Things I Love Thursday’s

It has been a while since I have done a “Things I love Thursday’s” so I thought I’d pick it back up.

*Yes I know this is actually posting on Friday, but was supposed to post yesterday…better late than never right? ;)*

Here are some of the things I’m loving right now:

WoodWick Glazed Pumpkin Candle from Hallmark

This smells like pumpkin pie baking and crackles like a wood fire…LOVE!

Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks

Alex and I stopped by Barnes and Noble last time he was in town and shared one of these (since I never drink a full coffee).  If Mr. “Black Coffee with no room for cream or sugar” likes it, you know it must be good ;)

Pinterest

I’m a bit obsessed.  If you want to follow me, you can find me at http://pinterest.com/mes285/

Baking

I’ve been doing a TON of baking lately.  If you want to follow me on my adventures in the kitchen, check out my cooking blog.

Fall TV

My poor DVR’s have their work cut out of them lately.  With all my old favorites (Desperate Housewives, Private Practice, Grey’s, Raising Hope, etc), coming back on and all of these awesome new shows, they can’t hardly keep up.  Here are some of my new favorites for now:

• Up All Night – So cute!
• Revenge – Love the mix of drama and romance.
• Person of Interest – Too complicated to explain, but one of my new favorite crime dramas
• Unforgettable – Pretty good, but I’m afraid I might lose interest on this one.
• Rocket City Rednecks – A show featuring some family friends and they’ve even filmed a few episodes in our backyard!  Be sure to watch it on National Geographic (next week’s episode was filmed at my house :D)
• 2 Broke Girls – So funny!
• Whitney – Hilarious!

Nail Polish

Now that I’ve had my acrylics removed, I’m obsessed with nail polish especially darker colors for the fall :)  Apparently all the money I’m spending on monthly manicures is now going into polishes…oops! ;)

What are your favorite things right now?

*All images linked to their source

Alabama vs. Arkansas

This week, we had our first SEC match-up against the Arkansas Razorbacks.  I have to admit I was a bit nervous because 1.) it was our first true test for our new guys, 2.) It is Arkansas, who gave us huge fits last year 3.) It is an SEC game…period.  Thankfully, there was no reason for me to be nervous because we did an awesome job!  To sum up the game (and our many highlight-worthy moments), check out this highlight reel from the University…one word – LOVE!

At the beginning of the game, we were all a little nervous.  Although we were never down, Arkansas did tie it up.  All it took was one play to get our momentum rolling and Arkansas was never able to catch up :)

I loved getting to enjoy the win with the folks I love, Alex…  

And of course my family!

Everyone was so excited and BDS (Bryant-Denny Stadium) was REALLY loud!  Needless to say, we sang our victory song, “Rammer Jammer” LOUD and proud! 

See?

Bama vs. Arkansas 2011 - Rammer Jammer from Maegan Slaten on Vimeo.

Afterwards, we met up with my dear friend Reba and her family who were doing some post-game tailgating.  I was exhausted, but it was worth it to see her.  She just finished up radiation, so we haven’t gotten to see her in a while, but we made up for lost time! :)

You can tell how tired I was (and my steroid pounds)!  Yikes!

 

Alex and Reba

On the way back to the apartment, Alex and I just happened to look towards the stadium and we saw this.

Bryant-Denny is always beautiful, but something seeing it like this just took it to a whole new level. LOVE!

Perfect end to a perfect day!

We’ve got an away game next week, so I won’t have a game recap until after Homecoming on October 8th :)

Not Me Monday is back!!

MckMama took a little hiatus from her “Not Me Monday” and I did too.  However, when she brought it back last week, I was excited because it gives me a perfect way to share all the randomness going on right now that doesn’t warrant it’s own post. ;)

To read more about it and join in on the fun, click here.

So let’s get started…

I did not fill up 10 large kitchen garbage bags of clothes, shoes, and purses that I no longer wear out of my packed closet last week and none of those clothes still had tags on them. I’m extremely conscious of my spending habits and would never let clothes sit for years in my closet with tags still on them….nope, not me!

I most certainly did not recruit my parents and sweet boyfriend to help me in my new organization kick over Labor Day weekend.  I also did not have Alex move the bookcases (that he put together) at least three times because I couldn’t make up my mind and have a mental breakdown later in the day when I didn’t like how it looked.  I would never do anything like that.

While everyone else is putting up fall decor, I would never go out and buy “Alabama-themed” table decor just because I consider football its own season and I prefer crimson to orange any day.  I also then take pictures of said tablescape and post them on FB with tags still on the florals and wrinkled placemats…nope, not me!

I also did not, upon having my acrylics taken off and a gel manicure done, immediately go to Ulta and buy new polish just because I wasn’t happy with the color. 

I also did not attempt to take the gel off using regular nail polish remover and then end up painting them with a color that I already had at home when it wouldn’t come off.  Nope, not me!

I also did not light my new pumpkin spice candle and spend the entire day sipping on Apple Cider just because I’m tired of this “transition” weather.  Nope, I would never do that when it is still almost 80 degrees outside!

So, tell me…what have you not done this week?

Happy Monday, Folks!

Bama vs. North Texas Weekend

As with any weekend during football season, this weekend was nothing short of busy!

On Friday, Alex arrived around 6:00 pm and we met one of our favorite couples at Alex’s favorite restaurant, Nick’s Filet House (better known as Nick’s in the Sticks)

If you’re from Tuscaloosa, you know that Nick’s is the best spot to meet friends you want to catch up with because you usually wait at least an hour.  This time, we actually didn’t have to wait that long (especially for a home game weekend), but we did wait long enough to enjoy Nick’s signature drink, The Nickademus and catch up with our friends who we haven’t seen in a while.

My best friend Casey and I

Casey and her husband, Taylor…love them both!

 

My sweetie and I…he was a happy camper to finally get to visit Nick’s again ;)

Dinner was amazing as always, and we had a wonderful time catching up with Casey and Taylor!  After dinner, we went back to check out their new apartment and we ended up hanging out on their balcony, chatting and enjoying the fall evening weather.  It was great!

Saturday:

This week, I got to sleep in a little since we had a later kick-off.  Alex cooked us breakfast and we spent the morning sipping on our coffee and watching ESPN College Game Day.

Our mini sausage egg and cheese biscuits…and I do mean mini – this was on one of my saucers! 

I had to be at the complex at 1:30 for recruiting, so Alex walked me over and I got busy with my “recruiting champions”.  Before we knew it, it was time to head over to the stadium to wrap-up our recruiting and get ready for kick-off.  We actually had plenty of people working this week, so I got to enjoy a nice, leisurely, although late, lunch from Full Moon BBQ (they’ve catered our football games/events for years!) and I actually got to head to our seats in time long before kick-off.  For the first time in a long time, I actually got to enjoy pre-game!

Pre-gaming with Alex

Alex and I as the game was winding down.  Clearly, I’m tired and my make-up is almost gone…bleh!

We had a lot of fun at the game.  It was one of those games that we actually got to relax and enjoy it rather than stressing about the score :)

During the 4th quarter, we were both bombarded with texts saying Alex was on TV.  I still need to pull the video off of my Tivo, but here’s a picture his TV appearance that we found on the replay the next day (sorry about the quality…cell phones and HD TV’s don’t mix well ;))

 

Funny thing is, we switched seats with my parents and you could see both of them and Alex, but I was no where to be found because Alex was standing right in front of me :).  Yes, I was sitting down, but we were winning big and it had been a long day in 5-inch heels…can you blame me? ;)

After the game, we came home and enjoyed BBQ again, Mom and I made pear cobbler, we watched the rest of the football games, and we just hung out and relaxed.

Sunday:

My parents had to leave early because we had a film crew coming to our house to film a TV show (more on that once it airs :)), so we all got up fairly early, finished cleaning both apartments and put them on the road.

Alex and Josh decided to go play a little golf, so I had the house to myself for most of the day.  When Alex got back, he took me out to make me feel better (I’ve been feeling a little down lately because of all the weight my medicine has put on me and I’m getting quite frustrated because none of my clothes fit).  We went to Barnes and Noble and browsed while sipping on our first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season (yes, singular…I can’t drink a whole coffee of any kind by myself so we shared ;)), and then we headed to Target to pick up stuff to cook dinner and check out their Halloween decor.  Of course, we had to walk down the costume aisle and Alex was having way too much fun trying everything on.  See what I mean? (Sorry babe, I had to share ;))

After our shopping trip, we went back to my apartment, cooked dinner, watched Bridezillas (Alex is so amazing that he would sit through anything to make me feel better…even Bridezillas!), and just enjoyed our time together before he had to leave :(

It was a WONDERFUL weekend and I’m looking forward to yet another home game weekend this weekend! :)

Bathroom Blues, Part IV

Read the first three parts here, here, and here

We were told maintenance would be there at 9:00 am to check on the leak, so that everything would be finished by Friday (the deadline my mom gave them since everyone would be down that Saturday for the home game).  Of course, maintenance wasn’t there until early afternoon.

Thankfully, when maintenance did arrive, it was my favorite maintenance guy so I was a bit relieved to see someone I could deal with.  He checked and couldn’t figure anything out.  A little while later, I got a knock at my door and it was the property manager and the head honcho.  They wanted to see it for themselves and make the decision of whether or not to continue with the project or start all over again.

They decided that they would just continue and if it kept causing problems, they would deal with it later (gotta love their mentality).  They said they would send someone that afternoon to come put the last coat of stuff on the sheet rock.  They also told me that the painters, cleaning crew, and maintenance would be back the next day (Friday) to finish everything up so that I could get my bathroom back in order before everyone arrived on Saturday.

The guy came in fairly late that day and finished up the sheet rocking.  The next day (Friday), I got up and waited on the painters, who didn’t arrive until late that afternoon.  Thankfully, they got right to work

My new popcorn ceiling haha  

My newly painted bathroom

Alex got arrived from Montgomery while they were working and got to meet the property manager when he came by to check on progress.  The property manager said “As soon as the painters leave, the cleaning crew is coming in.  If they don’t show, let me know, and I’ll crack the whip”.  I was so glad Alex was there when he said it because, true to form, no cleaners showed.

Alex was furious, but I was glad he finally got to experience the nonsense and incompetency I had been dealing with.  I called the property manager and told him they never showed, hoping he would call me back, but it being after hours, of course I heard nothing.  Since the painters didn’t wrap up until after 6:00, we didn’t have high hopes for the cleaners but we thought maybe he prepared them for a late job…apparently not.

I decided that it was not worth waiting on them so Alex and I decided to clean the bathroom ourselves so that I could move everything back in.  We went to Family Dollar, bought all the stuff, turned on Pandora and got to work.

We were literally on our hands and knees scrubbing that bathroom from top to bottom…including mopping the floor 3 times. Let me tell you though, it was sparkling clean by the time we got done! 

The dirty water from the mop bucket…gross right?

We got the bathroom all put back together and for the first time in over a year, I had a usable bathroom…it was wonderful!

Sorry, I didn’t take any after pictures…we were exhausted!

The following Monday was Labor Day, so of course there was no word from the property manager.  On Tuesday afternoon, I got a knock at the door and when I opened it, I saw one of the painters there with his wife and kid holding a mop, telling me he was there to clean.  Why the painter didn’t just stay and clean after he finished painting the other day, I don’t know, but I told him we’d already done it and we didn’t need it cleaned any more.  I also wanted to tell him that it was so nasty, a sole mop was not going to be helpful, but I kept my mouth shut and sent him on his way.

Although we got the bathroom clean, I was still waiting for them to send someone to put my light fixture back up.  The property manager did call on Thursday and leave a message saying he sent the cleaning crew and I turned them away, and that everything should be done now.  Of course it wasn’t (and still hasn’t been done a month later), but I’m tired of dealing of with them so I’ve just decided to deal with a naked light for a while :)

Anyway, I am still  have issues with a leak, but until it gets bad again…I’m leaving it alone.

At least I have a shower again! :)

The End…kind of ;)

2011 Home Opener – Bama vs. Kent State

This weekend, my beloved Crimson Tide kicked off the season with a game against Kent State.

Kent State is a sterotypical “home opener” team, so we were not too concerned with the outcome of the game, but it was fun playing against Coach’s alma mater. :)

Not only did Kent State produce our beloved coach, but they also have helped a great deal with the storm relief efforts.  You can read more about their contribution here.  To show respect, the University and fans decided not to “boo” the Kent State players as they entered the stadium and forego our traditional victory song, “Rammer Jammer” after we won.  Things like that make me proud to be part of the Crimson Tide family :)

Anyway, the game was pretty much like watching a scrimmage game, but it is nice to have a home opener like that (especially since the other school in the state had a more difficult time than we did in their home opener)  Plus, it was nice to get a glimpse of our new QB(s) :)

As usual, I worked for recruiting.  We had low numbers, so it was helpful for all of the newbies to get their bearings before we move into the huge games :)

Because the home opener is the only game I get to wear a white dress, I had no problem deciding what I was wearing, but rather which one.  I picked out a cute white dress, but due to my 10-day steroid pack and the ten pounds and massive swelling it has brought on, I had to change dresses at the last minute.  I got to wear white though so I was happy regardless (especially since it was HOT)

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the game.  As mentioned above, I am super swollen so please excuse my puffy face.  On top of that, I am so splotchy thanks to my OTHER medication that gives me hot flashes….gotta love side effects of medicines!

   

  To celebrate the win/season opener, I whipped up some homemade red velvet cupcakes ( with pecans grown in our front yard).  This was a family recipe that I have never tried to make, but I was impressed how they turned out.  In fact, they turned out so well that most were gone off the cooling rack before I could even get the camera out! ;)

All in all, it was an EXCELLENT way to kick off football season!! :)

ROLL TIDE! :)