New Photos of Fender

Well I just checked out the Parson’s Place Stables website and she had new photos of Fender up. He is still really tiny! I just love these pictures! Erik and I are going to go visit him again next week. I can’t wait. He will be five weeks old this Friday!

Wikipedia had some interesting facts about the coloring of the Australian Shepherds. They can be four different colors:

Black, Red (sometimes Liver), Blue Merle (marbled black and gray), and Red Merle (marbled red and silver or buff.) Each of these colors may also have copper points and/or white markings in various combinations on the face, chest, and legs.

Kathy told me that a full white collar on the Australian Shepherds is desired and when the puppies have the full white collar they tend to be more expensive. Fender is a Red Merle and has a partial white collar and it is really cute! I love when the Aussies get older because their collar tends to get thick and fluffy, kind of like a lion’s mane!

All black and blue merle dogs have black noses, eye rims, and lips. All red and red merle dogs have liver or brown noses, eye rims, and lips. But right now the little guy’s nose is cute and pink!

Aussie’s are also known for their beautiful eyes! An early nickname for the dog was “ghost-eye dog.” Aussie’s eyes can be blue, brown, hazel, green, or amber. Sometimes they can even have two different colored eyes. Kathy has one female with one blue eye and one brown eye. It looks really cool! Erik wants Fender to have two different colored eyes.

I hope he has blue eyes. Sometime the merles will even have “split eyes” (like a half-brown, half-blue eye) and merled eyes can occur too! The merled eyes one color mixed and swirled with another. Wikipedia says that, any combination of eye color is acceptable in the breed standard, so long as the eyes are healthy. In general, however, black Aussies (self, bi-color or tri-color) tend to have brown eyes, while red (self, bi-color or tri-color) Aussies tend to have amber eyes, though these Aussies may also carry the blue eyed gene. Aussie’s eyes start changing colors at about 6 weeks. So we should know what color eyes Fender will have soon! I can’t wait.

What Really Annoys Me…

So Facebook has become an everyday part of life for most people, including myself. It makes it easy to reconnect with friends from elementary school, college, and long lost neighbors. I can keep up with my massive family and check out their photos to see what they have been up to. It really is convenient. When you go out with a group of people, you can expect to see photos from the night within 24 hours. “Tag me!” has become a normal phrase in the English vocabulary.

At this point I have 4,624 friends. I think the limit is 5,000 friends. For the most part, complete strangers have added me to their list. I usually add everyone…unless their profile creeps me out. But now I am at the point where my newsfeed is filled with information about complete strangers.

And you know what really annoys me? When people that ADDED me complain about what I post on my Facebook page. “Jaime, your friend adds fill up my newsfeed, can you change your settings?” “Can you stop posting things about the wedding contest?” “Are you using your facebook page to solicit people to go to your blog?” “You should not buy a dog from a breeder, you need to adopt on from a shelter. Buying one from a breeder is just wrong an inhumane.” Guess what people, I really don’t care what you think. And if you have a problem about what I am putting on MY facebook page, please remove me from your friend list. I won’t get mad I promise!

But the thing is, I think people have a problem removing others from their Facebook friends because they actually enjoy complaining about what is on other people’s pages. They have slight infatuations with checking out other people’s photos and daily updates and they can’t handle not having access to those people’s lives. But I think they should let go and “defriend” them. I mean really, what it the point of checking out someone’s page if what they says just irritates you and causes you to comment in a negative way?

So, tonight I am going to start by removing everyone from my friend list that I do not know. I apologize in advance to those people that we kind but I am tired of dealing with those who are not.

Remember “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all!” And if you don’t like what someone has to say on their Facebook, DEFRIEND THEM!!

Chirp Chirp

So I am at my house in Spartanburg this weekend to celebrate my mom’s birthday. I asked my sister, Jenna, to help me come up with a creative blog titles for cool “bird” items I found on Etsy.com. Her first response was, “bird talk,” then “bird bath,” and then she started chirping. I didn’t think it was going anywhere so I left it at “chirp chirp.” So here are some sweet bird items:

I think this turquoise necklace is so pretty! A carved genuine turquoise blue birdie accents a gorgeous gold leaf outline pendant creating a lovely lariat. The blue bird is wire-wrapped and secure. Gold plated chain. Lobster clasp. Only $27.50!

Check out the necklace HERE!!

Here are some really cute framed prints! This is a high-quality print of Flora & Hummingbird Print. The image measures 5″ x 7″ archival print on olive heavy stock. Print comes matted in white frame. Frame is 6.5″ x 8.5″. This piece is framed ready to hang on the wall. So cute!! Only $13.00 each.

Baby Bird Bib Here! Brand-new, handmade cotton and chenille baby bib from colbylanedesigns! The front features a cool turquoise bird print and reverses to plush chenille.

I think this flying bike shirt is really fun! It is a Grass green American Apparel tee with silk screened design on left chest. I love American Apparel shirts are awesome because they are so soft! It is $20. Check it out here.
I think these candles are awesome and really cute for a shabby chic decor. The candles glow beautifully in their translucent porcelain shells. They are made from 100% U.S. grown soy wax, these candles burn cleaner and completely. These unscented candles are the perfect table accessory for your special dinner party. When the candle is done burning, you can clean out the shell and use as a decorative accessory. The set of two translucent porcelain candles comes complete with its own little freshly hatched porcelain birdie! If you want on check it out here!

I love this little pink bird pouch!! Use on it’s own as a quick on-the-go clutch, or in a larger purse or bag to stay organized, this zipper case is ideal for storing your small items and is sized just right for pencils. It is only $7.00!

This pretty fabric designed by Joel Dewberry in his Deer Valley line in aqua, brown, and persimmon red is soft and cheerful with coordinating prints on the inside. There’s a spot for your checks and register, a clear sleeve for your driver’s license, another sleeve for other cards or cash, and a handmade matching button closure to keep any receipts or other bits and pieces all secure. Take a look! It is $12.75.

I think this business card holder would come in handy!  It is made from navy ticking and lined with a rich red cotton. There’s a layer of organic cotton and bamboo batting in the middle for quilted coziness. It measures 5″ wide x 3.5″ tall. This mighty little wallet can hold all your essentials, credit cards, business cards, cash money, metro card, id, lip balm….. you name it! It is $10.

Pimp Your Pup!

Well I know that our dog is destined to be a rockstar, thanks to his father. So I found these items on Etsy.com and feel like Fender needs them!

I think this one is my favorite! It is a “rock and ruff tank!” Find it here!!!! It is only $18.00 and it is pretty darn adorable!

This leash goes along with the “rocker theme.” There is also a very cute matching collar! The leash is $25.00.

If you want to check it out, go HERE!

This is my favorite collar. This one-of-a-kind Rock Star dog collar is available in 2 colors…one for that little Rockstar girl pup which has guitars and stars in shades of hot pink, lime green and orange. For that little Rockstar boy pup in your life the collar has guitars and stars in shades of turquoise blue, lime green, and orange. You can order a matching lease for this design too! If you love it as much as I do, TAKE A LOOK HERE!

Now I think this is a classy collar! Nice and leather and I love the name plate on the back! The heavy brass nameplate is preciously engraved deeply using a diamond tipped cutting bit. The engraved text is then acid etched which gives it a permanent rich black color. Take a look here! It is $25.00!

University of South Carolina game day attire is necessary for my pup! Only $20.00! O so frat-tastic! All you Cocks, check it out here!

Haha! Now this just made me laugh. Erik said, “Now that is one of the funniest things I have ever seen!” So I had to add it on the page because man this dog is straight P-I-M-P-I-N!! Check it out here! It is only $21.00! And I am sure you will get a ton of compliments!

This one speaks for itself!! HAHA It is $11.00. BUY HERE!

Fender-almost 3 weeks old!

So I went to visit the Fenster today. He is getting so big. I just  can’t believe it. He will be 3 weeks old on Friday. But man he is a little porker. His face is twice the size of his sister’s face. He reminded me of the guinea pig, Rodney, from “Dr. Dolittle.” Last time I went to visit he was only 6 days old and he looked like a cute hampster. Now he has grown to guinea pig status!

He is just the sweetest little guy. He whimpered when I first held him but then he climbed inside my jacket and fell asleep. His eyes are starting to open. They seem like they are very light so he may have blue eyes! He is such a stud. I love going out to Parson’s Place Stables. Kathy, the owner, gives riding lessons. So I get to see all of the gorgeous horses and play with all the pups whenever I visit. Here are some photos from today!

Halloween- Couples Costumes

Well Erik and I had a hard time deciding what to be for Halloween this year. We wanted to do “couple costumes” but had a hard time coming up with something we both liked. I did some research and found TONS of couples costumes. Here are a few that I liked:

Couples candy bar costumes:

Food related costumes haha:

Clever couple costumes:

“War and Peace”

“Peace and Quiet”

Here are some other ideas:

• Adam and Eve
• Aladdin and Jasmine
• Angel and Devil
• Barbie and Ken
• Batman and Catwoman
• Bee Keeper and Bee
• Popeye and Olive Oyl
• Danny and Sandy (Grease)
• Sonny and Cher
• Ariel and Eric (The Little Mermaid)
• Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle
• Princess Leah and Hans Solo
• I dream of Jeannie and Major Nelson
• Snow White and a dwarf
• Alice In Wonderland and the Mad Hatter
• Romeo and Juliet
• Joseph and Mary (biblical)
• Shrek and Fiona
• JFK and Marilyn Monroe

Erik and I decided to go with Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf. We loved our costumes and had an awesome Halloween.

We started it off by going to the Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt football game. Great first half, very close. But GT owned the second half and won 56-31. Then we headed to The Enclave and hung out with some friends. Our friend Matt Haynes dressed up like Mika (from this season of Amazing Race) and it was pretty HILARIOUS!Then we headed down to Broadway. We went to “Big Bang” and The Renaissance. It was so much fun! I had never been to “Big Bang” before but I really liked the dueling pianos.

Best costume of the night goes to Canaan Smith as Queen Elizabeth.

10,000 Views!!

WOOO HOOO!! I hit 10,000 views today! Thank you all for checking out my ramblings. I hope you enjoy them. I really never expected people to read my nonsense but I am really glad to see that people are. Thanks again for all the love and support.

(Here are some photos I took this past 4th of July. But I thought they were appropriate to celebrate!) 

Best Cheap Date in Nashville!

Until this week, I didn’t think it was possible to go on a great date for less then 10 bucks. But for all of you Nashville folks, I just found the perfect cheap date!! There is actually a$1.50 movie theater in Antioch… right outside of Nashville! All the movies at Carmike Cinemas are $1.50! So you and your date can get tickets for a show at an actual movie theatre for three bucks! That is cheaper than renting a movie from Blockbuster.

To top it off, Carmike Cinemas in Antioch has “Recession Tuesday” discounts. Small popcorn and small drinks are only $1.00!! And candy is only $2.00! So I can get my usual, popcorn, Mr. Pibb, and Twizlers for $4.00!! Pretty freaking amazing.

So this past Tuesday, I took the little boy I nanny to see “Ponyo.” It  is a Japanese animated film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. I thought it was really adorable and it kept my wild and crazy three-year old boy entertained. He actually sat through the entire movie. I was really surprised and thankful!

The movie was about a goldfish named Ponyo who befriends a five-year-old human boy named Sōsuke. Ponyo swims away from her father, the king of the ocean, because she wants to explore the world. It kind of reminded me of “The Little Mermaid” plot.  The little fish gets caught up in a net and stuck inside a bottle. She is washed up on the shore, and Sōsuke, a young boy, comes to her rescue. He has a cut on his hand and Ponyo licks and heals the small cut. Then he names his new friend, “Ponyo.”  They form a special bond and friendship he promises to take care of her forever.

Unfortunatly Ponyo’s father comes back to find her and take her home. Both Ponyo and Sōsuke are devastated. Ponyo is a magical goldfish and wants to become a human girl so she can go back to land and find her friend. The rest of the movie is about the two coming back together and eventually falling in love! It was so cute.
All of the movies at the theatre tend to be a little old but hey it is well-worth it when you think about all the money you save. I will wait a few weeks to save twenty extra bucks!

This week the theatre is showing:

*Aliens in the Attic

*District 9

*G-Force

*G.I. Joe- The Rise of Cobra

*Ice Age- Dawn of the Dinosaurs

*Ponyo

*The Hangover

*The Time Traveler’s Wife

I kind of want to get a group of people together to go and see The Hangover next Tuesday! Anyone want to come? Anyone seen The Hangover? Is it any good?

If you want to check out show times go HERE!

Here is the address and phone number of the theatre:

Carmike Hickory 8

(615) 731-5516

901 Bell Road
Antioch, TN 37013

Nicknames

Now everyone has a nickname. Some people have several nicknames. Nicknames can be funny, some are descriptive, and some are rather embarrassing. I have had quite a few over the years.

When I was little my dad called me “Jammer.” I liked it! It was nice, simple, cute. The kids in my neighborhood called me “Little Jaime” or “Jaime D.” I grew up in the coolest neighborhood ever in Sunrise, FL and we had four “Jamie’s” on our block. There was Jamie Babbitt, who lived next door. Then there was Jamie Barnard, who lived across the street and down a few houses. Our neighborhood babysitter was Jamie O’Neil and then there was me. I was the youngest of the group… so I was “Little Jaime.”

As I hit middle school, all of my friends started growing… and well I didn’t. When I say I was REALLY TINY in middle school, that is an understatement. I was so small that on my first day of middle school I got off the bus at Westpine (Yes, my mom made me ride the bus. She said it was to “build character.” I say it was so she didn’t miss her soap operas in the afternoon! haha) and a girl came up to me. She looked very concerned. She asked me my name and what school I was supposed to be at. I will never forget her saying, “You poor little thing, you must have got on the wrong bus! This is Westpine not Sandpiper” (the elementary school in Sunrise.) When I told her I was in 6th grade she couldn’t believe it and called over her friends to look at how small I was. Talk about mortifying! So throughout middle school I was know as, “Munchkin,” and “Shorty.” Luckily those nicknames didn’t stick with my teachers, just my peers. My 7th grade Peer Counseling teacher called me “Doogie Houser.” That one was pretty entertaining but didn’t last for very long because my family moved to Spartanburg when I was in the 8th grade.

When we moved to South Carolina, I was known as “the new girl.” Then I started playing softball for the high school. That is when I inherited the lovely nickname, “Softball Action Barbie.”  This nickname really used to piss me off… but hey, I guess people usually don’t love their nicknames. I did not play like a Barbie. But I did try to look good for my games. It wasn’t rare for my friend Cara to do my makeup and my hair before our games. We had to look our best… what if the baseball players came to watch!? Haha! So looking back at it, I can understand the nickname. But at the time, I was not too thrilled.

Outside of my softball team, somewhere along the way, people also started calling me “Doogie” and “Duganator.” Both of those nicknames cracked me up.

I started my first job when I was 16 years old. I worked at the infamous Carmike Cinemas in Spartanburg, SC. Here I was a part of an elite group of workers, we gave ourselves our own nickname.  We referred to each other as the “Carmike Whoadies!” Think Black Rob, “Whoa” meets Coolio, “Rollin’ With My Homies” and that will get you our term, “whoadies.” I used to sport the amazing black pants, collared shirt (that was completely stained with popcorn grease) and black bow-tie. It was pretty amazing. And we were pretty gangster. Haha. I remember pulling our cars upfront and turing on the Dr. Dre Chronic 2001 CD and rapping all of the songs. We would run around the theatre rapping and dancing and acting like complete fools. Sometimes we would even pull the pillows off of the couches in the middle of the theatre and slide across the floors on top of them! I really loved working at that place! When I see my old co-workers I still laugh about the “Carmike Whoadies!”

Throughout high school I even had a nickname that I was completely unaware of until I went to college at USC. I was the Editor of photography for the school yearbook and newspaper. So I was constantly taking pictures of everyone all of the time. I was at every school dance, every school event, and I even had to take pictures on the sidelines at the football games. Apparently I was called “picture girl” by all of the senior guys. I actually never knew about this nickname until I went to my first Sigma Nu mixer in college. Several guys that had gone to Spartan High came up to me and exclaimed, “Hey its picture girl!” I turned behind me to see who they were talking about. Then I finally realized they were talking about me. Somehow that name stuck with that entire group of guys all through college. Once in awhile I will still be out in Spartanburg and someone will yell, “Hey picture girl!” Maybe I should get back into photography since I have already established myself as picture girl back home!

Now my nickname is pretty cliche. Erik calls me “Blondie.” I call him “Curl” so “Blondie” goes along with the “hair theme.” Haha. What are some of your nicknames?

Fun Fall Finds

So I hate, hate, hate the COLD. Seriously, I can’t stand any weather below seventy degrees. When I am in frigid weather it is like my whole brain shuts down. I can’t think, I can’t hear, and I can’t concentrate. Erik has learned not to bother talking to me if we are outside in the cold. I won’t respond. And it is not that I am trying to be rude and ignore him… I concentrate so hard on being warm that everything else goes in one ear and out the other. It is pretty pathetic. So, now that I am in Nashville… I am trying to prepare myself for the Winter weather. Here are some essentials for keeping nice and toasty:

“DUCK BOOTS”- $20!

They are really called n•a•p® Luxe Down Foot Comforters and they are from Brookstone. I think everyone needs a pair! I got them on sale this past weekend for $20.00!! They are like a party for your feet.

Seriously, they are so comfty, so warm, so soft, so relaxed! These ultra-plush booties are filled with all-natural duck down. Hence the name, “duck boots!”

You can check them out online HERE! But they are on sale if you go into an actual Brookstone store. So you might as well grab some while you are doing your Christmas shopping at the mall and it will save you $10! They are way better than the normal bedroom slippers you buy your mom every year for Christmas because you can wear them in bed. Slippers fall off and socks are too tight and uncomfortable. But these babies pull right on, are light, soft, and surround your feet in irresistibly plush, soothing and snuggly comfort.

I wear them every night. Erik laughs at me every time I wear them. When I put them on last night he said, “Man those things really are ugly!” But who cares about fashion when something is that darn comfortable!?! I recommend everyone goes and gets a pair of “duck boots.” Buy them for friends, buy them for family, buy them for yourself. It will be the best twenty bucks you have spent in a long time. I am sure your feet will thank you for it! (haha that sounds like an info-mercial!)

Bomber Jacket $39.99

I found this adorable bomber jacket at Target! I absolutely love it. It is cute, comfortable, fully lined, and will definitely keep me warm! Best part, it was only $39.99!! For that low price, you really cannot go wrong.It is made by Xhilartion and it called the Sherpa Lined Bomber Jacket in Toffee. I wear a size medium. Right now you can go on Target.com and find it. Plus if you spend fifty bucks you get free shipping. Check it out HERE! I actually found quite a few great deals at Target this week! My third find is from Target too:

Brown Flat Boots $29.99

I have been looking for cute flat brown boots for the past month. I found several cute pairs on Zappos.com but the cheapest I found then was sixty bucks. I am glad I held off because I found these cute shoes last week at Target. $29.99! So cheap and so adorable. Now I can get a few more pairs! hehe

Check them out HERE!

Do you have any good fall finds? If so, let me know. I am always up for a good bargain!

I found this adorable bomber jacket at Target! I absolutely love it. It is cute, comfortable, fully lined, and will definitely keep me warm! Best part, it was only $39.99!! For that low price, you really cannot go wrong.

It is made by Xhilartion and it called the Sherpa Lined Bomber Jacket in Toffee. I wear a size medium. Right now you can go on Target.com and find it. Plus if you spend fifty bucks you get free shipping. Check it out HERE! I actually found quite a few great deals at Target this week!