In which I explain an obsession.

I have an obsession. Maybe more like an addiction. Thankfully it isn't a vice...it is GOOGLE CALENDAR. I discovered Gmail and all its glory in 2006 and have been hooked ever since. Most people are these days...
One of the features I truly love best about the whole Gmail package is GOOGLE CALENDAR. I am somewhat obsessed with dates/times/planning, so the calendar is right up my weird little alley. One of the best things about being a GOOGLE CALENDAR addict is that I can easily look back to circa 2007 and see what exactly I was doing on any given day in the past. To me, that is the definition of awesome. And what better way to recap my 2009 than to take a gander at my GOOGLE CALENDAR?!

January 2009: First real month in my new position at work. Lots of events. My Uncle Ted came to visit. My granddad passed away :(
February 2009: Went up to Maryland for my Granddad's funeral and got to see a lot my extended family (sad occasion, but SO NICE to see everyone!!). Brian took me on a surprise V-Day trip to the Homestead.

March 2009: Went to Nashville for a fabulous bachelorette party for my bff Dawn. Got approved for a home lone and started house hunting.
April 2009: Strawberry Hill Races and lots and lots of work.

May 2009: Dawn's wedding. CLOSED ON OUR HOUSE!!

June 2009: Mom and Dad came to visit the new house. Got settled in.
July 2009: Trip to NJ/Philly for 4th of July. Trip to DC to visit more bffs.
August 2009: Week long vacay in OBX
September 2009: I turned 25!

October 2009: Major work-age. Discover my stomach hates me. Halloween awesomeness.
November 2009: Back to OBX for T-Giving.
December 2009: Trip to NC, PA, and back to VA. Two glorious weeks of vacation.

And just for kicks...what was my 2008 like?! Things were much different back then and thankfully I have my GOOGLE CALENDAR to tell me exactly what my life was like.

January 2008: I worked on two events for work and was babysitting part time to earn some more moolah.
February 2008: Brian and I went on a "romantic" trip to a scary isolated (but nice) cabin in the mountains of VA.

March 2008: One of my first visits up to PA to meet Brian's parents and family.
April 2008: "Officially" dating Brian for 6 months.
May 2008: Out of college for ONE YEAR at this point. Move to Monument Ave with Em (joys!). Rescue Mr. Chips!!

June 2008: Back up to Philly for another round of visits with Brian's fam.
July 2008: Go to Atlantic City for 4th of July. Discover I am terrible at gambling, even the penny slots. Rescue Lil Deuce.

August 2008: Trip to Boston to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Beach trip with the fam in NC.
September 2008: I turn 24!!! Start taking classes at VCU in an attempt to figure out my life.
October 2008: Attend a wedding in PA. Celebrate our 1 year date-a-versary.

November 2008: Interview for full-time job. Get the job!! Realize the classes I am taking make me want to pull my hair out.
December 2008: Start working full-time while still doing my old job simultaneously. Have a ridiculously amazing NYE.

Stay tuned to December 2010 for a recap of my entire year. Or you can just continue to read my blog regularly...it is kinda like the super long and detailed version of my calendar. Happy New Year people!!!

Letters from Camp

I am cool; I went to summer camp for many years. Some of my fondest camp memories are from the Green River Preserve -- an outdoorsy camp in NC. When I was slightly older (15ish?), I went on a kayaking "expedition" offered by the GRP as well. It was the first year they offered the program. Basically we spent 2 weeks kayaking around the Outer Banks whilst camping on the beaches. Apparently this program still exists today.

At the time, the experience was insanely horrible. I was just a skinny little dork girl trying to paddle her way into a headwind 8 hours a day. But now, looking back, I am so glad I got to do it. Ah the memories...

But I digress. The whole purpose of this post is to share a letter I wrote to my grandparents on July 27th, 1996 (and to prove that even dorky kids aren't totally doomed). I was 11 years old and attending the GRP for a few weeks of crunchy granola fun.

Dear Grandma & Grandpa,

Camp is so much fun. The cabins are very nice and so are the people. The food (note: the two o's in 'food' have a smiley face drawn in. Gosh I was creative!) is very tasty. I have done a lot of things so far such as rock climbing, pottery, and outdoor cooking. I have met a lot of new people and gone on a lot of hikes. I've discovered things and jumped in rivers (discovered things?! What the heck was I talking about!? I am so lucky I'm not weirder today). I have seen a lot of new creatures of all shapes and sizes (ok this just sounds totally wrong). I just got back from a 2 day hike which was really fun. I miss you TONS!

Love,

Carrie

Wow I've come a long way. It really is a miracle that I didn't turn out a lot weirder than I already am. And just to prove that I totally got better with age...take a look at this GEM of a picture from my dork days. How did I not get my face punched in on a daily basis??

ALWAYS wear your elbow pads!! (and spandex)

Party like it's 2009

With the year's biggest party night just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about the most important question of the evening...what to wear. New Year's Eve is an excuse to get super dressed up and drink annoying amounts of champagne with friends. What could be better right?!

So here are a few of my Polyvore attempts at a NYE ensemble. I am IN LOVE with the gold Arden B dress and I decided to go nuts with some accessory options. Obviously I won't actually be buying most of the things below (Check out the price of the red shoes) but I love the inspiration. Thoughts?!

First up: Girlie Gold - pretty and sweet.

NYE 2009 Girlie Gold by carrie_on featuring Arden B

Items in this set:
Bow Front Sequin Tube Dress - Women's Clothing and Apparel - Chic..., $88
Ivory 'Camilla' faux fur shrug, 56 GBP
Calton Heel - Nude, Badgley Mischka, $179.99 FREE 2nd Day Shipping!, $180
Nordstrom Satin Ruffle Clutch, $88
Park avenue pearls ring, $95

Next up: Hardcore Gold - A little edgy with a dose of funk.

NYE Hardcore Gold by carrie_on featuring Pretty Polly tights

Items in this set:
Bow Front Sequin Tube Dress - Women's Clothing and Apparel - Chic..., $88
Urban Studded Bootie, $27
Landver 18ct Gold Plated Onyx Stone 'Spike' Ring, $127
ABS Allen Schwartz - 80's Rock Studded Resin Wide Bangle (Black/Gold)..., $73
Breanna's 2 Inch Textured Multi Strand Gold Hoop Earrings, $39

Here we have: Total Bling - I heart glitter.

NYE 2009 Total Bling by carrie_on featuring J Crew bags

Items in this set:
Bow Front Sequin Tube Dress - Women's Clothing and Apparel - Chic..., $88
Oasis Crochet Sequin Jacket, Grey, XS, 70 GBP
TEEZE-10G Pleaser Bordello Gold Glitter Platform Shoes, $70
for her - $50 & under - Crushed glitter minaudière - J.Crew, $50
David Yurman Pave Quatrefoil Drop Earrings

And finally: Kiss Kiss - who ya smoochin at midnight?!?!

NYE 2009 Kiss Kiss by carrie_on featuring Arden B

Items in this set:
Bow Front Sequin Tube Dress - Women's Clothing and Apparel - Chic..., $88
Red Open Pleat Mac, 60 GBP
RED SWAROVSKI PEEP TOE PUMP, $1,995
HEART LOVERS NECKLACE, 266 GBP
Bijoux Heart Gold-tone pansy ring, $117

It's snowing - everyone PANIC!!!

As I'm sure you are aware, a giant crazy insane BLIZZARD hit the east coast this weekend. OK so in reality it was more like your boring run of the mill snow "storm," but still, there was snow coming out of the sky in vast quantities. Thankfully I didn't feel the urge to go stock up on milk and bread (if I'm stuck in my house during a storm I most certainly will not be consuming milk and bread. Eww) so I managed to avoid the panic.

Yes, the panic. Weather.com predicts 10 inches or whatever and people go NUTS trying to stock up on "essentials" like milk and bread. Is it just me or are there times that I don't leave the house for days on end just out of sheer laziness?! I don't stock up on milk and bread for those occasions. Bottom line, people in the south are crazy when it comes to snow.

Brian and I had volleyball finals on Friday night and then planned to hang out with the team afterwards. Obviously a little snow was not going to keep us from celebrating with the team. After the game (We lost, tears), when we left the gym, there was already about 2 inches on the ground and it was coming down like crazy. We wiped down the car and went on our merry way to don our gay apparel for the night's festivities.

In the 1 hour that it took us to shower and get ready to head out for the night, another 2-3 inches had accumulated. Being the smart cookies that we are, we called a cab and hoped that the cabbie would be a good snow driver. Turns out he was, and we made it the 1.5 miles to Monument Ave quite safely.

The group ended up at Bandito's (for 80s night - whoo hoo!) and we felt like we had our own private 80s snow party. Thanks to the new no-smoking-in-bars-without-a-ventilated-space-for-non-smokers laws (and the fact that we were all dressed like crazy people), we had the whole ventilated dance floor room to ourselves.

I'd Hit That. (the name of our Vball Team)

We danced like it was nobody's business and had a grand ole time. And all the while mother nature was just POURING down snow. In the end Brian and I managed to get a cab home (thank the good LORD we didn't have to walk) and we ended up snowed in for the entire weekend.

One of our main goals this weekend was to see what would happen when we put the cats out in the snow. Would they play in it? Would they panic? Would they eat it? The possibilities seemed endless. And what else is there to do when you can't leave snow prison? (Besides play Wii, watch movies, make delicious corn chowder, and drink wine?!)

The results of our cat experiment were quite interesting. Deuce had no idea what was going on, and didn't care that there was snow on the ground. He just wanted to be outside and would pay any price to do so. He ran out the door and straight into a deep pile of snow and kind of just flopped around a bit. Mr. Chips on the other hand HATED the snow (probably because he was afraid of getting lost in it...he's white) and cried at the door to get back inside.

Deuce falling through the snow.

Too cool for snow.

It abounds!!!

Perspective -- that's our patio table.

All in all, it pays to live in a state that can't handle its snow. Plows just don't really exist in Richmond, VA so we couldn't even leave the house if we wanted to. While people may panic and eat all the milk and bread, at least we get a nice relaxing weekend at home without having to worry about doing anything more than play with the cats.

I iz cozy

The face of innocence.

Oh crap! A goose is attacking my dad!!!!

Actual blog post coming soon.

Playing Ketchup

I know my posts have been somewhat random lately, so I figured I would catch you up on my ACTUAL LIFE.

-- I attempted to de-grease my hair by rinsing it with vinegar. It actually seemed to work, although not as nicely as I would have hoped. I'll be trying the beer remedy next. Sorry if this grosses anyone out.

-- Our bedroom makeover is SLOWLY but surely coming along. Thanks to the evil boiler we had to dump that extra moolah into keeping ourselves warm instead of swank-i-fying the bedroom. Lame, I know. I snagged a few things from the mood board, but still have a few key pieces to go!

-- I have done ALMOST all of my Christmas shopping. Score.

-- I ordered a pickle ornament to put in our tree. I wanted it to be a surprise for Brian but the delicious champagne I consumed on Saturday night forced me to spill the beans. Oh well, I suck at surprises.

-- Still NYE plan-less. This can only mean one thing - spontaneous awesomeness is in my near future.

-- Speaking of the holidays - I am off from work from next Tuesday until after New Years. It is like having a real "Christmas Break" all over again!!

-- Brian and I (ok fine, mostly Brian) cooked so many delicious meals this week. Anyone else use YouveGotSupper.com? Based out of Richmond and I LOVE IT. Anything that prints out a grocery list for me is worth a shout out. We had: Skillet Caesar Chicken, Biscuit Chicken Pot-Pies, and Peppered Crock Pot Beef. Easy, yummy, and totally do-able even if you suck at functioning in the kitchen like me.

-- We caved a bought a Wii. Super Mario Brothers has already been beaten and we are working our way to collecting all of the "big" coins to unlock World 9. Whoa I sound like a total geek. Anyways, Wii is BANGIN. Although it really scares me that we are flinging those little controllers around like crazy people.

-- I attended a tacky Christmas sweater party this past weekend (I'm sure you did too - who doesn't?!) and DIY-ed the sh*t out of a sweater (that * is to keep this place as PG as possible - I've got a reputation to protect people!!). Talk about awesome.Sha-BAM!! In total, I think this amazingly tacky piece cost me about $28. Not too bad considering that I plan on wearing it every year for the rest of my life. Or I might just have to pass it down to my future children when they are old enough to appreciate such a masterpiece. And how did I make it you ask? Easy. Everything was from Ben Franklin Crafts - $10 red sweater, glitter glue, green felt (for that extra tackiness), weird mini ornaments, the word "Christmas" spelled out block by block (I think it was for scrapbooking?), jingly-bell fringe, and fake wrapped mini Christmas presents (the KEY to the whole ensemble).

Zoom on in. Sarah's DIY masterpiece on the left.

Here are some other great pics from the night, we had a blast:

I think this will be our Christmas card pic. It is kind of perfect.

DIY EXTRAVAGANZA!!! Next up, Valentine's Day??

Fabulous Carrie

Just like any other "normal" 20-something, I love me some Sex and the City and I'm super excited for movie numero deux to come out in May. Please observe this promo poster that my bff Mandizzle brought to my attention (sidenote - she is the reason I blog...she is the ORIGINAL blogger. But, sadly for you, her thoughts are private. Talk about juicy, I'm lucky I get to tune in! I also love me some Mandy).

Do you see the tagline?!?!?!?! Not only do I have a "famous" name, but my BLOG TITLE is also featured. Raise the roof.

In other news, my Analytics is indicating some more exciting new blog searches. I completely realize that by blogging about these keywords, I am creating more of an opportunity for people to find the blog by those terms. But whatevs. They are funny.

"Granddad's Sweet Tea" has directed not one, not two, not three, but FOUR visits to this blog. Is this some sort of delicious recipe that I am missing out on?!

Thanks to my DIY C-section antics, blog discoveries have been made by people searching: "twilight teeth c section," "c section with vampire teeth", and simply "diy c section" (holla!!).

Most excitingly, my freakish fake baby post lured in searches from, "baby batman," "fake baby," and my personal favorite, "fake baby heads". Does this mean that someone was actually searching for fake baby heads?!?!? Let's hope we can just chalk it up to good ole fashioned curiosity.

p.s. You are going to be completely blown away by my awesome DIY tacky Christmas sweater. I'm attending a little shindig tomorrow and couldn't resist the opportunity to go nuts with a costume. Two of my gfs and I really out tacked ourselves this year.

Here is a random photo for your viewing pleasure. Why? Because I can . TGIF people!

Imma tree. Those are my presents. XXXmas Party 2K6.

Yahoo TV FAIL

Thanks for lifting my spirits and sending them CRASHING down, YahooTV. I was super pumped to watch a whole show about Cat Ladies and it turns out you are just LYING. Some horrible show called "The Locator" is on. Who cares?!!? Give me my Secret Lives of Women. Isn't this false advertising?? Grrrr.

We are mad. 

I iz mad. Feed me people foodz.

For the Crazy Cat lady in us all...

If you are reading this and it is between the hour of 9-10pm, STOP and go turn on your TV to the WE channel (yup, that would be Women's Entertainment). Please behold...

THE SECRET LIVES OF WOMEN: CAT LADIES.

I don't really need to say much more about this. Could this be a glimpse into my future?! Dun dun dun...I promise to report back.

I heart cats. And I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Christmas means...

I should write a post about my hair. 

I'm getting a bit overwhelmed by the Christmas spirit and it is only December 7th (**disclaimer** this blog is not PC, hence the reason I am not using the terms "Holiday" or "Winter Solstice" or "Joyful Season" or whatever. For me, this is Christmas time. Feel free to celebrate whatever your little heart decides. Moving on...). It seems that everywhere I turn someone is talking about Christmas trees, ornaments, wreathes, red Starbucks cups, wooden shoes (Google it),Tiger Woo.. - oops wrong subject- shopping, snow, cookie swaps, eggnog, and a partridge in a pear tree. So, to keep things even, I am going to write a post about my hair. I don't think you can get any less Christmas-y than that. 

First of all, to answer your question of, WHY hair? I answer...because I need advice. I'm due for a haircut and I have been contemplating what exactly I should do with the mop. My hair is a unique beast and it can be difficult to make hair-cuttery decisions (especially since it costs big $$ to get it done right). Keeping it long can get annoying since it is so thin and curly. Keeping it short can get annoying because it looks weird curly and I can't pull it back. Also, I am in some serious need of product advice...what works for curls?! What works for body?! My God where is Tim Gunn when I need him?!?! What hair products do you live by?!

Here is a rundown of my hair in its natural state: brown, curly, and thin. TA-DA! Nothing special. And now for a closer examination...

I started out blonde-ish. Weird bangs, kinda straight. 

My head's natural habitat. 

I didn't realize I had curly hair until about the 10th grade. One day I decided to put the blowdryer down and just let 'er rip. This is what I got. 

Actually, this is probably the most natural state for my entire head - hair and facial expression included.

It is both a curse and a blessing to have curly hair. If there is even an once of humidity in the air, forget about it. I get instant frizz and any attempt at "doing" my hair goes completely out the window. However, getting ready in the morning is super simple - all I have to do is shower and scrunch. No drying necessary. 

On days with zero humidity, or if I'm feelin kinda frisky, I'll whip out the blowdryer and curlers. But overall, achieving these looks is far too time consuming on a day to day basis. 

Whoa-ly Moley my hair was long. Circa 2007?? I don't think I could recreate these looks even if I tried. Yet another downside to my hair...no two days are EVER the same.

Recently, I chopped off a lot of length. I'm not a fan of wearing it curly like this, but I also really dislike having to blowdry it every day. Seriously I feel like I'm stuck in pandora's box with this one... 

So, the bottom line is, to cut short or not to cut short? And either way, what the heck should I use to keep things looking good? 

And now, feel free to continue talking about Christmasness.

Holy FAKE BABY Batman!!

So I know I already posted today (go me!!) but I just HAD to comment on the show that is currently airing on my TV. I've only been half paying attention since I am hard at work cleaning the house, but this show is just too insane not to share with you. 

Ok who am I kidding? I'm not cleaning the house. You got me. I'm actually just sitting here on the couch freezing my butt off and searching for Xmas gifts online. 

Anyways, prepare yourselves for the wonder and the horror that is "MY FAKE BABY" on BBC America. Here is the description: "Dolls may seem to be just a children's plaything, but a closer look reveals much more. This documentary delves into a small niche of adult women who collect and care for shockingly lifelike baby dolls." I kid you not, these women treat freakish dolls like REAL BABIES. And these freakish fake babies can even be fitted with BUILT IN BREATHING DEVICES to make it seem like they are even more alive. Words can really not describe how bizarre and intriguing this phenomenon really is. 

One of the women almost had a heart attack because she found a crack in her freakish fake baby's head. I mean she was practically in tears because it was INJURED!!! Oh and if you can't get over the fact that your grandchild is growing up or has moved away to another country, you can go to a special freakish baby-maker with baby pictures of your loved one, and she will BUILD YOU YOUR OWN FREAKISH BABY to look just like the picture!! 

No, this IS NOT cute (or REAL!!)

via

Talk about an attachment disorder... 

 

DIY - The Wreath Edition

While the DIY C-Section probably takes the cake in terms of creative (and completely horrifying) DIY ideas, I must share my fantastico-work-in-progress Christmas wreath. Since my house is ridiculously cold and I must walk around wearing a woolen hat, Uggs, and a ThermalCare pain relief heating wrap (it's like my own personal heater!!), it is most definitely NOT too early to start decorating for Christmas. 

Brian and I hit up HomeGoods on Sunday to parooze the holiday schwag. I really wanted to get a wreath, but for some reason spending $25-30 for plastic-y and somewhat dorky (fake plastic Christmas birds?!) decor was too much for me to handle. And sparkly holiday snow squirted all over that plastic dorkiness?? Hmmm not so much. 

We left HG empty handed in terms of a wreath, but we did manage to snatch up some other goodies (You'll have to wait for my obligatory X-mas decor post for more on that). We headed over to Target (love!) to pick up a few other things and to check out their wreath selection. More crap there. I usually love all things Target, but the wreath selection was definitely lacking. But THEN I had a complete lightbulb moment. I could just buy one of those crappy plastic-y wreaths and cover it with Christmas bulbs and other fun non-dorky plastic-y things!! So we snatched up a large $14 piece of plastic-y goodness and lots of cute little bulbs. The thing is already looking better than its cheap-o cousins. Observe:

It's still a little sparse, but definitely much better than something like this, in my opinion:

Christmas threw up on this poor little wreath

In other news, I have decided NOT to post about T-Giving. I am totally T-Giving-ed out. I read lots-o-blogs and I'm totally done reading about turkeys and pies and gourds and Black Friday. And besides, it is December now and the OCD in me can't possibly post a T-Giving post in December. Anyways, I had a FABULOUS time with the fam in OBX, but I just can't bring myself to look at another picture of T-Giving food. For the record, I planned the entire menu and basically served as kitchen dictator for the meal. My kitchen better watch out; I swear I'm turning into a cooking machine.

Extreme Makeover, Carrie On Edition

I know we all LOVE Google Reader (how else would I entertain myself while Brian watches ESPN?) but today is the day to LET GO and actually VISIT my blog. Why?!?! BECAUSE IT LOOKS PURDY NOW!!!!! 

Nothing fancy-schmancy, but a huge improvement over the pink pepto-bismol-throw-up-fest that existed mere moments ago. And a big MUCHOS GRACIAS to the little bro for his help in making this overhaul possible. Tristan made the header happen - he even had to FIGHT Blogger to get the stupid thing to work. Sidenote - is it just me, or isn't Google supposed to be God?! Well then WHY is Blogger so freaking hard to use?! Come on Google! You make my life easy in so many ways, so stop "Waving" and make Blogger better!! And we're back - It is a miracle that I managed to change my sidebar titles all by myself. Just in case you don't feel like leaving the comforts of your Reader (booo on you!) here is the new header (with a convenient link to the brand schpanking new place). 

GET IT!?!?!??!

In other news, I almost managed to ruin T-giving by allowing my AWESOME apple pie to overflow onto the bottom of the oven. Lots of smoke ensued and the fiasco set us back almost 2 hours. Oooops! Oh and in case you didn't catch that, I MADE A FREAKING PIE, amongst other things. Details to come...

The Real T-Giving?

We all love T-Giving. There is no doubt about that. But what are we REALLY celebrating?? Wednesday Addams has an interesting take. So. Go eat some yummy food, take some naps, listen to Al Roker's annoying commentary, and WATCH THIS VIDEO. It does not disappoint. 

I'm thankful for all of you, my lovely, amazing readers. 

Mini Vacay

This past weekend Bri and I decided to head for the hills and take a mini vacation in Staunton, VA. First things first here. Is it pronounced St-ON-ton or St-AN-ton? Seriously I have no idea and I've heard it both ways. I've been going with the ON version, but I am starting to think that the locals use, AN. Ooops. 

I highly recommend a weekend trip to Staunton. It is beautiful, inexpensive, interesting, and tiny-but-not-too-tiny. To sum up the trip: we stayed at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel (SO NICE), we ate delicious meals at Emilios, Shenandoah Pizza, Mug Shots, and Mill House, we bought LOTS of beer at Queen City Brewery, we saw a glass blowing presentation, we walked around the town, we did some Xmas shopping, we took naps, we read newspapers, we overheard highschoolers going on about Twilight, we hung out with the posh locals at a shmancy bar, we visited a winery, and we finished off the trip at another brewery. All in all, a fantastic trip. 

Here are some pics to prove it...

The only pic we took together. Not so great but you get the idea

Sampler at Blue Mountain Brewery

I can never pass up a delicious plate of tomato, mozzarella, pesto, and EVOO (eat your heart out Rachael Ray)

I played in the leaves.

Ridiculously amazing glass blower. 2,500 degree ovens, eeek! That is an ornament he's making.

Me randomly outside of the hotel.

Stay tuned for vacay #2...T-Giving in OBX!

Merci Beaucoup!

Roll out the red carpet...this chica has won some awards!! 

Thanks for bearing with me oh-kind-and-generous-award givers, I am still trying to figure out how to make the little awards appear on my blog and I know it has taken me many moons (no, NOT New Moons, you crazy T-lite people) to officially thank you for nominating me. I know I am the most technologically UNSAVVY blogger ever, but I really do appreciate the kudos. Oh and I am finally mastering the art of scheduling my posts. Now I can write a few at a time and then BAM! shoot them to (all 30 of) your Google Readers randomly throughout the day. 

Sorry, tangent. 

So yes, I have been deemed worthy in the blogosphere by two very fantabulous bloggers, Shannon and Lindsay.  Fellow Phillies fan (yummm Jayson Werth) and ridiculously awesome DIY-er, Shannon, threw me my very first blog award...

How lovely! Hopefully the blog overhaul will actually make this little blog lovely enough to start looking at outside of your Reader. No crazy "rules" with this award, other than the fact that I have to pass it on, so here you go...

Kelly @ Dare to be Domestic (the orange blog header is most definitely LOVELY...swooon!)

Jacqueline @ l y m i b  (A fellow GRIT from the best state in all the land, North Carolina)

Susan @ Susan in the South (Another lovely selection...impeccable style here!)

Ashley @ I Love you more than Carrots (Certainly my most favorite blog title EVER)

As for my second nomination, I'd like to thank Lindsay , another new-ish blogger to the sphere (just like yours truly!). Drum roll please....

Holy Moly, I'm fabulous AND sugary!! Just out of curiosity, I had to google image Sugar Doll just to see what one might look like. Here is the creepy result:

Yikes?! I'm pretty sure that thing comes alive at night and bakes batches and batches of poisonous sugar cookies and then feeds them to the Bratz dolls...

But, alas, I digress. I am very excited that a fellow blogger thinks I am cool enough for an award and I will proceed with sticking to the sugary rules that come along with the nomination.  And now, 10 interesting facts about myself (hold on to your seats!).

1. My first pets were two cats named Beavis and Oreo. Beavis passed away when I was in college and Oreo is still kickin it. I/We got them when I was 10. 
   
2. I used to have a "thing" about open doors. I couldn't stay in a room if the main door leading into it was open. 
   
3. Ham disgusts me. I can't even stand the smell of it. If ham has touched any part of what I am eating, you can forget about it. 
   
4. I have really terrible vision (my contacts are -6.75 if that means anything to you) and my eyes get SUPER red and dried out all the time. I often worry that people will think I am on drugs thanks to my bloodshot eyes.
   
5. I have incredible patience (my mom taught me this invaluable life skill) and can deal with just about anything you throw my way.
6. My feet are almost always icecubes.
7. I am a really terrible cook. I can make some random and awesome dishes, but when it comes to day-t0-day meal preparation I have a giant FAIL stamped to my forehead. Thankfully I live with a culinary genius-by-comparison.
8. One day, when I'm old enough (ha!) I want a cute little Pomchi to carry around with me wherever I go (a cross between a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua). Something like this, this, or this. I know it isn't the most brutal of dogs, but something has to even out the lab Brian plans to purchase one day.
9. When I was about 6, I broke my right arm in a terrible biking accident (i.e. I skidded in the sand and fell over like a little wimpy girl). The weird bone that sticks out on my elbow on the inside of my arm basically stuck itself out and did all kinds of weird stuff. I don't remember much of the experience other than when the doctor tried to pop things back in place with his bare hands and while I was not under anesthesia. Jerk. I was in a cast for a long time. I vividly remember getting the cast off (they used a SAW!!!) and then looking at my freakishly atrophied twig arm. It was kind of like this (remember, I was SIX, that chick is just nasty). 
10. Thanks to aforementioned terrible biking accident, I am now quite close to actual ambidextrousness. I play the guitar left handed, I play basketball left handed, I cut food with the knife in my left hand (faux pas!), and I have decent left-handwriting. Not sure why all of these things decided to make the switch to the left side, but I must have started to morph into some sort of guitar-playing basketball-shooting superstar at the tender age of six. 

As for passing on this sugary blog puppy, I think I will do it randomly and when you all least expect it. So stay tuned to the foreseeable future...