P & P

In all seriousness, this has CHANGED MY LIFE.

Produce and Protein.

**** This post is lengthy, but I'm telling y'all, this dietary change has helped me to be fuller, feel better, and have MUCH more stable blood sugars. {Beneficial to the endocrine system of non-diabetics as well.} ****

 

Now, let me be clear:  I am not a nutritionist.

I am not an endocrinologist.

But, here's what I am: a diabetic who's been fighting with carbs her whole life and spent countless hours trying to understand how my body deals with them.  

More specifically,

1) CARBS ARE NOT BAD, but some of them are worse than others regarding how our body breaks them down and how our endocrine system handles them.

2) MOST OF US EAT WAY TOO MANY. 

Per my acupuncturist's suggestion, I started eating protein frequently (every 2 hours) and limiting carbs to primarily fruit, vegetables and carb-containing dairy, which also contains protein (organic milk and greek yogurt, for example). 

All other non-produce carbs {grains} are eaten maybe 3 times a week.


I hardly ever eat straight sugar (candy, regular soft drinks, cake, pie, etc)

The result of limiting "non-produce carbs" and eating more protein and produce instead? 

* I am not starving around the clock.

* My blood sugars are A.MAZ.ING. (I still battle monthly fluctuations presumably due to my cycle, but the "effects" of meals on my blood sugar have been much, much milder.)

* I feel full, but not stuffed before I quit eating. Food seems more like fuel now than something that is constantly on my mind (because I always felt hungry before).

* It has also become blatantly obvious to me how much "junk carbs" were making me have cravings for more junk.

For one thing, the "traditional" food pyramid we all grew up with, in my experience, is horse shit. Unless you are a serious athlete, who burns tons of extra calories a day, nobody needs that much grain/bread/rice. Again, these carbs aren't awful, but we don't need that many in a day.


Let's not forget, America is awesome, but sometimes the goverment is not the brightest. And who knows what their motives are when creating these nutrional guidelines.
Anyone remember butter being a food group?

 source


Uncle Sam has come up with My Plate, which is an improvement, nonetheless, over the Food Pyramid I grew up with.

By the way, there are studies supporting the fact that neither low carb nor low fat are ways to keep weight off (if that is your goal). The most effective is the low glycemic index diet.

So, basically, here's what I do and what has worked for me and the diabeetus ...

* meals usually have < 30g carbs total (overall, I rarely go over 100g carbs per day)

* I don't ever eat any carbs without having some type of protein as well.

I try to eat these the most:

* garden products (fruits, veggies)

* tree products (nuts, fruits)

* fish

* lean meat 

* eggs

* protein-heavy dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt) 

* beans heavy in protein/fiber

If I'm hungry between meals I eat protein to tide me over:

* eggs

* lean meat

* nuts

*cheese

* sometimes Greek yogurt 

* peanut butter

I eat "anything else foods" maybe 3x/week:

frozen yogurt

sweets

bread/rice/pasta

* note: bread/rice/pasta isn't "bad", but being diabetic, they aren't "worth" the sugar spike. I'd rather have fruit, which affects my diabetes less.

My personal, main reason for doing this is the positive effect on my hunger and diabetes regulation.

Why it matters:

I can eat the same amount of carbs - 30 g - of  "non-produce carbs" (pancakes, biscuits, fries, fried food, potatoes and gravy) and my blood sugar spikes and stays high for 2-3 hours afterward, no.matter.what.i.do.to.my.insulin.before.or.after. as to where eating "produce carbs" like fruit, with the SAME AMOUNT OF CARBS, has virtually no spike on my blood sugars.

Life. changing. I'm tellin you.

Of course, sometimes I "cheat" and eat fries (carb + fat). But - I pay the consequence of a blood sugar spike, and I'm hungry not even 2 hours later. 

Also important:

I don't deprive - for example, I love bacon, so I'll use it to sprinkle on a salad, or eat two thin slices with some eggs. 

I also don't avoid fat. I actually don't think about fat at all except try to eat healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, fish, nuts. 

If I want a meal that is going to go over my 30g I allow myself, I go half and half: a sandwich with one slice of bread instead of two, and a small serving of fruit. Then, I can have both. Maybe I want stir fry. So, I eat it, but it's 85% meat/veggies and only 15% rice. Spaghetti? 85% sauce (made with meat for protein) and 15% noodles, and I'm still full, and my blood's not high as hell. Win-win.

Tips:

If you like hummus, it's easy to make at home, and you can dip it with cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, instead of pita bread or chips to get more produce, and less "non-produce carbs". Beans are usually good for protein and fiber, and although they are carbs, they are "produce" and have a bigger variety of nutrition to offer than bread/rice/pasta. There are also zillions of hummus recipes so that you can tweak the flavor - lemon basil, spicy, etc.

Going out to eat: I often order salads, because I like them, but I also do a lot of "sandwich/burger without the bun" because the meat (protein) and flavor is still there. The bread a) has gluten, which I don't eat, but it's also b) carbs that aren't very fulfilling. Sometimes I order it with the bun just so I have an easy way to hold the sandwich if I don't want to use a fork, but I eat around the bread, pulling it off as I go. Also, ordering a meat dish (parmesan chicken, steak, etc with a side salad, or veggies instead of fries).

** Also - if you are a diabetic reader, a couple things that have also helped a HUGE AMOUNT:

1) I bolus 20-30 mins. ahead, and eat no more than 30g of {preferably produce} carbs in a meal and I hardly have a spike in sugar at all. 

2) I try not to eat until my blood sugar is in target range, at like 100. In other words, if my blood were say, 210, I'd correct that, plus the insulin for the food I'm gonna eat, but give it time to come down, and not actually eat until my sugar is about 100. A lot of times I'm so hungry while I wait for my blood to go down, so I'll have a carb-free/very low carb protein, like cheese, or some slices of turkey, or some nuts.

FOR YEARS - I ACCEPTED that my blood sugar had to spike every time I ate. THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!

WORKS. WONDERS!

Hopefully, someone will find this helpful. I know I've spent YEARS trying to figure out WTH the deal was with my body freaking out about some foods and not others and this is the closest I've come to diabetes making sense. And, I've NEVER known what it was like to not be hungry all the damn time until now.

good luck! please don't hesitate to holla!

Note: post has been updated to link up with Kristen and Raven:

where's yo happy?

If you are someone who

a) gets excited about lists
b) enjoys feeling all snuggly inside
c) never manages to finish a whole book {not counting 50 Shades}

then you need this. 

14,000 Things to be Happy About.: Revised and Updated edition

I haven't read the "revised and updated version" - I was readin the old school edition in high school. LOVE THIS SHIZ. It's just a straight up list of random stuff that is awesome.

If I wrote the "Shug in Boots Edition" it would include the following awesome things that make me smile and be excited about being alive:

-1-
buying new shampoo - nothin fancy. straight from bi-lo, but still exciting

-2- 
stores that sell good diet drinks like diet sun drop or diet cherry dr pepper. bonus if it's in a can

-3-
the coconut smell of tanning oil

-4-
clients who are in love with their images as much as i am

-5-
chicfila sauce

-6-
chicfila fries

-7-
chicfila sells diet dr pepper

-8-
miranda lambert - her personality, her style, and her non-size-zero-ness

 -9-
my friend jordan's blog

-10-
the little "pellets" of ice in the drinks at Stuart's

-11-
 a shower after the pool

-12-
 men's white hanes t-shirts, i wear em all the time

-13-
thunderstorms, especially at the beach

-14-
my great great aunt mary thelma

-15-
establishments who sell red bridge instead of nasty ass new grist

-16-
my favorite blanket ever from Walmart/my girl Ber quilted and super soft, perfect size for couch, excellent when sick

-17-
 a1c's that are better and better with every dr visit

-18-
 acupuncture

-19-
my new header. i'm pretty much in love.

what are the little things that make you HaPpY?

summer salad: bbq chicken cobb

{sounded like a good name for it - better than "salad me and anj have been eatin for weeks"}

this is no rocket science, life-altering, recent discovery. i'm sure there are 6 million salad recipes just like it, or very close. 

but, since anj and I have been eating the hell out of this combination of tasty ingredients, i thought i'd share - because y'all know i love food, and if it's easy? even better. also, i love to share {the recipe - not necessarily the food itself}.

ingredients:

iceberg lettuce (crisp, watery, and easily cuts off into a wedge)

avocado

tomato

red onion (much better than white onion in this)

bacon crumbles (duh)

bleu cheese (or goat)

hard boiled egg (i only eat the white and toss the yolk to get protein but not cholesterol)

grilled bbq chicken (although i think it would be good with any meat that's seasoned/covered in marinade)

i also add black pepper and a pepperoncini

also, i HIGHLY recommend this crack delicious dressing (tastes like olive garden, i swear)

yummo! 

quick, easy, healthy. {except for the bacon, but hell, you ain't gotta go crazy}

dear ______,

dear facebook - it is annoying that i can't tag friends in pics more easily on my photography page, but whatevs, i kind of found a way around it.

dear J - thanks so much for the whoppin ass case of redbridge and some new gluten free bevies to try. #realfriend

dear photography - you are awesome. so much fun. so much to still be able to experiment with and learn, and a way to make people smile. what a win-win.

dear readers of this here bloggie - you bring such smiles to my face with your comments and likes. i'm glad we can all enjoy a lil blogger action.

dear cheap asses - it is GHETTO to order ONE damn salad bar for $5.50 and then have two GROWN ASS PEOPLE share it - blatantly. for realz?!

dear la cocina - that taco salad i had the other night was RIGHT, amigos. truly.

dear people who think stricter gun laws will keep CRAZIES from doin CRAZY shit - bless y'all's hearts.

dear john stossel - i cannot concentrate on what you are saying while my hubs watches you because all i can focus on is that killer stache.

deuces, and cheers to a fab weekend, shug pies!

don't vote.

greetings, friends. y'all know how much i love election year. {insert giant "psych".} but, i feel the overwhelming urge to clarify why, because it's not my opposition of certain candidates or political parties. nope. it's voters' ignorance and the childlike bickering that seems inevitable {amongst the candidates and the voters} when it comes to politics. and, election year just brings all that shiz to the surface.

please take a moment to use the brain God gave you and consider the following:

 why are you voting?

a) my mama was a democrat

b) my daddy was a republican 

c) he is white 

d) he is black 

e) i hate who is currently in office, so i'ma vote for the other guy. 

f) she is a woman 

g) oprah said so 

h) they promised me some shit that no one could possibly give me 

i) i know what the candidate stands for, and his or her previous accomplishments/records as well as what they claim to try to achieve while in office closely follow my own beliefs and i have faith in this candidate regardless of what political party they are affiliated with

there is only one correct answer here, shugs. seriously. this person will be in office for at least 4 years. please think about what you are doing.

DO NOT listen to shit that your friends or campaign ads say about a candidate. guess what? you can't believe half the shit you hear. do some research.

if you don't know shit about the candidates, or are right down the middle and cannot decide how to vote, please do the whole country a favor, and DON'T VOTE AT ALL.

this public service announcement has been brought to you by shug in boots.

thank you and have a superb day.

there are no words.

For the first time, perhaps ever, I don't quite know what to say.

You know he'll end up at Carolina.
;)

you should drank this

I could spend a fortune on iced bevies from Starbucks, but let's be honest. 

I ain't got a fortune. {And, goin to Starbucks on the daily would involve me gettin up, doin hair and face so as not to be frightening, and by the time I've done all that, **** it.} Plus, the Starbucks version leaves me feelin' a taaaad too cracked out.

So, I make this shiz at home, and you can too. The good part, is you can decide on milk type {no fatty, supa fatty, almond, whatever}, your hot chocolate mix can be sugar-free or real deal holyfield or whatever, and you can do high octane or decaf. Whateva you want, playa!!

I brew my coffee, and then mix in my Truvia and hot chocolate mix while it's hot so that all dissolves together. 

I then put it all into the stainless steel shaker, which has already been in the freezer for awhile to speed up the process.

I let it sit in the shaker in the freezer for about an hour to get it nice and cool, and then I dump in however much milk I want, and shake, shake shake. 

Dump it over ice.

Add bomb diggity whipped cream.

YUMMation.

hate it or love it

{hate}

election year - n. a period in time in which politicians {see con artist, narcissist} dominate the airwaves acting like asses and talking shit about other candidates and compete to see who can get the largest number of people to believe their false promises.

{love}

men's fashion inspired by our british shugs across the pond

check out al roker's  segment from the today show:

                      

{love}

channing. holy toledo. he is starring in another movie coming out march 2013. yeahhhh, we gone be seein' that, friends.

{love} 

we bought a mini pack. 

word.

brang it on football season.

one hate and three loves. 

a good day. 

:)

dj shug bone - pontoon dreams

IMHO, life would suck mayjah without music. And I like all kinds. Remember Limewire and whatever the other major one was Napster where you totally jacked music for free, and there'd be all kinds of busted bootleg versions of crap on there? Then, you thought about piracy, and how it was sketch, and you should prolly stop that?

Every morning in high school, before I got my license, my BFF would pick me up and we'd listen to Bone Thugs, Eve and Jimi Hendrix amongst hundreds of other randoms as loud as it'd go with one of the following beverages in hand:

1) Diet Mt. Dew {can}

2) Diet Dr. Pepper {bottle}

3) some kinda mocha coffee concoction from the local coffee shop whose name I cannot recall Barrister's

I swear, it was what enabled me to drag outta bed in the mornin and not skip school - most of the time.

I also decided that my future children will be exposed to all kinds of la musica from the womb on out {no pun intended}. Biggie, Tupac, Bone ... they are my kinda party, friends.

But, I like country too. Soooo.... today, I'd like to share my love obsession for this LBT magic. I wake up with this in my head quite frequently recently, or it'll just randomly pop in at any given point in the day and I welcome it with open arms. 

 {PONTOON by Little Big Town}

I dig the video and would very much like to be on the boat with them, sipping bevies, wearing aviators, rockin wedges, a romper, and perhaps a fedora.

Back this hitch bitch up into the water....

Here's the video if you care to partake:

On the PONtoon, 
makin waves and catchin rays up on the roof.

 Jumpin off the back, 

don't act like you don't want to ...

party in slow motion

out here in the open

mmmmmmmmm

motorboatin. 

sleep.

Remember when you were a kid and HATED to take a nap? What a buzz kill. You were right in the middle of somethin awesome and your mama's like, "Nap time." Boooooooo!

Funny how things change. Who wouldn't like a nice, comfy twin bed, a soft down blanket, a fluffy pillow and a noise machine of some kind in a private room at work to just check out for awhile? {Assuming you can't come home and get on your couch, of course.}

{What a snuggle pie, right? He swears I simply enjoy humiliating him.}

It's interesting all the ways people view and experience sleep. There are all these methods of getting babies to sleep - sleep training, co-sleeping, crib or no crib? And somewhat controversial takes from different cultures, like in Bringing Up BeBe. Is it God-awful to let your kid cry it out? Research on babies' and adults' sleep cycles. In some cultures, it is just accepted and joked about that once you have kids, you will never sleep again. I wouldn't know. What about when you are a grown-up?

As an adult, I am pretty sure that my sleep habits are whack. If I were to sleep totally undisturbed, I could EASILY sleep for 10 or 11 hours each night. Getting up "early" for work, or an appointment, etc. where I need to set an alarm? 9 hours. Anything less and I am in a fog. And it takes me awhile to wake up, mentally. My acupuncturist says not to fight with your body regarding sleep. If you feel like you need 9 hours and so-and-so needs only 6, then so be it. Try to plan your evening, to-do's so that you can get 9 if that's what you need. Then, there are other women in my family who get excited about 5 hours of sleep in a row. I would not be able to function I don't think if I had to live off 5 hours or less a night.

I was also thinking about the regularly nightly/early morning routine for me compared to my husband.

Me - somewhere between 1:30 am and 3:00 am - wake up with a low blood sugar, drink OJ and eat peanut butter, begin thinking of 8,342,343 things I'd like to do, need to do, or am avoid doing altogether. All the while, analyzing why blood sugar is low, contemplate changes to insulin pump settings.
Anj - sleepin like the dead.

Me - any given time after 1:30 am - it's hot as forty hell in here, sheets and blanket are thrown off.
Anj - snuggled under sheet and blanket - pulled up to his chin, curled in fetal position.

Me - somewhere around 6am - get up to pee. Why does my back hurt? Is it the mattress?
Anj - sleepin like the dead.


Also - every night, I have a series of dreams. Last night's was pretty awesome. We were in this store. It was kinda like the C-Store at NC State, but then, kinda like a real gas station with a walk-in beer cooler. And they sold dishes. {???} But - everything had a wolf motif. Awesome. Even if it wasn't an "NC State wolf" per se, everything was still wolves. Various patterns of wolf dishes in red and white gingham, at least 25 varieties of wolf t-shirts, wolf chewing gum. Total wolfness. The shirts were folded and arranged on shelves like drinks in a cooler. There were several other dreams that "connected" to this one, but I will spare you.

Although it's kind of exhausting, I'm just thankful I'm not still havin the snake/cat/tidal wave dreams anymore. Thank. God!

Also - every. single. morning. I wake up with a random song in my head. May be a song I heard yesterday. May be a song I haven't heard in 15 years.

Yesterday's was, "Gimme a ring-a-ling if you want some ding-a-ling." Really?!

Today's song actually matched up with the dream. That never happens. It was, "Hungry Like the Wolf".

Soooo ---- to anyone reading, what's y'all's "normal" night like? How many hours of sleep do you need? Are you a middle-of-the-night bill payer and kitchen cleaner? Do you wake up feeling well rested, or like you have been in a movie scene all night?

it ain't natural

... to not like watermelon.

{Sorry, Mama.}

Sweet, deliciousness, runnin all down your face. 

Yes, please.

The best part is that first slice off the top of the wedge.

Only bad thing - there are only two of us in this hizzle. And, even though I picked out one of the smaller watermelons, it's still pretty hugemongous.

Also, once I take a bite, I tend to take twenty.

Let the watermelon weight gain and frequent trips to pee begin.

if bobo could talk ...

what would he say right now?

Playa, do you KNOW what time it is, comin in here wit dat racket?


Aww, naw - she look CRA-ZY AS HELL.
 

Whatchu talkin bout, Willis?

Uh oh. Y'all know what happens when she hear "Play that funky music, white boy".

Whatchu mean, you can't find my ball?

Ribeyes?! Is that what I smell?

Leave a good one in the comments ...

i love cows.

One day, maybe Anj and I will live somewhere that has cows nearby. And I will go over and harrass visit them, and tell them stories and talk to them like they are babies.

I just love them. I think they have the cutest faces ever. And - it is awesome because most of the time, when you creep up on em, they will stop chewing and stare at you, almost like they want their picture taken.

If I have the camera with me, I will make Andrew pull over so I can get my Nikon on with the cows.

LOVE. COWS.

Happy Monday.

dear ______,

dear what's next: i am kinda scared of you, but also really excited because i don't know much about you at all.

dear God: thanks for answering my prayers, even if it was slow and in a way that required some pain and lessons learned.

dear cherry coke zero: you taste good to me. thanks for bein such a pick-me-up.

dear brody: your ball is not a living thing that you must take care of and cry over 24-8, but it's sweet that you are such a nurturer.

dear jennifer, the acupuncture girl: thank you so much for teaching me to use common sense and listen to my body. my diabetes and overall life are so much better since i met you!

dear random gray hairs: i don't understand why you are here to ruin me, because i am NOT ready to pay to have y'all covered up. but, i'm afraid if i pluck y'all, more will grow back in your place. you will not defeat me.

dear someecards: you light up my life. and my mom's. thanks for comin out.

dear anj davis: thanks for forcing me to listen to wierd indie rock all the time because i admit, it has grown on me and i actually paid money to put some of that shit on my ipod.

dear syliva: i am glad we have grown to be tight as ticks. at first, i didn't trust you and thought you were the runt of the litter. i soon realized that you are just a chevy and all of your kinfolk seem to have the same issues. i am glad we have worked through a lot of that so we can move forward.

dear eric: thanks for fixin the chevy illnesses that both sylvia and T-Roy have been afflicted with.

dear greek people: thank you for inventing hummus (did y'all invent hummus originally?), tzatziki, and stuffed grape leaves.

dear anheuser busch: thanks for inventing the only gluten free beer that doesn't taste like battery acid, or fruity sweet ass ness.

dear blogger: thanks for this free platform to just say random shit to clear my mind.

dear parents: thanks for the nikon. i am in love. it is the best toy i have ever had. and it helps make other people smile too. i call that a win-win.

happy weekending folks.

love,
SIB

DIY jewelry display

I was flipping through Southern Living's recent special edition, "100 Makeover Ideas" (couldn't find a link) and came across a bulletin board covered in fabric to hang large pieces of jewelry. Theirs was framed (in what looked like crown molding that had been cut to fit). I decided I'd attempt to make it, 'cause Lord knows I have three jewelry boxes and I am about to die to find a way to separate big, bulky pieces from smaller, daintier ones. 

Then, I remembered I had this window frame! Holla!

 Here is the finished product:

What I used:

* roll of corkboard (make sure it's not the super thin kind)

* 3 pk. of foam boards (I put these behind the cork because the cork alone wasn't thick enough and it would've caused the thumbtacks to poke all the way through to the wall)

* fabric (I had an old linen-like shower curtain leftover that I'd started to cut up to use on something else)

* staple gun and staples (make sure the staples are big/long enough to go through the cork, foam, fabric, and into your frame, if you make yours that way)

* D-hooks and picture hanging wire // materials for preferred method of hanging your frame

* thumbtacks or some sort of pushpin (I just used clear thumbtacks because I didn't want too much going on with color, etc)

Basically, my "layers" were"

1 - frame

2 - fabric

3 - corkboard

4 - foam (just one sheet is thick enough - out of the 3 in the pack, I only needed two, side-by-side, and I had to cut one of them down so its edges weren't visible)

Hope this explains it. Loving mine so far. 

One step closer to organization!

age.

Isn't it funny how one day a year, you {and everybody else} really focus on your "age", even though, really, you are only one day older than you were yesterday?

I just turned 29. I've been sad. Not really because I am "old". I mean, yes, I'd love to be thinner, with less responsibility and carefree and all that. But, really, I think it's more just an assessment of where I am now and what I have {or have not} accomplished. And it's easy to compare your own life to others'. Then, I immediately feel guilt for being sad at all. Every day is a blessing and a gift.

I got to thinking about the idea of "age" and how it has a negative connotation. Do we accept the idea of  "age" and other people's ideas of what should have been accomplished by certain ages?

I'm such and such age, I should own a house. I get this, but tend to disagree. I think you should own a house if you are in love with where you live. Why do people buy something that equals debt if their primary reason is pressure? Or for that matter, the whole I should be married. I should have kids. Whatever it is, are we truly ready for these things, {and if you are, that's fine}, or do we just feel like we should because ya mama or ya grandpa or society says so? Who gives a shit what people say?

Work. Ugh. Life is too short to hate work everyday. I've been there. Had jobs I loathed and had jobs I loved. Now I'm in a transition place, and trying hard to trust the gifts that God gave me, and knowing that He has never let me go without, and I seriously doubt He's going to start today.

Looks. I feel fat. And not tan. But, I have been working hard to pay better attention to my health. For the last few years, I have really tried to understand my body more. To make healthier choices. I don't count calories. Or fat grams. I refuse to be a slave to food. F*** that. BUT - acupuncture has changed my life. My diabetes is better than it has been in over a decade. I am sleeping better. I feel better. I'll take that over being skinny any day. People who obsessively talk about working out GET. ON. MY. DAMN. NERVES. I am willing to bet, I am not alone on this. Just sayin. I mean, good for you, shug, you work out. Lots of people do. Hell, like I said, I'd love to be skinnier, and I'm trying to be conscious, but dude, STFU about your body image.

I'm learning that life doesn't just happen to you. You have to go after things. Sometimes those things seem scary as hell. But if you look at your life in reverse, most of the shit you wished for would have been a disaster. Sometimes, you may be the only one who things a decision is the right one. But guess what, sugarlump? You are the only one living in your life. And the naysayers {though they may truly want what's best for you} aren't going to be the one who are affected by your decision. You are.

So, to me, age is just a number. Some people die at 15. Some live in misery into their 90's.

I'll end today's post with a quote from my great Uncle Herman:

90% of the things you worry about ain't gone happen. The other 10%, you can't do nothin about em. So, there ain't no point in worryin. 

Smart man.

Now - y'all wish me luck. I'm off to Home Depot to get stuff to attempt to make this magical fabric covered jewelry display thingy I saw in Southern Living. I will post about it if it doesn't turn out totally busted. 

cosmo.

Found this funny. Did you read my other post about Cosmo?

                                                                                Source: sugarsnap.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Happy Friday.

filming at davis store

If there were ever two things I didn't imagine together, it's Silas at the store, and a filming crew for a TV series. Weird. The TV series is called Banshee, and it'll air on Cinemax in 2013. Here's a little synopsis.

There are people everywhere. They all just unpack, set up and do what they do. It's like a colony. They are also shooting in other locations in the Charlotte area. The best part is that Silas is totally unphased, in his sunscreen and straw hat, taking their waters and sampling the food for the crew. (And being shushed as they are trying to film a scene and he is in the middle of telling some story.) If you've ever met Silas, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

You can click here to check out what the store is normally like. 

We were there Tuesday evening for filming ...

Keep an eye out for it next year!

whattup.

Things have been crazy and happy and sad and hectic. I have been itching to blog but I now only blog from my husband's computer because mine is POSSESSED. 

Soooo ....

Today's post is another one of the randoms, friends, because that is the state of my brain today. How bout you pour yourself whatever bevy of choice and let's catch up, shall we?

 {1}

I wish I could have a personal driver who would gladly drive me around random back roads to take pictures of little historical bits like this one. This is almost right across the road from my elementary school. Anj and I drove out there a couple weekends ago and I was sad to see how run down the school has gotten. Although, I guess that is somewhat inevitable because the school's been there long enough for my mama and uncle to go there too. Looked a lot smaller to me now that I'm grown. :)

I would love to spend more time on my photography, and after much thought and consideration and harassing people on Facebook for their opinions, I decided to stay with Shug in Boots for the photography as well. I absolutely LOVE the Nikon and capturing the magic of the everyday. I am currently working on editing two shoots {so excited!!!}, and I will post pics of those soon.

{2}

As I'm writing, Hoda and Kathy Lee are talking about Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise
splitting. Okay, THANK GOD. What the hellllllllll was she smokin anyway with that Scientology madness in the first place? And subjecting her child to it?!? Com'onnnnnn Katie.

{3}

 Our apartment looks like a hurricanado came through. I will be cleaning, folding, throwing out, vacuuming, etc. with healthy doses of CMT, GAC, and Pinterest mixed in.

{4}

I have recently fallen MADLY in love with plain tart frozen yogurt. It's so much better, IMHO, than vanilla. And I put blueberries, strawberries, pecans, and almonds in it. AWE-SOME. OhhEmmmGeeeee.

{5}

I wish I had a bottomless budget to buy an 1800's farmhouse and renovate that piece. But I don't. I'm thinkin maybe a 1950's bungalow is more my speed. Any of y'all got experience/opinions about remodeling? (Lauren, I know y'all do because Jeff is the shiz.com)

IN LOVE with some columns. IN. L-O-V-E. 

{6}

The fourth is coming. It's also my birthday. But - I don't want to be hot. {It's been above 100 degrees in these parts, and I am sayin, "No, Gracias."}

What are y'all doin? I want to eat hotdogs and lots and lots of plain tart fro yo. 

Mmmmm.