SOMETIMES THE HARDEST STEP IS THE FIRST ONE......

....and I think I may be ready to take it.  I apologize in advance for the mini-rant you are all about to read but I've been thinking a lot about this kinda stuff lately and the past couple of days it's been in the front of my mind.  I'm sick of work. Can't stand it.  I know this is something that everybody experiences.  I mean, who is happy in their job all the time? But I'm just ready for a change so I am just going to write down all my options as I see them right now. Ready? GO.........

Option #1 (and probably the most popular option with my most faithful blog readers. HA!) : I could move home to California,  go to grad school, and be close to my family.  All of those things sound fantastic! I'm just not sure that is the best option for me socially. Stockton isn't necessarily a hot-bed for the early 30's crowd and my emotional and biological clocks are ticking :)

Option #2:  I could pick up and move to VA and have a place to stay for free while I get myself on my feet. Socially, that would be great, and there is something exciting about starting over fresh and being able to re-invent myself. I'm just not sure if it's the best move professionally. Who goes from a full-time job with benefits to a waitressing job with no health insurance? But, then again, those clocks keep ticking and VA might be the better option to make them STOP......

Option #3: Stay here in Lawrence and find another job. I would be able to keep my cute little house and stay close with my best friends. I have heard of a couple of opportunities that have interested me. I just need to buck up and take the first step.   I really do love Lawrence and it's hard to imagine living anywhere else. 

Obviously, I have a lot to think about. The good news is, with all my options, I would be safe and would be around people who love me and would take care of me.  
Please don't take away from this blog that I am completely unhappy. I am most certainly NOT. I have the best family, the greatest friends, the best dog, and the cutest house. I'm just ready to spice things up a bit.  I am a firm believer that the happiest girls are the prettiest girls so trust that I am going to slap a smile on my face while I take my time to make some serious decisions.  I don't want to regret anything.  But SOMETHING needs to change.

Again, I apologize for the long post today but I had to get this stuff off my chest.  I don't want to sound totally self consumed but:

HA!
Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

ALWAYS LATE BUT WORTH THE WAIT

Sorry I am so late with the blog post this morning...I promise I haven't been slacking. My favorite person in the world came to visit me at work!!!!!

Lora had the day off work so she brought the boys up so "Mana's School."  Hudson and I had so much fun shooting baskets and visiting Hudy in her office. I wish he could come and play everyday!

My weekend was totally fab.  I was extremely productive on Saturday morning around my house and at work. I even got up early to get some extra cardio in! We had the Legends of the Phog basketball game and then everybody went out afterwards. All that Saturday "productivity" made for a really lazy day on Sunday though.  I admit I was foggy for pretty much the whole day. Oh well. Late Night in the Phog is less than two weeks away so I need to make the most of free days while I can.  I don't really have many good stories....so I'll just do a photo dump of my phone. That usually paints the best picture of my weekends anyways!

Mani from Saturday. I think it's the last time I can get away with a summer cooler.  Reds from now on!

Hudy and I goofing around Saturday night. I woke up with a leetle (ok HUGE) headache on Sunday morning:)

Probably the best part of the weekend was getting to see this pic of Tiny. Family debate: Is she just thinking really hard?....or giving the finger? You decide.

OKIE DOKIE.  That is all I've got for today. 

Peace, Love, and Jayhawks!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!!!

So today is technically the last day of summer, but here in the midwest we have had fall temps for about a week now. Fall is totes my favorite season of the year.  I love the cooler air, the changing of the leaves (But not the falling of the leaves. Raking leaves hurts my back!), football, and fall decorations. I have been anxiously awaiting October 1st so I can put up my Halloween stuff.  I am so tired of my house's summer look!  I was a little dissapointed yesterday when I realized that our first game is actually on Halloween......BOOO (No pun intended)!!!! We all live in residential neighborhoods, but Hudy lives in one with about a billion kids, so we always hang out there and she lets me pass out the candy to the kiddos. I am going to miss doing that this year.

Here is me and my favorite little lion. Hudson's first Halloween. Obvi he wasn't really diggin' his costume. And obvi I had been enjoying too many cocktails and carbs. Geez, chubs!

Here he is last year. Cutest fisherman EVER!

Anyhoo, after the hot hot hot temps we had this summer I am welcoming the fall weather with open arms.  Last night we went out to dinner and I was able to just throw on a sweatshirt! Love it.

Day #12 with no soda and still going stong! GOOOOOOOOO ME! HA!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

TOUCHE, MOTHER NATURE. TOUCHE!

Mother Nature can be a real biatch!!! 

This was me. All day Saturday.  We had Bonnie's golf tournament this weekend and the Weather Gods apparently didn't get the memo!   It poured pretty much all morning and was FREEZING!  We spent the morning moving registration and the auction to different locations around the course until we settled in the golf-cart barn.  Yep, registraton was in a barn. Welcome to Kansas. We were initially stressed out about people showing up but, as usual, our fans didn't dissapoint us. Every single team showed up to play and support Kansas Women's Basketball AND LMH Breast Cancer Research. The tournament went off without a hitch!!! And, as if Mother Nature had a sudden change of heart, right when we were scheduled to tee off the weather cleared up. But don't give her too much credit.....by cleared up I mean it didn't rain anymore.  It was still freezing and overcast all day. But, at that point, we weren't about to complain!   Despite all the added stress, our staff still had a pretty good time. We did what we always do at these kind of things and just laughed our way through the day..............

Aqua and Chester with their new golf/rain hats.

Tory sporting the standard "Think Pink" polo.

Me and Cappie. Me carrying around my iPad....stalking the weather channel.

The annual team pic.

I don't want y'all to leave this post with these gloomy images in your mind of our little ole golf tourney. It is actually one of my favorite events we do.  Usually we get fabulous weather and everyone gets to sport darling pink outfits. We raise a ton of money for breast cancer research and we are so thankful to the people who come out year after year, play, and spend money.  Here are some pics from our tournament in years past. Sigh.......

 

Oh well. We still had a wonderful day. I wish I could say the same for our football team. Ouch.  But I still have faith!  They have a much needed bye week this week so there is time to regroup and get better. Rock Chalk forever!

I get my hair done today and it I am in desperate need. I was kind of bummed that it wasn't going to be done for the golf tournament but it all worked out because I ended up wearing a hood all day. Maybe Mother Nature was looking out for me afterall! HA!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

I HAVE A SECRET........

.....I haven't had a soda in seven days. Yes, you read correctly....seven. This former three-diet coke a day girl has quit cold turkey.  I just decided enough was enough and I was tired of being a slave to the aluminum can. HA! This doesn't mean I am done forever but, for right now, I am lovin' me some H2O! Ironically, I feel like I have more energy.  Three cheers for me!

I have another secret.....my life is pretty boring right now and that is just the way I like it!  HA! I have to work all day Saturday for Bonnie's golf tournament and Hudy is going out of town so I have all three dogs for the weekend. I love it when Lulu has playmates! She gets so tired! HA! I am going to dinner with my new friend, Tim, on Saturday night. He is new in town, coming from Illinois State, so I am going to show him where the good Mexican food is.  Margaritas all around!

One last secret....this is my 100th blog post! Who would have guessed I could commit to something for so long! HA!  I feel like having a birthday party for my little ole blog. Maybe Tim and I will celebrate on Saturday night!

Thanks for reading everyone!  I love sharing my secrets with everyone....and I promise they'll be more juicy in the future! HA!

Too blessed to be stressed!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

THIS AND THAT

Howdy Y'ALL!!! I don't know why I said that. It just seems like a "howdy" type of mornin'!  I don't really have that much to report on so I thought I would wrap up a couple little loose ends I have had laying around in my blogging notebook....otherwise known as my head.

THIS: I totes forgot to blog about the funniest thing I saw at the football game on Saturday.  Well, first off, one more shout out to the football team. Way to play with some heart, boys.  Keep sawin' wood!  Long story short...I kind of had a hard time finding Manager Jamie's tailgate on Saturday.  We had a leettle "miscommunication" on exactly where it was. That led me to do a little wandering around the stadium in search of a "big, red, Ford F-150". Like there aren't TEN THOUSAND of those at a KANSAS football game. GHEESH! Anyhoo, there I was, walking with my cute little tray of KU cupcakes when, out of nowhere, I was almost run over by this thing........

It's called the Peddal Hopper..."The Party You Pedal." It was hilarious and looked like so.much.fun! I almost hopped right on!  I quickly juggled my cupcakes and got my phone out to snap this pic.  I went to their website and I guess you can rent it for birthdays, games, wedding, bachey parties....you name it!  I know it has probably been around for a while but I am usually not wandering around outside the games so this was my first time seeing it! What a great idea!


THAT: It has been well documented on this blog that a little week-night trip to my local TJ-MAXX can put a little pep in this girly's step. I am a firm believer in retail therapy and I fully consider myself a "Maxxinista".  I don't necessarily have to buy anything, I just like wandering around the store!  But Monday I found something I couldn't resist.....

SEQUINED BLACK SNOW BOOTS....and for only $29.99. I died! I used to be one of those girls who would have cringed at the thought of buying fake Uggs, otherwise know as "fuggs."  But I am over that now. Every single pair of real Uggs I have ever bought have been stained the first time wearing them and, therefore, ruined.  And lets be real for a sec....I don't think Uggs or Fuggs are cute at all. But they keep my feet warm and cozy when I'm letting Lulu potty after a snow storm and they are good for a quick run to the store during a blizzard. But I have never been one of those girls who wears them as a fashion accessory.  That doesn't mean I have to only buy the plain, old, ugly, boring ones though!  A little bit of sparkle can make the standard KU sweatsuit fabulous! HA!

OK, well there is my THIS AND THAT for today. I'm sure I'll have more tomorrow.  I am trying to get my coaches on the road and then help prepare for Bonnie's golf tournament on Saturday. I have to admit, I'm not really looking forward to it. Eventhough it's a great event, it is a REALLY long day. Maybe I can rent the Pedal Hopper to drive around the golf course!  HA!

Stay fabulous everyone!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

ROCK CHALK WEEKEND!

There are weekends that can leaving you needing another weeked and there are weekends that leave you refreshed, relaxed and ready to tackle your upcoming week. I was lucky enough to have the latter.  My weekend was awesome.

Saturday morning I spent the morning taking care of my house. After I went for a long run I cleaned, folded and put away all my laundry (That was huge. Def my least favorite chore). I changed my sheets on my bed, vacumed, dusted, worked on my landscaping outside, AND took Lulu for a walk.  I felt so accomplished by 10:00 AM.  I rewarded myself by going over to Hudson's house and playing a little bit. That kid cracks me up.

    Side note:I don't think Hudson has ever seen me with my hair washed and makeup on. He prob wouldn't recognize me. HA!

I went home and got in the shower and headed over to the football game. Manager Jamie invited me to join his tailgate so I bagged plans for my own. This guy is like a professional tailgater so he had everything planned anyways! But I couldn't go empty handed so I whipped out a batch of my famous cupcakes and headed over to the stadium.

The tailgate was fabulous. Good food, great drinks and thousands of Jayhawks to hang out with. It rained on us a little bit but that didn't dampen anybody's spirits....plus Jamie had a tent so my hair was saved! Crisis overted.

The game was awesome. The boys ended up pulling out a win in the final seconds (Take that ESPN "experts") and everybody in the stadium went NUTS.  There is nothing better than a night in Lawrence after a Jayhawks win. I headed out to the bars to meet up with Hudy and Coach O.  It was our friend, Steve's, birthday so we had to take him out to celebrate a litte bit! 

Sunday morning after I worked out I headed over to Lora's house to see some of my FOREVER FRIENDS.  I am pretty much the only one who isn't married with a baby (Don't feel bad for me.  I am married to my job and have a fur-baby)  and it is hard for us to find time to all get together. I see Lora all the time but, other than her, I don't get to spend enough time with them.  The house was mass chaos, but in a good way.  All the mom's tried to get a picture at the end of all the boys. This was the best we could get:

So freakin cute. I think it's so funny that everyobdy just has boys.  CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HAVE A GIRL!?!?!?! Gheesh.  Afterwards, I met up with Hudy at Louise's West for a Sunday Funday bloody mary and then headed over to Lora's Grandpa's house.  In bed by 9. Perfect day.

Please excuse all the crummy iPhone pics. I am going to be asking Santa for a new camera for Christmas.  Like a really good one. Mrs. Claus can even have my old one (which is still a nice camera) to take pics of her new grandbaby. Santa, do you hear me?

The weather is cooling down here and I am excited to pull my sweatshirts out of the closet.  My fall wardrobe is absolutely my favorite.  Bring on cute jackets and boots!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

BIG BLUE FRIDAY

T.G.I.F. peoples!!! Seriously, I can't believe this was a short week cause it seems like it went on for...ev.....er.  We have a home football game this weekend so Le Mansion De Lulu is in full preparation mode.  The Jayhawks flag is flying, the red/blue/feather/bling coozie has been dug out, and I have my game day outfit (As well as Lulu's gameday collar) ready to go. I snagged the boss's parking pass so we are going to have prime seating for all the tailgating action.  Our boys are on a one game winning streak so everyone in Jayhawks Nation is in high spirits (Except for all this conference re-allignment stuff. Don't get me started). The ESPN "experts" predicted we would only win one game this year so if we pull off a win tomorrow it could be considered an upset. I might even storm the field.  Just kidding.  No self respecting athletics director's kid would EVER storm the field.  Plus, it might be frowned upon by the higer-ups at work! HA!  But you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be "waving the wheat" like heck from the stands!

I am not sure what is going to be on my tailgating menu for tomorrow....I am open to suggestions. I would like to keep it simple though....We all know I'm not the most domesticated fan! HA!

Wouldn't it be soooo cute if footballs were pink? No? K, just a thought.

Coach O is coming home for like less than 48 hours and Lora said she might go to the game with me. YEAH for hanging out! Hopefully I can squeeze some Hudson time in there too. I haven't seen that kid in a week and he probably misses me. HA! We have Bonnie's golf tournament next weekend so I will be swamped.  I am for sure going to enjoy THIS weekend to the fullest.

Pics and updates on Monday!!!!!!

#ROCKCHALK4LIFE   #GOCHESTYLIONS

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

CUTEST. PARENTS. EVER.

That is all for today.


Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

LELO4444

Lord help me. I have joined the Twitter world. As if I need one more social media thingy to be obsessed with! I already sleep with my iPad (pathetic, I know) for gosh sakes.  Heaven forbid I go an hour without checking my facey or blog dashboard and it took me foreveeeeeeer to figure those two out. But thankfully with Twitter, I already have built in tutors.....our players.  They are obssesed and I have already gotten several requests for them to "follow" me. I'm not sure how I feal about that yet. The last thing I need is for them to find out about my drunken weekend binders or my all-night drug parties (I kid, Mom).  So I have started out by following just a few of my best friends....Bo, Bonnie, Khloe Kardashian, and Jessica Simpson.  Just to get started.  My Twitter name is Lelo4444. I was going to go with TheDarlingDiva but decided against it.  If the girls ever do end up following me, I don't want them discovering my little blog. Then I wouldn't be able to vent about them! HA!

So anyhoo....if any of you out there are "tweeps" lemme know! We can link up on twitter too! 

I just have one little thing to rant about today. Do ya'all watch TLC's "Toddlers in Tiaras"?  Now I am a self-admitted reality TV junkie, but this show makes me sick. AND last night these "moms" hit an all new low......One mom dressed her three year old daughter up as Julia Robert's hooker character in Pretty Woman. Are you kidding me? I can't believe they even allowed this on T.V. Obviously when I have a  daughter she will be dressed to the nines in bows, rhinestones, animal print, and tutus but I will probably draw the line RIGHT before hooker costumes:)

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

BEST FRIENDS ARE LIKE STARS.......

....You don't always see them, but you know they are there. 

Charlottesville was a blast and just the mini vacay I needed before school/basketball/recruiting/golf tournament/alumni weekends, etc. start up again.  The campus at UVA is amazeballs.  It looks like an Ivy League campus with all of it's huge brick buildings and sprawling green grass. 

Saturday morning (6:30 a.m.- Eventhough I was on vacation, I was visiting a coach....Sleeping doesn't win games, people!  ) we got up and Coach O took me on a tour of the campus and the athletics facilites. Charlottesville, including the surrounding areas and campus, are so rich with tradition and culture I was really impressed.

After the tour we dropped Coach O off at work because she had a recruit in town and Hudy and I headed to the bookstore and then to the local Irish Pub, McGrady's.  What a charming little place. We ended up staying there a few hours and watching college football.   After we had gotten our fill of afternoon cocktails and socializing with the locals, we headed back to the house and each took 5 hour naps (Yes, 5 hours. We were on vacation. Don't judge). We woke up to a text from Coach O. that she would be working for at least the next 4 hours so we made the executive decision to head BACK to McGrady's (If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it) to watch more college football. It was a pretty fabulous night. I discovered a new favorite drink, whip cream vodka and diet coke, AND I did my good deed for the day when I broke up a fight in the bathroom. Who knew Charlottesville would be so exciting!?!? HA!!!!  Eventually Coach O came and picked us up and we went home for the night.

Sunday she had the whole day off so we got up and went for a run (Again- staying with a coach) and then went to this little hole in wall breakfast place called Beer Run. I know the name doesn't say much but when we pulled up it was PACKED. Apparently, they specialize in Bloody Mary's so, of course, Hudy ordered one. I kept it classy and went with a mimosa.  When Hudy's drink came it was like a piece of art. It was just as delicious as it was pretty...........

After we went home and got ready (We also took a short nap.  Obvi Hudy and I are really good at taking naps. HA!) we got "all cute" and went to the movies. We saw The Help and I am now OBSESSED. I had read the book so I was extremely excited to see how the movie turned out.  Let me tell you all, GO SEE IT!!!! You will not be dissapointed. That night we went to a fancy-schmancy restaurant for dinner in downtown Charlottesville. I usually don't like fancy food, but this stuff was amazing.  I think I ate a whole family style serving of the asparagus myself!

Sunday we woke up early to go catch our plane home to Kansas.  It was so tough saying goodbye to Coach O but all the tears turned out to be unnecessary because our flight was delayed for 9 hours!!! WHAT?!?!?!?!  Instead of hanging out at the airport or a bar, we made the responisible decision and, you guessed it, went for another run (You thought I was going to say "took a nap", didn't ya?).  This time we decided to throw a little history lesson in there and  ran to Thomas Jefferson's Monitcello. The house itself was spectacular!!!!  The run was not so much fun though. The first half was straight up hill and I may have had a small personality failure when Hudy said we were going to do it TWICE!  But after it was over, I was thankful we did it (SHHHH....don't tell her I said that).  A weekend of fried foods and drinks can creep up on the waistline! HA!  We didn't end up getting home to Lawrence until about 1:00 AM.  BUMMER.  Especially since I had to get up at 5:30 a.m.  to workout.  But Lulu is still at Doggy Daycare so I didn't feel that guilty. 

I feel much better about Coach O being so far away after seeing her new digs.  UVA is an awesome school and the people she works with are fabulous (Not as fabulous as KU, but still pretty fab).  Obviously anytime I can eat, sleep, and drink my way through a weekend I will take FULL advantage of  it!. I am so proud of her and can't wait to go out and visit again. She seems pretty happy so that is all that matters to me. The UVA Women's Hoops team has a new #1 fan!!!! 

Shout out to the Jayhawk football team! Great start to the season! Keep sawin' wood boys!  ROCK CHALK, GO TIGERS, GO CHESTY LIONS, and GO CAVLIERS!


Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED...........

GOOOOOOD MORNIN' BLOGGIN WORLD!!!  You will all be happy to know that I left my grumpy pants at home today.  I admit that I let yesterday, and the work dinner the night before, get the best of me. But I had a major attitude adjustment at about 1:00 yesterday when the bestie and I escaped work and ran some errands.  We washed my car AND put air in the back-right tire. I know it doesn't sound that exciting, cause it wasn't, but they were two things I had been dreading doing.   They are chores I just hate doing by myself so I was thrilled to have company. Plus, she is just waaaay better at that kind of stuff then me :) In reality, I know she did it with me because she was embarassed to be seen in my nasty automobile (Last time washed?!?!?!:When Dad was in town last October....EWWWWWW!). And she probably wanted to avoid a phone call from me, crying and telling her I was stuck on 6th street with a flat tire.  But I chose to believe she did it because she wanted to do something nice for me. Bless her heart:). It was at that moment I decided to turn my frown upsidown. How can a girl be with so many blessings be so salty?!?!?!   So I went home, slapped a deep conditioning treatment on my hair, a Proactive mask on my face, Crest whitening strips on my chicklets, and pulled out my cutest Jayhawk shirt.  I felt like a new woman! Bonnie picked me up (She has the reserved parking spot. HA!) and we were off to the rally......

The rally was great.  Our new AD, Dr. Z, spoke along with Bonnie, Coach Self and then Coach Gill. The band and pep squad peformed and the crowd was great.  A ton of my friends were there so I spent most of the time talking. DUH.   I didn't take many pics, but here is one of precious Layton with Coach Self. Layton is the son of my friend, KU tennis coach Amy Hall, and one of the sweetest boys you will meet.  He was so excited to get his pic with Coach.

The next stop on my itinerary is Charlottesville, VA. Everybody says it is absolutely gorge there and Coach O tells me there are plenty of cute, rich, and southern boys for me to chose from. Sounds like a promising weekend!  Lulu is racking up some serious reward points at Doggy Daycare.  But she loves it there and I am lucky to have a place she is actually excited to go to if I have to be out of town. I will take lots of pics and be sure to post when I get back. Everyone have a fabulous weekend!


Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA

MY MOMMA ALWAYS SAYS.......

...If you don't have anything nice to blog, don't blog at all!  So I am going to take today off.  I am just over everything. O.V.E.R. work, over excercise, and over money stress!  I will be back tomorrow to my normal self tomorrow though.  Probably because I get to see this chica.....and she is the best and "snapping me out of it." HA!

Football Kick Off Rally Tonight! ROCK CHALK!!!

Smooches,

THE DARLING DIVA