island of misfit earrings

I lost an earring while we were at Six Flags on Saturday. I'm not sure how, but when I was washing my hands in the bathroom at one point I noticed that I was looking rather thug-like with only one disco ball-esque stud. It was sad, but the good thing is that these kinds of earrings are still pretty popular and available at any store, so at least I can replace them. I did, however, take out my remaining earring and carefully zip it up in my pocket for safe keeping.

Upon arriving home, I added the singleton earring to my collection of other single earrings in my jewelry box. And upon doing that, I started thinking and questioning my actions.

Why am I saving these single earrings? What are you supposed to do with matchless earrings? I really can't just throw a perfectly usable earring in the trash, especially when it's one I really like. But then...it's not like I can ever use it again, either. Unless I lose an ear one day! Maybe if I lose an ear, I will suddenly be very thankful that all of these carefully saved single earrings will be of some use again. Yeah. I'll save it for that. But no, seriously. Why do I have a (rapidly growing, it seems) collection of sad little single earrings?

My apologies that that picture is not even remotely focused. It was a long night. But those are just a few of the misfit earrings that I gleaned off the top of my jewelry box to demonstrate my collection. And sure, it's not like all of these unusable earrings are taking up a lot of space or anything...yet. But I sorta have this vision of myself in 40 years and there's this headline like "WOMAN BURIED ALIVE BENEATH TON OF  MATCH-LESS EARRINGS THAT SHE JUST COULDN'T THROW AWAY" and that's kind of a sad way to go. But at least it's a sparkly way?

Anyway. Who can give me some great wisdom about how to solve this situation? You know what the best cure would be? STOP LOSING YOUR EARRINGS, ERIKA. I don't know why I manage to lose so many. It must be my body's intrinsic pirate-ness...everyone knows pirates only wear one earring at a time. Anyone seen any great Pinterest projects that call for a collection of unmatching earrings? That would definitely be the project for me.

OH! Better yet, maybe I should start some kind of webpage where people can post photos of their single earrings and then maybe two people with the same single earring can find each other and work out a deal where one of them sells their earring to the other! Or they could have joint custody? Yeah right. If I ever found the mate to my white feather-ish/leaf-ish looking earring, I would do a number of less-than-legal things to make sure it was MINE ALL MINE and never share it with anyone. Maybe most people aren't as attached to their earrings as I am, though?

Well, there ya go, folks. These are the things that I actually spend my time thinking about. True story.

Other true story: I had a cyst rupture last night. On the positive side, it's the first one since surgery, so at least I've had a nice long reprieve from that special brand of suffering...and also, if it ruptures, that means it can't keep growing and growing and become the size of a lemon and mangle up my Fallopian tube and require surgical removal...so that's good, I guess. On the negative side- well, it hurts like crap. That hasn't changed, evidently. And I have a big event at work tonight that I really need to finish up some things for, so I hauled my sleep-deprived derriere and swollen belly right on in this morning. Yay. I'm walking like I'm about 200 years old (ironically, prior to the rupture last night I'd gone to Zumba Toning and made myself all kinds of sore...so really, most likely I would have been walking like I were elderly today no matter what!) but hoping that time and (lame non-prescription) painkillers will help things feel better quickly.

OH. Other huge News in the Life of Erika. I can't believe I forgot to mention this yesterday. While at Six Flags, in between losing earrings and judging teenagers, I got some cotton candy. Yeah. It was magical, and although I had every intention of getting a picture of me eating it (like this), the truth is that I inhaled it far too quickly and with too much enthusiasm to stop and take a picture. But the ecstasy of those moments lives on in my mind. Oh cotton candy, how delightful you were. It was the pink kind, by the way. As though there is any other kind. And as fluffy and sweet as...umm...as cotton candy. In other words, perfection. And now that I have waxed poetic about my favorite food group, I better peace out.

fun in the sun

Judging by your enthusiastic comments last week, I'm pretty sure YALL were more excited about Matt's birthday surprise than he was. Ha. I mean, he got excited once he knew what it was (Saturday morning, appx 30 minutes before we left). But his anticipatory excitement paled in comparison to mine (and yours), which was a tragedy. Oh well.

Can you tell where we went? If you guessed Six Flags Over Georgia, you would be correct!

We had never been to Six Flags together- is that a tragedy or what? I used to be a Six Flags junkie. And by that I mean I went like once a year. That's pretty good when you've never lived closer than 2 hours away from it and also you aren't freakin rich. Because holy cow, why does it need to cost so much? No matter. Matt and I have been meaning and trying to go for a couple years, but it's never worked out. I made it work out for Saturday. Go me!

This picture is truly frightening, but I can't help it. Batman is the best ride ever. Which clearly explains the expression on my face. ???

It was a great day. The weather was perfect and we were there right when the doors opened (Erika Rule of Six Flags #1: Be the first one in the gate, sprint straight to the back of the park and knock out those coasters before anyone else manages to get there. BOOM!) and killed three coasters in short order while everyone else in the park strolls along at a leisurely pace, chasing down their bratty kids and buying overpriced plastic crap that someone gets stuck hauling around for the rest of the day. Oh, I'm sorry, do you sense I judge my fellow park-goers? Maybe just a tad. Although the main thing I had to judge was teenage girls and their poor sense of Proper Six Flags Clothing and Footwear.

Ladies, let me tell ya straight: A day at Six Flags is not a day to make a fashion statement. It's not the prom. It's not the club. It's also APRIL and not JULY, so put some freakin clothes on already (I will make exceptions to this rule once the mercury breaks 90). And above all, please know that the park is BIG and SPREAD OUT and you are going to be WALKING all day. Let me inform you, calling on my 30 years of experience being a fashionable woman (hahahaa)--your platform sandals and peep-toe wedges are not going to get the job done. You are not even going to look cute- you're going to look like a moron. And the people stuck behind you in line for 2 hours are going to laugh at you as you whine and moan about your poor toes. TRUST ME ON THIS.

After I briefly commented on this phenomenon on Twitter, E rightly informed me that we can all probably blame this poor-footwear-choosing-at-Six-Flags on AshLee from the last season of the Bachelor. HA. So true.

Here we are making the best of a one point five hour line situation. Despite my excellent wardrobe and shoe choices...not much can make the line-waiting a much less miserable experience. We just tried to remind ourselves how nice it was that it wasn't 100 degrees (as it normally is in Georgia in the summer, which is usually when you go to Six Flags).

I packed us a fun picnic lunch with all of Matt's favorite treats and we ate in the shade of some trees and relaxed before going back in to hit a few more rides. Around 4:00, when the lines for every single ride were approaching 2 hours each we decided to call it a day and head home. Apparently when you're 30 you don't have the endurance to make it all day in the park. Sad realization, but it was still a great day. Plus, as we noted, the time that it would have taken us to wait for one more ride was equal to the amount of time it would take us to get home-- you know, home, where there are places to SIT, free things to EAT, and no teenagers to watch make out. Ick. So home we went. And sit we did.

 I mean, I spend a lot of time complaining about my phone, but dang if that picture with sunrays shining through isn't just brilliant. Way to go, Samsung camera. Also-- great book. I still haven't finished it, but I'm loving it. I haven't seen the movie- worth seeing?

The weather on Sunday was perfection, so naturally we made our way to Lowe's after church. I rescued some gorgeous pretties from the clearance rack and picked up five different types of zinnia seeds (can you tell I'm a big fan of zinnias?) and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening up to our ears in dirt, fireants, and even two snakes. Yes. I found those, peacefully resting about 3 feet away from my dining room. Matt and my neighbors managed to kill one but the other one escaped. Awesome. 

So that was our big exciting birthday weekend. If you're not a fan of amusement parks, it probably doesn't seem that great...but for us, it was perfect. It's fun to just do something different for awhile...and then come home to more of the exact same as always, such as reading on the porch and digging in the garden. And judging teenagers. You know. The usual.

the old man

Happy 30th birthday to my favorite guy on earth!

He would be the squinty-eyed fatty baby, by the way. Isn't he precious?! And he grew up to be a not-too-shabby-lookin' fella, if I do say so myself.

I'm pretty happy to call him mine.

And he's pretty happy to call this his:

Upon posting this picture on Instagram yesterday, Mollyanne commented that it was a very selfless gift for me to give (knowing, of course, that this kind of zillion-hour-long documentary isn't exactly my cup of reality-TV-loving tea). I had to confess that I am not that good of a person and did not even give him this long-coveted prize. That award has to go to his sister Amy and brother-in-law Tom...who probably thought it was a GREAT gift since THEY will not be the ones having to sit through 40 hours of WWII footage. Thanks. Kidding, though. I'm sure one day when I grow up and have appreciation for mature things, I will really enjoy watching it with him. But as of last night (when he watched the first episode), I have not reached that level of maturity, since I still found it to be an excruciatingly boring experience. Luckily, I love the soundtrack, so I don't mind having it on while I read or blog. I'm selfless in that way. Can you tell we only have one TV? And one room with couches to hang out in? Yeah. Also, in case you did not happen to be reading my blog in 2009 (which is apparently all of you save three brave commenters!), you might want to look back and see how we handled the Band of Brothers-watching conundrum the first time Matt embarked on watching this series. Personally, I think it was the very model of marital problem-solving techniques, and I wish we still had Netflix so that we could use this strategy again. 

Anyway. 

So birthday fun is the biggest part of our agenda today and this weekend (with SURPRISE BIRTHDAY ADVENTURE still on the docket for tomorrow!), but I would be remiss to not point out that today is the day that my bestie Amanda will give birth to her long-awaited, much-hoped for, and rather-stubborn-in-getting-conceived twins!!!! 

Here we are in summer of 2011...both amazing but childless. We put the 'hope' filter on our picture to inspire us. Apparently it worked for her (or IVF did, one)! Needless to say, I am super duper excited (and jealous, let's be honest, but I'll get over it) to see pictures of sweet Colby and Clara today as soon as they are born (and hopefully AFTER they wipe all that disgusting blood and stuff off of them, because I can really do without seeing that nastiness).

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

products and plans

It's been awhile since I've told you what to buy, hasn't it? And what is blogging for if not educating one another about what products are worth a hard-earned dollar? Exactly. My bad.

#1 Best New Purchase Lately:

source

Pur Minerals Disappearing Act 4-in-1 Concealer

YALL. I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this product. I am blessed with some BAD SKIN fo' sho', and I've tried a lot of drugstore concealers trying to cover that nastiness up. To be sure, I love my BareMinerals regimen-- but when I'm having a breakout, the BareMinerals concealer does NOT get the job done. I needed the big guns, so I went to Ulta and spent a month's pay on a variety of overpriced please God let one of these work Hail Mary-type concealer purchases. And I am happy to say that this guy rocked my socks off. And works perfectly underneath the rest of my BareMinerals stuff. So anyway. If you need a great concealer (I use it for both under my eyes and blemishes/redness), here's my latest and greatest recommendation. Buy some.

#2 Best New Purchase Lately:

So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Milk Creamer

Even though I don't ramble on about it a lot anymore, we're still adhering to the Bird Food Diet about 90% of the time at home (and 3% of the time at restaurants, work breakrooms, church potlucks, and other people's houses), which means no normal creamers for our (decaf, sigh) coffee. Awhile back we got on a kick of making our own, which I talked about, and it was quite yummy but time consuming. So most of the time we just use plain almond milk instead of creamer, but it definitely leaves something to be desired. Anyway, we discovered these coconut milk creamers at Fresh Market (and later found them at Kroger, too) and are definitely converts. Both of the stores we've found them at carry only the original and French  vanilla flavors and we've bought French vanilla both times...but now that I look at the So Delicious webpage and see that they actually make WAY more flavors...I want to go whine and beg the grocery stores to get some more of them. Come on. The dairy-eaters and chemical-eaters get like 28294 yummy creamer flavors to choose from. I appreciate having 2, but 6 would be a lot better. Anyways. These actually have a bit more of the coconut flavor (shocking?) than the coconut-based creamer we made at home, which isn't bad but is...odd. But still, better than using plain almond milk. So if you're dairy-free, I'd say give 'em a try.

#3 Best New Purchase Lately

source

eos Smooth Lip Balm Sphere

 Alright, so don't hate me, but the main reason I love this product is because it's cute, smells great, and it's big enough that I can (usually) locate it easily in my purse, and it's fun to apply (you sorta have to 'kiss' that big mound of wax-stuff). Is it the best lip balm product ever? Uh, no. I mean, it's organic and paraben-free and a bunch of other woohoo save the Earth! things, but it's not the best lip balm on the market. But is it way fun to use? Yes. Have I lost it yet? No. Does it smell awesome? Yes. I actually have one in a pink container, I think it's called Summer Berries or something...and it smells awesome. So all in all, this is a fun way to spend $3. Boom.

And that's all the fun products I have to share with you for today because I must return to planning an Ultra Top Secret Code Orange Project. I can't reveal anything here yet, but here are some clues about what's involved:

Recognize this guy? Yeah, that'd be Mattie...conveniently making sushi rolls in the breakroom at my work for our lunch. I know, I know. You all wish your husbands did this for you. Back up...I think we've already established that I will deck a ho who tries to move in on my territory.

Anyway, it's Matt's 30th birthday on Friday, which calls for some Top Secret Amazing Plans, right? Exactly. So my plan-making is well underway, and possibly the most fun part is asking Matt tons of random questions (under the guise of trying to decide what to do, even though we both know I've already decided) to help me plan. This is how these conversations went yesterday:

Me: How far are you willing to drive for a day trip? I mean, how many hours of driving would be too far?

Him: Four hours one way is the max.

Me: Great. Do you like porcupines?

Him: Ummmm....are we going porcupine hunting?

Me: Not telling. Do you like them?

Him: If we hunted porcupines, I could make a porcupine hat. That would be cool.

Me: Excellent. Now, you know how people use the term 'five-star' to describe something really great, but 'one-star' would be like...not as great? Well, instead of using 'stars' as the measurement standard, let's use BAND AIDS. [please recall Matt's great fear of band aids] On a scale of one to five band aids, what kind of day would you like to have for your birthday?

Him: Sick. I can't answer this question. Does this mean I'm going to get hurt? Are you going to cut me?

Me: Probably. OK, next question. On a scale of 'couch potato' to 'marathon,' how much exercise would you want to get on your birthday adventure day?

Him: Probably no more than a 5k.

Me: OK, a 5k running or 5k walking?

Him: Running.

Me: How many ks can you walk, though?

Him: Maybe 9.

Me: Excellent. Do you like sharks or rhinos better?

Him: Sharks.

See how much great information I'm gathering? This is going to be the best birthday adventure ever!!