Judging from yesterday’s post and after some self-reflection, it’s obvious that yesterday was a rough day for me.

I hate being whiny, but we all have days like those. Right? Days where when it rains, it pours. And you never see them coming. No, no. Those suckers are tricky.

What I’ve learned yesterday?

Disorganization and a lack of communication stress me out.
(If you are disorganized, it’s OK. Really. I still love you. Just don’t come work with me, and then suck at communicating what you want me to do. I can deal with them separately, not together.)

Cars stalling out/dying in the middle of an intersection = awesome not good.
(Felicity is going into the sh0p tomorrow to get fixed. Because honestly? I freaked out when everyone was honking at me and flipping me off as I was stranded in the intersection. I may or may not have boo-hooed for about 10 minutes afterward. My boy is so patient and talked me down.)

Trailer hitches don’t feel so hot against shins.
(I willed myself not to cry in front of a handful of high school students after tripping over one and majorly hitting my shins. Luckily, nothing is broken, but I have a nice lump and bruise on both legs.)

…

It sucked, but at least it’s over, and today has been a much better day.

How was today for y’all?

                          

October was a letdown for me this year, and I about jumped up and down when yesterday rolled around because it meant the month was ending. And since October sucked (in my book), November HAS to be better.

And I’ve decided within the past 12-ish hours that I’m going to be doing not one, but two of the following challenges this month.

Because maybe I’m a little crazy. And because it’ll make me as busy as I was this past month. (Seriously. October around these parts is NUTS.)

So friends? Let’s make this month a memorable one. And if you’re doing either challenge (or both!), please, please let me know so we can lean on each other when the going gets tough.

Happy November!

                          

Not going to lie, this week has been tough. From this recent family drama to layoffs to my Tigers losing this afternoon, I feel a little down and out. I’m trying to keep my head up even though I have a feeling all hell will break loose this week.

All that being said, I have the most INCREDIBLE boyfriend in the world. He has been so supportive and helpful throughout all the drama that has been thrown into my life recently. I am so lucky.

I read all of New Moon last night. I’m beginning Eclipse tonight.

I love where I am and what I’m doing, but I want to be in a bigger town.

Recently, I’ve had the urge to audition for a play or a musical. I performed once in high school in a musical, and I had a great time. I somehow think being on the stage or having an outlet like that would be soothing. I wish I were braver and would just go out and pursue it instead of thinking and rethinking.

I have some good friends in my town, but I wish I had more.

I found Stuff Journalists Like yesterday, and I love it! Hilarious and true.

I miss being in college sometimes (even though a lot of the time I’m thankful to have my degree and to be out in the working world.) Today is one of those days where I miss my alma mater, even though my team got smacked around. It’d be nice not to have to worry about working on Thanksgiving or scheduling time off for Christmas.

I love when Lucy curls up by my feet on the couch and passes out. It makes me feel special, plus she’s so warm and precious whenever she naps!

I probably need a nap right now. Maybe I would feel better?

Lucy Belle and I went on a walk this morning for the first time in a while. It was enormously relaxing. I need to wake up earlier every day so we can walk before I go to work.

                          

I’m normally not a fangirl or anything along those lines, but in a little more than three hours, I get to see Twilight.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A friend from work and I are making our way to the ONE theater in our small town to catch the midnight showing. We bought tickets Monday afternoon for fear that it would be sold out.

I’m really, really excited to see how it was adapted from the book.

                          

Happy birthday, my Lucy Belle! The last four months with you in my life have been incredible, and I’m looking forward to the next year. Because, more than anything else, you make me smile, AND you make life interesting.

                          

While catching up today with a non-coworker I have known since I moved into town.

ACQUAINTENCE: “So how was Nashville?”

ME: “It was fantastic! I love the town and seeing my boy. It was a great break.”

ACQUAINTENCE: “So did y’all get to… You know… Catch up on lost time? Make up for the distance?”

ME: “Umm, we got to spend a lot of time together, and we had a great time.”

The only thing I could think was, ‘Is he really asking me this?’ and then, ‘How awkward!’

                          

There, I said it. I had a case of them today, and I’m not sorry.

Lucy Belle and I had a little scare.

Basically, she had a stomach bug yesterday that made her ruin a LOT of the carpet in my apartment. It wasn’t pretty, and this morning when she didn’t appear to be feeling any better, I called my vet for advice. She wasn’t acting weird or lethargic, but I was still worried.

They told me to bring her in to be on the safe side.

That, on top of the greeting/lecture I received the moment I walked into work this morning, pushed me over the edge.

I may or may not have called my mother to cry a little before I brought Lucy into the vet, afraid of the worst. (I need to remember not to do Internet searches for random symptoms because the information I find will always freak me out. Always.)

They wanted me to leave Lucy since it was lunchtime. She whined and tugged on her leash as I walked out the door, and that broke my heart.

I went back to work, took two assignments and worried about my puppy.

Around three, I decided to give the vet’s office a call. They put the doc on the phone — something I didn’t expect and something that freaked me out a little bit — and he explained to me that whatever was upsetting her stomach had passed and that they ran a few tests to make sure she was OK. He also said they were going to give me some antibiotics to help if it happens again.

I was so, so thankful nothing else was wrong with my pup.

So, I’ll leave you with a photo of my healthy Lucy Belle right after I took her home this summer…

                          

Rainy days. Grace. Lazy Sunday afternoons. The way my boy looks at me when he sees me for the first time in a long while. Lucy Belle kisses. Eggs over easy with toast. Harry Potter and all his friends. The framed quotations my mother gives me at least once a year. Gelato. Piano music. Sunflowers. Talking to people on assignments and the random/weird things they say to me. Puppy breath. Girly beer (Woodchuck, Frambois and the like.)

Luggage not lost in transit. Caliente cheese dip. True Blood and the Southern Vampire Series. Talking on the phone. Any and all kinds of pasta. Watching the stars rise and fall in the sky. Painting. Helping my friends. Chasing people and/or things on assignment. Sleeping late. By the slice pizzerias. Christmas music and the entire season.

Sunsets. Italia and time spent there. The thought of returning to my little town one day. The written word. Color corrections. Louisiana. Old photographs. The way my dog barks at the TV whenever a dog is onscreen. A good book. My boy’s smile, eyes, face and everything else. Chick flicks. Vino. Making various baked goods during the holiday season. Snuggling beneath the covers during chilly nights. Horse racing. Living in the moment.

Playing the violin to express my emotions. Laughter. My friends and family. Love.

                          

I feel like I’ve been all about responsibility, work, being a grown up and all that jazz on here lately.

I got to thinking about it last night and came to the conclusion that it’d be good to tell some stories from my ‘wild’ days. (The wild has quotes around it because my wild days were, in fact, quite lame. But they were wild for me…)

Shouldn’t we all have a little fun on Saturdays, even if it’s just remembering some random events that happened back in the day?

Here goes…

It was January of 2007, and I had been invited to my friend G’s apartment for an evening of fun. Fun evenings almost always included drinks of some kind, and that night was no different.

Our friend EB was leaving our college town for a larger metropolis, and we wanted to say farewell the best way we knew how.

I arrived early to help G prepare for the mini-party, and we decided that it would be both classy and incredible if that evening was a Boone’s night. So we drove to the skeezy gas station around the corner from her apartment and bought about 10 bottles of the flavored wine. (My personal favorite flavor is strawberry hill. What’s yours?)

By the time we got back, EB and a few of our mutual friends had arrived.

G set the rules: We would each drink a bottle of Boone’s before deciding what we would do next. And while I was fortunate enough to be sipping out of a bottle of cheap, not real alcohol, I took my time because I am an incredible lightweight. (Two beers back in the day was all it took.)

Whatever the case, most everyone finished their bottles (not me), and EB was to make the decision since he was leaving town. And he decided it would be fun if we post-it noted the editor of the student paper’s car. (The editor who was my ex boyfriend. THAT one.)

EB thought it would be hilarious, and everyone else jumped on the bandwagon quickly. I was left shaking my head because things never went the way they should when HE was involved. Everyone was telling me it would be fun. I wasn’t so sure — the ex would certainly blame me for masterminding this plan and would inevitably make my life more miserable than he already did. But my friends laughed at my response and dragged me along.

EB’s roommate showed up to be our driver, and a few more kids from the paper caught wind of EB’s prank and came along for the ride.

We went to a drugstore and spent about $25 on all sorts of post-it notes. Then we set off to accomplish the mission.

His car was easily spotted — a bright red hatchback sedan. And almost immediately after we made the turn onto the street, my friends, co-workers and cohorts all hopped out of our vehicles, eager to perform the task. I, on the other hand, hung back and was the lookout because of my reservations.

They started at the end of the car, covering the bumper, trunk, windshield and everything else in post-it notes. And after about 30 minutes, it looked like this but a lot less organized/cool. Think of lots of colors placed with no particular rhyme or reason, and you’ll have a better idea of what the car we covered looked like.

Just as they were finishing up, I spotted someone in the window of the home. I sounded the alarm, and they slowly made their way back to our cars, keeping watch for the figure in the window. Whoever it was didn’t seem to care that this car was being post-it noted before his eyes.

We made our excape and giggled on the way back to G’s apartment. Once there, we drank a little more Boone’s, and I somehow cracked the screen on top of my phone. (Don’t ask — I have NO idea how it happened.)

The next day, we expected everything to be normal when we made our way into the newsroom for training.

That was not so.

The entire management staff was sent a scathing e-mail, basically blaming you-know-who and others for ruining his car, stating that he was going to lose his lease since so many things had happened since he moved into that house and how he wanted someone to fess up.

Fat chance.

To this day, whenever someone mentions post-it notes, I have to smile. Because, while I wasn’t a real prankster that night, it brings back the memory of that car covered in that neon-colored paper.

                          

I have been Christmas browsing/shopping for friends and family today. I really enjoy thinking of gifts and finding them for the people I care about. I’ve had a lot of fun with it, needless to say, and only bought myself ONE item. (Y’all don’t understand — that is HUGE.)

On that same note, I became obsessed with etsy. Now I know why I was avoiding it for so long even though many of you sang the site’s praises.

I don’t like the Twilight trilogy as much as I think everyone else does. It’s just… OK. (No worries, though. I’m still reading them all to see if I change my mind.)

I am falling in love with Regina Spektor all over again, even though many of her songs remind me of a painful period in my life. Her lyrics still manage to pierce my heart after all the memories they conjure. “You’re young until you’re not. You love until you don’t. You try until you can’t. You laugh until you cry. You cry until you laugh. And everyone must breathe until their dying breath.”

I’ve also been loving Brooke Waggoner’s first full-length album, Heal for the Honey. Check it out!

I’m not looking forward to leaving my home in less than an hour to make the drive over to a local high school football game because of the weather, not the sport itself. It’s going to be a stormy evening. Thunderstorms and football? Not a good combination whether you’re sitting in the stands or photographing on the sidelines.

I am fascinated by my dog every day, and I am incredibly curious as to how she will react when my mother and sister descend upon my small apartment with their pups.