ok thursday.

it's okay:

that i won't be blogging too much the next couple of days. because i'll be in CHARLESTON with mi familia... which really is okay.
i have missed this place so much.

that i am slightly obsessed with the new show on abc family- beverly hills nannies. i know it just premiered last night, but i also know that based on last night's episode, it's going to be a new favorite on wednesdays. it kind of makes me want to become a nanny, but then again it kind of doesn't. i wouldn't mind racking up $40/hour, pretending to live in a mansion, and driving brand new audis every day. yeah, i could so do that.

but i could so not do the fake moms who care more about their looks than they do their own children.

that i sat through a ridiculous training all day yesterday and this is what we had to drive home in. scary, i know, right? but we made it!

that this is me every. single. day in the summer!!  

that my tires are balder than mr. clean's head and it's been raining cats and dogs every afternoon here lately. don't worry- i'm getting new tires tomorrow!

go link up you little hoodlums!

much love,

j.

ethel.

so my friend mary bought our current home a few months back. props to her for being all grown up, i know. little did she know that when she bought said house, she was also buying an awesome new neighbor named ethel.
let's reminisce for a second here though. remember larry? my upstairs neighbor i wrote a lovely little letter to that can be found here. well larry doesn't even measure up to ethel in the slightest bit. this woman is bat shit crazy.

not long after she bought the house, mary got a call from the cops that her dog was loose in the neighborhood and she needed to come home and take care of things. mary doesn't own a dog. ethel had found a stray dog running down the road... put it in her fenced in yard, locked the gate, and even put a trash can in front of it... then called the cops and animal control on her.

then about a month ago we were sitting on the front porch. there were maybe 6 of us sitting around talking. no music, no loud noises, nothing. and ethel calls the cops on us. obviously they couldn't do anything, which i think only made ethel more mad, but whatev. she stood on her porch in her jammers and watched the whole thing go down then proceeded to yell at us from across the road. if that isn't disturbing the peace lady, then i don't know what is!

then sunday after the move and our cookout, we decided to sit around the fire pit in the back yard and play some games.
with that said... there were 5 of us. no alcohol. no music. just 5 people playing a game around a fit pit. that's it.
see... baby fire. nothing to be alarmed of...

we were minding our own business and burning our boxes from the move in the fire... when this happened...

yes, that would be a fire truck. what you don't see are the two police cars, multiple firemen, and about half a dozen first responders. apparently ethel called 911 because we were burning down the neighborhood.
the firemen actually laughed when they got there.
our fire was contained, small, and in a custom built fire pit in the ground. no harm done. of course all the neighbors came outside to see why every county official was in our yard. good way to meet everyone, i guess.

she's going to love us in two weeks when we throw our "welcome to the neighborhood 80's block party". sorry we're not sorry ethel.

in conclusion,
i don't believe i will ever have normal neighbors...
and ethel needs to get laid.
j.

the move.

i have moved so many times in the last few years i should probably win an award. i think i've moved 4 times in the last 2 years alone if that tells you anything. all for different reasons, of course.
the most recent move that occurred this last weekend was to move in with my friend mary who just recently bought a house and needed a roommate. let me just say that it could not have worked out better! ever since i got rid of my baby, ava grace, which you can read about my severe anxiety over her here and then what i ended up doing with her here... i have been soooo lonely and it has been reallyyyyy hard living alone. she was my guard dog and puppy child. i miss her dearly.

anywho. before i get all sad on you guys... let's get to it.
the move went great. my parents, brother, and a few friends came over to my old apartment first thing saturday morning and moved my butt right on out of there.
here are a couple lessons i learned through this process though...
1. thumb tacks are NOT an acceptable form of a nail... in any situation. they will not come out of the walls when you are moving, your stuff may very well fall off the wall and break, and they will shatter under the pressure of a hammer.
2. it is never a smart idea to super glue your curtain rods together. yes, i know that it is annoying when your curtain rod falls apart in the middle because you are just trying to open the curtains... but it makes it extremely hard and somewhat hilarious to move a 6ft tall curtain rod that is super glued together.
3. when your mother is trying to help by putting all of your things in every place but the right one... send her to the kitchen to make sandwiches. that is the only way you will both stay happy.

sadly i haven't gotten pictures of the house yet. i've been a little too preoccupied, but i can assure you that it will happen! saturday after we got done moving we obviously needed some fun... so we hopped in the car with some of our friends and headed over to downtown asheville. it was a fun and much needed night out.

sunday was spent decorating and cleaning... and getting our tv working.

thanks eric!!!

mary's friend candace brought over her house warming present- a grill!! so naturally we had to have a cookout that night.

stay tuned tomorrow for what happened after our cookout. you get to meet our neighbor. she's a doll. so much sarcasm right there. so much.

xoxo,
j.

linking letters.

 dear God:

thank you for all my blessings. i know i don't say that nearly enough, but really, thank you. you are the best thing in my life.

dear new house:

i'm moving into you this weekend. let's make this a quick and easy process. mmmmk?

dear guy friends: 

thank you in advance for all the help moving. i promised free beer and hugs for helping, and i assure you i will not disappoint... 

but please don't break anything.

dear charleston:

you're my favorite. and guess what- i get to see you next weekend!!! ahhhhh!!!

dear almond berry salad from wendys:

you are my new-found love.

dear friends:

you enjoy your weekend, ya hear?

xoxo,

j.

Celebrating 'Merica!

my 4th celebrations were fun. very fun.
 
tuesday night we ended up going out for a bit. we went to our usual bars and drank our usual beers. but for some reason the usual bars were shutting down early, like midnight early. I understand it was a tuesday... but it was also the day before the 4th, so people were out celebrating not having work the next day and the places were packed!!

sarah, nat, and yours truly.

anyways, this leads me to where we ended up that night... the ol' water'n hole. yes there is no "I" in that name and yes, it's as bad as it sounds. I'm talkin this place is taaa-rashhh-eeeyyy!!! but hey, it was open, as it always is, so we went. I'm pretty sure there were two guys that rode their horses to the bar and tied them up to the posts outside. I mean for no other reason than to make the place live up to its name obviously. sadly enough I didn't get any pictures of the place because I was a little too scared of the middle aged lesbians staring at us the whole time. oh, and one more thing about this place... the first time I ever walked by there, which was about 2 years ago... there was a legit "no coloreds allowed" sign posted on the door. needless to say I never went in and the awful sign was removed. welcome to the south.

the fourth was spent at a friend's pool for a majority of the day.

and yes, my waterproof camera definitely made an appearance. that's probably the best purchase i have ever made.

my holiday was wrapped up with fireworks at lake junaluska, instagram pictures, and lots of good friends.

oh and almost leaving heath behind at our fireworks spot. he had to jump in the back of the 4runner to avoid being left. sorry heath.

how was your 4th spent?
and ps- tomorrow's FRIDAY!!!

j.

oh how pinteresting: 4th edish.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULYYYYY!!!

definitely a favorite holiday in my book.

oh wait... i think i say that about every holiday.

anywho, this happy girl is OFF of work and has major plans to
soak up the sun and enjoy the day!
here are a few of my fave pinterest finds for the fourth...

via

via



via



via



via

via

hope everyone has a safe and fun independence day!

xoxo,

j.

untitled weekend recap.

i always feel obligated to catch you all up on my weekend come monday. maybe because i actually have a life friday-sunday or maybe because i think ya'll truly are interested in my weekend happenings. either way... here ya go.

friday:

one hell of a day at work followed by dinner with my entire family.
i got to see all 4 nieces, sister, mom, dad, brother, andddd my aunt & uncle that were in town. we had a good time. my youngest niece sophia has grown so much in the last 2 weeks it's insane. isn't she the cutest?

saturday:

was spent poolside. i made it back to my apartment and crashed on the couch after watching wanderlust, which was hilarious! i also moved a few things from my parent's house because home girl is moving this coming weekend into a house with my friend mary. super exciting!!

sunday:

was the ultimate fun day!! we took over my friend heather's backyard and had wayyy too much fun soaking up the sun, playing badminton (yes, badminton), slip and sliding, and grilling out.

intense game of badminton. these boys are obsessed.

baby nash, heather's boy, LOVED the slip and slide.

danny found his own way to beat the heat.

heather's adorable yorkie, henry, joined in on the fun.

yes, we had a fire going in july. we are fully aware of how crazy we are, but it smelt soooo good!