Recap + Update = Recupdate?

My weekend:
+ Celebrated 3rd anniversary with Boyfriend!
+ FOUND DUNKAROOS!!!
- Ate more Dunkaroos than necessary or desired.
- Gained 3 lbs. in 3 days thanks to said snack packs, white BBQ sauce chicken, movie theater popcorn and a Cookout milkshake.
+ Laid out and moved from Wednesday Adams coloring to Nicole Kidman. Woot!
- Didn't spend much/any time with my sewing machine.
+ Had telephone date with Southern Sunshine.
- Miss her tons.
+ Went to Cheesecake Factory with my family last night.
- Got rear ended on the way home.

Fabric Update:
The clear winner of the fabric vote was number 1! I ordered it last night, and it should arrive on my doorstep by Wednesday! Seeing everyone's responses inspired me to host a You-Choose-Your-Giveaway. So, you've chosen your fabric, now it's time to choose what you'd like to see made...

A. A dress (if this wins the popular vote, we'll break it down further by type)
B. A skirt (see parentheses above)
C. A top (see parentheses above)
D. Matching pillows
E. Other (tell me what you'd like)

Vote by Wednesday, and we'll move on to the next step.

If your fabric choice didn't win but you'd still like me to make you something out of your favorite, send me an email or leave a comment, and we'll work out a deal. Lots of Monday love to you all!

The Post in Which I Ask for Your Opinion

As I'm just beginning my sewing venture, I need lots of practice. I've gotten amazing feedback on the dress I wore to my parents surprise party, and I just began work on my newest creation out of this fabric.
But after that? I have no idea. I'm going to open the polls to you, dear readers, and perhaps there will be a garment in it for you too! I adore all of the swatches below. Which is your must have?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

A Perfect Ten

The sweet Elizabeth over at Olive My Life (who just so happens to be another long lost real life friend) has tagged me to list 10 facts about myself. As I'm none too clever with maintaining mystery or mystique, you all know pretty much everything about my already, but just in case you don't, here we go...

1. I'm constantly looking for that "thing." The thing that sparks my passion and fills one more little void in my life. Of course, the respective "things" change constantly, and some are purposely temporary, but regardless, when I'm on to something new, I become OBSESSED. So far I've gone through...
- Puppy Searching ~ looking at entirely too many shelter Web sites to find the perfect pooch for me. Enter Sadie into my life (perfection) and the sweet Bosley into my parents. I still look sometimes, but after a few weeks of insisting that I needed another, I'm contentment with just my little Puppernickel.
- Condo Hunting ~ after escaping the clutches of psycho crazy roommate from hell (ironically enough, also a former classmate of BLC's and Olive My Life's), I became absolutely addicted to realty sites, Craigslist, Apartment Hunter and more. Not just casual searches either, my friend, I mean, hours upon hours upon hours of being glued to the computer day in and day out. Result? My beautifully adorable home.
- Decorating ~ I'm not so good with the concept "work in progress." When I decide that something should be done, it really needs to be done yesterday. Such was the case when it came to decorating my house. When I chose a paint color, I needed the house painted immediately. I took time off work, worked each night, weekends, etc. until I was satisfied. Speaking of which, I still need to finish the bathroom...
- Writing Children's Books ~ this one yielded the whimsical "Bonnie the Bee" chronicling the life of a sweet bee who was allergic to flowers. The smash hit follow up? "Bonnie and Wally," which followed Bonnie's lesson not to judge on outward appearence (see: Wally the Wasp) or you may just be losing out on a friend. This may still be my ideal career, but getting published is an utterly exhausting feat.
- Party Planning ~ although the actual planning process of my parents' surprise party was surprisingly simple and easy, I lived and breathed every aspect and detail of the celebration for months. I dreamed about the party, thought about the party, talked about the party. Phew. Now that it's finally finished (successfully, I might add), I don't know what to dream about anymore!
- Dress Making ~ my newest venture, and maybe one of my favorites, making dresses has really filled a creative niche in me that I didn't really know I needed filled. Little has always been and amazing and talented seamstress, but I never considered trying my own hand at it. I stumbled upon the precious and lovely creations by Ellen & Ollie and realized that many of her fabrics were being used to make my mom's SuZBee belts, and the construction was simple enough (yet utterly adorable) that I could feasibly start making my own. Ideally, I want to start selling these frocks soon. I know how difficult it can be to find great dresses on a budget, and that's my goal. I can hardly wait!
2. WOW! That was the longest #1 ever, so I'll try to make the other ones more concise - I'm always about 3 months behind on the most current music. I never listen to the radio and rarely peruse iTunes on my own, so I rely on my Baby Sis to fill me in. That always leads to song addictions that are SO over ("My Life Would Suck Without You" is currently on repeat in my car... point made).
3. A bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies at least twice a week. It's how I make friends.
4. When I think about future children, I have a much, much, much easier time coming up with names for girls than names for boys.
5. I'm the worst dancer you've ever seen. Guaranteed.
6. But I'm a helluva Dance Dance Revolution player.
7. But I'm an even better foosball player. Seriously. I'll own you.
8. I love celebrity magazines and dislike People because it has too much "real news."
9. I get ready each and every morning while watching SportsCenter.
10. My favorite flavor of ice cream is any.

True Story Tuesday - Small World

I know it's Wednesday, but this lovely little story occurred yesterday, Tuesday, and I just had to share. When I entered the blogging world a few short months ago I stumbled upon the adorable The Company She Keeps. Needless to say, I became a huge fan immediately. When the precious BLC posted pictures of herself, she seemed extremely familiar and reminded me of a girl I had attended private school with who everyone adored (as I know you can all imagine). I was at the school from 6th - 9th grade, and the girl I was thinking of was two or three grades ahead of me. I realized that there was no way BLC was the girl I was thinking she might be and went along my merry way. Yesterday after posting pictures of our vacation, BLC left me a message asking if we had gone to school together. Her memory was jogged after seeing pictures of my brother, who was only one grade below her. Sure enough, once we exchanged emails we discovered that we did, in fact, know each other, but it had been years since we'd seen one another, and despite attending a small school together, we'd never actually met - rather, seen each other around campus almost every day. Even in cyber-blog world, eight degrees of separation are eerily close together! I am so glad to know you, BLC! I hope we can reconnect in "real life" next time you're in town!

Detour Apologies

With all of the surprise party planning consuming my last few days, I never finished a photo recap of our Keys trip. Am I insanely narcissistic to post lots o' pictures of myself? Maybe, but without further ado...

AROUND THE RESORT

SNORKELING ON THE REEF

KEY WEST AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S HOUSE

MISCELLANEOUS FAMILY SHOTS

Shock 'N Awe

So I've been back from the Keys since Wednesday, but I've yet to return to work. I took Thursday and Friday off to prepare for a ginormous surprise! On Saturday, Baby Sis and I threw an epic joint 50th surprise birthday party for Daddy and Little. The fete was about a year in the making, and how they didn't find about it is truly a miracle. In fact, several months ago I posted the invitation on this humble little blog and asked for printing suggestions (thank you, Stephanie, for telling me about VistaPrint), but removed the post a short hour later when I realized that Little may sneak a peek (we're still unsure whether she reads this or not!).

We held the party Madame P's Lake Norman home and hosted 30 of my parents' closest friends. Daddy's actual birthday was June 16, while Little's isn't until August 2. They thought that Madame P had invited them for a cookout with her family to celebrate my promotion. Little had even prepared a lovely hostess gift and several divine dishes for the function. I was truly afraid that she was going to pass out when she realized the home was full of her loved ones, including her oldest friend who drove in from Knoxville just for the event.

Unfortunately, in all the hubbub, we forgot to document all of the decorative details and such, but the highlights included:
- Martha Stewart-esque tissue paper pom-poms
- Beverage labels featuring pictures of my parents through the years
- Apothecary jars with floating pink and orange gerber daisies
- A gorgeous (and utterly delicious) cake decorated in Tennessee and LSU colors
- And a new dress that I sewed (my first!) in honor of the big day

Even though I've had a whole week off of work, I'm utterly exhausted and wishing for a few more days! Isn't that always the way, though? Here is a small handful of the pictures we did manage to capture...