MIA

Holy sickness.

I have felt like a totally different person lately. aka miserable.

I feel like I need to do a week recap so far, because I haven't shown my face around these parts since Saturday. Saturday! Oops. Although there's not much to say since I've spent most of the week so far in bed...

So, here we go. Monday I had to say goodbye to sweet little Ella baby after spending less than a day with her. Then I had to take B to the airport and say goodbye to him, too. So sad.

How cute are my babies?!

 And yes, I have been a little crybaby since then. I miss just being able to talk to him whenever I want. No text messages are allowed, and I just have to wait until it's convenient for him to call me. I have no clue how all these amazing women deal with their significant others being in the military and not having normal communication with them. I really do not think I could do that. It takes an insanely strong individual and my heart and admiration goes out to each and every one of you!

Tuesday was all normal and boring...until I got a migraine. Cue bedtime at 4pm. And then this migraine just turned right into some lovely little stomach flu/virus/bug thing that just doesn't want to go away. Wednesday, I thought my life was over. (Yes, I'm being overly dramatic, I know...)

But I was mis. And I'm still not completely back to normal. But at least I have enough energy to get out of bed and make it to the couch. Baby steps, y'all, baby steps.

Anyways, enough whining. I have to work my last Saturday doing promos ever this weekend and I am soo excited. After this weekend, I have a week off of work, B comes home Thursday, and then next Monday is the big day..I start life in the real world!

TGIF?

TGIF, right?!

Well, kind of. Friday's aren't always that exciting for me unfortunately. They're usually more like my Sundays (aka I feel like I'm preparing for Monday).

Since I do a lot of events for the company I'm interning for (which is a cocktail company), I spend lots of my weekends working. Including tomorrow. 

But thankfully, I've gotten to spend some time in Athens with B this week, today included. So instead of dwelling on the fact I have to leave and work all day tomorrow, I'm going to just enjoy the time we get to spend together today, and this awesome weather we're having before it rains all weekend!

I mean, how depressing is this?! Rain for pretty much the next 7 days all over the metro ATL area. Boo.

Sometimes when I know I'm about to have to leave him and be away for awhile, I get bummed out and have trouble focusing on and enjoying that last little bit of time we have together. Kind of like as you near the end of your vacation, you begin to dread it, knowing that you're about to have to go home and back to the real world, ya know? Does anyone else have this problem? It's something I'm definitely working on so I don't waste the good times being sad!

This week I've had to work especially hard at remembering to stay positive, because I don't know for sure that I'm going to get much time with B before he leaves for his study abroad. I have to work all weekend, and then he has finals next week. And then I have to work a ton over Cinco de Mayo weekend (our best-selling mix at work is a margarita mix, so of course Cinco de Mayo is huge for us!) And then B is leaving next Monday. 

Now, he's only going to be gone for 10 days, which is very short for a study abroad trip. But I am used to being able to pick up the phone and text or call him whenever I want to. But with him being in another country, being 6 hours ahead of me, and him being on a strict itinerary  the entire time he's there, being able to talk to him is going to be few and far between. And that makes me sad. I mean, I know we'll be fine, but it's just going to be weird that whenever I think of something hilarious (because I'm sooo funny...), or when I see a picture I think he'd appreciate, I am not going to be able to just pick up my phone and text him. Ugh. But he does have a certain amount of international calling time we can use, and I'm going to be relying heavily on Facebook messaging I guess...as long as he has internet. But have any of you had your significant other/bffs travel internationally before? How did you communicate?!

Anyways, back to the positive! We have plans to maybe go to the Botanical Gardens today, and then head downtown for dinner and happy hour. 

It's Twilight weekend, so there's soo much going on, including lots of free shows! I'll explain more about Twilight in my weekend recap post...I had never heard of it before coming to Athens. My favorite description I've ever heard of it is that it's the NASCAR of bicycle racing...if you can imagine! HA One of our favorite newly-discovered bands is playing on the street stage tonight, and I can't wait to see them again! They opened for a group we love not long ago, and we barely made it in time to see the last song or two they played, and they were awesome. I've been waiting on them to come back ever since!

And, to end it on a pretty awesome note...my first time participating in #backthatazzup Friday. Because what better way than to get in a positive, upbeat mood than to listen to all this good stuff?!

St.Patty's Weekend Shenanigans

The struggle is real today, y'all. I have no idea why it's so bad, but it is. Like, this bad...

Now don't get me wrong, I love Starbucks. But I try to stay away from there. Mainly to control my obsession. And because it can get expensive. I try to be happy with my few-cents-a-cup coffee at home. And because holy calories. I don't like just straight coffee, and I always get something flavored that's loaded with who knows what. But today it was a necessary evil splurge.

Ok, I know everyone knows about Google Reader closing blah blah blah. But I felt it necessary to join the crowds and tell you to go follow me on Bloglovin' with the link below, or by clicking on the little heart over where all my links are. 

Now, on to the fun stuff. My weekend shenanigans time. 

I spent a few days last week in Athens with B, but I had to work Saturday and wasn't planning on going back to Athens after. But a little begging from a few friends had me changing my mind when I realized it would be super lame if I missed out on the all the fun. (Not to mention this post would have been super boring...again.)

I don't know if y'all noticed or not, but this weekend was absolutely gorgeous. B worked until around 2 on Friday, and we decided there was no way we were wasting that amazing day inside. We met downtown so I could do a little shopping (since I had no clue I was staying all weekend when I went, I had nothing but t-shirts and comfy clothes because we had no plans-big mistake-so I was in desperate need of a cute top for Saturday night!) After finding the perfect green shirt, which I have no pictures of, we wandered around to a few of our other favorite stores. When our parking meters expired, we left and headed to 'the fish store.' B wants to have a fish tank in his house, but he doesn't really have the time to devote to starting one up (or the money--of course we want a saltwater tank!) So instead, we just like to wander around the fish store and pick out all the things we want. I want a lot of live coral. It's amazing. 

Afterwards, it was getting close to dinner time, so we headed back downtown. We stopped by our favorite bar, Magnolia's, to see our friend that was working and have a drink before dinner. I decided since the weather was so nice, I would bring back one of my favorite summertime drinks, and oh. my. gosh. I forgot how good it was! A little Bacardi Dragon Berry with Sprite and a splash of cranberry = summertime in a glass. So delicious. After a drink, we headed over to Dirty Birds for the second Friday in a row, and had some more of their awesome wings.

Dirty Birds' menu, my awesome Dragon Berry drink, my Dirty Ranch and Garlic Parm wings.

Afterwards, we realized some of our friends were eating there too, so we joined them for more rounds of drinks and a few games of pool. We finally called it a night around midnight (since we had basically been out playing since 2 that afternoon!) But it was a super fun day and I want that weather back..now!!

Saturday morning we both had to be up early...I had to head to work, and B was headed home for the day to see his dad's new boat. Which they ended up taking out on the water. Super jealous. 

The new boat.

I did some boring promo work in Atlanta, and then headed back to Athens for the St. Patrick's Day festivities. We had lots of fun, and I took zero pictures. Oops. We went to a cd release party at 40 Watt (some people B and my best friend, Sam, grew up with played in the band) and it was basically a big redneck high school reunion for them. They were both reminded why they are so thankful that they moved away for school and got out of that small town--I know that feeling! After the show, we barhopped for awhile and wound up at The Grill until about 3am. All I have to say about that is feta fries. Oh man. Unfortunately, my drunk self apparently didn't see the need to document these, but let me tell you, they're to die for. Especially when you are not sober. I haven't had one of those nights in a long time, and it was so much fun!

Sunday we slept in as long as we possibly could, and then headed to brunch at Porterhouse for their famous brunch buffet. Neither of us had ever been, but everyone told us it was a must. And they were right! They had everything you could want for breakfast, including omelettes and pancakes made right in front of you. Then they also had lunch selections, including a roast, fried chicken, meatloaf, salmon, and more. We ate until we hurt. No joke. Then we went home and were super lazy all day. Well, until we went to dinner at Square One...where we ate until we hurt again. So that was literally all our day consisted of--food. And it was pretty much the best day ever.

The kitchen area at Square One, the view outside to the awesome patio...to bad it wasn't quite warm enough to enjoy it.

OH WAIT. I forgot something super important and awesome. At some point Friday in our wanderings, we stopped by the gas station to get something to drink. While paying, B decided he wanted a lottery ticket. He had no cash, so I handed over $5, and we got some random scratch off that the cashier picked out. We checked it when we got back in the car, and we won a ticket..woo. So B ran in and grabbed our free one, but we never checked it. We actually forgot about it until Saturday morning. When B saw it and scratched it off, he started getting super excited and I had no idea why. When I finally got him to actually form words, he said we won $500. For real. I had to see it with my own eyes, but he was right. We were both stupid excited. I mean, I never win anything. So yeah, it was great. 

The winning ticket.

So, there's my super long recap of my weekend. But hey, at least it was more interesting than last weekend!

My [uneventful] Weekend [with pretty much no] Shenanigans

As my extremely long post title explains, this weekend was kinda lame. Not going to lie. And since it was so lame, I have no pretty pictures to share with you guys. I'm sorry. I promise to work on remembering to take more pics so my blog isn't just a lot of words. Because that's no fun.

I spend most of my weekends working, but during the week I usually have a few days off. So of course when I do, I go visit my boyfriend, B. It was his spring break week, but he had to work, so we stuck around Athens and hung out every day when he got off.

Friday he got off early, so we had a nice late-afternoon nap before dinner. We wanted to try out Herschel Walker's new place downtown, but even though it was the beginning of UGA's spring break week, there was still a super long wait. B was craving some wings, so we wondered around until we found Dirty Birds, another new wing place that opened up in the old Wild Wings space. The food here was a little bit pricey for wings I thought, but they were surprisingly yummy! I had the Garlic Parm and Dirty Ranch (buffalo and ranch sauce mixed together..yum!) and both were very tasty. The old WW space is awesome, so I really hope this place does well and lasts there!

Saturday morning, B and I both had to be up bright and early for work. He had to go into the office for a few hours, and I was leaving to head to Buckhead to do a few tastings for my internship. So my day consisted of hanging out in a liquor store begging people to try our product, and then doing it again at Whole Foods for awhile. Not that fun. Then I headed home to have dinner with my parents at our favorite Mexican restaurant. And then I think I was in bed before 11...Saturday nights when you move away from college are so exciting, right?!

Sunday morning I had to be up early to work again, this time at the bar. I have had the pleasure of opening almost every Sunday from Day 1 of the restaurant. But because of recent events, it was also my last Sunday (or any day) working there. I got home around 7:30, had a little dinner, watched the new episode of Revenge, and called it a night.

Exhilarating weekend, right?!

My VDay sob story.

So in honor of Valentine's day tomorrow, I figured I would go ahead and get my personal day of love horror story out of the way. 

Once upon a time, I was dumb and decided to live with my boyfriend. Big mistake.

We we're the typical "high school sweethearts," and after a few years in college, we moved in to our own apartment together. Fast-foward to a little over a year after that happened, and you arrive at Valentine's Day 2009 (I think that was the year? Ha I've sort of erased those few years from my mind.)

So, that year the UGA men's basketball team had a huge home game, and my boyfriend's family (all UGA alumni) wanted to come up for the game. Yay.

We woke up early that morning (it was a day game..so at least his family wasn't going to be around all day.) I immediately got up to shower and get ready, and so did he. So the whole morning goes by, and we never see or speak to each other. Weird. Well, then he leaves and still never says a word. So I'm all like WTF? I call him to figure out what's up, and he informs me he's just running the trash and recycling out, and he'll be right back. Ok, no big deal. So I take his card and leave it in the living room for him when he gets back. When he comes back, he goes into the living room and starts watching the tv and waiting on his family. I assume he opens his card, but he never acknowledges me, or it, or the fact that it's valentine's day. NOTHING.

I stop what I'm doing and go investgating, only to find he'd taken his card, unopened, and put it in his room. I get it, take it to him, and force him to open it. He does, doesn't say a word, and then sits it down and goes back to watching whatever was so interesting on tv. NEVER SAYS A WORD.

Now by this time, I obviously know something is very wrong. But his family shows up right around this point, so we never discuss it. But the day continues in this trend. I feel like I literally don't exist to him. We go to lunch, the game, and then back home...and still nothing. Of course his family has noticed something is wrong, and his mom and aunt question me when he's not around, and I break down and tell them I am so confused, that I have no clue what his problem is.

At some point, his mom gets him alone and talks to him, and then they inform me that he is going home with his mom for the weekend. As in, he's leaving right then. And he does. So, it's dinner time on valentine's day and I'm alone. My boyfriend won't speak to me, he leaves me, and I am heartbroken and utterly confused.

Needless to say, he wound up ending our relationship when he came back and that was that. Well, minus the one little fact that we were still in a lease together and could find no way out. So I had the pleasure of to endure hell living with my ex-boyfriend for ten whole months after we broke up. 

So, there is my valentine's day sob story. Now this year, for the first time since that wonderful day, I have a boyfriend and get to actually enjoy the day again. Well, except that he lives two hours away and we don't get to see each other. But it definitely beats the last valentine's day I 'celebrated!'