Hitting the High Note

Before you sigh and pass on by, I promise this is not going to be yet another post reminiscing of my Tina Turner performance at Emily's wedding (and at Starz, and at Twist & Shout, and at the place over by MudTown, and at...oh nevermind). No, instead this is going to be a post about music in general. (When I typed "general," it first came out "genereal" and made me laugh out loud...just thought it might make you laugh too...if you would like to leave now I understand...no? really? ok, then I will proceed.)


I have said time and again that I feel like life should come with a soundtrack. Am I alone in this?  Have you ever been gearing up for that major presentation, a long run (not that I would know, but I figure some of you out there might), or some other obstacle and the perfect song comes on the radio and you think "I can do this!"  For me, it makes all the difference in the world.  I try to listen to music as much as possible and I find myself embarrassingly so singing along to whatever song is playing in my head.  Don't be mistaken, that sentence is not supposed to read "on my iPod." I meant "in my head," because yes I beebop along to music that isn't even playing out loud.  It can make for a very awkward elevator ride. I prefer to refer to this as "imaginative" while some of you may prefer to think "crazy." Moving on.


I'll pretend like you understand where I am coming from. So instead of just giving you a recap of where I have been for oh, the last  ::cough cough::  THREE months, I thought I would provide pictures with an appropriate soundtrack :).  I've been just a tiny bit busy, so be prepared for A LOT of pictures...


"After Midnight" by Eric Clapton

Do I look tired in this picture? I should. I was awake in Vegas at 4 a.m. Yes, that's 6 a.m. CST and I had been awake for about 23 hours. Can you wake up in Vegas if you never actually go to sleep?

"No Air" by Jordin Sparks

I chose this song for obvious reasons. "How can I breathe with no air?" as Jordin Sparks would say. I mean don't get me wrong, of course the King gets me a little flustered, but I'm unable to breathe for more materialistic reasons...such as the material in my skirt....cutting.off.circulation...

"Other Side" by Rebelution

There are so many California-ish songs that could work for this picture but this song was just our theme song for the weekend.  Thank you thank you thank you to our California family :-). Forget San Francisco, I left my heart in San Diego. Actually I really love San Francisco too.  Ok, ok, so I left my heart in California...there.

"Billionaire" by Travie McCoy

She may not be one yet but she will be one day! That's 15-year-old professional golfer Lexi Thompson at the Navistar LPGA Classic. She's already sponsored by Red Bull and Puma/Cobra.  And she is incredibly talented too. That nugget in the corner is me doing my job :-). I had the pleasure of hanging out all week in this gorgeous weather and working with the greatest people in the business. We simply just had fun. Jealous?

"New York State of Mind" by Billy Joel

This girl came back for such a great football game.  She's kicking butt in NYC and I LOVE to visit her.  I also love when she visits us, which she so happened to do during the greatest game this season so far: Auburn vs. LSU which brings me to my next picture--

"All I Do is Win" by DJ Khaled

This one is pretty self-explanatory.  War Damn Eagle!

"Out Last Night" by Kenny Chesney

Tunica on Halloween + watching Auburn beat Ole Miss in Oxford = good times.  I'm pretty sure the lovely ladies of the Gold Strike did their Halloween costume shopping at Victoria Secret...or somewhere even more revealing.

"Walkin' in Memphis" by Marc Cohn

Our little trip home from Tunica took a slight detour toward the home of the King himself..Graceland.  As I said before, Elvis does make my heart go pitter patter.  I had not visited Graceland since I was maybe 5 years old.  It was a treat of unbelievable proportions. I love too many Elvis songs to sum up the trip with just one.

So this is where I am right at this point.  Sorry for the long update and hopefully I will be back sooner this time. Thanks for sticking with me!

Spinning

If you thought this post was going to be about my new found love of exercising, you were.....wrong (she says dejectedly as she ponders over whether the last NuttyButty has been eaten).


No. Instead this is going to be a congratulations letter to the E! network.


Dear E!,


Congratulations!  You have successfully created a show that personally knocks my professional welfare.  Not only is "SPINdustry" a miserable representation of my profession as a whole, but I'm personally offended that you've chosen a main character who constantly looks confused & possibly lethargic regardless of his current emotion, and I've only seen the preview.  Not ok, E!. 


Also, who gave you permission to be excited all the time anyway? The ! after your name makes it quite difficult to pronounce without excitement. 


Back to the point. I don't know what is more depressing.  The fact that you have produced such a horrific show, or that I will most likely become hooked on the series. It is, afterall, a Kardashian "spin" off.  (to those reading my blog -- thank you for being my friend despite your better instincts)


Signed,


E!-liz


P.S. I love your friend Chelsea Lately.

Injustice

You think I'm referring to the fact that I completely skipped the entire month of July? Ha! No, no, no...um, please forgive me for that. But what I am actually referring to is a couple of instances that have recently left me a bit perturbed, peeved, pi.........you see where I'm going with this.


Now let me preface this by saying I have never particularly considered myself a feminist by any stretch, however I do appreciate my independence and the fact I can vote, work, buy things, etc. I hesitate in saying "own" as in "own my own home" or "own my own car" because at this point, let's be honest the only way I could end that phrase would be to say "own my own...socks." Not nearly as impressive, anyway I digress. I know there are women out there that own things much more substantial than socks, I'm just not quite there yet.


Ok, got distracted, back to the original point.


Instance #1


I was under the impression that men had gotten over the "women aren't as good as we are" thing, and while the majority are, I ran into 2 in particular that have not quite turned that corner. The first instance happened when I was getting my car serviced for the very first time. I explained that I had a little bit of trouble with the brakes and that I had a mysterious squeak that tended to not only happen when I was stopping but when I accelerated as well. All was good when I left my car. I went to pick it up the next day with no trouble, except that, according to my service representative (he who shall not be named, but we will call him Maury) said that they tried and tried and tried to find the squeak and **surprise** it couldn't be found.


Is this some kind of conspiracy by all cars? Performance anxiety? Because I feel like this happens to everyone.


Anyway, Maury offered to let me go take a little ride around with the service technician, not to be confused with the service representative. The service technician, a huge fan of BMX and not of Saved by the Bell because I highly doubt he was born in time to know what that is, told me to circle the block to see if I could "make it do it."


Goodie.


So we take off and I launch into constant meaningless chatter because it's what I tend to do in awkward situations all the while knowing that my car is not going to cooperate and make the annoyingly squeakiness that grates on my nerves. So amidst my nervous chatter, technician boy decides to speak.


"I told the Maury that I couldn't find the squeak and I drove and drove and drove it around and couldn't make it do it. So we thought it might work for you," he said.


"Oh yeah, well just because I'm trying to make it squeak probably means it won't," I say trying not to look as stupid as I feel.


He THEN says what I still can't wrap my head around..."Yeah well Maury said that since I couldn't make it do it the first go 'round, that maybe I should go and try and drive it like a girl....."


Homeboy continues on like he hasn't just shocked me into oblivion. He caught on though when he saw my gaping open mouth and my dagger-shooting eyes.


"What does THAT mean?" I ask.


"uh....wellll...uhhhhh I guess it means slow to start and quick to stop."


Yeah -- we didn't talk much after that. And hey Maury, my car still squeaks.


Instance #2


The second instance happened in the clubhouse after playing a round of golf at Callaway Gardens. I was vacationing with boyfriend's fam and we'd been enjoying the most beautiful day and fantastic round of golf. But needless to say at the end of the round, we were HUN-gry. The group behind us came into the clubhouse shortly after we did...unfortunately. Despite the fact that we suspect they might have stolen one of boyfriend's clubs (that's another story for another time) these guys were just beyond obnoxious in every sense of the word. They were probably in their 50s-60s and each of them oozed their own unique brand of disrespect.


On this particular day, the World Cup Finals were on...only one of the most exciting events in the world during the year, much less on that day. Well these guys, without any reverence for those around them, started belligerently demanding that the TVs be changed to another sporting event.


Even after the rest of us expressed interest in the World Cup Game, they still didn't get the hint. They flagged down their sweet sweet 20-something waitress who had more patience than Ghandi and demanded that she change the TV. She responded politely saying that it was very difficult to change the TVs and that they were usually meant to stay on the predetermined channels.


What was this HoBos response?


"Oh that's ok, honey, you're a blonde."


Whoa.


Back up.


I thought boyfriend's mom and I were going to come out of our chair's and give him a swift tongue-lashing. We didn't. But we came thiisss close. I did shoot daggers at him as well though.


Somehow this sweet waitress kept her composure and professionally just smirked and said, "well I'm not a natural blonde anyway."


I wouldn't have had that kind of patience. Not one bit. My response might've been something more like "At least I can change my hair color but you can't change the fact that you're a dumba--"...oh nevermind :-).


That is all for now - but I plan to be back soon

Supper Club - Done

This evening I hosted supper club for the very first time in my new apartment.  I so stealthily worked my turn into being the week before the 4th of July because I just love a good theme :-). I am sure it comes as a huge shock to everyone (or maybe the 2 of you reading this) that I enjoy throwing a party.  I love everything that goes into it.  And I especially love setting a table. Who cares if the food tastes good right?  At least the setting looks delicious.  That was to be my motto. But I think that the food turned out alright as well...I hope.  I didn't really notice just how OCD my planning was until I later looked at my instruction list that I had written...it included a portion that read "take chicken out of fridge."  Really? I couldn't figure that part out.  Probably not.


I did discover some delicious beverages at World Market that fit into my summery theme quite nicely.  You'll see them in the last pictures.  You can't really see the one in the brown holder, but it's called sparkling lemonade.  It's non-alcoholic and probably is the most refreshing drink for summer.  We also mixed it with sweet tea which turned out nicely.  I'm sure it would also mix well with other alcohols if you prefer.  For the alcoholic side of things, try Olde Savannah sweet tea. Some of you might have tried Firefly, which is delicious but also expensive.  This is a a much cheaper version at $6.99 per bottle.  It's also good on the rocks with lemon or mixed with the sparkling lemonade in the previous mention. 


The sunflowers were from Whole Foods. They are so gigantic that they don't even look real, but I added the little red buds for a some extra color.   So here is my feeble first attempt at doing something domestic.

Summer Distractions

Over the past couple of weeks, nearly everything that came my way, I would think **blog post!!** and then for some reason it would never materialize into what I wanted it to be.  For some reason, I could not physically bring myself to sit in front of my computer and write.  But today is a new day and this post, a new post. 


Some of you may be wondering what in the world I have been filling my time with since I have absolutely NOT been at my computer.  Well here is a little catch-up--


1) Went to the beach for a solid week.  As soon as I got there, I waddled myself right down to the beautiful sandy white beach (that only those who have ever experience Gulf of Mexico beaches can truly comprehend - and now it's ruined but I've bummed out enough people about that recently) and I plopped my little safe right down....and literally hardly moved--only to eat and flip over. 


On the very first day, I managed to scorch myself. I suppose I didnt truly understand that having a job would so drastically affect my tan.  Usually at this point I have some kind of base...not this go-round. As you can see in the picture below my flesh looks like it is on fire. 

Yes it was painful. Yes it was stupid. Yes it happened in a matter of 2 hours while I was waiting for Bo and Dad to bring back my coveted, ever-so-snobby, "No Oil" Coppertone SPF 15. Yes I was STILL peeling 3 weeks later. Ok, enough of that.


2) Continuing to decorate the apartment...and last week I made an exciting purchase! Anyone who has been within a 5 mile radius of me as of later knows about this.  My white chargers!!!!! They are from Pier One and I'm obsessed! Voila..pictures....

3) Courtney and I made our maiden voyage to Pepper Place! We are now planning to try and go every Saturday morning however I'm pretty sure that I am going to melt from the heat. But it's worth it.


4) Amy came to visit and we saw ZAC BROWN BAND! They were well worth the $20 tickets (amphitheater tickets compliments of ticketmaster.com), and I would recommend that if they come near you anytime soon, to please go and see them live.


5)Chopped off my hair!  Yippee!


I know it was a weak post but that should bring you up to speed.  I'm hosting supper club so that should be an interesting post if you know anything about me and my domestic capabilities. The temptations of summer make it very difficult to write on a regular basis but I will do my best.  See you soon!

Updated - 24

So, I know that I have been on a hiatus from the blog world, but I actually have decently good reason to do so.  After Em's wedding, a lot of events have transpired, and in true EHard form, I am going to ramble in order to catch you all up to speed.


I went to my first Baron's game of the year a couple of weeks ago, and of course indulged in my FAVORITE summertime ritual of a ballpark hot dog and half price beer.  

We were enjoying the 8th inning, and by that I mean we were enjoying talking to all the people around us while being completely oblivious to the game, when we were unexpectedly interrupted.  You know when people around you start yelling heads up and looking toward the sky...you know it's not a good situation.  Of course our row went into immediate defense position: hands on head, ducking and trying to shrink into the bleachers.  And of course our little friend on the end of the row, Sweet Cay, was the lucky one that got pinged in the hand....at least it wasn't a direct shot to the head.  This night also led to my roommate and I switching apartments...but that's another story.  

Sidenote: Isn't my roommate the cutest thing ever?  Love her!

Next on the agenda...I had to get my car serviced.  My car and I have bonded and I definitely enjoy its sporty little demeanor.  I assumed that when I took it for my first service I would probably drive a rental car that was similar to it.  I learned quickly to not make assumptions.  


"The only keys we have are for a Dodge Ram 4X4 pickup...."


I couldn't help but laugh and neither could my trusty little Enterprise representative. My only response was that I didn't think that I physically could drive that truck.  He says "Why not?"


"I don't know.  You tell me," I say.  "Does it come with booster seats?"


He said he would see what he could do...and he found this:

I'm 90% sure that this was the service technician's truck because they didn't trust me with the 4X4.  This fiery little number came complete with hints of cigarette smoke suppressed by evergreen air freshener, which was completed by my coincidentally raspy voice I acquired during allergy season...just call me Gert.


So last week, I spent 9 days working in Mobile at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic.  I am pretty sure the shortest day was still around 12 hours, but, not to be cheesy or anything, it's true when you are doing something you really enjoy, the time flies by.  It also doesn't hurt that I already work with an extremely fun group of people.  On top of that, I had the pleasure of meeting a few new people from LPGA that were just a joy to be around. During the week, I edited around 150 Flip videos, took 100s of pictures and drove the coolest New York Times reporter to the Pensacola Airport...and I loved every minute of it.  We Southerners introduced a couple of unsuspecting visitors to Chick-Fil-A and Banana pudding.


I should also mention that my birthday fell in the middle of the week in Mobile.  And let me tell you, I am going to always start having my birthday out of town.  That way, you can celebrate for a week!  First I celebrated with family before I left for Mobile....German Chocolate cake (my favorite growing up).


Then, I celebrated in Mobile....vanilla Birthday cake (a new favorite) that was simply heaven on Earth, and everyone I saw that day wished me a happy birthday, some multiple times.  I also had a delicious dinner at Dreamland and great music and conversation at Royal Street Tavern.





PLUS, the hotel had chocolates and cheeses sent to my room and my sweet parents had a beautiful bouquet delivered. I must also say an enormous thank you to everyone who remembered to call/text/facebook/etc. me on my birthday.  I really felt so loved. 


As if that were not enough, once I got home I was surprised by a long table of friends waiting to wish me a Happy Birthday at Cocina Superior (favorite restaurant)...strawberry cake from Edgars (ahhhhhh glory...Bham favorite).  Thank you thank you to Bo and Caroline for coordinating.  You two are wonderful!  I wouldn't have wanted it any other way, seeing all of your faces was the best present.  

And for some reason, the valet took a picture of himself... hello?

Another sweet coworker decorated my cubicle while I was gone!  I'm planning to ride this as long as possible.  No the banner has not yet come down. 

Thank you all for the extended celebration!  I most certainly did not deserve all of this and I can't say thank you enough.


To end this post, I tried working out today...let's just say the elliptical machine won.  I'm quite certain I won't be walking gracefully tomorrow.  

Wedding Wishes & Tina Turner Dreams

So, my Maid of Honor duties are officially over and I must say, it's kind of like the let down after Christmas.  I SO looked forward to last weekend and I was spoiled by having so many people that I loved all in one spot.  It just doesn't happen anymore.  Because I am not quite ready to let the weekend go (even though it was three days ago), I've decided to relive the entire thing here!


The rehearsal was magnificent, complete with hilarious & heartfelt speeches and phenomenal food.  Ansley stayed with me the weekend!  Apparently I missed the color memo...

The storms were beginning to roll in at this point.  Definite cloud coverage, but Em wasn't letting a few rainy skies dampen her excitement for the weekend and I was SO proud of her.  I can't say that everyone (or me for that matter) would have been that cool and collected.  


Wedding day was a whirlwind...in more ways than one.  We had a gorgeous and delicious bridesmaid brunch the morning of the wedding eloquently presented by Emily's Aunts and relatives.  As gracious as our hosts were, the weather was not so...and our power went out.  Honestly, maybe I am (as one of my professor's said last year) a "frigging ray of sunshine," but I thought the brunch by candle light was magnificent! It added a unique and intimate touch.  Emily so generously gave us our jewelry to be worn during the ceremony...nothing less than beautifully delicate earrings. 

From the brunch, Caroline Ans and I ran home, grabbed our stuff and quickly made it back to MtnBrook to be the Bride's chauffeur, a task we were glad to master.  The entire day seemed like deleted scenes from Father of the Bride.  We took Em to have her hair did and boy was it a treat.  Sister Liz (aka cast member of Hairspray) was also there to have her hair done.

Emily was also being lifted and so we decided to celebrate the gravity-defying volume with a mimosa...

or two...

We finally made it to the Birmingham Country Club where we made some final touches and Emily put on her STUNNING wedding dress.

After months and months of planning, everything looked gorgeous.  

The ceremony was perfect and thank goodness, I made it up and down the stairs without even a stumble.  Everything was perfectly timed and ceremoniously beautiful.  Especially the bride!  We had pockets in our dresses, and I asked Em if she would mind if I took my camera with me down the aisle...she said it might not be best.  Oh well, I guess we will have to leave it to Bryan Johnson to capture those photos. 


The reception was SO incredibly fun!  The entire wedding party stayed together for picture's sake and because the couple had a private dinner upon arrival to the reception, that meant we went into a holding room where innocent passersby would've seen a troop of bridesmaids pounce on a plate of chicken fingers like it was their last meal on Earth.

Little shout out... LOVED seeing Mrs. Tatum, Dr. Novara, Mrs. Kyle, Ms. Germany, Ms. Fetz and Ms.Bronczek!  Yay for Out-of-Towners!  All of you keep looking better and better.  I was especially sad to see this particular part of the weekend go :-(.  And I was SO happy Mom & Dad were there too!

And another part I was sad to see go....the band...Big Swing and the Ballroom Blasters.


Yes, miracle of all miracles....one of my dreams came true.  Emily had the most amazing band, complete with 5 singers and a horn section.  And so, when I heard those trusty three chords repeat, I could feel the stage beckoning to me (bare with me on the dramatic...this is a milestone people).  I believe I may have been a little too open about my love for Tina Turner's rendition of "Proud Mary", because as the band tuned up, I had multiple people (ahem...Beno, Sarah and BO) pointing to me and yelling at the band that "this is HER song!" No in fact it is not my song however much I would love to lay claim to that fact. The lead singer, in her blindingly metallic silver dress and stiletto shoes, does the unthinkable...she beckons me on stage.  She gets me to dance with her, and before I know it, I have the mic in my hands.  Just for the record she did practically force the mic into my hands...nevermind that if she hadn't, I would have knocked her right off those shiny stilettos and ripped that mic  out of her grip, even if she was like a foot taller than me. Because of Emily...I lived out my dream and did my best (take that with a grain of salt...bare in mind that I am not singer...at all) Tina Turner impression.  For a little clip of this delightful memory that enables me to die happily...visit Cay's blog! I believe this will allow me to go on a Tina hiatus for a while.  When your boyfriend can actually start a sentence with "Of all the times I've seen you do that...," you know it's time to go into retirement for a bit.

At the end of the night we sent Em and Jim away in a beautiful, vintage powder blue Mercedes.

The entire weekend was a blast and I can't believe it's already over!  I was so happy to be your MOH!  You're a wonderful friend and I love you so much!

I say we do it again in the fall.. oh wait! We will, at Erin's Wedding on November 20!  Exciting!!!!