our first annual women's day

we are hosting our first annual women's day on saturday, june 1st!  if any of my followers knows anybody who might be interested in being a vendor please let me know.

there is NO fee to be a vendor!

i drink champagne out of a mason jar

... you can't get more southern than that y'all.

i'm a little tired this morning, i wonder why?

could be the fact that i slept on a deflated air mattress in a closet saturday night...

oh what a weekend.

where shall i start?

let's start with my first glass of champagne on friday night, out of a mason jar.  i'm classy like that.

we went out for our friend matt's birthday friday night.  we had a great time! took lot's of birthday shots, and ate way too much food.  and on saturday i went down to atlanta for a much needed girl's night out, where there were more shots, dancing, a ton of laughs, and many memories made.

i definitely line danced in the club... and clogged. definitely showed my southern roots.  and the last club we went to was only a mile from our hotel, so we had the brilliant idea to walk back... barefoot.  don't judge, our feet hurt.  dancing in heels will do that to ya.

so anyway, it was a great weekend, but this morning i'm paying for it.  i'm falling asleep at my desk.  

i hope you all have a fabulous monday, i'm off to get another cup of coffee, or two.

high five 4 friday

 

linking up with miss lauren for hf4f!

1. got started on our bedroom makeover this week.  got our fabric and paint picked out.  i can't wait to see the final result!

2. got to spend my lunch break yesterday outside in the beautiful weather.  well most of it was spent chasing after zoe who likes to run wild lol.

3. we threw my friend heather a bridal shower last weekend, and to say thank you she sent me this beautiful arrangement of flowers.  so thankful for sweet friends like her.

4. finally cleaned out my closet.  planning a yard sale for next weekend.  gotta make money so i can buy more clothes :-)

5. our receptionist at work knows how much i'm obsessed with watermelon jolly ranchers, and she saved them all for me.

i hope you all have a fantastic weekend! i'm headed down to the atl for girl's night tomorrow and i couldn't be more excited.

happy friday

throwback thursday! sister sister

it's thursday, which means one day closer to friday, and one day closer to my girl's night in atlanta this weekend!!! what what!

it's also time for another throwback thursday!!!

oh i was cute... 

here's how it works:

1. follow the amazing hosts

julia, me, and ady!

2. write a post about your past.  this can be anything from your crazy girl's night last weekend, to prom!  you choose.

3. grab our button and link back to us.  

*hop around and make new friends*

let's take a look back at me and the little sis.

like most siblings we tend to get along only about half the time, but she's my sis and i love her!

awe look at that sweet sister love

yeah i was making a new fashion statement...

we're probably dancing to achy breaky heart by ol' billy ray.  we did that alot.

and now we're older and wiser...

we may not always see eye to eye, but we're sisters!  and there is no other bond like the bond between two sisters.

my favorite skincare products

i have a secret.  one that may surprise you.

i have acne.  very bad acne.  so bad in fact, that sometimes i don't even wanna leave the house because i'm so self conscious about it.

throughout high school and college i never had acne.  i got the occasional zit every now and then, but it was nothing like what i have now.  in the summer of 2009 i decided to stop taking birth control.  for one, i never took it the way i was supposed to, and my body just didn't feel normal when i was on it, so i made the decision to stop taking it.  that's when my face went from being smooth and pretty to looking like it could be on a proactive commercial.  it was horrible.

i have spent so much wasted time and money on my acne between numerous dermatologist appointments, prescription cremes and pills to useless over the counter products that just don't work.  you name it, i've tried it.  proactive?  been there, done that.  murad, neutrogena, acnefree... yup tried them all.

last fall, my husband and i decided that something needed to be done about it.  it got so bad that i was crying almost daily about my face.  i wasn't happy.

so i decided to book a facial.

i went for my appointment and sat down and talked with the specialist about my issue.  the cause of my acne flare up?  discontinuing my birth control pills.  that started it, and between that and stress over the past couple of years, it just escalated.  i have what she called "adult acne", also know as hormonal acne.

after discussing my acne issue with her, she decided to put me on this stuff called dermalogica medibac clearing regimen.

so after my amazing facial she sent me home with a new regiman, and new makeup.

now i get a facial once every couple of months, and that has seemed to help tremendously.

below is my skincare regimen:

1. $35.00 i use the dermalogica medibac clearing skin wash in the morning and evening.  this stuff is beyond AMAZING!  it's not harsh on my skin, and it doesn't leave it dry and flaky like others have in the past.

2. $52.00 (for the larger bottle 2.6 oz) dermalogica daily microfoliant: i only use this in the evening.  after i wash my makeup off, i use this to exfoliate and then i follow with my clearing skin wash.

3. $48.00 dermalogica overnight clearing gel: i use this at night only.  i put a small amount all over my face and neck after i cleanse and exfoliate.  it's very light, and usually if i have large red pimples, this will help the redness and swelling.

4. $45.00 dermalogica clearing mattifier.  i use this in the morning after cleansing.  this stuff is awesome.  i put it on before my makeup and sunscreen.  this helps to minimize oil production throughout the day.

5. $5.00 clean n clear persa gel: best stuff i've found!!  i use this as a spot treatment.  i must warn you though, this stuff is just as strong as the prescription gels.  it is 10% benzoyl peroxide which can be very harsh on sensitive skin.  if you have moderate acne i would not recommend using this.  they do make some with only 2% benzoyl peroxide which would work better for those with less acne.

dermalogica: can be purchased online.  i purchase mine at a local spa in town.  it is pricier than most other products out there, but i'm telling you it's worth it.  especially if you have more severe acne issues.
clean n clear: you can find it at any local drug store or wal-mart.

once you have a good skincare regimen, the next step is to find the right makeup for you.

1. $20.00 mary kay timewise matte wear liquid foundation in beige 2.  i usually use the liquid foundation when i need more coverage.  when i have a breakout or redness, this does a great job of covering up stubborn areas, and it doesn't clog my pores.

2. $20.00 bare minerals correcting concealer in light 1.  out of all of the concealers i have used, this is by far the best.  it covers areas that other products just won't cover.

3. $6.00 covergirl true blend minerals loose powder in translucent light.  i use this when i need more coverage.  i put my liquid foundation on first, and use this over it.

4. $27.00 bare minerals spf 15 foundation in medium.  i use this on days that i don't have a breakout, or when i need less coverage.  and you don't have to use a ton of this stuff.  a little goes a long way.

5. $19.00 bare minerals all over face color in warmth.  not much to say about this except it's well worth the money :-)

6. $3.00 covergirl eye enhancers eye shadow shown in tapestry taupe.  i love a good neutral eye color for everyday wear.  this is the perfect tan/brown color and it goes with just about anything.

7. $4.00 maybelline great lash mascara.  yes i wear the plainest of plain mascara's.  but it's my all time favorite and it's the cheapest out there.

8. $3.00 maybelline baby lips in peppermint.  one of the best investments i've ever made.  i think this works better than burts bee's!

mary kay: can be purchased online or from your local mary kay consultant.
bare minerals: can also be purchased online or from a local sephora or ulta.
covergirl and maybelline: can be purchased from any local drug store or wal-mart

you may be thinking "wow jennifer, that's some expensive stuff" yes i know it's a little pricier than most other products, but for someone like me who struggles with acne, it's worth it!  you're gonna pay more for the best quality stuff, and it's so important to take care of your skin.

i hope that this helps those of you who struggle with acne like i do.  if you have any questions about any of the products listed above let me know :-)

when sorority girls go on spring break

so back in 2006 when i was living the life of a crazy sorority chick, me and a few of my sisters decided that we needed to go on a spring break trip like everyone else.

we decided 2 days before we left that we were gonna go visit some friends at florida state, and then travel down to panama city for a few days.  so that's exactly what we did.

we piled jenna's car full of our sh*t and off we went.

after a 7 hour drive and thousands of mixed cds later, we arrived at florida state university! 

one of our sisters knew a bunch of frat boys down there so we hung out with them for 2 days.  we did the normal frat/sorority stuff...

beer pong, beer pong, and well... more beer pong.

after our fsu shenanigans we hopped back in our packed car and drove to panama city beach.

the next few days were a blur.  we met some super cute army guys, went clubbing, danced out butts off, and we definitely turned over our hotel dresser and used it as a beer pong table... let's just say we didn't get our security deposit back that week.  the hotel people hated us.

and after a few days of craziness, it was time to go back to reality.  but it was definitely a week i will always remember :)

happy tuesday!

monday.

blah blah blah...

that's how i feel today.  i had a little too much red wine last night, and today i've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

it's been a monday, that's for sure.

my co-worker and i had to take one of the new chevy volts to the high school today for earth day.  shew i am beyond glad that i didn't pursue my teaching career.

i don't know how they do it.  i give them serious thumbs up for dealing with those kids.

so i don't have any fun exciting weekend news to update you with.  zoe and i had a little photo shoot

what a little princess :-)

i cleaned out my closet sunday... which means there will be a HUGE yard sale in my future.

and the bestie and i had a catch up/sister time date.  love her face!

well back to my busy day.  have a fabulous monday my loves!

it's been a crappy week, let's laugh a little

hey party people.  it's finally friday, and i don't know about you but i am so glad it's here.  this week has been one hellava week for everybody.  first the boston bombings, then the texas explosion,  earthquakes, scary letters sent to washington, and now the massive man hunt going on in boston for the bombing suspect.  wow that's a mouth full.

prayers going out to our nation right now, all those affected by the earthquakes this week, texas, and boston!  very scary world these days.

so with all the negative stuff going, let's put a smile on your face, shall we?

random funny facts about yours truly

1. (thought this was appropriate considering all that's going on in this state) i cannot for the life of me say "massachusetts". i have to concentrate on it.  if i don't think before i say the word, it comes out as massa-two-shits... 

2. i can't touch anything metal after i get out of the shower.  i have no explanation for this other than the fact that it feels funny.  if i touch something metal after getting out of the shower i get chills, and my whole body tingles.  lol it's crazy i know.

3. my bestie julia and i once thought marco polo invented the swimming pool.  i mean why else would you play a game called marco polo in a swimming pool?

let's laugh some more...

oh you know just a normal day on the morning commute...

this is hilarious and disturbing all at the same time.

wow...

true story

now it's time for #backtahtazzup friday with whitney!

a little bone thugs for your friday!

have a great weekend, and please keep praying for all those affected by the horrible events this week.  

much love!

throwback thursday ~ my spoiled rotten furbaby

   <center> <a href="http://sweetsouthernwife.blogspot.com/"> <img src="http://i.imgur.com/KRSsLzw.png" width="250"/> </a></center>

 It's THURSDAY!!! 

Time to take it back to the good ol' days.

I'm takin' it back to the old school
'Cause I'm an old fool, who's so cool
If you wanna get down, I'ma show you the way
Whoomp, there it is! Lemme hear ya say...

              

1. Please follow the hosts & visit all my lovely co-hosts!

*leave a comment and we will follow back*

Our Hostesses with the Mostesses

and our lovely co-host

Jean from What Jean Likes
Misty from Handbags & Handguns

2. Write a post about your past

this can be anything from last week's horrible date, to prom 2004, to an embarrassing journal entry, etc.

YOU CHOOSE!

3. Grab our button or link back to us, link up below, and 

don't forget to hop around

we all love our pets right? ok so my little zoe is more than just a pet. she's my child. let me tell you the story of my little zoe.
when i moved to atlanta back in 2009-2010 i was lonely.  i lived in a small apartment by myself, and sitting around talking to myself all the time got pretty old. 
so i decided to get a puppy.  oh and this was not just any old puppy.  this was an american bulldog puppy...

meet bella

  bella quickly went from being cute to being a terror.
she got way too big for my little apartment, chew up half my shoes in my closet,  and pooped all over the place.

so even though i hated to, i had to give her away.  i just couldn't handle a dog that big.  so i went home to NC one weekend and LT had an adorable little surprise for me...

my precious little zoe bug.

  there is a special story behind zoe.
she was a rescue dog. she came from a home that was run down, and when we got her she was filthy.  she was covered in mudd, dirt and fleas :(
but we cleaned her up and gave her a loving home.

so in love with that little face.

show us your old memories.  link up below!

 

oh just some random thoughts

so as i was driving home last night with my windows down, singing along madonna's like a virgin, i got to thinking about certain things that i just don't understand.  things that don't make sense to the ol' wifey here.  feel free to agree on some of these...

1. when you and your bestie wanna get your 1 month olds together for a play date.  this may be news to me, but 1 month olds can't do much right? let alone "play together".  why can't you just say "hey girl, let's get together so we can drink some wine and gossip and let our babies sit in their car seats and sleep"?  let's get real here, it's a play date for you, not your newborns.

2. what's the deal with the people in front of the tax preparer place dressed up like the statue of liberty?  sorry, but just because you're standing on the corner waving to people doesn't persuade me to walk into your office to give you money to prepare my taxes.  "awe look how cute that guy looks dressed as lady liberty, let's let them prepare our taxes" um no sorry.

3. *warning this one may offend somebody* sorry but if you can't afford to buy groceries, diapers for your baby, and formula, then you shouldn't be able to afford 1. a manicure 2. an iphone 3. coach purses and 4. cigerettes.  sorry not sorry!  truth hurts.

4. why do hitch hikers hitch rides?  isn't one of the main words in that phrase "hiker"? i thought that was their plan?  to hike.  i mean do you really think that someone is going to pick you up off the side of the road when you haven't had a haircut in months, or a bath!  sorry, but i know what the movie hitcher is about.

5. why are shows such as honey boo boo, toddlers and tiaras, 19 kids & counting, and sister wives on tlc (the LEARNING channel)?  oh yeah that's right, so they can teach us how to be an obnoxious overweight little girl who drinks an obscene amount of red bull, how to raise a spoiled rotten brat, how to have multiple wives, oh yeah and how to NOT use birth control so you can have 20 children.  doesn't make sense to me.

happy wednesday loves.

so many emotions...

so many thoughts running through my head after yesterday's horrible tragedy in boston.  i can't wrap my head around it.  i don't understand why anyone would want to hurt people.  it's sickening!

for those of you that know me, you know that i'm a worrier.  i worry about anything and everything.  it's my flaw.

so many tragic things are happening in this world, it's heartbreaking... and scary.  first the boston bombings, and then today i wake up to find out that there was a HUGE earthquake in iran.  at least 40 people were killed.  and to top it all off, everything that is happening with north korea right now terrifies me.

this world is full of evil.

i'm scared for the future of my family and friends, and most of all for the future of my country.  it's getting worse each day.

the only thing i know to do is pray.  pray for my family, pray for my country, and pray for the world we live in.

as i was watching good morning america this morning, george stephanopoulos made the comment "what is it going to take to stop this in america?"  well i think that's an easy answer... 

why don't we let God back into our school systems?

and instead of being scared of "offending someone" by mentioning God, we mention him anyway!

it's time that us Christians stand together and be witnesses.  that's what we are here to do.

so today i will be praying.

praying for my family and i.

praying for my friends and everyone in my community.

praying for boston.

and most of all praying for our country and this world we live in.

prayers going out to boston...

just saw the news about the boston marathon and i am in shock.  this is a horrible, horrible tragedy!

my thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this.

a southern girl's weekend shenanigans

ever been hit in the face in the middle of the night?

  at 3 am this morning i woke up to my husband whacking me in the face.  not even kidding.  he turned over in his sleep and his hand flung over and hit me square in the eye.

scared the crap outa me! thank God it didn't turn black and blue!

so anyway guess what?  this girl actually did something this past weekend, and i even took pictures!!  yup shocker.

the hubs and i ventured over to what we like to call "redneck vegas" also known as gatlinburg, tennessee.

if any of you have ever been to gatlinburg, you know why we call it "redneck vegas".

saturday consisted of moonshine tasting, whiskey tasting, and then back for more moonshine tasting.  we ended the day with an amazing dinner at the melting pot!

1. lil bit enjoying the beautiful spring weather friday afternoon.

2. off to dinner with the hubs.

3. barefeet on the dashboard, cruisin down the road (i should write a country song)

4. beautiful morth carolina mountains (i love where i live)

5. welcome to tennessee!

6. hubby and wifey love.

1. ole smoky moonshine!

2. yours truly in front of the moonshine holler.  yes they had free moonshine tasting.  

3. a lil bit about moonshine!

1. we stopped and got some jello shots

2. and then we stopped and got some whiskey shots

3. looking a little fuzzy eyed after all the free alcohol tasting

1. checking out my attire for the day.  i attempted to wear the heels out walking, but then i figured that would be a horrible idea once moonshine was involved

2. lookin all cute! ps you like my new necklace?  5 bucks at burkes y'all!

1. that night we had dinner at the melting pot, which is now my favorite restaurant... YUM!!

2. cheesecake, strawberries, brownies and marshmallows oh my!  and all dipped in chocolate i might add.  feel free to drool a little bit

3. we ended the night at a little bar called blaine's.  we met a bride to be and thought it would be nice to buy her a shot... and so we did!

tell us about your weekend!

go linkup with our girl sami... don't ask questions, just do it!

healthy living ~ food substitutions, workout attire, and something to help you #backthatazzup

happy friday lovlies.

i hope you have enjoyed my healthy living series this week on the ol' blog.  i enjoy getting the chance to help others live a healthy lifestyle.

today i'm going to show you some great tips on substituting certain foods for healthier choices, and give you some cute workout attire.

i mean come on you gotta look good while you're getting fit right?

eating healthy isn't as hard as it seems.  there are so many things you can do that will cut calories, and still give you the amount of nutrients you need.  for example: substituting certain foods for others can make a HUGE difference in your diet.  check out some of my favorite food substitutions. (as i sit here at my desk eating a breakfast pizza. don't judge, it's my cheat day lol)

these are just a few of the many food items that you can substitute for others.

my favorite is low fat greek yogurt!  we have stopped using sour cream and we now use greek yogurt for tacos, baked potatoes, and many other food items.

the other night we made one of our favorites for supper: turkey tacos!

we used ground turkey instead of ground beef, whole wheat wraps instead of plain white wraps, spinach for lettuce, greek yogurt for sour cream, and low fat cheese for regular cheese.

so see, it's not hard, just do some research and you will find that there are so many food substitutions out there that can help your diet.

now for the fun part.  us girls gotta look our best in the gym right?  some of you may say "i don't really care what i look like in the gym" yeah i'm gonna call BS!

now some of you may not care, and that's fine.  i on the other hand do care.  i'm a girlie girl, and i can't go to the gym looking like a hobo.  if i feel like i look cute, it motivates me.  if i feel like i don't look cute, i don't feel like doing sh*t... sad but true!

check out some of my favorites:

1. new balance kx20 minimus cross training shoes (tjmaxx for $40)

2. under armour dry-fit shorts (tjmaxx for $15)

3. nike long sleeve speed t-shirt (i bought the avia long sleeve t-shirts for $10 at tjmaxx)

4. victoria's secret pink yoga pants (victoria's secret for $34.99)

5. new balance t-shirt sports bra (tjmaxx for $7.99)

6. under armour victory tank (i bought the avia tank that is similar for $10 at tjmaxx)

now it's time to link up with miss whitney for backthatazzup friday!

i should seriously thank her a million times for showing me the best pandora station ever!  seriously it saves me in the gym.  so for your entertainment, here's a little bit of ginuwine for you.  enjoy :-)