30 Before 30: #13 Give serious thought to dying my hair red

Like most girls, I have a love/hate relationship with my hair. Two of my sisters have the most amazing corkscrew curls and the third one has a silky curtain of hair thicker than a horse's mane. Me? I got stuck somewhere in between with wavy hair that is neither deliciously curly nor luxuriously straight.

In short, my hair takes a lot of work. Once I find a style that works for me, it takes a lot for me to be willing to change it. I alternate between to styles: long layers and a cute short bob. Boring? Sure. But it works for me.

I may not be wild about my waves, but one thing I've always loved is the color. Healthy and dark and dimensional. Which is why I've never messed with what the good Lord gave me. I'd love to be one of those girls who can change from blonde to chestnut to auburn without batting an eyelash. (see: Rachel McAdams), but I'm way too lazy cheap skittish for that. I have, however, always wondered how I'd look as a redhead. If I ever worked up the courage to do it, red would be the way I'd go. So for my 30x30 List, I decided to give it some serious consideration. If not now, when? (And don't say when I go gray - we're trying to downplay turning 30, remember?)

After a month of experimenting with a new layered haircut, embracing my inner curly girl, and finally taking the plunge into blunt bangs, I figured I was on a roll. Might as well give it a (temporary) go. So while I was home for a week in early December, my sister Amy dyed my hair a nice deep auburn.

I hate both of these pictures of me but they are pretty much the only ones I took the entire month of December. The pictures really don't do the color justice. I loved it. All of my female friends noticed it immediately. Nate didn't notice for four days. So I guess it wasn't shockingly dramatic, but it definitely gave me a good taste of what it might be like to take the plunge for real. For now, I think I'll stick with what my mama gave me (cheap and lazy, I tell you) but when those gray hairs start calling, it's good to know I've got some options.

Tuesday's at the Table

I'm back to participating in All the Small Stuff's Tuesdays at the Table. I've found some amazing recipes (read: short and simple) through TATT, so if you don't check it out every week, you totally should. Or at the last very least, try mine! HA!

I had this Weight Watcher's Taco Soup at bunco in December and loved it so much I came home and Googled it the very next day. I've made it twice since then and I'm still not tired of it. It is so super easy and makes the house smell incredible. Perfect for the winter storm we're in the midst of this week.

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Weight Watcher's Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey (I've been using turkey and Nate has no idea)
1 large onion, chopped (I cheat and use onion flakes)
1 (1 ounce) package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 (1 ounce) package of taco seasoning mix
1 (16 ounce) can of pinto beans
1 (16 ounce) can of chili beans (hot or regular)
1 (16 ounce) can of whole kernel corn
1 (10 ounce) can of diced Mexican-style tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) can of diced tomatoes (any flavor - I use the basil kind)

Instructions:
1. Brown meat and onions and drain.
2. Mix ranch dressing and taco seasoning into meat.
3. Without draining, add all of the other ingredients.
4. Simmer 1 hour.

An Ode to Katie: An Endless List of Why I Love My Baby Sister (Alternately titled: I Suck at Blogging)

*Poking head sheepishly back into the blog-o-sphere*

Hello? Anyone here?

Anyone?

Bueller?......Bueller?

___________

Soooo......clearly I took a little big fat (albeit unintentional) hiatus from blogging. No excuse, really. Just got busy and lacking inspiration, then got out of the habit. For those of you who missed me, you have my sister Katie to thank for getting me back on the blogging horse. She gave me an ultimatum to blog by the end of January, and in true big sister fashion, I put it off to the very last day, just because I could. HA!

It's been a busy two months with lots of time with friends and family (rare and much appreciated!), a flooded basement, a new job for Nate, a recent return to his old job for Nate, and lots of progress on my 30 Before 30 list (updates to come!).

And because I'm still finding my blogging mojo again, I'm going to cheat and update you with a little State of Mind.

Loving: my quiet weekend

Hating: that my feet are always cold, no matter how many layers I put on them!

Craving: Fruity Pebbles

Wanting: Spring to hurry up

Reading: The Hunger Games

Watching: Kourtney and Kim Take NYC

Listening to: Jason Aldean, Big Green Tractor

Looking forward to: NYC this weekend! (Twice! In six months!)

Worried about: the winter storm ruining our trip

30 Before 30 : #6 Have a Shaving Whipped Cream Fight

Back in mid-November, my dad's side of the family had a reunion in Jacksonville, FL. As we all get older and busier, it gets harder and harder to get all of the aunts, uncles and grandkids together, so it was lovely to have almost everyone in one place, even just for a few days. We did the typical family reunion stuff: ate too much, watched the Gamecocks whoop up on the Gators (a victory made even sweeter by the fact that we got to watch it with the Gator side of the family!), and had a little friendly family competition (wiffle ball). And, of course, the obligatory family photo shoot.


It was right about the time that we finished the 'grandparents with grandkids' pictures that I noticed some incredibly suspicious behavior going on. The adults (I say that as if I am not nearly 30 years old - apparently I still think of myself as a 'kid' when it comes to the family hierarchy!) were all huddled behind a big tree in the yard. No sooner where the words, 'What are you guys up to over there?' out of my mouth than they all attacked me with two dozen cans of whipped cream.






It turns out that these two had been plotting all day to help me achieve #6 on my 30 Before 30 list. And the rest of the family was all too eager to join in the fun.



It was an awesome surprise! And a wonderful memory that we'll all talk about for years to come. In the last few weeks, the list has definitely become less about accomplishing goals and more about making forever memories with the ones I love.

Sisters are one of God's best ideas

I was very blessed to have my mom, dad and my sister Amy come stay with us for Thanksgiving. They drove all night on Tuesday to surprise me at 6am on Wednesday morning, which gave us a whole extra day together!

We cooked....


And ate....

And molested a turkey....


And cuddled with puppies.....


And shopped....

And played games (I won!)....

And watched movies....

And cuddled some more with puppies....


And threw cupcakes all over the floor....


Okay, so maybe that last one wasn't on purpose, and maybe Amy didn't find it too funny, but how can you not laugh when someone drops a dozen half baked cupcakes on the floor? What else are sisters for?

Cozy

It figures. I've been eyeing new bedding for months and couldn't find a single thing I liked enough to make the change. And then the minute I buy art to match our current bedding, I find this:

{Image via The Company Store}

With some dark grey walls?

Love.

State of Mind

Loving: my new job (work at home - YAY!)

Hating: being far from the ones I love

Craving: time alone

Wanting: a pair of patent gray booties

Reading: Worth Dying For by Lee Child

Watching: Giuliana & Bill on the Style Channel (Seriously, how cute are they?)

Listening to: Taylor Swift, Sparks Fly

Looking forward to: Jacksonville next weekend!

Worried about: nothing. And loving every minute of it.

30 Before 30

In case you haven't already heard me whine about it, I'm turning 30 this year. October 15 was my half-birthday and in an effort not to enter full on freak out mode about my impending exit from my twenties, I decided to celebrate these last six months instead by accomplishing a few things I haven't quite gotten around to the last 29.5 years. Some of them will be easy, some of them will be a challenge (hello, Oprah!), and some of them will take the entire six months, so I better get cracking.

1. Try water skiing
2. Throw an '80's party
3. Try acupuncture
4. Paint a canvas for the house
5. Find the perfect shade of red lipstick
6. Have a shaving cream fight
7. Improve my photography skills
8. Visit Chicago
9. Catch up on my scrapbooks
10. See Wicked
11. Eat a fresh fig with honey and walnuts
12. Learn HTML code
13. Give serious thought to dying my hair red
14. Have a girls weekend with my college besties
15. Get in the best shape of my life (work out consistently)
16. Have boudoir shots taken
17. Visit the Indianapolis Zoo
18. Take a pole dancing class
19. Try a cuisine I've never tried before (Lebanese or Indian?)
20. Decorate our bedroom
21. Try snow boarding
22. Attend an Oprah show taping
23. Get knocked up
24. Serve in a soup kitchen or food pantry
25. Complete my dream closet
26. Do something completely impulsive
27. Kiss in the rain (or snow!)
28. Go dancing in Vegas
29. Attend at least 2 concerts
30. Learn to relax and enjoy turning 30!

I spy with my little eye.....

Something RED!

The red cups are back at Starbucks.

The trees are out at Macy's.

The peppermint mocha creamer is at the grocery store.

The lights are going up at the John Deere store (hello, how Southern does that sound?!).

The Container Store is tempting me with their holiday wrapping paper.


You know what this means, right? Christmas time is officially upon us.

And I couldn't be more excited! Who's with me?

Ring-a-ding-ding

{image via Dilbert.com}

I feel like this comic is the story of my work-life lately - spinning my wheels 8 hours a day and getting absolutely nowhere.

How is it that I can be nearly *gulp!* 30 years old and still not know what I want to be when I grow up? Three years ago I thought I had this all figured out.

Now? I'm waiting on a call for what could be my fifth job in 2 years. This was so not my plan.

Shows you what I know.

State of Mind

Loving: having a weekend at home

Hating: waiting

Craving: a trip home

Wanting: a pair of patent gray booties

Reading: The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass

Watching: the new Fall Lineup

Listening to: Jason Mraz featuring Colbie Caillat, Lucky

Looking forward to: full-on boot weather (where the heck is it?!)

Worried about: nothing. And loving every minute of it.

Coffee Lovers of the World, UNITE!

It's National Coffee Day.

I'm not sure who decides that kind of thing, but I definitely love them. And if someone could make it a national holiday, I'd love that person even more. Then I could sit in Starbucks all day long and do nothing but drink coffee and read a good book.

As it is, National Coffee Day is not yet a national holiday, so I made due by working from home and sipping coffee in my pajamas all day while I goofed off on the computer worked. Guess that will have to be good enough this year.

And I'm totally going to Starbucks for the second time today before Nate's soccer game. Gotta support National Coffee Day and all. They don't just give away national days, you know.

Dear God, Please let this be true.....

{image found here}

LOSTies rejoice!

It was reported last week that NBC is developing a new show by J.J. Abrams, creator of the epic series that we all knew and loved and lost (hee, hee, see how I did that? see?). And as if that was awesome enough, J.J. is creating the show for Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson!

Holy excitement, Batman! I might have just wet my pants a little.

The rivalry and love between Locke and Linus was one of the best parts about LOST. By the end of the series, it was clear that Terry and Michael had a bit of a bromance going on. When they dreamt aloud at several interviews of a vehicle all their own, I never dared to hope it would happen.

And now it's happening! On NBC! With J.J. Abrams!

I can't wait!

What I've been up to while I was away....

Celebrating my Grandma's birthday in Florida:




Loving on a few of my favorite people....



Eating at the Big Ice Cream Cone....



Hanging with the extended family....



Visiting my sister-in-law in New York City:

Blasting out my eardrums at the Eminem/Jay Z Home and Home concert...



Enjoying every single second with my sister-in-law.....



Singing all the words in every Jay Z song, even the bad ones (sorry, Mom!)....



Trying not to geek out when I saw Brad Goreski from The Rachel Zoe Project at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week....



Meeting celebrity dogs.....


Tasting every single Baked by Melissa flavor and not feeling a single bit guilty about it....



Taking a weekend road trip to Knoxville to cheer on the Vols:

Inviting my sister on a last minute road trip....


Making flip cup a family affair.....


Eating gator stew for dessert....


To see the rest of our month-of-vacations pictures, check out my Flickr.

Football FINALLY makes sense...

{image found here}

A guy took his blonde girlfriend to her first football game. They had great seats right behind their team's bench. After the game, he asked her how she liked the experience.

"Oh, I really liked it," she replied, "especially the tight pants and all the big muscles, but I just couldn't understand why they were killing each other over 25 cents."

Dumbfounded, her date asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, they flipped a coin, one team got it and then for the rest of the game, all they kept screaming was: 'Get the quarter back! Get the quarter back!' I'm like...Helloooooo? It's only 25 cents!!!!"