True GRITS

Tomorrow is a VERY special day. A day that pops around only once a year and causes great joy as I grow older. Well, tomorrow isn't the true special day, but we are celebrating. My dear, sweet Gran will be celebrating the day of her birth. For some, a grandmother's birthday wouldn't be pause for celebration, but for me it was one of the first dates I added to my twenty-ten agenda. Why, you are asking? Well, my gran is a the true GRITS. She is one of my inspirations in life.

Have you ever watched an episode of Leave it to Beaver? Cue June Cleaver, add a dash of Paula Deen, a stitch of Martha Stewart, a flair of Scarlett O'Hara and you have my gran's genetic make-up. She is a wiz at anything domestic. Whip up a cake with only the contents of the pantry-not a problem. See a picture of curtains in a magazine-replication no sweat. She knits, crochets, tats, sews, bakes, paints, gardens and tackles anything new that comes her way. Her house could be a spread in Southern Living...down to the mud room. She can search the chicken house antique malls with me for hours, then help me take my find and whip it into true "antique shape." If I ever have a question of taste or tact, I call my gran first. She is the epitome of the perfect Southern Baptist, sang the Baptist hymnal while sitting on the pew matching my sisters in my Sunday shoes and pin-curls, Godly woman. But she always has that Southern flair...it's bred into her very core.

So, all this to say, it's okay to be jealous. She is hard to beat. Ask me what I want to be when I grow up and hands down I'll answer...my gran.

Down to the quick...

Tonight I was taken back about 17 years to a time when a curly-haired little girl sat with her dad and cheered on the Tide. If you have been living under a rock, let me catch you up to speed. The good ol' University of Alabama won the National Championship for the first time in 17 years. The last time this happened I was four and running around the room in a U of A cheerleader costume leftover from Halloween while waiving a shaker in everyone's face. So imagine my excitement when I could leap back to childhood (minus the outfit and obnoxious shaker action).

The game was a nail-biter...especially for someone pre-disposed to the habit. After the third time our quarterback was sacked, my right index fingernail was pretty much gone. All my good intentions of starting my internship with "normal" nails flew out the window tonight. Sadly, I didn't notice the nervous habit until the game was over and any slight nail growth had been chewed to pieces. I blame it on the Tide. So, I can only hope that my nails bionically grow in the next week. This new outlook for twenty-ten is turning out to be much more challenging than I imagined!

Hope everyone enjoyed watching the Elephant Walk on some longhorns tonight...I know I did :)
~J

Money, money, money...it's a rich mans world

Question: How many life lessons have I learned from Mamma Mia? Answer: Too many to count.

Well, one of my twenty-ten goals was to save the moo-lah. From past experience I know I have a major weakness for shopping and jewelry. Yet, not just any jewelry...expensive stuff. I pride myself on bargain shopping. Somehow I always manage to stumble upon amazing deals. A friend of mine swears that the fashion gods continually smile upon me. But jewelry? Never.

A few months ago when reality hit that I had to become a "grown-up" and no matter how many times I sang the song from PeterPan, I Won't Grow Up circumstances did not change, I decided to fill my jewelry box with pieces that I could wear now or twenty years from now. Thus began the Yurman addiction, which then spread to John Hardy...and so the pattern continues.

A few days ago Drew and I were walking through the mall on a Sunday afternoon when one of those kiosks in the center caught my attention. The man was selling the best replicas of the classic Yurman cable that I had ever seen. They were remarkable, as was the price tag ($24 versus the $500+ of real Yurman). I considered whipping out the debit card for a brief moment, but then hesitated. Why might you ask? I'm what you might like to call a jewelry snob. I like real...fake just doesn't hold the same sense of satisfaction for me. I know, I know...no one really needs a $500 bracelet. Thus the lesson learned from Mamma Mia. Everything in life involves money. There is no escaping it. Whether it's an expensive bracelet or a donation to United Way, the world revolves around it. It's sickening, but alas, very true. So, in the spirit of improving my twenty-ten, I'm reminding myself that money will not rule my world. I can only wear one bracelet at a time (well I usually wear two or three, but you get the drift), so instead of shopping online for another piece of jewelry to add the the ever growing collection, I am taking a haitus from jewelry lust to enjoy what I already have. This is a tall charge for me, but I can only imagine how much the "grown-up" savings account can grown in the next 358 days without any jewelry shopping...

Mucho love!
~J

Hello twenty-ten!

This year brings many major changes to my life. Within 2010 I will graduate from college (4 years, 8 semesters, 203457030 tests...COMPLETE!!), begin the job search in a weak economy (bring on uncomfortable suits & panty-hose), AND complete my first semester of graduate school (advanced accounting...enough said) all while attempting to retain a shred of sanity. As this earmark year in my life begins, I feel the need to document the steps along the way. Anyone that slightly knows me is well aware that I have a compulsive need to plan, plan, and plan some more. So, my plan for the year:

1. Spend as much time as possible with the girls...you know who you are :)
2. Live healthier...no more Moe's three times a week and hitting the gym more than three times a week, you can see how the inverse has led to the general decline of overall health and increase in pants size :/
3. Learn to sew more than a pillow case or a button AND finish the Christmas ornament project
4. Actually use the cookbooks I purchased in 2009 :)
5. Roadtrip somewhere new at least once
6. Rely less on caffeine...I'm convinced it can be done
7. Stop biting my nails...disgusting habit and extremely unprofessional
8. Stay on top of the birthday calendar...no more day before panic
9. Significantly increase the savings account
10. Spend more time in God's word, less time on the trivial things, and all my time being more thankful for my blessings

So, there you have it-the condensed "bucket list" of 2010. I've made it public, so hold me to it! No worries, updates will follow. Welcome twenty-ten, I look forward to the next 359 days!!

~J