Thursday, August 9, 2012

giddy? yup! fortune cookies


giddy? yup!
{things that make me giggly joyous}
yes, of course, there is much in life that makes me especially gleeful!
but today "the giddy" goes to...

annnnnnndddd... so again, i've been m.i.a.

well, i've had good reason. really i do. lots of going's on. and i'm ready to give you my excuse.
is that so wise fortune cookie?* 
no, i didn't play the lucky numbers, but i do still feel like we won the lottery. we just won't be able to collect our winnings until november.

*funny thing, this turned out to be my fortune a few days after we found out how lucky we were. don't you love when the timing is right? or when it just makes sense? unlike when mister's fortune read, "ask your mother." and she was sitting right across from him.

and a brief jump back to fortune cookies in general. only the tasty ones make me giddy :) the stale ones make me de-giddified. but 8 out of 10 times, i may still eat 'em. 'cuz you know if you don't finish the cookie, the fortune won't come true.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

get your wag on!

apologies for being m.i.a., been a busy busy bee this one. and, yes, today's no different. it's an early saturday rainy morn. i've got bentley on my lap, mattie sleeping on the makeshift bed here in my office, and i'm working on the computer. this is the time that i usually get most of my freelance stuff done. waiting on a reply from one of my clients, i decided to get back on some of my volunteer stuff. i volunteer for the local humane society. i'm on two committees, one of them being on the "wag" committee.

"the wag", as we call it, is the woodford wag, a cross country 5K race and 2K dog walk. all proceeds benefit the homeless animals of the woodford humane society. there are prizes awarded for top finishers and canine contest winners.

we are entering our third year, and it's a really fun event. each year more people participate, and it's nice seeing the same faces (both dogs and dog owners). the dog contests are so cute to watch. we have a dog logo look-alike where some dogs are pre-selected to enter by a committee member or entered by the owners who think the dog fancies our logo. then by audience applause, the winner is chosen. my favorite contest is the tail wagging contest. here, dogs show off their tail waggin' skills. of course, last year, i entered my bauer and his coiled sharpei/chow/shepherd tail. and also joined in was bentley and his fringed finger-like tail. mattie missed the entire thing. she was asleep on the sidelines. neither won, but that's okay. of course, i told them that they are winners in my book. plus, they had the cute outfits that their mama made (one of the benefits of being the committee's designer and logo creator).

pix from last year:
my name ain't baby. it's mattie.
miss mattie, if you're nasty.
bentley, calm, and in rare form.
no, bauer, this isn't a food bib. don't worry, you'll get a treat later.
my friend's son, gav.
gav's mama givin' bentley some kisses.

looking forward to this year's wag, which takes place saturday, may 19. if you're in the area, be sure to join in on the fun to support the woodford humane society, and say hi to me and my pups. they'll be the ones wearing their official and personalized wag gear. if you can't attend, register as a "cat napper" and receive an event t-shirt and fundraise to help the animals. you can also donate through my fundraising page. oh, and we've got a new contest this year. parent and dog look alike contest. no, i won't be entering that one. unless i put on my sleeping mask, then mattie and i have got a good shot at getting the gold.
get your wag on!


Saturday, March 24, 2012

namesake fashion: all things priscilla

i've noticed that my name is popping up a lot these days. awfully coincidental, don't y'think, considering my SITs day was just last week. i'm just say'n...

oka b.
i love these shoes, and apparently by their tagline, they love me too. been wanting to get a pair of the ballet flats for some time now, then lo and behold, when i received the latest in my inbox...
get it here 
vera bradley
the other day, my office neighbor told me that she and her daughter were looking at the new vera bradley styles and found a color named priscilla pink. yes, i know! how appropriate as pink is my color. her daughter ellie (there's also a color named after her, but she likes pink not blue), who's got the same birthday as me {albeit she's only 16}, told her mom that the shade was perfect for me. now, it's a matter of what style? this is a new style called frame bag, but i also like eloise because of the kiss lock and abby for the functionality. i think, perhaps, some of the office gear may make it's way into my work-in-progress office.
get it here
saint grace
love stripe dresses. like this one.
get it here
asos
i've never shopped asos, but have read about it on pose, polyvore, and glitter guide. so when i went to their site the other day... you guessed it... and it's color blocked!
get it here
dooney & burke
i've always been more a fan of dooney & burke than coach. if i were to get another db, it should probably be this one, y'think?
get it here
alice + olivia
this dress is pretty flippin' sweet.  it's got a textured skirt with all-over fringe. sure, it's a bustier dress, but i can totally see myself wearing it layered like the second photo here.
get it here
nightcap
if i could pull this dress off, i'd get it, but it's too fitting and too low-backed for me. still, i think it's too bad ass not to share. 
get it here
kristin cavallari, september 2011

badgley mischka
oh, how i'd love to say badgley mischka lives in my closet, but my wallet says no. this clutch is perfect for the dress above. and it comes in gold and black!
get it here
i used to hate my name when i was younger, but don't mind it at all now. and it certainly helps when i find namesake fashion which makes me love it even more. this was a lot of fun, kinda was a pose-polyvore-pinterest-window-shopping mishmash. i think i may add this as a regular segment on my blahg.

now it's your turn to join in on the fun! see what outfits you can put together with your namesake fashion and please share with me!

Monday, March 19, 2012

giddy? yup! it's my SITs day


giddy? yup!
{things that make me giggly joyous}
yes, of course, there is much in life that makes me especially gleeful!
but today "the giddy" goes to...

me!
cuz' it's my SITs day!
circa b-day 2007 when i discovered my cake was a hello kitty cake.
today the feeling's just as splendidly delicious.
 
what does SITs stand for? well, today it stands for silly is the SITs! because today i am SITs featured blahgger {but really SITs is an awesome resource for bloggers to get support from a network of a whole lotta other lady bloggers}. 

so, wouldn't you know that ironically, i am at a loss for words today. and since i am at a loss for words today {maybe this is how people feel at the award shows, when they say they are speechless?}, i've decided to list the peeps i'd like to thank for making today possible.

how i started blogging...
i had been following kimberly wilson for years, and am a shopper of her yummy eco-luxe lifestyle wear. but it wasn't until i moved from georgia to kentucky that i decided to take one of her e-courses. i had been in lexington for about a year, but was still missing my friends in atlanta. all of them were graphic designers, writers... we were all very artistic, had the same sense of humor... we just fit like peas in a pod. it was a group that i had a hard time leaving. i was really yearning for that connection. that's when i looked back onto kimberly's web site, remembering the workshops she offered. i took the plunge and was very excited about the e-course. i had the opportunity to interact with like-minded women who seemed to be on the same page as me. kimberly reignited the creative aspect of my life that i felt had been missing for a while. she made me set goals for myself. and i found that i was face to face with a part of me that was tucked away. i had been thinking for years about building my brand. this is when i decided to start my blog. i wasn't always a graphic designer. i wanted to be a writer when i was younger. i don't know why i ever stopped. i had started self-publishing my own pet-inspired children's books around 2008. but i also had interest in making my own greeting cards, designing wedding invitations, and always loved fashion... so you see, my ideas were there all along. but it wasn't until silly met kimberly that the ideas started to take the steps. 
get silly tweets on twitter and pinterest; see my silly style on pose; and read my silly stories on lulu


speaking of steps... 
my cali BFF is my oldest and dearest friend, who is there for me every step of the way, in heels and flats and platforms and booties, you name it. i talk to her almost every week, but text/e-mail her nearly every day. i visited her just last year. it had been over a decade since we had seen one another. she gives me the best advice whether it be shopping or about more serious adult stuff. she doesn't judge me, and i don't judge her. we can say whatever we want to say without having to filter first. i wish we could see each other every day, or at least every year, instead of every decade. i don't know what else i can say about her other than she's the sprinkles on my cupcake.
why else is cali bff my bff? why, she's the one who took me to my first sprinkles cupcake, of course!

but who really gets my cupcakes...
my husband and i have been together for nearly fifteen years. next month, we celebrate our ten years of marriage. like most marriages, there's been up's and down's. within those last ten years, we have survived two deployments (around three years apart total); a move back to his home state (where i battled with the decision to follow or not) after living in georgia since '98; living with his family for two years while we waited first for our house to sell in georgia then during our brand new house being built; losing two of our dogs within a year of each other-- all that among other rollercoasters big and small. but here we are, coming upon our tenth year as mr and mrs, and quite honestly, it's not so shabby. we are settled in our new home, we have welcomed in a new terror named bentley, and even though things are realistically always going to be like anything from tjmaxx (slightly imperfect), i wouldn't want it any other way. lucky for him, i just happen to be a maxxinista. who woulda thunk that after a wedded decade, it'd feel like we were just starting a new life together? and, if it wasn't for him, i wouldn't have moved here, and i probably wouldn't have started blogging. and then today wouldn't even have been my SITs day. so i'd like to thank him--the jiggle in my wiggle, the pepper to my salt, the white on my rice, the mister of this missus--for taking me away from the place i thought i needed to be, to the place where i'm meant to be.
salt n pepa's here, and we're in effect...

lastly, how i know this is where i'm meant to be...
i talked to my dad the other week, and he had told me that the universe was opening itself up to me. i thought it was cheesy, but it made me feel real good. well, wouldn't you know, the VERY next day, i received the e-mail that today was going to be my SITs day. yes, it seems that father may know best, after all. unless we're talking lottery numbers.
image from

so, since today is my SITs day, i'd like everyone to go out and celebrate with a cupcake. i'm right behind ya. really. just turn around, and hand me that cupcake. i'll be there.
and, please, don't forget the sprinkles!
p.s.
thank you also to SITs for creating a wonderful community. it's a marvelous thing you do. and i look forward every day to reading the day's featured SITs girl.


p.p.s.
yes, it appears i WASN'T really at a loss for words after all :)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

SUNday

yes, his face always looks sad, but his tail often is the window to his real emotions.
today was a beautifully productive day! first time we had all of the windows open in the sunroom, and bauer loved iti vacuumed the entire room and all of his bedding, so it was fresh for his dog hair to fly all around again. why didn't i wait until the dogs all went to the beauty parlor tomorrow? well, let's just say that this was the preparatory vacuuming.

i was also able to knock out some freelance, as well as volunteer, graphic design projects, and EVEN managed to clean up my office a bit too (aka moved stacks to a different location). 

bentley first tried to distract me with a fun camouflage game of
"where on the pretty rug is bentley?" 
next, he attempted a few statue poses. 
and, finally, he wanted to just vogue before 
his daily "check if mattie has a pulse" exercise.
and, yes, we have move---
nevermind...

guess, this SUNday wasn't so productive for everyone.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

my tummy valentine

what a sweet valentine's week full of shugga and more tummytizing festivities: 
walked into the office thinking it was just another day, then...
alas, the benefits of working with primarily women
{who bake nonetheless}. go women power!
photo by silly blahgs

snickerdoodles. my first real cookie obsession as a child.
photo by silly blahgs

delightfully giddy after a special hand-delivered surprise.
photo by silly blahgs

candleberry tea room's scrumptious egg salad 
on a buttery croissant + tummy yummy 
congealed cherry coconut tea salad.
photo by silly blahgs

the oh so pretty strawberries + kisses mini cake
i {was coerced to} split with my pal nonni.
photo by silly blahgs


sage garden cafe's delectable cranberry chicken salad sammich 
on their tasty sweet homemade oatmeal walnut bread 
and a cup of just hit the spot butternut squash soup.
photo by silly blahgs


callie's homestyle restaurant set me up 
with my new crush: deep fried oreos. 
photo by silly blahgs
this week was certainly full of warm + fuzzies for both the heart + belly. but what's real funny, my valentine, is that i've come to the realization of why i have this unexplainable, unavoidable, and uncontrollable sweet-sweet shugga tooth. i was, quite possibly, manufactured at willy wonka's factory in good ol' candyland, u.s.a.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

brunch munch duo: the letter b

mango and i started our "brunch munch duo" sisterhood of the expanding pant lines back in august with our letter "a" choice of alfalfa restaurant. many months overdue, it was time for our second stop.

there were slim pickin's for letter "b" breakfast/brunch places. of course, there was always bob evans or burger king, but we opted for joseph-beth's bronte bistro in lexington green instead. 
chai latte makes my heart par-tay
photo by silly blahgs

to offset my h-two-o intake for the day, i ordered a large chai latte. the mug was so large i almost took off my pink dansko's and jumped right in. was just goldilocks right for my hot bev craving.
oh, touché! creme brûlée french toast
photo by silly blahgs

i decided to multi-task my meal today by ordering the creme brûlée french toast. anytime i can squeeze in both a meal and dessert at once, well, that's the choice for me.

and a mighty good choice it was. after the first bite, my eyes blew up big time like the kit-cat clock. muy, muy tasty, and muy, muy sweet. who needs syrup? mango made note that it must be pretty sweet for MOI to say i didn't need syrup. that, my friend, is muy, muy true.

our waitress stopped by later and asked if we wanted any dessert. mango passed, and i pointed out that i already had mine, and waitress agreed. but, i added under my breath, i could still be convinced. unfortunately, she didn't hear me. although i was satisfiedly full, i felt slightly emptied in that the peach cobbler i saw on the menu board would not be mine. 

they say what the heart wants, the heart wants. and in my case, the belly wants too. it's almost valentine's, so fret not my dearest heart and belly, i suspect cupid's arrow will strike some sweetness your way soon.