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.