End of an era...

I am officially a buyer AND FINALLY seller of a home!

My condo OFFICIALLY SOLD on Friday! And we actually didn't have to take any money to closing, and in fact MADE a whooping $280 on the deal.

Thanks for all your well-wishes and prayers, my friends!

Five Truths...

Truth #5: I heart most anything with a bow, especially headbands... I picked up this little beauty at American Eagle today!

Truth #4: I'm terrible at wishing / sending out birthday / anniversary / happy graduation / wedding / thank you notes. I'm just saying.

Truth #3: I really need to go to the grocery store tonight to jump start my diet tomorrow... but I already have my comfy clothes on and it's not looking good... guess it'll be Lean Cuisines tomorrow...

Truth #2: Sean & I and my BFF Dana & David are going to see the Zac Brown Band this coming Friday and I'm SUPER PUMPED about wearing my cowboy boots & cute blue dress!

Truth #1: I went out shopping today for workout attire for boot camp... while I did buy 2 new sports bras (Adidas ones at that, on sale for $20! YAY me!) and 2 pairs of workout / yoga pants, I also bought above said headband, bathing suit cover up, black maxi dress, and the Proactiv starter kit. Oops, my bad.

Tomorrow...

I'll go ahead and apologize in advance but in the next, oh 6 weeks or so, I'm going to be talking a lot about my boot camp experience / diet / attempt to change a few aspects of my life. The girls from work AND my friend Meagan + Nicole are doing the boot camp, so I'm super pumped that we are all doing this together. I am excited about the challenge, and I'm really looking forward to seeing results. I am determined to make a change! Can't wait to tell you ALL about it!

30...

I'm really pumped about our first 'all girl' family beach trip coming up next month! For a long time I was the only girl in the family, as I have a brother and 2 male cousins. Now that we are all hitched there are lots of ladies in the fam... including my cousin Jamie's sweet new addition, Amelia!

So myself, my sis-in-law, momma, auntie, and 2 cousin-in-laws I guess you would call them, are headed to the beach for a long weekend the weekend of my 30th birthday! I'm happy to spend my birthday weekend with these lovely ladies!

However, I am coming home on Saturday so as to enjoy my big 3-0 in style! I have talked about doing an 80's themed skate party, but I'm not sure if I can pull that together before the 21st. Turning 30 is somewhat of a big deal to me and I really want to have a birthday party... stay tuned for more details!

Any ideas... send them my way!

I bought this bathing suit at Macy's last week before my beach trip... hopefully after boot camp I'll actually look... well, resemble something similar to this? Maybe? Hopefully? Ok, I know, not even close, but let's just hope that I'm at least comfortable taking off my cover-up when I'm at the beach next month... I don't want to be "that girl".

Black shoes...

I am on the hunt for some new black summer dress shoes. The ones I wear ALL the time have had it, or so I noticed last week when I actually dressed up for work and was sitting next to Pattie who always has her shiz together, even though she was wearing tights in May, I'm just saying...

I really want to find some peep-toe wedges like these little beauties (which I found on Google images and is no longer available... damage).

Any suggestions on where to look? Or if you run across some cute ones holla at your girl!

Me, camping?

So there's about an 80% chance that the hubs + I are going camping with Ernie & Meagan this weekend. Considering the fact that I call staying at a Sleep or Comfort Inn camping, I'm a little nervous. I'm all about the outdoors, it's cool, but sleeping outside? Really? Ok, ok, I'll try it... the hiking and waterfall part sounded really cool... pray for me!

Me: 'it's such a great night for a walk'...

Hubby: 'mmm hmmm'...

...neither one of us moved off the couch...

It should be said that we ate WAY too much Bill's Pizza for dinner. And now I want some cereal. Is that bad? Thank goodness boot camp starts on Monday!

King George

As if I didn't love George Strait enough Jamie Foxx is KILLING 'You Look So Good In Love'!! Love.It.

Taylor Swift doing 'Run' made me tear up... just a little. Love.her.

This past Friday, the 22nd, marks the 1 year anniversary of Sean proposing to me. I can't believe in 3 short months we will have been married a whole entire year!?!? Time sure does fly when you're having fun, huh? I have said this before, and I'll say it again, he is, without a doubt, the best thing that has EVER happened to me!

I was searching some old sent emails the other day and ran across this one that I sent out to all my friends and family this time last year...

So, I have some happy news for you guys... Sean PROPOSED to me last night!!!!!!!! I'm still completely in shock, and can't believe this journey I'm about to go on with my best friend!! It's unbelievable!!

He should probably win an Academy Award or something for maintaining his composure, he never let on that he was up to something... it was a complete and total surprise!!

We went to the Blind Tiger, which is where we had our first kiss, to see a friend of his band play (or so I thought...). While we were sitting at the bar, just after the band began to play, he started unbuttoning his shirt. I was like, 'are you hot? What are you doing?'. He said he was going to take his undershirt off, because he was hot. So at that point I'm still not thinking much about it... until I look down and he has "Marry Me" written on his shirt!??!?!?!? All I could say was, 'what does your shirt say'... 'what does your shirt say'... over and over, 'what does your shirt say'... and he said, 'will you'? Of course, I said "YES" and it was the most unbelievable moment of my life!!! It was perfect, and it was the epitome of 'us' and everything I thought it would be!!!
I am so excited and wanted to share this happy, happy news with my friends!!! I'm attaching some pictures too!!
I love you all very much!!

Mel

Also, Happy 2 year Wedding Anniversary to Krit! I hope you + Bart had a lovely anniversary weekend!!

Sunburn...

Dang it, I got sunburned yesterday.

Oh well... at least I remembered to take my sunglasses off so I wouldn't have raccoon eyes. I stayed under the umbrella most of today.

Boot Camp...

Don't feel guilty about everything you've eaten this weekend... don't feel guilty about everything you've eaten this weekend... don't feel guilty...

I'm taking a boot camp at Gold's Gym with some girls from work starting on June 1st. 6 weeks... 3 days a week... hopefully I'll be able to drop at least 20 lbs before our next beach trip in July. At least that's my goal... and no, I don't feel guilty for the crabcakes, hashbrown casserole, shrimp, salmon, fettucini... AGGGHHHH... that I've eaten this weekend. No. I. Don't.

Remember when Robert Pattinson was Cedric Diggory in "Harry Potter"?

Being Edward Cullen is so good...

Cutie pie...

I've talked about my friend Meredith on my blog before... meet her precious little bundle of joy, Weston! Isn't he the freakin cutest thing you've ever seen!?!?! I think so too!

Read her blog about entering this pic into WKZL's contest.

Y'all know I rag on Miss Miley a lot... 2 things about this picture:

#1... DANG she has a killer body.

#2... hard to believe she is only 16... I didn't look anything like that when I was 16... wait, I definitely had those boobs when I was 16... no, you're right, I had those boobs when I was 13... thanks mom... ok, right again, I didn't have anything close to those boobs, but boobs I did have!

UPDATE: my condo...

I'm supposed to close on my condo either Thursday or Friday of this week. We received the inspection requests Thursday of last week, and spent all day on Saturday trying to fulfill the new buyer's requests (I even got a battle wound on my toe... pictures to come).

We fixed and repaired almost everything they asked, and I'm hoping that 'almost everything' will be enough. We are already taking a loss on the sale (I'm getting almost $10k less than my original asking price), and I sort of want to scream, "look dude, you buy it AS IS and that's it", but I don't want to scare him off.

So please say a little prayer for us that he will still go through with the purchase. We are really counting on it selling and feel like it's a step in the right direction as far as things go for us in the future. I will keep you posted on the outcome...

I'm BAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKK!!!!

Guess who's back... back again... Mel's back... tell a friend!!!!

So I've been a super slack blogger for the last 2 weeks. I pretty much have not had a life of my own since March. Work, work, and more work...

Counting down the hours, minutes, & seconds until Wednesday at 5:00... I'm OFF until the next Tuesday... HOORAY!! Even taking off Thursday and Friday of this week, I still have 58.5 hours of comp time to use... lovely.

Miss you already...

For me, tomorrow begins a 2 week stretch of constant working. May is one of my busiest months at work... I think last year Meredith and I worked something like 16 or 18 days straight. Sean is finishing his last day of school tonight, HOORAY! But I am sitting here already thinking about how much I'm going to miss him while I'm gone.

Is that cheesy? I don't care. I never thought I could be so lucky to have someone who loves me as much as he does. He makes me laugh and smile, even when I'm super pissed about work or because I'm fat and can't fit into any of my clothes... he always tells me he loves me (and if you know our story, "I love you" is not something we said until about 2 months before we got engaged... it's really special)... he always lets me eat the cheesiest bites, the middle brownie and the butteriest (yes, I know that is not a real word) part of the bread... he loves me unconditionally. Wow. That's a really good feeling.

I love you, babe and I can't wait to see Jason Isbell in Charlotte with you next Thursday! I will be counting down the days... and hours... and minutes... and seconds until I get to spend uninterrupted time with you and only you!

Track travel...

I think the hottest I've ever been in my entire life was in Darlington last May for the race... here's this weekend's forcast...

Friday
90° high
69° low

Saturday
90° high
67° low

Awesome.

Fat...

I just ate this...



but I really want this...



I am SO not happy with myself right now. I have GOT to lose weight, and I mean with a quickness. I cannot fit into ANY of my clothes, it's ridiculous. And to add insult to injury I'm traveling to Kansas City next week for work and we are having an event at Tiffany & Co... attire: cocktail... great, I will look like a beached whale in my dress, I'm sure. Hate.it. That boot camp at Gold's Gym that I'm taking with the girls from work couldn't come quicker...

May 5th...

Happy Cinco de Mayo, peeps!

Momma....

I'm five years old, it's getting cold, I've got my big coat on
I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you, I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides, look now, the sky is gold
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall
But I know you're not scared of anything at all
Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away
But I know I had the best day with you today

I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends could be so mean
I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys
And we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away
And we talk and window shop 'til I've forgotten all their names

I don't know who I'm gonna talk to now at school
But I know I'm laughing on the car ride home with you
Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel okay
But I know I had the best day with you today

I have an excellent father, his strength is making me stronger
God smiles on my little brother, inside and out, he's better than I am
I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run
And I had the best days with you

There is a video I found from back when I was three
You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me
It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs
And Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world

And now I know why the all the trees change in the fall
I know you were on my side even when I was wrong
And I love you for giving me your eyes
For staying back and watching me shine
And I didn't know if you knew, so I'm takin' this chance to say
That I had the best day with you today

"The Best Day" Taylor Swift

... This song makes me wanna hug my momma's neck and tell her over and over again how much I love her and how thankful I am that I'm her daughter. In honor of the upcoming Mother's Day holiday... I love you so much, momma, and every day with you is 'the best day'!

Is it wrong for me to want Rachel McAdams to only be with Ryan Gosling??

Bags, bags, bags...

So my friend Meagan told me last week about a special place in Greensboro, I guess, that was having a MEGA sale on cutesy little bags! I am a sucker for things with polka dots, stripes, monograms, etc... so I just knew I had to go there! It's called Creative Containers and it's a wholesale business that has a sale once or twice a year to get rid of additional or over stock product.

I pull up to said store and seriously couldn't believe my eyes... cars lined the street outside of this teeny tiny store. I knew it was going to be a madhouse, but I never expected to see tons and tons of women with tons and tons of bags drapped over their arms. I wanted to say, "look ladies, there are plenty of cutesy bags in here for us all", but no, they weren't having it. Most of them were polite when I said "excuse me" to get to another aisle, but some of them looked like they were going to jump me if I happened to pick up the pink + zebra bag with the "M" on it... if you know me you know I can't stand animal print. It was quite a crazy experience, I must say!

I ended up walking out of the store with only a few items, but I'm glad I went. There were TONS of cute things and they were all super cheap. I wanted to call all of my pregnant friends and say, "get out here while you can", but the sale ends today. I think they do another one in the Fall, I'll keep you posted. I wanted to buy all the cute baby bags, and art work for baby's room, and baby this and baby that... *sigh*....