WRINKLES!? What the....

Am I really old enough for wrinkles?? Seriously? As if saggy boobs and sore hips aren't enough for a 26 year old to take on in one year... today I spotted a wrinkle on my forehead. What is my world coming to!?

(Photo from dark iphone)

I only use Olay moisturizer, so I need your help! If you use any wrinkle treatment or prevention, what do you use? I need to fix this stat!!! I also want to help prevent any more so that I can look as fantastic as Florence Henderson when I am 76!

Why I got a boob job...

So, if you follow me on twitter, I made a little confession the other day while on strong pain killers. I wasn't really planning to put it on my blog... but percocet and I don't mix well and I already came out of the closet. So here it goes...

I got a breast augmentation. (Technically it was a lift, but I will get around to that)

Before you go and judge, hear me out.

I have never been well endowed, and I grew up wanting boobs. Every woman in my family has a nice set of ladies. My mom always told me "Just be patient, they will come." Well, high school came and went, and they never made their appearance. In retaliation, I went as far as possible to stuffing my bra, without being "The Girl That Stuffs Her Bra." Water bra, gel bra, push up bra, miracle bra, a "boob job bra" and I once even wore two bras at once. Yes, I wanted boobs.

Since my boobs never really showed up on their own, I started to mention getting augmented a few years ago. My mom's response to this was that my boobs would come when I had kids, because "Her's did". Well boy did they!!! I jumped from a very small B to an enormous DD after Keating was born.

It was glorious.

I breast fed Keating, and it was definitely the right decision for us. But, it took a huge toll on my body. 4.5 months into breast feeding, my milk supply started to dwindle, which created a VERY unhappy baby. If you read my blog then, I'm sure you remember those dreadful days. Looking back, I think it had to do with going back on the mini birth control pill. I wouldn't do that again, but hind sight is 20/20.

Anyways, when my milk went away, so did the girls. I was left with deflated balloons. I had the rack of a 90 year old and it was very sad. Call me shallow, but this new change affected my self esteem. It changed how comfortable I felt in my clothes. I didn't want to wear a bathing suit, I wouldn't wear a V neck shirt, and I DID NOT want Brad to see me with my shirt off. Something had to be done.
I decided to schedule an appointment with a plastic surgeon, just to weigh out the options. I had never had surgery, and it seemed so drastic. I kept talking myself out of it. I went for my consult and discussed all of my concerns with the Dr. "Would I have to wait until after we were done having kids?" "Would I be able to breast feed again?" "How long would it be until I could pick up and hold Keating post surgery?" He addressed all of my concerns and completely put me at ease.

Turns out that my balloons didn't only need to be re-inflated, they also needed to be lifted. Everyone had acted like I was crazy for considering the procedure, but I wasn't imagining things or a little self conscious. I had affirmation that motherhood had truly taken its toll on my body.

Brad and I discussed everything after the consultation and I decided that I was going to do it. I scheduled my surgery and went back to the Dr for a Pre-op appointment to discuss details, and to choose the size I wanted. I by no means wanted to look like a fake big boobed Playmate, I wanted to look natural.


"Trying on" Implant sizes is a little deceiving. They have you put them into a sports bra, to give you an idea of how they will look after. Every size I tried on, I felt like Dolly Parton. They all seemed HUGE, but they explained to me that the implant wouldn't actually look that large because it would be held down by the muscle. That was a relief. I decided on a size range. My surgeon knew what I wanted the end result to be, so the actual size wasn't determined until surgery. That way he could compare two close sizes and see which looked better on me.

Last Tuesday we woke up at 4:30 am to get to the hospital for surgery. I was surprisingly not nervous at all, but I think Brad was. He kept asking "aren't you nervous?" Thankfully I felt very confident in my decision and in my Dr. I knew I had made the right decision. Around 7am I kissed Brad goodbye and they wheeled me into the O.R. I had only seen operating rooms on Grey's Anatomy, so I was surprised at how bright and unoppressive it was. I remember laying on the table and they made sure I was comfortable and warm..................... then next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery.

To be continued...

Thursday

This Thursday is quite out of the ordinary for me! I am starting off the day with a haircut! Thanks to all of your encouraging comments, I am taking the plunge and getting the Jessica Alba/ January Jones cut. Sometimes I get to the point when my hair feels a little claustrophobic and now is that time.... anyone else? No? I guess I'm the only weird one! I scored a 25% off appointment with my stylist so I don't have to cheat on her!

Tomorrow night my DVR is going to literally EXPLODE. I am recording so many shows that I will have to catch Grey's Anatomy online on Friday. Vampire Diaries, Project Runway, The Office, Private Practice and Grey's are all new episodes tomorrow. Why cant any of this goodness come on Wednesdays when nothing else is on!?

PS. If you don't watch Vampire Diaries, then what are you waiting for!? Here is your reason to get started ASAP! Dare I say that the vampires are hotter than Twilight? Okay, I admit it, the vampires are hotter than Edward Cullen in my opinion.

Also I am going to dinner with two of my best friends. We are going out for eggplant parmesan so that my friends little baby will quickly make his appearance! It also happens to be a full moon, hopefully that will help. If not we will force her to do thousands of jumping jacks and skip around the parking lot! Haha... only kidding, I'm not brave enough to make a very pregnant lady do anything...

Tomorrow also starts the kick off of the NORTH GEORGIA STATE FAIR! The fair is my FAVORITE event of the year! Corn dogs, funnel cakes, rootbeer floats, white trash people watching, flashing lights. What's not to love!? I'm super excited... just in case you cant tell!!
Well that is my little Thursday! What shows are you looking forward to tomorrow?

Foot in Mouth

The other day, I really embarrassed myself... really.

I randomly had the urge to go antiquing, something I haven't done in years. I loaded up Keating into his stroller and we are walking through this giant warehouse of antiques. I came across this horse toy and stood there looking at it... thinking "well that doesn't look like a safe toy!" When a man in a wheel chair came up behind me. Here is the conversation that followed. Man: "I used to have a horse toy just like that!"
Me: "Oh really? It doesnt look very safe!"
Man: "Oh it was safe, I loved that thing"

I laughed, smiled and kept walking

The man keeps following me, trying to make conversation... I'm busy looking at antiques

Man: "I used to have a toy corvette car like that too."
Me: "Oh I bet that was neat"
Man: "Yeah it was..."

Me: I start looking at a gorgeous dining room buffet and stop paying attention to the man while he is talking. I thought he was still talking about his Corvette toy.

I quickly respond with... "Oh that sounds like a lot of fun" ( I have no idea why I chose this phrase, but I thought he was talking about this toy still)

Man: "NO, breaking my neck in my corvette WASNT FUN!"
Me: "OH MY GOSH, I'M SO SORRY! I DIDNT HEAR YOU SAY THAT PART!" "I thought you were still talking about your toy car"
Man: "No, I said I got a real Corvette and that's how I broke my neck and ended up in this wheel chair"


FOOT IN MOUTH!

I ABOUT DIED!

I wanted to crawl under one of those dusty old tables and never come out.

Moral of the story, dont respond to someone when you have NO IDEA what they were talking about. It could be really bad!

Thoughts

1. Every year about this time, I start itching for a haircut. Every. year. It is always a shoulder grazing hairstyle that looks great, but I don't keep it up. I immediately start growing it back out. I am loving these mid length cuts sported by Jessica Alba and January Jones. I am also tired of Keating pulling clumps of my hair out. He has a fascination for my hair! Does anyone else do a seasonal cut?
2. If I decide to cut it, I am cheating on my hairstylist. She has gone up on her price 3 times since I started going to her. I think stylists should have a price lock for loyal customers.

3. We went over to our future home the other day to take note of what all we want to change. Umm... it would be easier to make a list of things we did NOT want to change. I have before pics, but they are scary. I'm not sure yall are ready for it! Okay... just a peek
All of the furniture is the renter's and random pieces that were left by my MIL. I'd rather show before pics with the house empty. There is just so much stuff crammed into this old house its distracting. We have a LOT of work ahead of us. Stay tuned!

4. Austin Scarlett scares me.

5. I'm obsessed with these new pendant lights from Pottery Barn. What's not to be obsessed with at Pottery Barn??
6. Madmen... do y'all watch it? I am thinking that I need to see what all of the fuss is all about. 7. Does anyone have anything exciting going on this weekend? I am going to the Taste of Smyrna with my very pregnant friend. We are going to try to walk her baby out! Eww that sounds weird! and eat great local food!

A Hand Full

I haven't been posting much lately because I have a big handful!



Can you believe that this little angel is high maintenance??BELIEVE IT!!!! (Blurry pic because he was moving too much!) This is his mad face, he gets this a. lot.

I always said I would never be one of those parents that feeds their kid to keep them quiet or puts them in front of the tv to entertain them... Well, I have become one of those parents!

Speaking of handfuls, A few graham crackers can work magic! They give me almost 5 minutes to get something done!

Keating can sit up all by himself now! It has been great because he is starting to entertain himself a little... Notice I emphasize little.

Dont worry he isnt lonely or neglected, he always has company! The dogs make great baby sitters!

Sometimes while he plays with the dogs, I can complete an entire task, like baking WW muffins and decorating for fall!

How cute is my little monster in his game day outfit!? We were sad that the Bulldogs lost to South Carolina!

He loves swinging, he would do it all day if he could!

This post is probably pretty random but besides trying to keep this kid entertained, I haven't been doing much! Brad has been working A TON, that is why he isn't in any of these photos.


And my blogging time is up... Keating is up from his nap!

I might be a hippie...

Y'all, I really may be becoming a crunchy granola chick... First the cloth diapers, then making my own baby food, now this....
This is an amber teething necklace. I shall explain.

The past two weeks have been hell, HELL I tell you! Keating has been up EVERY night EVERY hour. We have hit the teething milestone and it freaking sucks! The poor little guy just lays in his bed and moans. I feel so bad for him, but selfishly enough, I feel bad for myself too! He is constantly a huge grouch and we are all lacking on sleep around here. Even poor Lola is worn out!

We have been through an entire bottle of Tylenol this week... A WHOLE BOTTLE!

I have been talking about teething with a friend of mine, and she suggested a teething necklace. When I first heard about it, I thought it was something he was supposed to chew on, I also thought the sound of a baby wearing a necklace sounded dangerous and ridiculous! The necklace is made of baltic amber, which supposedly has natural pain relieving properties. If you google it, there is tons of info about it. It sounds insane, but I am willing to try anything at this point. The necklaces are also made baby safe.

Brad is going to think I have REALLY lost my mind, I'm also pretty sure he will have something to say about his son wearing a necklace... but if this allows us better days and good sleep then I will proudly be a gem loving, cloth diapering, baby food making hippie! Birkenstocks here I come! (no not really)

Bargain Shopping!

I have always been a bargain shopper... it is in my DNA. I hate paying full price for anything. When we moved out of our house, and into my parents basement, we decided that all of our income was going into savings for our next home. BUT, Without many bills to pay, it is hard to not splurge on pretty new fall clothes.

I made a commitment to not buy anything full price. I've been tempted daily by my shopping related emails and new clothes arriving in stores. It's so hard seeing models wearing slouchy sweaters and knee high boots and not want to buy them! I am a total sucker for good advertising and they get me every time... so I must stay strong!

I started following a blog called My Year Without Labels. The writer has completely put away all of her designer items and has been replacing them with new Walmart purchases. She is only on day 19, but I am already impressed by the outfits she has put together from Walmart! This approach is a little drastic for me, because I feel like the clothes I already own would be going to waste, especially many of my favorite items. But I was inspired by her to check out Walmart.com to see what they had to offer.

I have occasionally picked up the basics at Walmart. A tank top here, a little sundress there... but I have never actually gone there intending to buy a complete outfit. Here is what I found in my online perusing.


I was kind of impressed! These items were all under $25 dollars!


This little sheath dress would be PERFECT for UGA tailgating!
Cute cable knit hoodie


I love slouchy sweater dresses with leggings
For the pregnant ladies, I wish I saw this when I was pregnant! Its so hard to find a great maternity dress.



Another cute red and black outfit! Georgia has great school colors, no??Fabulous alligator rain boots! Who doesn't want to look stylish in the rain... IF IT EVER RAINS HERE AGAIN!
Reviews said this pea coat is lightweight, so better for fall. How cute!

Walmart.com had some impressive things. Things that I would never imagine came from Wolly World! I may have to go to a store and see if I can find any of these things there.

And while I'm on topic of bargain shopping. Target.com has FABULOUS things right now! Their website has gotten fancy and wont let me copy photos anymore. Boo! But be sure to check it out!

Many of you know of my love for the Mossimo Ultrasoft sweater. I have an extensive collection and look forward to their arrival every year. This year, they have made them longer and with a cowl neck! Right now they are only available on the website, but here are a few google images I found of them! I can hardly wait!


Have you found any great bargain shopping spots, or good deals!? If so PLEASE share! I love a good bargain!

If you knew me...

You would know....

• I was born into a really loud Cajun family, seriously... VERY LOUD! My son has also inherited this trait!
  

• My favorite movies growing up were The Goonies, Troop Beverly Hills, Lucas, and Grease. My sister and I watched these movies OVER AND OVER AND OVER. If you haven't ever seen or heard of Troop Beverly Hills or Lucas, then I highly recommend them! Ironically these are all really inappropriate movies for a little kid... what were you thinking mom!?
• I am oddly obsessed with composition notebooks. I think I have mentioned this before... but seriously, oddly obsessed. Something about the black and white spotted covers just calls my name! I always feel the need to buy them! I think I may start jotting down our family happenings so that we have record, and I have reason to use them!
• I think a perfect night, is one spent in the backyard with good friends, enjoying a glass of wine and making smores in the fire.
• My idea of camping or roughing it is a Holiday Inn. Not that I haven't ever camped or won't camp, but sleeping in a tent on the cold hard ground is just not fun to me.
• You know how they say a girl turns into her mom, well I am on my way and I think that's fabulous! Except, that I inherited her knack for being clumsy. Walking into things, stubbing my toe, and always hitting my funny bone... all payback for years of making fun of her injuries, I suppose!
• I have a horrible memory.
  
• I am great at spelling. Brad calls me numerous times a day to ask how to spell something, he has yet to stump me! Ironically, I never won a spelling bee.
• High school fun fact. I was a member of the ping pong club {yes my school had a ping pong club}...... there may have been a boy I had a crush on that influenced this random extra curricular activity.... just maybe. My other (real) activities included cheerleading and student council.
  
• I have a fine arts degree in photography and printmaking. Now if I could just figure out what to do with it!
• I CONSTANTLY have ideas of things I want to craft, decorate, sew, paint, sketch, knit etc. My mind goes a million miles a minute and I have tons of half done craft projects. It drives Brad crazy! In our next house I will hopefully have my own room for my creative whims!

I have plenty more, but I cant divulge all of my secrets!

Keating is 6 months!

I think I say the same thing every month, but seriously, where have the last 6 months gone!?

Keating is almost 7 months old, but I am way late on posting this

Look at those chunky thighs!



At 6 months he is sitting up by himself... with the occasional topple. He is trying REALLY hard to crawl, but he just cant get the timing right with his arms and legs! He says mamamama, I know he is just jibber jabbering, but I like to think he is saying Mama!
Keating has tried pretty much every solid food there is to try. I have been making baby food for him and his favorites are butternut squash, yellow squash, applesauce, peaches, sweet potatoes and broccoli. He has started eating graham crackers and biter biscuits. Although, he doesnt eat them... just sucks on them and makes a slimy mess. The dogs wait around his high chair because they also love graham crackers and biter biscuits!
At his 6 month appointment he weighed 17 lbs and was 26 inches long. Solid food is packing the chub on him! I love it!

He loves doing anything, ANYTHING outside. He would sit out there all day if I let him. He loves to swing and go for rides on my parents golf cart. Now that he can sit, he likes to sit with the dogs in the yard and watch them fetch.


He also got to watch his first Georgia football game this past weekend! How cute is this outfit!?

His hair is starting to get a little crazy with some wave to it, I'm not sure what to do with it!

GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can y'all tell I am a little excited!?I'm even more excited to bring out my cute red and black tailgating clothes!!! Because this was me last year...

And now I have my very own baby bulldog!

My sister and her Fiance get very dressed up! Check out that skirt and those crazy pants!
GOOOOO DAWGS!!!! SICK' EM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the Love of Gray!

Over the past few months, as I see a decorating photo that I like, I have saved it in a file on my computer. I wanted to have everything in one place, so that when we are ready to move and renovate, I was ready to go!
Today I went through these photos and I think I seriously have a problem....
Hi my name is Candace, and I am a gray-aholic

Are we noticing a pattern here?

I'm not picky on the shade, just as long as it is gray.

Still not sure if I will be able to get my husband on the gray boat.

I have him convinced on open shelving though, SCORE!

It really is a good thing we arent moving until February, maybe I will be over this phase by then!

(I have no idea where these photos came from, If I stole them from you I am very sorry. Please let me know!)