names...

So I was having a conversation earlier with a friend about baby names. He made a comment to me that I wouldn't care what he thought about names because I am a woman and already have my kids names picked out. It made me chuckle because he was kind of right, I do have names in mind for a boy and a girl when I eventually have kids. That doesn't mean that I don't want the guys in put on the names, but I would prefer to have mine.

From there I started to think about my name and what I would have been named if I were a boy. Unfortunately I do not know this answer because apparently my mom didn't pick the boy name but my dad did. Crazy confusing but I am proud that she let him have some say in the process. I think the craziest story about baby names is from a patient at work making a pact with his wife that she could name the kids whatever she wanted, as long as the kids did not grow up as Yankee fans! INSANE!

I dont know what made me start this topic but I thought it would be interesting to find out what names people would choose for a boy and a girl. I am deff. on a kick where I like unique names that not many people hear or choose from.

My picks:
-Boy: Finley Vaughn (As of right now, that is my current obsession, this changes every few years and I have way more boys names I am in love with than girls)
- Girl: Dakota Riley (I'm not completely crazy about this and according to my guy friend our kid will be named Emma Riley, which I am also a fan of)

Let me know your baby names!

xo

p.s.- hope you enjoy one of my baby pics!

intertwined...

For me, I think one of the most amazingly beautiful things to witness and experience is the capacity for art to inspire music and for music to inspire art. I have never really grasped this full concept from any one particular band or artist before until I stumbled across this band Lydia a few years back. So many of their songs and lyrics can help me escape to this darker and more melodic place where I don't have to be completely bopping along to the song. The lead singers voice is hypnotic to me in the sense that I want to be where he is and live what he is living. It is quite intense sometimes.

"Your mind's sick again. I'm tasting nothing but 4 words, "please don't leave me". And it's Dark in the winter so your ideas start to sleep. Well your head is spinning like that carousel, and I know you're a mess after 3 or 4. But if you make it different then we'll make our way to the surface, and your favorite place. Where we sit, and we breath, cause I, know all the words and I sing you everything. Well they're just thoughts so go ahead and speak..."

Before their latest album was released they had a contest for someone to design their most recent album cover. When looking into some of the artists who influenced them, I could tell that much of the artwork and pieces they were choosing fit very well into their music and lyrical choices.

One artist they named stuck out to me and spoke to me the most. Robert Parke Harrison is this brilliant photographer who can make a picture absolutely wretched but beautiful at the same time.All of his exhibitions have been awe inspiring to me, and coupled with Lydia's music, I cant help but be inspired in some of the most twisted but beautiful ways.

I want to take this opportunity to show 3 of his pictures from a few different exhibitions he has done. The photo above is from his exhibition "Architect's Brother." The very first photograph on the page is from his exhibition "Gray Dawn." And the picture below is from his exhibition "Counterpoint."I hope you all enjoy his work as much as I do. Also, please go check out the band Lydia. Their first album was an absolute masterpiece, followed by another breathtaking album 'Illuminate.' I can not praise either of these artists enough for inspiration and works of art!

xo
Let me know what you think!

weekend madness...

NCAA basketball is not the only thing that has been crazy this weekend. My life, for one, is one thing! Haha... So my friend Justin, go check out his blog, pretty much summed up my Friday night. Lets just say that a combo of wine, beer, chatroulette and 4am bed times, do not equal a very pleasant Jenn the following morning.So, through all the dirty people on chatroulette, I found this really cute boy from Charlotte who I only got to talk to for a hot sec because my computer froze, meaning that I never got to realize what our love could have been, lol jk. But we met some other freaking awesome people and I believe Justin and I have a Michigan date in June to visit some of these awesome people!

Continuing with my day Saturday, I spent the morning laying on my couch relaxing and then eating the breakfast of champions, Cinnamon Toast Crunch with Bananas in it. (Side not: whenever I spell B-A-N-A-N-A-S, i always sing the Gwen Stefani song, just to make sure I am right) Proceeded to watch more basketball, then went over to my friend Jay's place, where we went shopping for jeans. Then met up with his wife, and my BFF, De and Katie for swirl margs and mexican food at Little Mexico downtown. Now I did not get a marg. for myself, still weary from the night before, and I had an issue with the dinner menu, so I was not too pleased with this restaurant. I'm sorry, but if I do not want 2 Chimichanga's in my dinner, let me just order one. They wouldnt let me because it was technically the lunch menu and they wouldnt serve it at 7 at night. LAME! So I had to pay an extra $3 for a Chimichanga I did not eat! Luckily Katies roommate was home and ate the leftover!

We then proceeded to the Byrd Theater and saw Sherlock Holmes for $2! It is in this old vintage theater that they have kept historical and now show movies for uber cheep in! They have this cute man play the organ before the show and he is baller!

Today has been my day to relax and do nothing. I went out and bought my little bro a LEGO set for his birthday tomorrow. Then treated myself to a Rita's Italian Icee and then tried to talk the Verizon guys into letting me know when the iPhone would be compatible with their company. Sadly, I failed at the last thing and will have to soon decide if I want to switch to AT&T or stick it out with Verizon! Any thoughts of suggestions?

I am not looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow, especially with the awesome weekend I just had, but I need to make the monies$$$

xo

bracketology...

March Madness has begun! And as of right now I am about half and half with my picks. It is a tradition, for as long as I can remember, for my dad to help give me advice on who I should choose in certain games. This has won me everything from money, to gift certificates to the sheer pride of knowing I am better at picking college basketball games than anyone else.

This year I have two brackets running. The first being my realistic bracket in which I have Kansas winning the whole tourny, and the second being my wishful thinking bracket with my one and only Duke Blue Devils winning. So far the realistic bracket is not doing so hot and must say that Dad and I were not on the same page of teams this year. Hopefully I wont be getting too many more wrong, so I can win some MOOLAH!

Now on to tell you about one of the highlights of my life and it involves Duke Basketball.

Many years back, Duke had this amazing player named Shane Battier. He was this light skinned, wrinkly headed AMAZING basketball player for Duke. He went on to play basketball in the NBA for the Grizzlies, then the Rockets. My favorite basketball player of all time and for a while was going to be my future husband. :D When I was a sophomore in college I attended Elon University's graduation to support some of my friends for finishing college. As I was sitting in the audience I heard a name called across the stage

"Ashley Battier"

Internal monologue.
"Wait, did they just say Ashley Battier? That's Shane's sister. That means Shane must be here. OMFG I must go find him. Would he really be here. No he has to have games or training or something. Can I get up in the middle of the ceremony? I Have to go call mom..."

I proceeded to the back of graduation, which was the parking lot behind all of the chairs, and called my mom.

"MOM! OMG YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT I JUST HEARD." I then told her the whole inner monologue and then set a mission for myself. "I WILL FIND SHANE BATTIER"

She wished my good luck and I hung up. At that moment, this 6 foot 8 inch man with a white polo and duke undershirt walked by...

SHANE BATTIER!!!

I freak out and start thinking to myself, "Cant I ask him for a picture? OMG I have to get a picture, I have to tell him how much of a fan I am. Is this inappropriate? I know its his sisters graduation, what do I do?"

So finally I went up to this man and asked, "Excuse me, are you Shane Battier?"

From there one of the best moments of my life happened. He replied, "Yes!"
I proceeded to take a picture with him and ramble on about how much of a fan I was and how grateful I was that he took a picture with me. Ultimately he was one of the sweetest guys and so humble.

This is the product of that amazing day at Elon University's graduation!

Enjoy!
xo

step one: admitting the problem...

Cute pink ballet flats that would go well with ALL skinny jeans! Feminine with the bow, these flats will make a very nice home amongst the rest of my flat collection.


RED Keds! OMG I have been looking for a pair to relax and chill out in FOREVER. I never quite found a pair that fit right or looked right on my feet, until today! I love the idea of a slight boyish look to them when on. LOVE LOVE LOVE!


Plain brown flats, with a flare of studding. Essential for any closet. Nuff said!


Beige kitten heels. I was on the fence about these but talked into them by mommy. She made a good point that whenever I need a pair of shoes that are slightly more dressy, that these will be perfect. Plus they are perfect for a night out on the town!


Last but not least, Gold Gladiator sandals! With summer swiftly approaching, these sandals are EPIC!

Ok, so as you can see I have fallen in love with 5 pairs of shoes. What is my problem you ask? I bought all of them in one night! Yes, all at once. My name is Jenn and I am a shoe-a-holic! I currently own like 50+ pairs... Dont judge, they are my love!

What is your obsession?

xo

walking in walmart...

Working at a physical therapy clinic, gives you the opportunity for you to meet some of the most interesting people on the face of the earth. I happen to work in a clinic, where more often than not, I get more country folk than normal. I am not saying anything is wrong with that, I am just saying that they tend to be, well lets just say different.

Example one: Had a patient who thought that her house was the only one on her street that got 24 inches of snow during our blizzard days because she lived in a culdesac and that the winds just blew all the snow up against her house. Really? This was also a lady who claims to have sneezed 47 times in a row! YEAH, guiness world record right there y'all!

Example two: I have 4 patients who call me Jenna. Let me just say that I wear a name tag every day that has my name in big black letters that state it is Jenn. Where does the extra "a" come from? Can they not read?

Example three: This is the best of all. A patient walked in the other day with back issues. After the evaluation I found out that her back only hurts her when she walks in Walmart. That is correct, you heard me right, Wally World. When asked if walking in Kroger for grocery shopping hurts her, the answer she gave was, "No, it must be sumthin' bout them floors in Walmart that make my back hurt."

Enough said!


xo

after a 2 year hiatus...

I AM BACK! I feel like a band that has been off the radar for some time and am now making my appearance back in the scene.

Haha, this should be interesting considering I have tried on multiple occasions to re-vamp and update this blog on a regular basis but have failed. So here we go, round 3!

I will start with a weekend update of my first experience with traveling cheerleading competitions. My cousins, Heather and Amber, were down in Williamsburg this weekend with my Uncle Todd for Heathers' ECA National Cheerleading competition. First let me start off by saying congrats to her team for being champions both days! Woot!Second, I have not seen either of my cousins in like 10 years so realizing that 18 year old Heather is taller than me, and Amber is saying full grown-up sentences was a shock, but a good one none the less.

Observation number one of cheering competitions is that parents take this sport uber seriously! They have an award at the end of competition day for the most "supportive" fans (aka- Craziest, loudest, most obnoxious parents with bull horns, light up sashes, sequence tops, cardboard megaphones and glitter makeup to boot). Seriously, I know cheerleading is a spirited sport, but damn, I felt like I was in the middle of a little miss perfect pageant show with crazy show moms!

Observation number two. You need to be fit as hell to cheer. My cousin Heather has abs like no other! Seriously I could not flip and twist and hit as well as some of these girls can to save my life. I saw this like 8 year old girl who did knee back flips! WTF!

Observation number three. Any organization makes money as many ways they can. Charging $20 per person for admissions is ridiculous. I feel as a family member, I have the right to cheer my girl on without having to pay to do so. LAME!

Above is a picture of me and the girls after the first day of competition. I hope next time it wont be another 10 years before i see them again!

xo