perfect.

Cougartown.

Since I graduated in May I have found myself becoming one of those people who gets excited about evening TV shows. I'm okay with this.

One of my new favorites is Cougartown starring Courtney Cox. I love Courtney Cox. I love her almost as much a J. Aniston, almost. Naturally this stems from my 9 year obsession with Friends which I'm STILL grieving from is finale. As much as I wanted to be a Rachel for 9 years I am totally a Monica. I'm a spitting image. I'm okay with this.

Anyway, not only do I love Courtney's fun-loving and sarcastic "Cougar" character but I LOVE LOVE LOVE her house! I watch this show and pause it during the house scenes so I can look around. Well, guess what I discovered the other day?!... See the colorful curtains in the top left corner of this image? We sell those very curtains at Riffraff!! They're only $39.99 too!!

Surprise Package from Across the Pond!

Today I received a surprise package from my Granddad who lives in England. It was so touching and thoughtful and honestly brought tears to my eyes. I don't see this man nearly as much as I'd like!

My parents are both British. My dad grew up in Lowestof England, an eastern fishing town, and my mommy grew up in Hastings England, a southern seafront town where on clear day to can see France across the channel! My parents moved to the states a few weeks after they got married and have lived here ever since. We all try to go over every summer to visit all of our family but sometimes all of our schedules conflict and it becomes harder than we originally thought.

Some of my fondest memories from when I was younger are memories of sitting in my Granddad's living room (my grandmother dies of cancer when I was 18 mos old) during the evenings when we would go visit. I have ALWAYS had this obsession with the second world war perhaps because my family all have first hand experiences and thrilling stories to tell. My Granddad was only in his teens during the war but still has hundreds of stories of air raids, blackouts, and bombings. One of my favorite stories he's told me is when he was 15 or so and heard a German air craft come flying in over the sea. He was down at the garage (gas station) in the Old Town and didn't want his mother to be home alone during the raid. (this was earlier on during the war) As he was running as fast as he could home he looked over his left shoulder and made eye contact with the German pilot (apparently they flew VERY low to the ground) who turned a blind eye and flew past him. He has always said he's never felt his heart sink as much as that moment.

(Granddad, Me, and Joy at their wedding two summers ago)

If you've been over to my house you'll know I have three 'Keep Calm and Carry On' original posters framed on my living room wall. I ordered these originals from Barter Books in London. It's one of the three posters produced by the British Government's Ministry of Information on the eve of the odd World War in 1939. The other two were 'Freedom is in Peril' and 'Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory."

Today my Granddad sent me a little gift... this little book. It's a modest attempt at inspiration for hard times. I sat and read every quote inside. I love it!...
Although, the best part of the package was a letter my Granddad had written to me about a part of the war he didn't know much about but had memories of and wanted to share them with me. He had written out two pages of his experience, and thoughts of his evacuation during the war. Here's a few parts...

"I was 9 years old when I was evacuated away from Hastings, it was in 1940 and I went with my mother, my granddad ad Grandmother. My Father had to stay home and work. I cannot remember anything about the journey but we arrived at Wells in Somerset and we were billeted in a school ever night. I cannot remember much about that time except that I had palled up with another boy who came from New Romney in Kent and we found a sweet shop where we bought some chocolate covered coconut cars, the taste of which stays with me today."

"On the first night we were there we had heard a lot of planes flying aound and the noise of distant bombing which apparently was a Bristol a busy port and city not that far away from us! In the early morning we heard the noise of a low flying aircraft and as we were on the side of a hill we were able to look down on a German bomber! The plane was either in difficulties or was flying low to avoid attention, we never found out which"

"How long we stayed away I cannot remember but eventually we returned to Hastings, the war was still on and as we approached Lewes in Sussex the train was halted in a tunnel because there was an air raid on the town, we were in the tunnel until the all clear was sounded.

What a wonderful evening tonight was!

Who is your greatest fashion influence?

Last night as I attacked all my e-mails I popped in "Love Story" which I picked up at Target on Saturday for $5!! Woop woop! Love a good deal!

Anyway... Yes, I cried my eyes out and yes, I feel in love with Ali MacGraw's character!

I looked up Ali MacGraw to see if she always had great fashion sense or if it was just in 'Love Story.' Come to find out she worked with Harper's Bazaar before she began acting! After spending an hour reading up on Ali I decided to call her one of my greatest fashion influences along with, of course, my all time favorite celebrity-- Jennifer Aniston! Yes, I still have my green "Team Aniston" shirt.

I very occasionally venture outside the colors white, black, camel brown, or grey clothing. Luke get on to me all the time but I really don't enjoy wearing any other colors. I'm a simple girl when it comes to clothing. I'd take a well structured shirt over a patterned top any day of the week! I've always thought fashion is 50 percent what you wear and 50 percent how you wear it. You can make a potato sack look good if you combine it with confidence and a smile!

There's a good chance that someone inspired your personal style whether it's your grandmother or Lady Gaga, who's your favorite?

Here's a few pictures of my style icons, Ali MacGraw and Jennifer Aniston!...

Weekend Update: My Best Friend is Engaged!

Friday night Luke and I met up to grab some sushi at Shogun after a long week. As we were sitting at the light on Joyce and College one of my best friends, Lindley Summers, called. I hesitated as Luke was listening to the game on the radio and I didn't want to drown it out. Luckily I answered.....

"heeyyy girl!'

"Hey, guess what"

...pause... i knew it...

"I'm engaged!"

...pause.... "Lindley Summers, if you are lying to me I'm going to..."

SIDE NOTE: around this time last year Miss Lindley pulled a prank on me and led me to believe that Brett (her now fiance) had taken her to the casino and proposed to her when they won $1000 dollas. She had a fake ring on and everything and I totally fell for it. For about 20 min. Sooo.... you can understand why I pulled out the pauses! ::resume::

"Kirsten Blowers I am NOT kidding you!"

"OH MY GOSH!!! When? How?"

I'd fill you in on the story BUT I thought I'd leave that up to Lindley herself! Click HERE to read her blog-- she hasn't posted about the engagement yet, but I'm SURE she will soon!

After Luke and grabbed dinner at Shogun (we had a great time by the way and I laughed till I cried-- great dinner with a great boy) we headed over to Brett's apartment to congratulate the happy couple and give Lindley a huuugee hug!

A little about us--

Lindley and I met in 10th grade yet we knew of each other before then. We were close friends all through High School running in the same group of friends but became Best Friends when we both enrolled in the Interior Design program at the U of A where we were roommates sophomore year! We've spent countless hours together and every hour I'm with her I love her more. Lindley is one of the most caring people I have ever met. She has a huge heart and is very compassionate with everyone. I can count on Lindley at any hour of any day for advice, a laugh, a heart to heart, or a gripe out session. She truly is one of my best friends and I can't picture my life without her!

Here's some picture from this weekend... and a trip down memory lane!

Here's the beautiful ring!...

HIllary, Samantha (my friend who got married last month, click HERE), Lindley, and Kirsten!

Interior Design Girls...

Me and Lin...

Hillary capturing a Kodak moment...

We all made Lindley frolic in the rose petals for the perfect engagement night pictures! ha! They actually turned out okay!

Tonight when I met up with Lindley she presented me with this... It's a martini glass with diamonds all around it and a sweet note that says... "From tears to cheers, throughout the years, you've been by my side, now I am going to be a bride! Will you be a bridesmaid?" of course I said YES! When I read this my eyes flooded up with tears! I usually don't get emotional with these things but I thought back on everything we've been through and I just couldn't handle it! Love this girl!

Here's the engaged couple! Lindley and Brett!

Can't wait!!

Now for a little, fun trip down memory lane.... (just a few random pictures from HUNDREDS we have together-- these just happened to be on my computer-- no particular order)

Lin and I at Sam's wedding last month...

Freshman year of College in my dorm room...

OH MAN! Senior Trip 2005 to Mexico! A.) don't know why I'm posing like that and B.) I burned those glasses the minute I touched down in the states....

Homecoming 2004 at Ellas before the dance...

Senior Prom 2005.... My favorite High School Memory! I remember it like it was yesterday!

Lindley and I just before her 'black and white' themed birthday party or Sophmore year in our apartment...

This is us at our finest :) Rolled out of bed and on ANOTHER flipping Interior Design field trip! This one took us to a dam... yes, interior design and a dam...

Sophmore year in Dallas at some Sky Bar! We had a GREAT time this night!

At Strut for a Mutt two years ago...

U of A graduates!!!!

Keep posted for wedding updates on this girl!

3 things today...

I've had a 13 or 14 hr day every day this week except for Wednesday when I finished work at a decent hour of 6pm. Therefore I decided to take it nice and easy this afternoon, after all it is Friday AND the weather is STILL fabulous! Such a change from last month!

I have three topics of discussion today. I don't know if you could actually call them topics but, whatever!...

Topic One: Jillian Michael 30 Day Shred.

Now, if you know me well, you know one of my biggest pet peeves is when people talk about their works outs like everyone want to know all about them. I know I don't. I usually stumble across across a blog read the first sentence and if it says "running" or "work out" I shut the computer and head to my refrigerator for a block of cheese. You can even ask "future sister-in-law" (yes i just said that), Sarah! She's heard me go on and on....

Anyway, back to the topic. I have not run more than 10 feet since senior year of high school. That was four and a half years ago people! If I have run at all during my college experience it was because a Rottweiler was chasing me. Didn't happen, but you get my point!

Luke's been training for a half marathon he'll be running next month and while he's out gallivanting around in tennis shoes and sometimes those skinny little leggings I'm usually sitting here, stalking your blog. Something came over me Sunday night and I said to myself "I'm gonna try that stupid shred video." And so I did! Monday afternoon i trotted into Target and picked up the ole' Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred video along with a few other necessities. As I'm loading up my car bestie, Kenlie come rolling around the corner for the SAME thing! you can read all about this incident on her blog by clicking HERE!

Monday evening started my "work out kick," we'll see how long it lasts! I wanted to really push myself if I was going to do this so I decided to walk 10 min, jog ten min, and walk three to warm up for the video. I'm still on level one (three total) and my endurance is really picking up! In fact, dare I say it... I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING OUT! woop woop!

I think part of the fun is the play list I have on my iphone for my "warm ups":

I listen to "Young Forever" from Jay-Z's new album (if you watched the O.C. back in the day you'll totally remember this!) and Empire State of Mind also from Jay-Z's new album as I "swiftly" walk. Then when "Best I ever Had" by Drake (clean version, duh!) plays I kick it up to a jog, followed by Knock you down by Keri Hilson (also clean). I know these songs are a couple months "old" now but they have a great jogging beat to them! And then I walk for 4 min to John Mayer's "Who Says."

Try this play list and let me know what you think!

That's it for my work out post. You probably wont ever see another one from me unless I start competing in the Olympics then that would be blog worthy!

Topic Three: Random Stuff

This is when I tell you all the stupid random things that float into my head during the week...

I love that sequins are coming back! Really looking forward to busting out a few when I go see ELTON JOHN AND BILLY JOEL in two weeks! (this will have it's own series of posts, don't you worry!)

I was driving two evenings ago-- whatever day that was-- and "Better Man" by Pearl Jam came on the radio followed by "Santeria" by Sublime! Two GREAT 90's songs! I was so excited! Then my head got to rambling and I thought... "If I could go back to the 90's for one night I'd go to a Sublime concert with a flannel shirt on and my Doc Martin boots with my grungy boyfriend." then I thought-- WHAT?! and I snapped out of it.

I think that's it for my ramblings...

Topic Three: WDHT Pt 3!

I know, I know... I said I'd only do one room a week but there's only 3 or 4 weeks left and I have a gazillion rooms to show you! SO here's JUST a glimpse into my parent's family room! This is where we all congregate! It have french door leading out to our pool and my parents BEAUTIFUL garden! The sunlight just pours in here and I love it. On a side note-- We have since replaced the floor in this room. Tell me what you think!

You can check out the Formal Living Room here, and the Kitchen here!

(Click on the picture to make it larger!)

WDHT Pt 2!

Here's a glimpse of my parent's formal living room which will be in the Junior League's Winter Dreams Tour!

Don't forget to get your tickets!