3 Things

1. We celebrated our 3 year anniversary this past weekend!!! Yay us! We took off work Friday and went to the lake house Thursday to meander around on lazy time and get some sun. On Saturday, we took off for Dallas and went on a shopping spree. Yes. Shopping spree. It was sooooo much fun. Lee got really into it and had an equally great time.
2. On Monday, Lee woke me up to give me the Nikon D90 that I have been wanting. I was excited, surprised and intimidated by that thing. I can't wait to locate and stalk some great photography blogs now.
3. This morning we woke up to find that we had been robbed. Yes, robbed. Some losers stole all 4 tires off Lee's truck. They used the blocks from our neighbors flowerbed to lift the truck. Ridiculous. I was last told that we were 1 of the 4 houses targeted. I'm curious to see what the final count is. A paper boy spooked the losers in the midst of them targeting another home about 4am this morning. They have somewhat of an ID on the vehicle. Scary to think we were sleeping the whole time. Makes you feel kinda dirty or something, ya know? I hope they find the lame sucky suckersons that did this.

Nails & Stuff

I had a permanency review in court for my CASA case. What is CASA? You can learn more HERE! I have been an advocate since 2007 and encourage you to check it out or donate your mula to help be a voice for children that can't speak for themselves.

I left work early to attend the case review and then I managed to squeeze in a mani/pedi since I had taken the rest of the day off work. And I have a new favorite color. I seriously see myself getting this color the next 15 times I go. It's a great blend of neutral with a dash of pink. Love. The color is Fair Dinkum Pinkum. Silly, I know.

Lee and I grabbed dinner at a new favorite burger place in town. OMG it was sooo good. They have only been open a month but my BFF Taylor says she has already gone there several times so we took it upon ourselves to finally see for ourselves. Low and behold, we bumped into Taylor at the burger joint! Ha! The Garage is the name and it's on Main. We sat down with friends while we chomped on burger yumminess. O man it was so good. I got the eggonater or something. It's a cheeseburger with a fried egg on it. Healthy, huh? My hubby is a burger connoisseur but I see us going back again again to The Garage.

O and Scotty won Idol and I called it. After Haley Reinhart got eliminated last week, my Idol fascination diminished and I didn't vote Tuesday, but I called it on Scotty winning. Country fans are intense and he's seem so genuine and dang talented too. Still, I would buy Haley Reinhart's CD over his and that's how I vote...because I know you want to know!  

Mason Jar Meal

These meals look stylish and yummy. THIS blog will leave you feeling hungry and full of ideas. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Wknd Happenings

Whelp, the dance recital was too gosh darn cute. Lee and I had such a good time cheering for our niece and nephew this past Friday. Gosh. They are seriously cute. I ended up getting them roses. No time for the candy bouquet. Pink for the niece and red for the nephew. We grabbed Mexican food after the recital and then headed home. It was close to midnight by the time we got to Nana's. Saturday morning we took off for my home town at the other end of the state where my family threw me a belated birthday party. We chomped on my menu pickings for the night: lasagna, salad, twisty bread sticks, homemade banana ice cream and Grandma's Famous Strawberry Cake...

I was surprised and super excited that mom had received a call from one of my favorite stores to pickup a birthday gift ordered over the phone from my auntie in Alabama! How sweet?! I can't wait to spend the gift certificate. I know I will have no problem doing that.

I recently found out that my roomie x2 from college and childhood buddy since grade school is moving to her hubby's hometown in PA. They sold their house in 14 days! Isn't that crazy cool?! I am too excited for the opportunities that are being provided to them. I know I will miss their faces, but it's not like I'm saying goodbye forever. On Sunday I went and gave their daughter Rian about a million kisses, read her favorite books to her and watched cartoons. She loves to plop down in your lap while you read.

We then played dress up because I insisted on styling her in her new skinny jeans and gold gladiator sandals. Her little tee says that she loves shoes and she does. She cries when you take her shoes off!  Ha!

Yada Yada

SO many things rambling through my brain today. I NEED to focus on this week and it is so hard with everything else going on in my head. I MUST finish my case study that is due this week and take my last set of quizzes. They aren't due until Sunday, but you have no idea what set of events happen before then. I am determined to take my quizzes tonight so I can complete my case study and submit it by Friday. It would be so incredibly nice to start the weekend off free as a bird.
In the meantime, I need to create 2 candy bouquets for my niece and nephew's dance recital! I know these kiddos well. They would much rather have candy than flowers. I like the idea of a bouquet rather than a basket. Any ideas? I'm thinking something bigger and better than this:

Birthday!!!!!

This past weekend was fun and yummy and exciting. My sister cousin Brandi was my sidekick this past weekend while Lee had drill. We had cocktails and Ted's on a rooftop downtown in the city on Friday night to celebrate with Taylor and the other kids graduating law school.  

We then stayed up extremely late having girl talk. Caroline called at 6:30ish in the morning to say she was 5ish minutes away. We hugged and said hello and went back to sleep. Ha!  Meanwhile, Sean went on his way to a bachelor infested boy weekend while Caroline prepared to host a bridal shower and hang with the girls. Brandi and I went to Taylor's graduation and had some yummy pizza at The Wedge. It was soooo cool watching Tay get hooded at her graduation. Would not have missed it for the world. After scarfing down pizza, sis and I raced home to meet up with everyone waiting for us at my house.

We had a wardrobe change and then skedaddled to the movie theater to see Bridesmaids. Soooooo funny. It's buy worthy. Really. Seriously funny stuff there. We ate at a yummy mexi place in Bricktown afterwards and then chilled at a local pub for drinks. I got to see so many familiar fun favorite faces this weekend and I couldn't be more happy right now. I love my frienamily. Tonight, we're having dinner to celebrate my wonderful birth yet again with a handful of my favorites. High chair included.

Missing in the pic: Chelsie, Scott, Brandi W., Elizabeth and Stacy

I Heart Dishes

Have you see anthro's dishes and etc lately? Oh my. Wish I had a bottomless pocketbook.



Sprucing Up

Mom bought me this door pocket from The Bag because I saw it hanging in their bathroom and loved it
so much. I bought these flowers from Hobby Lobby and gave the pocket back to her to make an arrangement for me. I love the way it looks on my front door!

I've been busy planting again! I spruced our lily that we store in Nana's old wash bucket and planted some more pink flowers. Gosh how I love to pair money wart and geraniums. Don't they look cute paired together?

And who doesn't love a good pinwheel? Makes me smile when I see it turn when the wind blows.

Play Ball

Dodgers played the Pirates this week and I saw it. I tried to capture the field and the buildings in one picture for you. This pic doesn't do the view justice.

Vintage Makeover

I bought a couple chairs at a local antique store this past weekend.

After I sanded, washed, primed and painted-they look like this:

I'm planning on stenciling a black number on the back seat and throwing on a fun pop of color in the form of an outdoor pillow to finish the project.

Cluck Cluck

Did I mention that dad made me his favorite BBQ chicken for me when I got to town for Mother's Day. Yummers. You missed out.

And I Count

Lee makes fun of me when I count, but I'm going to anyway.

For 1-American Airlines made me a really mad person on Monday. So much so that I will not be flying with them again. Not that I normally do, but they had the earliest flight landing in Pittsburgh today. However, they are sticklers about their "shutting the terminal door 10 minutes prior to departure" policy. I literally sprinted from gate to gate and missed the door closing by 2 minutes and the mean woman wouldn't open it for me and I watched the plane depart! I say mean because she was so matter of fact and gave no explanation. I wish I had remembered to get that mean woman's name but I was too made to speak and afraid of what would come out. Ha! Instead, I walked in the direction of her POINTED FINGER to speak to an operator on their rebooking phone.  I then walked to my new gate to stand at the counter to wait for someone to print my new boarding pass but the 3 people behind the counter were too busy training one another to see me. I listened to them announce my gate change and walked to my next new gate(where I had been previously) and waited yet again for 3 other representatives to ignore me. Thankfully, a young attentive attendant came to my rescue and assisted me. Normally, I shrug bad customer service off as someone having a bad day but my experience with the faces of American Airlines proved to be poor over and over again. Very poor.

And for 2-I got to my golf tournament late! We invited a couple of customers to golf with us and I missed the first 5 holes.

And for 3-None of that stopped me from winning the Longest Putt Contest! I didn't know I had it in me.

Yessssssss

I received my first BIRTHDAY gift of the year. Yes, my personal holiday will be here soon. My Florida mommy sent me something fabulous! I blogged about it HERE. I guess I can move something off my shopping list:

It looked like this when I got it out of the postal packaging:

And then I opened the wrapped box to find these pretty babies:

Yes, I am wearing them today. O happy day. It's officially my Birthday. I don't mind if its not the 16th yet.

Lately

Do you ever put something in a really good spot, but can't seem to find it when you need it? 

Call Me, Mr. Cooper

Cooper is becoming a little man. At his ripe age of 2, our favorite little hair ball needs to step up his game. He currently struts his stuff in a red rhinestone collar that he insists on wearing to support his favorite team the Sooners, but it's now time for a change. His wardrobe for the upcoming Summer season is going to be spunky just like him. Mama likes this:

Play by Play

"We can't all be Heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they go by." Will Rogers


Last night's Honor Flight ceremony was so incredibly cool. I walked through the doors not knowing what to expect. Lee was already there assisting in whatever needed to be done. I was greeted with a sincere welcome by volunteers in the organization and immediately surrounded by elderly men that once served bravely in World War II.Words cannot express the gratitude, pride, and intimidation I felt. Jersey Mikes catered and we then waited for the auditorium doors to open. Finally, all family and guests filed into the auditorium to find a seat. Suddenly, there were drums and we all stood up and gave a standing ovation while the 100 veterans (with the assistance of their guardians) began to come down the aisle to find their reserved seat. I was awestruck. I happened to have an inside aisle seat and as each veteran turned into the aisle it was if they were looking for a focus through a sea of people. I saw so much emotion in all those worldly eyes that found me. Some reached out and shook my hand or nodded with thanks. I originally wanted to film the Veteran's entrance but I couldn't hold the camera. I had to clap! How could I not? I fought hard to hold back tears through my beaming cheesy smile. I felt my heart swell with pride as I stood there and watch all those men take their seats.
Other happenings included A Presentation of Colors by the Oklahoma National Guard, Pledge of Allegiance led by a Pearl Harbor survivor, special comments from Governor Mary Fallin ( I admire her mucho.), an introduction of each of the veterans, a special video, a song sung by a local elementary, and a sweet exchange made between the Junior ROTC students and all the Veterans, but the Veteran's entrance was by far my favorite.
Wish you could have been there to cheer along beside me. You should definitely look to see when a local Honor Flight ceremony is near you and attend or find a way to donate. It's a small action to show your gratitude for these soldiers. They all gave some, some gave their all.

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." Ronald Reagan

Maybe Next Year

If there were one event that I could have a precious invitation extended to me...OK two because the 1st one would be the Oscars, but the second would most definitely be The Met Costume Institute Gala. This is the super bowl of fashion and the eye candy is A-mazing. To me this is the ideal red carpet you don't want to miss. Stars take chances and often make fashion risks that go down in the history books fashion history books and last night was no exception.
Exhibit A. Who can forget the plaid number adorn by Mr. Alexander MQueen and the one and only SJP?!

This year Christina Ricci went for it. She can totally rock scary. Look at the fit and the train on that thing.
 

I must point out that I'm drooling over this clutch and MUST locate a look alike.

Who doesn't want to be friends with these two lovely peeps?!

Lucky luck girl that Blake Lively. I would like her hair and to be friends with her friend Mr. Chanel. Wowzers. Although, I'm not digging her toga.

My ultimate favorite dress of the evening goes to the genetic freak of nature, Gisele. Stunning. Really.

 

Awe. Diane Kruger gets it right almost every time. She is the girl whom I would steal a closet.  Yes, please!

I don't care what you say. I am mesmerized by the Olsen empire. Ashley's puffy sleeves aren't too much for the the Met. Loving her vintage Dior.



Other honorable mentions include: Brooklyn Decker, Zoe Saldana, Anna Wintour.

This Kid

I'm constantly taken back by my hubby's selflessness. He rarely boasts about himself and I often find out about his accomplishments by default. (Like this past weekend he suggested I come to a Veteran send-off???)

This kid had a long day at work and then went to a local college to prepare for tomorrow night's Veteran send off. Lee has been diligently working to get his company to sponsor Oklahoma Honor Flights. This program pays the way for World War II Veterans to fly to Washington D.C. to visit their memorial. And tomorrow...we're paying tribute to 100 Oklahoma World War II Veterans and sending them off to D.C.

Current estimates identify less than 3 million remain of the 16 million in uniform during World War II. It's important that these heroes understand the depth of our gratitude for the blood shed and the sacrifices made during World War II.
Lee wants us to participate next year by being Guardians. Guardians pay their own way and assist the heroes by helping them feel comfortable every step of their trip.
This kid is still learning to fold our towels and make the bed as my OCD self prefers but I discover more and more each day that I have a whole heck of a lot more to learn from him.

We Be Tripp'n

"Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life."

This reminds me to relish time spent with friends and family doing the things you love and as often as humanly possible. On that note, we're planning a trip for the end of the Summer. It's been too long since we've had an adventurous vacay.
2008 Mexico
2009 Italy
2010 Savannah doesn't count:)
2011 Any ideas?

Cape Cod

St. Tropez

Wknd Happenings

Other than the obvious happenings that made their debut in the news, Erin and Lee happenings were semi eventful. I got a massage! (Yes, I know. 2 wknds in a row. YeeHaw!) I  then took 4 quizzes on Saturday so that I could play have dinner with friends and attend the local music festival. We checked out a new place on Campus and it was darn right tastey. Blackbird. Check it out.
After dindin, we said tata to Kristie & Nick and headed to the festival. The festival was a good time too. We finished the evening by hanging out at McNellies with our beloved Taylor and Jacob. haha We were all so full after dinner that things didn't get too wild but wooo....our surroundings were entertaining to look at all night.
I ordered the PB duvet to match THESE shams. Yep. That's me. Checking things off the list.

Right now I'm very attracted to these shoes and I have no idea who makes them. However, I would prefer them in brown since I have a favorite nude shoe already.

Let me know if you find its brown friend!

Top of the Morning to Ya

This just in: USA wins longest game of hide 'n seek.