Don't Hate Me Because I'm a "Hills" Addict!!

Please forgive me, but today is devoted to...dun dun dunnnn..."The Hills."

I can't even find a legitimate excuse for watching this show. I just love it! It's the shoes, the cars, the clothes, the hair, the drama, the money, the ridiculous debate over scripted versus reality (it's totally real, duh!!), and those fabulous L.A. nightclubs! The life this Barbie doll should have been born into.

So, last night was the premiere of this season of "The Hills". It is going to be the BEST SEASON YET!! Kristin Cavallari has replaced Lauren Conrad (who, let's be honest, was great but just a teensey bit boring) as the star of the reality show. Kristin is absolutely gorgeous (note: Dear God, please make me look like her), absolutely a bitch, and absolutely hilarious.

Her red nail polish had me biting off my Sheer Crystal Dash, in order to exchange it for Juicy Tomato as soon as possible. I'm pathetic. But admittedly, I have a girl crush on Kristin Cavallari. I can live with that confession.

Oh my god, I only have 5 and a half months to do what??!!

Today I realized that my dream wedding is five and a half months away. That is less than half a year!! Like, this year is almost over and then I will only have three months!! And then when Valentine's Day comes, my wedding will be less than one month away!! Okay, enough with the countdown, I know, but suddenly I feel so overwhelmed. (Just when I was starting to freak out, puppy, who was sleeping next to my desk, woke himself up by snoring! Adorable!!)

Honestly, when I first got engaged, I was thinking that these things just sort of fell together. You buy your dress, get your bridesmaids, pick out your colors, and it just happened. I have no idea why! Maybe it had something to do with my parents getting married at their local courthouse in jeans. (Which started looking like a good idea to me halfway into all this planning!) I'm not someone whose been planning her wedding since she was five, marrying off my Barbie dolls. I was way more interested in dressing them up and fighting my sister for the prettiest one!

However, this weekend has been entirely devoted to the wedding. I've made 358742979469182301847 spreadsheets, each containing various information about EVERYTHING I would possibly need to know (budget, contact information, invitations, menu, etc.). I've made phone calls all afternoon, researched potential photographers, and played phone tag with every one of my bridesmaids.

I bought my sister's MOH (maid of honor...cool how it's abbreviated, huh? Even though I kind of defeated the purpose of abbreviation by explaining it like this) dress, which happened to be on sale. I emailed all of my bridesmaids, letting them know about the sale. I found out that the dress wasn't actually on sale, that the store had put the wrong tags on the wrong dresses. I argued with the bridal shop about the price, trying to save my girls almost sixty dollars. I got my way, but for today only. I called everyone to let them know about the mistake and about the limited time sale for only us.

I am exhausted.

And this is only the beginning. The easy stuff.

After consistently bitching at hubby for not helping with the wedding details, I finally came to this conclusion and told him, "Don't worry about it, baby. You make the money, and I'll figure out how to spend it." And I am definitely satisfied with that, because it let's me do what I do best!!

Dumb Blonde (and I'm Not Talking about Myself!!)

I've decided to compile a list of the beauty products I couldn't live without!! Exciting, isn't it?? No, really.

1. I thought I would start with these because I believe if you do not use and love Q-tips, you are a dirty freak. (And not in a good way.) But maybe not, if you've discovered some other ingenious way to clean all of those teeney little cavities God saw fit to bless us with.


2. Dumb Blonde by TIGI Bed Head: this stuff is AMAZING!! Blonde hair requires purple shampoo (for those of you not lucky enough to have a cosmetologist as a sister)! However, the shampoo-conditioner system are not only for us blondes - it claims to do wonders for brunettes and redheads alike. And I have to say I think it's just awful that blondes and brunettes have very sexy sounding names, and all girls with red hair get is "redhead."


3. CHI Infra Treatment was a accidental discovery the same day I bought those fabulous boots. I tried it and I'm hooked. I am convinced that using this stuff once a week is healing my overprocessed hair and split ends.


4. I use St. Ives Invigorating Apricot Scrub every couple of days to exfoliate my skin. I primarily use it on my face, but before I apply self-tanner, I exfoliate my entire body. You can put it on your fingers to massage into your skin, but I prefer to use a washcloth because it seems to really scratch off those dead skin cells that make your complexion look grey and dull. I used it for the first time when I was 14, I think, and I've been addicted ever since! I always get compliments on having pretty skin and I definitely give this find (and Proactiv) the credit for it.


5. Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Stress Control Power-Cream Body Wash is a savior to my skin. There is nothing like sweating and stress to cause breakouts, and I work out and freak out daily. I've been using this for about two weeks and I don't even worry about it anymore. (Wow, I sound like a commercial - I should definitely be getting paid to talk up all these products! Can my secretary, I mean my assistant, I mean my...hubby or my pomeranian...get someone on the phone about this stat!? Honey? Sweetie??)


6. Speaking of St. Ives, they have the most UH-MAZING lotion I've ever used, including the expensive stuff. It's called St. Ives Renewing Collagen Elastin lotion. Oh, I'm in love with it!


7. Now, smoking and soda drinking - not something I good denist would recommend. (Diet Coke and Virginia Slims are like the ultimate anti-beauty products.) But as a reward for two weeks of "just say no" to cigarettes, I used the Rembrandt 2 Hour Whitening Kit. In two hours, my teeth were blindingly white, and it was so easy to use and very comfortable. I whiten my teeth when I have two hours at home alone (or with Jared, we've pretty much lost the "mystery") doing laundry or homework, and when I'm done, I always have a brilliant smile. I like to do this every three or four months for upkeep.


8. Bare Minerals by Bare Escentuals is probably the best make-up in the world! The coverage is buildable, you use three fun fluffy brushes to apply it, and if you are a lazy s*** and don't wash off your make-up at night once in a while, it's ok!! They have bronzers, foundations, blush, lipgloss, everything, and I love all of it! It is especially good for summer weather (like, 75% of the year here in Georgia) because it's so light.


9. Working in a nail salon has taught me that OPI is the only nail polish worth using, and the best of OPI is Elephantastic Pink. Fun and grown-up at the same time, it is the most gorgeous Barbie pink I've ever seen in the world, and has me convinced that my wedding will not just include Tiffany blue, silver, and white, but also incorporate bits of Elephantastic pink. Everyone who laughed at me knowing that I'd change my mind about leaving pink out of my wedding color scheme, shut up! Even I knew you were right. It is my signature color, after all!!


10. My final favorite is also something I've recently discovered and has replaced my previous favorite mascara: Diorshow Iconic Mascara in Black. I have devastatingly short eyelashes, and by devastatingly, I mean nearly invisible and blonde, tragically. This mascara makes me look like I have falsies on, which I couldn't believe, but it's TRUE! It's absolutely incredible!!

"Something wonderful is gonna happen today!"

First of all, I want to apologize for my brief hiatus from the blogging world. The past two weeks have been miserable in more ways than I'm used to, starting with the fact that I quit smoking...again. But this time is looking much more successful than the last several. I am on the patch, which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone quitting. It has taken away my physical cravings for cigarettes, so all I have to deal with are the mental barriers. It's been a week today! I'm working on convincing myself that smoking is a disgusting, nasty habit. And that it's okay to gain a couple pounds if it helps me quit. Me + weight = long story, but let's just say I'm neurotic about it.

In other news, I am completely broke. My employer decided to pick up and go home (Vietnam) for a whole month, so I am stranded without a job, and my credit cards are feeling the strain. I took the hardest test of my life last week on the inner workings of computers (who cares??), but devoted approximately fifteen hours of studying to the exam and ended up with an A. I was scared to death - I had this ominous feeling which resulted in nausea all day before the class. Not pretty. But after three exams last week and one today, I feel like things are looking up!

And this isn't even half of what I've been dealing with.

So I've been feeling sorry for myself. Poor, pitiful, pathetic, and all alone. (sticks out pouty lip.) About things I can't change, so I'm done with that. You know that in a day, 80% of your time is spent doing things that are bad for you or that don't make you happy, and a measly 20% is spent doing the good things? (Just a little statistical knowledge I came across.)

So as cliche as it sounds, here's to rediscovering my childhood attitude where I would wake up feeling like something wonderful was going to happen that day, every day.

Oops, I did it again!

Uh-oh. Real life confessions of a shopaholic:

I got out of class early today, and my credit card was screaming to be let out of my pink wallet. And I don't like for there to be any screaming in my wallet. So I succumbed to temptation, and decided to do a little non-shopping. You know, when you go to the store and tell yourself you won't buy anything?

And there they were. Black Calvin Klein ankle boots, on sale and also screaming. And when the screaming of plastic and ankle boots met, I heard the Hallelujah chorus. And you can guess what happened from there.



So they are now in my closet, hidden in a shoe box, for the inevitable confession to Hubby. I'm hoping to avoid it though, by waiting for about a month to wear them.

Ken: "When did you get those?"

Barbie: "Oh these old things, I've had them for ages!"

That'll work right? Right? Ugh.