O.T. Extended Thanksgiving W.

Ahhh... I love, with my entire heart, a good extended holiday weekend!

It was action packed and we were on the go pretty much the entire time.

On Thanksgiving Eve it's a tradition for everyone who is home for the holiday to head up to a local pub-type bar for a reunion of sorts. Everyone from your past (both good and bad) is in one place. Old friends, high school classmates, you name it they show up on that particular night for drinks and catching up. 

I didn't snap any pictures at Cecil's on Thanksgiving Eve but Lacey did... GO HERE to check it out.

Thanksgiving morning started out with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade... and then we made our rounds. I have officially eaten FIVE, yes five, traditional thanksgiving lunches. Between the lunch we had at my place of employment and then the two for my family (dad's side, mom's side) followed by the two for Ryan's family. I don't care to have a casserole for at least a month.

This is just one table at my mom's family Thanksgiving lunch. In the words of a dear cousin (shout out), "We are so blessed."

 My Mom, Maw Maw, Bro, and hubs. Ryan's hair is getting really long. He feels like he can't cut it until Auburn's season comes to an end... it's all about superstitions around here.

Ryan and I were fortunate enough to have a house guest for the weekend. His sister, Ali, called our house home for a few nights, which is always fun!

The talk at all the family gatherings we attended was about football. The much anticipated IRON BOWL (Auburn v. Alabama) was coming up on Friday and everyone had an opinion. Auburn and Alabama fans alike, were anxious for the game to go down. 

Friday morning we got up and decked out in our Orange and Blue... the game started out a little on the rough side for Auburn but we rallied during half time and came back to win BY ONE POINT!! I like to think that Alabama fans went from the highest high to the lowest low. (I suppose they now know how we felt last year). 

For some reason after the game was over we had a photo shoot with an iPhone... 

Family Picture.

Deidra harassing Maggie pretty hard core and Maggie thinking please let me down!

Maggie was obviously not cooperating for the above picture so Deidra and I held her tightly... We can be too much.

This picture has really caused some confusion. In that moment... high on the excitement of the win Deidra, Lacey, and I decided to hold up Darvin Adam's number which happens to be 89.... Deidra is eight and Lacey and I are the nine. The caption read "DA for MVP." No, it does not make sense right now... but like I said the first half of the game was pretty rough so we may have pounded pretty heavily.

Here's a crazy celebrity side note. Molly Sims tweeted this picture of her at the game this past Friday. She's rocking a #2 jersey for Cam Newton. Who knew she was an AU fan?

On Sunday I got in some shopping. I have half of my shopping down and half left to go. I'm looking at you, Ali, Benny, and Clay... when I say I don't know what to get a few people.

Last night we concluded the weekend with a movie. We went to see Love and Other Drugs. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was not at all what I thought it would be. Let's just say I saw a lot of Anne Hathaway and just as much of Jake Gyllenhaal, as there was a good bit of nudity in the movie.

When the alarm clock chimed at 6:30 this morning I wanted to cry (I think Ryan may have teared up even) because it is so hard for a holiday to come to an end.

Now we must let the Christmas Season commence! The Christmas tree must be put up, stockings need to be hung by the chimney with care, holiday parties must be had, and Christmas music can officially be blasted!!

Bring on the holiday fun!

Let Love Grow

Really feeling this song right now... Enjoy.

Disaronno

I have never had Disaronno. I don't know that I would even care for any. However, I would be more inclined to try it if they didn't treat me like an idiot.

You see, I really think that the people at Disaronno must assume that we, the people, are not very smart.

Have you seen the commercials where a guy teaches us how to make a cocktail using Disaronno? So far (in my area) I have seen three different versions--

Version 1 is Disaronno on the Rocks. The bartender guy explains how to make Disaronno on the rocks. You simply put ice in a glass, add 1.25 ounces of Disaronno and drink.

Version 2 is Disaronno and Cranberry. The bartender explains that to create this cocktail you simply put ice in a glass, add 1.25 ounces of liquor and top it off with cranberry

Version 3 is Disaronno and Ginger Ale. I'm not even going to explain this one... because HELLO-- they are all self explanatory.

I can only assume that the Disaronno people think we aren't smart enough to comprehend a more complex cocktail.

Bottom line... those commercials overwhelm me.

O.T.W.- Taboo, a Wedding, a Party, and a Bar

This past weekend was quite eventful, to say the least! We were on the go from quitting time on Friday until midday on Sunday.

A friend of ours got married in Birmingham on Saturday. The wedding was at 2 o'clock in the afternoon so it only made sense for Ryan and I to head on up on Friday so that we wouldn't be as rushed on the day of (plus I really wanted extra time to hang out with friends).

Friday night my friend, Lacey, and her husband John were kind enough to host everyone at their house for finger foods and games. We played charades and then got into a rowdy game of Taboo- guys v. girls.

Let's just say the girls dominated because that' how we roll!

Ali, Deidra, Lacey, Katie Beth and Me!!

Our intentions for Friday night were to get together for a couple of drinks-- nothing too rowdy, as we knew we had a big day planned for Saturday. However, before we realized, it was close to two o'clock in the morning... so much for the "the take it easy" game plan.

On Saturday Ryan, Deidra and I enjoyed [a late] breakfast together before getting ready for the wedding. It wouldn't be normal if we arrived at the scheduled time for the wedding. We came in on two wheels around 1:55 pm for the 2:00 pm wedding. We quickly greeted the waiting wedding party and made our entrance into the church.

After the ceremony we headed downtown to The Loft at Flower Stems for the reception. What a great venue. Anyone in the Birmingham area should totally look into The Loft. Everything from the food to the band was amazing.

After feasting on the amazing spread we hit the dance floor! We got down without abandon.We rocked it like only white people at a wedding can do! At one point, Lacey was "cutting the grass" if I recall correctly.

I have tons of pictures similiar to these. For some reason Lacey and I kept taking "artsy" pictures of one another.

Holla!

Bain getting 'Iced." Apparently a bucket of Smirnoff Ice was at the reception so several people got iced (i.e. they had to take a knee and finish a Smirnoff ice) It was too funny!

After having too much fun and probably hitting the open bar a little on the hard side we headed to a couple's shower for my friend, Katie Beth and her fiance, Brandon.

If I'm not mistaken, we came in a little on the loud side for Katie Beth and she quickly asked me to reel it in a bit, as most of the guest at the party had not been at a wedding all afternoon and some people were even pregnant {read: sober}! We quickly calmed it down for the sake of the bride and feasted on the delicious spread!  Katie Beth and Brandon got lots of neat things and the party was quite a success.

After hitting up that party we decide to finish the night off at J. Clyde's, in Southside. It was such a great weekend because so many of our hometown friends were gathered in one place. It seems like it gets harder and harder for everyone to be in the same town for a weekend of nonsense.

We basically spent the weekend laughing and carrying on.  It's always great when you can call one another on Sunday and relive the nonsense.

Sunday was the perfect weather to let the windows down for the drive back to the small town.

Oh, and I almost forgot... Guess who else got to spend the weekend in the big city???

Miss Maggie Sanford, that's who!!  She loved spending the weekend at Deidra and Bess's apartment. She chilled on the porch, bounced around on Bess's new couch, and explored every crevice of their apartment.

What a great weekend! I hope yours was just as fun!

On the Telly last night...

Last night was some fun television (in my opinion)!!

First of all, Pioneer Woman was on Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Bobby headed to the ranch for a thanksgiving feast challenge. It was so fun to watch!! I won't say who won in case any of you  have it TiVo'd to watch later.

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Then in the nine o'clock spot People's Sexiest Men Alive came on ABC. According to Ryan, I'm what he considers "boy crazy." However, I am not. I'm celebrity crazy. I have a crush on lots of celebrities. After the show I told Ryan to guess my favorite all time sexiest man alive... 

He tossed out such names Gerard Butler, Orlando Bloom (I think this was a joke), Jake Gyllenhaal and the likes. But never did he guess the one guy I would choose as my personal all time favorite from the the People Magazine's list of all time Sexiest Men Alive.

I refused to tell him for quite some time because, quite frankly, if you know me even a little bit then you should be able to guess the answer to that question. 

He thought long and hard and would occasionally toss out yet another guess. "Johnny Deep," he'd say. To which I would reply, "No! Come on. You know this." 

(this is one of the reasons I love Ryan. He goes along with random nonsense I come up with)

As we finally settled into bed... he told me I had to tell him before we went to sleep. So I decided to give him a hint.

The hint would only be one word and if he couldn't figure it out by that one word I would never disclose my all time celebrity crush.

The one word was "BONGOS."

He immediately knew exactly who my celebrity crush was... and I'm sure you do too!

Matthew McConaughey!!!!!

There's just something about Matthew's free spirit, hot bod, and sexy smile that I love. I mean, who does an interview with Barbara Walters and admits that there is no other way to play the bongos other than in the nude?

O.T.W

Same thing, different weekend against a different team.

Over the past weekend Ryan and I headed to Auburn one more time as the Auburn Tigers hosted the the Georgia Bull Dawgs. It was the last home game of the season and it was a rowdy good time.

The game was intense as was the tailgating. I can't believe football season is so close to it's end. This season has literally flown by. Auburn has the upcoming weekend off, then we face Bama and then it's off the the SEC CHAMPIONSHIP!!

You can bet that Ryan and I will be in attendance as Auburn faces South Carolina once again on December 4th (or at least that's the plan).

Here's a couple of pictures from Saturday:

War Eagle!

Country Crooner

As I've stated here before I love all things celebrity. From a good sit down with US Weekly to an awards show... I'm on it.

So Wednesday night when the Country Music Awards were on I couldn't help but flip back and forth to check it out. I love seeing what the celebrities are wearing, who sings what... and I even enjoy vocalizing my opinion about how well (or not) a group performs.

Ryan may have had to sit through comments such as, "When did Rascal Flatts become obsessed with glitter and diamonds? I swear, they each have on more sparkle than any man should ever wear. Ugh."

Ryan- Sorry you had to sit through that...

I would love to be able to attend the CMA's one year. I just think that would be so much fun. You see, I used to dream of being a county music star. True story. I even took it so far as to declare that as the occupation I hoped have upon graduation from high school. (and here's the kicker-- I do NOT sing)

When I was in the ninth grade going to the tenth grade it came time for my annual TAP (teach and parent) Conference. Prior to the conference my advisement teacher (whom I wasn't fond of) sat down to discuss the types of classes I would need to take over the next three years of high school.  For some reason this required that I explain what I "wanted to be when I grew up." So without hesitation I declared that I would love to be a country music singer when I grew up and asked her what type classes that would require. Looking back, I think I half way responded with that because I do think it would be an amazing job and the other half of me probably just wanted to piss the teacher off. Ahhh, the fun that is a teenager.

So needless to say, as I tuned in to the CMA's Wednesday night I had a few opinions.

If I had become a Country Music Crooner I would definitely have a personal trainer. No doubt about it. I was disappointed to see Kellie Pickler at this year's award show. I'm not sure what the deal was. I just was not feeling her look.

photos via

Is she preg and I don't know about it? I googled that question and apparently lots of people are wondering the same thing. She did recently get engaged, so maybe she is preg.  But that wouldn't explaining why she is so pale...

I'm mean look at her bod from a year or so ago:

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I'm just saying.

If I were a country music star I would strive to look like this:

pic via

Carrie Underwood is so pretty, however, I've heard stories of Carrie not being the sweetest thing if you happen to run into her at a restaurant...

The biggest surprise of the evening, although it was no surprise at all, was when Gweneth Paltrow debuted her country music talents.

She sang with Vince Gill and it was actually not too bad. Props to her for branching way out. I would have totally hung with Gweneth after the show.

And last but not least... my favorite country couple would have to be these two:

 pic via

Ryan and I would totally double date with Miranda and Blake. I'm sure Miranda would want to drink a few beers, as she seems to be quite the outlaw.

Overall, what I watched of the award show was quite entertaining. Now I'm off to brush up on my singing as I would much rather be on a tour bus headed to my next big show then sitting here at work counting down what seem like endless minutes until quitting time.

Happy Friday Yall!

Baby Heath

Over the weekend we welcomed a new member to our family. My cousin, Ashley and his wife, Lane, welcomed Marcus Heath Sanders. (we shall call him Heath)

He weighted 9 pounds 4 ounces and was 22 1/4 inches long (I know, that is tall).

 He looks just like his daddy!

His arrival made Kylee a big sister!

So, so sweet!!