If you can't laugh at yourself

... then laugh at someone else!

It has come to my attention as of late that my life is in this boring funk, and I don't have any humorous anecdotes of which to turn into funny blogs. Is it that my life has become one dull humdrum routine? Quite the contrary- life never seems to slow down, and my friends and I are constantly planning unique outings that make me glad to be in my 20s- drive in movies, after work happy hours, and concerts galore. But somehow these events come and go without me finding much to drag out into a verbose story of hilarity. So it's high time we laugh again here at the Divadomain, and if we can't laugh at my stupidity and circumstances, then we'll laugh at someone else's!

Anecdote #1... my aunt is hard of hearing, so lately she has gotten into the habit of watching movies with the closed captioning on, and just reading the subtitles instead of trying to strain to hear the dialogue. Last week my cousin had had all she could take, and she walked into the room where her mom (my aunt) was watching the movie. "Mom," she said, "why are you listening to that movie in Spanish?!" Apparently in turning on the english subtitles, my aunt had also accidentally set the dialogue to play in Espanol, and because she wasn't paying attention to the sound, she was hearing the movie in one language, and reading it in another!

Anecdote #2...I received an email from a good friend of mine this morning that was sent to her by a mutual good friend (the names of the guilty are being left out to protect their stupidity) "I just wanted to give you the word of the day," our friend wrote. "The word of the day is 'schmuck.' A 'schmuck' is someone who thinks that one of their best friend's birthdays is on August 22 instead of August 2."

Apparently, I got blamed for this friend missing the birthday because I didn't call to remind her. What's even funnier is that on the 2nd, I said to my friend, Has so-and-so called you today, because I forgot to call and remind her that it was your birthday. Apparently so-and-so did Not remember, and now we are all having a good chuckle at her expense. Not so much a guffaw or a ha ha, but a good chuckle nonetheless (hey, you take what you can get when you've got the summer blahs and nothing else is blogworthy enough to document!)

Who's story will wind up here next? No one is safe...

Friday morning Funnies/ Calling All Shopaholics

Got a minute? Take a quick scan through this article- Hound dog mauls Elvis's teddy bear. It's worth a little ha ha through a little something I like to call situational irony.

Also, calling all Tennesseans- today marks the beginning of the tax-free weekend so get those pocketbooks ready to shop, shop, shop and buy stuff for no reason, simply just so you can "stick it to the man" and not have to pay tax on your purchases. A word of caution though: not everything is tax exempt. To help you out I've put together a succinct sample of a few items you may want to take advantage of, and others you might want to avoid since they will be taxable.

Tax exempt items you might want to grab while you're out this weekend:
*Aerobic clothing, Blackboard Chalk, Clerical Vestments, Corsets, Cowboy Boots, Earmuffs, Highlighters, Pajamas, Socks, Thongs, & Walking shoes (as opposed to shoes that you Wouldn't walk in??!)

Steer clear of the following- you WILL be taxed on these items:
*Belt Buckles, Briefcases, Clay, Cosmetics (BOOOOO!!), Swim Fins, Safety Goggles, Handbags (again, BOOOO!), Maps, Paint, Printer Supplies, Respirators, Shoulder Pads, Ski Boots, Tool belts, Welders' Gloves

For a complete list of taxable/exempt items click here. Who wants to go shopping this weekend??!! Have a Fantabulous Friday. Much love to you all.

too bad it Wasn't Bryan Adams!

I'm sure many of you will get an eyefull on MA's blog about this, since she is the real Ryan Adams fan here, but tonight's show was just too crappy to let just one blog have the honor of trashing it. Maury, MA, and I went to the Ryman tonight to see Ryan Adams (yes, that's Ryan and not Bryan- not the same guy who sings Summer of 69- remember that- it's important later!). I sort of went as a last minute replacement for Mason who had to be out of town on business since I am a lover of music and like to find new artists. Ryan Adams isn't new by any stretch of the imagination, but he always seems to be flying under the radar so I decided it was time to check him out. For the past few weeks I have been listening to some of his stuff, trying to prepare myself for the concert. Tonight it was go-time.

First, the 3 of us met up after work and went to Blackstone Brewery for dinner. 2 out of our 3 meals were bad, and when I say bad, I do not mean that the food was just so-so, I mean that MA's pizza was inedible until she doctored it up with extra tomatoes, mozerella, and olive oil, and the only thing roasted in my roasted tomato soup was the campbells soup can on the stove before they poured it into a bowl and sat it on my table. No worries though- we were pumped to see Ryan Adams.

You may not know his stuff. If you like country music, you will recognize him as the songwriter for Tim McGraw's latest single, "Stars Go Blue," or you might recall one of Ryan's songs being on the Elizabethtown soundtrack- neither of which he played tonight. In fact, most everything he played was unrecognizable because there was so much ear-splitting gyuitar distortion going on that it made it difficult to appreciate any of the true moments of greatness in his music. As was apparent by the audience sing-along participation, the accoustic guitar-driven "Oh My Sweet Carolina" was his best song by far. As you'll see from MA's blog, Ryan pretty much has 3 distinct sounds- the moody, folky accoustic stuff, the americana country, and the heavy metal drug-induced rock.

I would not wish to presume that our rockstar was under the influence of any foreign substance, but seriously, I don't see how he could have put on white platform shoes if he were in his right mind, nor argue with audience members (who eventually got kicked out for a smart-alec request that Ryan play "Summer of 69!"), or go off in unintelligle conversations with himself about waffle house, yachts, or his nether regions smelling like an onion factory. It grosses me out just thinking about it. The singer throwing out the audience member was by far more entertaining than most anything he played, and I think everyone there was just waiting for the drama to unfold, since Ryan allegedly kicked someone out of the Ryman the last time he played there too!

I wish I could have finished this blog the other night after the show when I was so fired up about having sat (and stood) through such a disapointing show, but the internet was acting up. How in the heck does this guy get away with a crap set list like that and still sell out the Ryman? My friends tell me that this show was not a good representation of Ryan's best work, but my thought is, if he doesn't think any better of his other music, then why should I pay to take a chance and see him again? Overall, I'll stay away from all the heavy rock stuff and continue to listen to his accoustic and alt-country stuff, but I would never go see that pretentious Bryan-Adams-wannabe again!

in desperate need of a midnight snack

If you are what you eat, then I'm bound to become a Mexican citizen before too long! Counting backwards, I have eaten Mexican food the past 4 out of 5 days. Normally I could never get sick of the stuff, but I think I need a break for a few days. Or at least until Tadd gets back into town and he wants to meet for lunch at "our" place! I still haven't figured out how to spend time with people without spending money, however, here are my new budgeting skills hard at work- a real life example:

On Saturday night at the Sounds game I sacrificed dinner or other ballpark junk food for the double scoop of purity ice cream in a waffle cone. I was the envy of every person around me with my choc chip and moosetracks treat! MMmm- just thinking about ice cream is making me hungry and want some- I am on a huge ice cream kick right now. Must be the heat, and the fact that today ends in a y, so it makes it a perfect day and time for ice cream. Last week I was treated to a spontaneous Coldstone trip, and that's had me obsessing about the tasty treat ever since.

No Amanda, You cannot go downstairs and eat a small bowl of ice cream right now. It is 11:30, past your bedtime, and way too late to be consuming mass quantities of calories. It would be so easy though to throw caution to the wind by throwing down my laptop and tiptoeing to the kitchen. Or heck, with the wireless internet I could even carry my laptop with me and type while I walk.

must... have... willpower.

dang it! Ice cream: One Amanda: Zero.

direct spending proportions: money & friends

Why does being social always have to include eating? I’ve developed this very bad habit of multi-tasking with my visits. I also don’t think I’m alone in this. Somehow along the way, we’ve come to rely on lunches and dinners as combined efforts to get our daily intake of calories while catching up with friends. It’s gotten to the point now that rarely do I hang out with a friend and we Don’t eat! I guess I’m paying attention to it now b/c I’ve started to write down everything I spend, and I’m finding that a good chunk of my income goes to eating out. I then try to rationalize it & say that this meal was an exception, because I hadn’t seen Ari since she switched jobs. And then This meal was a rare occasion b/c it was with my sister, who I rarely get to see one-on-one. And then this other lunch doesn’t really count b/c it’s with my friend Ann who leaves for Ohio next week, so when else would I get to see her?! Every week is starting to look like this though- and while I still maintain that a girl’s gotta eat, there must be some way to do it less expensively, and still spend quality time with the people we love! Does every single one of our social outings now involve food though? Can people not just get together and take a walk, or sit somewhere and talk without spending any money? Before I never paid any attention, and this was all well and good before I started working on my budget, but now that I’m conscious of where my money is going I feel trapped in a societal norm that says you have to spend money to spend time with friends!

drivin dirty

Many of you may have read Mary Anna's post about her and her crazy friends (of which I am one) who like to sing rap songs operatically. Our song choice for the moment is Chamillionaire's "Ridin Dirty," and I called MA this morning and sang to her when the song came on the radio during my morning commute.

After laughing at my antics, the conversation wandered and eventually turned to a discussion held last night, and made mention of several people lashing out me about my driving skills. I was accused of driving too fast, while I maintain that I don't drive much faster than the average person, I simply accelerate fast. Call me crazy, but I feel that the sole purpose for an interstate entrance ramp is so that by the time you merge onto the highway, you are driving the speed of the traffic already on aforementioned highway.

An instance was brought up last night of a time when 2 car loads of us were driving downtown. After having met up at our usual spot, the Brentwood Waff, we took off. I was the lead car, and then the other car was following me. Last night I was chastised for driving so fast that the other vehicle couldn't catch up to me for miles.

I said to Mary Anna this morning, jumping back to our previous conversation, they were just tryin to catch me Drivin Dirty!

Life imitating Art

"What did you do this weekend?" Many will ask (because I am well known in societal circles, and people care what's going on in my life). Yes, they will ask, and will I answer with the humdrum answer of going to a movie, or (heaven forbid) staying in and doing nothing really? Gasp. Not at all. "I went to an exhibit and a lecture at the Frist Center," I'll say casually. Because that's just how I am; Casual and nonchalant, as if I frequent the museum every weekend. But really this is not true at all (see, here I am blowing my cover to you, my inner circle. Don't tell the other social elitists though). In fact I have only been to one other exhibit at the Frist. So this was quite the ordeal, getting a huge group together on a Friday after work to go see the Pulizter Prize winning photo exhibit.

I recommend this exhibit as a must-see. It is not only educational, it is extremely moving. I never dreamed that looking at pictures would stir up so many emotions, but I found myself having to walk away from certain photographs lest the tears I was holding back should start to pour down my face, and then I'd be the crazy emotional girl at the museum- you know the type- the one that everybody else stares at and says, "what's wrong with That girl?" Others photographs were peaceful pictures transporting me to another time and place. Cheesy, I know, but it's different looking at photos of real people and events verses paintings hanging on a wall.

There were 15 of us there altogether, and after making our way through the exhibit we headed to SATCo for a late dinner. Amanda was slightly ravenous at this point, seeing as how it was after 9pm, and she normally dines around 5:30pm, and we all know what a little bear Amanda can turn into when she doesn't eat! Luckily for my companions, I am a fantastic actress and was able to put on a happy face and fake it before I devoured my tacos and cheese queso (that was for you, Ari!). After SATCo several members of our group partook of the ice-cream in the Ben & Jerry's variety, and so we clogged the sidewalk and enjoyed the warm air, some nibbling their frozen treats, most of us laughing, and everyone having a good time.

Sometimes, we decided, being a grown-up is fun because you get to do cool things like go to art exhibits. Other times it means setting budgets and paying taxes. Those are the adult responsibilities I'd rather not discuss. I'd rather just eat ice cream.

Stockwell’s long-lost cousin

It’s been a fairly boring day here at work. I got very near to pulling a George Costanza and taking a nap under my desk! However, my mid-afternoon lull came to a screeching halt after this last customer I just talked to. This sweet guy from Pulaski, TN called in to order hymnals for his church. After placing a pretty big order (which was enough to cause me to perk up), we then were discussing various shipping options for him.

Mr. Pulaski Man remarked that either UPS or FedEx would be fine, as they know to leave it there, even though he has a dog in the yard. Starved for friendly human interaction, and being the consummate dog-lover that I am, I said,

“oh really? What kind of dog do you have?”

“Well,” said Mr. Pulaski, “he’s Labrador and Wiener dog.”

“Well that’s funny,” I said, “I have a Labrador and Basset Hound mix.”

“That’s what he is- Lab and Basset!” he exclaimed.

(I start to get really excited at this point)

"You have a Bassador?!" I inquired in disbelief.

“Is that what they’re called," he asked?

“Well, that’s just what we’ve always called ours for the past 6 or 7 years,” I said as I laughed.

“The only part of him that’s basset is his short legs,” Mr. Pulaski commented.

“Same with mine,” I said! “And he’s got bigger ears than a lab,” I continued.

“You’re exactly right,” he said.

At this point I am cracking up! Mr. Pulaski is amused too, because neither of us has ever met anyone who had this strange breed of dog before. His dog’s name is Duke. I tell him that my dog’s name is Stockwell. We have a good laugh and I get off the phone wondering why I ever even asked him about his dog in the first place, and feeling very pleased and amused that I did.

Just Married

This past weekend I had the priviledge of being Maid of Honor for my best friend from high school, Jenni Stockwell. (Yes, she's the one who we named Stockwell the bassadore after- and I made sure to mention him during my toast at the reception!) I was honestly pretty stressed about this wedding since it was out of town (Columbus, OH) and felt like I wouldn't know what to do as maid of honor, and wouldn't know what was going on since I was coming into everything after not having been part of the planning process.

But you know what? I had one of the most fun weekends of my life! I made a ton of new friends, many whom I will probably

L to R: Best Man Jason, the bride Jenni, the groom Andy, and the MOH, me

never see again, and was actually sad to leave them today. All of Jenni and Andy's friends got a kick out of my accent, nicknaming me "Nashville" all weekend and laughed and repeated the word "y'all" every time I said it, which is apparently more often that I would have guessed. Oh, and it was doubley funny when an "all y'all" would slip out! I argued with the guys about the SEC over the Big 10 conference and taught some of them the "presh" finger! I made the best man Jason promise me that he would take Presh back to LA wih him!

I don't think we made it to bed the past few nights before 3 am, hanging out in the hotel lobby Fri and Sat nights with everyone! The bright blue bridesmaid dresses were complimented well with the bright Gerber daisies we each carried in different colors- mine was fushia! Most catastophes were avoided and despite the situation during the ceremony where Jenni & Andy couldn't get the unity candle to light, everything went off without a hitch. So now Jenni and Andy are hitched!

To Birmingham & Back

So Lana and I were spontaneous for a change! She called me last Monday around 3 o'clock that afternoon and said that she had 2 free tickets to go see Michael Buble' in Birmingham, an invite to a cocktail party beforehand, and the chance to meet Michael Buble'. A friend of hers had tix but couldn't go at the last minute. Now we all know how far in advance I book myself- I just made lunch plans for Thursday, plans on Saturday day and night, and posb Tuesday night plans (Can we go see Pirates then, Ari?) and that's just this week- so it was a big deal for me to plan the day before to drive to Birmingham on a whim. I think this counts as real spontaneity and not planned spontaneity, but you decide.

Tuesday came and Lana picked me up from work at 2:30 and we were on our way to B'ham. She and I just kept laughing because we were so giddy about a) being off work early b) being spontaneous and c) seeing Michael Buble'. The funny thing is, I wouldn't have considered myself a fan of his before going to this show. He came to Nashville a few months ago and I didn't care enough about him to go see him then, so it baffled some that I would take off randomly to Alabama to see him. But it was the thrill of the trip that got me pumped. It's very exhilarating to be spontaneous- I think I should try it more often!

Lana had the whole trip mapped out on Mapquest AND Rand McNally and even had it highlighted in pink! I was totally impressed. Now the funny part came when I got to looking at her handwritten directions from her friend who gave us the tix. Amidst phrases like "pricing" and "Renaissance person" (don't ask!) was the word "happy" written down. I immediately burst into laughter at Lana's spacey notes to herself, and I'm sure she had just communicated in writing her emotion at the time she was on the phone making notes to herself!

Some other funny moments:

*a tour through Ardmore, AL to get a snack at Sonic

*taking 30 minutes to primp and get ready in a nasty gas station bathroom

*Lana thinking that a man I was talking to at the cocktail party was trying to sell us vacuum cleaners, when really, he was just from Hoover

*being shushed by a 65 year old grandma in front of us during the uber-boring opening act- seriously- every song was slow and Canadian-folky, and at one point an entire row in front of us stood up to let some late comers in, and I whispered to Lana, that's probably the most people that have ever stood up for them at a concert, and then after the song was finished the singer quipped that at first she thought they were getting a standing ovation, and then she chastised the couple for coming in late!

*Michael Buble' doing Blue Steele!!!

*Singing along with Dave Matthews doing our best Dave impersonations



This guy was a great entertainer. He's very sexy, and he moves well on stage, plus he's hilarious! He made several jokes to all the guys in the audience who got drug there by their girlfriends. "I just pump air into the tires," he said. "You get to ride the bicycle home."




We had a blast laughing and enjoying the trip. I'm sure I'm leaving out some blogworthy, funny moments, but it's been a week since we went, and I've been too busy till now to blog about it! We didn't get to meet Michael unfortunately, but Lana did get an autographed picture, so it was a nice keepsake from the roadtrip!

The 11th annual 4th of July Bash

Who knew that back in 1996 we would still be hosting our legendary annual 4th of July parties at the Bradley Beach & Resort 10 years later? This truly was the last one at Devens Dr. since the house is currently on the market, but we lived it up and enjoyed ourselves anyways. The Locusts, as we fondly refer to our family because we always come in swarms, arrived Friday night. The house is perfect for parties such as these. We pull up chairs in a circle on the patio and sit around talking, drinking, and laughing late into the night. 21 of us in all slept in all corners of the house. Papa stayed inside watching TV, coming outside long enough to smoke his cigars.


cousins Braden & Nicole- the next generation of cousin friends. 2nd cousins or 1st cousins once-removed? We're not really sure. My uncle said that in Kentucky if you can't count that high then they must be legal!


This is most of us sitting around the pool enjoying the Tennessee sunshine.



I wish I could think of some funny stories to tell on here. Let's see- I didn't go to the Kenny Chesney concert. I was having too much fun hanging out with everyone at the house, so it looks like I'll have to catch him the next time he's close by. In fact, I crashed early on Friday night dragging myself to bed by 11:30, leaving everyone else up, and then on Saturday after being out in the sun all day and eating dinner, I went inside to take what ended up being a 4 hour nap! Mom woke me up at 11:30 to go to bed and instead I got back up and hung out with Ryan, Robin, Eric, and Mark till 2am. Of course there are always the stories to be told and re-told every year- Kelly falling into the pool, Grandma consuming too much salt and swelling up like a beachball, my cousin Mark who was the reason we started having these annual parties to begin with. Most of them are hysterical tales and never lose impact after hearing them for years on end. Most of them also involve my Grandma, whom we all miss, so it is good to laugh and remember her. I know this may have been the last 4th of July party at Chateau Bradley, but I hope we can continue to get together in the years to come wherever we may land.

a day of independence

The most oft quoted phrase of the day: Paulette in Legally Blonde 2: "You look like the 4th of July... makes me want a hot dog real bad." And hot dogs we did have- along with hamburgers, baked beans, ramen noodle salad, potatoes, and a fruit pizza for desert!

We gals lounged by the pool, had a cookout at Chateau Bradley, and then went downtown for some spectacular fireworks.

My idea of a perfect day's activity



Lana demonstrates the proper way to eat a cheesy pouf










Always entertaining us with her antics, I give you the one, the only, Scottie Too Hottie


Rhonda Lu & MA make a wave pool

The Procrastinator's Mantra

As I was cleaning out an expandable file folder recently I came across an article I had saved about procrastinating. I don't remember how long I've had it, or who gave it to me. I couldn't even remember if I had read it before. So I did what any good procrastinator would do. I pulled it out of the old filing folder and put it in a new folder, saving it to read another day.

Boys, Baseball, & Beer

As a legal adult, last night was my first experience with Thirsty Thursdays at the Sounds game. Me, Lana, Rhonda, and Sarah met up after work and went down to Greer Stadium- yes, you heard me right, 4 cute girls, watching baseball, and drinking beer- and we’re all still single?! What’s that all about? (Well, technically one’s off the market) I had forgotten to apply my lucky Creamy Coconut lotion, but I did not let that deter me from scoping out the groups of men at the ballpark. And oh my, were there boys everywhere! Even before we walked into the ballpark 2 men approached us and offered us free tickets on the 2nd row behind home plate! And there was no catch- they didn’t want money for them, they just had extra tickets, so we said thank you and graciously accepted them. What luck! Once inside, the 4 of us grabbed a few chairs and sat in the sun close to the beer vendors and took advantage of their Thirsty Thursday drink specials for awhile before the game began. It was a great spot to get some sun and people-watch. We were still sitting there when the national anthem began, so after silencing Lana during the solemn moment, Sarah put her right hand (which was holding her beverage) over her heart, and she proceeded to tilt her head down and her cup up just enough so that she could reverently sip her beer during the song. Classic!

Next on the agenda was food, so we got our hot dog fixes. While at the condiment stand with Sarah, the new Shakira song came on and we started singing along. Much to our surprise, the strange man standing next to us doctoring up his hamburger also began to sing along. Then he proceeded to tell us how he met Shakira once, and went on and on about her until we walked away trying not to laugh. You can meet some interesting people at the condiment stand.

Finally 3 innings into the game we made our way to our amazing, free 2nd row seats behind the plate. Conveniently enough we had a great view of the Sounds dugout, the batters and catchers (and I don’t even know ‘er) and best of all, the hot, hot umpire. We easily entertained ourselves those around us with our antics of wearing our sunglasses at night, singing all the songs that came on, and commenting on the attractiveness of each player that came up to bat. (Don’t be jealous Lana, that Krynzel smiled at me!)

Boys, Baseball, and Beer- does it get any better? It’s a perfect symbiotic relationship between the 3; you can’t have baseball without boys, and the beer just makes everything better.

Fancy meeting You here!

I am convinced the more I study about spiritual warfare that it is happening around us all the time; it’s just that most of the time we fail to recognize it as such. We blame things on luck, circumstances out of our control, or chalk it up to life not being fair and not going our way sometimes. Conversely, I am convinced that God blesses us more abundantly than we ever give him credit for. Good fortune does not simply come our way. It is God pouring out big and small blessings to get us through the day. Most of the time, I don’t notice them. I arrogantly think good things come my way because I deserved or earned them. Yesterday though, I had one of those cool “God Moments” where I couldn’t deny that the Lord had blessed me indeed in bringing a friend to me, and I to her, in a specific time and place when we needed it.

I had had a rough day at work, and as I was leaving yesterday afternoon I called up my good friend Mary Anna, who, as God would have it, had also just gotten into her car. It was perfect timing for us to talk and gripe about our days while we drove! She was on her way home from running and errand and I was on my way to run one. We were having a great talk, and so as I got out of my car, I lingered on the sidewalk outside the store I was about to go in, so as not to hash out my personal life in a public arena. I had been standing outside the local business establishment for several minutes when all of a sudden on the other end of the phone I heard MA interrupt herself mid-thought and say, “wait a minute, is that You?!” The next thing I knew, I was staring in disbelief at my friend who had pulled up right next to where I was standing. She was taking a short cut through the shopping center to get gas, and had I stayed in my car, or gone into the store, we would have completely missed one another!

I proceeded to hang up my phone, and hop into her car where she and I talked for another hour and a half, that is, after we got through giggling at how funny it was that we ran into each other randomly! It was as if God knew we each needed encouragement from the other, and ordained us to have that conversation in person. I am so grateful to have friends like that, where time flies when we talk, and we understand what the other is going through. So often I get troubled by all the Have-nots in my life, that I forget all of the Haves, and I miss God’s blessings completely. I’m just glad that this day I was looking up!

Legal Sorostitution

Look out Louisville, the DZ's are out on the town!

This past weekend I drove up to Louisville (pronounced LOO-uh-vl) to reunite with 3 of my college sorority sisters. Colleen has become all Susie Homemaker on us and hosted us at her super-nice, big-girl house (suddenly being an accountant didn't seem all that bad!). I was first to arrive around 9:30 pm EST, so Colleen and I played catch up on our lives, and swapped the latest gossip on the goings-on of our fellow Delta Zetas. Holt finally rolled in around midnight that night, and Stephanie arrived the next morning around noon. We had an awesome weekend telling old stories on each other and reminding ourselves of the hilarious things that happened to us whiloe we lived in the DZ house together (Colleen as the Don of the DZ MOB, Stephanie's 21st birthday antics, Holt taking her pants off in the house kitchen, and me almost getting hit by a bus before our fall formal). Mary Anna, I brought my pink friendship journal that you gave me and made each of them fill it out, so that helped to jog our memories of all our funny stories!

Saturday was spent lying by the pool, grabbing lunch at this cute sandwich place called the Cheddar Box where Colleen used to work, got some ice cream, and then went downtown to 4th Street after a late dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. I wish Nashville had something similar to 4th street- it's a cluster of restaurants and bars and the street is blocked off, so it's like one big pedestrian-friendly bar district. They have a piano bar, a pool hall/bowling alley, a dance club, a beach-themed bar, a Maker's Mark Lounge, and several others. And of course, they have their token country bar, which is where we Kentucky girls ended up. Call it irony that the Nashvillian drives all the way up to Lousiville to visit a country bar, I suppose. Although this place is a total fraud when compared to the Lo-Bro classics like Tootsies and Roberts, so I didn't really feel like I was cheating on Nashville per-say.

Camera in hand, we pretended like we were back in college and closed the bar down, getting home close to 5am! I hope we can continue to make the effort to get together. Who else can I entertain by singing all my old Delta Zeta songs?


Hey, ironing is hard work! You need to have refreshments close-by! (typical Holt)








Wolfinbarger finishes filling out the "Turtle Talk" journal










Holt and Colleen showing off their snazzy armbands









Delta Zeta Lamps are still burning; Amanda, Colleen, Wolfinbarger (Stephanie), & (Amanda) Holt

Product review: Creamy Coconut lotion

While I normally leave the fashion and beauty advice up to the gals at Las Fashionistas and the Beauty Addict, I simply could not refrain from sharing my latest find at Bath & Body Works. I went to their huge summer sale that they were having to stock up on my coconut lime verbena body lotion and to see what other goodies I could snatch up as well. While I did exercise some amount of self-control and refrained from buying a hot pink rubber ducky (what in the heck would I have done with it, even though it was really cute?), I did get some citrus basil antibacterial soap for the kitchen, and a small tube of the antibacterial hand lotion in the same scent for my drawer at work. To round it out and make it an even three to take advantage of the sale (3 products for $9), I grabbed another antibacterial hand lotion in a scent I had never before tried; Creamy Coconut. To be honest, I bought it on faith because I didn't even smell the lotion before I purchased it! I thought, it's coconut. I love coconut, so I can't go wrong. Well let me tell you, I ended up running back to B&BW last week to purchase the body lotion in Creamy Coconut because it was so intoxicating!

Ladies, I can promise the men will flock to you if you have on this scent. I cannot tell you how many of my male coworkers have come by my desk and gone on and on about how good I smell since I've started wearing it! You will have dates in no time, I guarantee! Why, just last night while out at a bar in Louisville I had an attractive dance partner for the evening and I am convinced it was the Creamy Coconut lotion that drew him in!

Men, go out and buy a bottle of this for the lady in your life- you will certainly not regret it. (Be sure to hurry while sales are still going on!)

And just when you thought Bath & Body Works was so 8th grade and all sun-ripened raspberry on you, they go ahead and come up with another home run in their summery scent department. This DIVA gives the Creamy Coconut products a big 2 thumbs up

new 'dos

Me and Heather's new haircuts, thanks to Mr. Derrick Deering. I love this guy- if you're a Nashvillian looking for a cut and color, look no further. He's reasonably priced, flexible with after-work-hour schedules, and absolutely hysterical!

I'm still trying to decide how I feel about this cut though- I had originally wanted layers in the front and Derrick talked me out it- who knows- maybe I'm just mourning the loss of my 4 inches of hair that i saw topple to the ground! I'm open to affirming words and opinions seeing as how it's going to take quite a while for me to grow my hair back out.

What's a Farger?

As promised, here's a quick shout-out to my wonderful dad and the day devoted to him!

I was part of the vocal team that morning at church so it was cool being able to sing for him for father's day. After church the fam came to the ballpark to watch Team Kairos play softball. We unfortunately lost and I seemed to sink further into my hitting slump that's been going on the last few games ( I know, I know dad- I'm not snapping my wrists!). After the game we congregated in the living room to open father's day presents. Seriously- the only time this room ever gets used is when we are opening presents for a birthday or mother's or father's day. The rest of the year this room is completely useless. But I digress. You can see here how thrilled the dogs were to be a part of the celebration. They got dad a book on the Beatles' music engineer detailing all the cool ways he got different sounds onto their records.








And here's the proof in photo format that we are all related- without realizing it all 3 of us were sitting on the couch like this so mom made us take a picture! I proceeded to fall asleep on the couch in my sweaty softball clothes for 2 hours while the others got things done around the house. Oopsy. Laura woke me up in time to get dressed for the Sounds game that we were taking dad to. The game got rained out but not before we drove down there and got soaking wet. Of Course. So we came home, changed, and took dad to the Catfish House where I enjoyed a huge dinner of Catfish, Scallops, and shrimp. LOL

It's that time again

Time to see a recap of the weekend in pictures!

There are no photos available from Friday night's brownie-margarita-queso-movie extravaganza, but 8 or so of us piled into the Penthouse and ate junk food, had a dance party in the kitchen (why is it that these always occur in the kitchen anyways?) and had a hilarious conversation about the stupid things that guys say. Sorry fellas, while I hate to generalize about your gender as a whole, some of the pick-up lines you all come up with are just laughable.

Lana actually had a guy say to her, "you seem like you're the kind of girl that it takes a lot to impress." And then in the next breath, "but if you wanted to have sex with me tonight I wouldn't lose respect for you." "Thanks for the permission to sleep with you, but no thanks," was her general response after she got over the initial shock that the guy had actually just said that to her!

We watched the oft-quoted-movie in our circle of friends, SHAG, and then most of us fell asleep while watching Zoolander, movie number two that night.

Saturday night I went downtown with Beth/Steph and her friend Rachel who was in town visiting. Laura was over at the house, so she and I both got ready together- she even let me do her eye makeup for her- eyeliner and all- this is usually a source for debate when putting on makeup. She's not an eyeliner fan, and I swear by the stuff!

We popped into a tourist shop to see if we could find any cute cowboy hats for Beth and Rachel before heading to Roberts, but unfortunately, this was the best we could come up with!

After a stop in Roberts, we 3 gals mosied over to Tootsie's (at my request of course) and grabbed a table in the back room, where we talked to a group of guys for a long time who were from Canada and had driven all the way down to Nashville for a bachelor party. We also met a young man who was quite taken with my pink cowboy hat, and so I oblidged when he asked for a dance.

More to come on Dad's day which was today.