Sunday, August 28, 2011

Every Day I'm Husslin'

So, I monogram, I sew, I craft and now, I photograph. I'm hoping one day one of my hussles will pay off...until then, at least I'm having fun! Here are some pictures I took this week of a good friend's son and niece. I will say it was a lot harder than I had anticipated, but overall, I think the pictures turned out nicely (and really captured the Miles and Baylie's personalities.

Baylie and her pretty blue eyes, she was seriously the prettiest little girl (and a total ham for the camera!)



PCB 2032! WOOO!



Photographing two toddlers is a lot harder than it looks!





You could open a present, or stand on it, whatevs











Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Rule #1-When an Earthquake Strikes...

Do as much online shopping as you possibly can, especially if a Lilly sale coincides with the potential rapture.

Yes, I was in the middle of an earthquake. well, maybe not in the middle, more like on the southern half of an earthquake, but it was a quake non the less (I can call it a "quake" because I am a survivor). At approx 1:55 p.m. EST, I was sitting at my desk, doing some nonchalant online shopping, when I felt my desk begin swaying back and forth.
Said desk, post earthquake swaying.

Convinced someone was jacking with me (Because people sure love to jack with Steffy BadNews) I stood up and said in a demanding tone "WHO IS SHAKING MY DESK".

Well, it turns out God was shaking my desk. I quickly apologized to God, asked him to please save the rapture until my Lilly purchases come in and sat back down to continue my work/online shopping/fantasy football draft research. Its bad enough I accused my wonderful co-workers of shaking my desk when it was, in fact, an act of God...no sense in drawing more attention to myself. (PS-I thought I was going to hurl...I've got a very sensitive inner ear)

Anywho, on to the important stuff...what did I buy during this most fabulous Lilly sale/possible rapture?


Murfee Scarf, Itam Apricot


Jillie Dress, Jewel Green (For MerMer's wedding)


Josie Tunic


Janine Top (Had to get it in Pink, they were sold smack out of everything else...but I like pink, so its ok)

Commence oooohhhs and aaaaahhhhs. On another note, we are not broadcasting this recent purchase to Husband. I had to hustle hard to make this dough and I'm not going to let the ole' ball and chain make me feel bad for wanting to be pretty.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Miss Me?!

I know you did, all 3 of you. This weekend has been full of excitement and adventure with no signs of slowing down! I spent the better portion of the week researching and shopping for a new rug for the living room and, honestly, I was starting to get discouraged. Everything I saw that I liked was either 1.) more than I wanted to spend or 2.) not the right size. It appeared that I would have to suck it up and spend more money than I wanted to, or buy sight unseen (and I wasn't going to buy something that I had never seen or felt...so the latter was out of the question).

So I did what any good Southern Woman would do, I took off work and I shopped. I shopped until my feet went numb. It was awesome! First up, Tuesday Morning. I've never paid much attention to their rug selection, but I know they have them, and a lot of them, on the cheap, so I figured, why not?

Tuesday Morning had this beaut, it was the right size, though I probably wouldn't pick the brown border. It was also sisal and while I wasn't originally opposed to sisal, I thought it was incredibly rough and scratchy. It was $159, but out of the question.


Tuesday Morning also has a full sized Santa, if anyone is interested.

Next up was Ballard's Backroom and all I can say is, "What rock have I been living under??!!" Ballard's Backroom is the Ballard's Design outlet and they have a TON of scratch and dent and discontinued stuff-This week all of their slipcovers were 90% off, outdoor patio stuff was 50% off (one woman bought an 11 foot outdoor umbrella for 49 including tax!!) and their rugs were 30% off. I was a woman on a mission so I headed straight to the rug section. At first, all I could find were sisal rugs (even at Ballard's, they were really scratchy) and a couple of seagrass rugs (which I liked, but they all had red borders...which I wasn't 100% sold on). Slightly deflated, I pondered just buying the scratchy rug, because, you know, maybe it would get less scratchy as it aged. Just then, a Ballards employee came up to me and said, "You know, if you are thinking about that rug, might I suggest looking at this one over here? It's much softer".


And he rolled it out...(this one was 6x9)

And I walked on it...

Sold.

So here is the living room before (well, kind of before, I was so excited I started rolling the old rug up before I took a picture to so everyone)



And after: (I purchased the 8x10)


Total cost, $162, including tax. I love my new rug..I think it makes the room look so much nicer!






Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Dog In Mini Blinds

Hah. Someone was searching "Dog In Mini Blinds" and somehow got referred to my blog. Don't ask me why that cracks me up, but it does.


At first i thought this was a dog, but then i realized it was a kitty cat. An oversized kitty cat, if you will. Speaking of oversized cats, meet my nephew, Forrest.
Forrest is the sweetest kitty you'll ever meet, but he's a big boy. I was trying to get him to roll over, which he isn't quite able to do right now. But we're working on it.





Yep, I'd say that's definitely a dog in mini blinds.


Dang, I got caught.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Picking a Rug is Driving me Crazy!

If you had talked to me a mere 24 hours ago, I would have told you that I had decided on our new living room rug. I had decided on an 8x10 jute rug I found on Overstock.com

8x10 Jute Rug at Overstock.com




It's a good price at $170.99, the right size, pratically free shipping and has pretty good reviews. After hours of googling, it was the closest to what I think I wanted, in the price range I was willing to pay. But 200 bones is still a lot to drop on something you haven't seen in person, and honestly, the only thing more confusing than calculating derivatives is figuring out natural fiber rugs.

Jute? Sisal? Mountain Grass? Seagrass? Jute-chenille blend? Faux sisal? I feel like I'm in college all over again, where I slepted thru or skipped all my classes and show up for the final exam without a clue as to how to use derivatives to calculate a production demand chart. True Story.

I stumbled upon this explaination at Pure Style Home Jute vs. Sisal vs. Seagrass which does a pretty good job of explaining the difference between all the "natural" rug options...it helped me decide that I probably need to stick with my original jute idea (since sisal tends to stain more easily and seagrass can be smelly, which I would never hear the end of from Husband if I bought a smelly rug) but it also opened up a WHOLE NEW can of natural fiberous worms.



Guess how many rug patterns there are? Hundreds of MILLIONS.


(Basketweave, probably my favorite, I think)


(Boucle, this one seems to be the most popular)


(The manufacturer calls this one "Rivera")

Seriously, folks, this is just a drop in the natural fiber rug bucket. There is diamond weave, herringbone, braided, small boucle, large boucle...for a lover of linens like myself, you would think I would be in textile heaven!

It's like when I was a kid and we'd go to wal-mart, and daddy would say, "pick one toy" and I would just sit there, paralyzed with the fear that I would pick the wrong toy...There was this baby doll that, when you bought it, you didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. I cried in wal-mart for an hour because I was terrified I would pick the wrong one and get stuck with a boy baby! (Now a days, I'd give anything for a little boy, not that girls are bad, but I think with the proper grooming, my son will be a professional athlete)

So, here I sit, paralyzed with fear that I will choose the wrong rug. Those that know me, know I generally don't get worked up about such purchases (Who else buys three wedding dresses? Me. thats who. But husband won't let me buy three rugs now that its "shared money") but this whole rug thing has me in a down right tizzy.

Will she bite the bullet and buy a dang rug already? Or will she continue to waiver finally explode out of sheer frustration? Will Marlena ever escape the grasp of the evil Stefano Dimera? Like sands through the hourglass, so too, are the days of our lives.

Friday, August 12, 2011

I Can Hardly Contain the Excitement!



Ok, I didn't pee myself (I checked), but I am probably this excited right now. I can hardly contain myself. I just squealed and got a really peculiar look from all of my co-workers. suck it.

First, found out a good friend is expecting. I am so happy for her that I can't even find the words. And I always find the words. Maybe my feelings can best be explained in song. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart! Where? Down in my heart! Where? DOWN IN MY HEART! Yes, I just broke out in old school VBS song. What then?

Secondly, today is the Lilly Pulitzer sale on Rue La La. Lilly sales on Rue La La is better than Christmas for Steffy BadNews. And I got paid today, DOUBLE CHRISTMAS. The sale starts in t-minus 38 minutes and I am READY. Its Go Time!(I am so hopeful they have the Janine top, I've been wanting this shirt ALL SEASON!)

Other good news of note:
-My friend Meggers had her baby yesterday and I can't wait to meet her! Steffy BadNews loves babies, y'all.
-I am going to the PGA Championship tomorrow and will have the opportunity to profess my undying love to one, Mr. Adam Scott. HEY BOYFRIEND!


You would probably be excited too if your life was this awesome!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Enough.

Last night, after hydrating my fruitless garden, I noticed I was itching.

I looked closer and noticed my knees had welts/bumps and was super red. This could only mean one thing...dun dun duuuuunn.



Poison Ivy.

When I told Husband I thought I had gotten into some poison ivy, he made me shower immediately. Which is probably why the rash is not bad. Or I might just not be allergic to poison ivy (I don't know if thats even possible). Deathly allergic to wasps, not even slightly allergic to posion ivy?

When I was a young'un (thats what you call kids in south georgia) I talked my friend Missy into rubbing poison ivy all over herself while I did the same. This was our plot to get out of having to go to school the next day. (Genius, I know!) It worked for Missy, she was out of school for a week with a horrible rash from head to toe...she even had it in her mouth! I, on the other hand, was at school, without so much as a hint of a tingle of a reaction to the supposedly poisonous plant. So either I got into some faulty ivy or I'm not allergic.

Weird.

So, I've decided that the only logical place that I could have been exposed to poison ivy is in the backyard. This means the time has come to do some botanical demolition to the backyard, because god forbid my li' princess get into this stuff! Break out the bobcats, its on like donkey kong.

Whatever, Whatever, I do What I Want!


Good ole' Cartman. This episode of South Park is one of my favs...probably because I use to love to watch Maury. Don't judge.

There was one point in my life when I pranced around singing "I do what I want! I do what I want!"; I had a gypsy spirit, spontaneous and always ready for an adventure.

Lately, I feel like my weekends have been designated for everyone else. Seriously, I am 100% booked until November 4th (and that only includes ONE football game). I'm not complaining because if I didn't want to do something, I wouldn't commit to it, but it would be nice to just have some free time and not have to schedule it. You know, to just be like "Wow, it's Saturday afternoon and I don't have anything to do! Let me call ____________ and see if they want to go shopping!" or "Wow, today would be a good day for the pool, I think I'll go!". I guess this is just one of the drawbacks of being super popular and awesome. Le Sigh.

On a side note, I signed up for a photography class on Monday nights! My homie from highschool teaches at this photography school near my house, so I decided now would be a good time to figure out how to use my Canon DSLR. Now would probably also be a good time to get a bag for it, too. But, one thing at a time, people, one thing at a time.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Proof That God Loves Us.

There is some ridiculous quote that people use to justify drinking an obnoxious amount of beer. This quote is incorrect, Ben Franklin was actually referring to wine (Helloooo Oyster Bay)--
"We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. The miracle in question was only performed to hasten the operation, under circumstances of present necessity, which required it."


But I am really getting off the subject, which unfortunately I tend to do a LOT. The real reason for this post is I am trying to start the day with a good attitude. I was a total pill yesterday, which I blame partially on my lack of Diet Coke (which was a choice. Apparently Diet Coke causes infertility, miscarriage, cancer, obesity, tooth decay, liver failure and depression...or something like that) and hormones. Steffy BadNews is PMS'in yall.

Since a good attitude depends in large part (for me at least) on a good breakfast and a rockin' outfit, I pulled out the big guns.

Yes, kids, that's a toaster strudel. Toasted to strudel perfection and iced with a delicious glaze that has been known to end world wars and cure cancer. Folks, this here IS the proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Frat House to Family Home?

My little piece of heaven is an 1950's ranch house on a cul-de-sac in Brookhaven. I love it. We have the most fabulous neighbors that I would trade for absolutely nothing (well, I might trade one of them for a range rover..but I won't say who). Husband bought it in 2008 when he was still Boyfriend, and it required a strip down, build up renovation. Husband kept me involved because, lets be honest, I have an eye for color. But, there were a few items that were either kept or purchased that I will just say are not my fav. #1-The red rug. Now I dont have any issues with red rugs, but this one sheds worse than Greta Belle. And Greta sheds. A LOT. So on my list of purchases to make is a jute rug...but that's not what this post is about.


Now, I apologize in advance for these pictures, these were all taken with my handy, dandy iPhone, herein referred to as "PC", or Pre-Canon".

Our first big purchase was this puppy right here.I got a ton of flack from my married with children friends who told me this was about as stupid a purchase as they come. After all, who buys a white couch? Well, for the record, it is not white, it is "natural" AND its slipcovered, so unlike all the "smart folks" out there who did not buy a "white couch", mine can be washed. This couch required a bit of arm twisting on my part, Husband was hell bent on a khaki couch, which we could have gotten, but the wait time was 8-10 weeks and Husband has a problem with delayed gratification. I assured him we could purchase slip covers later (They just discontinued the couch, so now we can't unless we custom make them, but I haven't told husband yet)


I fell in love with this fabric at Hancock Fabrics back in April and just HAD TO HAVE IT. I thought it was perfect for accent pillows-it goes nicely with the natural color of the couch AND gives Husband the pop of Khaki he's been craving.

Side Note:Have you ever made a mistake that turned out to be pure genius? This fabric was that genius moment for me. It turns out, the fabric is for outdoor use...its softer than most outdoor fabric I've felt, but its durable, water resistant, fade resistant, mold/mildew resistant...it's basically Greta AND kidproof. I highly recommend outdoor fabric for indoor uses.

So then, I decide that I need another statement piece to tie in with my accent pillows, cue the project chair. She's a beaut, ain't she?
I found this chair at an estate sale in Tucker. Though, no one died, this most fabulous man with impeccible taste had sold his home and was selling everything (because he loves projects and wanted to start fresh). I snagged this Drexel chair for $35. It needed to be reupholstered and I needed a project.


All I need now is a new rug (jute) and for the frat couch to mysteriously vanish into thin air. Or burn. You know, whatevs.


Sunday, August 7, 2011

Revamped Kitchen!

Many moons ago, I made a roman shade for the side door in our kitchen. It was lopsided...it was ugly. I didn't take a picture of it, because honestly I was just too embarassed. Husband loved it, don't ask me why. I decided this weekend was the weekend that I would finally redo it. I followed a tutorial I found on pintrest and it was surprisingly easy....

For instructions easy no-sew diy roman shade.



The thing about a roman shade is, it has to be perfect. Pefectly square, straight edges, the rings have to be attached at the just perfect, correct spot...or chaos. Really, I could spend hours trying to make a roman shade from scratch and it would still be lopsided and not work. However, if you use a set of vinyl mini blinds as your template, it takes out a lot of the chance for error. My total investment on this project? Less than $8 (Mini blinds were $3.99 at Lowes, Fabric was 4.99/yard and I used about a half a yard)

Here was my inspiration:


I measured out my fabric, on the ground, since that's the only relatively large, flat surface in my house. I think I spent more time getting dog hair off the fabric as I did actually making the roman shade.
Greta is Mommy's good little helper.

Here is the finished product. Husband HATES it, he says the fabric is very 70's. I think it's different and adds a little pizzaz to a somewhat boring kitchen.

I thought if I added a valance, it would tie the room together...and Husband would see my vision...
Nope, Husband still hates it. I'm going to leave it up though, in protest. You see Husband has this ugly couch that I've been asking him to get rid of...so I'll take down my 70's disco decorations when he gets rid of the smelly frat house couch (which can be seen in the above picture of Greta).

Friday, August 5, 2011

Good Mood!

My co-workers know when I'm in a good mood...I do my pagent routine, which is so good, if i were competing in a universal royalty pagent against eden wood, I would take home the ultimate grand supreme (plus a 10,000 cash price and a princess bed).

I've got a beautiful face and I really show my personality on stage. I don't even need a flipper. BOOM.

Anywho, I was doing my rockin' 80's outfit of choice routine (shoot a star, shoot a star, kissy face, kissy face, rollin on the river, rollin on the river, nod head, nod head, wink!) which means, Steffy BadNews must be in a rockin mood. This means one of two things-there is an all new 16 and pregnant on TV tonight or....



JURY DUTY! Sure it's my civic duty, it's also a chance to be a part of a mystery that needs solving! I'll get to know something you don't! AND I AM PUMPED!


A lot of people around me are big old debby downers. They say, "You wont get picked because your huuuusssbaaannnd is an aaatttooouuurrrrnnnneeeyyy". Husband says I talk way too much to make it through voir dire, I say, I can be quiet when i want to. So, my new motto is "If I talk, I walk, If I have nothing to say, I stay". I can do this!


So here is my multi-step plan for getting on a jury:

1.) Be quiet, but not cold.

2.) Don't dress too nice, but don't dress like a homeless person. No name brands, I don't want to look like a conservative suburbanite (because lawyers don't like cobb county venues).

3.) Watch my body language, I will sit up tall, open, but not too open.

4.) No Jokes. Civic Duty is not a joke. I won't laugh at any potential witness, defendant, etc. even if he looks like this:

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

What I Love...Right Now!!

Just like last week, I am copying Amanda's Blog

with a list of all the things I love on this wonderfully warm Wednesday.

For starters, I am so thankful that the NFL lockout has ended. While I am still not 100% sure why I should care about the players collective bargaining rights, I am glad owners and players have made peace. Because this means its on like donkey kong for fantasy football. And Heaven knows Steffy BadNews LOVES fantasy football.

Oh, hey there cowboy. Won't be making the mistake of wasting my first round pick on you again...bet those Ravens are feeling the same way.



Oh, hi Payton! Wanna be my boyfriend? No? How about my starting quarterback? Only if you're up to it...of course.


Speaking of football, today marks the 1 month until...BULLDOG FOOTBALL! Steffy BadNews LOVES GEORGIA FOOTBALL!
Isaiah Crowell is a BOSS! Fo'Shizzle.
This will be an interesting year for my Dawgs, but I think interesting is good. Aaron Murray has some starts under his belt, we have a good class of freshman and the best coach in the whole wide world. For the record, I am, have always been, and will continue to be, Team Richt.
That man is all class, I tell ya, all class.

And just so this isn't a 100% football dominated post, my other love...

Pandora Radio. I am so thankful I finally decided to download the app on my phone-It has been a lifesaver! I am so over hearing the same song over and over on the radio..or worse, having to listen to people talk about the same thing over and over! I can jump back and forth between country, 80's pop, or, if I'm feeling really crazy...Jethro Tull (and his magical flute) station or Drive by Truckers station! It's like an all you can eat buffet of music! Jethro Tull and his magical flute-not for the faint of heart.


Lastly, I love it when I get called Miss Stephanie, especially by folks much older than me. It makes me feel like a boss and so very, very southern.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Well, that's one way to start a morning.

**UPDATE** I have decided that you cannot fully understand the forest I had to walk thru without pictures. so scroll down to the bottom!!

This week has been and will continue to be one of those weeks you are anxious for to be over. Probably because this weekend I will make my television debut/have nothing planned except quality pool time..which is something I am looking forward to! (yes i know, bad taste, end sentence with a preposition. blah. sue me-I know a great lawyer).

Preface:I do LOVE my job!

Every 10-12 weeks you are required to work "the late shift" or 10am-7pm. There are a number of reasons why the late shift should be coveted, but I hate it. Sure, I don't have to be at work until 10 a.m., which should mean sleeping in...and it probably means sleeping in for everyone who doesn't have a spouse whose alarm clock goes off at 5:30, but it doesn't mean sleeping in for me (because I have said spouse whose alarm clock goes off at 5:30, then every 10 minutes until 6:20 when he gets up).

So I get to work and there is not.one.friggin.parking.spot. I mean, I kid you not, we have a parking deck for my company and hundreds of parking spots, and every single spot was gone. What does this mean for me? Well, I am glad you asked. It means I have to park in an adjacent companys lot, trapse through the weeds and mud (because it did rain yesterday) and probably get my car broken in to by the thugs up here in Johns Creek. (There aren't any thugs, there are some perverts, which I shall blog about later. you.will.die.)

Now, I am no prissy britches. I have been known to tinkle in the wilderness (back in my dirt road days) and I've once worn deer urine as perfume, but there is a line in the sand for me...I am not walking on unpaved surfaces in my Tory Burch Revas. No. Flippin. Way. Luckily, the one person who can give me the authority to park where ever I please is a woman. She saw the look of fear and desperation in my eyes when I told her "but they're Tory Burch! I just CANT!"...and she let me park in the loading dock (with the understanding that I would be on standby if I needed to move my car).

Parking has ALWAYS been an issue at my office-We are the corporate headquarters for an international company...as the company grows, employee numbers grow and parking becomes a premium. So I have a few choices-I can 1.)attempt to get a handicapable parking tag, 2.) Carpool , or 3.) Become a tractor bigshot and then I can just park where ever I want (and they do, like, really random places, the bigshots just park. like, I would have parked in a space, but my mercedes just couldnt make it there).


A view from the uninhabited lot I was forced to park in this morning. This is where they expected me to park yesterday, but I said "No way, not this gal". You can't even see the building! It's a magnolia jungle!

I parked next to the jag, because I felt like if a car was going to get jacked or broken in to in Johns Creek, it'd be the jag. So if some suburban thug is like, "Man, I'm going to jack this 2004 slightly rusted infiniti..." when they saw the jag they'd be like "nevermind, I'll take the jag". I'm a genius, I know.

Today, knowing I would likely have to park in the deserted lot, I came to work prepared. Yep, I have terribly ugly feet. I get it from my daddy. But do you see how tall the grass is? and wet? I don't think Tory would like it if I took her out in these sort of conditions.