This Just In....

I PASSED MY TEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WooHoooooo!!!!And I didn't just pass it, I freaking dominated it!!!! :) I even scored better on it then I did my math 4-8 test, which is crazy... I am in shock right now and soo excited! I may just get a teaching job yet... Hallelujah!!

What a great start to my weekend!!! :)

Cheers to the Gen 4-8 Exam!

I finally took the Gen 4-8 test this morning. Not too sure how I did though. I may have passed. I may have failed. I'm definitely borderline. The annoying thing is that I really couldn't have done much more to prepare for the test... it was just hard because of the tricky wording of the questions and answer choices that were vague. Oh well... I did my best. I know I definitely did really well on the math portion. I think I will find out my scores no later than Monday or Tuesday, probably.... and I decided that if I fail it I will not try to take it again. Because:

• a) It costs $120 each time to take it,
• b) I am not allowed to try and take it again for another 60 days, and
• c) I already have my math 4-8 certfication (which is what I would rather teach anyway), so I will just be patient and hope something opens up in that area.

Def kind of bummed though. It isn't very often that I leave a test not feeling confident about how I did (especially a test I prepared for for two weeks)... Who knows though? I might have passed. Ok, I'll stop complaining about it now. :)

Now excuse me while I go pour a rather large glass of this
to celebrate... or to drown my sorrows, not sure which yet... ;)

Would you like some pizza with your arugula?

Just got back from lunch with the bossy. We walked to a new place in Mockingbird Station (right next to our office) called Vapiano. It is an italian restaurant and I am not really a big pasta eater, unless you count Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (the Blue Box, please), so I opted for a pizza instead. This place was trying to be all trendy with different stations (pasta, pizza, salad, etc) and a swipey card that you used to order your food. I was not a fan..and seriously...could the cook have dumped anymore arugula on top of my pizza?!? I had to use a jack hammer to get past the first layer! Just wanted to check in, hope you kids are having a good Tuesday! :)

Rachel Zoe

Sooo excited! I just found out via Twitter (look how cutting edge I am now...) ;) that The Rachel Zoe Project will be back for Season 2 on Bravo starting August 25th! I was wondering if this show would only be a one-hit wonder (thankfully not)! I absolutely LOVE Rachel Zoe!! I love her fashion-sense and am way jealous of all of her fabulous, vintage clothing (I die...)! ;)

She makes me want to ingest nothing but mega-sized cups of coffee (in an attempt to be as rail thin as her) and spend my entire pay check on clothing and accessories!! *sigh* A girl can dream... and in the meantime, live vicariously through the fabulous life of Ms. Zoe!

Geisha House, Joule & PM

I had a really fun girl's night out on the town Friday evening. To start, the gals and I dined (and had many Sake enhanced cocktails) at a brand new Dallas restaurant called Geisha House. It is similar to a Benihana restaurant and they also serve sushi and stuff. It was ok, but there are def way better sushi places in Dallas, in my opinion.

{Tara, Brittany and JJ}

{Holly, Adrian and Me}

After, dinner we went to the Joule Hotel downtown and had some cocktails poolside out on the rooftop. It was so neat because we were right in the middle of downtown and were surrounded on all sides by skyscrapers. Very posh.. ;) Then, once we had all secured a major buzz we headed downstairs to the basement of the Joule where they have a club called PM. It was also very swanky and lots of fun! I am def a fan of the Joule establishment!

{the pool hangs over the side of the building... neat-o!!}

Mason even came and met up with me once girl's night became co-ed! :)

Well it seems that I might have over-indulged on Friday night because Saturday morning I woke up with a KILLER hangover! Seriously, one of the worst I have had in a long while. The kind that can only be cured with lots and lots of greasy food and MORE drinking. So, Mase and I joined some friends on Saturday at a charity flip cup tournament at a pool near our place. All in all it was a good weekend, and it was nice to let loose a little - since now it's back to studying for me!! Hope your weekend was fab too! I'm so ready for it to be Thursday!!! :)

Friday Funnies!

I often find myself thinking about the music that I will play at my wedding. What song will be playing as I walk down the aisle, or when we walk back down the aisle as husband and wife, and what song will I pick to dance to for our first dance? I used to be a dancer and I love music, so call me crazy, but those are just things I like to think about. Well after viewing these two jewels, I just might have some more thinking to do.... The fact that the two grooms in these two videos were up for doing this is pure awesomeness and absolutely hysterical!! Enjoy! ;)





Hope that your weekend is fab and full of dancing! :)

My Birthday List!

A Very Important Announcement:

My 25th Birthday is quickly approaching (August 18th)...only 27 more days!!! That's less than 4 weeks people! It's time to get to shopping for the birthday girl (ME) :) ....and also time for me to make my annual birthday list of things that I have been eyeing...

Here goes:

1.) An iPOD nano (in pink please...duh). It's time for me to finally make the upgrade from my much beloved iPOD mini that I have had since my 21st birthday.

2.) An iPOD dock/speakers. It's hard for me to dance around the house or whistle while I work without the luxury of a dock that can be placed in any room of the house! A must have accessory to compliment my potentially new nano! ;)
3.) Venice Mirror from Z Gallerie. I loooove Z Gallerie and could soo deck out my house from floor to ceiling with goodies from there - heck I'd move into their store if they'd let me. Anyway, I have been eyeing this beauty from afar for awhile now and think that it would be lovely in my bedroom above my dresser! Mason thinks I have enough mirrors...psh, but what does he know! 4.) Black clutch purse. I surprisingly don't own one and it is such a fashion staple! I would adore a Tory Burch one, but I'll try not to be too high maintenance this year! Just a simple one will do (for now...) ;)

5.) "Influence" by Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen. I've thumbed through this book and it is pretty cool. It would make a great addition to my stack of coffee table books!

6.) Nike Running Shorts. Can never have too many of these. I need a few new variety of colors, bc I'm getting tired of the ones I have... Maybe new workout gear will motivate me to work out more often. That's only a maybe though... ;)7.) Scale. I don't own one of these either... in the past I've always just had a roomie who has had one so I never needed one. This might also encourage more time spent at the gym! And Mason, I would advise that you NOT get me this for my bday... thanks! ;)

and in case anyone is feeling really generous this year...

I'll take one of these:

8.) A White Volkswagen Jetta. I think these are so cute! And it's just about time to trade in the 'ol Jeepster for an upgrade!

Happy Shopping! ;)

Testing Update

I successfully passed my Generalist 4-8 practice test this morning (with a 90.8 I might add) :)and have been approved to take the real test next Thursday! I wish I were able to take it sooner so that all of this information swimming around in my head doesn't start to leak out, but that is the earliest it was available. Oh well...just one more week of studying and then I'm home free!!! I definitely had no idea that becoming a teacher would be such a lengthy process (and an expensive one, each test is $120 - yuck)! I think it'll all be worth it in the end though! :)

Pink Silence and Vanilla Goodness

Tomorrow's the big day... well not the BIG day, but an important day. I am taking my Generalist 4-8 practice test and have to make at least an 80 on it to get approved to take the real test. I have been studying pretty much non-stop this past week trying to re-educate myself on all of the material I learned once upon a time in elementary and middle school. I'm even learning things I have never heard of and most certainly wouldn't have learned in 4th -8th grade (much less high school). I feel like a walking encyclopedia of knowledge right now and am hoping to {fingers crossed} ace my test!!

When I went in last week to take my "practice" practice test, I had some difficulty concentrating because they put me in this little side room right next to their offices and the ladies of Region 10 gossiped and giggled the morning away making it hard to pay attention. Well this time, I'm going in armed with these little guys:

Aren't they just the cutest! Hot pink ear plugs!!! There were other cheaper (and more boring colored) ear plugs available at the drug store, but who could resist!?! Not I! If my natural knowledge doesn't pull me through this test, then I'm hoping that these beauts will! ;)

So tonight after work I'm headed home to shovel some more trivia into my cranium, but not without picking up this studying staple of mine first:

7-11's French Vanilla Cappucino. Yummmm!

I don't even like coffee, but this cup of joe is gloriously delish and has the ability to keep me up and at 'em for hours! Anyway, I'll report back tomorrow after the test and let you know how I did (unless I bombed it...)! ;)

ZZ Top / Aerosmith Concert!

So... Sunday night was the night of my highly anticipated concert outing to see ZZ Top and Aerosmith. Well, we ended up getting a late start to the concert and got stuck in traffic for FOREVER.. even though we only live like 5 minutes from the concert venue.... so by the time we parked, got our tix from will call, went to the bathroom and got beer we had missed half of the ZZ Top show! Boo... but we met up with Rory(Frank Beard's son) and his girl friend in the lawn to watch what was left of ZZ's portion of the concert. {L to R: Cameron, Nathan, Rory and Mason before Aerosmith came on}
After ZZ Top played, Rory left us to go do a "meet and greet" with the band (how fah-bulous...) and we went to go check out our seats for the Aerosmith portion of the concert. Well I may have been a little optimistic with my notion of getting to see Steven Tyler up close and personal bc our seats weren't super close like I thought they'd be. Apparently Rory wasn't able to get us tix as near to the front bc his dad had given out all of the really good seats to his Dallas pals... {please excuse ugly picture of myself sweating profusely, just wanted to show you where our seats were...}

Nonethless, we still got to see two great shows for FREE and had a really good time hanging out with Rory and other friends! I will just have to wait a little longer to meet Mr. Tyler... (all good things come to those who wait...right?) ;) Haha, annnnnd I was just about to upload a video clip of Aerosmith playing their song "Cryin'". Prob my fav, but then I realized that Aerosmith is being drowned out by my lovely voice singing along at the top of my lungs... ha, i am an idiot! ;)

Date Night

Friday night, I took some time off from hitting the books and Mason and I had a little date night in Dallas by ourselves! First, we went to Texas de Brazil Express, which just opened up in Preston Center. It is a more economical version of the Texas de Brazil restaurant. They offer the same yummy meats, but you choose one of them and make a salad or sandwich out of it. Pretty tasty and a bargain! I will say though... they accidentally switched my sandwich with someone else's, so I had to have them make mine over again - bc I didn't want to eat one that someone else had touched (call me high maintenance but I don't like someone else's grubby paws feeling up my sammie). They told me I was the first mess up they have had since they opened (aren't I the lucky one)... ;) Then we went to the movies to see the Hangover. Ok, ok we were going to pull a junior high stunt and see Hangover first and then sneak into Bruno afterwards (what kind of an example will I be to my future students....). It didn't end up working out though bc Hangover was sold out, so we just had to go see Bruno instead. I was actually kind of glad though. I'm what you might call a "rule-follower" and the thought of sneaking into another movie was kind of stressing me out ("but what if we get caught", etc.)... :) Anyway, Bruno was highly entertaining. A little A lot raunchy, but very humorous! The rest of my weekend was spent being a little study bug!!! And then on Sunday night, I went to the ZZ Top /Aerosmith concert but I shall dedicate another post to that... Happy Monday!

Is it Sunday yet??

Typically, I absolutely dread the arrival of Sundays. Yes.. it is still a weekend day and I do not have to go into work, but the coming of Sunday means that Monday is just around the corner...blah! This Sunday, however, I have lots to look forward to!! We are going to see ZZ Top ANNNND Aerosmith perform together in concert! ZZ Top is pretty rad, but Aerosmith is my mostfavoritebandinthewholeentireworld!!!!! :) This will be my 5th time to see them in concert (and 2nd to see ZZ).

But it gets better, much, much better! You see... Mason and his twin brother Cameron grew up with Rory and Nico (also twins) who just so happen to be the sons of the drummer for ZZ Top (Frank Beard). What does this mean for us??? BACK STAGE PASSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yessssssss! :)

Another detail you may not know is that I am in love (and slightly obsessed) with Steven Tyler! Don't ask me why... he is over 60 years old, this I know... but I love him! Maybe because he is a rock legend, maybe because he is the lead singer of my favorite band in the world, or maybe it's because he can hit notes that an opera singer would be jealous of... nonetheless - I am his biggest fan and there is a tiny fraction of a chance that maybe, just maybe I might bump into him back stage. And if not, atleast I will be closer to him than I ever have been before!! :) Oh what to wear, what to wear.... :) Can't wait to update you on Monday about my potential celebrity encounter!!! Have a FAB weekend!

Summer School

Lately, I have started getting a little panicky about not having a teaching job for the fall yet, so bright and early this morning I went and met with my mentor at my teaching preparation & certification program (the place where I have been getting certified to teach). We decided that it would be in my best interest to take the Generalist 4-8 exam ASAP so that I would be qualified to teach 4th, 5th and 6th grade as well - thus making me more marketable to the school districts and increasing my chances of getting a job. Currently, I am certified for Math 4-8, but the generalist test encompasses math, social studies, science and english/language arts (basically a TON of material). So all day I have been cramming tidbits of knowledge that my old brain has forgotten since the 4th grade! No fun... but if I pass the test, my mentor says she has connections at the district I want to work for and that she will do her best to try and help me get a job!! :) Tomorrow morning, I go in to take a practice test to get a feel for the material that will be tested. Then next week sometime, I will take the practice test again and have to make an 80 or higher to be eligible to take the REAL test. Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know why I might be a little M.I.A. for the next week. I will have my nose in a book re-learning things like the scientific method and what the French and Indian War was all about...yikes! Wish me luck!!!

Tweet Tweet

Ok, so I have finally given into the craze and am now on Twitter! I know, I know...kinda crazy! I don't even fully understand it yet, but I am working on it! :)

Anywho, if any of you fellow tweeters want to follow me, my twitter screen name (is that even what it's called?) is SwtCaroooline!

Are any of you all on Twitter?? Are there any interesting celebs worth following??

Happy Tuesday ya'll! Can you tell I am bored at work today???? :)

Update: Here is my web address for my twitter account http://twitter.com/SwtCaroooline

maybe now it'll be easier for you tweeters to find me. Let me know if you still can't....

again, I am new at this!

Poor Jess...

People magazine has reported that Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboy QB) broke up with Jessica Simpson last Thursday, the day before her 29th birthday!! Poor girl, I know that most people consider the Simpson clan somewhat of a joke, but I, for one, am a big fan! Jessica Simpson (and Ashlee) are from my hometown (Richardson, TX) and went to my rival high school, so I have always followed their careers and I was so glad when Jess started dating Tony bc the two were often seen out and about in Dallas! I also used to absolutely love, love, LOVE "Newlyweds" and was so upset when she and Nick ended up divorcing. Annnnnnd, I even portrayed Jess during skit night for my sorority during rush awhile back! Anyway, I feel bad for her and hope that she is able to move on and find new love!!

H-Town

This past weekend, Mason and I headed south to Houston to visit his extended family who had made the trip down from Abilene & Witchita Falls. We had lots of pool time, food, wine and fun but are so glad to be back in Dallas. No more weekend trips for us for a little while...it's def fun to travel but it always makes the weekends seem so short! Here are a few snapshots from our weekend:

Mason's grandmother got all of the ladies matching pj's, bet your jealous... ;) (From L to R: moi, M's mom, grandmother, aunt and cousin)

I went to Hobby Lobby and got some beads to make the girl's some bracelets (we needed a nice and quiet, indoor activity) ;) and they were a big hit. (Note: In a previous post, I wrote about Abbey (middle, in this picture) being diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease. Just wanted to update you that she is doing much better and should make a full recovery!!)
After spending a full 24 hours with the kiddos, by the time Saturday evening came around it was time for some "adult" time. So Mason, Cameron and I and some friends headed to a new club in Houston called "Ei8ht". It was pretty bumping and again... a good time was had by all! ;)
We had fun visiting M's fam, but again, it's good to be back and I'm looking forward to a few relaxing weekends at home in the Big D! :)

Barbie Suite

Knowing what a true girly girl I am, Mason's brother, Cameron, sent me a link to the Palms hotel website (yes, the one in Vegas). They have themed suites that can be rented out for a pretty penny... you are probably most familiar with the Playboy Suite - thanks to the many Girls Next Door episodes that were filmed there. The newest themed suite, that really tickled me pink, is the Barbie Suite! How fun would it be to have your bachelorette party in the Barbie Suite!!! Super girly and a perfect place to bid ado to your single girl days. I think it is just too presh and I am going to start saving my pennies right away!! It's only $3000 a night (ha, what a bargain)! ;) I wonder if the suite comes complete with Barbie's wardrobe and a Ken to boot?

And the Award Goes To...

I would like to thank Allison @ A Little Bit of Everything for giving me my first ever blog award! I started out blogging just to have an online diary of sorts, but I'm glad to have made so many bloggy friends with such fun blogs for me to enjoy while killing time at work! :)Here are the terms I must abide by to accept my award:

To accept an award, please link back to the person who gave you the award and list 7 things about you! We all want to know more about our blogger friends. Finally, feel free to pass along your award to other fabulous bloggers like you.

So here goes, 7 things that you may or may not know about yours truly...

1.) I am desperately trying to find a middle school math teaching position for the 2009-2010 school year. I recently got certified to teach Math 4th-8th grade and have applied to like 15 school districts. Seems like it should be a piece of cake to get a teaching job, especially a math one - but the economy is making it a very competitive year and at the same time lots of school districts are cutting their budgets and trying to get by with fewer teachers. Anyway, so this is a big stress in my life right now, please say prayers, cross your fingers or do a rain dance for me....whatever works! Thanks! ;)

2.) I used to say that summer was my favorite time of the year but I have recently decided that it is actually the fall. I love football season (esp. TEXAS football), Halloween (my favorite holiday) and the cooler (non 100 degree) temps.

3.) I used to be really involved in my sorority during college. I was the Social chair and also helped out a lot during rush. I think all of that participation burned me out though, bc now I only do the bare minimum required of me with any social organization I am apart of.

4.) However, I do love planning parties and entertaining, especially when there is a theme

involved (thus, my love for Halloween)!

5.) Mason and I knew each other in college, but were just friends (he actually dated one of my pledge sisters for awhile). He definitely had a crush on me by our senior year though and one night when we were out on 6th street (at a bar called Mooseknuckle) he bought me a shot of tequilla and we kissed. He says it was because I had the hots for him, I said it was because I wanted free drinks... anyway, the rest is history... ;)

6.) I used to be in drill team during high school. I very much miss being able to learn new dance routines and perform them at half time or at pep rallies. Those were the days...

7.) When I was younger we used to have a brazilian nanny named Elsie who barely spoke english and we would watch spanish soap operas all day long. I also taught her how to ask my dad for a raise!

I would also like to pass this award along to Cee @ Curiosity for being such a great blogger! :)

Ice, Ice Baby

Yesterday after work, Mason and I were headed over to Javier's for happy hour with some friends. It was a nice, sunny and seasonably scorching day as we were pulling out of our parking lot and then all of a sudden the heavens parted and the worst hail storm I have ever witnessed came down. We immediately had to drive back under our covered parking spot to wait it out and to prevent Mase's new car from being battered by large chunks of ice! It was just so random... it came out of nowhere and only lasted about 5 minutes... Anyway, I got it on tape so you could witness it for yourself...Craziness...

Silver and Stemware and China....Oh My!

What a lovely afternoon I have had. My boss, super-procrastinator extraordinaire, has several weddings in which he needs to buy gifts for. So my "job" for today is to round up all of their registries and find gifts for him to give. Sigh.... can this be my full time job please? It might seem a little crazy, but I have a slight obsession with wedding registries. I love perusing through the list of what couples have decided that they can not live without. Items on registries run the gamut from horrendous china settings in god-awful patterns to $325 Jo Malone candles from Neiman's. Seriously?! Also, did you know you can even register at Wal-Mart?? Who knew? I'd love to see what one of those registries looks like. I'm not sure why I find wedding registries so fascinating. I guess maybe because it gives you a little glimpse into the personal taste of a couple. Also, I am somewhat of a Susie Homemaker and my mother who grew up in Tyler, TX (think small town, with lots of old money) has always taught me to appreciate the finer things in life such as Waterford crystal and Herend china. So maybe it is only natural for me to day dream about getting to register for myself one day. Until then I will gladly stalk other's registries! ;)

I heart HP

I have a confession to make.
I love Harry Potter and I'm prepared to scream it from the rooftops! No, I don't have a crush on Daniel Radcliffe, I don't have a pet owl and I don't dress myself in Gryffindor colors. I just absolutely love love love the HP books! I too used to be very skeptical of the series. I told my friend who was intent on getting me to read them that there was absolutely NO WAY that I would be interested in a book about witches and wizards and magic. Eventually, though, I gave into the craze and was pleasantly surprised when I found myself whipping through all 7 of the very lengthy books. I am currently re-reading the 6th book right now (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) to refresh my memory before the movie comes out next week! I am so excited! In my opinion the movies do a pretty good job of capturing the essence of the books (definitely not as detailed, but still great). I have also gotten Mason to jump on the band wagon as well. He is not reading the books, but he is watching all of the movies with me so that he will be up to speed by next week. He seemed to really like the first one. Anyway, just wanted to let you know what's going on with us this week. Don't be freaked out if we start throwing terms like "muggle" or "Quidditch" into our everyday vocabulary.... We'll be back to normal by next week (maybe)... ;)

Stars, Stripes and Stomach Aches

I'm baaaaaack! We had a pretty good time out on Lake Travis this 4th of July weekend. Nothing too crazy or exciting, but still a good time nonetheless. I kicked off my weekend by ruining my BRAND NEW VS swimsuit top in the washing machine that I had only worn once!! :( So sad... I really wanted to wear it this weekend. Luckily, VS still had it online so I bought a new top to replace the now tie-dyed one. I swear from now on I am washing every single clothing item separately! So anyway, we arrived in Austin on Friday morning and you would not believe how low the lake is right now:We literally had to hike down a million steps and then scale down the rocky cliff in order to get to the boat dock. Last summer, the water level was more than halfway up the staircase! Anyway, so once we got there we went to Carlos and Charlie's for some drinks and then back out on the boat for some water sports a tanning session. Then right when we got back to the dock this guy who is friend's with our friend who has the lake house (in other words, I don't know him at all) asks me to hand him his BRAND NEW Palm Treo out of the boat glove box. So of course when I try to hand it to him my arm hits the side of the boat and SPLASH!!! His BRAND NEW Palm Treo sinks to the bottom of the lake.... GREAT!! (Are you seeing a trend here?? I am not to be trusted around BRAND NEW items!!) So since the lake is so low I spend the next 30 minutes trying to scuba dive to the bottom and find it, not that it would matter since I'm sure it was already ruined, but I felt like I needed to do something... Anyway, so I never found it and then felt like he and his friends (who I have only known for like 2 hours at this point) hate me and are judging me for being a stupid, drunk girl (I wasn't even drunk when this happened, it was truly just an accident, but still...). Anyway, the rest of the weekend was pretty much drama free (at least on my part). We laid out on our floats, fished, ate (a lot), drank (a lot) and played with sparklers. Good 'ol fashioned Fourth of July fun....Then Saturday night I could not sleep at all because my stomach hurt soooo bad and Sunday I thought I was going to die bc I was in so much pain (and I'll spare you all the other gory details)! So first thing Monday morning, I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with gastroenteritis (a.k.a. stomach flu), so I stayed home from work on Monday and I'm just now starting to feel somewhat normal (thanks to lots of antibiotics). So that was my holiday weekend in a nutshell. I hope everyone else had a more healthful and less clumsy 4th then I did! ;)