Nice Little Saturday

At little Bed, Bath & Beyond.. maybe Home Depot?

Okay jokes, but it actually was a nice little weekend. Wish I could have been at my friend Amber's baby shower but I heard that baby Hudson got lots of goodies!

I ran some errands on Saturday and made my way out to the South Point mall. I got a late start and all of a sudden it was 3:30 and I was starving. I stopped at Rock Fish Grille and as you can see from this picture, it was an amaaaazing salad. I am definitely going back for more.

Then I decided to see a movie! I absolutely love going to the movies, and while I'd prefer to be accompanied by other, I can do either :)

I saw Crazy Stupid Love and I loved it! I must have been having a weird day though because I cried almost all the way through the movie. It's not a particularly sad movie but some of it just struck a chord with me. I definitely recommend it and I have a new love for Ryan Gosling (swoon) and I adore Emma Stone!

Next I went to Urban Outfitters and LOOK who has a book... BOO!!! 

I took a stroll and ended up in Anthropologie... ohh if only I could afford anything in that store. These are some of the things I'm daydreaming about from there:

I could actually probably afford most of these items but I went over my budget by then :)

This was the main area of South Point.. and they even had a band out there!

Ole Katie B has me hooked on Penfold's! I tried this bottle and it was okay... doesn't really hold a candle to Penfold's Bin 2. 

Made my way home to make a semi healthy dinner of BBQ chicken breast and broccoli. Mmm :) hope you all had a great weekend!

Random Friday Night is an Understatement

Last night was the epitome of random. I knew I wanted to go to a nice dinner, have a glass of wine and unwind a bit. I chose a restaurant that I found on the 10 Best list for Chapel Hill. And boy, were they right about it being one of the best.

The cute little walkway up to La Res

Started with a glass of Pinot Noir...

 ... and had the most amazing scallops. Seriously, heaven.

And an orange mojito for dessert!

The plan for the night was to have dinner, go to my hotel and finish Harry Potter. Well, I got to the hotel and I had a semi-buzz from my two drinks and I decided to get out. If you know me at all, you know I LOVE karaoke! So, I googled "karaoke in Chapel Hill" and found a few spots, but from the options given, only one of them actually had karaoke. I got in my car and made my way there!

When I pulled up to this bar, there were like 20 biker guys out front. I seriously thought about leaving but something in me made me fearless! I walked in, ordered a beer, and within 5 minutes... I was on the list! I sang one of my favorite Karaoke songs and the crowd went WILD! It was such an amazing experience.

[this is not me singing - this is one of my competitors who hated me]

AND, to top it all off, I discovered that it was a competition and that last night was one of the nights where they pick two finalists. One finalist was picked from the crowd and the other from the bar... andddd.... I WAS ONE OF THEM!!! The bartenders picked me and they called me a wild card! They said it was totally unexpected and that I came out of the blue! I probably won't even make it to the final competition (where the prize is a trip to Vegas p.s.) but it was just so exciting to win something! I've never done anything like this and I've never won anything for singing so it was amazing. Wish I had some friends there but I was texting with my girls and my dad throughout some of it and I felt you there :) It seems silly, but last night was so inspiring. I can do anything... whether I'm alone or not. Also, life is too short to care what people think. Nobody is staring at you if you're eating alone or in a bar alone or in a movie alone. And if they are, well, f em ;)

Hopefully, I'll eventually be updating this with the results of the final competition! Stay tuned :)

Ohhh The Places I'll Go.. Hopefully.

Once people hear about my fabulous lifestyle, I get a common response... "OMG, you've probably been to all 50 states by now!" [I'm pretty sure one of my dear friends, who shall remain nameless, wondered if I'd been to all 52... It was Steger]

I hate to say it but I have not been to anywhere CLOSE to all 50 states. But that is definitely on the top of bucket list!

[I wish my map looked like this. On second thought, I don't have a map. Maybe I should start there]

My job has provided me with an outlet to travel the country on their dime - SWEET! So I need to make sure I'm taking note of where I've traveled to, because to be honest, I feel like I'm already forgetting some places I've been. RECAP - I've been to the ones in bold, desperately trying to get to the others :)

Alabama - Family is from there so yeahh, I've been to Bama

Alaska

Arizona  - Does a connecting flight with a long delay count? :)

Arkansas 

California - Went for the first time last Christmas with sweet Gregg and his fam!

Colorado - Went as a tyke when my family went skiing

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida - This is where most of my spring breaks went down, also, Gregg lives there now!

Georgia - ATL to visit Shan and Athens for work! What a long but fun two months that was!

Hawaii - Visited my aunt with my family - TWICE!

Idaho 

Illinois - Went to Champaign, IL for work. Also, Chicago with my ladies for NYE '10!

Indiana - Been to Evansville a few times. Have you ever been there? Their downtown area is like a ghost town. Freaky. 

Iowa 

Kansas

Kentucky - DUH, went to school there :)

Louisiana - Just got back from New Orleans with my sweet bf! It's our looove city :)

Maine - Went to Portland, ME for work. It was in February... I'd like to go back when it's above 10 degrees. 

Maryland 

Massachusetts - Boston! I went there for one of my spring breaks in High School. When my family got back we realized that my friends had a party in our backyard/hot tub.

Michigan 

Minnesota - Minneapolis & Mankato. I'd be okay to never go back to this state.

Mississippi - Passed through on the way to Gregg's from Nola... this counts :) 

Missouri 

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada - VEGAS!

New Hampshire 

New Jersey - Went to the Giants Stadium with my cousin for the Live Earth concert.

New Mexico - haven't been there but might visit Clovis at some point in my life. Land of Enchantment MY ASS.

New York - Concret Jungle where dreams are maaade of! Also, where you'll find a homeless man pooping in a cardboard box.  

North Carolina - Born here. And sitting here in NC right now.  

North Dakota

 Ohio - Haaang on sloooppyy, slooopppy hang on! 

Oklahoma

Oregon - I am going to Portland next month. PUMPED!

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina - Lived in Charleston for a summer. Never left our pricey pad but we definitely "lived" there.  

South Dakota

Tennessee - Nope, never been.

Texas - Austing, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, ohhh and Wichita Falls :)

Utah - Their beer has less alcohol because of the elevation. Bullshit.  

Vermont

Virginia - Harrisonburg... aka sucktown

Washington - Driving to Seattle when I'm in Portland!

West Virginia  

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 

If you didn't read all of that or count all of the ones in bold, well, you're lazy. But no worries, I'll tell you. I've been to 25 states!!!

I'm pretty excited about this and now... IT. IS. ON. It is officially my mission to get to all 50 states. And not just connections like in Arizona. Adventures in every state. My next big adventure:

Ahhh can't wait to be in Portland in the fall! All pictures found on the amazing Pinterest!

Stay tuned!

What I'm Loving Wednesday :)

After a fabulous weekend with my girls and my man, it's hard to snap back into reality. We had such an incredible weekend and I realized, I'd never been to a beach wedding before! Katie and her crew planned such an amazing wedding.. right down to the favors! They had it all: wine stoppers, flip flops to wear to the beach, coozies, tote bags, chapstick, and the list goes on! Today, I am LOVING beach weddings! Check out what else I'm loving today :)

Okay.. so I was out looking for leases today and I found this boutique that opened THIS WEEK! It's called Bevello and I know where I'm going this weekend.. gotta find a birthday dress!

I am loving this picture of UNC's campus! I was out there today and yes, it was hot as balls. But I stopped to appreciate how beautiful campus is, and I'm glad I did :)

I am also loving that they have a Hot Yoga studio in Chapel Hill! I paid $20 for 7 days unlimited and if you're a regular at Hoga, you know that's a sweet deal. Bring on the sweat!

I know, I'm a little late to the this band wagon but I am excited! Gregg and I started this conversation because we're going to Orlando in a few weeks (ahhh!) and he doesn't want me to feel left out when he is ooohhhing and ahhhing at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter or whatever. So he bought me the first book, and I'm loving it!

Welp, that's all I've got for today and it's almost officially Thursday :)

Shopping Emergency!

If you can't keep track of where I am, don't feel bad... I am literally all over the place. If you're reading this, then I'll let you know I'm in Chapel Hill, NC for the next few weeks. Although, Katie Little's wedding is this weekend so I'm leaving Thursday afternoon for Destin, FLORIDA!!! Luckily, that's where the bf lives so I'm getting the best of both worlds at this wedding!

Okay but down to business. I packed all kinds of stuff but couldn't decide what to wear for Katie's actual wedding so I'm banking on finding a dress... TOMORROW!

I will say, I found a very cute boutique online, with the CUTEST little name... let's hope it delivers in person! Fingers crossed :)

Wish me luck and stay tuned for what I find!

Don't knock it 'til you try it

So, I did something this weekend that was a little... outside of my comfort zone. Yep, you guessed it, I went to the movies... BY MYSELF.

If you're thinking, "didn't you feel like such a LOSER going to the movies alone?" well, shame on you for even suggesting that! But yes... I did. When I was buying my ticket I decided it wouldn't be a big deal if I just whispered "I'll take one for Horrible Bosses." No big deal, he'll give me my ticket and I'll move on with my day. But it backfired when he said "I'm sorry, what'd you say?" and everyone around me heard me basically yell "OKAY, JUST ONE".

Verdict on seeing a movie alone: Do it! If you're alone in a city and you want to see a movie as bad as I wanted to see Horrible Bosses, just do it. Nobody is judging you. Nobody was looking at me like "wow, what is such a hottie doing at a movie alone. She must just be really super attractive but have a weird personality." No, nobody's thinking that. Nobody's judging you. Get over yourself, grab a Coke Zero that you could swim in and enjoy a movie uninterrupted by "what happened?" and "who's that?" - I'm talking to you Sally Griffis.

Verdict on Horrible Bosses: AMAZEBALLS of course! How could you lose with both Jasons, Jennifer and that squirrelly Charlie guy. So funny - see it, alone or whatever. Just try not to pee your pants.

Attempting to be healthy while traveling...

I'm trying to workout and eat right with this job, but it has proven difficult. I gained about 5 pounds around the holidays and I can't seem to shake those LBS! More recently, I've just gone to the grocery at the beginning of the week and stocked up on stuff that used to work for me in college. It used to be that tuna, egg whites and a couple jumping jacks would get me back to where I wanted to be in like a week! Well, that's not happening for me. So, I'm trying to switch it up and maintain a healthy lifestyle while traveling. First and foremost, I bought a workout DVD. 

Jillian Michaels is seriously NUTS... but I love it. I used to love going to workout classes because they pushed me to the absolute limit and this is exactly what I get from this DVD. I'm not so sure about her little catchphrase at the top there though... I can't imagine I'll lose 5 pounds in a week but that would be SWEET.

Even when I had a job where I didn't jump all over this fabulous country of ours on a weekly basis, I got sick of eating lunch and dinner at my house. Mainly because I'm a lousy cook but.. I digress. I have found some semi healthy options for lunch and dinner so check out one of my great finds this week!

I went to Noodles & Co which is right down the street from my hotel... so, a fitness bonus, I walked there! 

I started with the Cucumber and Tomato salad - perfect for summer!

Calories: 80

Fiber: 2 grams

Carbs: 18 grams

Small Mushroom Stroganoff - Better than Hamburger Helper, that's fa sho.

Calories: 210

Fat: 12 grams

That's a pretty good lunch or dinner out for under 300 calories! [if you don't count my glass of red] I'm obviously no expert but I have been looking for ways to cut down while eating out. Hope this helps you if you're on the road or just in a brown bag rut. Enjoy!