Welcome, come on in!

When we moved into our house the shutters were painted a shade of baby blue. The very first change we made upon moving in was having the shutters and front door painted. We opted for a dark navy on the shutters and red for the door.

 We liked the color choice, but upon having the door painted a darker color, we immediately realized the door had 2 pretty large cracks running through it. When you stood back in the living room you could actually see sunlight coming through the middle of the door. This was a clear sign the door needed to be replaced.

When we set out to get a new door I had no idea how much of a process it would be. Apparently they don't just hang up a new door on the existing frame and hinges. The whole door frame would be replaced and the process requires pulling permits. After several quotes and much debate we finally settled on a wood craftsman style door. And after waiting months for it to be custom fit, it was finally installed last week. I think it turned out well. I know it's just a door, but I feel like I need an adjustment period to get used to it. Every time I drive up to the house it looks really different to me.

Due to the fact that there's a covered front porch it was really hard to get
a picture with good lighting. Probably didn't help I was just using my iPhone.

 We also had to change out the mailbox because once the red door was gone, our existing mailbox no longer matched.

Here's a close up so you can see what the door color looks like without all the shadows.

I think the biggest change is from the interior. Instead of a plain white door, we now have a nice wooden door on the inside and out. Here's a view from the entryway.

Excuse the glowing light coming through the widow. I didn't know how to fix that.

So we can now cross new front door off our list and move on to the next item on the renovation list.

Friday String of Thoughts

Today Kurt Cobain would have turned 48. That just seems crazy to me. While Kurt obviously died too young I can't imagine what he would be like as a nearly 50 year old man. (Though the words "hot mess" come to mind.) Happy Birthday, Kurt, we miss you! Enjoy this performance from Unplugged while I go and try to find my old flannels.

 

Speaking of Nirvana, has anyone been watching the Foo Fighters Sonic Highways series on HBO? If you haven't, I'd definitely check out the Seattle episode, it's pretty great.

While we are on the topic of music, is there a song you really loathe? Like it actually makes you angry when it comes on the radio. That current song for me is Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk". I know it's crazy, but that song makes me irrationally angry. I HATE IT! I can't change the station fast enough when it comes on.

Another thing that makes me irrationally angry is people who back into parking spots. I have a working theory that people who back into parking spots on a regular basis are all assholes. Think about it, is there someone at your office who always backs into their spot? I'm willing to bet it's the person in your office that everyone hates. (This is 100% true at my office.) "No, please, go on. The rest of us will all wait to pass until you take your third attempt at backing into that spot."

And finally, because it's Friday and cocktails are in order, here's a picture of my bar cart. I've been slowly trying to put it together and it's finally coming along. Though I think there might be too much booze on the bottom. Perhaps fewer bottles might look better. Maybe replace a couple of the bottles with a decanter. Thoughts?

This is a pretty crappy picture. I should have taken some close ups. A photographer I am not. 

Those are all the thoughts I have today. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Throwback Thursday: "That time I met Sara Bareilles"

You know when a company advertises a contest they are holding and you think "I'll never win that". Well, you should enter anyway, because someone has to win and that someone could be you!

Back in 2011, I saw a contest from 8th Continent Soy Milk called "Nice Job Moms, We Rock!". I'm not a mom and I'm also not that cool, but I checked out the rules and saw that you didn't need to be either of those things to actually enter. There were several categories you could post advice to and they'd select winners based on these responses. The category I chose was about saving money and budgets. It's been a few years but I think my response was something along the lines of "When attending weddings or other events where you'll be frequently photographed, swap dresses with friends who are the same size so that you don't have to buy a new dress for every event". At the time I was 28 and pretty much attended weddings as a part time job. They must have liked my answer because I got a call about a month later saying I was one of 4 1st place winners in the contest.

First Prize Included:

•  Night out on the town for you and up to three (3) guests. Prize consists of:
• professional stylist hair and makeup sessions for you and your guest(s)
• entrance to a local nightclub
• music artist autographed memorabilia for both you and your guest(s)
• limo service to and from the club
• one (1) night deluxe hotel accommodations 
• A spa package for you and your guest(s) at the hotel
• A $10,000 music program donation on your behalf will be made to a local school’s music program of your choice

 I was excited, as were 3 of my closest friends! They let me pick any Orlando hotel for the 1 night stay. We had recently done a little girl's weekend at the Ritz Carlton, so I chose the Waldorf Astoria since none of us had ever been there. We spent a great day at the pool having cocktails and decided to pass on the nightclub and limo in exchange for dinner at Bull & Bear. Dinner was amazing as were the SEVERAL bottles of wine we ordered. After dinner we went back to our suite to order more wine from room service. I went back to look for pictures of the evening, but couldn't find any. (I'm assuming this had something to do with the many bottles of wine ordered).

A couple of weeks later the company contacted me to find out which school I wanted to give the $10,000 donation to, and I decided on my former high school. The most exciting part was that Sara Bareilles would be traveling to the school to present the check for the music program and I was invited to attend! I invited my friend Lindsey to join me. We've been to several Sara concerts together so I knew she'd appreciate meeting her as much as I did. We packed our Sara Bareilles concert shirts to get autographed and hit the road!

We got a chance to meet Sara backstage before the check presentation. She's as nice and awesome as you'd expect and completely down to earth. She didn't even travel with a large entourage. It was just her and one other person.  

Yes, we brought shirts that said f*cking to a high school to get them autographed! We bring the class wherever we go!

My mom came with us and got to meet Sara too! Hi, mom!

At the ceremony I had to give a speech about winning the contest and why I chose that school to receive the gift. I also had the honor of introducing Sara Bareilles to the students. They were so thrilled she was at their school. It was pretty adorable. We presented the check to the music staff at my high school and they were very appreciative. It felt great to be able to give back to a school that gave me so many fond memories.

Always nice to hold a really big check!

Up next was interviews with the local news. What do I do with my hands?

It was an amazing experience I'll never forget! Since meeting Sara we've gone to several more of her concerts for girls weekends. It's a great tradition that I'm sure we will continue as long as Sara continues to tour.

"Sara Selfie" Little Black Dress Tour, St. Augustine July 2014

Lesson of this experience, keep entering contests. You never know, the winner could be you!

Valentines Day Recap

We normally aren't big on Valentines Day around my house. I don't see the appeal on fighting crowds at a restaurant when you could go out to dinner the night before or after without all the fuss. Well, imagine my surprise when I came home on Friday to some lovely Valentines Day surprises.

The candy dish is empty because we ate all the
Peanut M&Ms weeks before Valentines Day.

I recently convinced my boss that those of us who travel should get a Surface Pro 3. While I was very excited he said yes, the cover they got us is not exactly attractive. Ashley must have remembered me mentioning that, because he picked out this Kate Spade carrying case for me to carry around my new Surface Pro 3. All the other girls at the office are going to be so jealous! He picked it out all by himself and it's actually the one I had my eye on that I was going to get! Boy has great taste.

You want to know what I had gotten him...Skittles! (I told you we weren't big on holidays.) So on Saturday morning I thought I should run out and at least grab a little something for Valentines Day treat. Krispy Kreme and Starbucks to the rescue!

We spent the evening with friends at our local bar. Which is actually kinda fitting since we've marked nearly every relationship milestone at our favorite watering hole!

So, Ashley crushed our first Valentines Day as a married couple. I guess I need to step up my game for next year!

SNL 40

This weekend marks the 40th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live and to celebrate the occasion NBC has star-studded show that is taking place on Sunday night. Though "Live from New York, it's Sunday Night!" just doesn't have the same ring to it. Though few details have been revealed, the announced line up for the event sounds great, so I'm eager to see what they have planned. I know the past few seasons have been a little rough, but we still record all the new SNL episodes. I'm fairly certain my husband has seen every single episode since about 1989.

To celebrate I thought I'd share a few of my favorite moments from the show. And yes, I know they all pretty much involve Tina Fey or Amy Poehler. I make no excuses for my love for Amy and Tina!

REALLY? with Seth and Amy: Birth Control

Preach on, sister!

I wanted to include the Hilary Clinton Bitch is the New Black Weekend Update bit, but wasn't able to find any videos that I was able to share. I loved it so much I even owned the Bitch is the New Black Hllary '08 Tshirt. So instead, I'll share another great video from around that time.

I know that actors aren't supposed to "break" on live TV, but when it happened in this sketch the result was hysterical. This might be the SNL sketch that made me laugh the hardest. If you're ever having a bad day this clip is guaranteed to make you laugh.

My favorite recurring character is definitely Stefon. I had a hard time picking just one Stefon clip, so I decided to include the last Stefon from when Bill Hader left the show. If they made a Stefon movie I'd be there opening night.

I'm excited to see what's in store on Sunday night. Hopefully it won't be just a clip show! And here's hoping Stefon is the red carpet correspondent! 

Throwback Thursday - Hindsight edition

One of my favorite shows on TV right now has come from a very unexpected place, VH1. I know, I know, I was skeptical at first too, but hear me out.

Here's a brief synopsis and preview from the show's site:

"The series begins with Becca (Laura Ramsey) on the eve of her second wedding. It all seems perfect this time around, but she is still plagued by doubt. What if she could fix everything, and make the 'right' choices this time? Becca finds herself thinking about her former best friend Lolly (Sarah Goldberg), with whom she had a falling out many years ago. If only she could talk to her once again… Suddenly, after a freakish elevator ride, Becca gets the opportunity to do just that as she wakes up in New York City on the morning of her first wedding day in 1995. She's about to marry Sean (Craig Horner), a bad-boy artist who is all wrong for her – and she knows her first move must be to reconnect with Lolly to re-live that day. Can she 'make it right' by living her life all over while re-adapting to life in New York City in the 90's – a time of smoking in bars, carrying pagers, having an AOL email address? Becca will soon discover there's no sure-fire way to make the right choices in life – even knowing everything she thinks she knows now."

This show is so much fun. It's a great trip down memory lane and worth watching for the music and 90's nostalgia alone. At least twice an episode I find myself thinking "Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about (insert random 90's topic here)." I was worried a show on VH1 would be cheesy or juvenile, but much to my surprise, it's really not. The story centers around Becca trying to fix the problems she's made in both her personal and professional life. But when she gets the chance to start over, she still struggles to make things right. The result is a really funny and sweet show.

The best part about this show is the (doomed?) friendship between Becca and Lolly. They have such great chemistry and you'll think these two really are best friends in real life. I swear the character of Lolly is Six from Blossom grown up and in her 20s. 

So this Throwback Thursday I encourage you to bust out your Collective Soul CD, lace up your Doc Martens, and check out Hindsight Wednesday nights on VH1. Five episodes have already aired, so if you want to catch up from the beginning (and I suggest that you do), the episodes are available on Amazon Instant Video or the VH1 Mobile App.

Warning, you will be tempted to rush to iTunes and download a bunch of 90's music after every episode!

It's in the Cards

Let's face it, greeting cards are cheesy. Every time I go to Target to grab a card I always leave thinking there are never any funny or creative ones. I like to joke that I should write inappropriate greeting cards for various situations. Well, it turns out there are some great nontraditional cards out there if you look in the right place. (Hint: Online, not the grocery store)

With Valentines Day approaching I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

This one keeps it vague. I'd like to think this is good for a newer relationship.

Buy it here

This card would be perfect if your significant other is a Friends fanatic.

Buy it here

A little dirty and a little bit of smarts. My kind of card. 

Buy it here

Did you meet your husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend in college? This card probably applies. 

Buy it here

I can appreciate a card that gets right to the point.

Buy it here

This one is for my friend Norma. Or anyone who appreciates "the F word".

Buy it here

I strongly believe that interest in similar TV shows is the foundation for any marriage.

Buy it here

If my husband got me this card I'd know he truly loves me. 

Buy it here

Pop culture royalty. Who wouldn't want to be compared to Bey and Jay?

Buy it here

And don't forget your lady friends for Galentines/Anna Howard Shaw Day!

Buy it here

This one is perfect for my sister over at For the Love. Giving up your pie = true love.

No matter if you celebrate Galentines Day, Anna Howard Shaw Day, or Valentines Day, I hope you can use these to make someone smile and laugh. As Liz Lemon would say, "A HAPPY ANNA HOWARD SHAW DAY TO US ALL!" 

Super Bowl Eats and Drinks

Sadly this Sunday another football season will come to end. Football season is my favorite time of year and I'll be sad to see it go. Though as a 49er fan I'm ready to put this season behind us! For fans of 2 teams, this is what they've been waiting for all year. For the fans of the other 30 teams, we're excited about the food and drinks because it's all we have left.

Each year a friend of ours hosts a Super Bowl party that we attend and I usually try to find a new dip recipe or a new cocktail to try out for the big game. After some Pinterest perusing, this is what I've decided to contribute to the spread on Sunday.

 Recipe can be found here

A chef, I am not. But when attending a large party I try to find something different that I don't think anyone else will bring. There are usually 3 or 4 buffalo chicken dips and a ton of meatballs, so I want to bring something that provides a little variety. This recipe caught my eye because it looks pretty and sounds delicious. But most importantly, it looks really easy. Fingers crossed mine turns out looking like this.

And now on to the most important ingredient to any party, the booze! Luckily the host of the party only lives a couple of blocks away from us, so we can walk home after the game and after a couple of drinks. The choice for this years signature cocktail:

Blueberry Bourbon Smash
Recipe can be found here

• 9 fresh mint leaves
• 10 fresh blueberries
• ½ ounce simple syrup
• juice from ½ lemon
• 2 ounces bourbon
• crushed ice

Usually it's just beer or beer-ritas, but this year I've decided to step things up a bit. My husband has been on quite the bourbon kick recently, so I think he'll really enjoy this. It seems light and refreshing. Hopefully the other party guests agree!

Now that I have the food and drinks covered all I can hope for is an entertaining game. Well, that and that I win a square or the Super Bowl Pool. (Pro tip: always pick over on the National Anthem.)

Hope you all enjoy the big game and the excuse to whip up some delicious treats!

Were you born in a barn?

My recent obsession is finding a sliding barn door for our house. We have a large opening from our dining room to a sun-room that would be perfect for a barn door. I love all the light that streams in from the sun-room, but having the option to close it off would also be nice. There are so many amazing options online, but I'm not sure which direction to go! The biggest debate is white vs. wood. The doors and trim in our house are white, so choosing a white door would tie in nicely and perhaps be more timeless down the road if we changed out a lot of our furniture.  Here are some white doors I found online that are in consideration.

The panels of glass would still allow for some light to flow when the doors are closed.

This look is a little bit more rustic.

I love the double sliding door, but I don't think this will work
with the wall space we have on either side of the opening.

We have some rustic or natural elements in our house. Our dining room table is made from reclaimed wood, so going with a wood door might also tie in nicely. I just wonder if it would be a little too rustic.

This is basically the wood equivalent of the first white door above.
Again, I like the idea of the light still passing through. 

This is the door that I keep coming back to. I think this might be my favorite.

This one is Ashley's favorite. He's more set on the idea of having glass to allow light.
I love this door and think it's beautiful, but I' m not sure if it's too much glass. 

I like this door and the size is great since our opening is large, but it might be too rustic.

While these are all great options our biggest issue isn't indecision on the white vs. wood issue, it's that we can't find anywhere local in Orlando that sells barn doors. We've only been able to find doors online that you'd have to install yourself and pay a fortune to have shipped. If anyone knows of a good place to look, please let me know. Feel free to hit the comments and let me know which door is your favorite. For now, I'll just keep pinning doors and hoping this can be our next house project!

The Lonely Road

 I spend a lot of time in the car traveling for work. It's not uncommon for me to be alone in the car for 6-8 hours a day at least a couple of times a week. After a while you have to stop listening to Taylor Swift's 1989 on repeat and change things up. Recently, instead of music, I've been listening to a lot of podcasts.

If you were obsessed with Serial, you're not alone. The popular podcast was downloaded by over 5 million people and has become the most downloaded podcast on iTunes. I was one of those millions who became infatuated with the case. My girlfriends and I would text endlessly about the episodes and alternative theories about the case. I hate to admit it, but I actually listened to all 12 episodes twice. (I know, I know, that seems crazy, but seriously, I spend A LOT of time alone in a car) It's actually even better the second time around when you are familiar the the story and cast of characters.

Serial follows the 1999 murder case of Baltimore high school student, Hae Min Lee and subsequent arrest of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed. Host Sarah Koenig explores the case and attempts to determine if Adnan is innocent, as he proclaims to be.

This is like Dateline for your ears and my favorite podcast I've listened to so far.

Grade: A

My first post Serial attempt was the podcast that Serial spun off from, This American Life.

This American life is a weekly public radio broadcast hosted by Ira Glass. This is a podcast that I find hard to grade as the topics vary from week to week. There are episodes that I really enjoyed listening to and some that I couldn't get through. So for me, this podcast really depends on your interest in that week's topic. The episode I enjoyed the most was "129 Cars" which followed car salesmen attempting to make that month's quota. Doesn't sound very interesting, does it? I'll just tell you this, I'd definitely listen to this episode before stepping into the dealership to purchase your next car.

Grade: B-

I discovered Call Your Girlfriend from an article in Entertainment Weekly that was suggesting podcasts for people who were going through Serial withdrawal (That's me!).

CYG (I'm down with the acronym now) describes itself as a "podcast for long distance besties everywhere". Hosts Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow are friends who live long distance and decided to turn their phone convos into a podcast that covers a wide range of topics that are relevant in the lives of women in their 20 & 30s. I love these two. They are smart, funny, and successful. They can go from talking about reproductive rights to Beyonce without missing a beat. They make my liberal heart swoon.  I enjoy them so much I'll even forgive them for like Pitbull. My biggest complaint about this podcast is that they only release episodes every two weeks.

Grade: A (Warning: If you are a conservative, this podcast probably isn't for you)

Criminal was suggested for people who liked Serial. I'll start by saying I enjoy this FAR less. As a Dateline and 48 Hours enthusiast, I assumed this would be right up my alley. So far I've only listened to half the episodes, but I'm having a hard time getting into this. Some episodes are better than others, but I find the episodes short and leave you wanting more detail. Like This American Life, I found myself interested in some episodes much more than others. The episode I enjoyed the most was "The Buck Stops Here", but again, it left me wanting more.

I would only suggest this if you are stuck somewhere with out a television, book to read, and have exhausted the podcasts listed above. It's not bad, but it's not anything to write home about.

Grade: C-


I'm now on the search for a new podcast to listen to before I hit the road for meetings again next week. Any suggestions? Hit the comments section with suggestions or reviews!

Worth watching?

I love television. My dream job would be a television network executive who gets to green light pilots. Every fall and winter I love to peruse the previews of upcoming shows and see which ones I think might be worth giving a shot. Here's my list of upcoming new shows that I plan to watch:

1.

Streaming on Netflix beginning March 6th

I LOVE Tina Fey. I'm willing to watch any project she's involved in. Add in a 30 Rock reunion with Jane Krakowski and I'm sold! The fact that this show was moved from NBC to Netflix just makes it even more appealing. I love the ability to stream shows and watch at my own pace (admittedly my pace is usually binge watching). 

Premise: A woman escapes a doomsday cult and starts life over in New York City.

I predict I'll be done with the entire first season by March 7th.

2.

Begins March 1st on ABC

 Premise: 10 episode miniseries (based on an the Australian miniseries with the same name) that stars Ryan Phillippe as a family man who discovers the body of a young boy and quickly becomes the prime suspect.

Sounds dark, but I'm into that sort of thing. Given the fact that it's only a 10 episode commitment, I think that makes it more feasible to add in to an already busy TV watching schedule.

3. 

Airing March 1st on Fox

I have to admit that I'll probably end up watching this one because Ashley wants to watch it. But I like Will Forte, so I'm willing to give it a shot. More than anything I'm interested to see how they keep the premise going over the course of a season.

Premise: Just what you think, Will Forte is literally the last man on earth.

My biggest concern is long stretches of "Cast Away" type situations with nobody to talk to. I'm intrigued more than anything to see how this pans out. 

What do you think, worth watching? Any others you're excited about?

Hi, my name is Jillian and I'm a...

Well, I guess I'm a blogger. Unless you are reading this 2 years from now and this is the only post, which is an entirely possible outcome.

My friends have been encouraging me to start a blog for a while now. Mostly because I work at a place where insane things happen and they insist I should blog about them. While the stories are insane and hilarious, I'm not trying to get fired. So I'll just be vague and say I work in finance in a professional office setting where these types of shenanigans shouldn't happen, but alas, they do. I've been employed here for 7 1/2 years and the fun never ends.

I'm also a newlywed.

I can't say the word "newlywed" without thinking of Nick and Jessica. RIP.

After about 5 years of dating, my husband Ashley and I decided to get married last September. And when I say decided to get married, that's kinda how it went down. We decided to get married on a Friday and got married on a Sunday. I'll have more on that later!

We purchased a house about a year before we were married so right now we've been focused on working on house projects. HGTV and DIY runs on the TV on a constant loop at our house. Hopefully I'll be able to share some of our projects on the blog.

If I'm not at home with Ashley I'm probably at my sister's house. (I'm at my sister's house far more often than is normal for adults, but I just can't stay away.) I'm fortunate that my sister lives about a mile away from us. Not only is she an amazing sister, but she's my best friend. Only don't tell her daughter that. Meet Blaire:

When Blaire was born I joked with my sister that she was going to be my new best friend. Well, it stuck and Blaire now calls me "Bestie". I didn't think it was possible to love a kid that wasn't yours so much. Seriously, I sometimes worry I won't love my own kid as much as I love Blaire. I'm not even kidding. She's smart and funny and full of sass and is the light of our lives. I can't imagine not living near her and seeing her everyday. Being a Bestie is my favorite gig.

And if that isn't reason enough to spend all sorts of time at my sister's house, check out this guy:

This cuddly little guy is the newest addition to the family, Nash. He's the sweetest boy. I hope one day he calls me Bestie too! Though not if my brother, Jordan, has anything to say about it. He's laid claim on Nashers. Speaking of Jordan, we are so lucky that Jordan and his wife Chelsea have recently moved to Orlando. They moved back from Boston last year and are now only 10 minutes away. So nice to have them close by again. Now we'll have to convince Mom and Dad to move here too!

I spend the rest of my time watching far too much TV. I'll admit it, I'm a TV junkie. I also love sports and fantasy football. (2 time defending league champion. Wahoooo!) What you probably won't find on this blog are recipes. I'm not a great cook, so unless you are looking for which Trader Joe's frozen meals are the best, you've come to the wrong place.

I hope you'll follow along on the crazy adventures to come.