Polly Positive vs. Nelly Negative

Irene caused quite a stir on the East Coast over the weekend.  I'm sure that's not news to you :)  Smalltown, VA was not in the path to get pummeled, but still....I was cautious about my plans for the White Party.  I messaged everyone and told them that as of Tuesday, the party was a go.  On Friday after work I headed to Sam's with a positive attitude.  No rain in the forecast for us!

Saturday morning TEN mowed my front yard while I organized everything in the basement.  The sky was a bit overcast, but nothing to be worried about.  You think I'm kidding?  Look here at the boys on Saturday afternoon:

(excuse the white sheets.  i use these to cover my white couch when it's just us.  if i don't cover it with something, dirty little paw prints find their way onto my cushions!)

And so, at 5pm I was showered and ready.  We headed to the store for ice, and TEN started icing down the beer.  I had made the cocktails, and was bring the containers onto the back porch.  I had put out the umbrella, the cushions and the table cloth. 


And then...


It began to rain :(

I cried.  I'm not above admitting it.  I literally cried.  And my hair was ruined.  And I cursed the sky, and shook my fist. 


And then I felt like a total jerk...because I was crying about some rain.  People had lost their lives in this storm!  How selfish of me!  I felt compelled to take this photo to cheer myself up.  It's a photo of the good use I've put my new treadmill to :)

And then I went inside and dried my hair.  And I got re-ready.  And people started to arrive.  And I decided that it would be an inside White Party.  What the heck!

And then....

It stopped raining :)

(please notice the ghetto bruise on my arm from our white water rafting trip the prior weekend.  blech!)

So there you have it.  I wish I could say that the White Party went off without a hitch.  But it didn't. 

In the end though, I think everyone had a good time.  Quite a few people didn't come.  They had RSVP'd that they would be there, but they didn't show.  They are off the list for next year.  Some people called to ask if they could come, and then still didn't show up.  They are also off the list for next year :)

In the end...the people who count most were there.  And THAT made me happy.

Here's to being a Polly Positive!

T

Face Lift

Not much has been accomplished this summer around Seersucker Central.  I've been busy, and here we are at the end of August...and I've not yet mulched!  So, this was the scene in my driveway on Monday...

I'm happy to report that the mulch is now down.  It makes such a huge difference!  I also purchased some geraniums for the front porch pots (late in the season...I know), a new front porch mat and a brass kick plate for the front door.

The thing I'm most excited about, I think, is my new front porch lanterns.  I wanted something BIG, but unfortunately anything much bigger looks silly.  I guess I need to purchase a bigger house before I go that route :)

All of the home improvements tired a certain westie out.

He feels compelled to oversee all work done on the house.  It's nice to know that someone is supervising :)

This weekend is the White Party.  Remember when I told you all about the white party last year HERE?  Anyway, from what we can tell...Irene has RSVP'd "no" (PTL), and we will only have to contend with a bit of wind.  Which, honestly, could be a bit of a problem.  My dress is a weeeeeee bit short. 

(you can't really see the detail, but it has white rosettes along the top and also across the waist.  i found it in Charleston on King St.)

MK and I discussed it today, and I'm thinking it may be worn as a tunic instead, with white pants.  That way I'm not on pins and needles worried about a strong gust of wind :)

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and every is safe and sound when Irene hits. 

xoxo,

T

There's a New Dress Maker in Town!

Have you heard?  Well, if you haven't, gather round.  You aren't going to want to miss this one....

THAT is The Amanda.  Designs by Kara Kihm is based in Richmond, VA and growing by leaps and bounds.  Kara found my blog (and the picture of my having a moment at The Jefferson), and touched base to say "hi"!  I, of course, had to visit her blog....and EGADS!  I want all of her dress. All of them.

Look here friends.  Which is your fave?

(The Fair)

(The Annapolis - on the left)

(The Brooke in orange)

(The Erin)

(The Priscilla - on the left)

(the back of the Priscilla)

(The Elizabeth Anne)

See what I mean?!?!  Which is your favorite?  I simply can't decide.  Be sure to visit Kara's blog HERE, and also her Facebook Page HERE.

Let's give a little love to this Virginia Girl :)

T

Two NCAA Football Fleece Hoodies for $30 + Free Shipping!

TEN just sent me an e-mail with the subject line "you may want to blog this".  And do you know what?  You're darn skippy! 

Go here friends:  http://deals.woot.com/deals/details/d328f85b-fb17-45d5-bf5b-31be9112168e/two-ncaa-football-fleece-hoodies

It's the Woot Deal of the day.  We got 2 VT Sweatshirts.  Word on the street is that they RUN SMALL, so order accordingly.

Smooches!

T

Moving Right Along....

Right before I went into hiding (I jest, I jest...just a sabbatical of sorts) I entered a giveaway that The City Boy was hosting over at Life Through Preppy Glasses. 

It was an Anchored Style giveaway, and I was super excited to enter because Anchored Style is new-ish...and I didn't have anything of theirs yet.

And then I went into my own little world.  And I tried to hold it together, and to not have a major mental breakdown over things happening at work, and I exited the blogging world for a bit. 

AND THEN...I was on this bachelorette weekend (oh yea...I owe you a picture, don't I?) and I got an e-mail on my blackberry from The City Boy.  He was telling me I had won his giveaway.  And do you know what?  It made my day.  My week actually :)  And I realized how much I miss my blog friends.  Because even though TEN thinks I'm a weirdy pants when I say "Oh, I have a friend who lives there!"  And he says "A friend?....."  And I say "Yes!  A blog friend."  And he just shakes his head. You ARE my friends. 

And you give me PRIZES :)  So, without further Adieu....

(sunglasses, croakies, a coozie and stickers!)

(i adore this little saying :)

Thank you so much City Boy for hosting this giveaway, and thank you so much Lady Luck for making me the winner! 

On another note...my Erin Condren Life Planner has also come into my life in the last few weeks, and I'm taking it very seriously.  I am only allowing myself one "chore" per evening, and the rest of the time is fun time.  Whatever I want to do.  If I want to relax...I will.  If I want to go on a walk...I will.  So far it's working out rather well :)

(my life planner.  it also has my name across the bottom, but you know...)

I have taken the time to go through and mark down everything I have going on.  I've used the stickers, and I've done a bit of highlighting.  My life is planned.  At least...to the best of my ability right now. 

There are still things that come up.  Things that are unplanned.  Things like running into bachelor parties, and coveting the faux fur coat someone is wearing b/c you are a bit tipsy and because you think it is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen....and possibly one of Rachel Zoe's.  Yea.  It was pretty bad....

(it was a mullet/corn row themed bachelor celebration of sorts?)

(all of us...)

So, not counting THESE types of surprises...my life is pretty much planned out at the moment.  And that feels good.  I've just made two pretty significant sales at work, and I've got another really big opportunity on it's way in.  I feel like I can breathe. 

A little bit.

Oh yea, and this guy says "hi" too!

T

Almost There

When I saw this picture it really resonated with me.  I feel like I've been climbing up from the depths of despair for quite some time....where work is involved.  But today, there is light at the end of the tunnel : )  I'm almost there!

I'm taking a lunch break today.  I'm eating.  I'm acting like a normal human being, who takes lunch, because I'm tired of acting like the world will come to an end if I stop working for 1.5 seconds to do something else.

So much has happened since we last chatted.

I purchased a treadmill.  TEN and I picked it up yesterday.  We used TWW's truck.  It was a stick shift.  I drove.  Funny stuff :)

My new treadmill has all kinds of fancy pants controls and such.  I wanted to hop right on, but I'm trying to relax more.  I'm doing one "chore" per evening.  The rest of the time is mine.  (thank you Erin Condrin for helping me plan my life with my new Life Planner)  So, we parked the treadmill in the basement and went for a cocktail :-o

I need this treadmill in my life for various reasons.  For example, the 4-day Bachelorette Party for Marilyn Monroe I left for last Thursday.  Copious amounts of food and alcohol do NOT do a body good :(  I feel like I've aged by about 20 years.  BUT...it was worth it.

Thursday morning Marilyn Monroe and I rented a mini-van so that all 5 of us could have plenty of room driving up:

(me in the mini-van)

What should have taken us 4.5 hours, took us 9 hours.  We stopped a lot for photo ops :)

(we each purchased a new ring in honor of Marilyn Monroe's impending nuptials)

(a scenic overlook off the side of the interstate.  we couldn't miss that.  clearly)

And then we saw this:

And we knew we were almost here:

Thursday night was pretty low key.  Cocktails.  Hot tub.  Oh, did I mention we were staying here:

Yea.  It was pretty nice.  Thanks Evie and Tom!!

Friday we decided that we were going to go white water rafting.  It's something I've always wanted to do.  We all put on our "water shoes":

We signed these:

And I wasn't scared.  I was very excited, actually.  You can see my enthusiasm here in this fine picture taken with a water proof camera....

And then I fell out and got stuck under the boat and sucked into the current and almost died.  I am no longer a fan of white water rafting. 

Moving right along.

I'm not sure if it was due to my near death experience on Friday or what, but we all were in rare form that night.  I wish I could access the pictures from my camera because they really tell the story.  But alas, I don't have my cord.  I'll have to share those tomorrow :) 

I will share with you that a friend of a friend passed away Friday evening.  While we were getting ready.  She had been ill, and we were waiting for her to be called home.  It was a sad, and happy, passing.  But the most amazing thing is that when she passed away, this appeared in the sky:

Beautiful!  Word is that the same thing happened back in Smalltown, VA at the same time.  Wow.

Before we heard the news, we had made our way to Circle Bar to live it up!

And when we heard she was gone, we all made a toast.  Even the guys from the bachelor party that we ran into joined in. 

(excuse my face.  i'm not really sure what i was so worked up about)

And sadly, all of those pictures are on my camera.  The pics of the guys.  And my new fur coat.  And well, that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

We got back to the house at 4:30am.  We slept until noon the next day.  Or later.  We aren't really sure.

When we woke up we headed out into the sun....

After a few hours we had recuperated, and we jumped for joy.  Literally.

And then it was time.  To do it all again.

Sunday we felt much better than we had on Saturday, and so we were up early and ready to head back to Smalltown, VA.  It's always sad when such a wonderful trip comes to an end...

More tomorrow...unless I fall back into that deep dark hole.  Let's hope that doesn't happen :)  On that note...

"I'm takin this coat and these Doritos, and I'm leavin. Y'all have a good night."

- The Hangover Part 3

T