Ta-da!

Okay, so the idea dawned on me that these beautiful invites should be a surprise to all who receive it in their mailbox! So, I'm going to post one picture of ONE invite, so that you guys get the gist.. but know that each invite will be different and unique (not to mention hand-made!)... so know that you are SPECIALLY invited to attend mine and Robert's wonderful day!


Ta-da! Isn't she looovely? You should see the map, too.. but that will be the real surprise!

As a digression, look what I'm drinking, yummmm...

Brrr! It's beginning to feel like fall

I know I haven't updated lately, but it's just been ridiculously busy. I've had my nose stuck in book after book all week, projects, presentations, newspaper deadlines, Chimes, so on and so forth.

Our literary magazine release party was fantastic! We had several people read from the release, we had a TON of food, and Rachel did an excellent job singing.

It's finally starting to feel chilly around here! I was beginning to wonder, of course, because last week the days were hot and muggy, and with October right around the corner, it was a toss-up as to whether or not we'd have some real fall weather anytime soon. But, alas! It has come. Yesterday I made the mistake of going to class in short sleeves and I was freezing on the walk up the hill. In fact, weather.com says it's currently 62 degrees (totally believe it!) and the high for today is not past 75. This means I quickly need to re-organize my clothes so that I'll be warm and toasty!

On a completely different note, I just printed a trial of the invitation wording on vellum paper, and it looks frakkin' fabulous. I will take a picture and post it later.

Or this...

I love them both, but I love the Martha Stewart box better... but I can only find it in red =( Nowhere is selling it in the tiffany blue!

I know I haven't posted a real entry lately, but I am exhausted. Will later.

You know I want this...

Don't tell me that's not the cutest recipe box/cards you've ever seen, cause I know you'd be lyin'.

Courtesy of moontreepress @ etsy.

I finally did it!

I turned in my resignation letter at work!

I said it would be effective October 9th. I did the courteous thing and set an appointment with my supervisor for today so we could talk about it, but what resulted was that she let Martha go home and so coincidentally when I walked in she was busy (she couldn't possibly ask her HUSBAND, who is her EMPLOYEE as well to come in?) and I ended up waiting an hour and a half in the office.... so I just wrote her a note to go with my resignation letter and that was that. Was that a bad call? I mean, I had all intentions, but I had places to be!

Is that wrong of me?

Anyhow... may the Lord bless Mrs. Sikes who has moved our Udolpho quiz to Monday, so we have all weekend to finish it, and believe me, I need the weekend!

I have a TON to do before tomorrow, so, I'm going to stop playing around on the internet.

When it rains, it pours

If you've been watching the news lately, or, have any notion of what's going on in the world, you'll know that nearly all of Georgia is under water. Seriously, folks, we are developing gills down here. Of course, where we live in surrounded by our protective little hills and my school is on a great big hill so school and work are in session for all. Work, ughh, let's not even talk about it.

I have decided that I have GOT to go back to following all the strict post-bariatric surgery rules, seeing as I have been stuck at the same weight for nearly a week. That's just the way it's gonna be.

I also revised my resume and sent it off to Mr. Public Relations at UCS. *Crosses fingers* This will be so awesome if I get this position. However, I won't be doing much of anything if I don't get the ball rolling and write out my resignation for Mrs. Supervisor. It's just SO hard. I'm terrified! I literally shake in my booties when I think about it.

Speaking of shaking in my booties, we went on a ghost hunt last night at Shorter. *Gulp* I will save those events for their own special post.

Also, speaking of booties, guess what tomorrow is? First day of Autumn! Boots, scarves, and pumpkin spice. I am SO excited!

Rainy days

I love the rain. I love when it's 3:45 in the afternoon and my room is almost pitch black dark because the clouds have completely concealed the sun and if you open the window (in particular during the summer) the wind blows on you, warm and sultry, as if God were cleaning the lenses on his glasses. Because, in my mind, God wears glasses. Big thick ones, ala Woody Allen. It would probably be a little blasphemous to assume God was LIKE Woody Allen, especially Annie Hall style, but, you never know.

I do have to make my way back to the hospital tonight -- until midnight, blegh. Rainy Saturdays are not meant for being cooped up in a windowless office at less-than-pleasant Incognito Hospital, but rather for the warmth of my bed and a big, fat book!

Then the word of the day would be cozy.


Don't forget about the donation button!

Now accepting!

Donations.

That's right!
Look, we're in the poor house, we've got to do what we can. If you have once been in our poor about to be newlywed position, or if you just have a soft spot for people in need, I have now added a donation button up in the right hand corner of the page for anyone willing to help out. Any amount will do, and we will truly appreciate it! Spread the word!

Argh, American Lit!

Does it make me a bad person that I want nothing to do with American Literature? I'm sorry, I apologize to all who adore it out there, but I just don't. It's like, I love grammar, a lot, and I love ironing, which many of you might not... American Lit is my dish-washing, foot-fungus-scrubbing, fart-sniffing unloved red-headed stepchild.

But, alas, I have to write an essay for tomorrow. Have I started it? No. I promise, I'm a good student (most of the time), I just really don't like American Lit. Okay, okay, let me not generalize so much, I do like later than 16th century American Lit. However, there's only so many times I can read creation stories and Native American tales.

This may be me after tomorrow:

Lovin' this

I have recently fallen in love with the credenza. They are absolutely brilliant in that vintage 1970s Brady Bunch house style. I need one, and I need one that particulary resembles this one:

I know you love it.

Robert and I have been discussing furniture as of late. We were going to receive a few pieces from a friend of his sister's, but it kinda fell through because of all of our busy schedules and lacking resources; however, we evaluated and between the two of us we have quite a bit of furniture. More, in fact, than will probably fit in the potential tiny apartment we'll be living in when we are first married. (I already have the place in mind, exactly, and if we end up moving somewhere else, my dreams will be shattered)

For now, the only things we really plan on buying are a new bed (we want a queen, we're fatties and need our space) along with the mattress set, and possibly new dining chairs. Maybe. Big maybe. That's really about it in terms of large furniture. Of course, we're totally depending on those shower gifts for things like lamps and so on and so forth, so, we'll see. That's also what our "nest fund" savings account is for.

In other news, I think next week I'm going to look into buying a GRE practice book.. I've got to start doing some major preparing if I want to get into a good grad school.. because, this, my friends, will give Robert and I some light on what path we'll be taking after I graduate next fall. Where will we go? Nobody knows. Only the Lord.

But as much as we gripe and complain, we'll definitely miss this little place.

Domestic goddess fatty post

Okay guys, it's time we were all honest with each other. There's no denying it. We love food. Me, in particular. I love it, there's no holding back. So, since I'm bored at work ... (thank you, Lord, for that, I would rather be bored than running around right now) and have to be here for a few more hours, why not write a post on my favorite delicious foods (including Dominican delicacies) and drool a little bit. How's THAT for fun!

First on the list is my greatest weakness: the kipe. Also spelled 'quipe', this deliciousness is a dish that started off in the Middle East and some of my ancestors (as well as many other Dominicans' ancestors) who immigrated to the DR brought it with them. If you are of Lebanese decendants (which a lot of us Dominicans are) you may know them as kibbi, or fried kibbi.

That's right, fried.



Basically a 'kipe' is traditionally eaten is a picadera or a finger-food. Sometimes (if you're lucky!) you can find a little stand or colmado near the beach that sells gigantic ones and you can snack on it all the way to the shore. YUM! What's in it, you ask? A kipe is a bulgur wheat and ground beef dumpling, so to speak, stuffed with more ground beef and various herbs. It can either be rolled into the traditional shape (seen above) and deep fried, or placed in a casserole dish and baked. Seriously, favorite thing ever. The recipe can be found here. (As a tip, it's best to refrigerate or freeze them before frying them! Helps keep them together)

Second is the one food I could never live without. Not kidding. You could take anything away from me except this and I would be fine. What is it?

CHEESE.


Blue cheese, white cheese, yellow cheese, cream cheese, solid cheese. ANY KIND. With a nice glass of wine, (preferably red) it is all I need for a happy palate and a happy belly. Am I right? Yessuh!



Mmmm... my favorites are the following:

Feta
Gouda
Manchego
Muenster
Colby Jack
Cheddar
Pepper Jack
Provolone
Anejo
Blanco
Fresco
Bleu
Asiago
Ricotta
Caprino
Fontina
Gorgonzola
Mascarpone
Mozzarella
Romano
Parmegiano
Brie
Camembert
Neufchatel
Roquefort

And many many more. YUM!

First and foremost

I need everyone to know that I am in love with this spice rack:




I thought the one I registered for was love at first sight, but I didn't give the others a chance! I love love love this. As a former Biology major (and still a bit of a science geek), I truly appreciate the style.

On another subject, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. PRESIDENT! And by that I mean, Lauren Rose, my bff! She is 22 years young today and we are going to celebrate after I get the heck out of this office.

PS.. have I mentioned how much I can't wait for the fall? I'm already looking for a cute coat, so, let me know if you spot one!

I feel it coming...

Okay, so, maybe I'm being a little overdramatic, but who knows. I think I have the swine flu. Or the very beginnings of it. No joke! I am freaking out on the inside.. but because of my slave-labor job, I have to be out spreading it to the world (if the case is that I'm infected). There are a few confirmed cases at Shorter (don't worry, look for the news story in the Periscope!) and I know for a fact one of the afflicted is in a class with me. I've also been vomitting, having headache, other nonmentionable symptoms, as well as extreme fatigue and so on and so forth. The only thing I haven't had is a fever. Although, I haven't taken my temp, so, who knows! Again.. I'm serious.

I have felt like a big plate of scrambled poo today. It's been awful. I haven't been to class in two days (and if it IS swine flu, you guys better thank me!) and I'm dying to feel better.

Been learning about collages...

These are some of the collages I've been learning to make! I always see them on other wedding blogs and finally I've formed in my lacking in tech savvy brain how to do them. So, for a short entry today, here are some of the flowers that have inspired some of my wedding.

Picture Post for fun

Cute shoes! Cute wedding cake/pie stuff!

Out the window

So, okay, I have a confession. The lowercase typing has caused me so much grief and guilt that I can't do it anymore. I am a phenomenal (ok, so, maybe an overexaggeration) English major, taking an outstanding Advanced Grammar class and I can no more put my audience through this linguistic trauma. So, forgive me, and I will henceforth use proper capitalization and punctuation. ;)


Today has been one of the busiest days at the hospital I've had in quite some time. I have seen over twelve patients and barely got to choke down some chicken for lunch (which, sigh, did not go over well since I am on the shallow end of sickness).

However, the day is almost over! I get to leave here at 4, and I will then recess to my room in my comfy PJs, watch the Food Network, and do homework.. which I have a ton of! I also want to do a little more wedding planning. Since school started, it has gone on the back burner, but no more! I have GOT to buy fabric ASAP to start making my table cloths/table runners... I can't put that off any longer.

Also, I am frustrated like whoa because a few months or weeks ago (I can't even remember) I saw a gorgeous DIY Save-the-Date that I completely wanted to make.. but I can't find it anywhere in my bookmarks, and I've googled like crazy and can't find it there either! It was a cute little library card envelope with the date stamped on, and a small strip of photobooth photos in it! I know I could basically just make something up along those lines, but I would love to find it and the guidelines. Anyone have any idea? Would be much appreciated!

Okay, off to write my article for the paper, and maybe find some water cause I'm severely parched.

ughhhh

i am sick!

this blows.

and i have to work tomorrow from 8 to 4.

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...!

embarking on something else

today i've made two giant leaps in terms of self-respect. okay, well, they are so for me, so, don't think "pshh, what?" when you read them. first, i received an e-mail from my supervisor with our schedule for september (that's right, it's september 1st and we got the schedule today) and in it she made little sidenotes to everyone she sent it to (in other words, everyone read what she sent to each individual) and mine said something along the lines of 'i tried to give you all the days off you requested, but i needed you to work at least one day'. hellooo, i asked for three days off the entire month. the 5th, the 7th and the 20something, i can't remember right now. and so of course, i was scheduled for one of the three days i asked off (for the whole month). well, i was upset about it and normally i would have pouted about it to myself and had a pity party that day at work. but! i put on my big-girl panties and e-mailed her back and said something along the lines of 'in case there was a misunderstanding, i only requested three days off, not this whole weekend, so, if you'd like for me to work the other two days of the weekend, i will, but let's see if we can do something about saturday'. not those exact words, but you catch my drift.

also, sigh, this was a huge deal for me, but i did it anyway. i e-mailed both of my parents (yes, both of them at the same time) and asked about the wedding. it's september now, almost a year exactly away, if anything, we need to secure our venue. that's the one thing i'm most concerned about. what if we get to said wedding venue and want to secure our wedding date and it's already taken? gulp. i'll cry. i'll cry and get over it, but i will cry. so, lord, please give me patience for this, and please give my parents patience and please give them that "in my shoes" perspective for this.

also! i went by my adviser's office yesterday and spoke with her for a long time. she is amazing. i basically want to be in her position, so i figured she would be the best person to speak with. after exciting revelations (and okay, a little more stress, because, let's face it, life is all stress until you die, right?) i dropped my education class and picked up one more english class. yippee, i may very well be on my way to graduating on time! and getting married and living in our little married apartment (even though it will be slim pickins my friends, so don't expect lavish dinner parties for the first year) and snuggling late at night with my husband. not to mention working my butt off to pay the bills and getting through my masters program, but what are those compared to the former?!

in other news, i will be visiting here in june:

not to that exact spot, of course, but to ireland, yes!

and here:



isn't that a great picture? that's right, ladies and gentlemen, i'm studying abroad for a month in england and ireland. sigh. if all works out, of course. with a little prayer and pixie dust, we can make this happen. so, let's go for it!