The Blog Post With Terrible Transitions...

See what I did there with that title? 

I played off of a popular book series, 'The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo.'

That's the kind of hip blogger that I am. Bringing in pop culture references a few years past its prime. 

And here begins my blog post featuring not so great transitions...

TRANSITION!

When I was like ten years old, I painted my nails a light blue thanks to a nail polish set from Limited II (wasn't this the best store ever? I shopped there pretty much exclusively during the ages of 9-12). I showed my dad my fabulous nails and he told me that he didn't like it and it looked like I was dead. 

Hence when at the age of ten, I learned that your fingernails turn blue after your die.

Well, this stuck with me for 20 years and I purchased some light blue nail polish again a few weeks ago and finally talked myself into it today.

I hate it and I can't help but think that I look like I am dead. I tried to take a few photos, but they are pretty bad. Not my nicest painting job, so no photos for you.

By the way, I feel like it is some sort of universal law that as soon as you paint your fingernails, you simultaneously have to go pee, get hungry for a sandwich and your puppy also has to go pee RIGHT NOW! I painted my nails and all of sudden, like some weird trifecta all three happened and I botched up my nails. It's cool though because I am taking this color off in like a day or two.

TRANSITION!

We have this semi random container of millet that we are trying to use up so tonight I made us a plate of millet topped with a 'cheezy' mushroom gravy. 

 Vegan friendly, pretty delicious but not so photogenic.

I swear there is millet in there underneath the mushroom gravy. 

We just like us some gravy okay?

TRANSITION!

I have been wearing my hair curly lately (as I talk about here & here) thanks to Miss Jessie's curl cream. 

Miss Jessie, call me already! I am so ready to be your spokesmodel!

I have decided that me and Shakira are going to bring back big, sexy, curly hair. 

TRANSITION! 

Tonight after our millet feast, we went on a walk along the beach and took a few photos...

TRANSITION!

~ With Love, Ashlee ~

Blog Vomit - Round II

I haven't been hanging around here much lately so I would like to extend my apologies to all my readers (hi mom!) about that. I get a little bit introverted at times and just want to hang out with me, my husband and my puppy and not share a thing about my life. Other times I want to go, 'Look at me, look at me! I did something cool and/or I made some yummy vegan mocha fudge sauce!'

I am trying to not be quite so introverted and I think that my husband wants me to stop talking just to him about the delicious vegan mocha fudge sauce that I made.

There really isn't any cohesiveness in today's post, just a little hodge podge of what has been happening lately around here...

a) Two weeks ago we took our 'little brother' to Stone Mountain, Georgia to climb the giant stone mountain there. As someone who grew up in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, the idea of a 'stone mountain' in the middle of nowhere didn't make any sense. When it was described to me the first few times, I was like, 'So it's a mountain made out of entirely stone? No dirt? No grass? It's just hanging out without a single other hill around it?' 

And yeah, it is just hanging out and people climb it.

 

Just hanging out with our thumbs out on top of a stone mountain. If you look real close right over John's right shoulder, you will see downtown Atlanta.

b) I woke up at 6:30 am today (yeah me!). I have been crazy productive thanks to all the caffiene I started to ingest at such any early hour. The big downside of getting up so early though is that by 4pm, I have already eaten all of my alloted calories for the day. 

Damn you vegan mocha fudge sauce!!!

c) Have I mentioned yet that I made a vegan mocha fudge sauce today? It is crazy delicious. 

 Photo and recipe courtesy of the 'Love Food Eat' blog

I tried it in both a cup of hot coffee with a little almond milk and then in a big glass of almond milk with just a little bit of coffee. I think that the best way to enjoy it though is going to be by having some on top of pureed frozen bananas like a vegan ice cream sundae. Oh and with strawberries!! 

It is taking a lot of willpower to wait until tomorrow to enjoy that.

d) I was originally going to do an outfit post today but after further review of the photos, I decided that I hated my outfit. But I did love my hair, so here are a few photos of what my hair looked like yesterday. 

I have been wearing my hair curly now almost exclusively because of my new favorite product in the world. 

Miss Jessie's Pillow Soft Curl Cream

Miss Jessie's, I will happily be a spokeswoman for you because this curl cream is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. 

But please, stop making this smell like dryer sheets.

e) Yesterday my 'little brother' and I went and saw 'The Croods' together. It was really stinking adorable. I cried so hard during that movie that I had to hide the tears streaming down my face. As visually beautiful as it was, definitely not worth the extra $75 to see it in 3-D.

f) We are having people over this weekend for a BBQ/law school final studying session. Wives and girlfriends are coming over and this is the first time that I have ever had another female in my home since college that isn't a family member (that sounds so weird to write but it is true). I have suddenly grown very self conscious of where I live and am trying to look around trying to figure out what needs to be cleaned/fixed. There are so many things that we need to do, but since it is a rental, our hands are tied/super lazy on some things. All I know for certain though is that our copy of 'Everyone Poops' will be proudly displayed on top of the toilet. 

That's about all I got for now. See ya tomorrow!

~With Love, Ashlee~

High Five For Friday!

Hey You! It's Friday! Hooray! I'm linking up with Lauren to share the five things I am pretty excited about this Friday.

one. 

This weekend the husband and I are doing part 1 of his birthday celebration! It's not for another week, but I have a special day planned and it had to be this Sunday due to scheduling constraints, so that's when we will pretend he is turning the big 3-0. 

I am wayyyy more overwhelmed by him turning 3-0 than he is. I keep staring at him and going, 'I can't believe you are turning 30. You're going to be like....30' And then he goes, 'Meh.' 

I can't even imagine the third-life-crisis I am going to have in three years.

His big birthday surprise has been just that. A surprise. As soon as I planned out his surprise, I asked him if he wanted to know. This was my way of asking, 'Hey Honey, you know that I can't keep a big surprise secret for very long, so can you please pretend like you want to know so I can tell you and not feel guilty about it not being a surprise?' He told me he wanted it be a surprise, more out of wanting to watch me squirm for a few weeks, rather than actually caring about having a surprise. 

I am t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e at keeping surprises to myself, and I figured out what we were going to do over a month ago, so I have been sitting on this damn surprise for way too long and I can not wait until we can all openly talk about how awesome his birthday gift was. 

I think on Sunday it is going to feel like I finally got to pee after holding it for far far too long.

two. 

This past Birchbox I got a sample of Miss Jessies Pillow Soft Curl Cream. Besides it smelling like a dryer sheet (literally...it says that was what they were going for with the scent on the label) it is so fabulous. I have really wavy, fuzzy and poufy hair and this product actually gives me big, loose curls without making my hair crunchy. 

It is honestly the only product that I have ever used on my hair to make it curly that I actually like.

I went out and bought the full size of it from Target for $22.00 and I think I can make it last for about three months, so I consider the sticker shock to be worth it. 

(P.S. - if you don't do Birchbox and want to try this product, if you go to Miss Jessies website here, you can get two free product samples of any of their stuff. I really recommend it.)

three. 

Tonight we are hanging out with our 'little.' 

John and I have been doing Big Brothers, Big Sisters for a few months now and really love our little. Tonight he is coming on over, eating dinner and watching a movie with us. 

This is basically just an excuse for me to get to buy frozen pizza and watch 'The Lorax.'

four. 

My husband bought me a 'just because' present the other day and it arrived today. I had been wanting to read it for a while but I was number 387 (no joke) in the HOLD queue at the library so it was going to be a few years before I got it. Hoping to dive into it this weekend a bit. 

five. 

A new Indian food restaurant opened in town today and I am so excited. The hard opening was only today, but it is already getting rave reviews from a lot of trusted sources. 

Indian food is my ABSOLUTE favorite (besides the Olive Garden, Chipotle and Panera) so I think if I play my cards right, I might be able to go stuff my face with some saag paneer within the week. 

Hey husband, let's go get Indian food this week! Please?!?

High Five For Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!! I am linking up with Lauren at the 'From My Grey Desk' blog to feature five things that I am excited about on this wonderful Friday!

 

1) The Third Harry Potter Book!

 source

So I am finally reading the Harry Potter series! I read the first few books when it first came out, but I never finished the series, so I have made it a point not to watch the movies because I wanted to read the books first. 

This has been much to the annoyance of my husband who has wanted to watch the movies for years, but I won't watch them or allow him to watch them (cuz I am mean like that) until I read all of the books. So he is pretty happy that I am finally reading the series and I just got the third book in the mail today. Hooray!

2) Titanic ..... in 3D!!

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Near...........Far..........Wherever You Are...........

I was in 6th grade when this first came out and I definitely caught Leo fever because of it. I remember buying some photo/fan book about him at Walmart afterwards and learning all sorts of creepy facts (his birthday, favorite foods, etc). 

I also wanted to watch every movie he had made after watching him as 'Jack' on screen and discovered that he wasn't sexy in every role before Titanic (What's Eating Gilbert Grape, people). 

My husband has already let me know that he has no intention of watching this with me, so I am contemplating going by myself to the movies on Wednesday and being the weird chick watching Titanic in 3D by myself. 

3) The 'Cheerios and Beer' Blog

I found this blog this past week and I am in love with it. The author is super funny and personable. 

Check out her recipe for 'non-mayo chicken salad.'

source 

4) The etsy store...'The Wheatfield.'

Seeing how much time I spend all day working on the computer and on etsy, I can not believe that I am just discovering this amazing artist now. 

Her aesthetic fits perfectly with mine and I would love to have an entire wall filled with her bright, cheery designs. Find her artwork here... TheWheatfield

5) Ginnifer Goodwin's Hair

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I am so in love with Ginnifer Goodwin's hair. It is the perfect blend of sexy and cute. I wish when I had really short hair I had played around more with hairstyles.

I am trying to convince myself, not to chop it all off in this style, but with the Georgia heat, it is so tempting (Mom....I already know you will say no).

 Those are my favorite things today!

 

I am not my hair....

My hair and I have had a bit of torrid history (like a lot of women). It really revolves around me having naturally fabulous hair but no knowledge or desire to learn how to tame it. 99% of the time you will see me in a bun, attempting to restrain the awesomeness of this beast on my head. I have gone so far as to shave my head in a sad attempt to cover up my rowdy locks. Well no more.... next Tuesday I made an appointment at a fabulous hair salon in town and am going to regain control of my hair. I have been to this hair dresser before and she worked magic, so I am hoping that lightning strikes twice.

I have no idea what I am going to have done with it, but I signed up for highlights and a cut. I am feeling a little bit daring so I think I am going to hand over the reigns to the hair dresser and have her do what she will with it. And brace yourselves.... I am going to buy product. Perhaps a few different kinds! I don't EVER use product in my hair, but I think I might start doing it. I have not a clue as to what to buy or how to use it, but I am going to be honest with my hair dresser, explain my ignorance on the subject and be an absorbing pupil.

In other hair news, Republic Salon (the salon which I frequent) is now selling some of my hair accessories and jewelry. The owner reached out to me after seeing my article in the paper this last Sunday, and I am so happy she did! I am really looking forwarding to having my items there and I think that it is going to be such a great fit! So if you ever getting your hair 'did' at the Republic, look for my items near the register!



For anyone who is curious, that is me shaving my head for a cancer fundraiser in 2007. I highly recommend to everyone that they should go bald at some time in their life. Also, if you click here, you will be taken to my old blog where I wrote some impressive haiku's about being bald :)