And.....

Yes, we've played Rock Band every night since we got it. We even have a band name, The Fol De Rols. We are almost to the Get a Van level of performance, and we've made enough for Lovey's character to buy a bitchin' rock tee. We're sick people.

Always double-check your work

So you don't send your recipe for Creamy Chicken Enchiladas to your boss along with your Delinquency Report. :)

The Big Four One, Part One

Let's actually digress to yesterday at almost this time.....

Lovey: "Your birthday present is in the trunk. Want to see it?"

Me: "It's not Guitar Hero, is it?"

Lovey: "No (voice is high, a signal of a not complete truth), it's not Guitar Hero."

Me: "It's soo Guitar Hero. That's not really my present, is it?"

Lovey: "It's not Guitar Hero, it's Rock Band and no, it isn't your present."

Sweet Jeebus! Are you kidding me? This is all I've heard about since yesterday when he got home from visiting his best friend. How they had the best time sitting around and jamming and laughing. Oh, no......

Lovey: "You are going to love it! We'll have so much fun together!"

Me: "Can I change my mind about the motorcycle?"

At this point, Lovey anxiously takes Rock Band upstairs to set it up. I am downstairs making my birthday cake. Yum! Chocolate Sour Creme Pound Cake with White Icing. It sounds sad, yes, making your own cake, but where, oh where would I have gotten this otherwise?

So after the cake is out of the oven, I go upstairs when I find out Rock Band *COMES WITH A MICROPHONE*. Oh, yeah! I am "blessed" with being able to remember the words to nearly every song I hear but can't sing a lick! I must admit I sound *fine* when I have the ipod on or when I'm in the car alone. Otherwise, the dogs just look at me like they are begging me to stop singing.

Lovey is strumming his "guitar" like he's Eric Clapton. He tells me to pick a song to sing. I pick "Creep" by Radiohead. I've always loved that song. And I nail it! On my first try. Lovey tells me I did great and high-fives me. I pick another by Oasis and I'M HOOKED. I am kind of surprised that I don't sound so bad. How embarrassing really for me....but this is great! Lovey says I can sing ok, it's just when I pretend sing and yell that makes his ears bleed. Isn't is cute when dorks marry?

So today....

The dogs decided that I shouldn't be able to sleep late on my birthday. Growling, barking, growling until I get out of bed at 9:30 finally. Lovey has left me a very sweet birthday card before he left for work. Sweetie!

As I'm making my cup of Senseo coffee (another little gift to myself), the barking is already getting to me. I tell Pullo: "You know what I really wanted for my birthday? For your fat ass to go to Doggie Daycare today!"

I decide that I need to go to TJ for a black strapless bra. I really don't care if I don't go anywhere today, but I'm going to look cute, dang it! My birthday dress is a $9.99 J. Crew silk dress by way of Rugged Warehouse. It's similar to this one, but not so poufy:

and it's much larger, of course.

TJ is a bust except for finding a pair of silver jazz shoes that I'm pretty sure Ducky Dale wore in Pretty in Pink. Eesh! Ross is closed for some random reason, computer blah-blah the magic marker sign says. Of course, Target never lets me down. My size is the first one I see so I snag it.

I decide that my birthday lunch will be a McAlister's large sweet tea and a gyro from my favorite, Belle's House of Pizza. How sad am I that I programmed their number in my phone? I hit send and immediately, I get a recording rambling something about hours of operation. I can't hear what they said about Tuesday. I hang up and call back. "Monday and Tuesday 4 PM until...." What! 4! FOUR! Are you kidding me? Four? I alternately mumble and yell "FOUR" for the remainder of my drive home. FOUR?
Four. 4. More importantly, what am I supposed to eat now?


Here is the birthday want list update. Some Asshat out bid me of my J. Crew shoes at the last minute. I'd like to think I drove the price up they had to pay though. Ha! Take that!

Yesterday though, when I went to West Ashley shopping (for a change) I found these reasonable facsimiles for $10 on clearance:

SCORE! Helmet not included...

I also find this knockoff-ish bag of the Tiger bag for $19:

Hmmmm....by my calculations, I have saved around $450 with just these two purchases. Which means I may be able to talk myself into buying this light for my bathroom:


I couldn't find any Adirondack chairs I liked at Good Wood, I got my Vera Wang and my Sleep bubble bath, but I'll wait to get the Matchbox 20 with some Juno thrown in from Amazon (the cheap prevails).

The rest of my day, I have spent eating a Ye Olde Fashioned hamburger (the answer to my lunch question, but just not the same), deep-conditioning my hair, exfoliating with my own sugar scrub concoction and self-tanning. Pretty soon, Lovey will be home and we'll eat some of my cake


(it don't look purdy, but it shore looks tasty!) and probably sing until I'm hoarse again like yesterday.

I almost forgot! The girls at the Apt. Guide sent me these beautiful flowers yesterday

and I ordered myself a box of Ultra-fine Point Brown Sharpies. Because who doesn't love a brown sharpie?

I still haven't quite decided what I want Lovey to get me for my birthday, but I may have narrowed it down to a better camera and good photo printer. We'll wait for the weekend to have a nice dinner out and maybe have some people over to share in our Dorkdom of Rock Band. Peace out! Thank you, Cleveland, we love you!

I also got a great compliment: my uncle Ken, the architect, told my aunt that I would have made a good architect judging by how my bathroom redo is turning out. Made my day!

Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait!

I. Have. Missed. These. Girls! It's like seeing friends I haven't seen in a while. Everytime I see the trailer, it makes me tingle in anticipation of May 30th.

For the last episode of the series, I sat in my big cushy chair, lit candles and watched intently in the dark, dreading the ending credits. It was the end of an era, people! And when Carrie came in the diner and everyone was so happy her, I bawled! Bawled!!! It was about this time that Lovey came downstairs and LAUGHED AT ME! Laughed! Because I was so caught up in the show.

He doesn't understand: I can see a part of myself in each of the girls.
Carrie is the Fashion Fetish part of me.

When I was little, my grandmama wouldn't leave the house if her purse and shoes didn't match. Do you know how long it took me to not do that? Carrie gives me the courage to wear weird stuff - even around me house - that I probably wouldn't otherwise. And like Carrie, I, too, have made "ugh" mistakes and had my heart broken and dated losers and finally found The One. For her, it's kind of hard to tell with the information floating out there. I hope it's Happily Ever After for her with Big, but I always had a soft spot for Aidan. Oooooh, Aidan!

Charlotte is the Southern Girl of Me

She is the part of me that always puts a tablecloth on the dining room table when we have company and why all my silverware matches. The reason I run around the house feverishly before people come over trying to make sure everything is in its place and that we don't live like savages.

Miranda is the Sarcastic part of me.

The reason that I PRAY it never becomes illegal to discrimate against stupid people. Because they ain't a protected class - yet!

Samantha is the Brown-Chicken-Brown-Cow part of me.

Myeah! I can be sexy if I put my mind to it. I can! Ask Lovey! Errr.don't! Guys usually say way too much about stuff when you don't want them to.

My friend Christian is excited about the movie, too. Here is what she wrote me about the Perfect Way We Would Watch the Fabulous Movie:

"In a perfect world I would fly you in my personal helicopter to Charlotte for a night of wine and chocolate and cheese.. Like an early fondue at Melting Pot... then our limo would take us to the theater, where, of course, we would display our fabulous selves and our shiny Grammy-style dresses on the red velvet carpet I made them roll out just for us. As we enter the the box office and find our favorite new pjs and cozy slippers in our personal changing areas with wine and strawberries and some chocolate. (cuz fancy shoes are uncomfortable and I can't breath in that dumb dress.)
>
> Then the two thrones I had them install in the center of the top section of the theater (remove the closest seats so we are not bothered in our red cush reclinging thrones) would have a plethera of junk food and wine waiting. The audience would be LOADed with cool chics that wish they could be us, but dont hate us bc we are dang cool. They would pause it everytime we had to pee and refill our wine goblets while we refreshed in the sparkling W.C. When it was over, they would have the gossip, out takes, and favorite funny clips for all season of SitC ready for us to watch... Then we would laugh hysterically and go to a spa for a 2 hour massage (the firs thour would be wasted since we are wasted and giggling) then fly you home in your comfy jammas and fuzzy slippers. >

That would be luscious! Maybe we can wear these shirts with our jammy bottoms...

And don't forget the waterproof mascara.

Bet You Thought This Was LOOOONG Finished...

Here are a few shots of the tile tub surround I (finally) finished last weekend:






I am very pleased with how it turned out. Now if only I could find a tub spout I like (that fits) to replace the "rustic" one that I currently have. (See second pic).

Me in Full Leathers? Horror!

How much do I love my boy? Lots! For all of the things he does that makes me shake my head, I truly adore that guy.

Several weeks ago, he asks me if I wanted this: the Ducati Monster.


M'what?

Where the heck did that come from?

He scoffed when I told him I wanted this:



How cute is the Gap Crazy Stripe Vespa?

So he tells me that he thinks it would be cool for me to get a motorcycle and ride with him. I wouldn't have been more surprised if he had asked me to become a stripper. Not to mention the thought had never crossed my mind to have a motorcycle.

This continued over the course of several days with him picking my brain as to my enthusiasm of having a bike. One night he says, "On a scale of 1 - 10, how interested are you in having a bike?" My answer, "Um, 2?"

See, here is how the whole motorcycle thing has gone in our house. Lovey had a bike (which I loved, not that I don't love the current on) when we first met. I would hear him pulling into the parking lot and watch him (through the blinds) come around the corner to the apartment.

For all of the time we've been together, it's been this way: He goes riding with his friends on Sunday afternoons; I go to TJ or Marshalls or Target or deep-condition/exfoliate. It's his guy day and my girl day.

Never would I have thought to try to invade this guy inner sanctum. Bikes are his thing; shopping is mne. But the more I thought about it, the more flattered that I became. How cool is it that he wanted me to ride with him? That he wanted me to be a part of that part of his life? Like I said, I love that boy.

I still don't want a bike though....Unless I can have a helmet with shoes on it.

So Nice, We Celebrated Thrice

So last year was a "pretty big" birthday year. I turned 40. Luckily, I'm told 40 is the new 30 so....great, I guess. It wasn't such a big deal really. Last year, I made my birthday An Event for myself. I decided that I would buy treat myself to a gift for each of the seven days leading up to the big day. And I succeeded admirably!

I decided this year that I should continue the tradition. Here are a few of the things I want this year:

The J. Crew Metallic Distressed Mary Jane
These stupid shoes sat in the Sale section of the J.Crew website for months, and of course, they are no longer there. Buzzards. Found them, of course, on ebay. Auction ends tomorrow. Damn the price! It's my birthday!


A pair of Adirondack Chairs
Not exactly this pair, but close. I want to paint them Charleston Green and put them on the back patio after I get the 16 x 16 slate tiles put down. Oops! Did I just say that? About my next project? Sorry, Lovey! You had to find out eventually...


Dooney + Bourke Tiger Bag
Cute, huh? But I'm way too cheap, and I so want other things more, LIKE:


Vera Wang Flower Princess Lotion
I bought myself the perfume a few weeks ago. So summery! If all goes according to my evil plan, I will have this this afternoon after work. While motorcycle boys are away, motorcycle wives will spend $$$.


Matchbox 20 Exile On Mainstream
I can't help myself. I love these guys. I must have the new CD.

Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy Sleep line
Part of the reason I love my new bathtub. The scent is Vanilla Lavender and is heavenly! This Dream Bath in particular is bubbly and pleasantly scented at the same time. Wish I was there right now actually.


OPI Black Cherry Chutney
So what if it's summer? I can still wear deep purple polish.

The best part of my birthday this year is that I am off, not working, out of the office, gone for the day, leave me alone!!! Dogs willing, I'm going to sleep late and do absolutely nothing if I want to. Surely there is some girl movie I haven't seen yet...