40 days without what?

Oh that lovely Lenten season is among us yet again. A time to sacrifice, which for some means giving up a guilty pleasure, and for some means enhancing life by promising to do something good for these 40 days. This year I decided I needed both in my life. Things to nix: beer and french fries. Thing to add: praying every single day. No exceptions. 

Not that indulging in beer and french fries puts me at odds with my religion, but it will be a test of my self-control. Beer, with its convenience and low price tag during basketball season (not to mention the green kind on St. Patty's Day) will be difficult to say no to. I guess this will make my red wine habit even more ridiculous.

When dining out, I never opt for a healthier option when french fries are the standard side with a pub sandwich or burger. Don't even get me started on how much I'm going to miss dipping them in a variety of condiments. In case you're curious and didn't give up fries for Lent, Blanc Burgers has my very favorite sauce. I crave the spicy tanginess of their orange dip. OK I need to stop talking about this, it's 10am on the third day of Lent and I'm driving myself crazy writing this paragraph. 

What are you giving up, or adding, this Lent? 

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tickled

Over the past few years, pink has crept into my color wheelhouse.
I am a major neutral girl, you see. And as a redhead, pink was always one of those no-no colors (along with most any "warm" shades). So Molly Ringwald wore it and looked pretty darn good doing so, but it's just not a color I can pull off.

Although I don't wear it, pink has snuck its way into my life through other avenues. I love it on lips, nails, and purses, but I especially adore it as an accent color in decor.

How I would love to use pink.

How I actually use pink.

How do you wear/decorate/accessorize pink?
Oh, and Happy Valentine's, friends. I hope it's your best one yet.

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i love love and music

Well I do believe I just found my first favorite song of 2013.

The video is cute, too. Pretty literal, but I bet you can't help but smile while watching it. I like how it illustrates many different types of love, not just the romantical kind.
Preach, The Mowgli's. Preach.

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small fry valentine

Happy almost heart day.
These kiddos are sure to get you in the spirit, even if you are in the anti camp for this holiday. You can count me on the pro side, for the video and for Valentine's Day.

PS: If I'm going to have a ginger child someday, I want her to be just like the hilarious fur-coat-loving, leopard-wearing girlfriend in the video. I die. 

trip highlights: nashville

Or NashVegas, as some like to call it.

Stick 12 sorority sisters in any city and it's going to be a good time. But put all of us in Music City, and times aren't only good, they're downright rowdy.

This is not even close to a comprehensive city guide of Nashville, because we almost never left Broadway street. For a really amazing (although slightly dated now) post on all things Nashville, head on over here. For a few pictures of the fun the city has to offer on a girl's trip, keep on scrolling.

Now I know back here I said our only set plan was to go to Bluebird Cafe. I was so excited to tell all you Nashville show lovers about it. Turns out, our reservations were for Friday night instead of Saturday night. So we missed the Bluebird, but to be honest, it was probably for the best. When 9:30pm rolls around and you're with 11 of your best friends from 6 different states and just finished bar hopping along the main strip, it is highly likely you'd be asked to leave the famous listening bar due to volume control issues.

So instead, you could find us every night in the back of Tootsie's, usually on stage helping the bass player with his chords. We dined at some pretty delish spots, my favorites being Merchants for lunch and M for brunch. May I suggest the mimosas....

The rest of the trip was spent walking up and down Broadway, running in and out of live music bars as we pleased. I definitely did some damage in accomplishing resolution #4 that weekend. Thank you Nashville - for being so fun, so country, and so inviting to us all. We'll be back.

month in photos: january

Better late than never, right?

January 2013 was one for the books. 

It included trips to the Fiesta Bowl and Mexico.

My 27th birthday and a celebration at KC's urban winery.

A major investment purchase.

And my first experience at being unemployed.

Gotta love life's timing.

Friends for 13 years at Amigoni Urban Winery.

College girlfriends. It was gameday, can you tell by all the purple?

The look of a successful wine tasting.

Burning the midnight oil branches on the beach of San Pancho.

Taking a break from cover letter writing to enjoy the new Kate Spade book.

silence

Hey y'all. (I just came back from Tennessee, remember?) It's been a little quiet around here lately. Well OK, silent for the past week. Not just on the blog, but in my apartment too.

I've been perched at my table-turned-job-finding-command-center for hours on end everyday. Lots of research, resume editing, cover letter writing, and networking going on up in here. No TV, music, calls to Mom (maybe one or two), or any other distractions allowed. I'm taking action and continuing moving towards where ever I'm supposed to end up.

With that said, I've covered a lot of ground this week, and thinking I can start easing the blog writing back into my schedule. (I know, you just cheered yippee and put your hands in the air, didn't you?)

Cheers to the freakin' weekend, friends.