Fall movies - romantic comedies aimed just at YOU

A few reasons I'm hooked on Sarah Haskins and her just-for-ladies humor:
1. I, too, love having movie theater popcorn for dinner.
2. Who doesn't like to cry for fun sometimes?
3. If marrying Colin Firth were an option, I think we'd have a polygamy problem on our hands. One at a time, ladies. Someone can have my place, as I'm convinced Bradley makes a better burger and enjoys sweet tea more than the winsome Mr. Firth ever could, talented though he may be.

Intrigued? Need to know more? Enjoy.

And please visit Current or Jezebel to see her other clips - absolutely hysterical. (Ivy League-educated hysterical, that is.)

Victory is sweeter than a pina colada

Or so I hear.

How cute is this Olympic gold medalist? I just want to fly to Jamaica and give her a big hug. (And then enjoy her island's beautiful beaches for a week to ten days....)

Our top twenty goal is in sight...

First of all, Go Tigers!!

Second of all, President Barker is adorable. I love him - such a great president.

Third of all, Go Tigers! Did I already say that?

Just one week to football season....where on Earth has summer gone?

Skirting the Not-so-Thin Issues

It seems you can't turn on a TV without hearing about America's devestating economic downturn, escalating prices at the pump and epidemic foreclosure rates from sea to shining sea. Doom, gloom and an upcoming election. No wonder I read my news. (Selectively.)

Fashion magazines, those perfumed, glossy pick-me-ups stuffing our mailboxes each month, have taken a different tack. Shimmering fur! Flecks of 14k gold in your lipgloss! Pure cashmere dresses! Four-figure boot prices!

There has to be a middle of the road approach, as even in the healthiest of economies I'll never wear a $2,000 dress to the grocery store.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting analysis of the wide range of in-touchness (yes, I just invented that word) these pubs span - and Anna Wintour is not the worst of them. C'mon, Elle.

J. Lo. Hew. still talking

This time she's talking about how she wishes she'd been nude from age 12 to 28 because she "looked good" - and encouraging other girls to prance around in bikinis before it's too late.

Am I misreading this? I appreciate that she's learning to accept her body and working to stay healthy, but if I were 18 and reading this I'd be terrified of my twenties. They're not that bad, y'all! Pretty fabulous, actually.

Sad news for DMB fans.

With the Rolling Stones still filling up stadiums 172 years after their debut, I selfishly imagined that we'd have our annual Dave Matthews Band summer fix for decades to come.

Alas, yesterday the band's saxophonist and founding member LeRoi Moore died of injuries received during an ATV accident. He was just 46. Sad news all around.

Such a loss for us, for the band, for the soundtrack of everyone's summer as they floated from town to town in their annual tour. It's hard to imagine their sound without him.

Sigh.

Jennifer Love Hewitt, I adored you in Party of Five. I loved you in Can't Hardly Wait. I haven't watched too many of your movies lately, but I still root for you as the girl from the late nineties who embodied all we hoped to be one day. Pretty, sweet, but totally natural.

So clearly I had your back (and your backside) last December when your newly engaged self sported a bikini, looked 100% human, and caught a lot of flack for it.

So why the quick change? Your weight wasn't anyone's business, according to you, eight months ago. But suddenly you've lost 18 pounds in 10 weeks and it's on the cover of US Weekly? I'm disappointed, Love.

The folks at Jezebel have it about right - seems like you want the world to stop talking about your body unless they're calling it thin. Sad news.

Read the last two paragraphs of this, sweetie, and take it to heart. Put it on your bumper sticker, if you must.

What's my excuse again?

Wow. Still haven't watched any of the Olympic games, but I'm super proud. Way to go, Phelps!

And to think I was proud for just making an appearance on a treadmill last night...

Sixteen and a half weeks to the Kiawah half marathon, folks. It's crunch time. I can't say I'll make an Olympian proud, but living to see the finish line will feel pretty fabulous to me!

Pig in Boots: Part Deux

Rain boots, that is!! I know I wrote about it when it first appeared on CNN, but since it has just come to Perez Hilton's attention, I thought it deserved another viewing.

Seriously, someone send my parents a pair of tiny Westie-sized rainboots for Cotton. I wouldn't say she has a phobia of mud, as this poor pig does, but it's certainly not her preference to get her pretty paws dirty.

Enjoy, gals! Colin Firth, Prince William, David Beckham, the "Charlie bit me!" boys, a tiny pig in rainboots. The British have given us so much. To whom should I send the thank you note?

In other news.

I have Christmas music stuck in my head, tailgate outfits lined up in my closet and fall shopping stuck on my internet browser. Maybe the high of 82 degrees is previewing fabulous things to come.

What have y'all been up to?

I love America.

I really do. But I have good reason to believe that I am the only proud citizen of our great United States who is not obsessed with talking about, watching, or talking about watching the Olympics.

Despite my love of all folks sequined, tiny and looping themselves speedily around a pair of uneven bars, I have seen nary a moment of this year's festivities or competitions. Not gymnastics, not synchronized swimming, not even handball. This is a serious downfall in my hope of becoming Stephen Colbert's second in command. Clearly I do not love America enough.


Or perhaps I just have a bee in my bonnet about the games' location this year. Communist China? Really? Human rights violations, blatant censorship, no plain turkey sandwiches with Baked Lays in sight - the list goes on.

Are you watching? Are you loving it? Am I an awful American?

P.S. I do still read the recaps. Hooray for Michael Phelps and Dara Torres. Go USA! But I'm still not watching. Feel free to attack my patriotism, call me a weirdo or banish me from eating any freedom fries in the near future. That'd probably do me some good anyhow - have you seen those gymnasts in their itty-bitty velvet and spandex outfits?

Really, John Edwards?

Really??

(As if it couldn't get any worse, now you've actually legitimized a story published in the Enquirer. Nicely done, sir.)

Pecan Pie Puppies

There are some things in life I absolutely adore – dogs, seersucker, shopping online, Southern-grown hydrangeas, Clemson people, supporting local entrepreneurs and helping animals. When I realized they were all coming together, I was over the moon!!

My friend Ryan has started an online store at etsy, one of my favorite online spots, and is selling adorable dog collars – with more pet-related inventory to come. You can read about her animal rescue efforts on her blog or see her darling dog collars in her etsy store.

So Cotton may be getting a new accessory for her fifth birthday this fall! Blue would eat that pretty faux peony before I even had the collar on and besides, I like to keep my lab a manly little man. The closest he got to exploring his girlie side was eating a few choice pieces of my laundry. Y'all spread the word! (About the collars, not Blue's less-than-pleasant previous pastime.)

One more thing: Upstate animal lovers, get excited for the Greenville Humane Society's Dog Days 2008! Starting August 14th, the GHS has planned two weeks of fun events for you and your pet. (A portion of the proceeds will benefit the GHS, one of our pro bono clients.) Enjoy a great meal out, pick up a steak for the grill or be a part of a wine tasting – all to help out our furry friends. Learn more here.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Wow, Kate Hudson.

I'm not going to try and guess how many makeup artists, hair gurus, fashion stylists and art directors were involved in this "concept" of Kate Hudson as scary robo-creature. Travesty.

Why waste the hours and six inches of pancake paint when she's ten times more gorgeous here:


I know, I know - fashion, artistry, blah, blah. But c'mon. The Fug ladies are just as blown away. And if I looked anything like Kate Hudson, I'd prance around in a bikini, sans makeup, on every cover I could weasel my way onto. The headline would read: "I'm Kate Hudson, ugly general public. I look like this naturally. You may weep now."

Maybe that headline could lose a few words, but you get the idea.

I'm back!

Back from my four-day weekend, some R&R at the lake, a birthday shrimp boil with the fam, a half-day adventure at Doctor's Care, a sinus infection and some throat 'n ear fun thrown in for good measure. Back to work, back to lots of fluids, sleep, good food and a fair attempt at running.

So now you're caught up. (Except that some of said running took place yesterday morning before work. That's right, I pretended to be a morning person and almost pulled it off! Today, not so much.)

More to come - hope you're all fabulous!!