HODGESPODGES HAS MOVED!

So the last few days I’ve been pulling my hair out working behind the scenes of this little blog.

I NEVER realized what a pain in the butt the whole domain name thing could be.  And now that I know?  I feel like a major genius for figuring it out even if it did take me four days.

And without further adieu…

www.hodgespodges.com

Please update your URLs in any of your readers/subscriptions!

Oh, and the best, fanciest part?

I now have that easy “follow me” tab without the emails!

Please, spread the word.

AND THANKS!

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Tagged!!

Miss Ashley tagged me in this fun blogging game.

And truthfully, I was quite honored because I just love her.  And her blog.

One:  The Rules

  1. you must post the rules.
  2. post 11 fun facts about yourself in the post
  3. answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.  then created eleven new questions for the people you tag.
  4. tag eleven people & link them in your post.
  5. let them know you’ve tagged them.

Oh boy.  Eleven fun facts… this might be tough…

  1. I love FRIENDS.  So much that I watch it every chance I can.  It’s a comfort thing.
  2. I’m scared to death of heights but enjoy flying.
  3. Mr. Husband and I dated for 5 years 9 months before we got engaged. 
  4. I lost an “uncle” back in 2007 who was so important in not just my life, but so important to my whole family.  We miss him every day.
  5. I am the baby of 5.  There is a 10 year gap between 3 & 4.  Same parents.
  6. I can click my tongue really really loudly.  
  7. I have a sick obsession with TV show DVD box sets.  I have the entire series of: Gilmore Girls. S&TC. FRIENDS. OTH. Reba. HIMYM. Friday Night Lights. I think there are more…
  8. If I see someone crying, even if I don’t know them or know why they are crying, I’ll most likely cry too.
  9. Dream dates for Mr. Husband and me usually involve cheese plates.
  10. I ignored Mr. Husband for 5 years before I finally gave in and fell in love <3
  11. I’ve written an entire novel.  And I’m too afraid to do anything with it.

Ashley’s Questions

In the event of some sort of disaster, what three items would you grab first?

Wedding bands.  Macbook.  Photo album. 

[my husband and pets are all getting out if I don’t grab them, right?  If not, my answer changes]

If you could have any super power, what would you choose?

The ability to forget.  I realize that’s not a super power, but it’s a power I wish for

What is your favorite artist/band?

Hands down always?  Taylor Swift

What is your favorite thing about blogging?

All of you!  And knowing I’m not alone when I feel a certain way.

What is the best movie you’ve seen in theaters in the last month or so?

Mr. Husband and I saw In Time with Justin Timberlake?  Sawooooon!

Did/do you go to college?  If so, where?

I did.  And graduated in 2008 {yikes!}.  I went first to Western Carolina University and transferred as a sophomore to Appalachian State University to follow my love.  It worked out…

What TV show is your guilty pleasure?

shh.  don’t tell anyone: jerseylicious

Facebook?  Twitter?  Other?

all of the above?  Twitter.  Facebook.

Given the option, where would you like to live?

Honestly?  Right where we are.  (maybe in a better house?)  I am happier in Charlotte, NC than I’ve been anywhere else.  #happylife

What are you currently reading?

The second book of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series: The Girl Who Played With Fire 

You just won 1 Million dollars!  What are you going to do with it first?

Give my parents everything they could ever want and set them up for the rest of their lives.  

My Eleven Questions:

  1. What are you afraid of?
  2. Do you have any hidden talents?  If so, what?
  3. Why did you start blogging?
  4. Go out or stay in on a Friday night?
  5. What did you {or are you} major {ing} in in college?
  6. Favorite homemade meal.  Share the recipe?
  7. Last thing you laughed at so hard your stomach hurt?
  8. Favorite vacation you’ve taken thus far in your life.
  9. Do you need anything special to sleep?  Fan on?  Window open?  TV on?  Childhood stuffed animal?
  10. Favorite cosmetic product?
  11. Backstreet Boys or N*SYNC?
Tag!  You’re it!
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I’m linking up with Vicki and Tara today!

Let’s talk nail polish.

I usually have a pretty intense “wish list” when it comes to polish.

[I mean, who doesn’t? Right?]

I’ll share two that are at the top:

[Revlon Perplex]

This is my #1 want.  And you know what?  I can’t find it in stores anywhere.

And don’t tell anyone…but I’m not a big fan of internet shopping [gasp!]

[Party In My Cabana]

Gorgeous, right?

[I have been in like, blogger hell.  No joke.  I’ve been working behind the scenes all day long and I feel like my head is spinning!]  Hopefully, some exciting changes will be coming this way on Monday!]

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It’s a big day!

Hiya!

Thanks to everyone who already follows this little bloggy.

I appreciate it more than you’ll know, really.  Especially because I am completely computer dense and didn’t realize that all of you who follow me receive my new posts in your EMAIL.  That is commitment!

But because of yesterday’s post…where I admitted that I was sad more people didn’t follow me

It came to my attention…

That I’m lacking that fancy schmancy gadget in my sidebar that you can “follow” without receiving all the annoying emails.  [again, PROPS to all of you who bit the bullet and subscribed that way.  seriously!]

[photo]

So it got me thinking about this little blog.

And I was beginning to think it was time I buy my domain.

[photo]

But I don’t want to buy “JoElizabeth” which is what my URL is currently. [joelizabeth.wordpress.com]

So today I’m doing it.  I’m purchasing my domain.

http://www.hodgespodges.com

[please note the extra [s] on the end.  hodgespodge is taken.  boo.]

So please sure to adjust your google readers, etc.  And I’ll be sure to alert you to when the change is actually happening.

And I PROMISE you, I will work on getting that fancy little gadget so you all can follow to your hearts desire.

Without the annoying emails.

Thanks!

xoxo

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It’s Okay!

I’m linking up with Neely @ A Complete Waste of Makeup and Amber @ Brunch with Amber.  They’re trying to grow this link up each week.  Why don’t you help em out and participate!  It’s a fun post to write!

It’s Okay…

  •  that I totally wrote two posts today.  Because some days are just two post days.
  •  that my back has been hurting so badly since Saturday night.  You know, the night I thought it would be a good idea to wear stilts.
  • that I didn’t have time to make breakfast this morning so I packed two lunches.
  • to have painted my nails last night and already want to change the color
  • to feel a little bit sad that more people don’t follow my blog.
  • to have finally started using the alarm on my phone instead of the alarm clock that is across the room.  You know, so I can smack the crap out of it when it goes off.
  • to have been looking forward to tomorrow night’s dinner all week even though I could have made it any night this week, but that wasn’t in my agenda!  (enchiladas, in case you’re wondering!)
  • to feel totally and completely content with life as it is just at this moment.

Happy Thursday, y’all.  I actually get off early today; I had no idea.  Don’t you love those little surprises?  That also means that I’ll be drinking wine before 5 and catching up on my DVR!

ps…follow me on twitter @joelizabeth.  Not to whore myself out or anything.

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Don’t Feed The…

ETA: Ugh.  Sorry folks.  For some reason my video didn’t load at the end of this post.  It was really funny, too.

Oh, gosh.  I am one moody girl when I’m hungry.  Like, I turn into a different creature or something.  Mr. Husband, I’m sure, would describe it as something like this:

 [photo]

There are times that Mr. Husband and I will be in the middle of a discussion and he’ll “pause” it and say we can’t continue until I’ve eaten something.  I’m pure evil when I’m hungry.  He always asks why I just don’t carry snacks with me.  Silly man, doesn’t he know that won’t suffice?  Most often, all that will cure the evil hungry joey is some type of greasy fatty food…stat.

And God forbid you take food from my plate while I’m eating.  Please tell me you’ve seen this Episode of FRIENDS.  It is SO fitting!

JOEY DOESN’T SHARE FOOD!!

I know I’m not the only person out there that turns evil when hungry.  Share your story!

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Love Story Part 2

Missed part one?  Don’t worry!  Catch up here!

It was years later.  Several years later, actually.  And I had been broken.  So broken, that I’d sworn off dating.  I was focusing on my friends and school and family.  All the things I’d flushed down the toilet while in my last relationship.  Mr. Husband was always around.  He’d actually come and sit in my car awkwardly in the mornings while we waited for the first bell to ring.  I never paid him much attention.

[worst feeling ever, right?  right…]

School ended.  Summer had finally arrived.  And with that, my birthday came.  Seventeen.  I had no big plans, but my friends and I got dressed up, planned on eating cake with my family then we were going out.  Anywhere.

Just after everyone sang Happy Birthday, the house phone rang.  I answered it upstairs in my room.  It was Mr. Husband wishing me a happy birthday and asking if I liked country music.

“Uh?  Sure.”  I said as I hurried him off the phone.  I had big plans of doing nothing all night with my friends.  I didn’t have time for him.  [shudder, I was mean.]

The phone rang again almost instantly after we’d hung up.  Mr. Husband again.  “Look out your door.”

“Huh?”  I asked as I made my way to the garage.  I swung the door open and there at my feet was a floral arrangement.  I gasped into the phone and thanked him.  Just then, his headlights appeared crawling up my driveway.  He said to check the card just before he hung up and got out of his car.

Two tickets to the Alabama Farewell Tour.  3rd Row.  Wow.

[photo]

Please know that I was polite enough to invite him out to do nothing with me and my girlfriends that night.

Weeks went by, and I had two surgeries scheduled.  What a fun way to spend the summer, huh?  My wisdom teeth were up first, and then I was supposed to have my wrist surgery.  The day of my wrist surgery, Mom and I found out that it was really just the pre-op appt.  The surgery would be a week later.  Mom left town for a party in NYC, and my best friend came to spend the night.

The next morning, the doorbell rings at an ungodly hour.

A man is standing on my front stoop with an embarrassing display of flowers, balloons and a little teddy bear.

From Mr. Husband.  Sent from football camp.  Wishing me well from my surgery.  What a freaking sweetie.

But you know what?

My wrist operation [since it’d been rescheduled] ended up being the day before the concert.  I whined and complained to my mom [gasp! shock! I know…].  She said I had to go anyway.

My parents were out of the house that night, so my best friend came over to help me get ready.  Because I was one arm down.  Mr. Husband walked in to find bff putting deodorant under my arms.  Classy.  I planned the all too cliche “call in about an hour in case I need to be rescued” call with bff, then we were off.

We went to Panera again.  This time I actually ordered.  A salad.  Which Mr. Husband offered to help me eat because my good arm was totally useless.  #embarrassing.

When we got to the concert, do you know what I did?  I made sure Mr. Husband sat to the right of me.  The side where my cast was.  To discourage him from trying to hold my hand during the concert.  [I was SO mean!]

[photo]

The concert ended.  We had fun enough, but I still just wasn’t feeling it.  Timing is everything, folks.  No joke.  When he got to my house, he asked if he could come up to see the bear he’d sent.  I gave him a lame excuse about my dad not allowing boys in the house after nine.  [Ever since we started dating, he’s given me a hard time about this one.  Because there is no such rule in my parents’ house.  Never has been…busted!]

He stopped calling after that…

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Things for Tuesday.

Things I love…

Planners and calendars!  I am obsessed with staying ultra organized!

Coffee.  Lots of it.  Especially peppermint mochas and White Chocolate mochas!

[photo]

Being comfortable.  Cozy tops and comphy shoes are all I wear.  I’m a very casual kind of girl.

Pens.  Especially fancy ones like the Sharpies Pens.  I have a gazillion pens.  And it’s not enough.

Notebooks.  I have so many.  Too many.  Journals and lists and blog ideas and and and….

xoxo

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Merry UnChristmas!

This weekend was such a fun one!  I got to celebrate the 1st birthday of the sweet little girl I nanny.  And one of my best friends came to town.  And we went out!  I’m an old lady who never goes out.  So Mr. Husband, Abby and I got all dolled up and ventured out to the Epicenter!  So! Much! Fun!

We had drinks and dinner at BlackFinn then headed up to Whisky River for more drinks and maybe even just a little dancing.  I made the huge mistake of wearing super tall platform heels.  I’m still paying for that mistake in soreness.  But they were hot!

Mr. Husband and I postponed our Christmas.  It only made sense to wait until he had a job.  But I was growing tired of the Christmas Tree hanging out in our living room, so we decided to do Christmas last night!  And you know what?  It was so wonderful.

We’ve decided once we have kids that we’ll do turkey on Christmas Eve and church.  Christmas morning will be brunch and Christmas dinner…steak!  Ain’t nothing wrong with steak!

So last night we decided to go out for our steak dinner.  We hit up Texas Land and Cattle and it was [as always] delicious.

Then we came home and changed into PJs for our Christmas!

[I’m sorry.  It didn’t dawn on me until halfway through to put the flash on.  I’m kind of a photo-failure]

Mr. Husband and his Brooks Brother’s shirts!

Happy happy wife with my Clarisonic Mia!  Best husband ever!

Another surprise: We’re going to Charleston!!
Merry  UnChristmas from The Hodgeses!

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I’m a failure & NAIL FILES!

[psst.  y’all.  it’s friday the thirteenth.  yikes!]

Something happened.

It’s been a week, and I’m just now ready to joke about it.  Because it is one of those palm-to-forehead-so-embarrassed-and-hate-yourself kind of moments.

[photo]

Last week was a rough one.  It was just one of those weeks that everything was just a hair off.  And on top of that, the little boy I nanny was going through a whiney phase.  Which was making myself and his parents feel like we wanted to rip our hair out.

So come Friday night, I was so incredibly ready for a glass of wine and my sister and niece to arrive.

But I needed to get wine.  Oh, and like food.  Because we were getting company, and it’s usually nice to be able to feed them.

So I head over to Aldi, which is what everyone wants to do on a Friday night.  Grocery shop.

But I suffered through and filled my cart up.

I was so proud to get it all done before Mr. Husband got home and before my sister arrived.

[something you should know.  Aldi only takes cash or debit.  They cannot run anything through as credit.  Ever.  Even if you beg them.]

So I get to the check out.

And I wait forever.

Because they almost always only have 2 registers open.

And finally it’s my turn.  The lady rings me up.  Scans every single item in my cart.  And gives me the total.  I slide my card and……..

I can’t remember my pin.  It’s fallen out of my head.  I frantically type in the first thing that comes to mind.

wrong.  decline.

I try again.  oh gosh what is it what is it what is it?

declined again.

CRAP!

The lady cheerfully tells me, “You know, there’s an ATM right across the street.”

Uh, that’s great lady.  But I can’t remember my pin number.

And then she says it.  It a sing songy voice with a zillion people in line behind me watching this all unfold.

well I guess you have to leave, then.

Oh, the shame!  I turned so embarrassingly towards the exit and start to walk out.  And then it hits me.

WHAT ABOUT THE WINE?

Is it sad that was my first thought?  Probably.  So I go home and frantically search my house for my pin number.  But I was smart stupid and threw it away.  So I call the bank, and they’re glad to give it to me in the mail.  So no pin number.  No groceries.  And no wine!

So I suck it up and head to Food Lion to grab the necessities.  You know, wine, chocolate and stuff to make for breakfast the next day.  I was delighted because they had my favorite cheap red on sale for even cheaper, I grabbed a toblerone bar and some bisquick and was out the door.

Thank God for the wine.

Later that night, I finally get a chance to put stuff away.  And you know what?  The wine made it home and nothing else.  I left the darn bags at the store.

I am a grocery shopping failure.

{my pin finally arrived in the mail on Tuesday.  And I felt like such an idiot because I had the right numbers just in the wrong sequence.}

Today, I’m also linking up with Tara from Fabulous But Evil for my favorite link up!!

OPI Grape Fit with another OPI sparkles over it…can’t remember the name.  Sorry!

My niece takes nail polish to a whole new level!  20 different polishes, one for each finger and toe.  She loves her Aunt Jo; I have the best nail polish collection!

[sorry for the poor picture quality!]

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend!  And here’s to no grocery shopping failures this week!

Posted in nail files, nail polish | 5 Comments