When it's raining on Sunday (Wednesday)

When I throw open my door at home for the last 2 days this is what I saw.  Pure Seattle/London style rain, buzzkill.  Roads are flooded, outfits are ruined, hair is frizzed, motivation is lost.  You don't want to leave the office for your daily caffine buzz because it's pouring, you don't want to go to the gym because that three minute walk from the car to the front door seems like the walk of death.  You go home, jump into your PINK sweats and cuddle on the couch with Bravo and your Kindle, it's what you do.

If you're the lucky girl I am you dig into some of your mom's leftover ham/corn chowder.

Oh hey

Who needs boys with this couch and blanket?

xoxo,

E

Chillin it

If you're a Northerner you know how terrible our winter was.  I have been praying to the Summer Gods for months to bring me warm weather so I can open windows and sit on a deck somewhere.  We've had a nice preview the last few weeks, and I even went out and bought a case of Coronas, which signal summer to me.  Today came the rain, the cold and the damp and I know it's only going to last a few days but it immediately makes you go back into your sweatpants and hoodie when you get home and dulls any good mood you have.  I know it sounds dramatic but if we're being honest we all know that rain takes any motivation our of us, and any weather that doesn't allow me to roll the windows down at my way home is not my friend.  

I'm ready for summer, and summer in Maryland means sitting outside with tabletops covered with paper, sharing a bucket of beers and cracking open some pipping hot crabs smothered in Old Bay. MMMMMM I can smell it now.

xoxo,

E

Move

I started to write a blog about what I actually moved on from this weekend, but then I realized this isn't what this blog is about. It's Monday, it's a new day and my life is fantastic right now.  Monday is about a new week, starting over, and that's exactly what I am doing today.

xoxo,

E

I wanna see you be BRAVE

I take my life for granted.  I complain when I have to keep going to the grocery store because I forgot an ingredient for the dinner I'm making in my air conditioned, well constructed home.  I complain when the water in my house isn't hot enough when I shower every night from my hot water tank.  I turn on my TV and get mad if I missed the beginning of my favorite TV show.  I don't sit and reflect on what I have enough.

You get discouraged with all the world tragedies being thrown at you on CNN or whatever news channel/website you check every day when you are bored at work in your office.  Every problem seems so far away and out of your reach.  Sometimes you find things you can do: donate to a soup kitchen, volunteer for a charity, or purchase a product that brings some awareness.  I fancy myself a feminist, and my college degree supports that thought, and I have always had so much respect and admiration for women in other countries who are fighting for their existence and their families.  

What a nice surprise it was to find something I could do that helped women, raised awareness and supported my never ending accessory addiction.  The lovely ladies of The Brave Collection have created a product to reach a part of the world who needs us.  Slavery seems like such a archaic concept to Americans that it's hard to conceive that it still very much a reality for people in certain parts of the world.  Cambodia is a region that has been torn apart by wars and has a thriving human trafficking business.  What the ladies of The Brave Collection do is bring the talents of the artists in Cambodia to us and in return we get to help them in a small way.

The writing means says "Klahan" which means "Brave" in the Cambodian language Khmer.  Each piece is hand woven and the brass piece is hand carved.  There are so many stunning colors in this color and even some necklaces and another style of bracelet as well.  10% of the profits are donated to help fight human trafficking and the cost for my bracelet was only $38.  I chose red because along with the reminder of the message to be brave, red is my power color, it's bold and reminds me to focus. 

I think it's important to have awareness of what is going on around us, appreciate our lives and try to find places where we can help other, even in some small way.  It's nice to have that reminder to be BRAVE and have a new addition to my arm party!

xoxo,

E

I see the light

I have had a very rationale fear of glasses for the better part of 16 years.  I was cursed with my mother's terrible vision, therefore glasses were necessary by the time I was in 5th grade.  I around the same time got braces and a terrible haircut, and I can't believe I'm actually sharing this publicly, but my 6th grade school picture turned out like this.

How did I have friends?! Who let me leave the house like this?  The sweater set was from The Limited so I thought I was pretty cool but for real WHAT THE HELL?!  This was that fantastic middle school age when everyone was awkward and "going out" with everyone.  Big shock here: I had 1 boyfriend in middle school, and that lasted a week. 

The summer after this stunning portrait I got contacts and my mom allowed me to start wearing some minimal makeup and people literally thought I had plastic surgery.  Oh and my hair grew, thank Jesus.  I literally haven't worn glasses since this year consistently.  My mom ended up getting Lasik surgery when I was a junior in high school and had such fantastic results that she wanted me to get it when I was old enough.  

When I was 19-20 I got the exam, doctors deemed it was safe so I got it and loved it.  I had perfect vision for about 4 years then it started to decline again.  The doctor said I had an unexpected growth spurt and could get corrective surgery but it would take 6 weeks to recover, well eff that who has that time.

This week I FINALLY went back to the eye doctor and got contacts and glasses again, it was a strange experience but seeing the world through clear eyes again has been pretty fun.  Getting my hair done with clear eyes was fantastic because I look even blonder, which I LOVE.

before (roots are not ever attractive) 

during (Hey good lookin)

After (sorry my cell and bathroom lighting sucks)

After 2 

My hair love Stef is a good friend of mine and works at the NVS Salon in Bel Air, she styles the Ravens Cheerleaders too.  She's the best and I have yet to ever leave her chair without being completely in love with the way I look, and I've been to most of the major salons in Bel Air.

I really can't believe I'm allowing my ugly duckling picture to see the light of day, but there it is.  We all have one, mine is probably worse than most of yours, but it's there to make you feel better about yourself today!

xoxo,

E

Bunny Trail

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter.  I did, that is until the plague that was Sunday night into Monday caught me.  I spent most of the weekend running to my mom's house and stopping in grocery stores for last minute goodies.  I have always loved holidays with my mom, she makes everything bright and beautiful.

I ran over on Saturday to help her cook and color some eggs, yep I'm almost 28, don't judge me.

My mom pulled out my Great Aunt Mary's recipe box to whip up some deserts and I decided that I would poke around for some new ideas to cook myself.

I begged and pleaded for this one banana pudding so she promised to make it.

Easter is hard for me still, even almost 11 years after my Dad passed away.  There's so many family memories in holidays it's still hard for me to get through without a teary moment.  Luckily my mom understands and makes everything as easy as possible.  My fabulous sister was in Texas visiting her boyfriend's sister, so it was me, my mom, my mom's manfriend and my grandmother (who was too into a homicide show to be bothered to come to the table, DIVAHHHH).  

And I even got to participate in making the final piece of the Easter puzzle I insist on every damn year.  If you don't have one of these you ain't livin right.

xoxo,
E

Pope is my homegirl

The final recap of my past weekend with LA BFF was our stop Sunday in DC.  I live about 2 hours away and don't spend a lot of time there but we had to go since my west coaster had never been, and since this is Scandal finale Thursday, it's only appropriate.

I kept looking for the Olivia Pope entrance, couldn't figure it out, apparently I'm not allowed to walk around the grounds freely, whatever.  It also may have taken us about 45 minutes to actually locate the White House from the Washington Monument, we're Americans so that just felt like we failed life.

We're here for Fitz

The city was INSANELY crowded, which I'm guessing is the result of the beautiful weather and the cherry blossom festival.  We only really went to the Holocaust museum, and even that was more of a quick walk through.  

Lovely way to spend a Sunday

I was obsessed with how much this building looked like one you would find in Paris and not in DC.

Our stomachs were growling so we decided to find someplace to rest our feet and feed our bellies.  After driving around the city forever (seriously what is up with the traffic circles?) we finally landed at Lauriol Plaza, which is an amazing Mexican restaurant in the city.  It was a gorgeous day, so obviously the inviting porch and roof were crowded, but we hiked our way to the top of the restaurant quickly after walking in the door and finally rested out feet.

Our enthusiastic server took our drink orders while we basically laid our heads on the table with exhaustion and waited for our chips and guacamole, and it was worth the wait.

The chips were fresh and not too crispy and the guacamole had the perfect pinch of salt and pepper.  I ordered the Enchiladas de Mariscos because I was dying for something with seafood smothered in cheese, and I was not sorry.

 Hunks of fresh avocado under the melted cheese: BONUS points.  BFF got some carne esada I believe, I was too busy face first into the plate to really notice.  Waiters flew by refilling our water and ice tea until we finally sat back in our chairs, stomachs filled to the brim and admired the view some more.

I really do need to spend some more time in the city, it's too close to not indulge myself in the history and beauty.  Sadly the next day LA BFF left me back to sunny California and the next day the weather took a nose dive back into the 40's, typical.

Scandal finale tonight, you know what that means Gladiators, get your red wine and paper bag to breathe into every time you hyperventilate by the drama.

xoxo,

E

Why BLess?

When your friend is from LA it's a little hard to pretend like your city has beauty to offer, especially with the crazy ass weather we've been having lately in Bmore.  Taking some time away from my couch watching a Kardashian marathon, we decided to trek downtown to take a look at the sights.  Now I'm not saying we are the top city in the world when it comes to sights, but our little city is pretty gorgeous when you take a look at it.

I have pride about this city, no I'm not from here, but I grew up here.  I have made terrible and amazing choices in this city.  I love walking the harbor, stopping for brunch at Alexander's in Fells on a Sunday with the girls, or dancing my ass off in Fed Hill at Stalking Horse.

I loved wandering around on Saturday night, seeing the girls going to prom at the aquarium and the people waiting around for a table in the harbor.  I loved dragging my friend around a little so she could get a little east coast beauty, and she wanted to do this:

She's on a boat, errrr kinda, it was closed.

We ended up heading back to my town and getting crabs for the night, but this little glimpse of beautiful weather this weekend makes me so pumped for summer in Bmore.

xoxo,
E

I'm going back to Cali

This weekend I had one of my great friends in town from California, we did a lot of fun nothing.  I will explain what that means tomorrow.  But this is how I ended my weekend, so you can imagine how awesome it was.

xoxo,

E

Happy Birthday to ya

Happy Birthday to my Twin/little sister I never had/1D sister-wife/Selena to my Taylor

CBK

source

 It's hard to believe how long I've known you. It's not hard to believe the amazingly smart, hilarious, witty girl you are when you know the family you've come from.  I'm so grateful I decided to not hate your big sister in 3rd grade and we became BFFs so I found you!!

Have the best day ever and your Bday present is going to be a little late because it was raining and UK was in the Final Four but it's on it's way.

xoxo,

E

What I love about Sundays

Sunday's are never my favorite day of the week.  It means waking up early Monday, back to work, back to putting on real pants.  One of my favorite things about Sunday is the laying around part, that's at least what I try to make Sunday's about.

One of my favorite things about my house is being there on a Sunday in the spring.  I can open the windows, lay on my couch with a blanket and watch TV or read a book and just relax.  I try not to think about work on Monday, I give myself some time to just veg out completely.  Usually this ends up with me falling asleep to the sound of my one neighbor yelling at her kids then waking up to my other neighbor gunning his motorcycle's engine, but whatever.

Yesterday I found myself watching an old movie on my laptop, with my Starbucks iced tea, in my Spanx leggings (life changing) and just enjoying the peace.  I love taking those days to just breathe and look around and realizing how amazing my life actually is.  

I love old, old movies, I'm talking Elvis movies old.  I grew up watching Gidget and Viva Las Vegas.  Yesterday I found an old DVD The Trouble with Angels with Haley Mills.  It's a screwball comedy of two girls going to boarding school and their dealings trying to outsmart the nuns.  I loved it when I was little, and let me tell you, the fashion in this movie is stunning to this day.

I mean check out Haley with the jacket and hat but with the pop of color with the red gloves, WORK Ms. Bliss!

xoxo,

E