shameless self-promotion

i have a confession.

i've been cheating on spinlizzy. with a new blog.

after a particularly rough week at work, i was blubbering to the boyfriend about how i didn't think i'd be able to stand the hours and the demand my career gives to me. he responded by asking what job would get me excited about working, and i repeated over and over 'i don't know.'

after a long pause to think about it, i told him that i needed a job that somehow blended my life's top loves: writing, shopping, sports -- particularly football, baseball and snow-skiing -- drinking coffee, eating and relaxing.

his response: "you're the modern girl. you can talk most guys under the table about sports but you still love to shop. you know how to balance your budget and pay a mortgage. you're conflicted when sportscenter and sex in the city are on at the same time. you should start a blog for people like you. maybe you can turn it into a magazine later."

well, unsure about the magazine part, but two days later i have a new blog up and running complete with fun design and funky widgets.

it's my new baby, my new project. it's going to be focused on sharing stuff related to what a Modern Gal, like myself, might be interested in.

here's the bad news. while i'm not getting rid of spin lizzy, i do imagine it will be neglected more and more as the weeks wear on. and face it, that may not be a bad thing. the interestingness of my life ebbs and flows, so i'll blog when i've got a funny story to tell, but won't force a post when i don't.

so in the mean time, catch me at my new blog.

did i mention i have a new blog?

p.s. PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME FEEDBACK EITHER HERE OR ON MY NEW BLOG. I CAN ONLY PLEASE YOU IF I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. TO READ. WANT TO READ. AND I VERY MUCH WANT YOU TO READ.

take some action today!

i only just discovered it, but today is blog action day:
and in honor of the day that is, i share with you some of my favorite causes. i encourage you to check out at least one and consider adding it to your own list of faves. also, i'd love to hear about your favorite causes, cause i might just find i want to participate too!

1. the hunger site (in cahoots with the breast cancer/child health/literacy/rainforest/animal rescue sites): if you look at no other cause today, check out one of these sites. they make it amazingly easy to help out. all you have to do is click a button. that's it. in clicking you help provide food/mammograms/healthcare/books/protection/care. make it a part of your morning check e-mail, facebook, myspace routine. it takes 30 seconds.

2. the hands on network: ever feel like you should volunteer more? here's another organization that's all about making it easy, and it's got LOTS of local affiliates (atlanta, milwaukee, d.c., etc.). organizations that need volunteer manpower go to these networks, which in turn publicize the volunteer opportunities. you can volunteer as much or as little as you want, plus you can find opportunities that suit your causes or your schedule. i first got involved with hands on memphis as a high school student, but it was hands on nashville i turned to when i didn't know many people after moving to my current hometown. as a result, i've become a regular volunteer with the salvation army's soup truck, providing food at area homeless camps. it's been a real eye opener to in regards to poverty, hunger and homelessness (not to mention shattering a few stereotypes). i've also had the chance to continue my longtime volunteer work at the ronald mcdonald house.

3. the one campaign: one is all about fighting the issues that contribute to poverty, including hunger, disease and accessability to clean water and good education.

4. and for those of you who haven't figured it out, i'm an environmental nut. i'm all about going green. thinking about changing some light bulbs, carrying reusable grocery bags, putting an end to the buying prebottled water trend and parking the car to walk. for more tips, check out: environmental defense.

5. and a few that probably don't need explaining:
_ habitat for humanity
_ the red cross
_ united way
_ unicef

i challenge you to do one thing today, be it volunteer, make a donation or learn about a cause. and don't forget to share your causes here!

target therapy

it's been an ass-long week. i've worked something like seven hours of overtime, so when i got off work at 6:30 tonight, i decided i needed to cleanse my brain and visit the promise land for a while.

the front of my house is now decked out with orange lights, plastic jack-o-lanterns and bones mcghee:

and i have cute sweaters to wear now that it's getting nippy:
(green, of course)

(that sweater actually looks a whole lot better on me. i should be a target model! )

and a list of stuff to find when i visit the other target tomorrow.

woe is my target credit card.

goals, goals, goals

i've decided i need rewards for when i hit benchmarks in my weight loss. my health magazine says you should have rewards for every five pounds that you lose ... otherwise, if you set your goals to be like 10 or 20 lbs, you'll get frustrated before you ever reach a goal.

i've done pretty well this week in sticking to my plan. i've eaten almost all healthy food, have exercised several times and have reached beyond my goal number of steps each day on the pedometer. the benefits have been great: i've had a lot more energy, i've lost about two pounds (which is within my margin of daily fluctation, but i'm still happy) and feel like i look a little slimmer when i look in the mirror.

so, my goody bag of rewards that i can choose from when i lose a solid three more pounds is as follows:
- something from jcrew because i love their stuff but am usually too cheap to buy it. you have to have a good excuse to spend the money on jcrew, and this seems as good as any
- a new pair of shoes. i'm about to need some new new balances, but i'm also interested in some sporty outdoorsy shoes, boat shoes and a pair of nice brown flats that i could wear to work but still walk in on my break
- a facial. i've never had one of these (again, too cheap), but i know i could seriously use one. the skin on my face could rival a 15 year old's.
- a few sessions with a personal trainer. this sounds more like a step to losing weight than a reward, but the thing is, i want someone who knows what they're doing to set up a plan that will help me tone my body. i can exercise to lose weight, but i still struggle with getting my muscles to look hot.
- pilates class or two. see previous explanation.

most of these items, ok all of these items are basically stuff i've avoided buying or paying for because i'm otherwise too cheap. i don't want to replace one problem with another by starting to spend a lot of money, but i know i won't be hitting my goals weekly, so i think it will be ok. plus, i can't reward myself with a big fancy dinner out, cause that would just defeat the purpose.

borat in 30 seconds (and re-enacted by bunnies)

SWEET! the angry alien bunnies, my favorite comedy troupe, have done borat. enjoy.

heeeeeeeeey jude

at my mom's request, i watched the holiday with her for the first time tonight. i'm usually pretty immune to chick flicks, but let me say this -- jude law -- SWOOOOOOOOOOON. i've seen movies starring jude law before, but i guess i just never paid close enough attention.

>pause< oh my gosh, tonight's snl theme is the best of the last season and 'dick in a box' is on. LOVE IT. justin is my homeboy.

anyway, screw cameron diaz, come sweep me offa my feet jude. (i'm sure boyfriend blog will not appreciate this.) sooooo hot. sooooo adorable.

oh, and jack black. i've always been enamored with him. (i know i'm weird.) and i love him even more now too. who knew he could act all adorable-like?

ok. enough swooning. that is all.

snooze button

for the first time in weeks i'm sleeping in my own bed with only lucydog and i have no reason whatsoever to wake up at any particular time tomorrow.

and no one can or will take that away from me.

elvi

it's elvis death week, and i totally want these elvi pez dispensers:

jazz hands

this totally makes me wanna dance:



i take it the lady in the middle is bob fosse's wife. seriously.

blogging

with the slave to target gone awol, i had to search for some new blogs to fill my void of time wasters. these two include delightfuly snarky commentary on society, high and low:

--jezebel, which was responsible for revealing faith hill isn't so perfect after all. (since when did elbow pits become so uncool?)
--indexer, it's as if dogbert started his own blog

vote springfield, tenn.!

which state's springfield is the simpson's home town? you can vote here. i've always thought springfield, ill., but that's not stopping me from voting for the one in tennessee. you better vote for the one in tennessee too. (it's definitely NOT the one in vermont and colorado already has south park.)

winner gets to host the premier of the simpsons movie.

ooo, i definitely feel like a doughnut right now.

greenier

while perusing borders over my lunch break today, i fell in love with the green book, a book filled with tips on how to make minor changes toward becoming more green.

normally i don't cotton to the 'how to be more green' manuals because they give you duh tips like 'turn off the tap as you're brushing your teeth.'

this book does include that tip, but it's balanced out by so many other wonderful 'i didn't think of that' tips, such as getting a fountain coke in a paper cup is more green than getting a plastic bottled coke, even if you recycle the bottle. who knew?

it also gives you reasons, i.e. stats, on how such changes could make a difference. and funny little blurbs from especially green celebs that aren't especially preachy.

canvassing

i'm reverting back to my childhood when i wore keds and only keds on my feet. by the time i was allowed to think for myself when it came to my own wardrobe, i absolutely hated those boring all-white canvas shoes so much that i swore i'd never wear another pair.

well, i suppose as long as i wear this delicious style and print that i've just found online for $31.99 rather than the all-white lace-up versions, i won't be breaking my code of style.

now here's to hoping the ups man can find my house unlike the postal service.

swear jar

this would totally be my office as we're extremely profane:

road trip

if i had the summer to do anything, i'd do this:

The Frugal Traveler Hits the Road

pinch me

ok, so i know it's really impossible to tell from the photos, which were taken on my cell phone as real cameras were prohibited, but i was this close to the barenaked ladies:

and to the counting crows:

if you ever have the chance to get that close to the barenaked ladies, i totally recommend it. as far as the counting crows, they're good, but i wouldn't pay a lot of money to get that close to them (and i didn't).

treadmilling

this video is awesome and it won the grammy last night for best short form video.

peary

my boyfriend, who lives in knoxville -- a good 2.5 hour drive from me at its shortest -- made a fantastic discovery last night, that being the bar that is walking distance from his house sells the GREATEST DRINK EVER MADE!

this means knoxville now has four things that nashville does not, and i'm starting to get upset about that.
1. my boyfriend (duh)
2. two places which sell ace pear, including the bar walking distance from boyfriend's house and one of the best pubs in general, which has it on tap ! ! !
3. mckays
4. world market

c'mon, nashville, get with the program

dressy

i don't have a lot of money to spend on dresses i won't wear, but oh, this would be such a wonderful dress not to wear (though i imagine i could come up with some excuse).

wiiiiiiiiiiiii

the last game system i ever got was a super nintendo, and i got that for christmas some ten years ago or so. i figured i was finished with video games, but now i want one of these.

the wii makes video games look like fun again.

there's even a guy who's doing a six-week wii fitness challenge, testing how good of a cardio workout the wii sports games are.