What you wished for could come true...

I wish:

• that I hadn't had to work today
• that the pipe dreams extravaganza was this weekend instead of next...
  
  [not quite the same... but we don't bring cameras, you understand ;) via]
• that guys weren't so ridiculous all the time
• that I hadn't posted my blog on fb, 'cause now I can't write about specifics, although I probably will someday
• that I had a better paying job (obvs, doesn't everyone?)

  
  [via]
• that my student loan bills would magically disappear
• the sudoku in Saturday's paper would be somewhat easier... I just don't have the motivation to attempt it right now
• that it was 8 o'clock = party time with these pretty ladies!

&&if you're bored... this site is hilarious.

Betches Love This Site

apparently, I may be am a betch.

Enjoy your weekend!
xox.

Twins :)

I know that I shouldn't have gone out last night, but I did.

Whenever this happens, I tend to just throw on the basics for work the next morning because I'm super duper tired, and my work day started at 7a.m today.

Enter Sarah, at 9:30a.m. in nearly the SAME OUTFIT.

We're freaks. <3

Oh, my black flats are MIA... booo.

If you find them, lemme know, k!? ;)

(my guess is that Mom's dog ate them &she threw them away without letting me know, hahah)

Addictions.

top: younkers, cardi: tjmaxx, skirt &belt: younkers, shoes: madden girl

I have a sickness.

It might be common among you girls as well...

I have an unhealthy addiction to shopping.

It never used to be so bad.

But lately, I have no ZERO self-control.

I'm newly comfortable with my body, so I'm buying more flattering clothes.

There's nothing wrong with that... right?!

My main problem: SALE/CLEARANCE RACKS

The top - on sale for $2.99 [buy it], so of course I bought it in 2 colors.

The skirt - on sale from $44 to $16 [now $13.20 buy it here]... so I bought 2 styles (it's work appropriate.)

The cardi - $7 discounted from $14

While my mom & her brand-new hubby are on their honeymoon in Sturgis the 2nd week of August, I am using my week of paid vacation to lounge around the house while puppy-sitting.

AND ORGANIZING MY CLOSET/DECLUTTERING.

My plan is to follow [Crissa's] lead with her Closet Cleanup Crash Course, found here!

I will not allow myself to purchase any more clothes or shoes (with the exception of my August JustFab purchase) until I get rid of (donate) the clothes that I no longer wear.

Seriously, I still have stuff from high school.

Does anyone else have tips for closet cleanups?

Please tell me that I'm not the only one with this addiction...

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

So What! Wednesday

This week I'm saying SO WHAT! if:

• I might have eaten breakfast twice this morning.  Waking up at 4:25a.m. is no fun, and I can't survive working 'til 6p.m without eating three times.
• I finally finished season 3 of True Blood and have been begging my friend's to let me come over and catch up on season 4... I need more Eric Northman...
  
  [via]
• I checked out the sex offender list of my new neighborhood yesterday... only so that I know which guys NOT TO DATE.
• the lovely [Sarah] already got me hooked to the ridiculousness of Fashion Story on my phone... just what I need to boost my social life.
  
  [via]
• I just about had a nervous breakdown because I thought I lost this post... oh it's going to be a lonnnnng day.

Go link up with Shannon at Life After I "Dew" for your own SWW post!

Movin' up in the [techy] world.

My poor, poor cell phone did not survive the motorcycle wreck on Sunday night.

Apparently, it cushioned my fall.

So after spending over 2 hours at two different Verizon locations, I came home with this sexy beast.

[via]

The Motorola Droid 3, which was just released last week.

Except mine is a little sexier... like this.

[via]

I'm having fun transitioning to this miraculous phone, as I had a phone through Straight Talk before, which is basically a TracPhone.  Pretty classy...

I have joined the worlds of Twitter (which I had before, but rarely tweeted... @xoxhaylee), FourSquare, and Skype Mobile.. which I'm not quite sure how to operate yet. =D

The very nice guy that took care of us (my mom got the same phone) also threw in some goodies, such as the cases, car chargers, & screen protectors... as well as $20 off each phone.

See, some bad things do come with perks =)

Weekend Re-cap [in pictures]

[bachelorette party]

[sibling love]

first motorcycle wreck... poor Comet :(

p.s. I SURVIVED IT, obviously.

p.s.s. don't ride in the pouring rain if you're inexperienced.

I hope you all had a GREAT weekend as well!!

Bloggy Bracelet Swap!

Michelle, at Living a Life of Love hosted this fabulous bracelet swap!

I received a lovely peachy pink beaded bracelet from Nicole at Team Pipkin Family!

Excuse the terrible quality phone picture, but the bracelet is gorgeous :)

Thanks again, Nicole!!

&thanks to Michelle for hosting!

So What! Wednesday =D

This week I am saying SO WHAT! if:

• I'm super proud of myself for purchasing a Bobble water bottle to replace purchasing bottled water every single day at work.  I'm saving the environment, dude.

[via]

•  I wanted to steal this dog from a friend this weekend.  He is the most adorable pooch evaahh.

• I had to be the first person to test out the photo wall for Momma's wedding.
  It turned out fabulous, by the way ;)

[it was on the ground for the pic, it was made to set on a picnic table :) ]

• I might have been a slight slacker on mailing out my partner's bracelet for the bloggy bracelet swap, but it did get accomplished!  I hope you like them Nicole!

[[LINK UP!]]

Today is my last day of work for the week!  This means I'll probably end up slacking on blogging the rest of the week... =/

Please forgive me, but I will be taking plenty of photos for you to enjoy next week.

Especially since tonight is my mom's BACHELORETTE party!!

Friday is the rehearsal & the WEDDING is on Saturday!!!

Pray for a nice cool day for us, rather than the 93 degrees & slight chance of rain that is forecasted right now...

Monday Lust List &Weekend Re-cap

I feel like starting a new weekly post, just 'cause. :)

[crystal glitz] 

[Rosebloom Tunic]

 [wheel of fortune]

[in loovee]

[Hawaiian vacation, via]

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

I had, perhaps, one too many BlueMoon's on Friday with Sarah <3

Saturday, me and Heather floated down the river via Pipe Dream and it was SO much fun.

I can't wait to do it again!

Book Review: Blood and Chocolate

Yay for Book Club Friday!

Link up & share your recent reads!

This week, I read Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause.

[image via]

Overview from bn.com:

Vivian Gandillon relishes the change, the sweet, fierce ache that carries her from girl to wolf. At sixteen, she is beautiful and strong, and all the young wolves are on her tail. But Vivian still grieves for her dead father; her pack remains leaderless and in disarray, and she feels lost in the suburbs of Maryland. She longs for a normal life. But what is normal for a werewolf?
Then Vivian falls in love with a human, a meat-boy. Aiden is kind and gentle, a welcome relief from the squabbling pack. He's fascinated by magic, and Vivian longs to reveal herself to him. Surely he would understand her and delight in the wonder of her dual nature, not fear her as an ordinary human would.
Vivian's divided loyalties are strained further when a brutal murder threatens to expose the pack. Moving between two worlds, she does not seem to belong in either. What is she really—human or beast? Which tastes sweeter—blood or chocolate?

Review:

It took me a few days to get into this book, however, once I reached the midway point, I couldn't get enough.  It seemed like a lot of characters get thrown at you in the beginning, but eventually I caught on.  When Vivian first met Aiden, I wasn't sure that I was going to like his character, but he grew on me.  He acted as if he would understand and love her no matter what.  There is also a male in the pack, Gabriel, that is somewhat involved with Vivian's mom and flirts with Vivian, and he becomes a major character.  The book has some crazy twists and turns and full of action about half way through.  It's not all about a love story, the pack also has to find a new leader when troubles develop in their neighborhood.

Overall, it was a very good book.  Annette Curtis Klause was very descriptive and made the story easy to imagine.

4 out of 5 stars

ps. while googling the title of the book, I found that a fellow blogger, "Books, Cats, Movies & Coffee" posted a review with a movie trailer for Blood &Chocolate!  The movie looks like a slightly different plot, but interesting nonetheless!

So What! Wednesday

It's hump day!  Go ahead &link up with Life After I "Dew" for SWW!

This week I'm saying SO WHAT! if:

• I secretly enjoy Selena Gomez's "Who says"...
  I'm no beauty queen, I'm just beautiful me.
• I'm using my brother's birthday as an excuse to go party during the week
  Happy Birthday Adam!
• I spent over half an hour last night reading all of my &my bff's facebook wall posts to eachother.  I miss her and it reminded me of SO, SO many fabulous &hilarious times together.
• I'm psyched to receive my JustFab heels which *should* arrive tomorrow, even though I've read some sketchy reviews about the program.  I will judge for myself!
• I was forced convinced by [Sarah] to place another F21 order yesterday... Christmas should be arriving again in 4-9 business days!
• I'm absolutely addicted to America's Got Talent.  Man, oh man, those people have mad skills... especially my favorite,[ Landau Eugene Murphy Jr.]

Alright, I'm dying to finish reading my book now.. Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause, which Sarah reviewed last Friday [here] & I will be posting my own review this week!

Link up & have a great day!

July Love List.

I thoroughly enjoy reading about what other bloggers love,

so why not share what I'm diggin' this month?

[purchase]

SHORTS

This is the first summer that I've worn shorts in probably 4 years. 

I was never comfortable in shorts before, but now I just don't care! :)

[via]

Starbucks Double Shot in Vanilla

These things allow me to survive through long days at work or I'll drink one before a night on the town for an extra boost

[via]

Weed & Water

My go to summer cocktail.  Yum, yuuummm

[purchase]

MUFE's HD Microfinish Powder

This powder is my savior in this ridiculous humidity. 

I just brush a little on my t-zone, end of nose & chin to prevent my skin from getting oily.

What are you currently in lovee with?

Book Review: When Darkness Falls

This week, I'm going to review "When Darkness Falls" by James Grippando.  I downloaded this book when it was free on my Nook, although I did not realize that it was in 3 parts, and I only downloaded the first 2.  Now, I'm too cheap to purchase the whole book to read the last 100 pages or so... so I need to head to B&N and finish the book in stores sometime.

[image via]

Review/Synopsis from Amazon user Greta L. Hudson:"Attorney Jack Swyteck agrees to represent Falcon, a homeless man who stops traffic for hours when he stands on a bridge and threatens to jump--his only demand, to speak to the Mayor's daughter, police officer Alicia Mendoza. Falcon comes to an agreement with hostage negotiator Vincent Paulo, but is soon captured. Jack's less than grateful client manages to make bail and is on the run after a dead woman is found in the trunk of a car he calls home. Jack soon finds himself in the middle of a hostile situation where Falcon has taken his best friend, Theo, and a woman hostage. Jack, with the help of Paulo, Alicia, and several law enforcement agencies jockeying for jurisdictional command, must race to meet the demands of an unstable man to save his friend. What's revealed are dark secrets that stretch from Argentina, the Bahamas, to Miami's political elite.

Miami's rich setting is a character of its own with diverse culture, rich cuisine and changing weather that sets the tone and raises the stakes in this adrenaline-charged thriller. The characters and scenes are made even more vivid through the experiences of a blind man, Sergeant Vincent Paulo, not because of the strength of his other senses, but because of his insight and skill as an experienced hostage negotiator. Even Falcon proves to be not your typical monster. He's likable despite his absurd demands and acerbic wit. There is also enough humor weaved throughout to ease the tension on the volatile situation.

This is one high-powered thrill ride. The more pages I turned, the more I craved. Grippando knows how to grab your attention and keep it. Be prepared to devour this in one sitting because once you turn the cover, Grippando has you! Excellent! "

I absolutely loved this book and had a very difficult time putting it down.  I'm very anxious to see how it ended.  Greta described it perfectly as a "high-powered thrill ride."

Oh, and this is apparently the 6th novel in a series... although this is the one I started with, I didn't feel too lost coming into the series late.

4 out of 5 stars

(only because I haven't finished yet)

Now go read a book & link up!

Just FABULOUS

I heard of this website a couple months ago, JustFab, and I can't remember who it was through.

However, I did some further investigating today and took the plunge and joined.

I mean, seriously, how could I resist?

JustFab is a monthly subscription to SHOES.  And HANDBAGS.

I mean, seriously, how could I resist?!?!

So I entered all of my precious data and they welcomed me with an exclusive 50% off today's purchase.

I waaaas slightly hesitant.  Until these.

Well, really it was these that caught my eye.. but navy is my obsession right now.

I haven't convinced you yet?  Well, take a looky here...

[lovee the purple here]

Have you fallen into a shoe coma yet?

[this screams summer]

You know that you're fabulous, so head on over [via my invitation here] and check it out. ;)