Sunday, back to Bham

On the road again! Sunday I pick Traci up in Ocean Springs, we headed up 49 to Hattiesburg to pick up Kelly & Lilly, then it was back to Bham. YUCK, the drive was bad! I started falling asleep so after Traci got a short nap I turned the driving over to her. I took at quick nap myself, and when I woke up, Traci and I sang to each other. Let me tell you this is SCARY! Neither of us are musically talented, so this is what we to to make each other laugh. We totally destroyed Sugarland! I love those moments so much Traci! Finally we made it back, and as excited as I was, I felt bad because she had to get in her car and drive to Nashville. Guess that's better than driving all 6.5 hrs from Nashville to the coast alone. Once we unloaded the car, Lilly and I went to Rick's for dinner. He cooked pancakes, which I have never been able to do myself for some reason, and they were YUMMY! We also had eggs and bacon, everything was GREAT! It has been forever since I had breakfast for dinner, and I forgot how much I loved it! It was a perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

Jeanine's Bachelorette Party @ Hard Rock

Saturday we headed to the Hard Rock Casino, Biloxi, MS for Jeanine's Bachelorette party! We had lunch at Mary Mahoney's, then headed to the pool. Courtney & I pretended it was sunny and 80, but actually it was about 70 and overcast. (May have even been sprinkling, but Court told me it was the water from the gulf splashing up!) Sat at the pool for a couple hours, and then back to the room. The rooms at the HR are FABULOUS! The beds are so comfy, the shower, oh the shower, it was wonderful, 3 shower heads. We had a small honeymoon shower in the room for the bride. Our next stop was the Manhattan Grill, Ocean Springs, MS. This is my dad's restaurant, and I am not being partial, but this is one of the best meals you will have on the Mississippi Gulf Coast! Dinner was GREAT! Back to the Hard Rock and RISE, the club on the top floor of the hotel. I think our sweet bachelorette had a wonderful time, as did the rest of us. (Maybe too much) It was great to see you girls, I love you all! Can't wait for the wedding Jeanine!

Back to Mississip

I was back on the road again this past weekend. Friday I was in Gautier, MS where I helped host a wedding shower for 2 of my favorite people on the planet, Ashley Jones & Lindsey Larsen. They are one of the sweetest couples I know. They are constantly laughing, and to me that is the best thing ever in a relationship. Ash & Linds have known each other since high school, but didn't connect until a wedding 2 yrs ago. For years I have said if I had to be stranded on an island and could only take 2 people with me, it would be Ashley & Lindsey, mostly because of the constant laughter. Well, now that they are getting married, looks like I have to pick someone else for my island. I could not be happier to be a part of this wedding, nothing better than 2 of your favorite people marrying each other! So back to the party, it was GREAT! The food was unbelievable and I got to see tons of friends from high school. I love being home for events like this & getting to see everyone takes me back 10 years, I love that feeling. Can't wait for the wedding!

Wine Down Wednesday

I went to meet Jessica and her fabulous friend Meredith, that just moved here from Auburn, at Ciao last night for Wine Down Wednesday. This is so fun, half price bottles of wine, acoustic music, great atmosphere. Good times! Looking forward to seeing you around Mer!

Tuesday Night Dinner

I went to dinner at Grey House Grille @ SOHO Square in downtown Homewood last night and it was GREAT! I had Grilled Beef Tenderloin Medallions finished with a portobello mushroom bordelaise, mashed potatoes and asparagus. YUMMY!

Weekend Pics

Well another weekend has come and gone. Kelly & I had a small gathering at our house Friday night, and then back to Nana Funks! After this past weekend I am turning in my membership card for a while, just can't take it any more! Saturday we took it easy, dinner at Surin, and then to a margarita party for an hour or so. Over all a another GREAT weekend!

Blackberry

I got the Blackberry Curve today! I am totally confused by it, but I am trying. I had a REALLY hard time deciding between it and the Samsung BlackJack. Does anyone know anything about the Blackjack? The Internet is faster on the Blackjack, so I still may go with that one. I have 30 days to exchange it. As for now, I am OK with the Blackberry, and I know I am going to be TOTALLY OBSESSED! So be patient with me if you are calling or texting!

All Smiles!

Ashley & Fancy come to visit!

My FABULOUS friends Ashley and Fancy came to visit this weekend! Ashely (left) is one of my college roommates, and she is getting married this summer! So this was probably her last visit to Bham before she gets married! Fancy is one of my best friends from college, and it is almost impossible to have a bad time with her! I love these girls both so much, and I am so glad they came to visit! I HAD A BLAST!

Happy Easter!

Kelly & I had to take an Easter pic for our moms! She went to church with her boyfriend John, and I went with The Ashbakers (Tom & his parents). Then Kelly, John, and I went to CRACKER BARREL! YUMMY! It was a GREAT EASTER! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday.

MY CROSS WALL

I started my cross wall today!! I say started because I want to keep adding. Excuse the horrible bed, but I LOVE how this turned out! What do you guys think?

Dogwood Tree

Ok, so this is a DOGWOOD tree & bloom, which is not what the trees around Bham look like. FYI

What kind of tree is this?

These beautiful trees are all over Birmingham, and I need to know what they are? Kelly and I have had this discussion multiple times and she suggested I put it on here so we can find out. So, if you know or even have a guess please comment and let us know! HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TAYLOR!!! Taylor is one of my dearest friends. We met at a pre-Ole Miss gathering, and were instantly best friends. Our freshman & sophomore yrs at Ole Miss we did EVERYTHING together, so much that everyone thought we were twins. When I talked about leaving Ole Miss she said if you're going so am I. So we packed up our cars and moved to Hattiesburg, and the rest is history. We lived together for a little while, and have remained the best for friends since. I was in her wedding June 2006 to Mr. Drew Clayton, that I absolutely love. It was such an honor. In October of this year Tay & Drew had a precious little girl Mattie Caroline Clayton, who is a TRUE MIRACLE BABY. She was born a month early and weighed under 3 lbs! She was in the hospital for a month, and now is the perfect little angel. God was watching over the Claytons.

Taylor has always been there for me no matter what, and will always crack me up just by speaking. We have had some crazy times the past 10 yrs, and I wouldn't change a minute. Once again, I am so BLESSED to have such a wonderful, beautiful, smart, funny, caring friend in my life. I adore you Taylor HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Baby Tyrone

This is Miss Elizabeth "Reese" Tyrone. Reese was born December 27, 2007 (before I had the blog, so I just had to mention her now!). Her wonderful parents are Bonnie & Blaine Tyrone. These 2 are a VERY special couple to me. Bonnie was one of my best friends at Ole Miss, and when I transferred, she followed a year later. She and I lived together for years at USM, and there was never a dull moment! She is the most fabulous friend you could ever ask for, down to earth, funny, beautiful, and the best part is you can tell her ANYTHING! I adore her and am so luck to have such a perfect friend. Now on to her husband, Mr. Blaine Tyrone, we met one weekend when I came to USM to visit, but we really became friends 2 yrs later when I transferred to Southern Miss, and our group did everything together. Blaine is one of the best guys I have ever met! He will do anything in the world for you, no questions asked (ok maybe a few). He is the tailgating capt of our group (he always picked up my group of girls for football & baseball games), a great cook, funny, and a blast to be around. Well these 2 were friends for years before one weekend I went out of town and Bonnie was lost! She had nothing to do so I said call Blaine! She did, and they were engaged 8 months later. I was a bridesmaid in their wedding October 2006, and it was so special being a part of TWO of your best friends wedding. They are the perfect couple, all of my friends and I say that non-stop. Now with sweet baby Reese, their little family is perfect! I love my sweet Tyrone family, more than you will ever know!

St. Patricks Day Baby!

I would like to introduce Mr. Zachary Lee Hoffpauir. Born Monday March 17, 2008 @ 11:25 am weighing 8lbs 9oz. Zach's parents, Josh & Khara Hoffpauir, are fabulous friends of mine from college and still live in Hattiesburg. This baby is no doubt going to be a baseball player. Congrats guys, you are going to be GREAT parents. I love you all and can't wait to meet baby Hoff!

St Patricks Day

Kelly & I went to Innisfree last night for the St Pattys!

Tour of Birmingham

Saturday night I felt like we were on a tour of Bham. It all started with Rick, James & Abnous at Jackson's for dinner. The next stop was to Blue Monkey where we met up with Burton & Jennifer. Then to J. Clide to meet Kat & Gannon, Mathew & Mary, JessD & Liz, this place is going to be great once it gets a little warmer outside. Our final stop was Nana Funks, where we met up with Stephen and Kate, and once again against my better judgement I hit the dance floor. It was a BUSY night, and we had a BLAST!

Bar 23, Nashville

So after Blind Melon, we went to meet up with Laura & Eric Graham @ Bar 23. (Laura & Eric are possibly the sweetest couple ever!) This place was a blast, and against my better judgement, I decided to dance! I LOVE THE GRAHAMS, Laura has a blog that inspired me to start mine. Check it out http://www.thegrizasonline.com/. It was GREAT to see you guys.
Earlier in the night we made friends with a cab driver named Coco Puff, that we called to pick us up, and he totally took care of us. For the rest of the weekend we mentioned Coco Puff at least once an hour. We made it home, safe and sound with Krystals chili cheese fries in hand! What a night!

Blind Melon in Nashville

Heather, Allison, & I
Walker & I

We went to see Blind Melon at the Cannery in Nashville Friday. It was a great show, and the new lead singer is fabulous! They played my class song from 1997, "Change". I LOVED IT!

San Fransisco Joe

Let me introduce my wonderful friend Joe Serpente. Not sure where to start when talking about Joe. In college he was Psycho Joe, The Naked Knight, Human Tornado, CiCi's pizza window guy, oh the list goes on and on. We first met my freshman year at Ole Miss, and I was immediately scared. Then when I transferred to Southern Miss, the fun started. He moved in next door to me at my apt, and there were endless practical jokes (still scared of pinatas!). Then when Joe's roommate moved out, he thought he should just move in with me. Not just in my apt, but in my room! So there we are Joe in his twin bed, me in my queen bed, just sharing a room. This was a TRIP to say the least! On Sept 11, he woke me up to watch the news, all the while looking out our bedroom window looking for planes to crash into our apt. I have so many adventures with Joe, I can't even count. Joe has moved around since college, and is now in San Fran. We remain the best of friends, and talk all the time. When you are around Joe you can't help but laugh until it hurts. I LOVE YOU JOE, thanks for being you, and always making me smile.

Here is a little info on Joe: Loves to prank call, and can do it without cracking, loves practical jokes, loves his wonderful family, you never know what he will do while in public, loves his friends that are all over the country, is not allowed to drink scotch (at least not around me), never meets a stranger, has an imagination you would not believe (almost scary), very honest (at times, too honest), but most of all a great heart.

Ladies, he's single!

Being the Bigger Person

I have found recently how good it feels to be the bigger person. Sitting around dwelling on the past, and sinking to someone else's level, gets you no where. It is much easier to move on and make your self happy if you let things go and focus on the future. Don't get me wrong, this is not an easy task at times, but I promise you will feel better. The past makes you who you are, so you can't just forget it, but you also can't live in it. I have just closed a chapter in my life, and I feel great about it. As I have said before, everything happens for a reason. That has been so clear to me as of recent. My mom told me yesterday that people show true character in the hard times, not the good. That is another thing that has been VERY clear as of recent. I have seen both the good and the bad from different people. I was totally impressed by the respect gained by the good, and amazed by the respect lost for the bad. With all of this said, I am very excited about what the future holds.

Boogie's Blackberry Lessons

Boogie (in the blue) gets a blackberry lesson from Brad (in yellow). I am pretty sure these lessons will be taking place quite often. I am sitting in my office watching these guys and it is so ENTERTAINING! These 2 are a TRIP! Hard at work here at SOI.

Lilly vs the Big Yellow Ball

I went to Walgreens yesterday and saw this ball, and could not resist. It is really weird, and fun, I love it! Lilly on the other hand, not so much. She will not touch it and thinks it is trying to get her! Check out the video.

Good Monday

I usually hate Mondays, but today is a good day! Can't stop smiling!

More Snow in BHAM

I woke up this morning to SNOW! Everywhere! I am not big on the cold, but it sure is pretty! I am sure it will all melt by 9am. OK, that's enough cold, bring on SUMMER!

End of an Era

Sad news for Greenbay & Southern Miss fans. Brett Favre has officially retired! I guess we all knew it was coming, and it has. I am pretty sure my older brother had to take a day off for mourning. (He is somewhat obsessed!) Brett will be missed by all!

HAPPY FRIDAY

It is finally FRIDAY! I could not be happier! Not really sure why, because it is going to be SO SO SO COLD here this weekend. BOO, I hate the cold. I have had a pretty bad week, SO, thought I would share this horrible pic of me with the craziest ORANGE hair you have ever seen. (Just to make the rest of you smile!) One thing I have realized this week:

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. "Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin."

With that said, I believe that everything happens for a reason. I have total faith in this. OH, and I TOTALLY take too many pictures, and love every single one.

The Clintons

Found this pic on the internet, and it made me laugh!

Cell Phone Plans

NEVER NEVER EVER get on a cell phone plan with someone you are dating. Maybe when you are engaged, but 100% not before then. PLEASE LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES! THIS IS A MESS!

G-chat

I am so confused by this thing. I like to think of myself as tech savvy, but I am lost. All my friends here use gchat, and my friend Joe in San Fran. I love chatting, but can't figure out how to add friends. I send these invites, like in an email, and it says I am waiting on approval. Oh that makes me feel good. Just sitting around waiting on someone to decide if they like me enough to chat! NICE! So if you are on gchat, invite me, because I have no clue how to find you. I will get the hang of it, just wanted to put my thoughts out there, and get your feedback. Hope you all have a SUPER day, mine sucks so far!

Oh, Brother

I want to introduce you guys to my little brother, Ryan Dunn. Do you see the resemblance? Not so much with the facial hair, and obviously we did NOT get the same hair, but usually people think we are twins. We are 22 months apart in age, and fought like crazy when we were kids. When we were really young my family called me Sissy, and him Bubba. Well, Bubba stuck, until he was about 13. The funny part about that is now when people that haven't seen him in a long time see him they still call him BUBBA, I LOVE IT. Ryan is a bartender at Mellow Mushroom in Ocean Springs, so go by and visit him if you are ever in the area. Great to see you "Bubba", I love you!

Mahogany

Friday night I had dinner at my favorite restaurant Crescent City, in Hattiesburg. The Tyrones, the Baggetts, Will & Lacey, Fancy, Jeni, and Sam were all in attendance. Dinner was GREAT, but not nearly as fabulous as the company. Great to see you all, thanks for coming to meet me, I always love seeing your smiling faces.

Mission Accomplished

So the day started with Mimosas and a quick hour drive to the coast. We took the scenic route down the beach from Gulfport to Ocean Springs (I LOVED IT!). We shopped around Downtown Ocean Springs all day, and the group had sushi @ Chef Scott's (I stepped next door to grab some gumbo and crab cakes at my dad's restaurant The Manhattan Grill). Off to the Imperial Palace where Chrissy had to birthday rooms for us. We went to the Chill bar downstairs and rounded up the group, then took the Casino Hopper to the HARD ROCK! I LOVE THE HARD ROCK! We went to RISE, this place is fabulous, on the top floor of the casino it overlooks the beach (or Sam would say Waffle House). Some of our group did a little gambling, but no big winners. I did a lot of socializing! I always run into friends from home, this time I had the pleasure of bumping into my Key West crew from last summer, Marty & Shannon, and Jason & Rachel. Also got to see my fabulous friend Leigh Hayden and her sisters. To sum it all up, Fancy had a GREAT Birthday, Sam may have been over served, spent time with friends old and new, WHAT A WONDERFUL WEEKEND! It was great to see you all!

OH, SAMMY

My friend Sam passed out on Jeni & Fancy's couch tonight at 11 pm, just after he text "Cherry" and told her to come over. Oh what fun we had. While he was passed out a few text were coming in and I just couldn't resist as he snored loudly with his belly showing. Lets just say Sam and "Cherry" are in for an interesting night! I woke him up as her phone call was coming in, and he stumbled out the door to meet her...... Pics of Sam passed out to come when I get back to Bham to download.