Fan Friday :: On My Obsession with Dave Matthews.

I have been in love with the Dave Matthews Band since I was in about the fourth grade. I remember listening to him in the car with all of the adults that used to tote us around -- singing along to crash into me not knowing what he meant by "hike up your skirt a little more, show your world to me" [sidenote -- I don't know about you, but as kids we sang along to some wildly inappropriate songs as kids..]  Dave has always been about summertime for me. There's nothing better than rolling all the windows down in the car + just blasting any + all of his jams [thanks spotify premium!]
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Last weekend I saw him at Lakewood for the umpteenth time. That's an exaggeration. I have missed him a lot of times because he always seems to be playing at the same time as whatever team I've been working for has been at home, this year wasn't any different but I made it happen anyways. Like I said -- my obsession with DMB.


I mentioned in my Thursday Things last week that I love the lawn at Lakewood for the purpose that no one gets in your space -- so obviously some outrageously drunk teenagers had to prove me wrong. That's also an exaggeration. They were probably in their twenties but were acting like teenagers + that's just as bad. Yes -- this show was sold out -- but was there a reason for them to sit so close to us one of them kept touching my leg? oh absolutely not. They also kept trying to start the tomahawk chop which I also take issue with -- we're not at the Braves game -- don't be that guy.

Obnoxious drunk teenagers aside, I could not have asked for more show-wise. It was "a very special evening" because there wasn't an opening act -- just an acoustic set followed by a full set. This started us thinking -- what's the difference between an acoustic Dave set + a full one? Answer :: drums, bass guitar, + a light show. Since the tour isn't promoting any specific album -- he played all of his big hits + it was highly entertaining. Again, there were the fans genuinely surprised he did an encore + they're just the best...

Linking up with Sarah + Whitney today! Happy happy Friday everyone!!

Thursday Things

Still struggling with what day of the week it is over here -- not really sure why. HOWEVER it's almost the weekend and I have minimal work to do this weekend and ZERO GAMES which is the best. So here are the Thursday Things I'm digging this week ::

Tommy La Stella getting the call last night :: the Braves may be doing pretty dismally against the Red Sox [who lost 10 games in a row going into this series -- so maybe they have a bigger fire under their rear ends to get it together..] but I am so pumped that Tommy La Stella got his first MLB start last night + did pretty well. Remember when I wrote about him as a reason you should still be excited about Spring Training? Yeah. I'm pretty excited he got the call. Bummed Simmons is hurt, but hoping they keep La Stella on the roster..

summer bucket lists :: they're popping up all over and I think I'll just have to make my own this weekend... I'm definitely putting the beach, lake, and river on there [seems like I have a thing for bodies of water..]

whiskey in my water :: so I'm generally behind on new music because of the whole never listening to the radio thing -- so maybe everyone already loves it as much as I do -- but I'm totally digging it right meow.

bonus :: Thursday Things I don't dig this week ::

flat tires :: how is it possible that I've picked up yet another nail in the same tire I had plugged and patched and then rotated? how does that happen? 

braves losing :: I can't watch on tv anymore -- superstitious -- but they've lost every game I've watched on tv this season. every. single. one. I'm 1-1 in real life games though. So that's still okay I guess. 


rain :: whenever the team is on the road it always rains. how am I supposed to get tan and float the river if it's raining and in the mid-seventies? come on mother nature. let's get it together. 

Humpday Confessions :: One!

As a rule -- I generally don't know what day of the week it is. So when I opened up my bloglovin' feed + saw all of the Humpday Confession posts -- I was reminded that GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS? Also we have a day game today so I'm about 98.99% coffee and 1.01% human being. So heeeeeeeere we go!

Vodka and Soda
instagram confession :: it gives me some seriously [ridiculous] anxiety when instagram lists who all has liked your post -- you know it doesn't change to numbers until 11 -- so if I have 10 likes on a photo -- I'll like it myself until someone else does just so that it has that number rather than 10 usernames..

on ignoring text messages :: I have "read receipts" on my iMessage so you know if I'm purposefully ignoring you -- I realize that sounds passive aggressive -- but sometimes I'm at work/driving/doing anything but being attached to my phone + I don't check my phone so if it doesn't say I've read it -- 83% of the time I haven't. HOWEVER sometimes when I'm having a conversation I don't know how to respond to on my own -- I'll read the preview of the message in the notification center + ask a minimum of three people how I'm supposed to respond to shit.

on how long it actually took me to write this post :: all day. literally all day. I started it, went to the ballpark, worked a game, came back home, ate dinner, drank a couple beers, thought about more confessions. so there's that.

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on the outcome of that most recent job situation :: I'm doing better now. I was pretty devastated at first. I thought I had it, I thought I was going to live at the BEACH . I thought I was going to have a salary and all kinds of new things to blog about -- but now I'm pretty much over it. I'm moving back to Buckhead [hashtag buckhead betty y'all] and I'm going to find something ten times better with all of my friends in the big city of Atlanta.

on how many of my #BIKINISERIES miles I do a day :: I round up. If I do 2.7 -- I will probably write down three. If I get over .6 I round up. If I get to .4 I qualify it as .5 and you know what? I'm not even a little bit sorry.

Some More Thoughts on Rejection

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I completely understand wanting the job applicant in question to be ready to accept the job if you offer it -- but there's a difference between leading the applicant to believe they have the position with phrases like "you're our first choice right now" and "it's just a matter of protocol to interview remaining candidates, so keep your schedule open." This last position I interviewed for and didn't get never used those phrases, but other positions I have interviewed for have. I don't even allow myself to get excited about a possible position because of recent experiences. Fool me once and so on.

While we're on the subject of job process phrases that I don't like to hear, let's talk about the rejection process. I can usually feel it in my gut before it happens. I just knew this time because it had taken so much longer to hear back from them than usual. That little voice in the back of my head said "they've offered it to their first choice and are waiting to tell you until after they've accepted" which is fine. If I'm your second choice but your first choice turns it down and I never know that's how I got the position -- I'm totally okay with it. Let's talk the worst phrase used to "let someone down easy" : you were a really close second.

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm a highly competitive person. When you tell me I was a close second I feel like I made a mistake somewhere, maybe if I had said more on some topic or less on some topic I would have won. That's how I view everything -- in terms of being able to win. So now I'm replaying every interview trying to figure out where I stepped out of bounds or made a fielding error. What caused me to come in second? Was it something small or some large glaring error that I made? Was I too confident? Not confident enough? Did I laugh at something you didn't mean to be funny?

That being said, it's back to the drawing board. Maybe that new MLS team in Atlanta will need a community relations person and they'll realize I'm really good at that! Do you have any "rejection phrases" that really get your goose? [I don't actually know what get your goose means, but I think it applies..] 

Where'd You Go Bernadette? -- A Review

I have been absolutely tearing through books this summer -- I'll have to get back on good terms with the library so I can start borrowing books instead of paying for them or else I'll go broke... Anyways, second on my list for the Summer Reading Challenge was Where'd You Go Bernadette? Here's what I thought about it!
title :: Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
author :: Maria Semple
summary from goodreads :: Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle—and people in general—has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.

To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world. [goodreads]


my thoughts :: This story is told by Bee and through a compilation of e-mails, notes, documents, and various other forms of communication. At first it was a little tough to keep up with the different changing voices -- but once all of the characters were established it was much easier. Bernadette appealed to me as a character because she's similar to a lot of the highly intelligent but not so-good-with-people characters I love [Bones, Dr. Spencer Reid, etc..] -- she's struggling in Seattle where all of the people have always lived there [having moved to a small town in high school -- I can totally relate to her struggles]. I also really adored Bee's character  -- she was tenacious and definitely not one to be told "no" there were times that my heart broke for her and times that I was just as excited as she was. I quite honestly could not put this one down!

would I recommend this book? :: absolutely -- I actually read it more on a suggestion than because it was on the NYT Best Sellers list. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys satire and a good little mystery. 

Thursday Things!!

First of all -- my Rocket + Lace vest came in and I have literally been making excuses to wear it I love it so much. So obviously, first and foremost on my things I love this week has to be my Rocket + Lace be the strange vest.
fans who are genuinely surprised when an artist does an encore at a concert :: last Thursday I went to see Florida Georgia Line + Jason Aldean [side note -- first time ever having seats at Lakewood -- even though we didn't sit down once..] and there were people there who absolutely lost it when he came back out to do She's Country -- maybe I've been going to concerts so long that I have just come to expect it -- but I never leave after the set "ends" -- especially if the artist hasn't performed one of their biggest hits. It definitely made me happy that those fans were so happy.
Jason Aldean at the end of his surprise encore
the skimm :: I already get most of my news from Twitter because I can't sit and watch the news for too long. sometimes I enjoy the Today Show while I drink my coffee -- but usually I miss the big picture because I'm not keeping up with CNN. The Skimm condenses all of the daily big stories into one daily e-mail. Not only do they summarize big stories and provide the links to them, they summarize them in ways that makes them easier to understand in one or two sentences. I hate when I have to read a news article twice or more and watch the accompanying video to really understand the story -- so I definitely appreciate The Skimm and I think you will too!

the daily balloon on Instagram ::  if you love balloons and daily reasons to smile -- you'll love this one. They put daily motivations on balloons and they're just great -- okay? check it out :: 
That's it for this week's Thursday Things! What are you loving this week? 

Fan Friday :: My First Braves Game as a Fan

As I've mentioned before, I was a trainee with the Atlanta Braves last season. This post is overdue because this game was like a month ago... ANYWAYS. I went to one of the first games of the season as a fan and it was a strange but incredible experience.
not sorry for using a snapchat picture.
At first -- I just wanted to cry. I haven't been back to Turner Field since my last day of work -- so pulling in the parking lot brought back all sorts of memories. Then I remembered I had to pay to park. Obviously we were there forever early, I think gates had literally just opened. So I ran into plenty of old coworkers who were all so excited to see me [obviously I was excited to see them too]. Seeing all of those familiar faces also tugged the heartstrings. I'm glad I didn't make it back into the office -- I would have probably lost it.
Then I realized the absolute best part of the whole "being a fan + not at work" situation was that I could enjoy a couple of Sweetwaters, watch the game, sass the umpires and players, and not have to worry about a single thing. I haven't enjoyed a baseball game in I don't know how long. Obviously I had people coming to sit with me and catch up at all parts of the game, I caught up on the gossip, and bought a 5050 raffle ticket. Took some bad iphone pictures...
I wouldn't trade my experience as a trainee for anything, I wish I was still going into Turner Field every day for work, but I definitely enjoyed being a fan again. Sadly, I didn't win the 5050 raffle, but that will not be my last Braves game as a fan this year by any stretch of imagination. Maybe next time I'll hang out in the Chophouse + take some better pictures. Until next time though! 
Linking up with Sarah for Fan Friday!

Thursday Things I DON'T Get

I was reading Whitney's post about being trendy and it got me thinking about the trends I just can't seem to catch up to either. So here are some things that I will probably never get a firm grasp on.

snapchat :: I'm still pretty sure that snapchat was invented for inappropriate pictures -- but I never feel like I come across anything worth only sending for 6 seconds. I'm probably just going to send you an actual picture in text message from. also I am pretty much the last person to be taking a 'selfie' -- so that's also probably another reason I don't get them..

edm :: my little brother loves EDM. So do lots of people I know. I just don't get it. I don't have the coordination to dance to it, it kind of makes my head spin, and I can only really see using it as workout music because it's all super upbeat and usually a combination of other songs. The closest I can get to being into any of it is the GirlTalk I remember for college. Give me a jam band any day.

those tall nike workout socks with sandals :: just when did socks and sandals become acceptable? What is so great about these workout socks that makes one pair worth like $25? We bought some for my cousin for Christmas and I couldn't get over it. First off, I believe that matching socks are bad luck, second off you could buy like thirty pairs of those little socks that go right below your ankle for that. What makes those weird lines up the back of your legs cool? AND WHY are you wearing them with sandals?

hair tutorials on pinterest ::  I try SO HARD to have fun mermaid hair + to get any of these "easy to do" hairstyles to work. THEY JUST DON'T WORK. I literally threw a temper tantrum because I couldn't have mermaid hair. Also -- when I try the whole messy bun thing it just looks like a bird's nest is on top of my head. obviously putting flowers in it doesn't help..

why can't I have mermaid hair?!
Maybe I'm just too old to get snapchat + too uncoordinated to manage mermaid hair. I'll never give up on the pinterest hairstyles!

Bikini Series -- Week One

Last week I mentioned that I was starting the Tone It Up Bikini Series + that I would be checking in every Wednesday to talk about my progress. Here's where we are progress wise! First of all, yesterday I did a 4 mile nature hike with my dad -- I thought I was doing great because I was making up for not doing any miles over the weekend and being one week in I was already at 15 miles!

Then I shared my nature hike picture on Instagram only to discover that other people were already over 30 miles. WHAT? How are you already there? Then I did some math and realized that they're just going to hit 150 early -- I'm not too far behind. I'll get three or four miles in today and be right back on track to order my water bottle next week! As far as clean eating goes -- I definitely cheated over the weekend and continue to because we have so much left over food. Yesterday was a clean eating day until beer with dinner though -- so I feel incredible today!

So even though I have been slacking a little -- I plan to hike to the House o' Dreams at Berry College this weekend which is close to 6 miles and definitely not an easy-peasy hike! 

Teatime For the Firefly -- A Review

I both bought and finished my first book for this Summer Reading challenge in less than three days. I literally could not put the book down. I have read a bunch of really bummer reviews for it, especially on Goodreads, so I thought I would try my hand at a positive one here. This is my first ever book review not in report form -- so let me know what you think!
title :: Teatime for the Firefly
author :: Shona Patel
description from Goodreads :: "Layla Roy has defied the fates.

Despite being born under an inauspicious horoscope, she is raised to be educated and independent by her eccentric grandfather, Dadamoshai. And, by cleverly manipulating the hand fortune has dealt her, she has even found love with Manik Deb—a man betrothed to another. All were minor miracles in India that spring of 1943, when young women's lives were predetermined—if not by the stars, then by centuries of family tradition and social order.

Layla's life as a newly married woman takes her away from home and into the jungles of Assam, where the world's finest tea thrives on plantations run by native labor and British efficiency. Fascinated by this culture of whiskey-soaked expats who seem fazed by neither earthquakes nor man-eating leopards, she struggles to find her place among the prickly English wives with whom she is expected to socialize, and the peculiar servants she now finds under her charge.

But navigating the tea-garden set will hardly be her biggest challenge. Layla's remote home is not safe from the powerful changes sweeping India on the heels of the Second World War. Their colonial society is at a tipping point, and Layla and Manik find themselves caught in a perilous racial divide that threatens their very lives."


my thoughts :: This story absolutely captivated me. I quite honestly could not put the book down. Layla describes India and her experience in beautiful, flowery words. I'll admit that at first it was a little difficult for me to get into due to all of the metaphors -- but once she delved into the story of her and Manik I started flying through the pages. I am an absolute sucker for anything historical fiction related and I loved how their love story developed through their letters. I feel like Layla is a strong character and even stronger woman for her culture during that time. The way the novel is narrated by the main character demonstrates her courage and sense of adventure. She leaves the village she grew up in and everything she has ever known to traipse through the jungle with her new husband. She also has such self confidence and self worth that when she overhears some of the other "tea wives" gossiping about her she doesn't get angry, simply thinks I feel sorry that they will never understand that type of true friendship. I would like to be a little more like Layla.

would I recommend this book? :: I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in strong female characters, historical fiction, and/or wanderlust. Sadly, I bought the nook book, so I cannot share it. [sidebar -- why can you only share certain nook books? yet another con in the e-reader category.)

Also -- while we're on the summer reading challenge -- I found a book I couldn't [didn't..] finish the first time around. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. It wasn't that I couldn't finish it so much as it was that I misplaced the book -- but cleaning for the surprise party I found it wrapped in a towel in my bathroom linen closet....... So now all I need is the book written by a blogger! You can see my whole list here! Now I'm off to the library to pick up the next book on my list!


Surprise Birthday Fiesta Success


Now that we've [almost] dried out from Saturday and are starting to collect all of the beer -- I feel like I should recap our outstanding surprise party we put together for my dad. He had no idea -- so we definitely pulled it off! Obviously with his birthday being so close to Cinco de Mayo [his actual birthday is tomorrow -- but who wants to do stuff on a Tuesday?] we choose a fiesta theme! We also incorporated "schfifty five" like I mentioned in Saturday's playlist post.
One of my our party guests brought an adult piñata -- it was filled with airplane bottles, chocolates, and all sorts of other goodies. Somehow I was in a different part of the house when we decided to bust it open -- so I didn't manage to get pictures from that. We did enjoy the bounty..
The number one thing we did was to rent a frozen margarita machine. We have so much left over beer because the margaritas were such a hit. No ice required, just tequila, mix, + triple sec. It was the best because we had frozen margaritas all night + no need for a bartender. When I grow up -- I will have one of these machines in my house. 
The weather was superb, dad was completely surprised, and a good time was had by all. I do believe it will be my last surprise party for a while -- my stepmom + I both were having nightmares leading up to it. I kept thinking the margarita machine would get here early or that dad would find all of the stuff we had hidden around the house. 

A Surprise Party Playlist


My father has been complaining that no one has ever thrown him a surprise party since we went to one for my aunt before Christmas. Little does he know -- we're throwing him one today. He thinks he's planned a dinner party with a couple of friends [and even told me I should find something else to do outside of the house tonight!] and has no idea that those friends are actually in on it too. He'll be off to the gun show [yes. the gun show.] any minute now, my stepmom and I will pour ourselves some mimosas then turn this place into a fiesta!

so I've put together a playlist of jams that will do for the grown ups + not so grown ups [it is a 21 + up party.. but I'm far from a grownup..] coming over to celebrate 55 years of my dad!
schfifty five :: this song is the theme of the party -- one of my cousins entertained us with this forever ago + my dad still says "whachu saaay?" all the time. Obviously it had to be the first on this list too.

get back -- the beatles :: according to billboard the song at #1 on the charts when dad was born was that age of aquarius song -- but this one came into the #1 spot after May + I like it better...

midnight rider -- the allman brothers ::  my dad loves the Allman Brothers. Every time they're on the radio he tells me about how that one album was called Eat A Peach because one of them died in a motorcycle wreck with a peach truck. [such a Georgia way to die too man.]

There are so many more kickass rock jams on this playlist -- so check it out! These songs are fun for all ages -- because some things never go out of style. Now I have to get back to making sure everything is set up before he gets back from the gun show...

Summer Reading Challenge


I just finished The Lincoln Deception + then was lucky enough to stumble on this Summer Reading Challenge! So here is my 'preliminary' reading list -- as everyone is calling it. I will be hitting up my library to find these titles + more for this summer! I also plan on re-reading the entire Harry Potter series this summer. So here goes...
  
freebie :: Teatime for Firefly -- I decided this one while trying to pick something from the NYT Best Sellers list.. it also falls into historical fiction not set in Europe.  Obviously I'm bad at making decisions. -- review here!
written before I was born :: The Sun Also Rises -- I love Hemmingway + I haven't read this one yet -- so it was a little bit of an obvious choice.
a book I couldn't finish the first time :: I can't remember ever not finishing a book? so this is tbd..
a book from the children's section :: Looking for Alaska -- since the last John Green book I read completely captivated me + broke my heart -- I might as well go for another one!
a book on the NYT best seller's list :: Where'd You Go Bernadette?  -- I have heard great reviews about this from a close friend who said I'd love it + he's usually right about these things -- so obviously I'm pumped about this one. -- review here!
historical fiction that doesn't take place in Europe :: I Shall be Near to You  -- I love a woman who goes "oh yeah? watch this!" when told she can't do something [like be a Union soldier in the American Civil War] because she's a woman. 
a book another blogger has read for the challenge :: obviously tbd -- but I'm pretty excited about it.
a book with "son"/"daughter"/"child" in the title :: The Kingmaker's Daughter -- I loved The Other Boleyn Girl + this promises to deserve similar praise. Obviously historical fiction is a favorite of mine..
a book that will be adapted to film in 2014 :: The Monuments Men -- I think this is cheating a little bit -- because I think this movie might have come out at the end of 2013...
a book written by a blogger :: any suggestions? I'll have to check out the library + see if they have a "books by bloggers" section...
biography/autobiography/memoir :: The Girls of Atomic City -- Again with history -- but I also love learning about strong women in American history. Rosie the Riveter + the AAGPBL should be in this one -- I'm pumped. 
a pair of books with antonyms in the titles :: Last to Die + The First Wives Club -- first is a Rizzoli + Isles book -- I love the tv show + I hope I'll feel the same way about the books.. second is super funny + light so it fits in well to contrast almost all of the other books on here.

I'll [probably] be writing book reviews on all of these after I finish them to cover "checking-in" on my progress.

Do you have any suggestions I should add to my summertime reading list?

Thursday Things + May Movin' Music

Happy Thursday friends! It's been a rather soggy week here + these are the things I'm absolutely loving this week + a peek at my newest workout jams. Super fun Thursday here indeed!!

First -- things I'm loving this week.

this dress from Old Navy :: I bought it a couple of weeks ago in this print + then went back + yesterday + bought it in like three other colors. It fits like a glove, makes me feel skinnier, + it's JERSEY COTTON so it's as comfortable as your favorite t-shirt.
this season of Grey's Anatomy's soundtrack :: they're all super chill covers of older songs you already know + love + I literally cannot get enough. As for this season of Grey's -- I'm not sure I'm okay with Christina leaving. I love the dynamic between her + Meredith. That is probably my favorite friendship on all of TV... 
80's music in general :: as you'll see from my May Movin' Music (guys. I'm really proud of my alliteration when it comes to workout music posts...) I've been really into 80's music lately. I can't deal with hearing 90's music on the CLASSIC ROCK STATION I just can't. So 80's music is really the most of this workout playlist. ch-ch-ch-check it out! 
What music are you loving lately? Do you have any suggestions for June's Jams? (Okay, that one was too easy. I don't know what I'll call July's....)