A Soulard Mardi Gras

About a month ago, my high school friend Amanda and I trekked over 9 hours and 5 states to spend Mardi Gras weekend in St. Louis, MO, with my co-worker, Emily. The road trip itself contained countless bad drivers, a few cops, some hilarious singing/dancing, and many rest stops. We finally bumped our way into the city and into our hotel, which was in the center of downtown, and we caught our first glimpse of the Arch!

Our obsession with the Arch did not take long to manifest itself for Amanda and me. We both ended up with countless photos of the monument, but this is by far one of my faves from our first breakfast Saturday morning.

I didn't really want to break my camera out at the parade for fear of spilling something on it (which happened to each one of us, I believe) but I did snap a quick one of the lovely ladies I spent my weekend with: Masha, Amanda and Emily! One of my favorite memories from this weekend was all four girls at the hotel's martini bar sharing laughs and secrets.

Along the streets of Soulard lined all shapes and sizes of people and animals, including this very awesome and extremely calm one who allowed his owners to dress him in the spirit of Mardi Gras. He quickly became surrounded by parade-goers taking pics of him and my friend Amanda was able to snap this with her phone.

Oh, yes, believe it! We found a place to eat at named Guido's! St. Louis is famous for its little neighborhoods representing many different cultures. Guido's is located on "The Hill" which is the Italian section of the city. The lasagna was delicious.

After two nights in the city of St. Louis, the ladies decided we should actually do some sight-seeing. I know, I know, what grown-ups we've become! We strolled through Union Station, found some very interesting statues of men and, well, um, fish; and saved the best for last: the gateway to the Midwest: St. Louis's famous arch! Below are some pics I snapped with my new fancy camera.

All in all, this trip was a blast, and I added 2 new states to my repertoire: Illinois and Missouri. Amanda has now caught the travel bug that I've been infected by for my entire life (pretty much) so I'm positive we will be planning a new adventure before long!

Sleepy Girl

This may seem like a terribly childish problem for a 23-year-old business woman to have; however, that does not change the fact that it is still a problem.

Sleeping. Alone.

Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking right now: I slept most of my life alone, so why should it bother me now? Well, here's why. Because until I moved to Dublin, GA, in June, I rarely slept in a house by myself. Ahhhhhhh, you say. Makes more sense now. I'm not so bothered by sleeping in a bed by myself--in fact, I rather enjoy spreading out from end to end, or, like my boyfriend makes fun of me for, sleeping width-ways instead of longways. (I do, of course, love waking up to said boyfriend's arm around me, but we all need a little alone time).

The problem is sleeping alone in my house. I would say living alone is the problem, except I have no problem during the day or the evening when I'm watching TV, doing admin work, or cooking dinner. Nope, it all comes from SLEEPING alone. I have an overactive imagination (and I've seen too many horror movies thanks to my college roommates) so every bump, thump, and splat turns into someone breaking into the house, ghosts, or just plain creepy animals waiting for me outside my window.

Yes, I know I'm being childish. But seriously, what's a girl got to do to get a little shut-eye around here?!?!

The Beginning of the End (?)

Wow, almost a year has passed since my last blog post. Needless to say, 2011 was a very busy year. Simplified, it went something like this:

March: I took my last official, school-imposed (not that I'm complaining) Spring Break to Myrtle Beach, NC, with my amazing boyfriend and our best couple friends. There really wasn't anywhere there our age (Myrtle Beach's high point was inarguably in the '90's); however, the retired Canadians flocking our hotel provided plenty of entertainment.

May: I finished up my last semester as a UGA student (forever a bulldawg) and graduated college with an undergraduate degree in Marketing and a minor in Anthropology. While it may seem these two subjects have very little in common, it turns out that it worked miracles for me. More on that later. Several of my closest family members and friends over the years joined me for a weekend of food and partying in the historic college town, and fun was had by ALL.

June: I moved to a little south Georgia town called Dublin by means of my first assignment as a sales representative for a company who, for now, shall remain nameless. Just put it this way: it is a huge company and I love the people I work with. It may not be somewhere I stay forever, but it will at the very least be an amazing catapult into my career as a future i-don't-know-what.

September: I celebrated my 23rd birthday and received many amazing gifts, one of which being my absolute favorite and highly coveted designer sunglasses from Tiffany & Co.

November: I took my first set of vacation days from work to go visit my mom and dad in West Virginia with Cody, which was spend indulging in yummy food, relaxation and lots (and lots) of wine.

December (only 2 days ago!): A week long trip to Orlando for a business meeting through me off of my routine this month, but I seem to be getting things back together now. Cody and I spend Christmas half in Atlanta with his family and half in Tennessee with mine. Though tiring and extremely hectic, we had a wonderful time and it was absolutely perfect to see everyone. I then spent the week after Christmas (more vacation!) in San Antonio, TX, visiting my grandmother who had a mastectomy two weeks earlier due to some very rapidly progressing breast cancer. It was a week of frustrations, arguments, and laughs; oh, and once again, LOTS of wine.

New Years: Hop to this weekend and I will tell you it was one of the best I've ever had. Cody and I spent the days leading up to the big celebration lounging around our house, catching up on movies we had recorded and making homemade pizzas. We followed that little luxury up with heading back to my alma mater and spending the holiday toasting champagne at midnight in the downtown area of Athens, where, I'll be honest, I've probably spent too much time in.

So, like I said, busy year for 2011! I hope that the year upcoming brings myself and yours lots of love, laughs, and a few screw-y moments for fun's sake, and without a doubt, more blog posts!!

Cheers <3

Yeah, Right...

So, obviously my New Years resolutions are already not off to a great start. For one, I have not been blogging twice a week like I promised....so, I know, put me in time out. Also, I don't how much anyone pays attention to the weather outside of their own areas, but Athens got killed by a blizzard last week leaving everyone without cars or power, and drinking alcohol to keep warm. Maybe not the healthiest system but it definitely worked. I think one of the reasons I find it so hard to keep up with my blogging promises is that I sometimes have a very difficult time finding something to right about. This is the reason for one of my top complaints right now: I just don't really do anything that interesting. I go to school and work and babysit and then I go home and read and study for the next day. And you wonder why I'm ready to be done with college. Sometimes I cannot even figure out how people enjoy themselves as much they seem to with all this work....oh yeah, that's because business school kicks your ass so you're ready for the real world when it comes after you. Thanks, Terry College [I think].

Overall though, I think I am going to enjoy my last semester here at UGA: the classes seem interesting, the professors aren't boring, and I'm finally feeling like I know what I'm doing. I have been interviewing with a company that I'm very excited about but I don't want to jinx anything so I will hold off on the details until I know something concrete.

As for the "I don't do anything interesting" complaint, I'm working on that too. Cody and I went to Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, GA this weekend to see some pretty crazy animals and we got to pet some! It was really nice to get out of the house and do something together so this weekend we will be going to a car show in Atlanta! I promise details and pictures of my favorite cars next week! [Remember, it's only Wednesday!] Also, I heard back from some of the volunteering opportunities I emailed people about and I'm really excited to start on some of those!

So anyways, I believe that was a longer than normal post for pretty much nothing....but it's going to get better!

A Year of Resolutions

First off, let me start by telling you that I am having a marvelous Christmas break doing absolutely no school or real work. Okay, truth is, I am a little bit bored, but I am getting to spend all of my time with my man, which is workingout well for him since, when I'm bored, I clean. So his room is spotless and all his clothes are clean now. Haha. My room is a different story, but anyways....

We went out for New Years with some close friends of ours and met up with even more. I have developed this weird rash on my shoulders and chest so if I look a little weird, that would be why.

{Me and my friend Holly, all the girls (and Mike!), my man Cody, and me and Sabra}

So, ringing in the new year also means ringing in some new resolutions. I'm not going to lie to you, I've never been all that great at keeping these (or making them for that matter) soooooo this will definitely be a challenge.

1. Get a real, big girl, after college job.

2. Drink 8 glasses of water every day.

3. Exercise 3 times a week (at least). ***This is kind of cheating, because I'm signed up for a PE class that I have three times a week, but I'm hoping for this to be in addition to that. If not though, I'm covered :))

4. Stick to my budget. If I can do this, there is no reason for me to ever be short on money, not to mention, I'll still be able to have some fun, and save some too!

5. Make the dean's list again, for the last time. (Last time because it's my last semester in college!)

6. Do some pleasure reading, at least a little bit every week.

7. New blog posts at least twice a week (this one I'm a little nervous about, but I think I can handle it!)

8. Don't drop my new phone! I don't know if this is really a valid resolution, but I think I will just categorize it under trying to limit my clumsiness.

Okay, I think that's it! That is quite a few resolutions, but I can handle it. I think.

One of those "Lasts"

Saturday day night marked my last home football game as a UGA student. I wasn't even planning on going until I met up with Kim and she had bought a ticket. Sooooo, we sat in the freezing cold for the entire game (which may have actually been a first for me), which was very exciting; and we did end up winning so it was a great night! I took lots of pictures which probably won't mean anything to anyone except myself but I knew I should. I met up with a couple of friends for a beer until my roommate got off work and then headed to The Grill for some yummy burgers and fries with feta (my favorite!). So, great (last) football weekend for me as a student, but I can't wait to come back next year and go as an alumni!

Birthday Wish #6

So, I am seriously doubting that I am actually going to get to 22 wishes before my birthday. Oh, well, I guess that means I don't want a lot? Haha, I think it's more like I'm just indecisive. And I want things that are beyond my grasp. Maybe I'll start putting some of those down just to see what happens.

Anyways, this wish is actually completely attainable but I doubt I will receive it for my birthday. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is something I will have to indulge in for myself sometime soon.

In the last couple weeks I have realized that I don't like reading for class sitting in my desk chair because I can't get comfortable and reading on my bed is a complete disaster because I just end up falling asleep (my bed is really, really comfortable).

So my solution is this: a reading chair! (I know what you're thinking, Duh, Kayla). But yes, I definitely have room for one in my room and I think this is an awesome idea. I just can't decide which one I want....(of course).

This one is a red sleeper chair that folds out to a little single mattress, perfect for when I have people visiting!

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?itemdescription=true&itemCount=80&startValue=1&selectedProductColor=&sortby=&id=18883926&parentid=A_FURN_FURNITURE_SOFAS&sortProperties=+subCategoryPosition,+product.marketingPriority&navCount=35&navAction=poppushpushpush&color=&pushId=A_FURN_FURNITURE_SOFAS&popId=A_FURN_FURNITURE&prepushId=A_DECORATE&selectedProductSize=

And this one I really like the design on it!

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?itemdescription=true&itemCount=80&startValue=1&selectedProductColor=&sortby=&id=16229205&parentid=A_FURN_FURNITURE_SOFAS&sortProperties=+subCategoryPosition,+product.marketingPriority&navCount=112&navAction=poppushpushpush&color=&pushId=A_FURN_FURNITURE_SOFAS&popId=A_FURN_FURNITURE&prepushId=A_DECORATE&selectedProductSize=

And this one from Ikea is looks pretty comfy too!

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S79875786