address didn't match my last known residence. The other half declined me because I didn't have any credit. I was getting frustrated and lowering my already low credit score because I was applying for lots of cards at one time (I guess that’s a bad thing to the powers at be). After getting declined for the local gas station card, I called it quits! Don't these people know me at all! I will pay you back! I have a budget!

When I have a problem like this, I tend to whine to people who will listen. If you are my friend and are reading this, I really appreciate you listening to me (this is the last time I swear!). Well, when I was whining at work one day, my friend let me on that he had that problem too! I was so excited I wasn't the only one! So I asked him what he did about it. That’s when I found about this:

This is American Express Zync Card. It is a charge card. That means you have no limit but if you don't pay it off at the end of the month, VERY BAD THINGS happen to you. This was perfect for me! I was already scared that I would mess it up anyways and this way I can't! If I mess up I'm in super duper big trouble. There is no interest rate because you have to pay it off! You also get points so I can use them on super cool things. Only down side, annual fee. I figure that I'll use it for a year, then get a "real" card.

I had that card for about a year, which then I was able to apply for other cards and actually get accepted. I know this may sound all "oh poor girl can't get a credit card," but for someone who wants to own a house someday, it's really frustrating!

I know I'm not the only person out there with this problem, so I just had to share my solution.

Alyssa

Alexis Lee

2011-10-04T07:39:00.000-05:00

Shes the most amazing little 6lb 7oz bean I have ever seen

As of 9:15 yesterday morning I became an aunt for the 6th time and its still sweet as ever.

More snuggles and cuddles to come!

**Excuse the crappy iphone pictures better ones on Thursday

-Sarah

Red Door Blue Door

2011-10-03T07:00:00.006-05:00

Happy Monday Friends! I hope you had as good of a weekend as I did! We worked pretty darn hard on Saturday just so I could bring you this awesome house update...

Ok you caught me, we did a little painting for you and because we wanted to. But I'm really excited to show you that after 4 months of having new, unpainted doors, we finally got around to painting them! Would you like to see the befores???

Now for the awesome afters! Get excited!

So what do you think? Did I waste my time?

Alyssa

How Pinteresting {Part II}

2011-09-30T07:00:00.007-05:00

I have been Pinning a LOT lately - this stuff is addiciting. Whats sad is how thrilled I get when someone repins something I have pinned. Its like they are patting me on the back and telling me I am cool.

Feel free to follow me, because lets be honest - it will make.my.day. Whats better than a repin? A follow! I'd throw a cool "pinterest follow" button up on this here blog but I am not that technically savvy.

So lets get to the goods - what have I been pinning lately?

Starbucks has this great lemon loaf slice that I loooove... I think this little diddy here might be a nice weekend project.

Fantastic idea - nuf said

The color inspiration for my new kitchen.

Vintage sheets turned into coasters - this could be such a sweet gift

this is so perfectly said.

Okay friends thats she wrote for this Friday. Go enjoy your weekend - don't forget to soak up some of this beautiful weather!

Sarah

Ashton- Is That The Name of Your Car?

2011-09-29T07:00:00.007-05:00

Yep, I said that. In response to a conversation surrounding Two and a Half Men while walking to his car, he asked how I felt about Ashton, so of course, I assumed that was the name of his car. Idiot.

In my defense, the roomie names her car, so why would my date be any different?

So anyways, I went on a date last Friday and I know tomorrow is Friday and I'm a week late about blogging about it. But, it kind of makes you look forward to the weekend because maybe your going on a date tomorrow? No? I'm rambling? Ok.

You want to know what I wore, I will show you. Only ignore the shirt, it was exactly like that except sleeveless, and had a zipper in the back and a scoop neck. I just couldn't find it online.

We don't live in the same town, but he drove to Tulsa and picked me up and we headed to a delicious restaurant here in town called The Brook. I had a salad the size of my head. Actually probably the size of two of my heads. But, don't worry, I wasn't trying to pretend I am a healthy eater. That would be pretending to be someone I'm not. My salad had fried chicken all over it.

After dinner, we headed to hang out with some of our friends. A few hours later he proceeded to drop me off and head back to his town. I know I had fun and because this is my blog and I can say what I want, I'm going to say that he did too.

Happy Thursday! Go on dates this weekend and eat fat, fried food!

Alyssa

Thief

2011-09-28T07:00:00.004-05:00

I am officially a thief and I am kind of proud of it... tisk tisk, I know!

Yesterday as I was walking to my car I noticed a plethera of large wooden cable spools. After examining if anyone was around that might want to claim them I did what any good DIYer would do and I loaded one into my jeep. No one was around - no harm no foul... right?!

*Sorry about the iphone pictures.

I will tell you one thing... those suckers are heavy! For a brief moment I thought I was either going to a) rip my work pants b) throw out my back c) get a splinter the size of the amazon or d) all of the above. Needless to say she's (inanimate objects need a sex...) all loaded up and ready for a good scrub (sanding) and some spiffing up (painting)!

I have all intentions of using this as an outside table... but look at all the different ways it could be utilized!!

Left au naturalll as a coffee table... mine has ugly man writting on it so this isnt an option

super cool double coffee table

bookshelf... slash cool fan holder

childrens art table... for the children I dont have

I will let you know this. As soon as I got to my desk I googled "wooden cable spool" and found some selling for $70 bucks!!! Holy cow - part of me wants to load them all up and sell those suckers. Alas, I will just steal one and not 10... its the little things

So any color ideas friends? Stain? Paint? Stencil? give me your best shot!!!

Sarah

Soapbox Tuesday

2011-09-27T07:00:00.010-05:00

In an effort to continue full disclosure on here, I shall tell you about my weekend. If you come back on Thursday, I will tell you what I wore and where I ate on a totally hot date on Friday night. If you choose to keep reading, you will hear me get on a soapbox about ex boyfriend (or girlfriend) etiquette.

If you made it this far, I'm glad you chose to stay. Saturday evening I discovered that an ex-boyfriend of mine has a new girlfriend. Wouldn't you know it she's super pretty too. Gotta love that. I actually know her in one of those weird, we know each other but have never spoken kind of ways. I'm not the only one like that right?

This girl is super pretty, so it goes with the blog, right?

Anyways, a good friend of mine mentioned it, completely thinking I already knew. It just slipped right out and I think it was clear by the shock on my face, that I had no idea. Poor girl felt almost as bad as I did in that moment. So now I would like to get on my soapbox.

I haven't dated this person in a really long time. But, we've always maintained a friendship and when we see each other we try to catch up. We've got a bunch of mutual friends, so it's really not an option to be those people who hate each other's guts. I just think it's always better to hear from him (or her). Don't you think?

Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe you all are thinking "Ok Alyssa, seriously, you aren't together so he doesn't need to tell you." But, for all you people out there, I think its proper etiquette (if you still mantain some sort of friendship) to give your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend a heads up. I mean who wants to find out on facebook or hear it from a friend? Of course, if you just go on a date, don't call them, because then your rubbing it in their face and that is just rude. But, if you're all official and exclusive, give them a call, it's the cool thing to do.

Ok, I've stepped off my high horse. Thoughts? Ladies- would you want to know from him? Would you rather hear it from a friend?

Alyssa

Weekend wrap up

2011-09-26T07:00:00.002-05:00

I have a confression. Lately, I have been pretty lame.

This past weekend though, I turned over a new leaf.

One of my favorite friends came in town for the weekend and I managed to be social. From happy hour after work on friday, to dinner with the girls, and topped off with a fun night out - I really kicked it up a notch.

On a different note, this house buying stuff is making me want to pulll my hair out. Who knew it would be so difficult to find a reliable contractor and to get everything from bids to inspections done in the correct order?!

I got lucky though, and have a friend who is awesome and happens to be a general contractor. Fingers crossed that bids come in within price range and that the FHA inspection goes through without any hitches.

Who knew buying a house could be so stressful? Okay well maybe most people knew that but I didnt think it would feel so tense.

In all honesty, I will feel very accomplished once I am officially a homeowner. This process really makes me feel independant. No need for a husband, a trust fund, or really gracious parents - I am able to do this on my own! How empowering!

Okay enough from me, how was your weekends??

- Sarah

Time Waster

2011-09-23T07:00:00.010-05:00

As the week of new fall TV is winding down, I got to thinking how much time I spend doing tons of meaningless things, and how it makes me feel like I don't have any time.

Example A:

The roomie and I spent a solid half hour last Sunday, figuring out all the shows we wanted to watch this fall, and record on the DVR. Oh, what's that TV? The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is on at the same time as Two and a Half Men and Dancing with the Stars? Well, thats ok, I'll just watch Dancing with the Stars online. Please tell me we aren't the only people in this country who literally recorded 7, yes 7 shows on Monday night.

Example B:

I spent several hours this week working on homework. Understandable? Yes of course. What is ridiculous is that most of it was spent emailing my teacher asking questions about the assignment instead of wanting to watch 15 videos at 70 minutes a pop. I watched about half, which I thought was pretty good. (I think I can, I think I can)

Example C:

I wish I could show you my outlook calendar at work, and then you would understand where I learned how to waste time. Unfortunately, you would all get sneaky, figure out where I work, and then stalk me. Then I would have to dress cute everyday and really that's too much pressure. So instead, I'll just tell you about it.

Where I work, we have meetings to talk about the meeting we are going to next. We have meetings to review powerpoint slides, that we will present in the next meeting. We have 1 on 1 meetings with our boss, then staff meetings where we all repeat exactly what we told our boss, but to the group. This is the biggest adjustment to the real world for me. The inefficiency of everything. When I see something wrong, I struggle with the fact that I can't just change it right away? I mean, if its incorrect, must I really ask 4 people's permission to change it? Anyways, meaningless time wasting has taken over my life...

Does anyone else see where I am coming from? Please tell me I'm not the only one who wastes time and then claims that there isn't enough time in the day! Between my pinteresting, facebooking, twittering, and tv watching, I just don't have enough time!

Alyssa

Outtakes

2011-09-22T07:00:00.004-05:00

I think we should all do a happy dance... because its THURSDAY its THURSDAY!!!

Making this day even better - I am leaving work early to go hang out at the new house during inspections and meeting a contractor there to go over work that I am looking to have done. Now, I just need for him to agree to the work and then we will be off!

I dont have anything else super fantastic to tell you about so I thought - why not embrace my camera and show you some "outtake" pictures - otherwise known as pictures that have not yet made the blog?!

Meet Sadie May. She loves me as much as she loves chasing squirles (which is a lot)

"yard art" at my parents house. Makes yah smile - eh?

I was cutting an avocado the other day for dinner, when I realized I accidently cut through the core. Talk about one sharp knife

best.snack.ever. Strawberries + sour cream + brown sugar.

When organizing my grandparents kitchen my mother an I may have found:

14(!) packages of cornbread mix

the oldest crockpot known to man

more packages of Chili mix than one person needs in a lifetime

swiss steak mix from when my dad lived at home...

and corn syrup circa 1993.

shes too cute not to take a picture of

This is right as she walked through the door to their new apartment. Shes in love.

Looking pretty snazzy after being in the hospital for a week

There you have it lovelies. Enjoy your Thursday and I'll see you back here next week

Sarah

Rice Pilaf Has My Heart

2011-09-21T07:00:00.004-05:00

Well it’s Wednesday and seeing as it’s nearly impossible to cook for one, I thought I’d share with you a fun evening I had last week!

My friend Leigh and I used to live together way back in the day in a lovely place called Wichita, KS. Don’t ask why we were there, it was a fun town, but only if you have friends there. Anyways, we had to learn to fend for ourselves and we knew from living in the sorority house we loved loved loved rice pilaf. You may ask what rice pilaf is, especially the pilaf part, but I have no idea. Just know that it tastes like heaven. It’s the best rice ever.

This is Leigh, and no, this was not taken on the same night

So I invited her over for dinner to remember the good old days. Only back then we didn’t know how to do anything except put chicken in a pan and cook it until it was dry… Oops. But my roomie taught me how to marinate chicken in Italian Salad Dressing so I decided to spice up my dinner with Leigh. I even remembered to marinate them all day in the fridge! Plus, she brought wine, so how bad could things really get?

Well here is the play by play of our meal, and I tell you it was delicious! Best dinner I’ve had in a long time, sad I know.

Best Rice Ever!

Chicken, marinating, bad pic, I know

Cooking my chicken in Olive Oil with salt and pepper

I felt like I even did a good job of putting it on the plate. Top Chef anyone?

Nothing like drinking wine and watching tv after dinner. Yes we actually sat at the table for dinner..

What are your favorite recipes? I’m in need help in the creativity/easy dinner department!

Alyssa

Too good

2011-09-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

My week started rough.

Migraine on Sunday night, rough. That, in turn, lead to a very slow Monday morning.. sigh

Either way, this is going to be a busy week in which Migraines aren’t welcome. Thankyouverymuch.

I have all my inspections on Thursday afternoon and I am even meeting with a contractor during that time. Yay, the ball is starting to get rolling.

Over the weekend I ran into a cute boy that I went on a few dates with last year.

He’s pretty stinking cute.

Except for that time he got “sick” two hours before a date and our love fizzled.

Needless to say, I saw him this weekend. Still cute.

He managed to inform me he’s moving to Denver in the next couple weeks. Wah Wah.

He also slipped in an “I’m sorry for never asking you out again since our date that failed… you’re just too good for me”

What?

You’re just too good for me

I think we can all agree that is about as good as “You are going to make a great wife one day” or “You are the marrying kind not the dating kind”

Too good

It’s like he thinks I am mother Theresa.

When did it become intimidating for a female to have strong morals and be active in a church?

Sad, really. I am not a bible beater. Do I love Jesus? Yes.

I don’t tell you to please pray over our meal during a first date. I didn’t ask when you were saved or what denomination you want to raise your kids. I could see how those things could be intimidating.

Honestly, I think I could take what he said as a compliment, and I will. But I would also like to say

“Too good or not good enough – either way, I’m not changing!”

Okay ladies; is it just me that gets this sort of “feedback”? Please tell me I am not alone! Or maybe I am just good at picking crappy guys…

Sarah

A Rainy Weekend

2011-09-19T07:00:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone!

It’s Monday so what’s better than a weekend recap? Saturday night was the OSU vs. TU game and it was being played in Tulsa. My friends and I decided to head to a local bar Leon’s to watch the game. The only down side being that the game wasn’t supposed to start until 9pm! Seriously? I’m supposed be asleep by like midnight.

So we headed to a new restaurant Andolini’s for dinner, then headed to meet up with some of our friends at Leon’s. Little did I know, everyone who ever went to OSU in the last 4 years would be there. So fun!

Then, the rain came, then the tornado warnings, then the game delays, then the game didn’t start until drum roll please…. 12:15am. Yep that’s right, the next day. The game didn’t start until Sunday morning. Well, we had heard at the bar that they were letting people in for free because it was a televised game and they wanted to fill the stands. So myself and Leigh with a few others headed to the game! I figured when else would I be able to go to a midnight OSU game with my bed only 1 mile away?

We left the game at the end of the 3^rd quarter around 3am when it started getting too rainy and cold to stay. Here are some pictures from the night, I spared you the pictures of my hair getting big and curly from the rain.

What did you do this weekend? Play in the rain?

Alyssa

I am BIG girl now

2011-09-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

I keep pinching myself.

Not hard pinches. Light – holy cow is this really happening – pinches.

After a little back and forth on a darling little house the sellers and I came to a conclusion and I signed over my life.

Ladies – I am well on my way to becoming a homeowner!

This process is much different than I ever expected. There are details within the contract I had never considered and others that I didn’t realize cost so much… a structural engineer runs about $275!

One of the weirdest things about all of this is that I never had my parents telling me what I should do. They told me it was a great house but that there are also others out there. They never told me “YES do it” or “No this isn’t for you”. For the first time, probably ever, I made a huge life decision completely on my own.

I feel like a big girl.

Now my mind is swarming with all sorts of up - scaling ideas!

This little “grandma house” (as we like to call it) needs a little face lift and I have my scalpel and crème ready!

Here she is in all her glory

And with a little “paint”

My pinterest is flooded with ideas… here are just a few.

Butcher-block countertops, white cabinets, hardwoods, a new French door, out of the box appliances… they are all on the list. Swoon.

Happy weekend lovelies!

Sarah

Destin How I Miss Thee

2011-09-15T07:00:00.008-05:00

As promised, vacation pictures are here! I just wish I was still at the beach taking pictures instead of just looking at them! So along with my pictures, I’ll give you a few highlights from the vacation!

Just stepped off the plane!

We decided we were going to eat seafood on this night. I will tell you they way overcharge in coastal towns for seafood, seeing as I could literally throw my food back into the ocean if I wanted. Definitely no shipping costs… Anyways, we coupon’d it up and our $53 meal was buy one get one free, so we each paid about $14 for our food!

Our taxi that took us home this night told us he was going to play his music really loud for us. Awesome. We get in, he turns up the music, pulls out a strobe light and his bongos, and plays the bongos/cowbell to the music the whole ride home. We couldn’t have paid for that kind of entertainment if we tried.

We went snorkeling one day, and our guide/Kate found this awesome blue crab. Our guide was holding it and everyone was petting it when the crab’s defense mechanism’s started and it amputated its own claws just to get away from us. The guide was left standing there with two claws and no crab. So we kept it for a while to play on the beach with us until it started to smell…

The best idea we had the whole trip was to buy a cooler and our own beach chairs. The “off-season” price for daily chair rentals on the beach is…. Drum roll please…. $28 a day! Heck no! So we paid $10 for each chair and just left them there when we left. Also, our cooler kept us from having to go back to the hotel every time we wanted a snack or something to drink! Totally worth it! Plus, I got it home in my suitcase!

Not sure what you want to drink? Thats ok, get two, its free..

This is Jim, the local Embassy Suites bar tender. By the end of the week, I think he was sad to see us go. (I should mention Embassy Suites does a FREE happy hour from 5:30-7:30 every day… just sayin’)

We loved this piano bar! We had so much fun listening and dancing to the music!

That’s all for my vacation recap! I’ll definitely be going back next year!

Alyssa

Little Minds {DIY Crayon Wreath}

2011-09-14T09:42:00.001-05:00

I got sick yesterday. Migraine sick. Ugh! I’d rather had a head cold or a 24 hour bug any day!

I do have something a lot more fun than a migraine for you lovelies today!

My bestie is a kindergarten teacher and when I went home a few weekends back I wanted to take her something special to her classroom. Ever since I can remember she talked so fondly of how she would one day decorate her big girl classroom. She isn’t new at the teaching game but I thought I’d bring her something special to spice up her door a bit!

I saw these crayon wreaths all over pinterest and decided that was it! What I didn’t think through is getting the entire wreath in a suitcase and to Dallas in one piece. Surprisingly I managed and the wreath now displays proudly on Ms. B’s door!

So fun!

For my wreath I cut cardboard out the shape and size I wanted – doused it in glitter – glued on crayons – added sweet letters – and finished it with some tulle.

So fun and colorful.

You could do this so many different ways with specific colors of crayons or add a huge bow!

I figured I’d keep it simple for those little minds in her classroom!

Sarah

Carmen San Alyssa

2011-09-13T07:00:00.004-05:00

Surprise! I was on vacation all last week!!! Yep, that’s right, while you were at home or work, I was on vacation!! This was my first “real” vacation. I did go to Boise to ski back in February during “snowmagedon,” but this vacation involved 5 days, on the beach with my friend Kate!

So where in the world was Carmen San Alyssa?

Destin, Florida!! That’s right, Kate and I were in Florida by 2 o’clock last Wednesday, ready to hit the beach, drink margaritas, and eat delicious sea food. Seriously so sad to be home right now!

You may be wondering, who is Kate? I haven’t heard about this person before. Well, I’ll tell you! Kate is a friend of mine who I met while we both were interning at a company that neither of us works for now. She is from Kansas and I am from Oklahoma and now she lives in Colorado. But somehow we managed to become pretty close! She’s been to see me a couple of times and I’ve been to see her! We don’t feel pressure to call each other all the time or see each other all the time, but we both have no qualms about getting on planes and meeting in Florida.

Why we chose to take a pic with this fake tree, and not put our heads in the girl and boy body behind us, I'll never know.

I am really sad to be home, but happy I can finally tell you where I've been and show you all my pictures, look for more on my vacation on Thurday!

Happy Tuesday!

Did you catch my Carmen San Diego pun? I thought it was really clever!

Alyssa

Grandma, Grocery Shopping and Ice Packs?

2011-09-12T09:10:00.001-05:00

Sorry this post is coming at you so late this morning. Crazy weekend.

Be warned – random post ahead!

My grandma got released from the hospital on Saturday and moved straight to her new apartment at the retirement community (a real one not the fake one that I call their house). Her and my grandpa will do great there and I think it will be awesome for them to get a lot more social time with other people their age! She was so excited – happiest I have seen her in a very long time

I am putting an offer on a house today – fingers crossed it gets accepted…

Last night I went grocery shopping which isn’t unusual, except I needed almost everything. My pantry and fridge were plum dry. My sister in law is good with coupons and ad matching so I asked her to show me her ways. I got all of my groceries for $80. Mind you these groceries will last me nearly a month!

Most exciting purchase? Four jars of prego spaghetti sauce regularly $3.00 on sale for $1.00 each with a $0.75 off two coupon (I used two of these) bring my total for all four to… $3.50!

In other news, when did being a pom girl at an OSU football game become so strenuous that they needed to ice themselves afterwards…

I know I promised a DIY project today but due to the insanity of this past weekend it has been cleverly moved to Wednesday. Happy Monday lovelies!

Sarah

Vacation on a Budget

2011-09-09T07:00:00.006-05:00

Well, its Friday and I really wish I was somewhere other than work.. Maybe the beach or somewhere nice and relaxing.

Any ways, I thought this would be a good time to discuss planning a vacation while staying on that single gal budget. I have a few recommendations but, I should claim I am no expert! I have planned a few now and I'm sure I did things wrong!I will learn from them each time I plan one!

First of all, when your planning, go during non peak season. Now, if you want to be all crazy on a ‘Spring Break’ type vacation, then going to the beach in off season is probably not for you. But, since school is back in session, this allows for some decent deals in beach locations. Plus, it’s still warm outside, so you shouldn't feel like your missing out on anything by going in September versus July.

When I planned my first vacation, I really wanted to go to NYC. After looking at airfare to NYC, I nixed that idea. I just couldn’t swing the $600 to fly me there and back, plus the ridiculous cost of staying somewhere halfway decent. Instead, you could pay $600 for airfare and hotel and some spending money in Florida. If you’re trying to stay on a budget, considering different locations and being open to them is a must!

There are also some things that you just can’t negotiate on and unfortunately, if you need a rental car and are under 25, the fee for being under 25 is one of them. Even though I have a great driving record (except that one accident that one time),I would have to spend more just because I am under 25. It really stinks...

Also, if you know where you’re going to be going, I would sign up for deals like groupon.com or livingsocial.com for the area you are planning on visiting. This way, you can score some restaurant or entertainment deals and save a little money while you’re there.

I hope this was helpful! I hope you all have a great Friday!

Alyssa

Bliss

2011-09-08T07:00:00.004-05:00

I am coming at you today with more wedding pictures.

Consider yourself warned.

I enjoy perusing through wedding photos but I will be the first to admit that as a single lady who fully embraces her singleness seeing all this wedded bliss gets annoying.

So annoying that during a maid of honor speech in which the MOH said “we are so blessed to have found such godly men who love us and are best friends” I replied (out loud on accident) “why don’t you just keep rubbing it in”…. oops.

Disclaimer: I am so happy for my friends that have found l.o.v.e but I do get sick of hearing how in love everyone is. I’d prefer to just drink your free champagne.

Now that I sound completely bitter… 9 weddings to date people… 9 this year…

I promise I am not sulking in a corner because it’s not my turn its just the same concept as eating the same snack every day and after awhile you don’t want to eat that snack anymore. Make sense?

On a completely separate note, the wedding I went to last weekend was like watching my brother get married. I was so excited for them. The groom is my brother’s best friend since birth and the mother of the bride is my mom’s bestie since before I was a thought in her mind. Can we say close family friend?!

I tried to grab a few pictures of the main event. So fun!

Come back on Monday for a sweet DIY – I have a few things up my proverbial sleeve

Sarah

Home Invasion

2011-09-07T07:00:00.024-05:00

Well, I’ve lived in my new house now for about 2 months. I don’t know if you remember what it looked like, but you can view some old move-in pics if you would like. I thought it would be fun to show you all what has changed in the last two months. I don’t really feel like we’ve done a whole lot but then I look at the pictures and realize that we have done more than I realized! Plus, we have really ambitious goals of getting the sunroom painted one of these days, and with all the football games going on this season, it will probably be Christmas before that gets done.

I should tell you, that in order to prepare for this post, I actually hung up the pictures in my room. Otherwise, they would still be sitting on my floor.

So here is a little before and after, and a little bit of just new.

My room, as it looked up until like 4 days ago

I now have a rug under my bed

And I finally hung up those pictures

This is the current living room situation, and yes, the dog toys do come standard

I will tell you we love have 2 places to sit now instead of one, that gets pretty awkward if there are ever more than 2 people in the house.

Alyssa

Ole {rehearsal dinner}

2011-09-06T08:14:00.001-05:00

How can you tell a blogger is exhausted?

When she doesnt take time to format her posts.

I spent my labor day at ERgent care and then at the hospital ER. My grandma got pretty sick while I was out of town and come Monday morning (when I saw her) she was doing pretty poorly. I rushed her to ERgent care and that lead to some tests and x-rays which got her sent straight to the hospital to get admitted.

Needless to say I left the house at 10am and got home around 6pm when I was relieved from my caretaker duties.

Enough about that - how about a look into that awesome rehearsal dinner I was styling with my momma?!

It took a solid 4 hours to set up but it was well worth it!

We had the staff complimenting us and our work all day and the owner even came in to take pictures because he was so impressed. (brushes shoulders off) thank you thank you thank you!

I will leave you with more pictures than you would ever want to see... Happy four day work week!!!

thats me on the very far right with the awesome bangs!

wedding party

all grown up! (groom. sister of the groom. muah. my bubbies aka best man)

the after effects

- sarah

Labor Day

2011-09-05T07:00:00.009-05:00

Happy Labor Day! In case you didn’t know why we have Labor Day, I wikipedia’d it. It says : The first Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.

So now that we are done with our History lesson for the year, I hope your having a really good Holiday! I’m currently having one of the best weeks ever, which started with OSU football on Saturday! More to come on what I’m doing the rest of this week! (Check back Wednesday for details)

I’m at the lake with my fam right now, so I’m probably doing lots of the following:

Hanging out with my brothers

Pretending I'm a Bad A on the wakeboard

Cooking with my Mom

Knee boarding. You can laugh, but this is my favorite water activity

Drinking Alone...

Drinking with my Dad

Happy Labor Day! What did you do to celebrate the day off of work?

Alyssa

Ole!

2011-09-02T07:00:00.004-05:00

I just put an album on Facebook entitled “everyone’s getting hitched” – it’s the truth.

Currently, I am at home in Tejas getting ready for a wedding this weekend. Yep that’s right, I am going to be a wedding expert by the time this is all said and done. To date (this year) I have attended 8 weddings with this one bringing the total to 9.

This wedding is a little bit different though. See, it’s a very close family friend that is getting married. His (the groom) mom qualifies as my second mom. No joke.

She recently asked if I would help decorate/setup for the rehearsal dinner. I always feel so honored when people ask me to help with stuff like this. Not only does it mean they trust me but that they also like my ideas!

The rehearsal dinner is at a Mexican restaurant close to the church so she obviously wanted to make it “fiesta” themed. My kind of party!

I started by making a board on pinterest – obviously.

No lie, I found some awesome ideas. You will have to hold tight to see the final result but today I wanted to give you a sneak peak at a project I did especially for this occasion.

I love signs that say “I” & “Do” or “Mr” & “Mrs” – but those are much more wedding day appropriate. My twist?

Senor and Senorita!

I didn’t really have anything to use to make the sign out of so I stopped by our local Habitat for Humanity Restore and found two drawer fronts. They are literally the front of two pull out kitchen drawers… all for $1.50

I loved them because they are sturdy, the perfect size, and that etching… love the etched detail!

Once I got these bad boys home I made sure to clean them off, sand them with a light sand paper, and fill in the holes made by the drawer pulls.

After the wood filler was dry it was as simple as spraying on primer and paint!

Then I let my creativity take over and painted those suckers juuuuust the way I wanted to give it a little pop of color and enhance the details. (I used spray paint for the yellow and the rest is acrylic paint I had on hand)

There you have it! Cute signs for the bride and groom without looking to cheesy but sticking with the fiesta theme!

Football is in the Air

2011-09-01T07:00:00.005-05:00

This weekend officially kicks off Football Season for all you Oklahoma State fans out there! I’m sure there are other teams playing this weekend, but really I have blinders on. I can’t wait to eat hot dogs and chips with my friends all day, then sing the fight song with 60,000 other people! Seriously so excited!!!!!

I always struggle with what to wear to these darn games though. Saturday is probably going to be like 105 outside, which means I’ll have to wear black shorts just so you don’t know my rear end is sweating… Over share? Sorry, but it happens, you know it happens to you too. I’m always trying to keep my out of for a good orange anything, so if you see anything out there, let me know!

I leave you with pictures from various OSU games. Seriously CANNOT WAIT!

Are you cheering on your team this weekend? Any big plans to kick off the football season?

Alyssa