A Southern Accent

This weekend, I'm walking 39 miles to support breast cancer research. Please think about me, me team, and the thousands that will be gathering in DC to raise awareness and money for this disease. If you would like me to write a name of your loved one to remember or honor during my walk, please leave a note with their name. I'll take a picture of my back with all of the names during the walk and will post here when I return. Right now, our team is at $28,666 for this walk!!! You can read more about our team's history and mission here if you're interested. Here's a pic we took last week at one of our planning meetings all dressed up in our pink. I designed our team logo and my friend and teammate Carrie had them printed for us. (I'm the one in pigtails). Walk on Pink Pacers!

I was taking some quick shots of my roses yesterday morning and hubby decided he wanted to cut a few to put in a vase in the house. I started taking pictures of him and told him it was so nice to see his feminine side now and then. He said, " What? I like flowers. Leave me alone paparazzi . " I just laughed and told him I was going to put this on my blog so everyone could see the softer side of him. His response? Classy. Love you too sweetie!

Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd officially have a wedding website. Go here to see it! Cute little marketing idea, if a bit cheesy, but I love some Meredith and Derek!

Dave Matthews Band has a new album coming out June 2 and I'm so excited. I've already purchased the new single on my iTunes and I'm listening to it right now. Dave Matthews was huge when I was in college. Every time I hear a song from Under the Table and Dreaming and Crash I think about those days. They mostly remind me of my best friend Daria and our senior year. We were both dumped by our boyfriends (each of three years) the same week in September. We used to lay in my bed and listen to Dave Matthews and Sarah McLachlan and cry and laugh all at the same time. That year was the best year of college, although we didn't realize it at the time. We were single and young. We danced, shopped, laughed, partied and studied every now and then when exam time came around. When I heard the new song from Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, I e-mailed her immediately and she texted back, "I just bought it on iTunes ....college flashbacks!" Ahhhh ...memories. Do you ...

I've had several people ask for additional tips on Disney (seems like it's a popular destination this year), so I thought I'd share some of what I learned as a first-timer. By no means am I a "Disney expert", but I do have some good tidbits and tips to pass along if you're interested. First off, thank you to the several sweet people that overheard me speaking in Disney and told me how much they liked or how cute my accent was. There are A LOT of people from the north at Disney and they get a kick out of "Southern Accents." I never realize how strong it us until I'm around other people. Just wait till I do my first vlog , you'll understand. First and foremost: sweet tea is difficult and almost IMPOSSIBLE to find in Disney. I know, you're SHOCKED. They may be in Florida, but it ain't the south. I bet they have it at McDonalds , but we didn't hit one of those (surprisingly) while there. We stayed at The Contemporary and loved everyth...

Here are some samples of my work. E-mail me at asuthernaccent@aol.com for more information! Prices start at $25 for a new header! Whatcha waiting for???? E-mail me at asuthernaccent@aol.com for more information!

I'm happi to announce our Happikins giveaway winner: congrats LyndsAU at All Things Fluffy, Fashionable & Famous ! (Send me and e-mail to let me know which print you'd like and the monogram to include) If you didn't win, you can still purchase your own Happikins, or a set for a friend at http://www.happikins.com/

Let's face it, being green is no longer just for the crunchy types , the granolas or the hippies. You can be green and still be cute and preppy. For example, I'm wearing my J. Crew green cotton slacks today... hee hee hee ... But seriously, I'm seeing so many people at the grocery with reusable bags, an expanded supply of organic food choices at the local grocery and the whole green thing can certainly bode well when economic times are tough. For example, growing your own small garden, cutting back on heating and cooling and using less water are all things good for the environment and good for your pocketbook too. I have one idea about how this world could go a little greener - think about all of those store receipts that are printed every day that most people just throw away. Can we just go without them? Start a receipt recycling program? I hate those little things floating around in my purse. I just check my bank balance online like 5 times a day and that's all I n...

I could be a kid again. I had more time to devote to arts and crafts. My best friend lived closer. Laundry could wash itself. A good book and an even greater movie could last forever. Bad things couldn't happen to great people. I had a personal trainer to kick my butt in the gym. Other than that, I'm good. Your turn, make a wish!

We've gotten quite a bit of rain this year. Lots of rain leads to lots of puddles, and the frogs around here all decided to leave their eggs in the big puddles after the rain. What happens then? The puddles start to dry up, the eggs hatch, and you have hundreds of little tadpoles swimming around in a tiny little puddle. So, the little man and I went on a mission to rescue the tadpoles . He's recently developed a thing for little critters (I have an affinity for them as well, I must say), so he was gung ho about our mission. We grabbed our shovels, our sand buckets and trekked into the mud to scoop hundreds of little guys out of the tadpole pools and drop them back into the creek. Mission successful, hope we didn't interfere with the natural selection process, but just couldn't stand the idea of those little guys not making it. He was covered in mud, I was covered in mud, but it was fun and we felt like we'd done something special . Here's hoping we have lots...

Hi everyone! I know it's been almost a week since I posted, but we were hanging with the Big Cheese down in Orlando. We really had a fabulous time and thought I'd recap just a little for everyone. If you have any questions about Disney, please feel free to ask. I learned a lot about how everything works in wonderland while I was there. We stayed at The Contemporary, and it was so worth it. The room was awesome, the pool was great and being that close to everything was extremely convenient. We loved riding the Monorail and my favorite park was The Magic Kingdom. We didn't rush to the park each morning, because the little man (and we) were tired every morning and I let him sleep in. We would get to the parks around 9:00 - 10:00 and stay until 3:00 or 4:00, then we went back to the hotel and hung out at the pool and at the lake. A couple of nights we went back out around 8:00 to catch fireworks and parades. The little man got into the pin trading, because his cousins had the...

Having a blast at Disney!!! Here are a couple of quick pics! The little man had a great birthday and we got upgraded to an awesome room at The Contemporary. Hubs got to watch the Masters for a while yesterday afternoon while we played in the pool, so he's happy. Miss all my blog friends and can't wait to catch up when I get back!

The little man turns four this weekend! I can't believe it. We're headed to Disney Friday for his birthday for an entire week! (don't worry, computer is def. coming with me) My sweet and extremely talented friend Danielle from Baker's Cakes makes wonderful cake pops, and I asked her to create some Disney-themed pops for our birthday celebration (instead of cake) and this is what she came up with! How great are they? And they taste even better! Thanks Danielle! Check out her fab blog for other great designs and to order your own!

As I've mentioned previously, one of my girlfriends has a company, HappiCo, that makes Happikins . My girlfriend is also a teammate of mine for the upcoming Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in May. We each have to raise $1,800 to participate in the walk, but my friend is starting to worry about meeting her goal. In an effort to promote her fab product and ask for help in helping her meet her goal, I've decided to host a giveaway of one of her great Happikins sets - 4 fabric napkins and 1 zippered pouch. You can choose from three fun themes and a monogram is also included! If you comment on this post, you will receive 1 entry, if you become a follower, you will receive 2 entries and if you post this giveaway on your blog, you will receive 5 entries!!! CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO HER WALK IF YOU CAN!!! EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS! I'd hate for her to not be able to participate! Help us fight this fight!

#1. GO HEELS!!!! #2. That pimento cheese sandwich I ate last night at about 10:00 was awesome...

Hubs is headed to The Masters today, for like the fifth year in a row - and guess who he didn't take again???? He keeps telling me how great it is down there and how fabulous everything looks - but he took my dad this year - and always manages to find a dude that wants to go with him. The year I was pregnant (and due around Master's time) his buddies went and brought him back a video they took to watch of how close they were able to get to Tiger. I'm not sure he's forgiven me. Not only is Augusta National a beautiful place, but they also don't jack up prices of food for The Masters. Prices are super cheap and their biggest seller is the pimento cheese sandwich. They don't sell hot dogs or hamburgers, because that would produce smoke from the grill - endangering the pristine, clean and garden-like ambiance of the Masters. If you don't know what pimento cheese is, you're truly missing a southern specialty. Hubs is supposed to bring back a couple of sa...

Right now there are currently 13.2 million people looking for jobs in the United States. Think about that - 13.2 million people - just trying to make ends meet, people that want to work, people that are trying to provide for their families. It ain't a pretty picture. I personally know more people out of work right now than I've ever known since I've been in the workforce. Guess it makes sense since we are at unemployment levels not seen since 1983. I know there are lots of people that read my blog, and I wanted to do a special spotlight on two special people in my lives that are currently unemployed to see if anyone out there may be able to help. First one is my BFF , just relocated back to Atlanta,GA with a law degree. She passed the Georgia bar on her first attempt and is looking for employment. She's passionate about her work, and is doing some legal consulting right now until she finds something (in case you need legal advice). She moved to Baltimore last year wh...

GUIDING LIGHT will broadcast its final episode on Friday, Sept. 18, 2009. At the time of its final broadcast, the series will have spanned 72 years and more than 15,700 episodes on television and radio. I grew up with the Bauer and the Lewis families! I celebrated all of my holidays with them! (Love the Bauer BBQ for July 4th!) It's like an old friend is leaving...I DVR it every day still!

I'm so thrilled and excited to say I have now officially met and surpassed my fundraising goal for the upcoming Avon Walk for Breast Cancer! In 2007, I raised funds in honor of a lady at my church that was battling breast cancer, and she has since lost her fight. I continue to participate in this cause because breast cancer does affect so many people and I want to make a difference for our future. In May, we will be heading up north to participate in the DC walk, and if you'd like me to walk in honor of or in memory of someone, please e-mail me their name and I will write the name on my number, on my back for all to see. Our team has raised more than $87,505.90 since we started in 2006 and we're just getting started! Now, I've just got to get my body in the walking mode so I can walk, and walk, and walk and walk and walk. Thank you to everyone that made this happen! Maybe next week's trip to Disney will be a great way to start! Now if I could just find the right s...

I don't have to go to Washington, DC to see the cherry trees. I have a gorgeous one blooming right here in my front yard. W E L C O M E S P R I N G !