Weekend Recap.

Well, this weekend was pretty much perfect.

Friday night the roommate and I went to see Katy Perry in concert with my friend, Jessica, for her birthday. Her boyfriend had gotten her four tickets and she invited us. We had a blast - from dinner at Stumps in Channelside to bobbing our heads with teeny boppers in during the concert. We had great seats in the club level and could see everything.

The St. Pete Times Forum looking like we'd been transported into a game of Candyland. It was unreal. And her sparkley sequen outfits were also something else. Seriously though, we had a GREAT time (I may be able to snag a few of Bekah's pictures to post soon).

Saturday was a much needed day that involved a hard 1 hour cardio workout in the morning, 5 hours poolside with a book, and then a couple of hours of babysitting (but with the kids asleep) that night. So I finished Love and Respect, made a dent in my latest James Patterson novel, and even started 'Sacred Marriage' while I was at it. It was heavenly.

Sunday I went to church. After church Thomas and I got to have lunch with Trish and Glenn at PF Changs. I was so excited to finally introduce them. We had a great time catching up and it was fun for me to have T get to know one of my absolute favorite couples. The food was pretty rockin too. ; ]

Since he was already on my side of town Thomas laid by and in the pool with me all afternoon. My favorite weekend activity WITH my favorite guy -what more could a girl want? Oh wait, it gets better...

Last night we packed a picnic and hit the beach with our friends Lindsay (who introduced us) and Zach. We ate delish food (including key lime pie) and took a long walk on the beach. Then we laid around until the sunset. It was the perfect end to a great weekend!

Hope you all had just as much fun (and a little relaxation) of your own.

Love,

B

Fourth of July.

Ok, I want to know what you all have going on for the 4th this year - and if you happen to own a boat, I may just be jealous. Actually, I'll be packing my bags up for the 2nd of 3 trips in 4 weeks and headed to Scottsburg, IN.

You may remember what a great time I had there over Christmas with my best friend when her bro-in-law took me four wheelin' late at night (on the ice), we went to a real soda fountain in a drug store, and I even got to meet a few cows. You can read more about that trip here but for a Florida city girl, it was quite an exciting trip. Shortly after (in Feb I believe?) I went ahead and booked a flight on Allegiant Air to spend the 4th of July with my bestie and her sweet, fun families (her's and her husbands - love em both).

Allegiant is one of the best kept secrets in travel - my flight, round trip, was less than $150! Woot. I was so proud of myself. Now, I will be even more proud if I manage to pull off a carry-on only for a 6 day trip. I'm good, but I'm not sure even I am THAT good.

Anywho, I figure if I determine what exactly I need to bring, and don't bring 100 options, I can maybe, possibly, probably pull it off.

Here's my packing small for summer ideas:

- Kindle instead of library books. That way I KNOW I won't run out (which has been known to happen, you know how crazy I am with my reading). This way A. it takes up less room but B. it weights way less than 3-4 novels.

- Staying in the same color family - then I can pack one purse and minimal shoe options (if I don't have to match black and brown outfits).

- Sundresses. They take up WAY less room than a whole outfit AND they're cooler in the hot temps.

- I figure you probably always need at least one pair of jeans or jean capris - so I'm going to wear mine on the way there, that way they don't take up room in my bag, but I still have them if I need them.

So, what are YOUR 4th plans? In town? Out of town? On a boat?

Love,

B

Book Club Friday - Love & Respect.

I'm going to assume that you all are growing tired of my James Patterson posts. I'm rather obsessed with his writing lately, and I did dominate another one this week, called Run for Your Life, part of a four book series I've been working on and I'm on the 3rd one now. But while I've been flying through Patterson's suspense thrillers, I've also been working on a book of a very different sort...

I guess you could say the last few months have changed my perspective on a lot of things. Being someone who thought I would be single until I was 35, busily pursuing my career - I was happily rerouted when I met Thomas. I was getting all mushy on here about how amazing he is but even though I don't know what the future holds for us or what the Lord has in store for us as individuals or as a couple yet, I find that being with him has motivated me to better myself in a great number of ways.

One of them being that for the first time, maybe ever, I feel the Lord working on me and giving me the desire to be a great wife, someday. A friend of mine, Melissa, told me recently that every couple before getting married should be required to read, 'Love and Respect' as well as take the Dave Ramsey course. Well I took and then taught Dave, so budget girl I am but I had recently bought and begun Love and Respect just before she told me that.

I haven't finished it yet but I have to say it really has been life-altering for me. I recruited my best friend, Candy, who's fast approaching her one year anniversary of marriage, and we started reading it and talking about it together. It is teaching me so much about love and about the importance of respect to men - something that makes perfect sense the way Eggerich lays it out for you in this text.

I highly recommend this to any of my readers who are: married, engaged, seriously dating, or would like to be any of those 3 things someday. It is a Christian, biblical based text - I know some of my readers are not of the same beliefs as I am but the principles apply either way.

Whew, well, that feels like a breath of fresh air after weeks of Patterson recommendations. I'm hoping to sit down and really write out some of my thoughts on the book and what exactly I've been learning soon - when I have time to put them all into words.

Love,

B

I'm Melting.

I knew we were in for a brutal Florida summer when I was sweating in March! But it's continued to prove me right with hot, hot, hot days and scarily hot nights. But I actually enjoy the heat as long as I can tough it out poolside with friends. However, the problem I've been facing is makeup related. I shared before that I had the chance to sit down during my on TV makeover, and ask a makeup artist for some makeup advice. I did ask her a few questions about keeping the shine at bay but I had more questions about summer makeup...

Thankfully, I'm not the only one. I read a great article in InStyle magazine about products that won't melt in the heat and I added a few to my current makeup 'hit list'. I love to work the system so I made my whole list of items which included: shine control primer, cheek tint (instead of blush), oil control and matte finished bronzer, etc. So after I got my list made up I hit up Sephora.com with the whole list. This way I got free shipping, 4x the points on my credit card, and 8, count that 8 samples for free with my order.

So a few new things I'm beating the heat with this summer:

I bought this 3 color cheek tint kit, so I can see which color(s) go best with my skintone, and give this whole cheek tint idea a try. I've never used any before and benefit cosmetics are always popular, especially these so I thought they were worth a gamble.



This I've bought before but I was out of it and needed more. I bought the to go size since it lasts a LONG time for me (and I didn't want to spend the money on the full bottle this time). You mist this over your finished face and it holds your make up all day, even in the heat. I love it.


Cosmedicine's Matte and Bronze powder. Two things I love to be - matte and bronze. Enough said.

I bought some mineral powder and one other bronzer to try as well. But you get the idea.

I also browsed a few articles about summer makeup tips and one suggested applying tinted moisturizer (which I love) with a damp sponge. I'd never tried it that was so I've added that to my mental to do list. I frequently do a tinted moisturizer instead of foundation on the weekends, with a hint of blush and a few strokes of mascara.

Another highly recommended producted in InStyle's summer ideas was Burt's Bees tinted chapstick. A product I can't live without since my sister got me hooked on it back at Christmas time.

How do you keep your makeup from melting in the summer? I'm taking all tips and tricks into the database this week because let's be honest, the summer is just beginning for me and it's goign to be a hot one!

Love,

B

This is me.

I've been a people pleaser my whole life. It's been a blessing and a curse. My biggest strength and my greatest weakness...

As I grow older I consider myself to be both freakishly analytical and somewhat abnormally self aware. I am more than willing to admit my long list of flaws and guilty pleasures. I'll openly talk about my failures. I've become maybe too willing to confess my shortcomings and sins to my fabulous small group this year...

That being said, this is the first year in my life I've ever felt like I really know who I am and on the flip side of that, who I am not. I tweeted the other night after an unexpected attack of my character, 'Know who you are so that when other's question it, you don't falter'. My roommate who read my tweet from our burgundy velvet coach downstairs said as I came down the stairs a few minutes later that she had to give that an amen.

I was struck as I was talking about said incident that for the first time in my people-pleasin'-life I knew who I was and I didn't question the validity of any of the statements in the attack. That sounds silly because as I shared two days ago the person who came after me had only actually met me once, so why would I ever have believed what he had to say? I get it. It's common sense. But for a people pleaser like myself, every negative thing someone utters about me plays through my head a million times, keeps me awake at night, and causes me to question myself for months after...until now.

I finally know with clarity exactly who I am and exactly who I am not, and I love that. I finally feel comfortable in my own skin. Just being me. Flaws and all.

I may drink out of the diet coke bottle (at 8am) when I'm washing down my morning vitamins. I may screen all my phone calls (yeah, I admit it - I ignore people everyday). I love to eat way too much to ever really be skinny but I'm vain enough to workout so I can. I read too much and not always of the intellectual variety. I would have better fit in the pre-sin day when people didn't wear clothes. I'd wear a vneck tee, jeans, and a baseball cap every single day if I could. I wasn't a Dean's list student, even though some would argue I should have been, I just liked to play more than work then. I have 'ah ha' moments way too regularly. I'm overly organized. I'm a freakish planner (I booked my Christmas flights in June last year). And I have about a million other flaws but...

I am a redeemed sinner with a growing love for her Savior. I am a purposeful and loyal friend. I am hardworking and self-motivated. I am diligent and persistent in reaching my goals. I am a big dreamer and an unfaltering realist in one. I am a dork. I have a huge heart for people that gets me in trouble from time to time. I place high value on my relationships with my family members and I put much of my energy into keeping those going. I am learning more everyday and I am constantly questioning, changing, redirecting, and sometimes even apologizing. I am blessed - with great friends, an encouraging and loving boyfriend, an amazing family, and a job I'm passionate about.

I am unapologetic and unwavering in my convictions, my stance, and my moral standards. And I am finally, and I do mean finally, really comfortable with that.

Love,
B

Bic Giveaway Winner.

Hello loves,

The winner of the bic giveaway was comment #6 - which was left my Christine. I'm not actually positive which Christine this is so, yeah, get in touch with me so I can send you the goods!

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Love,
B

The Fist.

Did this book grace any of your childhood shelves the way it did mine? I love this book, because some days really are just that bad. Last week was a week of those days. With a few highlights mixed in like pottery with Bekah, dancing with Thomas, and a lunch with some special long time family friends - the rest was pretty ecky. Truly a week of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.

Vicki, my hilarious coworker, has a habit of saying 'I give you the fist', which basically means when you're bothering her or you do something that makes her mad she shakes her fist at you. Well, I shake my fist at all of last week and I bid it farewell. Or not so well, either way.

I took a personal day over the weekend. Slept in til 10am (that's late for me), read 200 pages of a book, laid by the pool for 4 hours, and relaxed at a movie (X-men) with the boyfriend that night. I cleared my head, put that week behind me, and determined to start this week off right and ready for a good week. I will have a good week this week, if it kills me.

It got off to a rocky start with a startlingly drama-enducing message via facebook Monday afternoon (while I was on lunch). I was caught off guard by a message from, get this, someone I have met exactly once. I should preface this by saying I hate 2 things: facebook messages and people nosing into business that isn't theirs. This particular person found it necessary to message me to say that someone else was mad at me (someone I do know, at least). Let's just say the tone of said message was insulting, assuming, and just plain rude.

I took a deep breath as I finished reading the message on my blackberry and thought hard about my response. I gave myself the following pep talk: I WILL have a good week this week. I will not adopt other people's drama as my own. And so, I responded politely, graciously, but with a firm 'you're highly misinformed and fiercely out of line'. Even after a several message exchange, I refused to make a fight out of something that wasn't - I addressed the proposed issue with the person it involved, and tied up the messaging sequence with a polite, ' have a nice day'.

There will always be frustrating things and people that come up in a given week, how we respond to them has a profound effect on US (more so than on the person at hand). Don't own other people's drama. Don't be afraid to confront people, when necessary. Don't pick fights or allow others to pick them with you. Don't own other people's insecurities. Be firm. Set boundaries. Don't be afraid to tell people that you'll discuss issues only with the people involved or something equally concise. Being an effective and purposeful communicator can really cut down on drama. I find that most drama comes from a misunderstanding, avoid being the person that causes that and when possible, be the one who sheds light on the truth.

Here's to a week of good days and I leave you with these parting thoughts:

Know who you are so that when other's question it, you don't falter.

Love,

B