Happy 300!

Posts that is. It's been a long and silly three hundred posts around these parts. I've hosted giveaways. I've met some lovely ladies. I've learned a *lot* about wedding planning and what it means to be a mommy (I can't help but read "mommy blogs!"). In honor of reaching 300, I thought I would update my 101 goals in 1001 days post. Here's a quick glimpse at things I've accomplished so far or things that are in progress.

Bold: Completed
Italics: In progress

Personal:

1. Graduate with my Master’s: In progress. Five classes to go.

5. Pay off my car {One crappy Dodge Neon paid off.}

6. Upgrade my car {One Dodge Caliber financed}

9. Have date nights with my boy at least once a month: We are pretty consistent and usually go out at least once a week.

10. Have girl’s nights every month: Again, usually consistent. I try to see the girls for happy hour once a week.

11. Have a job I love: I'd say this is in progress.

12. Get a raise {I started a new job in April '10}

13. Get a promotion {Technically, it's a promotion}

18. Join Swap-bot and participate in 5 swaps {Love Swap-Bot! I've actually completed 100 swaps in just eight months!}

20. With the last one, keep an updated address book with actual physical addresses: Since I've been wedding planning, I've been asking people for their address so I can start collecting.

26. Organize the office into something inspirational and beautiful: All my stuff has its place. I wouldn't say it's "beautiful," but it's progress.

27. Get married: We set the date for February 19, 2011. Looks like this is on track. ;)

28. Find something to do with that dresser of mine that I refuse to part with {Going to move it to another room and swap it for something smaller}

30. Get a pedicure: A hot pink one at that.

47. Only go out for lunch at the most twice a week (bring healthy lunches to work)

53. Take a road trip

54. Go deep sea fishing: Twice. Once in the Keys and once in Clearwater. I puked only once.

58. Go cave tubing in Belize: If my honeymoon planning goes right, we will hit Belize on one of the stops!

89. Have a well stocked bar in the house: As said in the previous post, I can turn one of the rooms into a bar!

91. Go to a minor league baseball game: Done twice now. Once we could bring the pup!

92. Buy something from ETSY: I purchsed from Leen Machine and totally scored with My Belle Boutique. I suggest following her on Facebook. She has comment games ALL the time. I purchased three pairs of earrings, a pearl bracelet, a headband and a personalized washer necklace for a shockingly low price by "winning" her comment games. By winning, you get her products at a discounted rate.

How have your 101 in 1001 been coming along? Any milestones? I'd love to try to keep each other in check. The one section of my list NOT going so well is the fitness section. Oy.

Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes: Win a Weekend Stay!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hampton Hotels. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you’ve been reading my blog for any specific amount of time, you would know that I crave a getaway every now and then. Living in Florida it can be easy to spend the weekend at the beach or even drive a few hours…to another city on the ocean. I consider myself to be lucky, but there are a *ton* of places that I haven’t been to that aren’t in Florida.

Hampton Hotels has a daily giveaway where you can enter to win a free weekend stay at any of their hotels. How sweet is that? Here’s how to enter: Visit the Hampton Hotel Chain of Friends website. All you have to enter is your name, address, phone number and email. It was a very simple process and you can either select to receive special offers from Hampton Hotels or not.

The grand prize is an *entire hotel* for a weekend! The winner would receive 100 rooms for two nights. Anyone getting married? How awesome would that be for your guests to enjoy? Or, how about planning a legendary birthday party in a quaint city for you and 100 of your closest friends? Traveling with friends is so fun and a necessary part of my life! The first prize for 100 lucky winners is a weekend stay for the winner and three friends (these are given away daily).

If I were to win, I would pile in a car (okay, maybe airplane!) with some of my friends and my fiancé and head to New York City! There’s a Hampton in Times Square (actually two of them), and I’m pretty sure I would love to see the City at Christmas time. Ever since Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Ok, I know that’s cheesy but it’s the truth!), I have wanted to see New York City in the winter. Being that I’m a Florida girl and have never seen snow, I’m pretty sure New York City is on my list of places to go.



Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes

{miscellany monday: another week}

What a weekend. To say that I was busy would be an understatement. I had an amazing weekend--one that really reminds me what a good fiance' I have and what awesome friends I keep. Let's talk about what's been going on...

{one} Thursday night we spontaneously decided to see a minor league baseball team in our town. It was "Irish Night" and we were able to snack on shepherd's pie and enjoy $1 drinks. For those of you that say I "win everything..." well, I won a Guinness dart board. It's steel tip and is perfect in our den. The boy has given me permission to turn that room into a bar and get rid of the extra couch. Hooray!


{two} Friday night we saw a free concert downtown and stalked a wedding DJ. I had been communicating with him and he annouced on his Facebook his whereabouts... turns out he was a few blocks away! We went there for a drink and I liked what I saw & heard. Definitely fun people and while I didn't get to stay long, if we do decide to hire them I will be very pleased.

{three} The girls came over on Saturday and we crashed a bachelor party. I was a little weird about it at first, but a group of guy friends were out at a beach bar and it sounded fun. It was REALLY fun and the guys were being ridiculous. Not all guys go to strip clubs on their bachelor parties... I can attest to that! While these guys were a little out of hand as far as slamming those shots back, they were well behaved.

{four} I received an adorable print from Leen Machine on ETSY! I did a giveaway with them last week, and I fell in love with the peg people print. It was simple & adorable. It just might find its way onto one of the tables at the reception.

{five} This is actually important. I bought my dress. Yes, *the* dress. I ended up going back to the first dress I tried on...but with Spanx on. The dress was amazingly hot and I feel very Hollywood Glam in it. Shape wear made a total difference in how the dress fit and looked. I didn't realize before how important that was the first time trying things on. Here's a peek. It has ruffles! =) But, the best part about the dress was it's price. It's almost so low that I'm embarrassed to share!

{also} Florida is having a rainy summer. I couldn't even SEE last Friday when I was driving home. Don't worry, I was stopped... because I obviously couldn't drive through this!

Nature Valley National Parks Giveaway Winner!

Lots of y'all were super interested in the Nature Valley prize pack! =) I hope to make one of your days... let's see who the winner is!

And, just to recap, the winner receives a Nature Valley pack that includes a cute backpack, compass, light, travel book, and water bottle!

There were *79* entries and random.org selected #22 as the winner...which is...

Marie!

Congrats girly and thanks for playing!

Leen Machine ETSY stationary Giveaway Winner!

I'm glad you ladies loved an ETSY stationary giveaway. I love supporting independent artists and hope that you all learned of a pretty sweet shop. =)

On to the winner! The winner of stationary from Leen Machine is...

Lucky #22 which is Michele! Congrats lady! Enjoy whatever you pick!

Top 2 Tuesday: Splurges

Top 2 Splurges

It's Tuesday and I have nothing to say except I like to spend money. I like to spend money on things that aren't really tangible. Sure, I'll splurge every now and then on clothes or vacations, but I find myself cleaning out my bank account for things such as bar tabs and concerts. Since I'm no longer twenty-one hitting the bars for ladies nights and $1 drinks, my bar tabs have considerably increased. Either way, I definitely live for the weekend and I wouldn't have it any other way! With further adieu, my *top two splurges.*

1. Parties & Bar Tabs

Sometimes I drink at home.


Sometimes I don't.

Sometimes I rent pink Hummer limos to celebrate.

Sometimes I just want everyone to have a *good* time!

2. Concerts

Yes, I paid an ungodly amount of money to get these pictures.

And, yes, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

{miscellany monday: academia}

Oh. Joy. School's back in session. Since I work at a university, the first week of classes is not only crucial to me academically... but professionally too. Things are different this fall. New position, new major, new office. I'm hoping that school year will be my *last* and that I can keep up this 4.0 GPA. Graduate School, you are the death of me... sigh. Today's Monday musings will be all school related.

{1} Planners. I need one. I want this.

It's Lilly & there's fishies. I love it.

{2} My classes this semester are Psychology in Education & Current Trends in Educational Technology. I think I'll be able to tackle these successfully. I love my technology classes.

{3} I am so ready to load up my closet with new work clothes. Being that I live in Florida, we don't really have a need for fall fashion. It's summer or winter for us here. Neiman Marcus made a list of "fall trends" for 2010, so let's see how they'll fit into my fall fashion plans.

• Green [oh yes, this is my *favorite* color]
  
• Military influences [Um, probably not]
  
• The pant suit [I've been known to wear these already]
  
• Capes, ponchos and vests [That's a negative on the cape and poncho. Vests are another story.]
  
• Fur [No way!]
  
• Lace [Yes please!]
  
• Feathers [Absolutely. I've been loving feathers lately.]
  
• A wardrobe of boots [Maaaaybe. But, like I said, it is Florida. We wear flip flops year round]
  
• The structured handbag [I love handbags of all shapes & sizes!)
  
• Pearls [Can't go wrong with these!]
  

Moving on.... first time that I'm linking up with these lovely ladies.



*Favorite 80s flick?
Back to the Future & Sixteen Candles. My favorite 80s movie that isn't from the 80s is the Wedding Singer!

*One genre of music needs to be banned. Which genre?
I wouldn't ban anything. I honestly listen to *everything.*

*All time favorite candy?
Reese's, Peanut Butter M & Ms

*How 'flawed' is your driving record?
Besides some pesky parking tickets, it's squeaky clean. ::knockonwood::

*What was high school mascot?
Eagles.

*What color socks are you wearing?
Nada. Wearing heels.





There's a Blog Hop going on & you're invited! Thanks for picking me Jessie!

*Bonus: My Leigh Ashley is hosting a giveaway for personalized stationary from Bella Luce. I'm definitely in need of save the dates and/or invitations for that whole wedding thing I'm having. I hope I win! (Well, you can enter too, of course ;) )

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 30

Day 30 – Your favorite song at this time last year

This time last year... this time last year was August 2009...we went to Key West. I was in classes. I don't really remember what my *favorite* song was. Let's see...I had to google songs that came out in August 2009 to get a better idea.

First off, anything Lady Gaga. I mean, I still like her... but last year her CD was on repeat.



Also, Cascada & Akon/David Guetta! I told you I like dance music...

Original Post with Rules & Button here:

30 Day Song Challenge

WE DID IT! Who followed along during this challenge? Trust me, I'm not offended if after a while you skipped over them. However, maybe you heard some good songs or saw things you hadn't seen in a while. I did get a lot of comments about Nicky Minaj! I hope a lot of you check her out. I was so pleased so many of you participated... and to celebrate this... I'm going to see who completed this and put your name in a drawing for some musically related prize. iTunes gift card? Random envelope stuffed with music related goodies? Only time will tell what lies in this surprise giveaway! ;)

Highlights of the 30 Day Song Challenge:
The Post With The Most Comments: Day 2 | I Hate Katy Perry
The First Post: Day 1 | My Favorite Songs
Possible First Dance Song: Day 15 | Jack Johnson
Trey Songz & Nicky Minaj: Day 17 | Bottoms Up!
Possible Garter Toss Song: Day 23 | Save Ferris

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 29

Day 29 – A song from your childhood

Too easy. I still listen to most of the music I liked when I was a kid. When I was in third grade, I bought my first CD with my "own" money from Target. It was Green Day's "Dookie."

I pretty much liked whatever music was played on the popular music channels when I was young. No Doubt, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson... you know, the usual stuff. I remember really *loving* this next song. I even recorded it to cassette!

But, my all time favorite singer growing up was probably Mariah Carey.



I mean, I still love her.

Original Post with Rules & Button here:

30 Day Song Challenge

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 28

Day 28 – A song that makes you feel guilty

Guilty for what? Guilty for drinking too many shots and puking in the bathroom at the club? Guilty for dancing like a fool on stage? Oh, the party girl days. Didn't we all have them? These songs definitely remind me of those days and all those bar tabs I rang up. Oh, hi credit cards... I may have maxed you out by supporting my double tall Grey Goose & Red Bull habit when I was 21. Yikes!

My all time favorite club song was this:

I'll never forget those reggaeton days...

And my techno phase.... (well, not really a "phase," I still enjoy dance music)

Original Post with Rules & Button here:

30 Day Song Challenge

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 26 & 27

Day 26 – A song that you can play on an instrument

Absolutely nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. No bueno. Since I don't have an answer for this... let's move on to day 27!

Day 27 – A song that you wish you could play

The first person that came to mind was Jewel. Guitar...piano...I've liked Jewel for a long time. I don't listen to her obsessively or anything, but I do really appreciate and enjoy her. I'd love to be able to play the piano or guitar. I don't have time or energy to actually *do* so, and I've never considered myself musically inclined. It's just a thought...

Original Post with Rules & Button here:

30 Day Song Challenge

Just Thursday.

Just Thursday!

Ummmm... so you should totally link up. She's bribing us this week. ;)

The time is... just about 4:00 p.m.
Today I feel... exceptionally bored, hopeful for the upcoming school year, and excited to start hammering out these wedding plans.
I am thinking... about paying for my tuition. Yikes.
At the moment, I am thankful... that my job will cover a portion of my graduate courses.
I am going... home in one hour.
I am wearing... simple work clothes.
I wish... that I was home.
I am reading... It's Not Me, It's You by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. It's pretty hilarious so far.
I am working on... work related things. Obviously! ;)
I am hoping... the traffic isn't so awful this evening.
I am hearing... complete silence. It's kind of nice.
I bet you didn't know... that my favorite soda is Cherry Coke Zero.
One of my favorite... things to do is wake up early on the weekends and go to zumba!
My weekend plans include... [see above!] I also hope to squeeze in some beach time and catching up with friends.

{Weekend Recap A Week Too Late}

Don't you hate that? You have such a crazy amazing weekend and forget to document for the world you to remember?! Well, last weekend was a whirlwind of activities. The boy turned the big 3-0. I can't believe it. I mean, I don't think thirty is old by any means... but 30 is kind of a monumental birthday! I wanted to make it special, and I hope that I was successful.

For his big day, he wanted to wake up early and go deep sea fishing. So, we woke up early and went deep sea fishing. Everyone was drinking by 8 a.m. and catching fish by 9 a.m.

See... I can fish. Kind of. I couldn't keep this one because it was too small.

Coming back to shore

Cooler full of fish

After that fishing excursion (which included several members of the party getting sea sick and giving the fishies some "treats" overboard...myself included!), I hit the mall for party supplies and the rest of his birthday gift. When we got to the bar, we were pleased to see one of the beers was named for the guest of honor! Lucky number 17.

My guy had actually "earned" this keg by filling up five punch cards. You get a punch for every beer you drink on the "rail." There are 40 beers on the rail... do the math... and you'll see he has drank at least 200 beers of all varieties. I'm currently still working on my third card.

So, what were these party supplies I bought?

Kazoos. Pirate Hats.

Pop Rocks.

Bubbles.

Never underestimate the power of your local party store. It seemed that everyone was entertained with these kiddie toys. :)

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend & week... and now it's time to look forward to the upcoming weekend. Any big plans?