kentucky blonde

8 to go!

2012-02-20T13:21:00.000-05:00

want to see the greatest thing to start a week??

ohh. myy. word. that's hadley & my nephew colton and pure amazingness. look at those wittle tooshies!

okay, enough of that. ;)

today is 8 months until john and i walk down the aisle!! i honestly can't believe how quickly this has flown by but i'm happy to say i have most of the planning complete. i'll do a humungo wedding update post soon.

so for valentine's day, i bought john 12 heart shaped balloons with 12 little gifts wrapped under each balloon. i know it sounds super romantic and amazing and blah blah blah but secretly, the gifts were things like toothpaste, dish washing detergent, 5 frames of our engagement pictures, boxers, and lots of chocolate.

i'm creative yet resourceful. very resourceful.

i was soooo stoked that we received some of our personalized thank you cards. i also bought the greatest address stamper from etsy so i'm prepared to begin receiving gifts. ;)

a few random things:

-last night, john and i watched the 1996 flick "FEAR" with reese witherspoon and mark wahlberg. holy hotness but sheesh, i'll never be the same after that ending.

-friday night, we went to a bar for about 30 minutes with my cousin & sister. when we walked out to go home, my sisters car had been broken into and it was pretty heartbreaking. what low lives! they stole her gucci purse, wallet, tennis racket, shoes, gift cards, cash, checks, and not even to mention the broken glass. the jerks even broke the window over colton's car seat so there's a ton of glass in little baby colton's seat. :( i hate that people do that. poor jess has been dealing with the terrible mess that happens with that but i wish they would just catch those losers. another car that was parked next to jessie's had their laptop stolen. ugh, so sad.

i just realized i started on such a great note and ended on a depressing one. so let's get back to positive...

8 months until john becomes mr. kentuckyblonde!! ow! ow! ow! ow!

day o' love

2012-02-14T09:47:00.001-05:00

happy valentine's day my loves!

in an attempt to decorate the home to make the day a touch more festive, i hung some hearts from the mantle,

because i bought myself a brand new heart cutter outter.

and because it's a must, whether its from your significant other, your dad, or yourself, a single rose (or more) is necessary for the feeling of love.

this valentine's day is truly something to be grateful for, just as every day. but today is the one and only valentine's day i will ever spend as someone's "fiancé" which makes me a little weak in the knees. ;)

last year, he was my boyfriend, today he's my fiancé, and next year he'll be my husband.

but he's always my valentine and my very bestest friend.

happy valentine's day john. i love you more than anything in the world and i am sometimes jealous of myself for this absolutely wonderful life we've created together. i'm so blessed to call you my valentine and share this day with you. thank you for being you.

our plans you ask? we made reservations (yes, reservations) at this chili restaurant around here, SKYLINE. it even has a drive thru and everything but we love this place. for a mere 30 bucks, we get a salads, entrees, desserts, drinks, and get ready for this... 2 t-shirts!!!! greatest valentine's day ever.

and to you all - you each are wonderful and i hope you have an incredible day. i'm very lucky to have created such wonderful friendships with so many inspirational women on the blogosphere and today, i'm exceptionally thankful! xoxoxox

what are your plans for the day??

a few insights

2012-02-06T13:01:00.001-05:00

i thought this monday morning was a nice time to show y'all some shots from around my home. not sure why, but i just am feelin it.

my make up stand with my brushes.

my jewelry stands.

my strong love for brown boots. can you guess which will be worn under my wedding dress?

my engagement gift that i made for my fiancé. one of my faves, lindsay, gave me the idea.

a few other random notes...

-i've been obsessed with the ghiradelli caramel squares and woof,

they are the best things in the world!

-super bowl thoughts? blah.

madonna's a little old to be dancing with pom poms, don't ya think?

-i am thankful for every first monday of each month

because my grad school class gets together for drinks.

what's getting you through this week?

tgif

2012-02-03T13:28:00.000-05:00

my loves! it's friiiiday!

i'm so very happy for super bowl weekend to finally be here and take a break from wedding planning! after my first torturous experience as a bride~~zilla~~, this week came with a stationery fiasco, which makes me even more excited for the date night my fiancé and i have planned for tonight. just like the ole days!

a saturday with no plans but a hopeful thought of a workout and a sunday with a great football game and even better commercials, i'm pretty stoked about a relaxing, wonderful next couple days.

after a morning of hot yoga & house chores, i hope you all are just as excited as i am about this weekend.

what are your fun plans?

blog tag

2012-02-01T11:38:00.000-05:00

i'm usually a fan of reading but not participating in these blog tag games but this time around, i'm all in. natasha from hello! happiness blog tagged me in this fun little questionnaire so here are the rules and then here goes nothin!

~you must post the rules

~post 11 fun facts about yourself

~answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you & then create 11 questions to ask the people you've tagged

~tag 11 people and link them in your post

~let them know you have tagged them

Eleven Fun Facts About This Girl

1. when i was like 5, my sister closed my head on the sunroof and now i freak out when anyone tries to touch my neck.

2. my undergraduate degree was in integrated strategic communications with a focus in public relations and psychology. my graduate degree is a masters of business administration.

3. i'm an avid believer that red wine is healthy.

4. i write lists to write lists to write lists. i have a million lists all over the place.

5. i'm addicted to temple run. my high score is 2,338,840. what's yours?

6. i hate buying gas and stamps. two worst things to spend money on.

7. i have 5 sisters and 1 brother. jessie, tori, lauren, alex, (me), paige, sam.

8. odd numbers freak me out. that's why i've had goosebumps the entire time i've been writing this post full of "11"... hence my wedding date. 10.20.2012. all even. makes me happy.

9. traveling is my favorite thing in the world. i've been all over the us, florence, pisa, venice, rome, italy, tunisia, africa, crete, croatia, santorini, greek isles, corfu, isle of capri, cancun, barcelona, spain, monte carlo, southern france, paris, france, and a lot of other places that i adore.

10. i could literally be the next sun drop dance girl. not even kidding. i've got moves you've nevah seen.

11. recently, i made the switch of all soft drinks to water. it was a ~~liquid~~ solid decision.

Here are the questions Nastasha posted:

1. What is your profession? Currently my business card says one of the following: Domestic Engineer; Stay at Home Fiance; or House Manager.

2. How would you describe your style? My style. My style is traditional staple pieces and then i usually add some sort of weird, or artsy piece. i guess i get this from my artist grandmother. at least once a day, i'll look at my outfit and say, what in the world am i wearing?? but it works for me and it's all about expression, right??

3. What one make-up product can you not live without? hands down, 1000% positive it would be this guerlain mascara. sooo worth the price and makes lashes look incredible. no other make up is needed when you use this secret weapon from the make up drawer!

4. If you could be besties with one celebrity, who would it be? i'd go with guiliana rancid on this one because she's the greatest person in the whole world and i'm obsessed with her. from her amazeballs fashion, successful and happy marriage, her out of this world job, and her positive attitude no matter what craziness life throws at her, she is definitely someone i would looove to be besties with!

5. What is your dream vacation? like i said before, i looove to travel and i've been to a ton of places. but since honeymoon places have been in the works lately, i'd have to say my dream vacation with my soon to be mister would be bora bora. sign me up!

6. What magazines do you subscribe to? i'm currently waiting on my first issue of country living, thanks to my doll of a girlfriend, alex. but i'm also fully stocked on basically every single wedding magazine ever published in the tristate area.

7. If you could have a special talent {that you don't currently have}, what would it be? i wish i could run marathons. i know you could say i could train and yada yada yada, but i can't. i have this really weird thing in my collarbone that doesn't allow me to run more than like 3ish miles. is it weird to consider running marathons a special talent?

8. What is your favorite breakfast food? the ever-so-american breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast, grits, hash browns, coffee, and everything else amazing like that.

9. If you could do anything, what is your dream job? absolutely start my own business. i've thought about it way too many times and got so far as to write up my whole business plan and everything. the hardest part is pulling the trigger.

10. What is your guilty pleasure? wine. every night if possible. ;) and reality tv, duh.

11. What is the best piece of advice you've ever received, and who gave it to you? i'm not sure if it's considered advice but i read this quote from one of my girlfriends that said "in order to have something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done" and in all honesty, it's changed my life. it's really simple but it changed the way i viewed relationships and part of the reason i like to think john and i are the way we are... happy and best friends and full of trust.

here are the 11 lovely ladies i'm tagging...

ashley from run with me

chelsea from choose to be happy

leslie at blonde ambition

morgan at oh captain

emily at my heart shaped life

annie at chapters of our life

kerr at say cheese

aubrey at made you blush

kristen at first name smith

chelsea at hello miss chelsea

megan at style me swanky

and here are the 11 questions i'm adding...

1. What is your all time favorite movie? (you can only name one!)

2. If you could have any super power what would it be and why?

3. If you could be besties with any celebrity, who would it be?

4. If you could take any trip in the world where would you go?

5. What's one piece of make up you can't live without ?

6. What's one accessory (jewelry, scarf, handbag, etc) that you don't leave the house without?

7. What is your dream job?

8. Sausage or bacon?

9. What's the best advice you've ever received and who gave it to you?

10. What's your guilty pleasure? (tv show, movie, food, etc)

11. What's your typical Starbucks order?

{photos from recent trip to paris, france}

the legit photos

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

i could not be happier to show off these beautiful photos by the ever so talented alicia!

the banner i created! in case you missed it... go here!!!!!

here's a link to her blog honoring US!!

we had so much fun in the freezing cold and slight rain but it was so. so worth it!

we loved looking at the same blade of grass ;)

can you believe those skies?

my SO SO handsome FIANCE :) i never imagined i'd be so blessed.

so which of these photos is your favorite?? i need help choosing the save the date photo! can you tell i'm a little excited to share these with you??

xoxoxoxoxoxo

diy: banners

2012-01-26T10:50:00.000-05:00

the majority of my most recent posts have been about crafts, or diy projects, or something about me being creative. on the contrary, i'd never consider myself to be a master of any of those things but i will admit, i love attempting it all.

on sunday, john and i traveled to lexington to work with one of my all time favorite photographers. alicia is unbelievable and i knew i had to have her photographs sometime during my engagement. i decided to attempt to create a save the date banner and even took photographs so all you lovelies :)

you need:

lace

ribbon

wooden numbers

paint

paint brush

hot glue gun

(john is shaking his head because i'm the last person on earth that really needs a hot glue gun)

i chose blue ribbon and gold paint and began painting away.

do you love the heart wrapping paper i used since i couldn't find anything else to cover the table with? ;)

after they are painted, i lined them up to display the beautiful date. and then i realized that wasn't right because the date would've been backwards!! so make sure you put the date backwards so they read correctly from the front.

i hot glued the lace on first and then added four strands of ribbon behind the lace. disclaimer: you'll use more hot glue than you think you would.

TA DA!!! our wedding date in all it's glory :)

october.

10/20/2012

so there ya have it my friends... stay tuned for tomorrow's preview of the engagement pictures!! waaaahoooo!!!!!!!

the beginning & save the date

2012-01-19T06:47:00.000-05:00

during our time spent in florida with these peeps...

(john, sis sam, me, mama, nephew colton, sdad rick, bro alex, sis jess, bro gf kelli, and broinlaw taylor)

john and i decided to spend some time on the beach to have our first go around of an engagement session. my sister jessie and mom came along for the fun so i figured it would be fun to share some of the pictures and announce the date!

waahooo! OCTOBER 20, 2012!

we thought this may be used as our save the date but then one of my favorite photographers agreed to have a session in lexington when we got home, so we decided to go with one of those. (fingers crossed, the photo shoot is this weekend!)

jessie and mom had a blast telling us to pose certain ways and dictate the forms.

it was a gorgeous afternoon so the backgrounds were basically flawless.

my handsome fiancé. and me.

i've heard shadows of holding hands were romantic...

we did some jumping shots

("we jumped on the date" idea for save the dates. haha)

then some close up-ish shots. he's a stud. did you see that dimple?

he's a keeper.

then jessie and mom got jealous and wanted a few pictures of them too. who am i to say no to an opportunity like that?!

it looks sweet but really we were saying things like this to each other

"ugh, i'm soo ready for another drink!"

"are you sitting in water?"

"i'm hungry"

"so you're telling me we aren't even using these pictures but we're still taking them?"

haha.

to keep ya updated, here's what i've accomplished so far:

groom? check.

engagement session photographer? check.

wedding day photographer? check.

wedding dress? check. (i can't include a link because clearly mr. kentuckyblonde occasionally reads this!)

any must have advice to give to this wedding planning bride?

present reveal: diy coasters

2012-01-18T17:14:00.000-05:00

i really wanted to show y'all this DIY project before christmas because it makes the best/easiest/inexpensive gift ever! i would say quick but when you're making about 100 of them, it's actually ~~ridiculously~~ time consuming.

things you need:

mod podge $4.99 (i used glossy, but matte i'm sure looks nice too)

clear acrylic gloss coating, make sure its water resistant $3.99-ish

tiles $0.16 (yup, about 16 cents from home depot or lowe's or wherever you find em)

scissors $hopefully.you.already.have.these

felt $1 for 4 pieces

pictures cut the size of the tile $0.19/copy-ish

1. secretly, if and when i do this again, i'll start with step 3, but if you don't, start here. either way, it works!

generously spread the mod podge over the ceramic tile. not that you have to do it at a record pace, but i would recommend working quickly because there's a precious window of time before the mod podge starts to really work and makes it tough to move the picture if you don't get it right on the first try.

2. after you have put the picture on straight, generously apply mod podge on top of the picture. i know, it looks like it's ruined. it's not. promise.

let it try for about 15 minutes and then do another coat. if you're feelin really saucy, you can even put a third coat on it too. (i'm guilty of this.)

3. here's what i would probably start with step 1. i realized after the first couple i made that i really wanted the back of the tile to be colored because i thought it looked better. but you put on the picture first though, i'd recommend just using some paint and a paintbrush to paint the back of the tile.

if you start at this step, take the tiles to the unfinished part of the basement and spray away! i cut a used paper towel cardboard part into pieces so i could paint the sides of the tiles too.

4. let it all dry. please excuse the strawberry paper. i figured i'd never use that one in a scrapbook so i used it for a drying board.

5. spray with water resistant spray. i also did this in the basement because the smell is a little yucky and lingers around for awhile.

6. i took the felt and cut out little squares. in each corner of the back of the tile, i used some super glue to keep the felt on tight.

TA DA! this here, is my entire dining room table with all the coasters drying out. i'd like to thank my lovely fiancé for letting me use his ESPN magazine as the drying surface. see, sports magazines are useful! ;)

step 6 1/2. make some homemade gift tags to add to the homemade presents.

step 6 3/4. wrap each individual coaster in a tissue paper so they don't break or make noise and give away the surprise. add some ribbon, the homemade gift tag, and you're out the door!

everyone loved these presents and i love that i made a few for us too! they were super easy, fun, and personalized!

notes: for a few, i used a piece of scrapbook paper as the background and cut the picture around the specific person so you could see the designed paper. it looks cool but there's a better chance of it having air bubbles.

have you made these? tell me your thoughts!

craft edition: success

2012-01-16T11:14:00.000-05:00

it's not everyday i have a successful crafting story and this time, i believe there would be a little disagreement of the word "successful"... you see, we spent a few weeks down in florida and one of those nights happened to be new years eve. john and i were both unprepared, with no sequins clothing in anything we packed.

lucky for him, i had the great idea to head over to hobby lobby in palm beach, get some mod podge and glitter. i "borrowed" one of the ties and white tees from my stepdads closet in palm beach and created our own appropriate new years eve gear!

thankfully johns love for me outweighs his hated for glitter, which i know is a lot because he really despises glitter.

but honestly, for a mere 8 bucks, i do have to admit, the mixture of his tie and my white tee (with the sleeves torn off with a knife bc i couldn't find scissors!) made our night much more festive... and it left my parents pad full of glitter for a long time afterwards too!

ow ow!

see! i bet they spent so much $$ on their "name brand" attire but me, some hobby lobby glue & dads old hanes works just fine.

;)

he asked, i said yes...

2012-01-09T09:38:00.000-05:00

my dearest friends, first of all, i must thank you for all the comments, emails, tweets, facebook likes and comments, texts, and everything in between! i've had a constant ear to ear smile since christmas day and so much is because of your love and support. thank you!!

thank you so much for being patient while this thing called Life takes over and makes my days seem like they last for approximately 10 minutes!

i am honored to tell you our story of the proposal and hope you enjoy the next 10 months of chaos as this kentuckyblonde attempts to create the wedding of a lifetime.

christmas morning began as usual in our household with the glorious fire in the fireplace, candles lit, and christmas music a'blarin. we had all the christmas lights on and presents under the tree for just the two of us.

we shared stocking stuffers and continued to open our gifts of a saw (for him), a uk sweatshirt (for her), some ray ban sunglasses (for him), pajamas (for her), and so on.

i'm usually one of the most unobservant people in the world so it wasn't surprising that i didn't really see the hearts on the tree during the whole present unwrapping extravaganza. he told me there are 10 hearts on the tree, all numbered, and i had to read them in order.

for mainly my own memory, i'm going to include what they each said but i figured you may enjoy the sappiness of it all as well. ;) each heart had the significant date and what was special about it.

1. 3/25/2010 the date of the first time i saw you at pat's house. i've never been so "wowed" by someone before. i had to talk to you.

2. 6/19/2010 our 1st, unofficial, date to the drive in. on the way back, i had my arm around you for the 1st time. i had goosebumps for 2 days...

3. 11/10/2010 our 1st kiss...

4. 12/23/2010 brian and i drove around for 3 hours trying to find your camera present. i knew you were something special...

5. 1/1/2011 the 1st time i told you i loved you. i knew that i did a long time before that. *fireworks*

6. 4/9/2011 we made the big step of moving in together. one of the best decisions of my life.

7. 6/15/2011 the 1st time i went ring shopping!

(this is where i began freaking out and crying)

8. 10/13/2011 when i asked dan if i could ask you to marry me.

9. 11/22/2011 when i asked your mom if i could ask you to marry me.

10. 12/25/2011 the beginning of the rest of our lives... i love you jayme.

after the 10th heart, he said there is one last present in the tree which was a wrapped box. i was shaking so bad and my eyes weren't exactly working because i was so excited but i managed to find it. after i unwrapped the box, john took it, got on one knee, said some of the most amazing things a girl could imagine and asked me to marry him.

right there, in the living room of our first house together, i sat on his bended knee, hugged him so tight, cried on his shoulder and said yes about one million times. an added bonus is i get to wear this absolutely beautiful tacori ring as a symbol of this everlasting love between the love of my life and myself. (sheesh, this is really cheesy) :)

between the fact that he actually cut out little hearts, used a hole punch, and delicately placed the yarn in each heart, i am still in disbelief that god has blessed me with such an incredibly sweet, romantic, nice, loving, handsome man to call mine for the rest of my life.

i love you john, the soon to be mr. kentuckyblonde.

better than the best day ever - biggg news!

2011-12-28T11:15:00.000-05:00

i could not be any happier to announce the following breaking news:

JOHN AND I ARE GETTING MARRIED!!!

he popped the question in the sweetest, most romantic way i could have ever imagined.

the way he asked will be a whole new post because quite frankly, this girl has already started planning and i'm spending this newly engaged time with my fiancé!

my tacori ring in all its beauty.

so my loves, i'll be back shortly to tell deets but just could not wait any longer to tell you lovelies!

xxooxo :)

all our love, soon to be mr. & mrs. kentucky blonde

the best day ever

2011-12-22T08:00:00.022-05:00

the question: what is the ideal place to spend the day after you celebrated the marriage between two friends?

the answer: go to moms house, get out the air mattresses, watch football, lounge all day, and of course eat every 20 minutes.

this is how we all felt... pure relaxation and happiness. lazy? yes. unproductive? absolutely. just what the doctor ordered? you betcha!

eye spy the perfect picture:

sam (my little sis) is home from college for the break, a christmas tree, my puppy reggie, a kentucky blanket, air mattresses, more blankets than a person could count, and a cold day outside which made the fireplace even more perfect.

just when my reached what i thought was my highest point of happiness, this little guy came over to share the joy of air mattress day!! watching the new little crawler attempt to cross over the air mattress was hilarious, precious, and a little bit sad because he just didn't understand why it was more difficult than hardwood.

his aunt (yup, me) decided there's nothin better than a naked baby so i let the munchkin spend some time in his birthday suit and as you can tell, i think its his new favorite outfit. also, check out that death grip he has on my stepdads face.

no words for this.

between the lazy day on the air mattresses and peeling ourselves out of the blankets to eat some chili, we threw on our greatest mink coats and went outside to shoot our christmas picture.

peta: please, no emails. :)

after all the excitement, we were all feelin just like colton... all tuckered out!

what is your ideal perfect sunday??

wedding edition: sullivans

2011-12-21T08:00:00.024-05:00

connnnngratulations to pat and kaitlin!!!

this is the last picture of pat as a single man!

the loveliest groomsman of them all! myyy johnny!

one big ole happy family!

the wedding ceremony took place at the caldwell chapel and it was absolutely beautiful.

pat's mother looked beautiful in her off the shoulder ruffled dress but the spotlight was certainly on the blushing bride and her incredibly gorgeous dress!

the wedding party (and their significant others: read: me) took a trolley to the reception at audubon country club.

the newlyweds!!

john and i on the trolley...

where moonshine was passed around.

the best man, charlie, is a moonshine master and brought the homemade moonshine with cherries to calm the nerves of the men before the ceremony. lucky for us, the leftovers came along for the trolley ride!

alex, the beautiful bride kaitlin, kentuckyblonde, and cat!

awww, what's cuter than a new husband with his new wedding band??

we danced the night away. and i'd be lying if i said i wasn't sore from shakin my groove thang the next day. their band was this, that, and the other was was sooo awesome! they were an absolute blast, interactive, and so much fun!

cutting the cake. <3

that's john's dads beautiful gf and moi.

kellen and cassie. two of my faves.

and some more of my absolute faves... the deals!

a wonderful night by all!

congrats to pat and kaitlin, i am so lucky to have been a part of your lovely journey and can't wait to celebrate more when y'all return from your beautiful punta cana honeymoon!

the day before the big day

2011-12-20T16:39:00.001-05:00

over the weekend, we had the pleasure of celebrating the nuptials between two of our very good friends, kaitlin and patrick.

john and pat have been friends forever, allowing john to have the pleasure of being one of groomsmen.

that's pat, on the right. that lucky guy to snag such a great gal!

the rehearsal was held at the pendennis club, a prestigious social club in downtown louisville. it was beautiful with the open bars, the hilarious and heartfelt toasts, fantastic dinner, and excitement for what was going to happen the next day!

that's john, travis, and charlie. charlie was the best man and gave an amazing toast.

cat and i held down the table with the six men in the two pictures above. it was a tough job, but being the groomsmen groupies we are, we knew we could handle it.

drew and james were groomsmen and curt read the irish blessing in the wedding, and did a wonderful job at that!

to no surprise, the four of us enjoyed the evening together.

curt, cat, moi, john.

my johnny and myself.

we had so much fun and even met some new friends!

but by the end of the night, when we all started looking like this, we knew it was time to rest up for the big day!

i am so sad i didn't get a picture of kaitlin because she looked so stunning in her perfectly white rehearsal dress and was beaming!

but gear up because the wedding day is next.

the pay off

2011-12-15T16:18:00.000-05:00

they say hard work pays off. want proof? here ya go...

these are the lovely ladies i've spent every monday and wednesday with for the past two and a half years.

and here's the whole graduating cohort! love these guys and i'll definitely miss them!

but after the ceremony, my family went to dinner at avalon on bardstown road and it was soooo incredible.

let me explain who was there from top to bottom, left to right.

my cousin riley, my grandmother and grandfather, my stepdad rick, my dad, my mom, my stepmom karen, my bro alex, my sister jessie, johns dad jody and his gf beth, ME, and my johnny!

can you even believe how incredibly blessed i am?!

it was all fun and games... especially when i had the wonderful idea (after a martini or two) to go around the table and have everyone say one adjective that best describes me! haaahaha, it was so much fun and i loved all the attention and compliments. i hope you found the sarcasm, but seriously. ;)

so not only does the pay off the hard work include time spent with my amazing family, but it also includes these materialistic things too...

oh? what's that you say? what do you see??

ohhh yesssss!!! a macbook air!! i am over the moon excited and i'm glad to say this blog post is one of the very first things accomplished on this piece of incredible technology!

and how could i possibly go an entire post without including colton?? his precious christmas picture. :)

its official. master of business administration.

whoop whoop

thank you all for the wonderful, kind words! i am very grateful for each and every single one!

all grown up

2011-12-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

after two and a half long years,

today is the day and full of tears.

i'll walk up that stage to get my diploma,

afterwards, i'll treat myself to a wine and food coma.

years of studying, writing, and speeches,

i can finally use what the professor teaches.

advanced knowledge is oh, so, healthy

and someday i hope it'll make me wealthy!

today, i'll receive my masters

i couldn't imagine it would happen faster(s).

we started out as scared little strangers,

but now we're together for any dangers.

the best team in the world is team dandy,

even though we should celebrate somewhere sandy.

class of 2011!

its official, i'll now sign my name KentuckyBlonde, MBA.

xo, i'm off to celebrate!

the haps

2011-12-07T10:24:00.000-05:00

well well well. boy, do we have a lot to discuss!

first - thank you for entering my giveaway... you still have a few days so if you haven't already, go ahead and get 'r done here!

first, it would just be wrong if we didn't start this post off with my perfect nephew, colton.

i was trying to get a picture of this AMAZING reindeer shoes but between him trying to eat them and his precious little face, i fell captive to forgetting my goal and just eating his little face right off.

that's the closest i got.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

i am so happy to spent our second christmas together so john and i spent the evening decorating our home, getting the tree, and rearranging everything to accommodate the many upcoming get together's we'll be hosting.

j&j stockings.

the garland. yup, it lights up.

a must-have.

thanks to johns dad, we now have some lovely christmas pillows ;)

please just ignore my cowboy boot slippers, my vino, and my blogging station there.

our entryway. i never thought i'd be the "christmas table runner decor" type of gal, but i never cease to amaze myself.

all ~~shook~~ lit up!

every.single.present... ready to go!

i've also been on a cooking kick lately. these pumpkin spice cookies are not only great during the fall, they are also the perfect compliment to snow and fireplaces!

i also made this chili recipe and OHH MYYY WOOORD! if your man enjoys hot and spicy, make this for him and i promise you'll have him wrapped around your little finger...oops, sorry john.. ;)

it's tray's spicy texas chili found here.

my friends... the countdown has begun! i graduate in 7 days! (imagine: monica from friends 7! 7! 7! 7!..anyone?)

these peeps above (team dandy) have been my favorite part of my grad school experience and i love em to death. i'm really going to miss seeing their dandy little faces every monday and wednesday but i'm so proud of us to have our MBA's and rule the world! D4L!

mi madre treated me to a whole new tea set the other day and i must say... i'm obsessed.

from the way the tea was presented, to the beautiful birds on the side of the cup, the perfect tea measure spoon and the can to hold the loose tea in. ugh, be still my heart. are you a tea-er??

one more... this is my grandmother's painting and i need y'all to help me decide where to put it! beverly erschell, my gma, is amazing and i hope you buy her paintings... or at least her book!

well friends, this gal but put the pedal to the metal and complete my list of 92783 things to do today!!

xxooxo

she's craftyyy & a little surprise

2011-11-30T08:55:00.001-05:00

before i show you what i created, i have to show you this...

i was in carmel, indiana a few weeks ago and saw this and had to take a picture to share with y'all.

right in front of this church, it says "heaven" with an arrow pointing to the church and then "townhomes $160's - $240's" which i chearly thought was pretty funny.

and now, i present to you kentuckyblonde in artsy fartsy form.

i used these colors and went crazy on a plain canvas to create this...

which i then added a variety of scrapbook letters to create a pretty neat next step.

i painted on top of the stickers with a white color

and let it dry.

but when i took some of the letters off, i realized i hated the white.

enter: black spray paint on top of the stickers and white paint.

slowly but surely, i removed the stickers.

my handsome model posed with the new canvas of things to "be" and things to "have" which i think i ended up liking this.

and the final piece.

the catch?

a giveaway!!!! i made this lovely masterpiece just for one of you darlings for the holiday season.

1 entry - follow this blog, which is mandatory :)

+1 entry - tweeeeet @jehosch28

+1 entry - tell me your favorite quote to possibly make another one

+1 entry - blog about this giveaway.

back to life. back to reality.

2011-11-28T10:16:00.000-05:00

what a week~~end~~ it has been!

it all began last tuesday with a birthday dinner for my grandpa.

then wednesday we had our first thanksgiving dinner with my stepmoms side of the family.

thursday morning began with a turkey trot and then a huge breakfast at cat's parents house with a ton of other families.

thursday early afternoon, john and i hopped in the car and ventured to lexington to have our third thanksgiving meal with his grandparents.

thursday late(r) afternoon, john and i hopped back in the car to drive back to louisville to have our fourth meal at my mothers house.

but saturday was one of the better days of my life. we brought this keg-o-que (a bar-b-que in the shape of a keg) to lexington to go to the kentucky v tennessee game. in case you didn't know, kentucky hasn't beat tennessee in 26 years.

curt and cat were the chefs on the keg-o-que with the bacon, sausage, and eggs.

the wind was a little stellar so our best option was to put it between the cars. yup, we felt ghetto and we loved it.

jeff is a huge loser because he's a vols fan. ;) just kidding, of course, we love mr. jeff! and his lovely fiance lauren as well.

hi pat! t minus 20ish days before he's a married man!

the eggs on the iron cast skillet. have you ever seen anything with such perfection??

ghetto, happy, successful, and full.

kentucky on the left. tennessee on the right. our first and second string quarterbacks were out so they put Roarke, our wide receiver as quarterback and well...

kentucky beat tennessee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! go cats!!!!!!!

we drove with the pedal to the metal to make it to churchill downs to watch #4, Gold Rush Girl, race. this beautiful horse just happens to be owned by john's father and we were so happy to make it to the track with 11 minutes to spare.

we made a couple last minute bets and then...

THEY WERE OFF!!!!!

and we wooooonnnn! what a wonderful day! kentucky won, girl rush girl came in second, and we spent the couple hours after that enjoying dinner with four of my sisters at my dad's house.

johns dad, john, johns brother peter, johns brother brian. studs, eh?

sunday, we went back to the track all day and then went to see a christmas story play at actors theatre and it was absolutely hilarious. gahh i love that movie!

so today is officially cyber monday... are there any must have deals for me to view? send em this way!

this thing called life

2011-11-22T12:34:00.000-05:00

one of the most exciting parts of my life at this time includes this girl right here...

her name is kelly and she's one of my bestest friends in the world.

kelly has this absolutely wonderful and adorable boyfriend who is now so appropriately called her fiance!! adam is great and i couldn't be happier for the two of them to tie the knot next year!

except i am even happier because this girl (me!) is one of her bridesmaids in the wedding. i feel so lucky to be a part of their big day and can't wait to start planning showers, b a c h e l o r e t t e p a r t y !!, and everything else my duties allow me to do!

kelly and adam, yayyy! i love you two!

the second current most important part of my life includes...

these shoes! since ballin on a budget is teaching me new ways of livin life, i was shoppin the sale rack at macy's and found these beauties! they are bcbgeneration and originally priced at $160ish, it was a steal for $70!! i attended a wedding shower on saturday night and was determined to pair them with the perfect fit which required some internet surfing... well, i was quite proud of myself when i didn't see them priced at 70buckaroos anywhere on the web! go me!

apparently i've lost ~~all~~ most of my sense of reality because it is november 22nd and i am basically completely finished with ALL my christmas shoppin! i have been crafting my little kentuckyblonde off, even with homemade gift tags and all i have left for the christmas holiday is my little love nugget.

i've been doing a million crafts lately and cannot wait for the paint to dry to show you the finished product! i hope they turn out well...

in other news:

the basement needs carpet and trim and then a HUGE blog debut of our hard, hard work. i'm really excited to show y'all.

second, john has had jury duty and luckily he's been sent home fairly early each day so this extra time we get to spend together has been so wonderful. i'm a lucky gal.

well friends, with john and i having HUGE families and lots of steps and grandparents and extended families, we are going to kick off the thanksgiving holiday with the first of five thanksgiving dinners tonight!

have a wonderful holiday, overindulge, and take frequent naps! this is the time to spoil yourself and your taste buds.

xo loves

the ultimate business woman

2011-11-15T10:30:00.000-05:00

as you may or may not know, i am less than one month away from graduating with my masters. masters of business administration, mba, to be exact. it's been a wonderful 2.5 years including learning and understanding the business world, working excel shortcuts, writing papers, getting hives in my first presentation, and making amazing friendships. as you know, i love team dandy.

so the point of this post is.... clearly i'll be expecting graduation gifts! :)

Mug Cozy Coffee Cup Sleeve

because the kentucky winter isn't friendly (even though its been about 70 degrees the last couple days) and this could make my mornings very happy.

Petra Bracelet in Malechite

this bracelet is by the ever so talented catherine nicole and just one of the many, many pieces from her collection i woiuld love to call my own. check her out, she's amaze. and no, sadly, i'm not getting any type of compensation for these plugs. ;)

My Red Umbrella

my ever-so-arty-fartsy friend cat has three of these and i sometimes catch myself staring for way too long. annette mangseth is an artist from norway and paints these lovely, delicate pictures on pages from notebooks.

i figure since i won't be reading school books anymore, i might as well paint on them...right?

also, since i'll have more spare time, i hope you can help me out and recommend a new TV series. any seasons i simply can't live without?

ok, here are a few last minute pictures and then i'm on to write some school papers. this kentucky blonde is gettin her schoolin' on...

{babysitting baby colton with my mama and the doggies. typical day.}

{he sucks those two fingers and its the cutest thing i've ever seen}

what's on your wish list? tv series? talk to me.

happy birthday to my love

2011-11-10T16:49:00.000-05:00

today is john's 26th birthday and i am so so happy to celebrate that glorious day he was brought into this world. :)

john - you are absolutely wonderful and i am so incredibly blessed to have you in my life.

i love you so much

and i've never laughed so hard every single day.

you are so much fun

and extra cute too!

we've created a home that i adore...

and you are truly my very best friend.

from the beginning,

i knew you were somethin special.

and celebrating your birthday means so much.

i hope every dream comes true for you,

because you've made mine come true.

happy birthday!

i love you!

sugar high

2011-11-02T13:44:00.000-04:00

this little puppy, aka my nephew colton, was the perfect model to display the 580 pieces of candy we bought for the intense trick or treating in our part of town.

is it bad he ate it allll?

he sure is a happy baby though when he's surrounded with candy and cameras.

i just want to eat those little hands right off him. is there a way i could love my own children some day as much as this kiddo??

the happy family.

and us. :)

FUNNY STORY:

john and i were standing here handing out candy when this precious little princess started telling her dad, "daddy! daddy!! i gotta go potty nowwww!!"... john and i didn't even have a chance to offer our "potty" before she started crying and a HUGE puddle began to gather under her pretty little princess gown. she was absolutely terrified and ran off without even getting her portion of snickers or milky ways. it was so hilarious but i felt so bad for the little 3 year old girl!

any halloween stories for you?

life improvements

2011-10-25T11:37:00.000-04:00

life has been quite exciting lately, hence the unintentional hiatus.

first things first...

my mom had emergency eye surgery on tuesday due to a detached retina. {insert "ouuuuch"} this picture is about an hour after the surgery and she's still on her happy meds. but isn't she the cutest? it's been a week now and the recovery is strolling along even though it means no traveling for 8 weeks, no looking up which includes she can't get her hair done or go to the dentist, and she can't sleep on her back and some other things.

to keep mama company, my sister, bro in law, colton, john, and i spent friday night at moms house drinking wine, playing games, and taking care of the sweet little lady. now let's take a moment to look at precious colton's awesome hat, "fur" vest, and UK onesie.

i apologize for the bad iphone picture but john and i redid the entry way. we (ok, fine, he) hung up the mirror that i'm loving and switched out the boom box ipod player thingy for some serenity feel of candles and things. thoughts?? what else would you change? i'm totally up for advice.

when my roomie came home and immediately commented on how clean the sink was, i knew i had to share with my little blogettes this secret weapon i discovered. baby oil on chrome... works wonders! did you know that or am i last one to find out such magic??

please share your other quick cleaning secrets because the life of a stay at home girlfriend is a dirty one. {pun kinda intended}

we are thisclose to finishing our basement and i am THISHAPPY about it. consider this the brag book portion of this post. on friday, i surprised john by painting half the basement (its a ginger ale color) and he surprised me with hanging the shelves in the storage room. eventually, i'll have a total basement post but until then, i'll leave you with small pictures of semi-finished things.

are you watching real housewives of new jersey and/or beverly hills? because i'm uhhhbsessed and figured i'd share my thoughts.

1. new jersey: teresa is crayyyyyyzzzyyyy. she used to be the reason i watched the show but now i watch it for mainly melissa. teresa needs to have a reality check. (reality check, haha, i didn't even mean that but that's funny)

melissa > teresa.

2. beverly hills: at first, brandi made herself look like a dumbdumb but i think i really like her now. kyle & kim were so mean to her and brandi ended up having to take the blame. #lame

3. beverly hills: adrienne's spa day. if we're friends and you expect something like that from me, consider us not friends anymore. kapeesh? kapeesh.

so my loves, game time. take at least one topic from this enormous post and discuss it in the comments section.

fairy godmother & pumpkins

2011-10-17T12:30:00.000-04:00

i am so proud to say i am this little guys godmother.

my precious nephew was baptized yesterday and stole the hearts of every person in the church.

(he got bit by a mean mosquito hence his little bite under his eye. poor guy.

hey, mr. mosquito- pick on someone your own size!)

there's jessie and taylor on stage with myself and his godfather, rob, which is taylor's brother.

the four of us. just 3 short years ago, rob and i stood on the same stage on the same sides next to jessie and taylor as their best man and maid of honor on their wedding day. we're so blessed that we can both stand in the same position for their first born, baby colton.

my heart is melting.

after we had a delicious celebratory lunch and amazing cupcakes made by the ever so talent maggie from sugar mama's... we headed to hubers.

we drove this amazing scenery that i will never get tired of to pick out some great pumpkins and have a touch of wine tasting... since we clearly didn't get enough wine tasting last weekend in california. :)

there's nothing better than the season of fall.

the love of my life frolicking through the pumpkin patch.

we picked up some nice spiced apple wine, sat at an outdoor table, and enjoyed some nice live music.

and then drove home. i kept hoping john would get lost so we could see more amazing views like this but unfortunately, he's got a sense of direction like a hound dog.

absolutely loving fall.

between becoming a godmother and having my nephew baptized and spending the afternoon with my love at hubers and driving around on a beautiful day, i'd say yesterday was pretty successful.

mas vino

2011-10-14T07:00:00.025-04:00

hoorayy for friday! along with this being the last day of the work week, it's also the last day of the cali recap. bittersweet, i know.

sunday we headed out to a private tasting at an absolutely beauuuutiful winery where sean and brianna are actually members!

LEDSON. the members at their home away from home.

this winery started out as a normal house but it was so huge and caught everyone's eyes that people would drive down the driveway assuming it was a winery and make themselves comfortable for a tasting. it got to the point where the owner (steven ledson, i think?) finally gave in and made it into the whole tasting room and winery.

someday, john and i will live in a home like this...

just check that out. it was perfect.

absolutely perfect.

i secretly felt like lisa vanderpump because it was just screaming dolla dolla bills y'all and she's loaded so i felt like her.

just so there are no questions of just how awesome my friends and i are, i'd like to point out our private tasting was even personalized with our names and foot massages and gold coins. (only 1 of the last 3 things i said are true.)

the crew sitting on the upstairs porch during our wine tasting and overlooking the rose bushes and vineyards with a plateful of chocolates, cheeses, crackers, meats, and diamond studded air.

that was our view.

grapes. wine.

next we ventured out to imagery winery where we sat outside on the back porch, enjoyed a few glasses of wine and the cloudless sky and rested our little selves.

then we finished our wine (bottoms up!) and decided to go to sonoma square and treat ourselves to some delicious foods from the girl and the fig.

clearly i got the grilled cheese. yumm.

if you were following us that day, you'd next go to hawkes, another winery where sean and brianna are members of and you would drink plenty of vino there and enjoy the company and admire the house that is for sale right next to it for a lot of moolah.

we ended the vacay at westwood winery for a tasting there.

we threw our feet up on the table, relaxed, took our time, and held on to every last second we had out in paradise before we had to come back to our real lives.

which is your favorite from this day?! what's your favorite type of wine??

so much wine, so little time.

2011-10-13T06:00:00.006-04:00

disclaimer: this post has a lot of pictures so please, kick off your shoes, turn on some music, and relax a little with your favorite glass of vino.

saturday, we got a driver named dan and took it upon ourselves to make the day just a sunny as the sky. not a cloud in the sky, it was absolutely perfect.

taylor, jessie, sean, brianna, jayme, john.

we rode in this...

dan & the van.

to this...

silver oak.

and it was beautiful!

we drank the wine in this library where they keep it at 59degrees. the buttery breadsticks and wine were simply amazing. behind the table is a ginormous barrel with the silver oaks logo which used to be a real barrel, can you believe how big they used to be?!

someday, i'll have something like this inside my personal wine cellar at my house.

photography at its finest.

between the color of the place, the color of the trim, the line of limos out front, the tasty wine, the exquisite landscaping and extremely nice tour guide, silver oak definitely won me over.

kim and shannon (the two lovebirds on the far left) live in san fran and came to hang with us for the day! it was great to see them... kim and jessie and alyson have been besties since they were in high school.

next up, we went to ferrari carano which are the owners of our hotel!

the views were deece. nottttt, they were outstanding!!!

sistersssss

sean & bri.

john & jayme.

that's my hunk.a.hunk.a.burnin.love.

ow! ow! kentuckyblonde photo shoooot!

4 leaf clover in california?! i'm a lucky gal!

so did you know corks come from trees? well, i didn't. but i saw this cork oak tree and when you feel it, its so squishy and feels exactly like a cork! wiiiiild

after a lovely tasting at ferrari, we went to bella vineyards & wine caves.

they had awesome live music, kadrillions miles of open fields and views like no other. on top of all that, they have wine CAVES!!! it was pretty cool to see the inside of the cave on the mountainside with barrels upon barrels on wine.

paradise.

bella. it reminded me of honey bee tees. anyone else?

next up!!! and YES! these were all in one day! we went to a family owned winery called talty vineyards & winery.

that's jessie and michael. michael makes all the wine there! this other dude was pouring our wine during the tasting and michael walked in and the other dude said, "michael, hey buddy. you wanna pour the wine since you made it?" it was pretty sweet to have the guy that made it pour it! only at a small, family owned winery can ya get that service!

talty.

then it was time to push the grapes so michael put us to work! each of us girls got a chance to do his heavy work and push the grapes. there's jessie.

and alyson with her huge biceps. :) we did great. i think we all got the job offers.

the crew before we had to leave and head to dinner. i guess some food after an entire day of drinking isn't a bad idea!

we went to willi's wine bar for dinner and enjoyed millions of tapas. it was a great and pretty local joint which i say you should frequent if you're nearby! john and the rest of the boys are still talkin about the filet sliders.

are you ready for day three?! comin right up!!

which of the vineyards of the day is your favorite??

you take a napa*

2011-10-12T13:53:00.000-04:00

hi. i'm jayme, the kentucky blonde, and i am in love with my life. wanna know why? well, one of the 238974 reasons is because i spent last weekend in the wine country of california. it was to celebrate my sister (which she's another reason why i love my life) 30th birthday and celebrate we did!

we arrived friday morning and went straight to sonoma cutrer for a private tour and tasting. it was absolutely gorgeous and there were sooo many pictures to take and only so many i could possibly share!

i'm not going to lie, before this trip, it was rare for me to drink any red wines as i was a self-diagnosed white wine avid lover. but i'm happy to say i am now in love with reds just as i am whites! it was a big step for this girl!

i promise i won't show you barrels from each and every.single.vineyard we went to but its a must to include some of them!

we sat on this awfully manicured and so yucky porch...

and bottoms up it was! we went with three other couples who i will introduce momentarily but this is sean.

and you know this guy, right? he's my brother in law, taylor and he's a beast when it comes to drinkin vino.

my love and myself.

after the tastings on the porch, we walked to the vineyards and saw those amazing views you only dream of when you see pictures and never imagine they are really that great in real life. well, they are.

the only thing better than wine country at 11am is being there with the ones you love.

the crew.

teddy, alyson, brianna, sean, jessie, taylor, moi, john.

next, we ventured to harvest moon winery. in true kentuckyblonde fashion, i have to admit, this was my favorite. we went to approximately 239857 vineyards and i loved each and every one. however, this one was so relaxed and personal and wonderful that it will forever hold a special spot in my heart. plus, the wine was **real nice**... (said in your best uncle eddy accent)

jessie and i are true notetakers. we were very serious with our crayons and tasting menus. if you'll notice, we wrote "killer" on one since that's why randy described it. "this wine is killer" ...yes please! then there was another "bday in my mouth" which was the one and only jessie quote. well done my friend.

clearly they had a magnificent pool house that i could make my own ever so quickly.

they had to drag me out by my ankles as i was acting like a 4 year old leaving fao schwartz. they had dogs roaming around, awesome staff, great wine, fantastic views, and the company wasn't too shabby. one of the best quotes was from "anna" who worked there who was describing potential dinner places for us and ran away right after she said, "please excuse me, my brain is in fart mode."

before i head out and get ready to go to the second day, i'll leave you with pictures of our room. we stayed at the vintners inn in santa rosa and i would highly recommend this place. it was beautiful, very accommodating, had a wonderful restaurant attached where we ate dinner that night, and left hot and fresh cookies each night on our pillows.

for some reason, i forgot to take a picture of the FIREPLACE we had IN OUR ROOM and they left new logs in EVERY NIGHT which was a DREAM COME TRUE but as you can call, i LOVED it. i rarely use caps when i type (because i'm usually too lazy/busy for punctuation) but in this case, i'm extra excited about the fireplace so i had to.

but this balcony was quite amazeballs if i say so myself!

so my friends, buckle up because we have a few more posts comin! have you been to cali's wine country? what are your thoughts?

*can you name who said the title to this post?!

that time i played tourist

2011-10-03T12:24:00.000-04:00

i ventured to chicago for the weekend for some quality time with one of my besties, jenny, who moved there in july. i was so happy to play tourist for the weekend and constantly wear my canon around my neck and marvel at each and every tall building and flag down cabs like a pro.

the last time i was in chicago was like 10 years ago when my sister sam and i got front row tickets to the shania twain concert there. yup, i'm glad to say the drummers drum stick is still in my night stand table and gives me lovely dreams each night.

saturday was the awesome kentucky/lsu game. i say awesome in the most sarcastic way you could ever imagine. so we were decked out in our blue and white to cheer on our cats that lost an incredibly embarrassing loss.

oh, right, this guy! welcome to le blog de kentucky blonde!

this is ryan! he is wonderful and super fun and a co-tour guide with jenny for my trip. someday he'll learn about this here blog and be so happy to be a part of it. ;)

after going to the pony bar to watch the game, we went to the top of the hancock building (floor 96 whoop whoop) and saw incredible views of the city.

i don't know where you live, but lemme say... kentucky views of rolling fields and horses is a littttttle bit different from this awesome world of high population!

oprah then invited us to her pent house but we kindly declined because we...well, because we. ok, fine, i didn't see any famous people and i didn't get that invite. but i can promise you i looked up and down and everywhere for bill rancic! i know they sold their chicago home but he loves chicago so i thought he'd be there. since i'm obsessed with his wife, i thought he would be the next best thing...

what's the go to thing to do when you're at the top of the hancock building with martini's and a canon rebel? clearly you must place them in amazing ways and take millions of pictures and not allow any of the rest of your party to drink they're drink until you've landed the *perfect shot. nailed ittt.

we went to jake melnick's to eat their amazing wings... firecracker. if you live in chicago and you're reading this, i demand you to turn off the computer and run, don't walk, run to there and get them. oh my delish!

and then take a picture like this and send it to me!

sunday, we hit up navy pier, which is another tourist haven. canon around my neck, map of chicago, fanny pack and all, i loved it. (secretly, i didn't have the map or the fanny pack but every tourist should.)

yes please!

and it was octoberfest so this apron was a must have photo op!

the cutest little band and suspenders and stuff you've ever seen!

apparently this is a tourist must have photo op too because we had to wait for people to take their pictures until we had the chance.

the chicago flag. which i secretly didn't know that's what it was...

The Tourist Shot.

what a beautiful city!

to my hosts... thanks so much for the lovely weekend! i can't wait to visit again and hopefully next time, i won't come home with so many bruises!

now it's show & tell time... have you been to chicago? what's your favorite spot that i have to go to next time?!

growing old

2011-09-22T13:15:00.000-04:00

ever since monday night, i've been trying to understand when i got so old.

i came home from class and was welcomed to the following conversation:

john: hey...jaym...i have something to tell you...

me: this is never good, is it?

john: i had a guy come over while you were in class...

me: this is weird.

john: and i realized we really need to change something...

me: this is really weird.. a man? while i was in class? changing? awkkkward...

john: yes. we need new gutters.

me: nooooo!!!!! i'm officially old!!!!!!!

so it happened. i'm old and now spending my free time (and money) discussing GUTTERS and leafguard and "potential foundation issues in the future" and aluminum and end caps and ohhh my! i never thought it would happen.

since i've realized i was old and getting new gutters, i've been thinking of so many other things that have changed during the past 3-5 years for me. i'm 25 years old and having that detox reality that i'm not in college anymore. i'm actually 3 months from graduating GRAD school. MBA world here i come.

the list of realizing i'm officially old: can you relate??

-getting new gutters

-the differences of LOVING undergrad for being in COLLEGE and not having a care in the world to going to GRAD school and realizing COLLEGE is a whole different world

-spending saturday nights painting walls

-working out because its the cool thing to do on campus and wearing your sports bra and yoga shorts because college girls weigh approximately 89 pounds. now working out because my metabolism suddenly hates me.

-tired vs hungover

-college: girlfriends call to announce breakups

after college: girlfriends call to announce engagements

-a crazy/successful night goes from staying out til 4am to mastering the fishtail braid.

-college: got an A!

after college: got a Baby!

-facebook becomes the means of networking instead of stalking

-at kentucky, the 5th floor of the library was where you went to hang out with your friends and party, for a lack of better words, and it was a daily activity. a pre-game, if you will. now, we must schedule get togethers with friends months in advance to accommodate the 14 weddings we have this year.

and last but not least, i'm officially old because

-i'm sad i killed my basil and mint.

what was the moment you realized you were officially old?!

go cats...

2011-09-20T11:47:00.000-04:00

it's no secret kentucky basketball takes the cake when discussing kentucky athletics. however, there's little in the world that is better than kentucky tailgating and seeing the seas of blue and white. the scents of grilling burgers, girl fights by the toilets, the drunk college girls (and guys), and the rivals getting booed at by the bystanders.

john and i outside of commonwealth.

pat and kaitlin. they are gettin hitched in december... yay!

*commonwealth stadium*

do you love these belts the boys have been wearing lately?? because i love them.

the fellas at our tailgate.

and the ladies.

it was great to be back in lexington for the day but a sad, sad day for two reasons:

one of my besties, jenny, moved to chicago and it was really weird to be tailgating without her. she was very missed!

and because it is with much regret, i must tell you kentucky lost. to louisville. it was so sad.

win or lose, we still booze.

go cats!

who's your favorite team??

ps - i've been crying all day because tonight is the finale of teen mom. i'm just not ready to say goodbye to catelynn and tyler yet. or BBBBBentley!! are you obsessed with this show too?? and also, real housewives of beverly hills is taking over my life. ok, enough of this guilty pleasure rant.

red hot red carpet

2011-09-19T11:39:00.000-04:00

the only break our tv took from continuous football games was the exception of the emmys. it was the perfect compliment to the masculinity fall brings with nonstop gaming and updates on fantasy football leagues -- 2 leagues for me and a whopping 5 leagues for john!

if you are not a giuliana rancic fan, our friendship is automatically questionable. if having perfect hair doesn't put her in your top 5, then i guess the fact of her flawless body, too cute hubby, healthy relationship, amazeballs job, top of the line couture clothing, and her non-sorority but still super happy personality should make you change your mind! love her, so hard. and she looks so perfect in this gorgeous gown... which was second to her cavalli dress for the pre-carpet festivities.

and i tweeted about julie bowen... yes, she is absolutely gorgeous! but i'll admit, i think she could use a couple extra servings for her next 148 meals. agreed or no?

much like this post, modern family was the top of the line and major winner of the night. the first four of the awards went to them... well done! but sofia vergara... are you real?? she is so so gorgeous! did she get a reduction or something? she looks phenom though and yes, i love the accent!

the overall winner for best dressed in my opinion goes to nina dobrev! whoaaa... can i have this dress as a wedding gown?! or a night gown because i'm pretty sure i would never ever ever take this sucker off! she looks unreal!

and ewwie... what are you thinking gwenyth!? this is le miserable. i know she is like 37 but looks like she's 18 but that still doesn't mean she can pull of fugliness like this! plus, with all the extra time she's spent in the spotlight, you'd think she would know this is a huge no no!

why do you watch the emmys? or other award shows? is it for the fashion or for the actual show??

who were your favorites or not so favorites?!

she's crafffty: shots to flowers

2011-09-15T14:37:00.001-04:00

when john and i moved in together, i was actually impressed with his eye for decor. there was nothing that i really hated or knew i had to change. i simply knew i had to *add some feminine touches*... i put the * there because it makes it prettier when said out and less complain-y... right?

so john thought a nice touch to the window sill above the kitchen sink were these shot glasses.

yes, of course i encourage mass amounts of drinking in any situation however, it's not always necessary to remind me exactly where my headache on sunday morning came from... saturday night and those shot glasses that stare back at me.

so one day, i added some flowers to them.

yes, they looked prettier but the el jimador just wasn't doin it for me.

so one day, john came home from work and saw the weapon sitting on the table. i accidentally forgot to put it back in it's assigned closet and he immediately said, "jayme. what did you spray paint again?"

{insert tail between my legs and hand to forehead.... stoooopid! note to self: put evidence away}

but for the sake of this post, i even have pictures of evidence that yes, i am guilty and yes, i spray painted your ever so beloved el jimador shot glasses. :)

{also, clearly spray painting shot glasses trumps my healthy recipes book. who wants black bean frittatas or spinach stuffed chicken anyways?? crafts>cooking}

so while i did not force john to remove his shot glasses from becoming a staple decor piece in the home, i simply added flowers and painted them gold.

see honey, i told you i love your decorating. i may just add a few touches, if you will...

cheers!!

so please please please do share your little secrets that make your home a little more feminine and homier! i love little easy tricks you little bloggers think of with your creative little minds.

ps. i put my dish soap in that oil glass vase because i think its prettier. in retrospect, i guess i should've/could've moved it for these pictures... sorry bout that one.

wedding: tori & cash

2011-09-13T06:00:00.009-04:00

thursday night was the rehearsal dinner for my stepsister tori's upcoming nuptials to cash on friday night.

it was a doc crow's which is downtown louisville and it was so pretty!

sisters.

lauren, jessie, tori, paige, moi.

my stud.

my sister, jessie.

our dad. :)

with our men.

the wedding was on friday night and it was at the brown hotel in downtown louisville.

my camera battery died so i only have those pictures from my iphone. but i was able to catch this picture of the beautiful bride and groom!

isn't she beautiful!

the happy couple.

the whole weekend was wonderful and beautiful and i am so happy for them! tori and cash both had 9 peeps on each side of their bridal party with the bridesmaids wearing long, floor length purple dresses and they were so pretty! i'll post a picture when i find one.

ribs & games

2011-09-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

this couple

and this couple

had an amazing staycation.

my mom and stepdad went to paris so john and i housesat and stayed with the dogs. we were so lucky that curt and cat decided to join for four days and it was awesome. we cooked, ate, drank, played games, relaxed, and enjoyed ourselves.

we added some vodka infused watermelon to our skinnygirl sangria. even though it led to an allergic reaction (to me, oops) i have to admit, it was worth it. so so good and a necessity for game night.

we made ribs. a lot of ribs.

it is so much fun to watch cat (and curt and john) in the kitchen because she is such a natural there. when i cook, i follow the directions verbatim and drive myself crazy with every single detail. but cat just goes in there, adds some of this, a little of that, and WABAM! it's a perfect meal!

cat is a celiac (allergic to wheat, oats, barley, and rye) but she's just so lovely that she even made things just for us to eat. the ribs were amazing and fell right off the bone. have you ever attempted?

just an ordinary tiny little snack.

notttt, this plate was serious and heavenly!

in college, we ate ramen and drank wine out of a box.

today, in our super rich and successful (haaa) life, we make the best of the best.

when it was sunny, we were by the pool.

but the day it rained, we sat in bed and played approximately 7 hours of electronic life. with continuous pitchers of bourbon. so relaxing, so fun, and even if i lost, i still won.

it was the perfect (labor day weekend...i'm a little behind) that i hope to make a tradition out of this!

what'd you do labor day weekend? does your perfect day consist of board games, bourbon, bed, and besties??

tgif

2011-09-09T13:57:00.001-04:00

my loves!

it is finally friday (hooooray!) and i've had a crazy busy week (hence blogging backseat) but i'm so ready to celebrate tonight at my sister's wedding!!

after months and months of preparation, the day has arrived!

i'm smiling because the wedding is tonight!!

but i'm not smiling because i have to spend allll day tomorrow is class... boooo! but at least it is my very.last.saturday class of grad school!

the end is in sight and i couldn't be happier.

i hope you have a wonderful weekend and keep smiling!

ps - of course i've been enjoying the fall weather along with my very own psl.
(clearly, if you blog, you know what psl stands for.)

#itsabloggerthing...youwouldn'tunderstand

;)

mansions: a different world

2011-09-02T06:00:00.002-04:00

i am so fortunate to have the coolest grandmother in the world. i've talked about her a gazillion times but she's just so super fun and crazy. she's an artist and lives in northern kentucky. i spent tuesday and wednesday with her, shopping and going on tours of mansions.

here we are lounging at my aunt's pool...

oh, right. the pig. that's pierre. my aunt (and uncle and cousins) have three black labs and a pig. it's kinda like a friendly farm around there and never a dull moment... just like my life.

anything cuter than a huge pig nose in your face?

do you spy anything out of the ordinary in this picture? the lovely pool, all the amazing greenery, the nice shed in the back but if you look a little closer... that's pierre. sunbathing. a sunbathing pig? who woulda thunk? it was so funny because he was just lounging over there and then he would turn and sit on his hind legs to tan his back. it was awesome. but still a little weird.

so the next pictures are from my iphone because i'm a dummy and forgot my camera. but it was still great. the day wasn't very beautiful but the sights were still breathtaking.

we went to green acres on wednesday for a private tour. a little history for you: (and some of it probably won't make sense) but this amazing mansion was the home of the nippert's and is now approximately 600 acres of a working farm in cincinnati. it's so bizarre to not see a single house knowing how populated cincinnati is.

the mansion portion of this working farm is now a museum and lo and behold, it features a painting of my own grandmother, beverly erschell! being the famous artist she is, she was able to get a private tour on a day they were closed for just us!

they hold weddings here which i can only imagine to be pure perfection. sorry about the crooked picture here, it's bugging me too. just keep scrolling...

it's tough to tell but everything is amazing... the stone is the original stone and the roof and gutters are amazing. (no, i never thought i'd ever see myself type a sense like that)

looking down the waterfalls. there are walkways on each side of this and its beautiful. i could imagine myself in a long, white dress with a prince charming at the bottom...ugh, i'm getting carried away.

i know you are probably assuming this is my back yard because i have quite the green thumb but i regret to inform you that it is in fact not mine.

pretty fascinating.

fun fact: the people that lived there before the nipperts (i forget their name) ... apparently the husband was quite the manwhore and he would bring women home all the time. so when he died, his wife tore down his side of the home because it was so filthy. haha, i thought that was great.

nanoo's painting! isn't it beautiful! (its the one on top)

another fun fact: this is a picture of the windows of the children's bedrooms. they put this amazing iron work on the windows to prevent people coming in and kidnapping them in the middle of the night. rumor has it, wealthy people are a target for kidnapping. today, that would be a fire hazard and not allowed.

fire > kidnapping.

a cool painting of the 50 years of history of the reds. mr. nippert (the late former owner of the home) was the money behind the cincinnati reds for quite some time. these people are looooaded!

seriously, click on that picture and check out the gutters and roof. its wild, if i say so myself.

mrs. nippert just turned 100 years old and she still goes to this mansion twice a week to go swimming! ballerrr!

also, last year, she donated $85 million to the cincinnati symphony. $85 mil. do you have any idea what i could do with $85 mil?

for beginners:

-blog convention in fiji

-buy all bloggers a new canon and computer (except for ash because she just treated herself to a new fancy comp)

-buy that range rover i've been eyeing

-end this job search

-buy that rebecca taylor top i've been eyeing

-buy rebecca taylor

-travel every.single.day

-hire someone to do my laundry, garden, cleaning, reading, drinking, eating, working out, chores, talking, breathing, driving, and living.

-what would you do with $85 mil? and please don't say give it to the symphony...

stairs.

looking up the cool waterfalls.

and one final view of the mansion. ahhh, someday...

i hope you all have a wonderful labor day weekend and celebrate the (hopefully) great weather! what are your plans??

easy come easy go

2011-08-31T16:25:00.000-04:00

i am so happy to present the most precious pictures of the surprise baby!

mama and baby are home safe and sound and getting used to their new lives.

his name is

jude christopher

and he is absolutely perfect. weighing in a 6 lbs 9 oz, he is a bundle of joy.

have you ever seen anything so precious??

{pictures from elizabeth's facebook.}

oh i could just kiss him all over! i went to visit her the day after he was born in the hospital and eliz was so funny. she was sitting on the couch in the hospital room, sitting indian style and jumped right up to give me a hug and hand me the baby. then she asked the doctor if she could play tennis later that afternoon. if you didn't know she JUST had a baby, you would NEVER have guessed! she's a real trooper!!

so over the weekend, i had class friday night and all day saturday. saturday night, we went to a cookout at alex and michael's beautiful home and then spent sunday canoeing in indiana! note to self: canoeing sucks. dont go. :)

unfortunately, sunday afternoon was spent at a funeral home. a boy i went to school with from k-8 passed away friday morning in his sleep. it's such a scary thought that tomorrow isn't promised.

i've made the decision to not take a single second for granted and enjoy everything. therefore, i should go ahead and spill my soul and tell you i love all of you and you make my days happy. insert sunshine and smiley faces and blushing here.

and another note of something that makes me SO happy! my own baby nephew colton.

he took my phone and took this picture himself... isn't he talented?! mister smarty pants!

then i read the little bambino a little goodnight moon while he wore his AMAZING elephant slippers on my lap in my long dress. it was the happiest sight i've seen and i just absolutely adore his little spicy self.

i've been spending the early part of the week in cincinnati getting spoiled by my grandma by shopping, touring mansions, eating amazing foods, spending quality time by the pool and yada yada yada. pictures to come.

but i wanted to make sure to share the updated info on baby jude (and colton) to all you supportive doll faces!!