just a quick note

so wanted to let y'all know that there's an ah-mazing giveaway going on over at fashion's maven!! but really, there's no need to enter, because i'm going to win. oh, wait, she's giving away *two* sephora giftcards, so there's one for me, and one for one of y'all!

check out her blog here

good luck lovers, have an ass kicking weekend and i'll see y'all on monday!

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dropping love bombs

hey guys! guess what? it's that time again!

time to drop a love bomb on someone!

i'm writing this from my email on my phone, so i'm just going to let lauren tell y'all about today's mission. thanks for joining in, and if you want to join the drop a love bomb team, there's a link over on the side of my page.

today's mission is a touching one, and i really hope we can bring some love into this girl's life! so, without further ado, here's the message from lauren:


Hey Love Bomb family!

We are dropping today's Love Bomb on a 17 year old girl named Rachel.

She lost her dad and ever since has dealt with eating disorders, and is struggling through life without him. Her mom avoids serious conversations with her and she is afraid to get help. She's in counseling, which is wonderful - but we all know how irreplaceable personal words of encouragement are.

In one of her recent posts, she bullet-pointed a list of things she had to show for nearly being 18:

- I drink too much
- I have social anxiety
- I'm failing school
- I'm ugly
- I'm fat
- I can't even get the courage to meet my own sister
- I lack the energy to even fake happiness
- I have recurring thoughts of self-harm
- I keep relapsing into "disordered eating behaviours"

In her last post, the one we'll be commenting on, she ends with,

"What I need is some inspiration. I need someone I admire to tell me every thing's going to be alright. That they believe in me. That I'm not the fat failure I think I am. - unfortunately I can't see that happening any time before it's too late, if it's not already too late."

Alright guys. You know what to do. We ARE Rachel's inspiration, encouragement, love, and support. It's time to tell her how beautiful and valuable she is. I want to blow her away.

To comment on her blog, go here: http://whatyouneverknewaboutme.blogspot.com


Time to drop a Love Bomb, friends!

Lauren


let's make this happen y'all. i know that we can give rachel the love she needs.

let's drop a love bomb

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it's time!!

the time has come!! wanna know who won the CSNStores giftcard giveaway?

you do!? 

ok, well, first, head on over to ms. salti's and check out my guest post!!

and then, check out this cute picture!

are you ready to know now??? ok, fine, here it is:

haha fooled you! ok, seriously, on to the winner....

are you ready? 

drum roll please.......

and the winner is:

jenna from corgipants

congrats lady!! send me your email!

thanks for entering y'all,  and don't fret if you didn't win, i've got another big surprise coming soon!! 

dropping love bombs

hey folks, it's that time again, time to drop a love bomb on someone!

what's that? you still haven't joined the drop a love bomb team?? why not? ok, ok, now's your chance to do it. i'll wait, you run over and join, and then come back here and i'll tell you about today's mission.
...............
::whistles and taps foot along with imaginary hold music::


alright, welcome back! now, on to today's "bombee." today we're dropping a love bomb on katie. she was suggested by one of our own team members, amy. here's her story:
katie has already lost her brother and brother-in-law, and has just found out that her father likely has pancreatic cancer, and it's serious. he's recently had a procedure, and they should have the test results back by wednesday. and, in amy's words, katie is beyond devastated. 
she's very close to her father, and talks a little bit about who he is to her on her blog:

"I do not know what I would do without my Dad.  What he adds to my life is not replaceable. He is always the voice of reason, the giver of wise advice and the preventer of near disasters.  Really.  For a lot of people, he is their rock."

i'm very close to my dad, and i cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like if he were seriously ill, and to lose my brother would completely break me.

katie has been through so much, and she really needs to know that someone is there for her. like i've said before, words are just that, words, but they can help tremendously, even from complete strangers.

so join us in bringing some love to katie. she really needs it.

you can comment on her blog here:

 http://katiebeecreative.com/?p=2571

let's drop a love bomb on katie!

these are the other bloggers who are teaming up with drop a love bomb. go check them out!

PhilanthropyInk.com, MrsMuffins.com, BelleChantelle.blogspot.com, LoveChelseaLauren.blogspot.com, PaigeBaker.blogspot.com, TheBeesKneesBaby.blogspot.com, PostWithTheMost.blogspot.com, Collection-Of-Things.com,

InspiredMess.com, StarbucksBreak.com, Talk2TheTrees.blogspot.com, UnfoldingYourPathToJoy.wordpress.com, AmySoto.blogspot.com, DoGoodMore.wordpress.com and BuckOwensGuitar.blogspot.com

btw, there's a little box over there --> that has a place for your name and email where you can sign up to join the drop a love bomb team. and, don't forget to sign up for my giveaway!

my first giveaway!!

remember the surprise i was talking about yesterday? well, guess what! today's the day! what's more perfect than a giveaway on a random wednesday?? the wonderful folks over at CSNStores have given me a whopping 25 bucks to give away to one of my lucky readers to spend in any of their stores! (i know it's not much, but beggar's can't be chooser's right?)

anyvajazzle, i lurve CSNStores, and if you haven't checked them out, you totally should, cause they're the shizzle. nizzle. fo rizzle. i'm getting off topic here. they have everything! i'm talking from dining room sets, to pet stuff, to luggage, even to this little beauty. seriously, that's my favorite. their prices are good, and they're selection is HUGE!! (twss?) 

so do you want $25 to spend on whatever you want from any of their 200+ stores!? 

ok, here's what you gotta do:

head on over to CSNStores, have a looksie around, then come back here and leave a comment telling me what you'll be putting your giftcard towards.

want more entries?

tweet about this giveaway (@ me in your tweet), then leave another comment telling me you did, and i'll give you an extra 2 entries. 

want even more entries?

blog about this giveaway, then leave another comment with the link, and i'll give you another 2 entries. 

that's three comments, for a total of 5 entries!

sorry folks, but this giveaway is only open to u.s. and canadian residents.

you've got until sunday night (8/22) at midnight to enter. i'll draw a winner at random on monday morning and announce the winner that afternoon.

good luck lovers!

ain't no follow back girl

let's talk about interwebs etiquette, shall we?

we all know that it's polite to follow the people who follow you, right? whether it's on your blog or your twitter, it's just the right thing to do, right?

but what if you don't necessarily want to follow a certain person? maybe you don't have an interest in their certain type of blog or maybe they don't have any original tweets (meaning all they do is retweet things), so you just don't want to follow them? it's nothing personal, you just don't want to.

why is this a bad thing? no offense to anyone, but if i don't like what someone has to say, i don't read it. for instance, there are some fashion blogs that i love, and there are some that i don't, should i follow ones that i don't like just because they (hypothetically) follow me? should i follow someone on twitter, even if i don't like reading their tweets, just because they follow me?

now, don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, and just because i don't follow you now doesn't mean that i don't want to, i'm just not the greatest at following people back in a timely fashion. i'm a busy girl dammit. anyvajazzle, i follow a lot of people on twitter, and i follow quite a few blogs, but not all of them follow me back. and sometimes, i'll @ the one's that do follow me back, and i don't get a reply. that, to me, is worse that them not following me back! why follow someone if you're not going to interact with them? unless, of course, it's a celeb or magazine, that i can understand. 

this is my solution, enough with the politeness, just follow the one's that you find interesting and original. and, if someone doesn't put you in their category of interesting and original, just shake it off. you aren't their cup of tea, but there are plenty of others who love what you have to say!

pee ess: there's a surprise going on over here tomorrow, so definitely come see what it is!!

under where?

panties, underwear, underoos, knickers. there any many different names for what i want to talk about today.

alright, i know this is an odd topic, but i've got a reason. stick with me folks.

my long time friend s and her husband were visiting us this weekend. i always love when they come to visit because you can bet there will be plenty of alcohol and funny moments. we can talk about anything in the world, and i've got more inside jokes with that girl than i do with anyone else.

anyvajazzle, at one point over the three days they were here, she and i somehow got on the topic of underwear. basically, (tmi?) she couldn't believe that i still wore thongs. since when does a married 24 year old not wear thongs? well, apparently, there's a popular belief that they're only for teenagers, single, younger 20-somethings, or strippers. and i am not ok with this.

don't get me wrong, i rock the boy shorts, but only at home or while sleeping. when i leave the house i have a strict no vpl rule.

but why does the blessed thong suddenly have such a tarnished name?? i remember a time when they were all the rage. when women sang their praise from rooftops. ok, so maybe not rooftops, but you get the idea. so i'm asking you, oh faithful readers, why all the hatred for your one time best friend? what has the thong done to you? am i wrong, are there some women who still love them? and what is your underwear of choice?

Sunday Confessional

What's my Sunday confession? I wish my blog and twitter friends were my real life friends. Cause y'all are kick ass!

Hope y'all had a great weekend!

Dropping Love Bombs

remember when i told y'all about drop a love bomb?

well, some other bloggers and i have teamed up with lauren from drop a love bomb to kind of further spread the word about the project. here's the way it works: every thursday we get a new "assignment," basically, what that means is there's someone who needs love, encouragement, cheering up, etc., and we "drop a love bomb" in the form of a comment on their blog. today's assignment is one that i can definitely relate to.

bria is a 22 year old who has been struggling with severe clinical depression and anxiety. she checked herself into the hospital back in june looking to get help. she was put on medication, and for awhile, things were starting to look up. but, in her words, she eventually relapsed, and is now suicidal.

i have been in her shoes before, and it breaks my heart to see someone who thinks they have nothing left to live for.

i know that words are just words, but even words from a stranger can help tremendously.

in the words of lauren, "written encouragement and love have such incredible power in times like these."

i'm hoping that all of my followers will join us in trying to bring some light back into bria's life. i know that it helped me to hear kind words when i was in her position, and i'm hoping that she'll feel the love that we're sending her way.

let's drop a love bomb on bria!

you can comment on her blog here:
http://devilishdelish.com/2010/08/08/this-life-is-a-struggle-and-i-am-ready-to-give-up/


pee ess - you can also find me guest posting over here today!

Wordless Wednesday

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Lazy Days

Today's the perfect day for napping




and cuddling




and watching movies in bed




Happy Sunday loves! Hope y'alls weekend was wonderful!

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what a waste

y'all, there's a major problem happening here at the butterbean house.

we are wasters.

well, mostly the hubby, but i'm guilty of it too. and i'm not talking about using one too many paper towels, i'm talking about *everything*!! for instance, there have been times when i have taken food out of the freezer to cook for dinner that evening, then the hubby works late, or decides he wants hot wings instead. so the pork chops that were defrosting get thrown away. literally ten bucks, right in the trash.

and food isn't the only thing. a new roll of paper towels gets put out about every other day, we use around 27 wipes when changing baby butterbean's diaper, and i've even been guilty of washing a load of laundry twice because i left it in the washer too long after the first cycle!

we are a contradiction. we buy local organic food, we only use the car when we have to, and we keep the a/c set at 78 during the day. but it's all pretty much cancelled out by our wastefulness. like i said, i'm guilty of it too, but the hubby is definitely the worse. take last night, for example. i asked him to get me a small glass of tea, and he comes back with a 20 oz glass that's so full, it's nearly overflowing! for heaven's sake, i was already in bed, why the hell would i need *that* much sweet tea right before bed!? so he says "drink however much you want, and i'll finish the rest." the glass was half full on his nightstand this morning.

so, i've decided to change this. i'm making a resolution to use less. we're going to start recycling, eating out *much* less, and i'm going to start changing the laundry as soon as it's done. we've got to reduce our footprint because seriously, it's like we're wearing size 16 shoes right now.

what do you guys think? have any tips for us? what's *your* carbon footprint like??

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in it to gym it baby

i will be the first to admit that i'm always late when it comes to new things.

the latest fall fashions? they finally find my closest in late december. the latest hit show? they find their way into my netflix queue right before the second season starts. the latest internet craze? i jump on board about four months late. 

my newest thing? in it to gym it 

seriously y'all, it's the shiznit. i've been lurking reading the posts ever since the site went up, but i just now decided to jump in. why am i just now joining? because i'm tired of my fat ass, and this is just the kick in that fat ass that i needed. 

now, i know that every new mom says the same thing. how they need to lose that baby weight, blah, blah, blah. but seriously y'all, i've got a problem. i.... have actually.... *gulp*.... gained weight since having baby butterbean!

i know,i know, i know!

how does this happen!? i'm more on the go now than i was before having her! how has my ass grown so damned much??

the only thing that i can think of is that since i'm always busy, i eat food that can be consumed quickly (read: unhealthy food). poptarts and pudding cups have become my best friends. 

so, after discovering this horrible fact, i decided i needed to do something. i gave up drinking sodas and bought the shred and set my mind to getting rid of that thing behind me that seemed to be doubling itself by the day. i made it through four days. seriously, jillian michaels is trying to kill people with that friggin dvd! and, in the shame of my defeat, i plopped my fat ass down on my couch with a bowl of ice cream and watched every single thing in my dvr.

and then decided that i had to quit. i had to get healthy. i don't want to lose weight to be skinny, because lawd knows that will never happen. i want to lose weight so i can live better. i want to teach baby butterbean about thinking, eating and living healthy, and i can't teach her that unless i'm doing it as well. set an example by being the example, right? i decided to set goals and rewards for myself. if i do the shred for 30 days straight, i'll reward myself. i bought lots of fresh fruits and veggies instead of the good tasting stuff unhealthy crap. i've even tossed around the idea of going vegan for a month like shine did just a few months ago.

i've been doing the shred for a week now and haven't skipped a day yet. is it kicking my ass? abso-friggin-lutely! am i giving up yet? not at all. basically, in it to gym it is going to help me keep it all together. i have someone to share my progress with. it's going to keep me on track simply because i'll have others reading my achievements, or (hopefully not!) my failures.

i am completely, totally, 100% in it to gym it.

hijacked!!

so, everyone knows from this post that i'm all about getting involved and helping and influencing others.

what? you didn't know that? well, i do.

i've always felt like i wasn't doing enough with my life (i still do!) so i try to get involved in as many ways as possible (this is my excuse for having so many animals!) and i want to set a good example for baby butterbean and teach her to make a difference in the world.

anyway, i love the idea behind it starts with us, and now, they've decided to go even bigger. they've hijacked something.

i know, badass, right!?

you may or may not have heard about fast company's the influence project, (it doesn't really matter now that it's been taken over). it's basically a "let's see who's the best at doing good" sort of thing. a popularity contest, if you will.

well, apparently, that doesn't sit well with some folks (me included!). what's the point in making it a contest?? why can't we all work together to change the world and help others?? instead of doing good to win some sort of title, why can't we do good just for the sake of doing it? no rewards, no congratulations, no big to-dos, just the gratification of knowing that you did something. so, it starts with us took it over.

as soon as i heard about this "hijacking," i knew i wanted in! and, i figured since you guys are so amazing, that y'all might want in too! here's the deal: this is the link to where you can get all of the information. it's all going down next week, but you definitely wanna get in now! click the link, sign up (it's not a big process, just enter your name and email) and then you'll get directions in your inbox to what's happening next.

this is big y'all and i'm *really* excited to be a part of this. i know that if we all work together, we can make a big difference!

25 before 25

i will officially become old on november 8th. i will be the dreaded 25.

i'm not sure why i hate this so much, but i'm dreading it as much as a fat kid dreads dodgeball day in p.e.

i know that 25 isn't old. i know that i've got plenty of life left to live, but something in my brain says "that's it, it's all downhill from here!"

so, in order to get my mind off of it, i've decided to make a list of 25 things i want to do before i turn 25. i have a 101 in 1001 list that's in the works, but we'll just call this a trial run, ok? anyway, here's my list:

25 before 25
1. see at least 3 musicals
2. go to brunch at least once a month
june - check
july - check
3. get a massage
4. get a brazillian (ouch)
5. spend a weekend in dallas
6. ride sassy (my untrained horse!) (*editor's note -  when i first wrote this post, for some reason i wrote "tide dassy" i have no idea what the hell that even means! in my excuse, it was late at night and i was blogging from my phone!)
7. buy fresh flowers 1 time a week for at least a month
8. attend a zumba class
9. learn to put on false eyelashes
10. wear false eyelashes for a day
11. wear a dress and high heels out to a club (can y'all believe I've never done this!?)
12. get properly fitted for a bra
13. buy a great bra
14. eat dinner in a resturant alone
15. have professional pics taken of baby butterbean
16. have a professional family picture taken
17. read one book a month
june - twilight (I never said they had to be classics!)
july - eclipse and breaking dawn
18. quit drinking sodas for at least one whole month - finished! may 17th - june 17th and still haven't started drinking them again!
19. spend a whole day in downtown austin
20. watch the bats on congress bridge
21. go to the coast for the weekend
22. visit luckenbach and have a beer
23. get a facial
24. take a cooking class
25. go rock wall climbing

i think i've gotten off to a pretty good start. so what about y'all? anything you want to do before your next birthday?

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