Clean, Old Fashioned Hate

Hey, what do you call a pretty girl on Tech's campus? a visitor. Sorry, not sorry nerds. The Georgia Georgia Tech rivalry is by far the weirdest one we have. It's one of those that one side feels more than the other. Honestly, we don't really care what Tech does any other time of the year, unless they're playing us. I have some great friends who went to Tech though, and they apparently teach those kids to hate us during orientation. It's more of a sibling rivalry if anything. We have some nicknames for them, and they try to make sassy smart nicknames for us. My favorite is when they put sic. next to our name, as if we're archaic and outdated. Anyways. Here are the five things you need to know about the North Avenue Trade School before you head up to Athens this weekend. 

we run this state // I want to say it was my junior year? The Tech kids talk a huge game. We had Joe Cox, and it was a shaky year for sure. The year before Tech had come to Athens and ripped up the hedges. [side note. don't. touch. the. hedges. we don't take lightly to that and we will not forget that you did that]  so we went down to Atlanta and made a statement. I still have the shirt with "we run this state" written on the eye black of the cartoon Uga. Since 1991, Georgia Tech has won four of the matchups. 
to hell with Georgia Tech // okay, so that's in our [unofficial..] fight song. we change it for whoever we play, but you know, Georgia Tech has the right amount of syllables [unlike "awwwwburn"]. It's not officially in our fight song though. so Tech wrote their own song "to hell with Georgia" to the same tune as our fight song. They also have us in their official fight song. So. there's that one too. 

the triple option // Tech runs what is referred to as an "option offense" it means they toss the ball around laterally a lot which really stresses me out. It's also hard to defend against because they're in the backfield playing hot potato! Paul Johnson's (Tech's coach) triple option plan is so fancy he even gets his own little note on the wikipedia page. [sorry for citing wikipedia there, I just thought it was crazy that his specific option offense is worth noting.]
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UGA leads // I mentioned that tech has only won 4 times since 1991, well overall the record stands, with Georgia leading, at 69-39-5. I'm not even going to make an ACC dig here. Also, worth noting, Tech won their division and will be playing FSU next weekend. We're still hoping for Missouri to lose because we couldn't beat Florida and Tennessee just couldn't hold onto the ball last week. I don't want to talk about it.

the odds are good, but the goods are odd // so, at Georgia the female to male student ratio is about 60/40. Also, I swear every girl at Georgia is the pretty girl. It's outrageous. You've seen how we dress on gameday. Well, at Tech, the ratio is about 70% males and  30% females.  [hey, which I don't condone, engineering is cool. more girls should be engineers. I was originally an engineering major, I only changed because I'm not so good at chemistry, I actually got into Tech early, and deferred from Georgia.] I did always like going to Tech parties in college, because a lot of the time we ended up being the only girls there. 

Oh, FUN STORY guys. Last year the game was at Tech, and I was trying to find the physics building because that's where the tailgate I was looking for was. So I got most of the way there and got a little turned around, because it's not my campus, and so I asked a couple of Tech students where it was. They sent me in 100% the wrong direction. SO what teams are you rooting for this weekend? You should probably cheer for Arkansas, if you like me at all. 

Sopapilla Cheesecake!

Okay. I'm going to let you guys in on a secret, even if it diminishes my baking street cred. I have a super easy recipe for sopapilla cheesecake that will make everyone think you're super good at baking desert. I found it on pinterest or somewhere when I lived in Texas, but I've since memorized it and can't find the original one, for the sake of full disclosure. Anyways, it is sooo easy. Ready? Here's what you need: 
hi, my name is Kasey + I like to experiment with the sunset as my natural lighting, I didn't actually burn my dessert.
two cans of crescent rolls [when I lived in Texas, Albertson's carried unperforated crescent rolls. I've been on the hunt for those ever since. holla atchyo girl if you know where I can find them...]
two 8 oz blocks of cream cheese [I suggest leaving these out until they get soft, because cream cheese is tough without your stand mixer..]
1 1/4 cups of sugar
cinnamon
1/2 a stick of butter [err, 1/4 a cup?] melted!
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
greased 11x7" pan

Okay! Don't forget to preheat the oven. I always forget. Follow the instructions on the crescent rolls, usually it's 375, sometimes different brands try to pretend you need to set the oven special... In your mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, one cup of sugar, and vanilla extract! This is a little tough, because cream cheese, so I definitely recommend a hand mixer or whatever, but a fork works just as well AND you get a workout. 

In your greased pan (I used my casserole dish because my teflon baking pan made a bigger mess when I tried to wash it...) line the bottom with the first can of crescent rolls. try to squish the seams together, it doesn't impact the taste, but it sure looks prettier... Spread the cream cheese mixture over the first layer of crescent rolls. Pro tip (hahaha, I'm not a pro..) -- if you don't already have one, invest in a rubber spatula, it spreads the filling easily AND helps you get all of the yummy insides off the mixing bowl. 

Spread the other can of crescent rolls over the top of your delicious cream cheese filling, again smooshing the seams together. Next! pour your melted butter over the top. omg, how good does it smell already? In a bowl, mix together 1/4 a cup of sugar and cinnamon to taste (okay, so I do a different amount of cinnamon every time, because of my issues with rules. A safe bet would be at least two table spoons so it's all brownish. yum.) spread that over top of the butter + bake for roughly 15 - 20 minutes, you're looking for a flaky golden brown color. Some ovens are different. Some crescent rolls tell you 9 minutes (which is a hilarious joke and big tease. it takes longer than that

There! Now tell everyone that you made the whole thing from scratch and you definitely didn't use crescent rolls instead of hand making some overly fancy pastry level so that you can really call it cheesecake. I won't tell anyone. Also! Let me know how yours turned out! Don't forget to take at least 50 pictures to find the perfect instagram shot... I mean...! 

Hashtag Humpday: #thestruggleisreal

No, you scheduled posts for next week, talked about how excited you were for the linkups today earlier, and still forgot to schedule a post for today. Oh wait, yeah, that's definitely me. I am driving the strugglebus on this here, my surprise day off. But look! It's Schmidt!
#Hashtaghumpday @ Life with Lolo
#thestruggleisreal -- I drove past five different places I could have gotten coffee this morning to get Dunkin Donuts, I was so pumped. The ladies there were so nice. Plus I got coffee and a bagel for less than coffee at Starbucks. So I go to drink my coffee? It was hot chocolate. Maybe I cried. Then I got lost in World Market (I just remembered why I was in there, I wanted to make peppermint mochas. damnit.) So then I venture next door, to Kroger, where I fight a really deep battle over "wait, do I get salted or unsalted butter? what's the difference between kroger cinnamon and that  $7 cinnamon?" most of those were internal. Then I stopped at the coffee juice refrigerator-- did y'all know Bailey's makes coffee juice? I looked at it and said apparently out loud "does this have booze in it!?" THE REFRIGERATOR ANSWERED ME. 
#blessed -- PLEASE tell me you've seen Christian Girl Instagram. No? Here, I got it for you. 
#justcallmemartha -- somehow I made it through Kroger AND got all of the things I need for my sopapilla cheesecake. I'll be making that one later and you can watch for it TOMORROW! I promise. I'm going to make it RIGHT. NOW. and take all the pictures.

#ICYMI -- while we're on the instagram bus -- what if guys acted like girls on instagram? over on Witty + Pretty, and how to be a successful blogger on instagram over at The Daily Tay!

Does anyone else say "hashtag" before some really ridiculous statement? Because I've noticed I've been doing that a lot lately. I hope y'all still want to be my friend. hashtag sorry not sorry..

Confession: I Miss Weekly Confessions.

I won't lie, I love Write or Die Wednesday now. I'm also super excited for Hashtag Humpday this week. But I miss having a set day where I just rattle off the ridiculous things that have happened in my life. So, today's list is the top five most "I'm So Cute" moments I've had recently. Obviously, complete with gifs. [wait. is it "gifs" or ".gifs" or does it not matter?]

adventures with my pupillary distance // so I just about died with excitement when Frimoo offered to send me glasses for a review a week after I lost my health insurance, and a little more than a month before my vision prescription runs out. [um helloooooo perfect timing, right?] Well apparently PD is important + the eye doctor doesn't want to lose their revenue from eye glasses [legit, my last pair of glasses cost me five. hundred. dollars. so the businesswoman in me totally understands not wanting to give that revenue up] ANYWAYS. so I don't have a ruler, so my sister + I went to Publix and instead of buying the $1.99 protractor, tried to measure it in the store. Then we went to the new Warby Parker store in Buckhead where they measured it for me for free. I also promised I wouldn't blog about this. It's too funny not to share though.
I built a football watching fort // okay, so I haven't really blogged about it, but I've been going twenty million miles an hour for all of the weekends. I also don't think I have another free weekend until JANUARY. so Saturday I built a little fort out of the couch cushions, filled a cooler with beer and brought it into the living room, and laid on the sofa watching football for the entire weekend. I feel zero parts sorry about it. Best. Weekend. Ever. 
people trust me around open flames // I left a candle burning. a three wick candle. burning in the apartment for four. hours. FOUR HOURS. there was almost zero wax left when I got home. it's a mystery to me how I haven't burnt a house down yet. [dear future landlords, please don't hold this against me. I only buy candles that are encased in glass. never the kind that are just like a wide open flame. somehow I feel like that makes it safer.
there's a whole floor of tiny human things at the new Restoration Hardware // Restoration Hardware just opened a six story incredible looking building. The fifth floor is solely tiny human things. I touched on how I don't know if I have a good grip on my decision to have my own tiny humans last week, but the tiny cheetah pajamas. and the tiny couches. and all of the other tiny human things. I couldn't deal. This man walked by me + Eva having issues over the tiny cheetah pajamas and literally laughed out loud at us. I mean. I know people laugh at me all the time, but I've never witnessed anyone LOL at me when I wasn't trying to be funny. 
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I paid a small child $8 for a homemade air freshener // so at the UGA Auburn game, this little girl, who couldn't have been but five years old, max.. walks up to me, tugs on my dress, and says "excuse me, ma'am, you look very beautiful today. would you like to buy an air freshener? I made them myself and I'm selling them because I want to be an entrepreneur when I grow up!" Obviously. I couldn't say no to a small child using a word that was bigger than her, so I gave her all my money. Now my car smells like some really aggressive strawberries....
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Have you had any "I'm so cute" moments lately? 

Weekly Wishes :: Eighteen

I cannot believe that it is already Thanksgiving. THANKSGIVING! December is next. week. next week. Oh my goodness. THAT MEANS I LEAVE FOR EUROPE IN LIKE. SIX WEEKS. oh. okay. I'm freaking out now. So there's that. Let's just jump right into weekly wishes with The Nectar Collective, huh?
last week's wishes::
get to work on the bar cart // so the cart my grandmother found was mislabeled and the price was too much, but we went to a junk store + haggled for a bakers rack! boom! I'm so excited. I've started scrounging for frames too. 
two miles a day. duh. // okay. so technically it wasn't two miles a day, but I did do 10 miles last week between the bike and my regular walks! 
finish the blog business plan // still working on this one, look out, maybe I'll share it this week. probably not. probably next week. 

this week's wishes:: 
make a tasty desert for thanksgiving and remember to take pictures so I can blog it // I'm thinking sopapilla cheesecake, because yum and it's so easy.
two miles a day // I'm hitting #100byChristmas if my legs fall off. 
finish the blog business plan // for obvious reasons. I'm hoping to do something serious in 2015. and I love a good plan! 

Okay! That's what I want to get done this week! I even managed to write and schedule three posts for this week over the weekend in my football sofa fort. Multitasking for the win! What are you going to accomplish this holiday week? Do you have any deserts you want to share? OH ALSO. you need to check out Melissa's super fantastic hack for a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha. yum. 

My Five Favorite Christmas Movies

OH MAN. Okay so I do not follow the whole "no Christmas before Thanksgiving" rule. who even made that up? Scrooge? The Grinch? Oh, those even count as jokes for this post! So, since there's like, one Friday left before December, and that Friday is reserved for my Georgia Georgia Tech post, I figured there was no better time to talk about my favorite Christmas movies!!!!!!

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation // This is all too accurate. If you tell me you haven't had a family vacation like this one, I don't know if you're doing it right. I can't even deal, sometimes I think Eddie is my favorite character. It's just not Christmas until we've watched this movie at least four times with my dad giving commentary + everyone noticing something they haven't seen before. It's tradition! 
Rudolph [and all of the other Claymation movies] // HERBIE JUST WANTS TO BE A DENTIST, OKAY? Just let it happen Papa Elf! I love Rudolph, he's a nugget. I also always have a sunburn on my nose, so we have a ton in common. I just want him to get to play in the reindeer games. Kids are jerks. 
ELF// duh. If you tell me you've never answered the phone "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color!?" I just don't think you've lived. Plus there's a narwhal. Plus Zooey Deschanel. and they sing Pennies From Heaven. THE BEST WAY TO SPREAD CHRISTMAS CHEER IS SINGING LOUD FOR ALL TO HEAR!  
Love Actually // I like to watch this movie at any time during the year, let's be honest, but especially around Christmas! I love the very end when all of the story lines connect back to each other. I realize it led the way for more movies like that Valentine's Day one and whatever else with all the crazy story lines, but I really do love this one. Plus that little kid, when he's in love? oh my goodness. 
HARRY POTTER WEEKENDS // okay. ABC Family loves HP as much as I do + I will always watch Harry Potter if it's on TV, even if it's with all the commercials. I drop everything for a Harry Potter weekend. always. Yes. That's two Alan Rickman movies in a row. I know it's not technically a Christmas movie, but I always make time for a Harry Potter Marathon. You know in the first one when Mrs. Weasely makes Harry a Christmas sweater?! I cry, every time. He's so surprised, you mean I get a Christmas present!? OH ALSO. I just learned via Buzzfeed that when I'm in London, Hogwarts will be SET UP FOR CHRISTMAS.
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I guess claiming all of the claymations and all of the HP movies is kind of cheating at my own list. Guys, I think I have a problem if I can't even follow my own rules. BY THE WAY. If you're in Atlanta, and getting excited about Christmas too, YOU SHOULD RUN THE UGLY SWEATER 5K with us. By run, I obviously mean walk around taking pictures, drinking cocoa, and playing in the snow. PLUS you get a beer at the end. PLUS PLUS UGLY SWEATERS. You can get the entry for less on Living Social RIGHT NOW. [ps, to whom it may concern, that's just a link to the deal, not even one that if you buy it mine ends up free. I registered back in July, like a crazy person.] Do it, we'll have SO MUCH FUN. Sorry not sorry for all of the capital letters.... Okay, I'm linking up with Sarah because I love Christmas movies and that picture of me with Santa, and Karli because I tried to list five movies.. What are your favorite Christmas movies? Anything I should add to my collection?
 

The Happiness of Pursuit -- A Review

So, I received a copy of The Happiness of Pursuit from Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review of the book! It took me forever to finish this book, so that's why the review is just now happening.

I have to be honest, I almost didn't finish this book. I wanted to, but there's a lot of story lines going on and my attention span is super short. I did love the idea behind this book, it's all about the quest. Which makes you think about all of the bucket lists and 20 by 20 lists we make. It actually inspired me to sit down and write a 101 in 1001 list. 

The book focuses on a variety of different people's quests and the lengths they went through to accomplish them. If you don't have a sense of adventure and wanderlust when you start the book, you will when you finish it. Guillebeau sets out to define a real quest and gives the guidelines on how to accomplish it. 

I would absolutely recommend this book, but I will warn the story lines get a little tough to follow. While Guillebeau has collected an incredible group of people on their quest, it's a little hard to keep up with all of them. 

Now, I'm off to create a 101 in 1001 list and a blog business plan because this book really has me thinking through what I want out of life and how I can accomplish it. 

Also, the FTC requires that I let you know that I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review! You should check them out too. 

Legacy

This week's Write or Die prompt ties in super well with the post I wrote for tomorrow [ps look forward to my Blogging for Books post, finally] but it also gives me a lot of anxiety to think about. So here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to do a like, train of thought post. I know there's a word for it, but I can't think of it right now? OH stream of consciousness! Okay so it looks like I'm starting way up here. 

So this word means a lot to me, because I'm still Delta Gamma wired, I think "oh if I change my mind about kids, and have a daughter, she would be my little legacy!" sometimes thoughts like that make me consider having kids, then I deal with a teenager at Kroger and I'm back to the yeah, no chance bro school of thought. [side note. that confession is not an invitation to tell me that I will change my mind or tell me anything else about why I should have kids. it's not like I'm even close to that point in my life yet to begin with.] anyways

I touched on it a little last week, but what drives me is the need to leave the world a better place. I try my hardest to leave situations better than I find them. I try to go out of my way if someone does their job well [which sometimes people think is really weird. you should hear managers when I ask to speak to them because of a positive experience, they're always expecting to hear an angry customer..] I think it's important to say thank you and I love to send thank you cards. Sometimes for no reason. Sometimes just to say hello. [now that I'm thinking about it, would it be weird to send out Christmas cards just as myself? I really need to get a dog...

I'm still searching for my legacy. I don't know what it's going to be, but I have plenty of time to figure it out. Right now, I'll focus on what I'm good at and how I can use those skills, my personality, and my passions to make the world a better place. That's what I want my legacy to be. What do you want yours to be?
Write or Die Wednesdays

Mini Chicken Pot Pies!

Oh man y'all. I'm hanging out over at Bri's place today, sharing my recipe that I halfway made up because I can't follow instructions. [anyone noticing a theme?] So go check that out! I'm keeping it short + sweet. Last night I made a super easy dinner thanks to my good pal Meredith gave me this recipe for baby chicken pot pies. Like the outstanding blogger I am, I didn't take like, step by step pictures for you. 
Here's what you need:
  • Pilsbury canned biscuits (really any biscuits will work, but I would suggest two cans because it makes a lot of filling.)
  • one bag of frozen vegetables (we went with just peas + carrots.)
  • two small chicken breasts cooked + cubed (I cubed them, then cooked them, I think it's faster that way)
  • one can of cream of chicken soup -- the condensed kind! 
  • greased up muffin pan
  • about half a cup of sharp cheddar cheese.
First of all, make sure you defrost the veggies all the way. Next, preheat the oven to 350 (or whatever the can of biscuits tells you to do!) Then go ahead and mix the vegetables and chicken soup, once the chicken is done mix that in too! Take the biscuits and spread them into the greased up muffin pan so that they kind of look like cupcake holders. Fill them up about 2/3 of the way with the veggies + chicken mixture (just like if you were making cupcakes!) and then sprinkle cheddar cheese on the top! Bake for about 15 minutes and enjoy! We only made 6 last night and then froze the rest of the inside stuff for another day. Super easy, super tasty! Do you have any tasty easy dinners I should try out?

Weekly Wishes + One Lovely Blog!

Oh hello blogland! It's Monday again, so obviously it's time to wrap up my weekly wishes with TNC + also the prettiest princess there ever was, Bri over at All That's Glittered, nominated me for a One Lovely Blog award! I have all the energy today because I went to sleep at 6:30 pm last night [Athens: 1, Kasey: 0] and I'm jamming to Christmas music! Let's do it to it!
last week's wishes::
clean the apartment// check!! I mean we did manage to make a huge mess Saturday morning. By we, I mean me. By making Deep Fried Tequila shots. Keep an eye out for a post on that later this week, without an "after" picture because I kinda burnt them so they weren't pretty, also we were trying to run out the door. but they are delicious. or they were. they were all gone as soon as I started handing them out.
two miles per day for #100byChristmas// okay. I kind of failed at this. but I made up for it. I'm just not letting myself off the hook. I wanted 10 miles last week, and I managed it. but gameday walking, I just don't know if it counts. I mean I'm sore as all can be from trotting all over campus in cowboy boots + all of the stairs man. But I didn't do two a day. I'm keeping this goal for this week again.
last payment for Europe!! // so I am set up on an automatic transfer plan because it saved me $$$ and I would have to cancel it and schedule the payment to have it process more before next Wednesday. But it's paid off either way!! happy dance! Also it's only 41 DAYS AWAY!!!

this week's wishes:: 
get to work on the bar cart // my grandmother found me an old tea cart at a junk store, so I'm going to get that from her + start making it pretty!! I'll totally post updates on instagram, so you should probably be following me there. sorry not sorry for that shameless plug...
two miles a day. duh. // I can already feel myself trying to make an excuse for tonight, because I'm mega sore from the weekend. maybe I can do the stationary bike and catch up on some reading? 
finish the blog business plan // this is pretty self explanatory, but I'm trying to plan for 2015! can you believe it's already almost Thanksgiving!? where has 2014 gone?


Here are the rules - because we all know how good I am at following the rules. 
  • Thank the person who nominated you
  • Add the One Lovely Blog Award Logo on your post/blog 
  • Share 7 Facts about yourself
  • Nominate 15 (okay 10-15?) Bloggers you admire & let them know by commenting on their blog
Okay! So 7 random facts::
  1. I have a real talent when it comes to opening champagne bottles. I never make a mess or shoot the cork across the yard. This is a skill that I think would be relevant on a resume but I'm pretty sure I shouldn't put it on there.
  2. I've worn glasses since middle school, but I probably needed them earlier. My parents thought I just wanted to be trendy. 
  3. Speaking of my parents, growing up my dad had this camo cooler and they convinced me I couldn't see it. I believed it for a really long time until I finally figured out that it wasn't ever there. 
  4. I love love jumping in puddles. I don't think I will ever grow out of it. I put my rain boots to WORK y'all. I really love the rain. 
  5. I am super competitive, so I've learned a lot about myself by having a losing fantasy football team. 
  6. I have serious haircut anxiety. Don't tell me it's not a real thing. I have panic attacks when I try out new hair salons, the man who has been cutting my hair forever even knows to talk me through a hair cut. It's probably ridiculous, but so am I. 
  7. I fall down more than normal people probably should. If you don't see a bruise or seven on my legs, then you're probably not looking at my legs. 
Now for my nomineeeeees!
Melissa at the Rambling Llama -- totally cheating because I know she's already been nominated. See what I mean about rules?
Melissa at Daily Chaos.
Laura at Port City Party
Michelle at Becoming a Heath

okay so maybe that's only five. You know how I feel about rules anyways. OH PS don't forget today is the last day to enter Becca's birthday giveaway!! 
birthdaygiveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry

We're back! I know last week I didn't tell you what you needed to know before going to UGA vs Kentucky, my bad. I was still bummed out about the Florida game. BUT I'M BACK. Kickoff for tomorrow's game against Auburn is set for SEVEN. FIFTEEN. PM. Okay, so if you're wondering, according to Wunderground, it will be a balmy 39 degrees at kickoff. Sorry. What? I'm going to turn into an icicle. I don't do cold weather well y'all. So, aside from the fact that I'll be wearing enough layers to be the Super Puff Marshmallow man's stunt double, here's what you need to know for this weekend!
I bet you were expecting something more pinnable here...
why's it called "the deep south's oldest rivalry?" So, according to Wikipedia, it's not to be confused with The South's Oldest rivalry which is between Virginia and UNC. So, whatever guys. Georgia and Auburn have been battling since 1892, they actually played the first game in Piedmont Park, in February. Crazy right? We've battled nearly every year since then, for a grand total of 117 games. Auburn currently leads 55–54–8. 

war eagle plainsmen tigers // okay. I can never keep this one straight. so here it is what I gathered from the explanation on Auburn's football website: "war eagle" is a battle cry (so I guess like when we call the dawgs?)  they've always been the tigers (apparently this is a "duh" thing because it says they've been the tigers since that game in 1892 against us.) The Plainsman is apparently the paper, so I really don't know what that one gets tossed in (you know, like Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, for those Bama folks.) OH BUT the "War Eagle" thing came from a story published in the Plainsman! 
I'm just going to leave this here, I couldn't find the original source, just where it had been republished. I'm pretty sure I own this print though, so that makes it less illegal that I don't have a real source? No?
freed gurley // I have a lot of opinions on the whole Todd Gurley situation. I'm not going to share them. Here's a summary: Todd broke the rules, like all the other athletes do, when someone came forward with shaky evidence against him, because apparently he had signed for other guys, Todd owned up to it, admitted his mistake, and the University of Georgia self reported the violation and suspended him. The NCAA commended the University on how they handled the situation, then proceeded to suspend Todd for two more games. The moral of the story, don't do the right thing, tell the NCAA to prove it. Anyways. Todd is back this weekend + I'm sure he's pretty ready to get back into the Heisman race.  
blackout // This one makes me nervous. I don't mind the fans doing it, plus the last time we did it against Auburn, it was huge. I still get chills thinking about it. The team warmed up in their home red uniforms, went back into the tunnel, and when they ran back out after the hype video they were wearing black and we all lost it. I mean I don't think there was a second of that game where the crowd wasn't the loudest it's ever been. We won that game. Then every time we've tried black anything on our uniform, it hasn't ended well. Richt says zero chance of black uni's, so I feel pretty good about it. Here's a video of the sideline + CBS guys doing the Soulja Boi. 

playoffs or what? This is kind of the win or go home game for us. We had a real shot before we lost to Florida. I don't want to talk about that. I operate under the delusion that we can win it all every year. I would like to hear an argument that the winner of the SEC doesn't deserve to go to the CFB Playoffs. That would be a good one. I'd bring popcorn or nachos and beer. This is it though, if we don't upset the Tigers, it's pretty much gonna take an act of God to get us into the playoff picture.

So. Since we lost to Florida, the lucky dress is being retired, at least for a little while (also it's going to be freezing, so that whole sleeveless thing probably wouldn't cut it..) But I'll be there, big alum tailgate and all. OH AND DEEP FRIED TEQUILA. Lookout for a how-to on that next week!! I promise I'll try to take a different picture of the field so I can start mixing the graphic for these posts up..... Linking up with Karli + Sarah, because it's Friday!! What games are you looking forward to this weekend? 

Oh, How Pinteresting...

Guys, I'm so excited, I'm being featured over at Rebekah's place today! How cool is that?! So I'm going to keep things today short + sweet, because go see me over there!! So I want to share my favorite things from Pinterest this week, obviously.  I have this habit of going to Pinterest when I have writer's block because I've pinned a million different blog post ideas. Then I go down the rabbit hole, because I obviously have no self control. 

this mug that I want so bad I almost ordered it while making this collage, but $24 for a coffee mug is hard to commit to.. why does it have to be so much?! ||  I have to have this sequin top. but why is it $200? [more importantly. why was it ever $495? WHO PAYS THAT?] || these wine glasses that used to be on this etsy store + I'm sure could be reorderd..||  4 this love the wine you're with sign, obviously for the bar cart || 5 delicious ways to get your family toasted for thanksgiving || 

So sitting down to write this post taught me a few things, one there should be an option on pinterest to where I can just see my recent pins, like they're my dashboard or something. two, deciding to share my favorite pins made me really self conscious, what if they don't think that's funny? what if the way I did this is some kind of copyright violation? am I going to go to jail for sharing these like this? 

What have you been pinning lately?

What Lights Your Fire?

I had too much fun with Write or Die Wednesday last week, even if the title made it seem a little bit like I was about to write an article about marijuana... whooops. This week's prompt is what lights your fire? This one is hard for me, because I've been battling a lot of personal life career things. 

For the longest time, my passion has been the way a kid's face lights up when they walk into a ballpark. If you're ever feeling down? Watch a kid when a ballplayer gives him a foul ball. I mean, even if that kid doesn't like baseball, it's like Christmas. I've always wanted to make sure that every kid who wants to play, every kid who wants to go to a ball game, has that chance.

My current free agency period has made me question everything about that fire. It has made me question how I can do that with it possibly not being my career, because how many times are you supposed to get back up after a door is slammed in your face? How many times are you supposed to hear "no" before you start to question whether or not you made the right plan?

Sorry, that got heavy really fast. I just feel that it is most important to give back. I'm a firm believer in karma, what goes around comes around. If you do good in the world, the world will do good for you, even if it's just the reward of seeing a kid who wouldn't have been able to play baseball get a foul ball from a professional athlete.

What lights your fire?

Write or Die Wednesdays

This Week's To-Do List

Okay, so I love all of the weekend adventures I've been going on. I'm not even going to complain about spending over 30 hours in the car in the span of two weekends. This weekend is a short trip to Athens, then next weekend I might not get out of bed once. I might hibernate. Can I catch up on three weekends worth of sleep in two days? Challenge accepted. Anyways, since yesterday I did my tour through blogland, we didn't catch up on weekly wishes! 
last week's wishes:: 
that super fun craft project :: okay. this is finished + not finished. every pinterest tutorial saying that hot glue will hold together wine corks is a liar liar pants on fire. I put together my wine cork initial with hot glue, only burned myself twice and pulled my hair into the gun once [seriously, I need constant adult supervision..] but then as soon as it was all dry + cool, I stood it up to take the after picture for the blog, and the loop part of the P fell off. wtf mate. I'm going to try something else to stick them together, then I'll be pinterest famous because I'll have found the perfect wine cork bonding agent! 
schedule at least four posts :: fail. get it together, self. I did start four different posts, that counts right?
minimal dining out :: SUCCESS. Last week I managed to not eat out at all. Actually. That is a lie. I did manage to not eat out using any of my dollars, which was the goal. To celebrate, yesterday I went to Kohl's and spent too much money stocking up on new tights (because all of mine have holes in them. not just runs, holes. I can't have anything nice.) and buying the perfect new gameday dress

this week's wishes::
clean the apartment :: Auburn weekend means lots of sleepover guests! It's actually pretty clean already, since my roommate had company last weekend. 
two miles per day towards #100ByChristmas :: I don't want to lose any weight? But I want to stay skinny and maybe build some muscle, but really just make sure I can eat all the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and still be able to wear the clothes I already own to Europe. 
LAST PAYMENT FOR EUROPE EVER:: I will have my whole 9 day trip paid off completely by next Wednesday. HOW cool is that? I've paid for an entire trip to Europe! I'm such a grownup. 

What are your goals this week? Is ones of them to win $250? You should check out the giveaway Becca put together for her birthday!

Babes In Blogland + A Giveaway!

I have been asked by the ever adorable Melissa to participate in the Tour Through Blogland. Guys -- I'm going to be honest, I wrote that first sentence two weeks ago when Melissa asked me way early enough for me to have my act together. I don't. I was planning on doing it last week but you know, life is what happens when we're making plans? Also, this weekend was a crazy one, more on that later. Anyways. Here's how I'm not following the rules [again, sheesh]. I'm answering questions today and also finding people to continue today so I'll tell you who's up a little later this week...

What are you working on now? getting it together. I actually started making a blog business plan so that I'm more organized + surprise 12 hour car rides don't completely throw off my whole blog week. [my whole real life week is a completely different story.]  I'm also working on a fun wine cork project -- I posted a super cryptic sneak peek on Instagram, I took a zillion pictures, then it fell apart, because apparently hot glue does not hold wine corks together, so I'm working on a solution and something more sticky (stickier?). That's coming soon toooo!
How does your work differ from others in it's genre? well honestly, I don't even know what my genre would be? Someone asked me the other day, "IRL", what do you blog about? I hesitated for a minute, because I'm not really a sports blogger, even though I totes could be if you're looking to hire someone... I'm never sure how to explain "lifestyle blogging" to people either, because it sounds so vain when you really start to think about it, so I usually end up with "I blog to keep my creativity alive, everything from sports to that time I admitted that sometimes I get John Elway + John Denver confused. Oh wait, that's still a sports thing, how about the time I asked if curly fries came from a different kind of potato...
Why do you write / create what you do? I like this one! I write because I need a creative outlet, because it's something I'm actually pretty good at [who doesn't love doing things they're good at? or does saying I'm good make me look like I'm being cocky?]. Also, I continue to write because people tell me they dig my sense of humor, like the posts about what you need to know before a Georgia game this weekend, and because I have made some super awesome beautiful amazing friends, duh.
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How does your writing / creative process work? It honestly depends. It's always assisted by some kind of beverage, coffee, wine, tequila..... I'm hoping to create more of a workspace, because sometimes the kitchen table [or uh, my desk at work...] doesn't quite cut it. Plus have you seen the pinterest boards for workspaces? Helloooo project!

SPEAKING of friends in blogland, how cool is it that we give prizes away for our birthdays? Becca put together a killer giveaway for hers, and you should totally enter it! If you win, you can always donate the $250 to things I would do if I didn't have student loans!

My Five Favorite Things on The Internet This Week

Hello, my name is Kasey, and I'm driving the struggle bus this morning. So obviously it's time for cat videos, right? actually there aren't any cat videos today.. sorry about that. 
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Y'all. I know I shared this yesterday, but I died. To quote the women of my time, I literally can't even. Could it be more perfect that it's a workout video from 1989? Also, while we're talking about Tay, her tumblr is fantastic. Go check that out, I'll wait, maybe do some aerobics..
TOY. STORY. FOUR. yes. absolutely. I don't care that I'm twenty five. I will be seeing that in theatres. I guess since it's set to come out in 2017 that means I'll be twenty eight. oh. this is no longer my favorite thing on the internet. I might start crying...
Okay, I'm better. Now, this one is a little nerdy, tease me if you want, but I love it. Hands down my favorite All About That Base parody video, actually, I like it more than the original. Like Alderan chunks where Alderan space was. Plus, they're Team Unicorn. So there's that too. 

This outstanding bro moment. Teamwork makes the dreamwork, y'all.
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While we're on the topic of dudes, #dudesgreetingdudes is the best. I love it. Check it out.
 Ta da! What fun things did y'all find on the internet this week? Linking up with Sarah, because I'm a fan of the internet, and Karli.

I'm Breaking ALL The Rules Today..

Okay. Well maybe not all of them. But most of them. I just spent 30 minutes ironing a sheet + chasing the natural light around my living room to get you guys the perfect pictures for this wine cork thing I'm making [ps it's gonna be great!] Then I remembered I forgot to schedule today's post, again. [guys, I don't have it together.] So, the sweetest little llama there ever was, Melissa, nominated me for another Liebster award. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to win more than once, Natalie also nominated me, so this would be my third [I have never felt more popular guys..] Anyways. I'm just going to use it as a prompt for today, which is probably not part of the rules. I nominate everyone who hasn't done it yet. I know that's cheating. Hashtag sorry not sorry. 
this picture has nothing to do with anything.
I'm also skipping 11 random facts about myself, because you can find some here, here, here, and anywhere in this tag. geeze I talk about myself a lot. OKAY. On to the questions! 

Do you like Christmas music? I love Christmas music. I've been known to listen to it in July. I love it almost as much as Laura

Do you like to cook? I do! I also like to make up recipes as I go, because I'm bad at following directions, apparently. 
Do you watch Gilmore Girls? is the Pope Catholic? I'm really just Lorelai with a better relationship with her mother. 

What is your favorite hobby? it appears to be finding the perfect gifs for my posts these days. I also love to take pictures, go to sporting games, play softball, and go on nature hikes!
What are three goals you have in the next 10 years?
  • travel: I'm going to Europe on NYE!!
  • pay off all my credit card debt: working for peanuts kinda racks up the credit card bills..
  • buy a jeep wrangler: after I pay off my debt. or if Jeep wants to give me one. OR if someone wants to trade my car for their wrangler, I'm thinking someone who just had kids, the Liberty is great for moms!
Do you watch reality T.V.? no, but my roommate does, so we have a lot on our DVR...
How do you feel about your current job?  I love my dad, I love being able to pay my bills, but it's not for me. I want to get back in sports, but I'm also considering going back to school and finding a different kind of nonprofit to work for..
What is your most embarrassing moment? I don't embarrass easily. I don't even know if I could pick one, I do a lot of dumb stuff..
Any hidden talents? THIS I have plenty. I'm a really fast pee-er. Super efficient at Facebook stalking, I can figure out the end of crime drama shows before the second commercial break, I am really good at that "what song is this, who sings it?" game, I know tons of useless things because I love trivia and crossword puzzles (I do them in pen + everything!)
How do you  feel about flying? I need at least one cocktail, it's a long story. 
What did you want to be when you were little? A marine biologist who was also a professional softball player and President of the USA. I was super ambitious...

What made you start blogging? A lot of free time and a lot of people saying "why don't you start a blog? people would totally read it"
Do you have any nicknames? Kasey is actually a nickname! also Deuce, KD Smoove, KK, and I'll answer to "HEY YOU!" oh also, mouth of the south, due to my lack of volume control...
What's one thing you'd have to have with you if you were deserted on an island? I don't know if I can pick one. I'm going to cheat, books, sunscreen, tequila. Then I'd be set. 
What is your guilty pleasure? The SyFy channel... also I really used to like the Disney channel, the newer stuff kinda sucks though. 
What is your favorite movie quote? "good luck exploring the infinite abyss" 

What is your go-to accessory staple? I always have at least two ponytail holders on my arm? Also, my cowboy boots. OH OR my love beads. 
What is the best thing you've ever cooked? my favorite dish is my kickin' buffalo chicken dip
If you were one of the four seasons- which would you be and why? SUMMER. I don't like pants, I like the sun to stay up late, and I am like a furnace.
Where you born in the state (or country) you're currently living in? If not - what brought you there? I sure was! 
What do you do for a living? right now, I manage my dad's office. He trusts me with all kinds of numbers. silly silly. 
What do you think MSDS stands for? miscellaneous spontaneous dance situations. obviously. 

I'm back to using the hot glue gun! Who else wants to answer these questions? I can make up some more if you want :) 

Spent My Wishes On A Weed, Thinkin' It Could Change My World

I confess, that I'm really interested in this whole NaNoWriMo thing (also I find it hilarious that for it to be about writing novels, it's so commonly abbreviated into one word...) The idea of 50,000 words makes me a little nervous though, so I'm starting smaller. Writing prompts, journaling, considering the whole novel thing and what I could possibly write about... So I'm going to start participating in the Write or Die linkup! This week's prompt is this fantastic picture, here we go!
This is such a serene and beautiful picture. Part of me wishes I could just pick up and plop down in this field, lay up watching the clouds, read a book, and forget about everything. The other part of me just hears Dandelion by Kacey Musgraves playing on repeat. It almost bums me out. That's one of those songs that I'm sure almost everyone can relate to and then you think about broken hearts and wasted wishes. 

I've always thought dandelions were incredible. Who was the first little girl who picked one up (because you know it was a hopeful, daydreaming, bright eyed little girl who picked one up) and thought, this isn't a weed, this is something beautiful and it will make my wishes come true. We've all made those wishes, little ones, big ones, making sure to blow all the little seeds off or else it won't come true, like your birthday cake candles. Making those wishes is such good karma too, since you're sending out more seeds for more dandelions for more little girls to make wishes on. 

Sometimes I miss being that little girl, running around barefoot wishing for all the puppies and a life of adventure and to finally beat the boys at any game. I miss climbing up into a tree and reading for hours on end, without a care in the world, imagining that I was Frannie, or Hermoine, or any other heroine you can think of. Before you really learned that dandelions, shooting stars, lucky pennies, and birthday candles wouldn't make your wishes come true, only you could do that. I still make wishes on all of them though, don't you?

Write or Die Wednesdays

Coffee Coffee Coffee

I think half of my brain is still in Jacksonville right now. I'm definitely not firing on all cylinders. I also haven't even turned on the lights in the office yet, if you're wondering how the day is going. 100% of the inspiration credit for today's post goes to Meredith. Since the first time I set a "blog every weekday this month" goal, I've actually felt like I need to write every day, like I need to be present for all of the fantastic people that stop by every day to see what mess I've gotten myself into this week. 

It's great, I love blogging. I get ridiculously excited when I check my e-mail and I have unread messages from Disqus about comments [side note, yesterday I tweeted about wanting Disquis to have an app so that I could respond to comments from my phone + they so helpfully told us how to moderate via e-mail. That's the opposite of helpful guys..] I also know that if I didn't show up today, you guys would still want to be my friend, which is actually what makes me feel like I need to be here. Does that make any sense? I'm running 100% on coffee at this point. 

Speaking of coffee. Can we just talk for a minute about how great coffee is? I can't quite put my finger on when I stopped being able to function as a human without at least one cup, it's somewhere between senior year of college and my first twelve game homestand. Even on days when I don't have to do anything and I can sleep as late as I want, the first thing I think when I wake up is "oh god, do I have any coffee in the house?" I'm genuinely bummed that there's not a cute little local coffee place that I can walk to in Buckhead. My choices are limited to Starbucks + Caribou. 

I think coffee might be the linchpin in my creative process. I admit that I just looked up linchpin because I don't actually know what that means, but I've heard it said before. One of the definitions is actually the way I meant it, for some reason I always assumed it was one of those weird figures of speech.  Like catywompus. I use that word all the time, I'm not even sure if it's a real word or not. Spell check seems to think otherwise. 

This post has been brought to you by coffee, a lack of inspiration, and the complete intention of writing about how sometimes it's hard to write even though you really want to write because you're creatively bone dry. Today, it's about forcing creativity, because some days you just gotta make it happen. Also, I've been searching for about an hour for a gif of Lorelai saying "coffee coffee coffee!" and that lady giving her three coffees and a lot of sass. It took way too long and then  I realized I should learn to make my own. I also found 22 reasons coffee drinkers are basically Lorelai...  Then I went down the Gilmore Girls internet article rabbit hole and the moral of this story is that it's good that I did my work before starting this today. 
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I just wrote over 500 words about not having anything to write about, in case my babbling abilities were ever in question. What is everyone else up to today?