Fill in the Blank Friday

Today, I am linking up with Lauren from the little things we do for a fill in the blank friday post.  Hope you enjoy! 

1. The best thing to do on a hot day is  head to the beach early {so you get good parking} and stay all day with a good book or magazine, a cold drink, good friends and lots of sunscreen  .

 

 

2. The best place to be on a hot day is  Blue Springs when there was still a spring there.  It was the best place to swim on a hot summer day because the water was so cold.  I'm hoping and praying that our natural spring will one day run again    .

3. The best thing to eat on a hot day is cold watermelon {I've really been on a watermelon kick lately}...or having cookout food, like a hotdog with cheese on it {right, Shelby?} and key-lime pie  .

 

4. Hot days are my fav.  They make me wish I were at the beach {I may have been listening to a little Jimmy Buffet earlier today} or on summer vacation.  If I'm inside, I'm grumpy because our little box air-conditioning unit doesn't keep the house very cool.

5. My go to uniform on a warm summer day is a cotton skirt, my new orange tank top and rainbows {with painted toe nails, of course}... and a pair of stud earrings.

 

 

6. The scent that reminds me of summer is  Confederate jasmine...heavenly   .

 

7. My favorite thing about summer is the longer daylight hours.  It makes it easier to fit in fun activities with friends after work   .

 

 

What are your favorite things to do in the Summer?

Random Ramblings 005

01::  Hubs and I have been staying up way too late every night watching the Olympics, and we're pretty sad that it's over.  I loved watching the games with him and being amazed at how fast and skilled these athletes are.  It's been inspiring to watch Mo Farah, Missy Franklin, the Fab 5 and Kirani James {first medal for Granada!} win the gold. It kills me when they show the athletes' parents cheering for their kids.  And has anyone else noticed how good the commercials are?

02:: Apparently the Olympics inspired Mike and me to start running again.  Tuesdays, Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays we run 2-3 miles after work {in the hot, hot sun}. Glad to have exercise in our lives again.  Hubs gave me a Timex sports watch for our anniversary so that I can keep track of my running times - it totally motivates me to push myself on our runs.   

03::  I am loving this new basecoat called "Sticky" from CND.  My friend Paige suggested I get some after complaining that my nails were chipping the day after I painted them.  Seriously, this stuff works.  It keeps nail polish on my nails for a week plus!

04::  I've been thinking about taking a break from facebook or completely disabling my account. What do you think? I think it's more of a time-waster for me these days than anything else.  At the same time, it would be hard since we are far away from so many friends and family, and I love being able to see their pictures and updates.

05::  We bought a new dresser {well, new to us} last Sunday night.  I was so proud of hubs.  He was spontaneous with me and jumped in the car after seeing a post on Craig's List.  Now, I'm itching to redecorate our bedroom.  I'm sure I'll post more details about it soon.  :)

What was your favorite Olympic event?  I loved watching the runners, but diving was my favorite.  Since we don't have cable, Hubs was bummed because he couldn't watch the less popular sports {table tennis, kayaking, basketball}.

Hollywood Bowl

Earlier this month, our BIL gave us incredibly good tickets to the Hollywood Bowl to see Frozen Planet.  The Hollywood Bowl is a beautiful outdoor venue in the Hollywood Hills that plays concerts all summer long.  It was our first time at the Bowl, and we loved it!  We had box tickets with an incredible view.  The box has four seats that face each other before the show so that you can use fold-up tables to picnic or order dinner.  Once the show begins, ushers come by and take the tables.

We got there an hour early so that we could eat a picnic dinner - a spread of chicken salad, pimento cheese, peaches, potato balls, pita chips and lemonade.  I was a little worried at first that we would have to share our box with another couple, but {thankfully} they didn't arrive until right before the show. 

Once the sun went down, the show started!  It was amazing to hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic play the soundtrack to the BBC documentary while we watched on the screen.  It was pretty cool to see George Fenton, who wrote the entire score for the documentary, conduct the orchestra that night.  Frozen Planet is the third part of the Planet series and focused on the life and environment of the Artics.  The whole documentary is amazing, but we loved watching the penguins and a family of baby polar bears.

Hubs and I had a great time together and look forward to going back to the Bowl later this summer.  Next time, I'm sure we won't have such good seats.  :)

The Birthday Boy

Hi there!  It's me, your old friend.  I know it's been a while since I've shared anything on here.  Thankfully, life has been so good to us, and we've been busy enjoying it.


This month, in particular, we've been celebrating hubs' 30th birthday!  And, while I still feel a bit guilty about not throwing a huge birthday bash, I think we've been having a good time.  This year, hubs and I decided to celebrate each others' birthdays for the entire month.  


On hubster's actual birthday, we had a family dinner celebration.  Mike's sister, brother-in-law and niece over for homemade calzones, salad and cake {white chocolate raspberry cheesecake} from our favorite bakery.  It was fun to hang out with them and see Gracie-girl help Uncle Mike open his presents.

The next weekend we went with our friends, the Lam's, to Fosselman's for ice cream.  I had the chocolate covered strawberry, and hubs' had taro and coffee.  The taro was soooo good.

Last weekend, we went on a morning date to see The Amazing Spiderman and then for a quick lunch at Chick-fil-A.  We really miss Chick-fil-A so it was quite a treat go there- the closest one to our us is in downtown LA {a thirty minute drive without traffic}.  One of the local theaters offers half price tickets if you go to a show before noon {hence the morning date}.  It was a fun day and the movie was better than we expected {maybe it was because I'm such a big Emma Stone fan}

To round out the celebration, I took Mike to get a cupcake from Wonderland Cupcakes in Old Town Pasadena yesterday.  This guy is a two time winner of the Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. And, let me tell you, they are definitely delicioso.  

Last night, we had friends from our Life Group over for low country boil.  They had no idea what it was so it was fun to introduce them to a Southern specialty.  Then, we met some other friends to see The Dark Knight Rises.  {Are you seeing a pattern?  Apparently, we like food and movies.}  :)

Happy Birthday, Mike!  You are my favorite, favorite!  The love of my life and my best friend.  I hope that this year brings lots of new adventures. 

May Musings

Alright, I know I've been MIA lately.  I don't have any excuses...here's a quick upate.

May was fantastic - I'm sad to see it go.  It's my birthday month, which of course makes it my favorite month.  Hubs did a terrific job celebrating my birthday - all. month. long.  It was full of fun things and a few surprises.  We went to a new restaurant, The Boiling Crab, for my actual birthday.  So delish!  I'm a big fan of low country boil, and this place almost serves low country boil - as close as you can get out here.  Babe, you did a great job making this girl feel loved.

The next night, I went out with the gals from my Life Group.  My sweet friend Jessie coordinated the time for all of us to get together.  We went to this super cute place, Magnolia Lounge.  After we ate supper {the best salad ever - steak, pears, figs, blue cheese}, these ladies shared words of encouragement.  It was the best gift!  I am humbled to call these women friends.  Trust me, they know how to make me feel special and incredibly blessed.  Can't wait to do this again with them!

Recent Reads

I'm reading {listening} to a book on tape {err..mp3}, Where the River Ends by Charles Martin.   He's a Southern lit guy, and I like the way he captures the South with his words and stories.  Basically, he is Nicholas Sparks meets Pat Conroy.  Today, on the drive home, I heard this description of Southerners and it resonated with me and reminded me of my people.  It reminded me of where I came from.

"[Southerners] talk slower often stretching two syllables into five, use phrases that make little sense on the surface, dip Copenhagen and drink beer simultaneously, and have no desire to understand a New York minute.  Admittedly, college degrees are not the norm.  PhDs are few.  And while outsiders drive across the bridge and see little more than drunk rednecks, they do well to never confuse cultural difference with ignorance or stupidity. 

Beneath the twangy exterior, they value common sense, make due with less, laugh easily, and will give you the shirt off their backs.  They are the salt of the earth.  When you’re not in a hurry, pull up a chair and you will find your stomach full and that laughter has creased your face with wrinkles."

 Where the River Ends, Charles Martin

What do you think?  What words ring true to where you came from?

True Confession

I am a slob.  Let me just put it out there - I'm slobby {is that a word?}.  I pile my clothes on the floor ; I leave papers on the table and shoes by the door.  And...hub's favorite my stuff is everywhere on the bathroom counter.

I wish it weren't so, but it's true.  While I really love a clean house {it makes me feel better about life}, apparently I don't love it enough to actually so something about it.  Anyone feel me on this?  These days I blame it on our old-school apartment - no dishwasher.  {All of our clean-up time goes to hand-washing the dishes}.  If you ask anyone who has ever lived with me, they'll tell you it's true.

Before leaving work today, I had grand plans to clean the house from top to bottom because our life group from church is coming over tomorrow night.  {I mean, c'mon, I don't want them to see our dirty house}.  Well, it didn't happen.  I had a hair appointment at 7:45 tonight which meant my evening got cut in half.  I didn't get into a cleaning groove before I left, and by the time I got home I had no motivation to do it.  I guess our friends will just have to see how the Kelly's really live.  :)

Sometime a couple of weeks ago while browsing Pinterest, I found this cool calendar guide to keeping my home clean.  I love lists and tips.  I've been trying oh-so-hard to follow this guide, but haven't been 100% successful.  I'd say I've been a little better about doing the dishes at night and trying to put my clothes away {tonight I hung up 7 pairs of pants - no, they weren't all on the floor}.

Source: {Source found here} via LeAnne on Pinterest

Here's to lofty goals and {hopefully} a cleaner house.  Do you have any tricks or tips for cleaning the house?