Not Me Monday: Arkansas Edition

Note:  I know this is a day late, but yesterday was insane so I’m going to pretend it is still Monday anyway ;)

I haven’t done one of these in a while, but I thought this would be the perfect way to give you a little sneak peek into my Arkansas Adventure :)

This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I most certainly would not pack a tremendous amount of stuff for this trip.  I knew I would only be there a few days, so I would never carry more than I needed

Speaking of packing, I would also never leave anything of importance such as my soaps and shampoos back at home and IF I did, I would never make Alex take me to Target and Walgreen’s on Saturday morning in the pouring rain to stock up on the essentials and spend money on products that I don’t normally use.  Nope, I’m more practical than that!

Even though I love to take pictures, I know when it is appropriate and I would never take pictures in inappropriate places like the grocery store.  I would NEVER take multiple pictures in a grocery store, even if it is the prettiest one I had ever seen.

I would also never make my boyfriend match me so much that he frustrated because he has nothing to wear that matches my outfit.  Nope, I am definitely not and have never been that controlling.

I’m also NOT going to leave you hanging and I will post my weekend recap soon!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend!

Quick Updates…

My, what a busy week it has been (as it always is this time of the year…welcome to the end of the semester!)

What all is going on…well let me tell you!

• I spent the majority of last week trying to finish up classes, study for a stats test, and work on final projects (more on that in a minute)
• I got a wonderful surprise on Thursday when my ex-boyfriend called and let me know he was in town with his little brother.  Apparently his little brother is coming to school here in the fall :)  Yes, I understand it is weird to be in contact with your ex, but I’m on good terms with all of them.  Anyway, I adore their whole family so I was more than happy to grab lunch with them, show them around campus and help him out with some apartment hunting.  Even better, most of their family are Auburn fans, so I’m glad we have at least one rooting for the right team ;)
• On Thursday evening, I got to hang out with my dear friend Lauren who came to town for all the A-day (our spring football game – more on that in a minute too!) festivities.  I haven’t seen here since football season, so it was great catching up!
• Friday morning, I got an e-mail from my professor about an AMAZING job opportunity/career…I met with her on Tuesday and she’s pretty positive it will work out, but I don’t want to share all of the details just in case ;)  I should know something in the next couple of weeks and I cannot wait to share the news with you!! :)
• Saturday we had our spring scrimmage game.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve spent the past few years working for the football program.  The football season was supposed to be it for me, but they’ve been continuing to ask me to help out and I’ve been more than happy to do so!! Of course our spring game was no different and we had a wonderful day!  I helped out with the recruits before the game, and then afterwards I worked the entrance for the Players’ Families Picnic.  I had a blast meeting and hanging out with precious families!! :)
• Saturday evening, I had the opportunity to go hang out with some of Alex’s friends (I mean they are my friends too, but I know them through him)  Anyway, they were all in town for the game and were all meeting up at Buffalo Wild Wings afterwards.  I was worried it would be a little strange hanging out with them without Alex, but they are all so awesome, I felt very welcome :)  Thanks guys!
• My weight loss is going well…I’ve lost a few more pounds and inches since my last update.  I can tell more of a difference in my clothes than I can on the scale, but that is fine by me!  Even though I have not had much time to work out the past week or so and I have been eating more than normal, thankfully I’m not putting the weight back on and that’s all that matters to me.
• All of my final projects are due next week, thankfully they are finished for the most part because…

I am currently packing for a weekend trip to Arkansas!! :)  It will be the first time I’ve driven by myself so I’m not looking forward to the drive, but I am looking forward to seeing Alex!! He’s already got lots of exciting stuff planned for us so I’m sure I’ll have lots to share when I return on Monday!

Anyway, just wanted to catch you up before I headed out of town for the weekend!!  I hope you have a fabulous one!

Much love,

Maegan

P.S.  I’m so proud of our Rolando McClain!! :)  He went number 8 in the NFL draft and will be playing for the Oakland Raiders.  I love all of our players, but I had the opportunity to watch him play in HS as he went to a rival HS and played against my brother (actually he is tackling my brother on the video he has on his MySpace page haha)  Good luck to the rest of the Bama Boys! :)

I get by with a little help from my friends…

First of all, let me say thank you for all the kind words on my past few posts!! You don’t know how much easier it is to get out of a “rut” when you have lots of sweet friends like you!!

The fabulous Brittany Ann, over at Living in the Moment, who constantly leaves words of encouragement on my blog (She’s amazing…go read her blog NOW!), made my day when she included me in her list of “Preppy Friends” for the Preppy Mafia award :)  Brittany Ann, you are too kind! :)

Anyway, on to the questions :)

1. Who is your style icon?

I have lots so since I have to choose one, I’m going to say this girl.

Yep, Barbie!  I know, crazy answer, but let me explain. Maybe I don’t get model my fashions after her, but we do have the same mindset when it comes to fashion:  dress for the moment.  So like Barbie, I have outfits for every occasion and rarely if ever wear the same thing more than once so you can see my connection with Barbie ;)  I even had a boyfriend tell me once that he was impressed with my ability to adapt to my setting because whatever we did (whether it be paintball, hiking, boating, going to the movies, or fancy parties), I had an outfit for it.  Needless to say, I don’t have one certain style by any means…I just dress for the moment ;)

2. What is your favorite socialite book?
If socialite books are like “Chick – lit” then I would have to say the Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella.  I’m also a Lauren Weisberger (Devil Wears Prada) and Candace Bushnell (Sex and the City) fan.  What can I say, I like to read so it is hard for me to choose!!

3. What is your favorite party theme?
That is a tough one because I LOVE parties!!  I guess my favorite is the old Hollywood glam cocktail party (it could be because my dream wedding would have this theme ;))  With everyone looking like this….

 source

And decorations like this:

source

I did throw a Christmas party once that is as close as I’ve gotten to that theme, but I would be perfectly happy if every party I went to had this theme ;)

4. What is your go-to Halloween costume?
Dorothy…all the way (Evidence can be found here.)  I’ve also been known to repurpose dance costumes as you can see below

5. What is the extravagance you just can't live without?
Shoes….definitely.  As Miss Carrie Bradshaw says, “I have a substance abuse problem:  expensive shoes”  I’ve got a post coming up on my “Spring Cleaning” and you’ll see how bad it is.

6. Who is the living person you admire?
My parents…they always did their best to make sure my brother and I have had the best life possible in every aspect.  They are amazing!

7. What is my greatest fear?
Not accomplishing the goals I’ve set for myself.  I set a lot of goals, some of them attainable, some of them not, but particularly the overall goals like finishing my PhD, finding a job that I enjoy, getting married, settling down and starting a family are important to me.  I am absolutely terrified that I won’t accomplish all of them.

8. What's the trait you dislike about yourself?
I don’t know that I necessarily hate this about myself because it is not all bad and I’d rather have this problem than the opposite, but I tend to be way too nice.  I have problems saying no to people (when it comes to helping others…not necessarily on morality type things ;)) Because I am so much of a people-pleaser, some people take advantage of that and I end up getting hurt in the end.  Like I said, it is a blessing and a curse, but I’d rather be too nice than the opposite :)

9. Which talent would you most like to have?
I would definitely love to be more artistic and crafty.  I have a ridiculously crafty family and although I’m sure I have the artistic gene somewhere in my body, I wish I was better at it (and maybe not so much of a perfectionist to actually enjoy it ;)).  Surprisingly I was the only one of my family to do performing arts (dance, theatre, singing, show choir, etc) and be fairly good with it so maybe that’s my calling rather than visual arts :)

1o. What is my greatest achievement?
I have definitely had a very blessed life and I’m thankful for everything I’ve received, but I think my greatest achievement was my education.  Although I may never get to use my fancy PhD (thanks to the economy), I will be so proud of myself for at least getting it.  My parents have always had high expectations when it comes to education, so I am proud of the education I have received :)

11. Who are the 10 people I'd like to tag with the Preppy Mafia award?

1. Kristen at Southern Web Girl
2. Amy at Just Add Walter
3. Brittany at Tales of a Southern Belle and her Beau
4. KLC at Tales of a Northern Belle
5. Susan at Susan in the South
6. Heather at Life with Heather
7. Jennifer at Diary of a Southern Belle
8. Emily Anne at Martinis and Madness
9. Adelaide at Sweet, Sassy, Southern, and Classy
10. SouthernBelleJM at The Tale of a Southern Belle

In the home stretch…

This is all that stands between me and a month of no schoolwork, i.e. my oh, so short summer break:  four assignments.  Now if I could only find the motivation to do them and maybe even turn them in early :)

Wordless Wednesday: Weight Loss

Left:  Old Jeans (that were just a tiny bit big to start with), Right:  New Jeans I had to buy because the old ones were falling off :)  (as mentioned here.)

Yes, I know these sizes aren’t super tiny, but I am pretty proud considering the new jeans are the SAME size I wore in high school and they are still a little big in the waist :)

Now time to go workout so I don’t have to drag out the old jeans ;)

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Josh’s Alpha Lambda Delta Induction

My oh so smart and talented little brother has been invited to join quite a few honor societies already and had his first induction this past weekend.  As a member of this honor society myself (if I could find the picture, I’d post it…I’ll work on that ;)), I couldn’t be happier! :)

Josh and I before we left

Unfortunately, the induction ceremony was a complete disaster.  I’m no professional planner, but I’m familiar enough with all of the details to take into consideration when planning an event and apparently they did not.  Let me just set the stage (pun intended) for you:

We get there 30 minutes early only to find out it had been moved to another building on campus at the last minute (yeah, no e-mail whatsoever…mistake #1).  We get to the correct location with about 15 minutes to spare and there are NO seats.  When I say no seats, I mean 0 open seats and people are standing in the aisles and in the lobby…ridiculous.  Then, they took up 4 full rows for the inductees and some of them didn’t have seats.  Needless to say, the perfectionist in me was going insane.  Had I not been so stressed out, I would have taken pics to show you.  What’s worse is that the other parents and guests were extremely frustrated as well.  It was definitely an embarrassment for the honor society and the University.

After everyone has literally stood around for at least 30 minutes, listening to a senior speak about her accomplishments, they FINALLY had enough common sense to move the students up on the stage and allow the guests to fill in the empty rows.  So seating problem solved….organization:  not so much.  They never put the students in alphabetical order (even seated) so when their names were called out in alphabetical order to come get their certificates, we had to wait forever for them to push their way through the crowd on the stage, walk up and sign some roll, and then walk to the back of the stage….it was a nightmare.  When they finally get to the S’s, we get all the cameras ready only for them to go from Salter to Solomon.  Yep, they skipped a page which messed up the certificate process and led to a mass line at the table.  My blood pressure was sky high during the entire ceremony and I was SO glad when it was over! :)

(You can see in the middle picture on the top, the students standing in the aisle…so sad!)

Anyway, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a few pictures around campus.

 Josh and I in the Ferguson promenade

I love all the gorgeous flowers around campus!

Mom, Dad, and Josh (That’s my old office behind them!)

Josh with his certificate

Josh and I in front of the fountain

(Side note:  This fountain was extremely expensive because it was created to be “tamper proof”.  The day the day before they turned it on, someone poured Tide detergent down the jets so when they turned it on for the first time, the plaza was covered in soap suds…I think we spent the majority of the day at work watching everyone play in it :))

Anyway, although it was a bit stressful, I am so proud of my baby brother!

Catching up….

I have been in a bit of a haze lately…figuratively and literally.

If I haven’t mentioned before, I’m highly allergic to pollen….emphasis on the word highly.  So much that about 5 years ago I had to go on weekly shots, and when I went in for testing the doctor said “You really shouldn’t live on this planet”  Yeah, thanks doc! 

The shots have helped in the past, and Easter is always my checkpoint (if I’m not sick by then, I’m not getting sick) and I made it to the day before Easter and it hit me.

The only medicine that works for me is a prescription that I forgot made me drowsy (Yeah, I forgot to read that part of the label).  After sleeping two days away, I happened to look at the bottle…

This would explain a lot…good thing I didn’t have anywhere to go!  This girl gets drowsy off of “Daytime” medicine so medicine that makes you sleepy = at least 12 hours of dead to the world sleep for this girl. 

Because of this, I have been avoiding it on the days I have to go somewhere so on those days, I’m just flat out miserable. 

Like my education interview day here on campus.  It went well, but because the economy is so horrible right now, they don’t know if or how many positions they will have open so basically it was just a meet and greet.  Oh well…I still have some amazing friends! :)

See…told you they rock!  Anyway, all these sweet messages totally gave me a boost of confidence continuously popping up on my phone while I was waiting patiently (ok, impatiently because I am not very patient when it comes to waiting!) on my interviews to begin!

I also had to work an event for the Alabama Ballet in Birmingham.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned before, but I am on the Junior Board for them and I so wish I could make it my full time job….I love it!  Anyway, we had a “Party Like a Rockstar with the Alabama Ballet” party at Rogue Tavern in Birmingham to celebrate the premiere of their final production of the season.  Since I was dateless, my sweet dance friend and BFF Sara went with me and we had a blast.  Of course I didn’t take pictures, because I was so wrapped up in the great atmosphere and conversation, the night ended before I could get to it :(  Oh well, next time….

I’ve also been dieting and working out trying to get in shape for this…

Yes, I got the official invitation to dance in my old dance studio’s dance recital the end of May.  I’m excited to be getting back on stage, but I refuse to look like a cow up there.  If a camera adds ten pounds, being on stage adds about 20.  Plus, working out gets my mind off the nightly nightmares I have about getting up on stage and forgetting everything! :)

The weight loss is going pretty well.  I haven’t lost as many pounds as I would like, but I have lost inches galore…in my face, hips, legs, arms, chest, my feet (yeah I didn’t know that would happen) and especially my tummy.  I wish I could tell you how many, but I didn’t measure beforehand…I know, stupid mistake.  I have noticed all of my clothes fit better and in some cases are too big! :) I try not to be obsessed with the numbers on the scale, because even when I was dancing and had pretty much no fat on my body, I weighed more than people thought I should just because I was muscled so I tend to use my clothes as a measure. 

My clothes, specifically my jeans, were getting a little too baggy so mom and I went shopping this weekend to see if I could fit in the size smaller jeans….and I did!! :)  Then we found some cute tops and dresses that were on sale.  I have a bad habit of not looking at the size and just grabbing stuff off the rack.  When i got in the dressing room, I tried on the dresses and one fit like a glove….so much like a glove my mom said, “Looks gorgeous on you, but you literally can’t gain a pound”  When we looked at the tag, it was 2 sizes smaller than I normally wear….2 sizes!!  I was pumped :) 

Anyway, I ate horribly this weekend because my family was in town and gained about 4 pounds (you won’t be able to tell I lost much weight in the pictures in my next post because of it), Yesterday morning about 3:30, I woke up with a stomach virus that continued until late last night.  Needless to say, I lost those 4 pounds and a few more so I’m back on track (Note:  I am definitely not endorsing that form of dieting…it definitely wasn’t worth it…yuck!)

Between my sicknesses, being stressed out with school, depressed about not having a job while all of my friends are celebrating tenurs, promotions, and new houses, missing Alex terribly (it has been a month today!) and just being ready to be finished with school…I have been in another type of haze and have been trying to get away from the computer for a bit.  Hopefully I will be back on track soon though! :)  I miss you guys! :)

Anyway, I think I’m all caught up now….I’ll do my best not to wait this long from now on (so my posts won’t be FOREVER long ;)) Look for another post today on my brother’s honor society induction this weekend :)

Have a happy Tuesday! :)

Lots of Love,

Maegan

Easter Eye Candy

Look at what the “Easter Bunny” dropped off yesterday….

Because I’m on a major diet (and doing pretty well, I’ll have to update you on that later!), and would only be tempted with the edible goodies, Mom and Dad sent me some wearable goodies instead! :)

Yes, I’m 25 and my parents still send me goodie boxes :)  I love them! :)