A History of Rap

I happen to be a Justin Timberlake fan. [Yes, I was a huge boy band fan during the Backstreet Boys and Nsync era, and I firmly believe they were way more talented than Miley Cyrus and the Jo Bros are...] Anyways, I think he is quite talented. He actually made something of himself after the boy band craze faded into the sunset. Not only can he sing and dance, but he's pretty funny too. You guys remember Dick in a Box, of course, and he has since made numerous SNL appearances which I find pretty amusing too.

My heart melts for those warm-up suits.

Last night, he was on Jimmy Fallon's show, and they did a little number, singing the history of rap. I must say, Jimmy can totally hold his own on this one! Some of those songs brought back some serious memories... i.e. My Name Is by Slim Shady? Hello 8th grade! Which of these songs bring back memories for you guys?

Enjoy!

New fall outfit... back off, haters!

With fall right around the corner( I hope!?), I've been slowly gathering new fall pieces to wear. I've been trying to mentally create outfits in my head, so I can be certain that the new goods will be used and will not end up hanging in my closet for a year. So, the latest one I put together is a fun fall look, which I am very excited to try out. I also happened to find everything either on sale or with a coupon. That makes me very happy :) Now, if it will only drop in temperature so I can start to bring on the fun attire!

Where are you, fall?

Article #1: A long, comfy sweater from Lauren Conrad's new Kohl's collection. I know, some people may laugh at this, but I happen to be a huge LC fan. I firmly believe that The Hills was a bore to watch as soon as she left the series. I also am excited to check out her new style book that comes out in October.. I think she has great style! My friend Alison and I were actually discussing LC's new clothing line over pedis this weekend, so I decided to check them out. I picked up this little number in grey, on sale for $30!

Note: It looks MUCH better on, than in this pic

I think it will be perfect for chilly days when you are running a million errands, because it is super comfortable. I also love the little flower on the side, to add a touch of girly to it!

Article #2: Ok, here's where the controversy kicks in. I bought a pair of black jeggings. BEFORE you judge, hear me out! I know a lot of people have mixed feelings, and I did too, before I wandered into Gap to try on a pair for myself. First thing I liked was that they actually look like real jeans - they have a zipper and button, and they aren't all strechy and gross looking. Second, when I tried them on (and went up a size because they are tighter than regular jeans) they flattered me! I happen to have a bootay, so I was pleasantly surprised with how well these fit. I also had a mega coupon that day, so I tried them out. If you are on the fence about jeggings, give the Gap ones a shot, because they are a nice in-between and actually look like jeans. Plus, I was tired of cramming jeans into boots, and these fit just dandy :)

I dislike those shoes, mine will be paired with flats or boots only!

Article #3: I don't think these are very controversial, because grey boots are totally in this season. I picked these up (with another coupon, of course) at DSW for probably about $50. They are Madden Girl, which I've never bought before. I assume they are Steve Madden's not-so-pricey shoe line. Who knows. I think they are perfect to tuck jeans and jeggings into and head out the door. Plus, although I normally opt for a higher heel, I thought the lower heel was ideal for running errands and not needing a foot massage afterwards.

Article #4: This isn't really part of the outfit, but I thought I would mention them since I bought them whilst shopping at Kohl's. They are Simply Vera sunglasses, and were a cool $20. Geez, a steal I tell you! [Can't find them online, so no pictures for you!]

So, there you have it folks. I haven't gotten the chance to piece everything together and wear it as a whole, considering it has been 95 degrees the past few weeks. It is staying at a cool 70 degrees today, so there's hope for fall yet! Dont worry, I'll be sure to post a photo of the outfit all together. I think a comfy grey sweater, black skinnies, and grey boots is a pretty fall-ish outfit, wouldn't you say?

Family Reunions are the Greatest

I consider myself lucky enough to have a family that I am very close to. Last weekend, my cousin Shane got married, so my mom's whole side of the family traveled from all over to Winston Salem, NC to celebrate. It's always so exciting when we can all put our busy schedules aside and see each other. We had people coming in from Georgia, Minnesota, West Virginia, New York, Ohio, and North Carolina. We pretty much covered half of the country, wouldn't you say?


The whole family, after the wedding


My mom has three sisters, so between their husbands and kids, their kids' spouses and significant others, and grandma, we made up a grand total of 23 people (I think?). Much of the weekend was spent in the hotel, only because there were too many of us to go to restaurants. It was pretty great though, because it gave everyone time to catch up, eat pizza and drink wine. Saturday afternoon, we were feeling a little stir crazy, so we headed out to a WS fair. There was lots of food, drinks, and entertainment, so it was great to walk around and see the sites a bit!

My favorite couple spotted in WS.. Coca Cola pants!

As for the wedding itself...it was beautiful! Of course there were tears, mostly coming from the females of the group, but what's a wedding without them? Afterwards, we all headed back towards Winston Salem to an old post office turned reception. It was awesome! A very cool reception location. There were fabulous appetizers at the beginning (bacon wrapped scallops, bruschetta, asparagus in phyllo dough, etc..) Inside the wedding, there was actually a candy bar! Something I've never seen before, but you can imagine everyone's excitement when they got to reenact their childhood memories of filling up the plastic bags of candy at Sweet Factory - only it was free! The only downside to the candy bar was the amount of crack-induced kids under the age of 8 that immediately hit the dance floor in a sugar-induced craze... but that's a different story :)

Holy candy, batman!

By the end of the weekend, everyone was exhausted and dreading the drive/flight home. I was so happy to see everyone, since it only happens every year or so. I took the bf along with me to meet the whole  family, and lets just say he was given the seal of approval by EVERYONE! I had no doubts that he would be completely adored and embraced by the family, but it was still nice to get official approval from grandma ;)

Some photos of the weekend:

My dad takes 1,976,753 pictures at weddings, so I caught him in the act!

Cousins enjoying delicious food

Me and my momma!

All the sisters - can't you see the resemblance?

I brought my moves straight from ATL.

All 9 cousins before cramming into the photo booth

I suppose I'm teaching my parents the electric slide?

More cousin dancing...



My favorite bro!



J4 showing off his moves

 Looks like a pretty fun time, eh? We kinda like to dance...

Awards.. yay!

A couple of weeks ago, I received my very first blog awards! I was so pleased, but also so busy and didn't have time to follow through with the commitments that come along with getting an award. I'm supposed to post it and chat about myself, but I am the worst blogger ever and haven't done it yet! So I'm going to do it today. Better late than never, right? I received the versatile blogger award from Atlanta Yankee Belle:

Yay! So now I have to write 7 things about myself. If you guys remember, I basically did this on my own a couple of weeks ago, when I wrote 25 things about myself, so now I'm just going to have to rack my brain and think of 7 more:

1. I am very excited, because tomorrow I am heading to Winston-Salem for my cousin's wedding. My mom's side of the family is very close, but we are scattered around the east coast, so it will also be a family reunion!
2. I love traveling, and lived in Spain for a couple of months when I was in college. I hope to go back in the near future, and visit some other countries that I haven't seen before!
3. I have always wanted to be on Oprah's Favorite Things Episode. That woman gives away so much stuff... did you hear about her australia trip giveaway the other day? Yeesh.
4. If I could only choose one article of clothing/accessories to buy, it would be shoes. I love shoes...
5. I have a bad habit of buying Groupons to various restaurants, just so I can try them out. The savings aren't monumental, but I tell myself they are anyways.
6. I am dying for fall to officially arrive. Football is here, now we just need the temperature to drop about 15 degrees, so I can start wearing boots and cute blazers!
7. I'm a movie junkie. I love going to the movies (depsite the ridiculous cost), and I love renting them. Red Box is the way to go these days.

ALSO, I was tagged by Pearls, Curls and a Southern Girl to answer these 8 questions:

1. What's your favorite vacation you've been on? My family took a trip to Italy when I was in college. We ate everything in site, drank a ton of wine, and saw everything there is to see. It was fabulous!

2. What's your best memory of college? My 22nd birthday. I was the oldest of my friends, so for my 21st, only a few could take me out (with fake ids). So when I turned 22, I had practically 20+ friends from my sorority out with me in downtown Clemson. It was so much fun!

3. If you could go to dinner with someone famous, who would it be? This is really hard... How about the cast of Modern Family? I could go for a good laugh! 

4. What's your biggest achievement? Buying a condo, all on my own!

5. What TV show would you want to make a guest appearance on? I think I answered that above, Oprah of course! I want the free goodies!! 

6. What are you most looking forward to this year? For the rest of the year: the two weddings we have left, a girl trip to Clemson, holidays with my family, seeing all of my relatives this weekend, and spending time with my boyfriend in Atlanta :)

7. What's your biggest dream in life?To be successful in my career and happy in life. Cliche, I know.

8. If you won the lottery, what would be your biggest splurge? The responsible part of me would pay off my mortgage, and then the fun side of me would take a LONG vacation around the world!

Thanks for the tags, girls!! I'll report back to everyone after my Winston Salem trip with lots of picures!

This makes me happy :)

Like everyone else out there, I feel like my life has been super crazy lately! With football season starting up, weddings still going on, work, and other activities, there has been very limited blogging time.

That being said, this past weekend I headed to Clemson for the game! I haven't been back since last football season, and even though this wasn't a big game, it was fantastic to be back in Tigertown.

Our wonderful tailgate filled with beer and too much food

The most exciting 25 seconds in college football!



The tigers running down the hill!



Isn't it lovely? So much orange!

After a full day of tailgating, I was exhausted. We had such a good time, and it was so good to be back. I'm heading back in a couple of weeks for a girls weekend/homecoming weekend and I.CANT.WAIT.

This weekend is Clemson / Auburn, so I am hoping for the best tigers to win!! Go Clemson!





Trying to be more studious...

In my attempts to stop watching so much tv and read more often, I decided to read Eat Pray Love.

I know, I know... I'm only a few years too late for this one! When the movie came out, I decided that before I saw the lovely Julia Roberts on screen, I would make myself read the story first. It only took me about 4 weeks.... hey, I'm a slow reader and I get distracted! My overall opinion of the book is that it was entertaining. If I'm being honest though, there were parts of it that were a total snoozefest. For example, the whole section where you read about every detail of her silent meditation - not SO much my cup of tea. My favorite section was Indonesia, because there was love, friendship, humor, and fun. I'm glad that it ended on a more exciting note, otherwise I may have put it down never to be picked up again.

Now, it's time for me to go see the movie! I have heard many mixed opinions; some hate the movie and some love it. I have a feeling it won't be my favorite movie of all time, but I'm a Julia fan and I've heard the scenery is beautiful. So, I may just pop up to the movie theater one afternoon and do a solo viewing. Can't wait!

Up next on my list, I just picked up Lauren Weisberger's new book, Last Night at Chateau Marmont.

She's the author of Devil Wears Prada, which I also read before seeing the movie! This book looks cute, it is about an every day NY couple struggling to make ends meet. Then, the musician husband hits it big and they have to deal with the struggles of fame and paparazzi. We'll see how long it takes me to read this one!

Tupelo Honey

This weekend, the bf and I headed to Asheville, NC for another wedding. I have actually never been to Asheville, but have always heard good things. What a cute little town! On Friday we ate lunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe, which was delicious!

I did some wandering and window shopping solo on Saturday, as the bf had groomsmen duties to attend. I tried to take a lot of pictures, because the weather was so beautiful!

Lots of little arts and crafts booths set up

The people on the right had a bunch of sketchy looking food for sale

Cool liquor bottle art!

Beautiful!

Asheville Court House

Found a cool bead store.. too bad I'm not that creative anymore!

After lots of walking around, we met back at the hotel to get all spiffy for the wedding! The bf looked dapper in his tux of course, while I went for a new green dress (that looks blue in the pics!) which will be making many appearances at the next few weddings I'll be attending. The reception was at a place called The Century Room, which was upstairs in a restaurant/bar, Pack's Tavern.

This guy was parked out front!

Very cool place, right in the heart of Asheville. Needless to say, we enjoyed the beer and wine and fantastic band that night!

We tried to look very proper here....

....but lets be serious, this is way more fun!

Good candid of the lovely couple heading to their car through the bubbles!

What a great wedding weekend! Only two more to go this year, then the 2011 round will begin! Someday soon we'll have a free weekend.... I think? :)

Can't wait!

I'm feeling under the weather today, somehow I got a nasty cold! I made myself go to bed early last night because I felt even worse yesterday, so I think that helped. I made it until noon today at work and decided just to head home and finish the day from here. No use spreading my germs around the office! So, as I am praying for a miracle to feel 100% tomorrow (we are heading to Asheville in the morning for a wedding!), I'll leave you with this:



Can't wait for football season to start THIS WEEKEND! Oh how I miss it...