W.I.R.W. #16

Whew!

I'm catching up, folks!

I read three books this past week.

Two of them were duds and the other was not what I expected it to be from the description.

The two duds were:

{it started out good but tried to wrap up too quickly}

and

{which had a good premise but developed and ended abruptly}

The book different from its description was:

{I found the character whiny, and the book wasn't as funny as I had hoped. But, I did enjoy it!}

Here's where I currently stand in my 2013 book goal:

25/50

Which means, at the end of July, I'm halfway there {and only 3 books behind schedule}!!!

Also, don't forget to stop by The FunEmployed Ladies today.

We're starting a new blog series called Hump Day Hugs!

sources :: rbtlreviews, eleusinianmysteriesofreading {blogger}, npr

July Cara Box: Sail Away with Me

At the end of June, I signed up to be a part of the Cara Box exchange again. I'd skipped May and June for different reasons, but I couldn't pass up the nautical theme in July!!

I had two lovely partners in the Carolinas. I think God was speaking to me through these women, and I hope that He was telling me that I will get to move there one day soon!!

I sent my box to Ashley @ Raising Our Little Devil Pups.

Here's her recap of what I sent her!

I got a wonderful box from Danielle @ Sweet Southern Girl.

I only have one picture of my loot, but I love every single piece!

Danielle picked my goodies well.

I wear scarves all the time so I was happy to add this to my ever growing supply.

The sand & sun air freshener is one of my favorites, and I can't wait to use it.

I'm also so grateful for the necklace, the anchor keychain, and the anchor note cards too.

Thank you, Danielle!!

Hallelujah!

I am temporarily employed!!!

For the time being, I'll be a librarian.

Today is my first day.

I hope I like it.

source :: beingandwriting {blogger}

Sunday Social {food edition}

If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

 Roasted Red Pepper Risotto & Garlicky Chicken Thighs

{recipe}

What's your guilty pleasure/comfort food?

 This is my newest guilty pleasure since my parents returned from their European vacation.

It's eye-rolling-ly good.

What's the weirdest/craziest thing you've ever eaten?

 

 Snails/Escargot

What foods do you avoid at all costs?

 Foods that make my hands dirty. 

I can't stand to have sauce or anything on my hands.

I'm very compulsive about it.

I usually have to wipe my hands after every bite because it bothers me so.

It's really bothersome when I'm cooking & baking too.

What meal reminds you of your childhood?

 My mom made spaghetti at least once a week for dinner because it was quick easy.

She had to feed two high school girls and a 3 year old boy.

With my dad out of town consistently, this is what we ate.

I can't stand to eat it anymore.

I'll eat any other pasta dish, just not this one!

Share one of your favorite recipes and the story behind it.

This is the recipe that introduced me to my husband and how I won him over.

 I was baking with my girl Kelly at college, and the boys happened to stop in the communal kitchen to see what we were up to because they could smell our delicious treats.

Life was never the same after that. 

Shortbread Tarts with Cream Cheese Filling

{recipe}

sources :: tastykitchen, whatsgoodattraderjoes, europeword, eyeofhawaii, mattuccis, joyofbaking

Happies & Crappies

happies

1. I started a new blogging adventure - The FunEmployed Ladies - which I posted about yesterday.

2. I've had three interviews in the past week.

3. I painted fun things!

4. My husband and I are watching The Office from the very beginning.

5. Most of my house is clean.
6. I love making ice cream at home, and I'm pretty awesome at it!

crappies

1. I miss reading the Imdalind series.

2. I'm still not employed.

3. I still have to clean the rest of my house.
4. My husband has been begging for banana ice cream, and I haven't made it yet. {Sorry, honey!}

FunEmployment - a new blogging adventure

Good afternoon, all!

I just wanted to fill you in on a little project that I've been working on for the past week.

I am very excited to announce that my girl Mary & I have started a new blog!

We will be blogging all about our misadventures through FunEmployment.

Please stop by and visit us from time to time!
You are sure to be very entertained by us!!

W.I.R.W. #15

Again, I only read one book this week. =[ 

I'm slacking!!!

But, the book was so good!

Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down.

The story was incredible, and I loved that I could feel the struggle of the characters.

The idea of being able to travel through time is what I loved the most about the book.

Plus, it takes place on the coast of Cornwall.

Pirates. Love. Time Travel.

What more could you want?

source :: goodreads

The GloRun

About a week ago, Mr. GrapeJuice and I did The GloRun. I have been wanting to do an electric run for some time now, and we found out this one was coming the day we did The Color Run. My only hesitation was that I am terrible at late runs, but I sucked it up and registered us anyway.

Well, my fears were confirmed. I did not run well. Not only was I slow, but it was so humid running down by the river at night I could barely breathe. If I had wanted, I probably could have drank the humidity. And, I was definitely not glistening; I was full blown sweating like a sinner in church!

One good thing came out of this thought, I found out that I can skip faster than I can run at night. It was the last 1/2 mile, and I was done. So, I took to skipping to wake up my leg muscles. It worked, and I was able to finish the silly run.

Mr. GrapeJuice and I were a little disappointed in the race. It definitely was not as much fun as The Color Run. It seemed kind of dead to me, like everyone was just trying to finish and go home.

And, side note to the DJ: Remember what city you're in next time. Nashville is not Memphis. Thanks for trying though!

How He Popped "The Question"

Over the weekend, I was planning out my posts for the week and realized that I never blogged about how Mr. GrapeJuice proposed. It's hard to believe that it's been four years since that crazy night in May, but I will never forget it!

After we graduated, we decided to take a vacation - just the two of us. Mr. GrapeJuice planned the whole thing because he found a great deal for the Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City. The only thing he consulted me on was whether or not I wanted to do it. In hindsight, I should have seen the proposal coming, but I was so consumed with the end of college and packing my dorm room that I didn't clue in.

Before I tell you how he did it, I want to give a little background about me, my personality, and our dating history. Basically, I pretty much knew from the beginning that I was going to marry my husband. I can vividly remember being so conflicted about it too. And, I know I talked my girl Kelly's ear off about it. {Sorry, Kels!}

Being that I was thoroughly convinced about marrying this guy, I dragged him into every jewelry store we encountered and showed him the rings I wanted. I even think we had a facebook conversation where I sent him several pictures of rings I liked. Yet, he still managed to surprise me!

Okay, back to being at Harrah's...

They had jewelry shops there, and can you guess what I did? Showed him the ones I wanted! {As I type this, I am mentally slapping my forehead for how forward I was! I can't believe he put up with that.} Finally, on out last night, I sat in one of the bars, writing my maid of honor speech for my sister's wedding, while Mr. GrapeJuice gambled. Only, he wasn't gambling. He was setting up a proposal that fits him to a T.

Here's what he was doing while I was drinking and writing my MOH speech...

Instead of gambling, he went back up to the room and grabbed the ring that he had already bought and brought with him. He set up the room by putting the the gift box the ring comes in on my pillow. Then, he slipped the ring box into his pocket and came back downstairs I gamble. He visited me a couple times at the bar, and even thought about proposing there but chickened out. He does not like being in the spotlight. And, just so you know, I never realized there was a ring box bulge in his pocket. Observant, I was not that night.

Around midnight, he came back to the bar, and I started to whine about being tired. He told me to come gamble with him for th last $10. Mind you, I was impressed that he still had money because he would only use so much money each time he gambled. If I had known what was going on, I would not have been as impressed that he still had money to spend. So, I begrudgingly went with him, and I don't know what games we played because I don't gamble. I know that we played one game that involved numbers. We used our birthdays, our anniversary, and that day's date. Again, Captain Clueless right here!

Eventually, my whining won out, and we headed upstairs just before midnight. I didn't much pay attention as we walked into the room. I threw my bag on the floor and turned to the bed. There, I saw the gift box on my pillow. I called my husband's name and walked to the bed tentatively. I thought it was a joke! I never imagined that he would propose like this. I opened the box, and it was empty! Now, I was mad. I turned around to yell at my husband, but I didn't see him. I tore through the hotel room trying to find him, until I finally flung open the room door. I was ready to chase him down and rip his head off for such a cruel joke. I nearly tripped other him when I opened the door though because he was down on one knee hold the ring box up to me. There was no long speech like in the movies telling me how wonderful I am, and that's okay with me because that doesn't fit us. All he did was asking me to marry him, and I burst into tears. All I could do was nod. However, he kept asking me until I verbally said yes. Then, he slipped the ring onto my finger, and it fit perfectly, like in all the books and movies!

The rest is history!

Sunday Social {TV edition}

What was your favorite TV show as a kid? It's so hard to choose! 90s TV was awesome. I do remember watching Sailor Moon during the summers though.

What is your current favorite TV show? For the summer, I would have to say Under the Dome and Graceland.But, on the regular, it is definitely New Girl!

Which reality TV show would you never do? I would not do any TV show that involves eating bugs or eyeballs or anything gross for money. Also, I would probably be really bad at type of survival show.

Which reality TV show would you love to do? OMG. I would love to be a part of Whodunnit!

What is the TV personality/character you think is most like you? Zooey Deschanel as Jess, obviously! =]

Which TV character would you want to date?

Aaron Tveit as Mike Warren on Graceland

{yes, i do, sir!}

or Jake Johnson as Nick Miller on New Girl

{excuse me while I melt}

sources :: tpepost, weheartit, tvrage, collegecandy, tumblr [x2]

Love at First Sight

Do you believe in it?

That moment when you lock eyes with someone and everything stops?

I do!

 I was in college when I experienced the love at first sight miracle.

I would like to say that it was with my husband, but it wasn't.

 I actually don't even know who it was.

Here's what happened...

I was a student ambassador for my college, and I was in the middle of a tour.

We had just finished up our tour in the coffee shop, and we were walking past the counter.

There, ordering something, was a guy.

I watched his back as we walked past. 

He was wearing sweat pants, a t-shirt, and red baseball cap because it was "early."

{It was literally like 9am, but sometimes I like to pretend he wasn't dressed like a bum.}

As I opened the door to leave the coffee shop, I turned back to take one last look, and our eyes met.

I can still remember to this day how my breath caught in my throat and how the whole world started moving in slow motion. It was like they were swimming jello as we looked at each other.

I had tunnel vision too. All I could see was him.

I vaguely remember walking backwards and trying to make the moment last forever.

We smiled at each other and then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over.

 I made a beeline for the coffee shop after finishing my tour, but he wasn't there.

I never found out who he was, and I kind of like it that way.

It makes it more magical, I think.

Have you ever had a moment like that?

Was it with your significant other?

Or a random stranger, like me?

sources :: fellinoh {tumblr}

W.I.R.W. #14

I only read one book this past week! ONE!!!!

Last week, I told you about the Imdalind series, and the third book being released on Friday.
Well, I couldn't read any other books until that one came out.
That's how I much I loved the series!!
And, it did not disappoint.
There were definitely tears involved with this book.
I didn't think my poor heart was going to make it to the end.
It was incredible!

Now...I have to bide my time with other books until the fourth one comes out in December.

source :: rebeccaethington.com

The Car Curse

Okay...I'm hesitantly writing this post and knocking on wood the whole time because I need all the luck I can get!

I have terrible luck with cars.

In three years, I totaled two cars.

My first car was a Jeep Grand Cherokee when I got my driver's license!!

 

I'm proud to say that nothing happened to this car while I drove it!

However, it goes downhill fast from here...

=[

My senior year, my mom decided to buy a new car so I got hers - a Toyota Avalon.

It was my soccer mom car, and I loved it to pieces.

I would've driven it forever if I could.

The weather had other plans for it though.

On the weekend before the big flood in Nashville in 2010, I hydroplaned across all four lanes of interstate traffic and hit the retaining wall. I ended up facing the wrong way.

Thankfully, my brother and I were not hurt, but I can't say the same for the car.

It still makes me sad.

But, I moved on, regretfully.

I bought my next car - a Lexus RX 300 - from my grandparents.

I played into my grandfather's need for new toys to get it from them. =]

 

I put this poor baby through two accidents within 2 months.

One was my fault and the other was not.

The first thing I did was run into the side of my house.

How embarassing!!!

I destroyed the back panel of my Lexus {over $2,000 worth of damage}, and I knocked the water spicket off the house, which cause a water leak in my crawl space.

Not even a month after getting my baby back, some tramp ran through a red light and totaled my car.

She claimed that the light was green, but, thankfully, the construction workers on the corner corroborated my story.

Again, I wasn't hurt, but I was definitely sore for the next few weeks.

{Side note: why do my totaled cars always end up with a crooked smile?}

So, then, I had to be a big girl and buy a car at a dealership.

It was scary!!

I'm not good at negotiating, but Mr. GrapeJuice is.

So, we car shopped for a couple weekends until I found my next vehicle - a Hyundai Sonata.

I've been really good to her. 

She's only been in one scrape while we were on vacation in SC when someone backed into her.

They owned up to it and paid for everything.

The bumper and light were fixed within a week!

And now, since I'm a little bit unemployed, she sits in my driveway away from the danger of the road!

I beginning to think that I should have a stay at home job...

sources :: commons.wikimedia.org, www.productioncars.com, www.clublexus.com

Frozen in Anticipation

So, there I was, minding my own business, wandering around the internet, when I stumbled upon a movie being released in November. And, to be honest, I don't even know how I got there. One minute I was trying to find something to occupy my time and the next I was sucked into a world of magic called Disney!

Now, it's absolutely no secret that I love Disney & their princesses. If you read my blog, follow me on twitter, or know my pinterest boards, you know that I love everything Disney Princess related. I mean, my sister mentioned my love of Disney Princesses in her Maid of Honor speech, and my Father/Daughter Dance was to a Disney Princess song.

My love of Disney Princesses pretty much defines me! So, you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon the fact that Disney is releasing another Disney Princess movie this November!

I started hyperventilating because I was so excited. I started watching trailers and looking for more information. I was acting so erratically that my husband asked me what I was doing and if I was okay. When I told him about the new movie, he immediately started googling because I wanted to know if there would be singing involved. Any self-respecting Disney Princess movie has singing in it, which is one of the reasons I didn't take to Brave {but I won't get in to that now}. And, I'm happy to report that there will be singing!!!! The music will be written and composed by Robert Lopez {Book of Mormon, Avenue Q} and Kristen Anderson-Lopez {who has previously worked with Disney}. 

And the cast. Oh, the cast!! I about peed my pants when I found out who was in the cast. {Can you tell I'm excited about this movie?}

The actors lending their voice talents are: Kristen Bell as Anna {the princess - pictured above}, Idina Menzel as Elsa {the snow queen}, Josh Gad {from Book of Mormon} as Olaf {the snowman}, and Jonathan Groff {from Spring Awakening and Glee} as Kristoff {the mountain man}. After seeing the cast, I can't wait to hear the songs!!

Can it be November now???

I think I might love this movie just a little more than Tangled, but we'll just have to see because my love of Tangled borders on obsession!

source :: momalwaysfindsout; theatermania; annathefrozen {tumblr}