Good Times!

Saturday night we headed over to the Dam Bar and Grill to hear My Affliction. There is always a diverse crowd here, but I also find myself a bit at home there. The laid back come as you are atmosphere takes me back to my college days as the Dam Bar is a mix of two Clemson favorites, Tiger Town Tavern and the Esso...at least I think so. I don't frequent much, but when I do I always have a good time. Seth and Heather, future brother and sister-in-law, joined us and we had quite a fun night!

See, it even reminds Josh of Clemson :)

Hope y'all had a good weekend!

Me Cooking??

I have to admit I was quite proud of myself this week. I cooked two whole meals that were VERY good and actually tasted like something. Josh was even excited about them. I know it was only two, but it's a start. Of course I didn't do this alone. I can thank Gina's Skinny Recipes and my dear friend Kate who told me about her blog. We made Chicken Divan, Lightened Up and Low Fat Baked Ziti With Spinach. The Chicken Divan adventure was a little more difficult than the Baked Ziti. Chicken Divan ended up with a mess of a kitchen. I was thankful for the 30 minutes it baked in the oven, which allowed for Josh and I to tag-team the mess. Baked Ziti much easier and just as good. Josh compared both to Burrito Bake, which is a recipe I made when we were first dating and he loved. A pretty good compliment in my house.

And not only are these great meals, Gina has correlated all of her recipes with Weight Watchers points. I HAVE to stay my current size or the fabulous wedding dress will not fit, and that would be a nightmare! It is a great motivator!

If your looking for any light and delicious meals, go visit her site...www.skinnytaste.com!

I LOVE A Monogram

dani notes stationary

These just might be worth switching to the iphone...how freaking cute!

Stylish Home?

I can tell I'm back to my busy work schedule because I have fallen behind on my blogging. As I was catching up on some of the lovely blogs I follow I came across this style quiz on A Day in the Life. Just a fun little home decor/style quiz. After a few short questions, these were my results from the quiz:

You most resemble a "Winsome Charm".

Details...
Details of craftsmanship with natural materials surround you. To cook a grand meal in an elegant kitchen is your joy. A bedroom with distinct character - warm and charming. Tempo and technical accumen give a smooth flow to you. Your relaxed table atmosphere is enjoyed by everyone. "Beer is proof that God loves us" Pre-war, upper east side attitude. Always intriguing, never clumsy. .

Suspected "Winsome Charm"

- Tom Hanks
- Robert Redford
- Queen Latifah

I'm not quite sure about the beer quote, even if I do enjoy some cold blue mountains occasionally.

I do love my house, but like many others I'm thinking of how I can change it up after two years of living here. Unfortunately, I have champagne taste on a beer budget....never fear, Mom to the rescue. She could so host Design on a Dime. I'm wanting to change up a small wall in my house. Currently is has a brown question mark, and, at, and exclamation mark symbol hanging on it. I've always wanted a photo wall, but don't want all the frames to be the same. And as I mentioned above, I'm on a budget. I tempted to go "thrifting" but I have no idea where to go, and I'm afraid I might look like a little lost puppy in a thrift store. I'm loving these walls. The first one is not a true photo wall, but I love the look of the empty frames.

Any Suggestions?

Catching Up

The snow and ice have melted and we are finally back into a normal routine, well as normal as it normally gets. Last week we continued to be out of school due to the Blizzard of 2011...needless to say I was happy to see it go. Here is a bit of what has been going on...

* The back half of my "snow-cation" a bit more eventful. Mom and I HAD to get out of the house by Thursday, so we bumped our wedding dress shopping up a few days and headed to Lugoff to Evelyn's Bridal. I went in a little nervous, and trying on the dresses was a bit surreal. I didn't find one there, but I definitely narrowed down what style I like. I did find a fabulous bridesmaid dress. Mom and I had found one online and knew Evelyn's carried the dress, so I tried it one. It is precious! Seriously, it is so freaking cute! So cute I want one for myself. ADORABLE. Bridesmaids Dresses, check!

* I got this sweet package from our photographer, Lindsay Alexander. It was packaged so nicely, and that made it even more fun to open. All of the important need to know information was included, a few fun goodies, and a sweet handwritten note from Lindsay.

* Since we went to Evelyn's on Thursday, Mom and I made an appointment with Bella Vista on Monday. Yes, we didn't work Monday either, due to MLK Jr. Day. We were both a little nervous as we went into this experience as we didn't know what to expect. We ended up having a wonderful experience and found the.perfect.dress! I love it and it screams "Ashlee." Dress bought, check!

* I managed to get to the gym after the snow and ice cleared, which felt wonderful. It is hard for me to get there sometimes, but once I'm there I'm good to go. And it's a good thing I did, because I haven't gotten back since Monday morning. No worries...tomorrow morning, two classes (at least going to try.)

*We went back to school on Tuesday. I have to admit, after all my unexpected free time, I was happy to be back in a routine. We had a good, busy week back and are ready to start a fresh semester and nine weeks on Monday.

* Tomorrow night my parents are meeting Josh's parents for the first time....I'm hoping my mom has her filter on, only kidding. We are all looking forward to it and hoping it all goes well.

* Today, I went to Cupcake to get some treats for a friend and I couldn't leave without a treat for me, right? This hints the need for some extra time working out tomorrow. It was the first time I have had the the peanut butter one and it is heavenly goodness!

What a great picture to leave you with for the weekend....Happy Weekend!

Snow-cation Randomness Day 3

No school again...icy roads.

Last night, J kindly asked for me to get ready and go somewhere today. I think was tired of seeing me in over-sized sweats, t-shirts, and no makeup. I don't know why in the world he would he world he would be tired of that beautiful sight? At least I had showered each day. I also think it was for his sanity as cabin fever set in last night and I was wired!

As asked I did get ready, and run some errands today. I have to admit it felt wonderful to actually put on real clothes, makeup, and feel put together for the first time in three days. I also organized a few bill stubs that had been piling up for a few, six, months. What can I say...the boring stuff is just not as fun to organize.

Before

After

Please excuse the huge speaker...it is a part of my lovely's computer equipment.

On a fun note, I did pick up these darling pillows at Target the other day. The couch is in the middle of a pillow makeover. Not only are they cute, but they are reversible. I have to say I'm partial to the flower side though.

On tap for Snow Day 4: Wedding Dress Shopping. Why not make good use of our time off?

St. Andrews Bridal Show

Last weekend Mom and I went to the Bridal Show downtown. We have a lot of the "big" items and venues booked already, so we mainly went to look and see if we found any ideas. I am playing with the idea of a photo booth and they had several there to see. Mom and I even got in on the fun...

This could be really fun at the wedding!

Snow-cation Randomness

Today was day 2 of our "Snow-cation." We didn't have school again as it was very icy. The ice was pretty thick...a blanket of ice over the snow from yesterday. I did manage to venture out to the Minute Clinic to make sure I didn't have strep throat...thought I would at least take advantage of my snow day. And I'm thankful to say no strep.

While I was slowly making it down the road, I heard this song. It is probably not new, but new to me, as I am coming out of my 24 hour Christmas music marathon. I love the "When Harry Met Sally" beginning to the video and thought it was so sweet...



Could this be a possible first dance contender? I think so.

Not So "Famously Hot"...

I'm sorry for the mass amount of text...Blogger was NOT working with me today! I had very nice paragraphs and it will not publish with them, does anyone know how to fix this problem?

My good ole city of Columbia has taken on the nickname, "Famously Hot," really makes you want to visit, right?

Well, this is not so hot to me....

And it's the second time this Winter we have seen the white stuff.

This might turn into a Debbie Downer post, so I apologize in advance.

I needed to be in Greenville this morning, so after seeing the weather report and being urged by the ones that love me, I drove up last night to try to "get ahead of the weather." School was cancelled about 8 pm for Monday, and you think I would be excited, but I wasn't. Amanda and Hal were sweet enough to let me stay with them, and we had a good time catching up Sunday night. Amanda and I did one of the things we are best at...laid on the couch all bundled up and watched some great reality TV.

When I woke up this morning, I was greeted with several, like 4 to 5 inches, of snow, postponing my plans for today. I knew the weather was going to only get worse, and get worse in Columbia much sooner than in Greenville, so I wanted to get on the road asap. Who did I call? My Daddy of course! I turned on the news and he got online and checked the roads for me, and we talked about my plan to head home. No matter how old I get, I still think I will to some point rely on my dad. Normally, it is 2 hours from my house to Greenville...today 3 hours 45 minutes. Hal was very sweet and drove his truck ahead of me from their house to the interstate to make a path for me, and then I hit the highway. I didn't want to get into a wreck and was not very confident driving in this weather, as we don't get it much, so I went the grand speed of 30 to 40 miles per hour the whole way. In my extra time that I had in the car today, I thought of a good analogy of my fine city and snow. It is a lot like The Little Boy That Cried Wolf. So many times they have called for snow and nothing. Sometimes it has even been sunny and beautiful on our "snow day." So when they do actually call for snow, I have a hard time believing it will snow. There ya go, my profound thought for the day.

I'm glad to say that I made it home safely, finally got something to eat, showered, and plan to catch up on school work before attempting to relax for the rest of the day. Relaxing is something I'm not so good at these days.

Back to the school being cancelled for a moment.....

On a normal day, I would be thrilled that we had a day off, however this is the last week of the semester with A TON of things going on and finish before the 2nd nine weeks ends. Grades are due, text levels are due, testing and benchmarking are going on, and we were supposed to have professional development for half a day on Tuesday. The kids also have a half day on Thursday and not school on Friday, so time is of the essence this week. Like I said before, I had some extra time to think on my way home today and I came up with a new attitude for the week. I'm going to go ahead and finish up with the grades I have now, put them in and not worry about what gets done the rest of the week. What gets done, gets done, and monitor and adjust from there. As for the testing, out of my control, and text levels, work them into my schedule when we finally return to school.

Hoping for a 2 hour delay tomorrow and not another cancellation.

Stay Warm!

Happy Birthday, Happy Year!

Happy Birthday Mom!

My Mom is the absolute best! I know everyone thinks their Mom is the greatest, but seriously, my Mom is pretty fabulous. She is a spunky, crazy, creative, on-the-ball, beautiful, dedicated, witty, funny, loving, and amazing kind of woman. I admire her more than she knows, and only hope I have inherited some of her one of a kind qualities.

Mom, Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day and I love you!

Today, just so happens to be our "one year anniversary." Every time I say that it seems kind of silly to me at this age, but one year ago today J and I had our first date.

Rewind a year ago, I had had a rough week at work (coincidentally much like this week) and honestly the last thing I wanted to do was go on a blind date...no worries, I have told him this before. But, I went because I had committed to it, and I stick to my commitments. Not only was I struggling to get to the date, but I ended up being 20 minutes late! I had texted him to let him know I was running late, so he wouldn't think I was standing him up. After drinks at the Oyster Bar, I guess he thought I was nice enough to take to dinner, so we then went to dinner at Mr. Friendly's and the rest is history.

Fast forward to now, engaged and beyond happy. Time has flown by and I can't believe everything has happened so fast, but I am loving it. I waited a long time for the right guy to come along and I have found him. Only 427 days until the big day! Ha!

Happy "Anniversary" Josh! I love you too!

Welcome 2011!

I'm a little late on the New Year's Eve post, but boy has it been a busy week back at work!

So, no further delay....Welcome 2011! My dear friends Kate and Alex invited us down to Fripp Island to ring in the new year. It was a wonderful weekend doing what we do best at Fripp....eating, relaxing, laughing, resting, and spending time with fabulous people. I did not take many pictures, mainly because I was meeting some of the people down there for the first or second time and I didn't want to be Kate's weird friend taking random pictures, but I did manage to snap a few just in time to welcome 2011.

The Amazing host and hostess....with their children, Chloe and Conner.

And our attempt to get a nice picture, thanks to a certain someone....Take 1

Take 2...SO not cute of me!

Take 3...And, I finally realized what he was doing...

Take 4: We got a good one!

Happy 2011!

New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of the year again...a time when we all make goals and promises to ourselves about changes we want to make in the new year. When I was in school I learned that when setting rules and expectations for students, one should stick to no more than 5. So, sticking with that bit of information, no more than 5 resolutions for me.

1. SAVE, SAVE, SAVE.
Money that is. The plan is to get the credit card paid off between now and getting my tax return money, which will be a big help. I also want (and need) to save money for my upcoming wedding. AND if possible start putting some money into my current saving account as well because I'm afraid we are going to be busting at the seems in this little house of mine in the near future. With as much as I love to shop, this could be difficult to do, but most certainly possible.

2. Get to the gym REGULARLY.
As much as I'm tempted to, I'm not going to go overboard and say six days a week because I know that is just not going to happen. Realistically between now and the time the school year is over I would love to get there three to four times a week, and more in the summer.

3. Read.
Both for fun and professionally. Being the nerd that I am there are a stack of books that I would love to read professionally, but I know I need to have balance. So, instead of the TV taking me to bed every night, I want to try to begin reading myself to sleep. Yes, I know it may take a while to finish a book that way, but it is a start. One book I have been wanting to read for a while and have heard great things about is this one...

I also saw this on another blog and think it might be right up my alley...light and fun chick lit.

4. Leave work at work.

Again, the inner nerd in me coming out. There is so much to be done and just not enough hours in the day, but I have found in the past that I can easily let work consume me. My plan? Stay late one day and leave school by 4 on the other days.

In hopes of being actually being successful, I tried to choose very practical and obtainable goals. Now to putting them in action...Good Luck to all with your own resolutions!