A Charleston Wedding

What better way to decompress after a particularly difficult week than heading to Charleston for a beautiful wedding! There's something so charming and calming about Charleston. I headed down with my roomie for one of our friend's wedding. We even worked in a blissful hour on the beach just laying in the sun.

The wedding was beautiful- outside and beside the water. There was a huge wrap around porch. And of course, the bride was stunning.

The scene from the porch:

Roommate pose:

First Dance:

Fun with friends:


With the Bride:

Congrats to the newlyweds!

Field Trip to the White House

I recently had the opportunity to attend not one, but two White House events. Both events were held at the Executive Office Building, which is on the White House grounds. I've been on a tour of the Executive Office Building and the West Wing of the White House, thanks to a family friend that was working there. But had never been to the Executive Office Building for anything official.

The bigger of the two events feature the First Lady. She gave her first big speech on health care reform, which got a lot of press. It was a fabulous speech on women in health reform.

Moments like this remind me of why I moved to DC in the first place. This sort of opportunity doesn't come up all that often. On our walk there, we saw Chuck Todd- NBC's White House Correspondent! (DC star sightings aren't like they may be in NYC or LA.)

Anyway, in typical DC fashion, we saw some interesting sights on the walk there and back. Protesters....

Weight Watchers Wednesday

Happy Fall! I'm trying to trick myself into being happy about fall. As I've said before, it's not that I don't like fall, it's that I don't like know what comes after. But as I read somewhere, at least we're one day closer to next spring/summer!

Is it really already time for the Weight Watcher Wednesday segment? Cause that came around way too fast. I've had lots of lean cuisines for lunch, and am getting on a soup/salad kick for dinners. It's just so easy to pop open a can or throw some veggies in a bowl.

I will admit to a small diet detour over the weekend. Plus I've had some personal distractions...which is most likely the real reason I lost a few pounds this week. But am happy to say I have done well in the sweets and snacking department. It was an okay start to getting on track. I know I can and will do better.

Ready, Set, TIVO

Time to bring Tivo out of it's summer slumber! The Emmy's are this weekend and I'm probably one of the few people more excited about the start of the Fall TV season than I am about the start of the Fall Football season.

I've searched high and low and scanned through the new fall TV schedule. There are a lot of good shows out there. These are just my picks! I haven't gotten in to the vampire trend yet, so I know nothing about those. I'm also totally over most reality type shows. Even Dancing With The Stars doesn't interest me due to the totally lame line-up of "stars."

So here's my game plan.

Sundays
Mad Men on AMC at 10:00 pm
Mad Men already started their new season a few weeks ago. It's a total throwback of a show and has some major politically incorrect moments (by today's standards.) But it's a glimpse of the way things were and how far we've come. This may be my favorite show right now!

Brothers and Sisters on ABC at 10:00 pm
This family drama has become a favorite of mine over the past few years. The Walker's dysfunction makes you feel like your own family is perfectly "normal."


Mondays
Gossip Girl on CW at 9:00 pm
Gossip Girl has a later time this year (9 pm) and premiered on Monday night. In my very humble opinion, Season 3 may be in trouble! Something just wasn't right seeing Dan all materialistic, being chauffeured and waving money around, and Chuck all romantic. What is that about? Maybe once they all start school or Hillary Duff joins the cast, things will get better! Let's hope so!


Tuesdays
The Good Wife on CBS at 10:00 pm
Apparently CBS has a few other shows besides CSI. This could be my inner political junkie coming out, but it looks interesting. You know us South Carolinians can't seem to get enough of a good political scandal!


Wednesdays
Mercy on NBC at 8:00 pm
It's the new ER, I mean medical drama about nurses. I'll give it a try. Nurses are the new hot thing. I enjoyed Nurse Jackie on Showtime this summer.

Modern Family on ABC at 9:00 pm
Entertainment Weekly says it's the fall's funniest new show. And haven't we all missed the beauty of the 30 minute sitcom?

Cougars on ABC at 9:30
This stars Courtney Cox....not totally sold on this one, but will give it a try.

Eastwick on ABC at 10:00pm
I don't know why I think I can watch a show about Witches and not the ones about Vampires. But it intrigues me.

Thursdays
The Office on NBC at 9pm
The Office lost a little of it's luster for me last year. Maybe I just needed a break now that I could rest easy that Jim and Pam are finally together.

Project Runway on Lifetime at 10:00 pm
Runway's season is well on it's way to crowning another design King/Queen. I'm having fun watching Carol Hannah (from my hometown) compete each week. There's still a long way to go, but so far, so good. The jump from Bravo to Lifetime hasn't changed the show much at all.

Grey's Anatomy on ABC at 9:00 pm
Yes, I'm still watching, despite the terrible plot line a few years ago of Meredith drowning and then coming back to life. And I even held my nose and watched through Izzy's hallucinations of Denny last year. Grey's has at least one big change with the departure of George. Mer and Der are together, and everyone else is coupled up.

Private Practice on ABC at 10:00 PM
I wasn't the most devoted Private Practice watcher last year, but the season finale was quite a cliff hanger. This could possibly be way better and more interesting than played-out Grey's.


Whew, thank goodness for TiVo, who makes my TV watching much easier! I think these shows, will give me plenty to watch this Fall! Have I missed anything?

Girls, Fantasy, and Football

No, I'm not talking about anything dirty. It's not that kind of blog. And I'm not talking about the Independent Women's Football League (yes, there is such a thing.)

I AM talking about the NPR story about my all female fantasy league. We were interviewed during our fantasy football draft a few weeks ago. I'm not quoted in the interview, but I'm one of the girls referred to as "gathered in Arlington."

You may remember that I was the champ last year. But this could very well be my last time to gloat about that. Because despite winning my first week, yet again, my QB is hurt in the first game of the season. Last year the same thing happened to my QB, Tom Brady. This year, it's Tony Romo. Hopefully he'll have a quick recovery and have a solid season.

So starts another year of the ups and downs of coaching an imaginary team!

Couch Confessions

A few minutes ago, one of my roomates, we'll call her Skinny Minnie, (cause she's lost lots of weight over the last six months and looks amazing) walked in from work and asked if I wanted to go to the gym. I very kindly turned her down. There really is no good excuse for this couch potato behavior. I know I need to go to torture myself, I mean be healthier.

I challenged my family earlier in the summer to a Biggest Loser Competition. I failed. Then I joined Weight Watchers online and was committed for a few weeks, lost a 9 lbs, went on vacation, and have probably gained everything back plus some in the last month.

I sometimes believe in signs...usually only when the signs conveniently reinforce something I've already been thinking about. Like tonight, in my couch potato bliss, I'm scrolling through the TV guide, to see how I would waste my time tonight, and saw that Biggest Loser's new season starts tonight. I haven't been a regular of the show, but am always amazed at the before and afters.

I also came across two blogs, Blue Eyed Bride and Mandi's Shandi's, that host this Weight Watchers Wednesday blog thing (yet another sign, b/c tomorrow is Wednesday and I need something to blog about.) I don't know these girls, but they're southern and have cute blogs so they MUST be good peeps.



So thanks, universe, for kicking me in the butt, making me feel guilty, so I HAVE to do something about this nonsense. I mean, y'all, my fat jeans are even tight! I already logged on to my Weight Watcher online account and am recommitting to myself.


Now that it's out here on the internets, I have you to hold me accountable. You have my permission to slap my hand if you see me going for a cookie, or give me one of those disappointed looks if I slip up!

New Layout

Not to state the obvious, but I'm playing around with my blog layout. I know it's a little "busy" as my grandmother would say. I'm working on it!

Let me know if you have any ideas or know of any free layouts, etc.

Bare with me while I figure it all out!

Grandparent's Day

I know what you may be thinking...this has to be one of those holiday's created by the greeting card industry. It's not one that I've typically "celebrated" in the past. Not because I don't love and appreciate my grandparents, but I never needed to set aside a day to recognize them.

I'm so blessed to know all 4 of my grandparents. They were a HUGE part of my life growing up. It somehow became our tradition to spend the night with them on Friday nights. Perhaps this was a clever babysitting tactic of my parents. But we LOVED it.

I'm not going to lie, like most grandparents, ours spoiled us just a little. For instance, my grandad used to take us to a convenience store, gave us a brown paper bag, and let us fill. it. up. with candy. I think my grandmother wanted in on this action, because she eventually stocked up on our favorite candy and created our very own candy drawer at their house. She'd get the big boxes from Sam's and since my sister and I had totally different tastes, we never even fought over it.

Before you think we were shallow, spoiled brats it wasn't all about the candy. We had family meals and laughed and played. I always loved hearing their stories about the good 'ole days.

So here's to my grandparents today, and everyday. For the lifelong lessons and memories they created. I love them! And I love their wedding snapshots...so simple and happy.

500 Days

I have been a slacker about seeing Julie and Julia. I know you're sick of me talking about it. I'm really hopeful that this will be the week!

I did see 500 Days of the Summer a few weeks ago. (My friend that I was going with had already seen Julie and Julia.) But 500 Days of Summer was fabulous! It is very relatable and for a movie about a relationship, surprisingly not mushy.

I give it a 5 on the Sweet Tea Scale= Sweet, cold, perfect, and homemade. Perhaps even served in a Mason Jar!

Dear Summer, please don't leave!

Today felt like the first day of school. August in DC is relatively quiet and relaxed. When Congress is in recess, the rest of Washington follows suit. Less meetings and legislative work means dressing more casual and shorter work days. But man oh man, when they (Congress) get back in town, it's a shock to the system. Traffic is miserable, the workdays are jam packed, and so on and so on. Hence why today is getting back to the grind.

I had a restful long weekend, so I cleaned, organized, and geared up for the new "school year." (And yes, like any good southern girl, I put the white and seersucker away. I'm making a pouty face right now.) I packed my healthy lunch, gym clothes, laid out my outfit and even made my bed this morning. We'll see how long all of this lasts, but it certainly does make for a less stressful morning and a healthier start to the week.

I've always been amazed at the immediate change in weather in Washington after Labor Day weekend. It's like the DC weather fairy simply flips a switch from Summer to Fall. In the south, we're lucky to have a chill in the air when we put on our Halloween costumes.

So here we are, a rainy and coolish day to symbolize the end of my beloved summer and the beginning of the busy fall. It makes me sleepy and sad to think about it getting cold and being dark before I leave for work. It also makes me sad that I don't have another long weekend until Thanksgiving! Don't mind me, I'm just going through my annual grieving process for the loss of summer...and fresh tomatoes....and baseball....and vacation....and....