Falling "Flatt"

Had a great time at the concert last night. Didn't get to go to the meet and greet because we got down there 90 seconds after it started and they wouldn't let us in. D felt bad, but I was pretty ok with it. If it had been Jon Bon Jovi, I would have been fighting the cranky security guard, but alas, we did get to see the two warm-up acts instead of standing in line.

Chris Young was good, and Kellie Pickler needs to stop eating donuts. I know... pot=kettle, but I'm not stomping out on stage in a tight dress every night. She was, however, wearing some fabulous Louboutins that I'm guessing most concert goers didn't appreciate.

Rascal Flatts put on a great show!

All of the pics are here.

Welcome to my crazy, busy, fabulous life!

While I realize I need to update this thing more, and I have the best intentions of doing so, it never seems to happen. Although my life is going swimmingly, my marathon to-do list never seems to get down to "update blog."

I miss the days when preparing for vacation meant shopping for swimsuits and stocking up on film. These days I work like a mad woman to get as much done as possible prior to vacation so that I can actually enjoy my time off and not spend it working. The blessing and the curse of technology is that I'm always accessible, so vacation is relative I suppose. I may be two states away, but email gets delivered in Texas just like it does in Arkansas.

This week the fabulous Amanda has been staying with me and commuting to her new job in Rogers. I love it when she's here because she'll eat almost anything, so I get the chance to try out new recipes and dazzle her with my culinary skills when she stays here. Monday night we had three cheese pizza with atomic salad, Tuesday night we had brie pasta with fresh green beans, and Wednesday night we had grilled salmon and asparagus salad. And now my pants are too tight.

Tonight we had a going away party for my friend/sorority sister, Valerie, who's getting ready to leave for a two-year mission trip. We all met at Bonefish for bang bang shrimp and girl time. I never thought when I pledged a sorority that I'd make so many lifelong friends. All for the bargain price of $28 a month.



Tomorrow night I'm meeting my friend D in Tulsa to see Rascal Flatts. I had plans to go to a toga party at my friend Lela's, but when D called and said, "Hey, I have VIP/meet and greet tickets..." I blew off the toga party for the special treatment at the BOK Center. Luckily, Lela is a good enough friend that she's given me a free pass on skipping her party because I had a better offer. I've known D for over 20 years. He has a really cool job and has had the opportunity to meet a lot of amazing people, so my goal tomorrow night is to be as blase as he is about the experience. I swear, he's one of the least pretentious people I know, but when he randomly throws out phrases like, "One time when I was at the White House correspondents' dinner..." I find it hard to retain my dignity.

Did I tell you Usher was on my flight from Atlanta?

Saturday I'm picking up birthday cake for Memaw and Taylor and partying with the fam. Then on Sunday Chance and I are caravanning back to Texas with Lonnie and the boys.

Tuesday it's a tour of Cowboys Stadium, then Jen is taking two days off on Thursday and Friday, so we're all going to the beach.

Whew! I don't know when I'm going to work in a pedicure or a tanning appointment, but this diva is overbooked the next few days. Yes, it's crazy and busy, but very, very, cool.

LORIpalooza

Had a fabulous weekend. Ran 6.2 miles on Saturday morning (ok, I walked part of it, but I still averaged a 12-minute mile, so hooray for me), and then got to spend the day with the awesome Jen and the rest of the fam.

I spent Friday morning setting up for the Cancer Challenge silent auction, had lunch with Krista, a work party, then dinner with Kelly.

Last night I had dinner followed by fro-yo with Lori B. I have a couple of more celebrations to come--including a Tulsa trip with Krista this weekend--then it's back to days on end that don't revolve around me. Any more than they usually do, that is.

So now I'm 38 and, amazingly, I still feel the same as I did at 37. Except I need to pop a lot more Aleve. But that could be related to the beating my poor body took Saturday morning. LORIpalooza is over. Bring it on, July!

Rest of the weekend pics are here.

Stay-cation

I'm lucky enough to have a job that affords me four weeks' vacation annually. The problem is that there's seldom a good time to take it, and I can't carry it over, so I've found myself losing days the past couple of years.

Yesterday--April 13, 2010--has been circled in red on my calendar for months. Because it was Bon Jovi. In Tulsa. On the 14th row. It's weird how you can look forward to something for months, and then when it finally happens, it's almost surreal. And I worried that it couldn't live up to my expectations, but it totally did. What a great night. What an amazing concert. The reason they've thrived as a band for so long is because they love what they do, they appreciate their fans, and whether they're in NYC or Tulsa, Oklahoma, they give 100% to the entire performance. Even though they've done "Livin' on a Prayer" about 9,000 times, it's like the first time they performed it every time. Sigh. It was such a great time.

So instead of taking two days off this week, I decided to schedule the entire week. But I've been working the whole time. And not just checking my emails, but going to meetings. Because I feel guilty for declining important meetings just so I can hang out in my pajamas.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to chill for a bit, but then I've just canceled my Friday vacation day since I have six meetings. So much for my relaxing stay-cation.

But I got to see Bon Jovi and spend time with some awesome friends. And I'm grateful to have a job I love, even if that means I can't let go.

I must write "get a life" on my to-do list.

Pics from Tulsa are here.

At least I have a Texas trip to look forward to next week. Oh, and Friday's blind date. My life is a constant whirlwind, and I LOVE IT!

So much to say, so little time

Just realized I haven't updated in days. My life has been crazy busy and I have five nights' worth of TV on my DVR.

I got home about an hour ago from a trip to Tulsa with my friend Krista. We went over last night for dinner and shopping and had a great time.

Right now I'm about to jump in the shower to get ready for a friend's birthday party. Going with LB (yeah, you read that right), my friend Lela and her husband.

Stop looking so shocked. Much has happened these past few days. More later.

Here I go, girl

I've never been called dainty. I was the tallest person in my class--male or female--until junior high. While the rest of my classmates were still shopping in the kids' section, I was buying bras and old lady shoes. And yes, I did pageants for six years, which means that there was a time in my life when I willingly paraded around wearing a swimsuit in public, but it's not ever been something I'm comfortable with. I've always been the big girl.

As I've gotten older, my aversion to swimsuits hasn't changed. If anything, it's just gotten more pronounced. Thankfully there are few occasions that call for bikinis these days and I managed to avoid wearing a swimsuit at all for several years.

Something one can't avoid? Blue jeans. After all, they're America's casual wear. And when you're overweight, they're one of the hardest articles of clothing to buy. At my largest, I remember standing in front of the mirror at Gap, trying to find a pair that looked the least horrible on my fat thighs and covered my muffin top completely. It was painful, excruciating even, to try on that unforgiving denim. Bring on the yoga pants!

So it's not a coincidence that, 14 months ago, when I started this diet journey, I promised myself that getting to my goal size would be rewarded with a really great pair of blue jeans.

Yesterday was that day. After giving up on the Hogs' Oxford debacle, I traveled to Tulsa and entered the premium denim section of Saks. And while I'm still not ready for skinny jeans, I did purchase a really expensive pair of jeans that make me feel fabulous and help me celebrate the achievement of my goal. They're FOUR SIZES smaller than the jeans I bought just over a year ago. And yeah, they were an extravagant purchase, but every time I wear them, I'll think about all the hours and hours of sweat on the treadmill. The hundreds of yoga poses and thousands of gallons of water. All of the times I really wanted a cheeseburger but ate the salad instead.

I'll be showing off my fabulous butt in my new jeans this Friday evening on my date with Jen. :) Until then, it's lettuce and water.

Rain, rain go away

Lots going on, but nothing exciting. Except BON JOVI IS COMING TO TULSA IN APRIL. Woo-hoo!

Oh, and I go to Texas in less than a week. Yay!

Yesterday I did manage to get the LB scoop. I'm sure I'll share it at some point, but right now I'm pretending not to care. And Jennifer is working on a distraction for me, I hope. :)

Another manic Monday

While I'm absolutely loving this weather, it's wreaking havoc on my allergies for some reason. This morning I helped out with 'Day of Caring' on campus, and I've had a headache since. Perhaps it was all of those tree limbs I hauled to the curb. Whatever the reason, I wish my headache would go away so that I could return to my former levels of productiveness.

We had a great weekend in Tulsa. Didn't spend much time in the pool, but we did do quite a bit of shopping and a little bit of napping. Not to mention a whole lot of eating. Joe made some awesome amaretto brownies. I walked two extra miles on the treadmill today, but I think it's going to take awhile to get over my weekend gluttony.

All for now. I'll write more later when I'm more coherent.

Lookin' good

I'm happy to report that Hope survived her first day of Kindergarten and, more importantly, so did Mrs. Howard. I didn't learn much about her academic endeavors, but she happily described recess, her new friends, and what she wore. She is so much like her sister (and a little bit like her aunt).

It's been a great week of work. Tonight I joined Kelly for yoga at the gym (my goal is to look like her, but I don't think it's happening), and now we're hanging out at her place. I can't wait to move to Rogers and be her neighbor. I can see my office from my bedroom window here.

Tomorrow after work I'm headed to Tulsa to hang out with Joe and the Tullgrens all weekend. We've got major plans of lounging by the pool and taking naps.

It's a beautiful night... the weather is crisp, and football's on TV. All is well in my world. (And yeah, I met LB one year ago today, but who's counting? Enough!)

Monday, Monday

Just so you know, I'm only updating this thing because it's been several days. I really have nothing to say. I know... what else is new?

Work is still going swimmingly well. All of my afternoon meetings were canceled, so I crossed 10 things off my to-do list. Then I had to add some more so that I could cross them off, too.

Weekend in Tulsa was great. We had brunch on Saturday morning at Queenie's, went shopping at Utica Square, then I took a three-hour nap. Dinner was Cheesecake Factory, followed by a dip in the pool. I came back early yesterday, just in time to take another three-hour nap.

I was productive last night, however. I unpacked, did laundry, and cleaned up the house so that I could take pics for the website. FSBO sign went in the ground this morning.

Happy birthday, Tom Brady! I don't care what Jen says, you're hotter than Peyton Manning.

Hold the pickles

It's been a manic week. Work has been going famously well, but last night I got a phone call about a traumatic event in a friend's life, and it made me really sad, so I was awake most of the night. I feel like I'm on emotional roller coaster. I can get through a funeral without crying, but I nearly lost it today when McDonald's put pickles on my hamburger.

Yes, I'm emotionally retarded.

Right now I'm packing for a weekend trip to Tulsa with friends. No major plans while I'm there except to hang out at the pool and relax. I had to buy a swimsuit for the first time in years. Top's a bikini, bottom's a skirt.

TGI-almost Friday!

Signed, sealed, delivered... I am so NOT yours

"How do you tell someone it's over? You send them a notarized letter, right? Well, what if the recipient is your notary?"
~Angela Martin, "The Office"

For once, I identify with the tightly wound Angela. I mean, I've never sent a notarized letter, but I'm near needing some sort of restraining order. How many texts do I ignore before he gets the message? Seriously, if you want to get on my good side, don't text me at 7 a.m. on a Sunday. I am not awake. It does not endear you to me in any way.

Today was the first Monday I've worked in over a month, and this marks the first full week in nearly six. Plus five trips to Rogers. But I got a lot done today. I love my new office. I was turning into one of those bosses... the ones who are out of touch and don't know what people do on a daily basis. Our admin is on vacation this week and today was eye-opening. I mean, I knew she was all kinds of awesome, but I had no idea all of the junk that she deals with so I don't have to. I am humbled. I don't want to answer the phone anymore. No, I don't know where your class is. Where's my diet coke?

I also realized today how not good it is that I'm within walking distance of Target and the mall. It's super convenient to run errands at lunch, but not good for the ol' checkbook.

Dad and V came up after work to treat me to a belated birthday dinner, then I introduced V to my beloved Promenade. I'm sure my Dad is not pleased.

I was uber lazy this weekend, but I did get to see the Texas fam on the 4th, and I'm hoping Jen updates her blog soon with the story about burying the 60 lb. dog in a plastic box full of ice and leaving him in the kitchen overnight. On her birthday. Please, please forgive me for laughing, but that makes my own birthday experience seem less painful. Sure, no one came to my party, but at least nothing died. Except perhaps my dignity.

Tomorrow's another busy day, then it's off to Tulsa for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Nanner's birthday. I walked four miles tonight in preparation.

And Christy, in case you're reading this, I promise to update the other blog soon. I'm praying for guidance!

Oh, and is anyone else sick of hearing about Michael Jackson? Over the weekend, Steve McNair was murdered, there is a serial killer loose in South Carolina, Roger Federer made tennis history, Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska, and our President is decreasing our nuclear capacity, yet Michael Jackson was the subject of the first ten stories on GMA this morning. People, let's get some perspective! He was talented, yet a freak. Let's not canonize him anytime soon.

Hop, skip and a wait

As of 1:15 a.m. this morning, I'm back home. Man, yesterday was a L-O-N-G day. I woke up at 4:30 a.m., got dressed and checked out of the hotel, flew from Tulsa to Dallas, Dallas to Lubbock, got a rental, and had three hours to kill until the wedding. After a frantic cardigan search (because really, my arms are unattractive) and lunch at Olive Garden, I made it to the church.

I'm so happy I went to the wedding. Not only was it a great chance to see old friends (even some who live by me), the ceremony was gorgeous and very Brooke. Fun music, great clothes, and a candy buffet to fill up bags as our wedding favors. I can't believe Brooke's married! I've known that girl since she was a freshman in college. It does seem like three lifetimes ago that we met at the gym at 5:30 a.m. every morning. I have the arms to prove it!



After the reception I had a couple of more hours to kill, so I drove around dirt-filled west Texas (really... why do 215K people live in Lubbock?... see proof below) and utilized my GPS to find a scary gas station to fill up the rental with 1.22 gallons of gas (a cool $3 worth). My flight to Dallas was smooth, but after a three-hour layover and mediocre Mexican food in the airport, we sat on the tarmack in Big D for an hour. Thankfully it was my last flight, I had change for the tolls, and no checked luggage to wait on (or to pay for... that's quite a racket, American Airlines!).



Now I'm home, trying to sleep off exhaustion and looking forward to a day off tomorrow. No more Monday work days until July! Woo-hoo!

Smaller hips = smaller tips

Since I've been depriving myself all week, I decided it was time for a culinary treat this evening. So when I got to Tulsa, I drove to Macaroni Grill for dinner. And since I'm obsessed with tiramisu, I ordered the capellini for dinner to save calories for dessert.

Not only did my waiter allow my tea glass to go unrefilled for about ten minutes, he brought my ticket without offering me dessert. Yeah, smaller tip for that dude. (Thankfully my ticket did include an online survey request.... my lack of sugar will induce some serious payback, Macaroni Grill!)

So I did what any self-respecting dessert addict would do... I drove to the Cheesecake Factory and got some tiramisu cheesecake to go.

I did force myself to run two miles prior to eating it, but boy, oh boy, was it exceptional. Now I'm hanging at the Hilton, trying to get sleepy so that I can get enough shut eye before my 7 a.m. flight tomorrow.

Hope you had a fabulous Friday, folks!

Cleansing

Well the diet cleanse continues. I've logged more bathroom time this week than in the past month. But thank goodness for the SmartWater... I'm down eight pounds in three days! You know what that tells me? (a) it's mostly water weight; and (b) I've been eating some really bad stuff.

I've decided to break up with carbs for awhile, and it's been tough. Granted, it's not a complete break, but the girl who ate five bagels on Sunday is now piling on the protein and downing the fresh fruits and veggies. And tons of water.

Tomorrow's my last day of work before a three-day weekend, so I'm ready to get it over with and head to Tulsa. The good news? I had to trade in my dress for the wedding for a smaller size. Still a big size, but two sizes smaller than last summer. Woo-hoo! I may not be in a bikini by August, but at least I'm ready to start showing off my arms. Just bought a LBD for the big birthday party.

Love, life and the pursuit of the perfect blouse

I can't believe the weekend's over.

After spanning two states and multiple stores, I finally found the perfect blouse to go with my (size smaller) navy suit to meet the governor on Thursday. It's weird; when I was in high school and ran for state office in FBLA, my mom and I picked out a navy power suit and cream-colored blouse. The new suit is more fitted and pants instead of a skirt, but still... the more things change the more they stay the same. Nothing says powerful like a navy suit and pearls. A Southern lady always has a great set of pearls in her wardrobe.

Yesterday Amanda and I trekked to Tulsa and waited for 2.5 hours to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. That place is great, but geez. And it wasn't just Valentine's Day couples. Old people, young people, families, singles... everyone in the great state of Oklahoma was in that restaurant yesterday afternoon.

We thought it appropriate to celebrate our V-Day singleness with "He's Just Not That Into You," but it was sold out, so we saw "Confessions of a Shopaholic" instead. Today we caught "Into You" in Siloam among a packed house of four other people. I was a bit disappointed in both movies, having loved both books, but I give them both a solid one-thumb up. Passable entertainment, but not stellar. Perhaps my expectations were a bit high. And you know what they say... never judge a great book by its movie.

Only two days in the office this week, then I'm off to Little Rock for a tour of the Presidential Library (I've never been, believe it or not), the Capitol and the Governor's Mansion. And guess who'll be there? The boy.

SWF looking for a rich husband

I've discovered my mission in life: to be a trophy wife.

This morning I walked two miles on the treadmill, took a shower (no comments necessary), stopped for a latte, and got a pedicure. Then I picked up my pal LiLar so that we could head to Tulsa for some shopping and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

After all those calories, I did another three miles when I got home. Because if I'm going to be someone's trophy, he's gotta think he won a good contest, right?

Oh, and the housekeeper came today, so my house was spotless when I got home. Hey, it's a tough life I lead.

What day is this?

I wasn't meant to be a lady of leisure. It's day seven of my vacation, and all of the days are starting to run together. I haven't showered since Friday, which was the last day I left my house.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Tulsa with my pal Lindsay to eat at Cheesecake Factory and do a bit of shopping. Bring on the pasta!

It's Monday, right?

Buon compleanno, Amanda!

This afternoon, after work, Kelly and I trekked over to Tulsa to meet Amanda and her friend Sarah for dinner to celebrate Nanner's birthday. We ate at Macaroni Grill (which I love) and I had the pasta milano (which I love more) and for dessert, the cute waiter brought out some chocolate cake and sang "Happy Birthday" in Italian. Così romantico!

I want to go to Italy and find a cute boy to sing to me. Even when it's not my birthday.

The other half

I come from modest beginnings. I grew up in a town of 700 people. My childhood was filled with love and friends, but eating out usually consisted of KFC (known back then as the politically-incorrect Kentucky Fried Chicken) on Sundays and Western Sizzlin on special occasions. We stayed in motels where you could park outside your door and enjoy a vibrating bed if you had enough quarters.

I'm lucky enough now to have a job that requires a lot of time in nice restaurants and moderately nice hotels. But this weekend proved to me, once again, that I was meant to be treated well.

Kelly and I arrived in Tulsa around 7 Friday night and were given the key to our room on the gold-status floor (Kelly travels a lot with her job)... a floor that you had to insert your room key in the elevator to gain access to. Our room had a sweeping view of one of Tulsa's nicest neighborhoods. Our beds were plush. Our morning meal was served in an exclusive lounge on our exclusive floor, where a nice lady brought me juice when I was thirsty and kleenex when I sneezed. I could definitely get used to being pampered.

After Sorne and Amanda joined us at the hotel Friday night, we drove to Cheesecake Factory for dinner, where I enjoyed a delicious ahi tuna salad, followed by decadent lemon raspberry cheesecake. And, since we were celebrating Sorne's birthday, our waitress was nice enough to bring her dessert (apple crisp) to the table with a special message and a song.



Sorne and me



Amanda and Kelly



After dinner we headed to the theatre, where we stood in line with hundreds of other women, many of them overdressed in really tacky clothes, to see the 10:30 p.m. showing of "Sex and the City." I must say, as a huge fan of the TV show, I was not at all disappointed. It was 160 minutes that I didn't want to end. I know the reviews have been mixed, but I thought it was fabulous. And Sorne, who's never seen a single episode, loved it, too.

So we got back to the hotel around 2 a.m., when Amanda stopped at the front desk to ask for her doubletree chocolate chip cookie. We rehashed the movie and Kelly's love life until around 3, when we finally all went to sleep.

After breakfast and showers, we all headed to the mall for some serious shopping (and a 10-minute massage for Kelly and me), after which we ate a late lunch at Macaroni Grill. It was my favorite meal of pasta and heavy cream, and given that I'd eaten raw veggies and fruit all week, I paid for it all the way home and all night last night. There weren't enough Tums in the world.

I was in bed around 8 last night, and after waking up with a stomachache at 2 a.m. and a hail storm at 5 a.m., I finally crawled out of bed at 8 this morning and got ready for church. I took a 2-hour nap this afternoon, then went to the theatre here in town by myself (something I've never done) to watch a movie twice in 48 hours (another thing I've never done).

What a great weekend! I feel really lucky to have such great friends. Friends who appreciate fine dining, good entertainment, great shopping, and fantastic conversation.

Happy birthday, Sorne!