Jacksonville or bust...

It's the last weekend in October and you know what that means...No! Who gives a crap about candy when there's football to be watched. Okay, okay, I still care about the candy (that I fully plan on systematically and secretly stealing from The Kid come Monday). I digress. The last weekend in October is when the Bulldawg nation leaves the Dawg house and heads into the land of jean shorts and mullets. That's right...it's the World's Largest Cocktail Party (less commonly referred to as the GA/FL game). I anticipate it with dread look forward to it all year and it's finally upon us. The best part being that this year I actually get to go! I've tried in the past, but there was always something holding me back. This year I was invited, y'all. I feel a little bit like I just got called up to the Big Leagues of fandom.
I don't want to risk jinxing anything, so I'm just going to leave it at that for now. Suffice it to say that I am terribly excited...and a little nervous as I will be meeting CB's friends for the first time. He is very little help in informing me what to expect. Anecdotal example: I asked if these were jeans and t-shirt people or dress people. His response: "Jeans and t-shirt will be fine. Or a dress. Wear whatever you want." Hello! This is important! ...Ugh. Boys!

In other news...the previously mentioned Trader Joe's opens tomorrow!!! Also, I'm in love...with The Classic City's new cupcake place, Silver Lining Cupcake Co.!!! The cupcake lady already recognizes me. These will probably get their own posts at some point, but I'm just to excited to contain it until then.

Fondest Regards,
The Lady

Lessons in babysitting: Don't try to kid a kidder...

I made The Kid cry today. Every once in a while it is necessary to make children cry so that they don't turn into pansies...even if you don't intend to. Here's how it went down:

The Kid: Knock, knock
Me: Who's there?
The Kid: Boo!
Me: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
The Kid: Hahaha...no, knock, knock
Me: Who's there?
The Kid: Boo!
Me: AAAAAHHHHH! Why do you keep scaring me?
The Kid: Noooooo, you're supposed to say, "Boo who?"
Me: Why are you crying, you were the one scaring me.
The Kid: (in tears) You-oo-oo ruined my jo-o-o-ke
Me: Really?
The Kid: It wasn't fu-u-ny.
Me: Um, yeah, actually it was.

And I still think it was hilarious. I might feel worse if she wasn't turning into such a smart-butt from hanging around me all the time. It was time to knock her down a peg or two and show her who the comedian is in our relationship.

Fondest regards and happy sitting,
The Lady

Friday morning (afternoon) ramblings...

One of the advantages to my job is that I have Fridays off because I work on Sundays. It's a pretty cool deal most of the time because I can sleep in, stay in my underwear pajamas all day, watch movies or catch up on the Thursday night television that I missed, and I get to do my laundry while everyone else is at work and there are no neighbors competing for the 1 working washer and dryer. The downside is that all of my friends are working, so there's really not much to do besides be lazy...especially when the bank account is in such a state as to make trips to Target and Ann Taylor Loft a really bad idea.
This week has gone down in history as the week of the failed parties adjusting to the unexpected. I told you about my plans for a Chilean Mine rescue party, well...I invited the friends with the warning that I am Mother Hubbard, but then I went to the grocery store and stocked up. Ladies of Leisah just do not host BYOB parties. Picked up the kid, went to Bible Study and got home with 20 minutes to pick up the apartment and set my computer up. Fail. The internet was not working well (it's possible I failed to remind the friends that I don't have television and we'd be watching my laptop) so I told them to hang tight until I figured out if a viewing party was even possible. Keep in mind that we are short on time at this point. Originally, the rescue was supposed to take 36 hours, but they were running a bit ahead of schedule. By 9 pm they had 31 of the 33 miners out. Short story long, I finally texted the friends and cencelled as the internet was just not doing it for me. I called Col. Brandon and shamelessly invited myself over to watch his television. I got there at 9, just in time to see people cheering and hugging the last miner. I missed it! Fail again...not that I'm not ecstatic about them getting all the men out as quickly as they could.
So now I've got all these hors d'oeuvres and booze chocolate milk to take care of. So, for lunch the next day, in true fat kid fashion, I consumed an entire tub of salsa and the better part of a bag of corn chips. Friends, let me tell you that, while these things are wonderful in moderation, the high acidity of tomatoes combined with all that salt and the corn chips made my mouth hurt so bad.
Good thing I had friends coming over that night to help me get rid of some of the food. Party number 2 of the week was to be a screening of My Fair Lady with D- and H- who both had much to do that night and did not have leisah time enough to watch a 3 hour film even if it does have Audrey Hepburn in it. We watched Emma instead which was delightful as always. I also cooked a chicken casserole in true LoL fashion. I heart casserole, y'all. However, we did not really eat any of the food I purchased for party #1, so now I have that plus a whole bunch of leftover casserole. Poor CB does not get meals made for him, he just gets the leftovers from meals I've made for other people. Oh well.
This morning I did the laundry, but I only had enough quarters for one round in the dryer. Does it defeat the purpose of washing your clothes if you have to lay them out on your dirty floor to dry?
Time to get off the couch and start my day I suppose. Gotta go pick up football tickets (woot!) for tomorrow's game against Vandy. I also need to figure out what to wear to said game and what the tailgating schedule will be. And I need to pick out something to wear to dinner tonight. Maybe I should go shopping...wait, no. Wow, now that I think about it, my to-do list is pretty lengthy. I probably won't have time to go to the gym today...darn. Time to get to w@$k!
Have a leisahly weekend, friends and GO DAWGS!

Fondest regards,
The Lady

"It really has been magic. We will never forget this night." ~Chilean Presidente Pinera

Back in August it seemed like every time I turned on the news, the world was in worse shape. People dying in the Middle East, oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, earthquakes in Pakistan, the Braves beginning to blow a 7 game lead, Lindsey Lohan, etc. When 33 Chilean miners were trapped, it seemed like just one more horrific event to heap onto the growing pile of crap... Until they sent up a note. They were all alive. Hope.
The men made it 17 days on 48 hours worth of rations. For over 2 months they have been trapped half a mile below the surface of the earth with little to do but wait for rescue. It is overwhelming to think of the physical and emotional stress that these miners must have gone through, not only separated from their loved ones, but completely trapped in an overcrowded and small space. I can't even live with a roommate. It has been an inspiring story to watch as families and miners sent notes back and forth. Men sent videos telling about their living space and letting their loved ones know they were alright. Throughout this whole ordeal, it seems that Hope has prevailed at a time when it would've been so easy to give up.

Photo from msnbc.com

Last night I watched as the first miner was hoisted half a mile through solid rock and delivered to his son and wife. It was beautiful and I was reminded of just how good and faithful God is. These men should have died, gone crazy, turned on one another. They should not be able to walk out of that capsule on their own and embrace their families. But they can and it's a miracle!
In true LoL fashion, I'll be hosting a viewing party to watch as they hoist the last man out tonight.

Fondest regards,
The Lady

Roughing it at home...

The food situation chez moi is becoming dire, friends. Grocery shopping (other than for coffee) has not been high on my priority list as I have been lunching with girlfriends almost every day and dining with CB almost every night. On Saturdays I tailgate. Hence, there is little reason and even littler time for trips to Kroger, which tend to not be very leisahly anyway. Today, though, I was hit with the shocking realization that it may be time to go to the grocery store for real.
I keep an emergency supply of ramen noodles in my cupboard in case a date unexpectedly falls through (which rarely happens because I am difficult to book and, let's face it, way too fabulous to cancel on). Nevertheless, sometimes duty calls and a friend will have to work through lunch as was the case with today's girl-date. Sooo...I went home to lunch there and discovered, to my dismay, that I was down to the last of the emergency noodle packets! After a very quick inventory, I determined that I have no real food (and by real I mean anything that goes bad after a few weeks) in my kitchen. All of this leishaly dining has spoiled me and left me kitchen bereft of everything besides a jar of pickles, peanut butter, beer, parmesan cheese, milk, and half and half. Seriously. That is it. I'm a little ashamed of myself and I think it's probably time to cook an actual meal. Good thing D- is coming over Thursday for dinner and a movie. Plus, I probably owe CB a lot of dinners. I hope they both like pickles and peanut butter!

Fondest Regards,
The Lady

P.S. The Classic City is soon to be even more fabulous with the opening of a Trader Joe's!!!! Shopping will be fun again!!!

Lately, Saturdays have been a little rough. Football season is always a bust time of year and occasionally it can feel a bit stressful getting to tailgates and kickoffs each week and pick out a new outfit to wear to each game. Even when the Dawgs are winning this can be a bit stressful; however, lately they have been losing. Bad. And Saturdays have become less and less leisahly and more and more like w@$k. I hate to use such strong language because I almost always have some fun, but losing means more noon games which means waking up earlier. It also means the game ending earlier and me having to spend the entire afternoon being pissy instead of just sulking home and going to bed. Basically, I've needed a nice leisahly Saturday and that is just what I got today.

After sleeping in (it's what you do when the cast of Jersey Shore is arguing outside your window at 4 am), I spent a leisahly morning drinking coffee and didn't head to the tailgate until 10ish (this may seem like a reasonable time, but keep in mind that I was 2 hours late...as usual). My bosom friend, S- (who wants a blog name),* took me to the game this week. I have to admit that my excitement about going to the games each week has been waning with every defeat. Loss after loss tends to make one a little pessimistic. However, friends, we won the game soundly and, as an added bonus, I couldn't even hear "Rocky Top" over all the cheering.

Post-game we headed back for some more tailgating. I forgot how lovely my friends are because we've been in such bad moods the last few weeks, but I very much enjoyed their company today. Plus, there was, as always, lot's of good food.

After an afternoon of lounging and catching up on missed television, a date with CB capped off the night. Fried chicken at Zaxby's, movie at the dollar theater (all my idea)...he says I'm a simple girl, but I prefer "low-maintenance." We'll let him think that for a little while longer...

All in all it was a lovely Saturday. Quite leisahly and much needed after a string of disappointing ones. Now, if the Braves can pull off a win tomorrow, this might just go down in history as a perfect weekend!

Fondest regards and keep choppin',

The Lady

*S-, I think, in keeping with naming people for literary characters, your blog name will be Leslie Ford. She and Anne are bosom friends and I like her better than Diana. Plus, she belongs to the race of Joseph.