As sugar plums danced in my head.

I've always liked the color purple. Believe it or not, purple actually looks awesome with red hair. It also brings out the golden tones in my brown eyes... So yeah, how could I not like purple? 

And all the fashion media is harping on purple being THE color for the Red Carpet and how all the celebrity stylists are putting their clients in plums, violets, and lavenders. Instantly, my train of thought stopped and switched over to my hunting instincts: must track down THE purple dress this season, to wear with black tights and my magenta Botkier clutch. Oh yes, this is hunting season. 

I hit up every shopping website I could count on to have the latest and greatest: Shopbop, Net-A-Porter, American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, Intermix, Top Shop... and there's barely any purple. That just makes Nikki sad, you know? 

But along the way, I compiled a collection of must-haves for beautiful people purple eaters all at different price points: 

From top left to right: skinny jeans by American Apparel, pumps by Sergio Rossi available at Intermix, dress by Betsey Johnson, plaid tartan top by Top Shop, satin pumps by Nine West, satchel by Chloe, eyes hadow by MAC cosmetics, halter top by Top Shop, belted dress by Phillip Lim 3.1 available at Net-A-Porter, turtleneck dress by American Apparel and racer back dress available at Urban Outfitters. 

Caught in action.

My friend Maia just emailed me this picture, taken by the Upstairs Lounge:

Check the bottom left hand corner. There I am, in the exact moment I realized that my foot was gushing with blood from cut glass. You can tell I'm thinking, "What the fuck?! Who the fuck spilled cranberry juice on my Mui Muis?!" 

I'm blaming the tall nerdy guy right behind me. He looks guilty and he doesn't have a drink in his hand... because he dropped it. He dropped it like I drop mad detective skillz. 

I have home decor on the brain tonight.

Damn you, W Hotel Store. Why did you have to send me an email about your warehouse sale? Fortunately, nothing that I really really want is on sale for 80% off. And the only time I can justify a purchase from them is when they are having one of their wicked sales, because the shipping and handling charges are how they get you. 

But notification of a sale did get me to check out and drool over their housewares, which are so incredibly chic... and like other high-end design shops, sometimes their pieces go on sale. 

Here's what I'm currently drooling over: 

What's sad is that even with a Fairy Godmother out there, we have no place for any of it since our loft is both tiny and fully furnished... no additions until we move!

If your walls could talk...

I think these masks by artist Tom Banwell, of TomBanwell.com, would make a very inexpensive and interesting wall display. For some reason, I love the idea of leather masks hanging kind of unexpectedly... maybe with some framed mirrors.

Dear Last Night,

Dear Last Night,

I initially was having a really, really good time with you. Maia's friends Matt and Tony are both absolutely lovely and genuine people. Funny and smart too.

Tin Can, CBGB on Grand, the punk show at Mangia... all something different than what I've been doing for the past year, but I definitely had a good time. It all felt closer to a night out in Nashville... not quite, but enough to make me feel nostalgic. The patio at CBGB reminded me a lot of Cafe Coco, in particular. The next time my sister is in town, I'll have to take her there.

Hell, the beats were pumping at Upstairs Lounge. I normally would have had a great time... if some fucking idiot didn't drop their glass on my foot. That's where you failed me, Last Night. My foot gushing with blood? My stained black sequined Mui Mui shoes? Why the Mui Mui shoes, Last Night... why?! And who over 21 still spills their drinks? I expect that kind of behavior from 18 year old sorostitutes wearing shoes that they can't handle... but Last Night, I wasn't expecting that. I was not expecting that from you.

Last Night, the good times could have been rolling on too if the bar would have just administered first aid. There was no need to become Drama Night because the fire department and an ambulance was called because the Upstairs Lounge didn't have disinfectant wipes, Neosporin, tweezers or even bandages. Seriously, I would have had no qualms with the bar if they just bandaged my foot, gave me some soap to clean off my shoes and gave me a shot. That would have been the most appropriate response... Thank you to the sweet girl that brought me dry napkins and paper towels from the ladies' room. Thank you.

But yeah, Last Night... You ended up being a total bitch. I think it's now over between us.

Signed,

Nikki

PS- If your glass dropping friend would like to replace my bloody Mui Mui shoes, here's my Amazon wish list.

Bruno is back on!

My heart squealed with joy, when I read the following from the UK's Telegraph newspaper:

"Milan's prestigious fashion week has been hijacked by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in his alter ego of Bruno, the flamboyantly camp Austrian fashion reporter."

The Borat movie was funny. But the Bruno movie will be FABULOUS.

"Links à la Mode"

Here are some articles posted by other Independent Fashion Bloggers, for the week of Sept. 25th:

Mademoiselle Robot: Who doesn't want to be as cool as Winona Ryder?

Life In Fashion: My Fall "Would-Like-to Have" Shopping List.

Fashion Architect: A cheap solution for shoe storage.

Or False Glitter: Crimping My Style: revival of hair crimping!

Flights of Fab Fashion Fancy: Just a fabulous crop haircut!

Logical Harmony: The Best Casual Plaids For Fall : Inspired by Lauren Conrad

PR Couture: Diary of a New York Fashion Week PR Intern.

A Celebration Of Curves: Look Book: How to wear jeans and costume jewelry to a 4 star restaurant.

The Coveted:
 Interview with the Style Clicker street fashion of Europe

IFB: 
Schmoozing, sharing, ahem... research on Modepass

I've earned bragging rights.

My boss and I wagered lunch on whether not the Oxy Clean guy, Billy Mays, promotes both Orange Glo and the Big City Slider Station.

A quick Google search leads to his Wikipedia entry, and he does indeed promote both. Along with every other product available to man.

Note that I said "promote." I was under the impression that a certain Mr. Billy Mays was some crazy genius inventor. In my fantasy, he was locked in a house for 20 years and came up with all sorts of crazy solutions for the house, from the Shamu towel to a steam press to make yummy sliders to a crazy putty that can be used to fix plumbing or tow a semi.

Though, according to Wikipedia... Billy Mays speaks in a passionate manner in real life as well. So my new fantasy scenario involves him yelling at highly inappropriate times.

"What a romantic picnic..."
"I AM BILLY MAYS AND I HAVE A SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL OFFER..."
"Um..."
"WILL YOU MARRY ME... I HAVE THIS RING, WITH A DIAMOND THAT CAN BE USED AROUND THE HOUSE TO CUT GLASS..."
"Um, I have to think about it..."
"BUT WAIT! IF YOU SAY YES TODAY, I'LL THROW IN THIS PUTTY THAT CAN BE USED TO FIX PLUMBING, TILE OR FOR ARTS AND CRAFTS."
"Um, can you stop yelling?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS KIND OF DEAL!!!!"

I have no interest in fact checking. My completely fabricated scenario is far too amusing.

Silly, frivolous and fabulous.

Is kind of how I felt when I got home from Alive Magazine's party at Mandarin tonight. I didn't have a particularly interesting time, though Justin and I did enjoy the absolutely perfect darkened night weather atop their rooftop patio. We didn't particularly know anyone, or at least anyone to really converse with.

But it did give me an excuse to paint a pretty plum smokey eye and wear a dress that's silly, frivolous and fabulous:





The dress is by Tracy Reese.

As a native Nashvillean, I must post this.

And yes, I hate Williamson County. Those people need to stay in there own county and not take perfectly good parking spaces... and get in my way when I want to shop.

I don't want to take my brat hat off. I'm a princess!

Another trip to the mall might be warranted.

Dress by the Gap, available on Gap.com

I might need to swing by the mall and see how long this dress would be on me. I'm 5'2", and like Jessica Simpson or ScarJo... I have shorter legs. Without the right proportion, I can look kind of stumpskank.

But if it's possible to make this into a mini, mini dress... I think it would look killer with black patent leather pumps. You had to know I was going to say that.

I'll add it to my shopping list.

This top is due to come into my shop (read: major discount, holler):


Photo courtesy of ShopBop.com

Me thinks it will be incredibly flattering on, and as such... has been dubbed "necessary."

I have patent issues.

Well, finally finished with all of my day's errands.

First, Justin and I had lunch at the Bread Co. attached to our loft complex. Lunch started off bizarre. A homeless lady went behind us in line and then when we went up to order, asked us to buy her lunch. I mean, it's awesome that she's asking for food instead of money... but I don't want to be approached by anyone while waiting in line. That's just too aggressive, but whatever.

Around 5 o'clock, I drove to a different part of Forest Park. I did some running and jogging around the history museum, art museum, golf course, boat house and tennis courts. I knew I was going to run and then run errands, so to speak... I made sure I wore something presentable for both. I wore my new American Apparel leggings with the buttons down the leg, a tunic length swing top with puffy sleeves in a light weight pima cotton, my Tom Ford sunglasses and my New Balance sneakers.

After jogging in the park, I ran to the Tan Co. It felt so good to just lay there with the fan blowing and close my eyes for 14 minutes.

When I left the Tan Co., I decided to pop into the Galleria and pick up some things I've been meaning to. I picked up two lab vases at Anthropologie, a couple of presents for my Mom, my L'Occitane almond shower oil, a bunch of makeup replacements at MAC, some soap at Lush for Justin, and a new pair of black patent flats. All in under 30 minutes, because I needed to run to Target and make sure I left Target in time to get to Trader Joe's before they closed.

My new black flats


Which begs the question, I think I might have patent issues. The last four pairs of black shoes I have purchased have been slick and wicked black patent. Example:





It must mean that I'm in touch with my inner bitch. Though to be perfectly honest, I think the bad girl persona of patent leather off sets my rather prudish fashion sensibilities. Namely, that I either choose pieces that make me look Amish or like a Sith from Star Wars. Well, I'm Amish with a killer pair of fuck me shoes.

Target and Trader Joe's was rather uneventful. I got organic peaches on sale and Trader Joe's sea salt brownies that are so fucking addictive that they should be illegal. Though I hope they don't become outlawed, because I don't even want to think about how low I might go to get my fix.

What was eventful was me trying to get all the bags up to my apartment without the community grocery cart. I don't know who keeps stealing the fucking community cart, but if it's you and you're by chance reading this: stop it. Seriously, not cool.

And now I have some clothes to put in the dryer and nails to paint.

Gorgeous dresses.

I'm totally one of those people that just can't watch award shows. But I can look on the Internet to see what everyone wore and if there are any glam trends this award season.

While you can totally tell that Debra Messing is staying with Rachel Zoe (the hair!), I really like her look. Classic black, but still interesting to look at and contemporary without looking harsh. Points are also given for not doing the cop out "classic Hollywood" costume that the fashion critics/ sock monkeys at People and US Weekly seem to give gold stars for every single year.

And well, Heidi Klum. She's got looks. She's got taste. She has the ability to carry off anything and look brilliant.

I'm going to keep an eye out for similar mid-range pieces for a couple of events I have coming up this year.

The world needs more Ponyboy.

My friend Michelle has a bunny. His name is Ponyboy. And my brain cannot process all the cuteness.



SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Surprise.

My friend Khoa (from my days living in Nola) called me up Friday night that he was in town. He took his oral boards for his psychiatry specialization yesterday, and last night joined us at the Gramophone for the Heypenny show.

It's crazy to think that we've had our get togethers in New Orleans, Nashville, Chicago and now Saint Louis. Staaaaaaaalker.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the show last night.

I am on the case.

According to KSDK.com, Saint Louis authorities are on the lookout for this man:



I hope that this is just the worst police sketch ever. Otherwise, I might not feel safe walking at night... or during the day!

The mosquito is easily my least favorite animal.

So, last night... we had a wonderful dinner outside on Rasoi's patio/sidewalk.

I've discovered today that I have mosquito bites on the bottoms of my feet because I was wearing flip flops. At least I managed to wear matching flip flops for our dinner out... holler.

You have no idea how annoying it is to have mosquito bites on the most ticklish part of your body. It is seriously personal hell, and mosquitoes are the Devil's butterflies.

Try to contain your excitement.

Finally... the recycled glass lab vases at Anthropologie are on sale!

After my stark white fruit bowl arrived shattered in pieces, I've been skeptical about ordering any more fragile home items from their website, Anthropologie.com. But I will definitely hit up my local one in the Saint Louis Galleria tomorrow for whatever they have left.

They are kind of necessary for this natural science lab meets industrial modern thing I've got going on.

I'm so happy I saw Kaci rocking this awesome blue dress that I almost purchased a while back. It was marked down from $180 to $40... She kept asking if it was too "polygamist"... But I dig anything down home and Amish, so I'll see if the Anthro can do a charge send for me in my size! Thanks for letting me know it's on sale now, Kac!

This Saturday, Heypenny will be rocking the Gramophone on Manchester. They will easily put on the best show STL has seen in a while... I cannot wait.

For dinner tonight, we dined on the sidewalk at Rasoi. It's seriously perfect weather for outdoor dining... not cold yet, just chill enough that aren't insects flying around the food. I finally ordered the vegetarian sampler and I'm sold. If you go to Rasoi, you definitely have to order the vegetarian sampler.

You menfolk should really wear pants.

As if you need a reason, but the most disturbing thing to a woman in a man with a shirt on and no pants. It's just wrong. There's no logic to it, but our brains can't process that image without the evolutionary reaction of "AHHHHHH KILL IT WITH FIRE! AND RUN AWAY! PENIS DOES NOT MATCH SHIRT!"

But really, there is no reason to not have pants. And good pants at that, boys. My friend Valentine is always looking for alternatives for men and he was really happy to have stumbled on this site: bonobos.com. Apparently, Bonobos exists to give men a modern, fashion alternative to jeans and dress pants at a pretty reasonable price point. I'm also loving AG's stiffened aged and whiskered cords for men... they are seriously hot (but above $200, totally worth it though). And both brands are going from a 28-38, meaning that you slender rock star boys have no reason not to have pants that fit either.

Yeah, I put the "hot" in mess.

This morning was a rough start for me. I mean, everyone has those days... you just wake up and you don't feel like you're looking too hot.

But I work in a pretty visual field, and in my mind... looking somewhat reasonable if not inspirational is part of the job requirement. Shallow, yes... but fashion is shallow. Fashion feeds and profits on shallow.

So yes, I was looking rough. But I forced myself to put on a full face of makeup, brush my hair into a cute messy up-do, put on my usual Michael Kors horn bracelet watch and Nicole Schuuman custom made necklace. My outfit was pretty chic: my distressed AG Premiere cut skinny jeans, a long black camisole, a sheer brown Park Vogel turtleneck tee, my deep cherry red Botkier satchel... topped off with my golden Tom Ford sunglasses. It was nothing that would land me on a Best Dressed list, but it was a vast improvement over what I looked like 30 minutes earlier.

Oh no... but wait...



Yes, I was at work for a solid half an hour before I realized... I am wearing two different shoes. And I'm supposed to tell people how they are supposed to dress.

Knowing my luck, one of the actors from the MUNY would come in full Shakespearean costume and quote, "Was the hope drunk, wherein you dressed yourself?" (MacBeth)

Yeah, I couldn't risk having my chaotic sitcom reality turn Shakespearean... so I walked back home to change.

So my life!

No butter and bacon for you!!!

Seriously, Dad. The posters are made.

Notice I drew you yelling at them, because they are refusing to sell you butter and bacon.

I don't care who you are.

These leggings by American Apparel are hot. And wicked for fall, to wear with oversized sweaters and boots.

Just don't wear them in lieu of leather pants... because while I advocate leggings, wearing them instead of pants is never okay. Even if you are David Bowie. Or Kate Moss. Or a radical hybrid of the two... because stranger things have happened.

Well, that's not good.

I just got a call from my Dad.

He kept it pretty short and said that he was very glad that he saw me for brunch yesterday. During brunch, he kept complaining about his legs cramping up.

So, he went to the doctor's office today to get them checked out... and asked about some lab results for some blood work he had done recently. They told him that he should already be dead.

That's not what Pumpkin likes to hear!!! And he's trying to play it off, joking that he's going to change his screen name to "Dead Man Walking"... and all I'm thinking is, I don't think I could handle anything happening to him.

There are coats, and then there are PIECES.

Holy bloody hell. That is one fucking beautiful coat.

Mackage finally launched Mackage.com, the designer's website, making their gorgeous coats all the more accessible. I say "all the more," because there is that nasty little thing called the price tag.

But if you are looking for an absolutely classic, fabulous coat (no matter the cost), at least the challenge can be conquered in one click.

I think it generates its own buzz.

Necklace by Alkemie, available at ShopBop.com.

I haven't decided what I love more, the fact that the design is positively Napoleonic or the fact that it's made out of reclaimed metals.

Am I high? Or is this cute?

I like to think that when it comes to shopping on the Internet, I can find anything. Example, last night my friend Janet was lamenting her favorite sandals' death as one of the straps broke off. She bought them from a small boutique here in St. Louis and since it's no longer sandal weather, they of course didn't have them...

But Janet, have no fear. I was already on my iPhone and not only did I locate them, but once I found the style name... I was able to price match, all via the iPhone.

Well, we have a new lambskin leather hoodie at work and I'm obsessed with it. But I wanted to search around online and get a feel for what else is out there on the market... especially find similar ones for a lot more money than what I would pay with my retail discount. I can accomplish two things: either get my father to buy it for me (preferred), or have Justin not think it's so frivolous if I get frustrated and buy it myself.

So, I found this on the Bebe website and do my eyes deceive me?



Something at Bebe that I actually like?!

To the victor, comes the spoils.

As many of you know... this week is New York's S/S 09 Fashion Week. Which also means that the media ruins as much as it can for Project Runway fans... not that we really mind!

ProjectRunGay.Blogspot.Com has everyone's full collections... apparently, this time Heidi and the other producers let everyone and their mother show at Bryant Park.

But I feel confident to say, the winner will either be Jerrell or Leanne. My only concern for Jerrell, while all was BROUGHT, is that his collection appears heavy for a S/S collection.

Jerrell:





Leanne:




It's definitely one of the two!

I still can't think of a Halloween costume.

Just posting it because.

Because it's fucking hilarious.

This.

Okay, Sephora. You are now totally on my "bad people no!" list. You know all those super annoying emails you like to send out?

Well, you should have known that this is important information:



Nars' limited edition Super Orgasm blush. You could have told me about it last week when I popped in for Philosophy Cinnamon Buns shower gel. This is how it should have gone down:

"Would you like anything else?"

"No, I'll just take the shower gel."

"Oh really, because we now have Nars' Super Orgasm blush."

"OMG! GIMME GIMME GIMME! HERE IS MONEY!"

Take note of this retail strategy, Sephora. Learn how to sell things.

Remember this moment.

Because you will probably never see my hooker boots in Lush again. Not that there's anything wrong with a clubby club... it's just not my kind of scene.

Maia and I went out for Zach's Alive Magazine Sexy & Successful win. Poor guy was mortified to be nominated in the first place (someone sent in an old Christmas card... just shades of wrong!), but if you're going to be up for voting you might as well win. He's starting his own interior design lab and by winning, he gets two editorial pages to promote himself... so that's awesome!

Here's a picture of Maia and I at the bar, closing out our tabs:



Note to self: Nikki, if you're going to be photographed next to your hot modelesque friends... wear taller shoes and show more cleavage. End note.

Love is in the air.

Photo courtesy of Style.com


Dear Marc Jacobs,

Grunge plaid? An Amish neckline? Head wear?

I think I'm in love. You make me fashion weak.

XoXo,
Nikki

I'm confused.

Okay, I was just watching the MTV whatever-awards... and I thought I was confused. Because like, everyone in the audience looks so young. It seriously looked like a middle school dance where the kids just replicate what they see on MTV.

And then it's like, no... You're now a mid-twenties something and you're considered "old" for MTV, Nikki. You and Britney can bingo and go to Indian casinos together.

Then I saw a commercial for Paris Hilton's My New BFF. And fuck, that's a headache.

And now's there's Shia Leboef-cake. And Slash ruining the view.

Eh, and I just realized that this stupid ceremony is for music videos that we have never seen and have no opinion on because MTV only shows 12 minute retardation hypnosis sessions like The Hills and Paris Hilton's My New BFF.

Yep, we've turned it off. If someone wore something amazing, email me.

I love mail.

I love getting fan mail, especially when it's from authors of awesome blogs like FunnyPersonals.com!

Seriously, check it out.

This will end well.

So first thing I read in my email this morning, was this sent from my dad:

I think we should enter Max...
agility.cfa.org


So... of course, I follow the link. Then I saw this:



A couple of points: First off, how about no? Second, do you think you can actually train one of your cats-- that only recognizes your existence about half the time?

Third, cats have claws. At least yours do, because Mom will never let you remove their claws no matter how much furniture they may or may not damage. Never underestimate the cutely danger of an angry cat kicking with its back feet. Who do you think has your back? Mom, she'll be at work. Crackdog? She'll flee for safety and leave you to die.

I have this included computer simulation, note the first 20 seconds:


And fourth, if there ever was a sign that you need to find another hobby to fill your self-employed days... it's the fact that you are thinking about training and entering your cat in an agility competition.

May I recommend that you take up the Purse Forum again? There's a whole new season of handbags we can talk about. Or you can start a Walker: Texas Ranger fan site.

Also, Boxer is probably going to be upset that you don't want to enter him because he's obviously the fat one. But this all really is summed up with my first point: how about no?

Love you!

What's going on this week...

Current reading material: "look books" for holiday shipment, a fleece motorcycle jacket... that's dangerous
Current album: The Best of Blondie
Current shame-inducing guilty pleasure: fast food...
Current link: http://www.trenddelacreme.com
Current color: grey
Current fetish: overpriced gold nail polish
Current drink: Diet Coke
Current wish list: a basic black slip, a tan (no time), better health insurance, a cat
Current fave song: "Call On Me" for the gym
Current triumph: I'll get back to you on that
Current bane of existence: It's totally not apropos for the world wide web
Current indulgence: Arrested Development dvds
Current #1 blessing: friendships
Current excitement: my next day off is Friday, then my wonderful parents are back in town
Current mood: anxious
Current inspiration: friends' success
Current handbag: Botkier black Bianca satchel
Current abuse: my iPhone
Current accessory: Dior two of hearts necklace
Current words du jour/catch phrase: "Are you from Chicago?"
Current food: pasta, fries
Current TV/Movie: Arrested Development, anything on Bravo
Current mental escape: day dreaming at work

THAT is more rock than roll.

Beyonce finally is sporting her $5,000,000.00 completely flawless, 18-carat emerald cut diamond engagement ring from Jay-Z. No wonder she wasn't wearing it around earlier... that is a whole lot of money to be carrying on hand.

Wow, five milli. That probably gave an African rebel group enough guns and weaponry (no cheap machetes for you, boys) to pillage and kill about ten minor cities and kidnap hundreds of local boys to turn into soldier-slaves. That's so cool!

(Okay, I was totally being sarcastic. I think the diamond trade is completely horrendous... Though maybe I shouldn't be so critical since Bee is like, a huge animal activist and refuses to wear fur... Oh wait, is my sarcasm button still on? Damn it!)

Try to get that image out of YOUR HEAD.

And quote:

The Daily Mirror reports that Michael Jackson and Pamela Anderson have gone on a two top-secret dates recently. “It was all arranged by their people in total secrecy, very cloak and dagger,” an insider told the paper. “They arrived separately at the Shutters Hotel on Malibu Beach so no one would suspect anything and then had a few drinks in the bar.” The pair allegedly had such a good time they met again at another Malibu hideout. “They chatted about Michael turning 50, his new album, their kids. And he seemed genuinely interested in Pamela,” the source said.

Hey Christian- Conservative Right, want to make abstinence education more appealing to teenagers? Show them pictures of that.

It's really sad that out of the two, Tommy Lee seems to be the more sane parent. Maybe he can take Blanket under his wing and teach him to bang the drums... or um, hot women? First tip: take the blanket off your head.

Excuse me while I look for mind bleach (read: shoe porn).

Say it aloud!

Image from India's Vogue, bib by Fendi.

The average Indian citizen lives on a $1.25 per day. That's like having Vogue celebrate the waifs in Ethiopia.

Just a reminder... when you have an idea, always say it out loud before going forth! Say it out loud!

Labor Day catch up.

Finally, I have a moment to re-cap on the past four days. There were quite a few surprises!

Saturday night was the beginning of the weekend for me, since I had to work during the day. After getting off of work, Justin suggested we go out for dinner... after heading to the Galleria so he could buy some polos and I could buy some yummy Philosophy bath gel. By the time we headed out, it was already pretty late... We almost felt like we had to resort to the Cheesecake Factory since we knew they would seat us around 9pm.

But then we thought about going to the Jive and Wail in Maplewood.



It was seriously fun, even though we were the only people there that weren't part of a birthday/bachelor party. Initially, we wouldn't have gotten a table... I think we might have stolen part of a reserved one. But the waitress was smart and let us keep it... because man, we were hungry and neither of us had work the next day. I had the Saint Louis ribs with fries and cole slaw... and then for "dessert" since we were drinking, we tried the Elvis:



Oh yes, a peanut butter and banana sandwich fried with cinnamon and served with honey and powdered sugar. Talk about something so fucking good, it should be illegal.

At the end of the night, the waitress gave us some tickets for priority seating and some free drinks for the next time we go... Which given that I'm already craving another Elvis, will probably be rather soon...

The next morning, I'm woken by my cell phone going off. I don't answer, because I'm half asleep and I didn't think anything of it. I checked my voicemail and it's my mom laughing that my parents were 20 minutes outside of Clarksville, TN and on their way for the rest of Labor Day weekend. Total surprise!

We had a very late lunch at P.F.Chang's (my parents have never been to the one in Nashville, since the parking situation is horrendous) and by the time we were finished, it was time to head up to Mandarin for a surprise party for Pete's wife. I'm very thankful he was able to add them to the guest list (each guest had their own VIP name tag and a packet) on such short notice... but they had a great time!

We had post-party breakfast at Uncle Bill's Pancake House. My dad gave really good advice for post-party snacking: buy the frozen White Castle cheese burgers, bacon and eggs... fry the eggs and bacon, microwave the burgers and mix. That is genius!

The next morning, my parents and I met up for breakfast at the Majestic (Eh, same thing as going to the Greek festival minus the lines) and then headed to the shop to pick out my mom a pair of jeans. Probably the biggest surprise of the entire weekend was that she wanted to pick up another pair of denim... Maybe her dark days of Mom Jeans are behind her?

She picked out a really cute dark wide leg trouser cut pair... Then we headed back to my apartment. I showed them our new residents' lounge, which is pretty fucking awesome.



Our new lounge can fit about 30 for dining... there's several seating areas, including video game chairs and a Wii. And there's like, 10 different varieties of free coffee. Since our apartment is so small, having the option of additional space is pretty sweet. Thanks creepy people that were watching TV in the gym, now we have an awesome lounge!

And entertaining we did this weekend as well. Just as my parents left with a "See you in like, two weeks!," my boyfriend and I were cleaning the apartment and slicing things in preparation for a BBQ we had in our courtyard and green space. A few days ago, he invited over about six law students for a BBQ... Of course, no one really saw our clean apartment but that's okay since it's all perfect for me to enjoy today.

Here's a picture of Justin grilling:



It was a nice time and as tired as I was... fortunately, the law students were worried about class the next morning. Crazy that the "last day of summer" was the first time that we used the grills and patio furniture available to us. The weather should be pretty nice for another two months...

Whole lot of laboring this weekend.

As if you can resist shiny things either!

Since today was my last day off before I pull a huge ten day stretch, I had to run errands about town. Yes, my idea of errands includes hitting up the Tan Co. in Clayton, stopping by the Ghettoria to see if they have the printed trash can I saw in the Urban Outfitters catalogue (Yes, it is an awesome trash can... and I have trash can issues) and picking up one of those power strip- things and toothpaste.

So basically, I had a very focused idea of what I needed to accomplish today.




Oh, as if you aren't distracted by shiny things either! I don't know what compelled me to go see what the new Chanel fall colors were... but baby, I came home with some (overpriced, $30... ouch) Gold Fiction nail polish. I've been wearing a lot of gold lately and it should look pretty sharp with all the black and navy sweaters I have for fall.

It should look stellar worn with Paula Dorf's eye shadow in Gold Digger.