The Dress...and a Bit More

Hello my lovelies! I'm still here in Charleston living it up. I swear you think of vacations as being relaxing, but I was thinking about it today and they are usually quite opposite! Or at least for me, I always try to take in as much as possible in the week that I am on vacation so I am worn out by activities every single day. But I like it that way, not complaining AT ALL!

Today I was up bright and early to fix up some breakfast before anyone else! We have been having a fight over the bananas (that I bought for ME) and I knew that there was only half of one left. Hey, you snooze you lose...especially when it comes to food, right?!

1 cup Special K, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 banana. Along with a nice cup of coffee.

Here was my view while I ate:

Everyone was pretty much burnt to a crisp after three straight days of hours in the sun, so we decided that today would be an indoor shopping day.

We ventured over the bridge again into Charleston for the MALL!

When we got there everyone was ready for lunch. Luckily there was a semi-healthy option in the mall in the form of a Jason's Deli.

I had the Mediterranean Wrap under the "Real Choices" menu. It had oven roasted turkey breast, roasted red pepper hummus, cucumbers, purple onions, kalamata olives, roma tomatoes and organic field greens in an organic wheat wrap. I got the baked chips on the side as well.

The wrap was actually really really good! I needed the fuel for shopping so I ate it up!

Sooooo here is the moment you have all been waiting for. The KILLER dress that I got at Urban Outfitters. I think it just scream "PAR-TAY".

Did I mention that I am a total sucker for snake skin?! And short black dresses?!

Here is a close up of the detail:

And here is someone who is totally NOT me, wearing it. Just so you get the full effect.

I am pretty sure that I am going to rock it tomorrow night when my sister and I go out on the town for sushi and dancing!

Oh yeah...did I mention that I got some KILLER shoes to match too?

And they were buy one get one for $10 AND like I said, I am a sucker for snake skin...so I had to buy another pair in a slightly different style and different color.

Cute huh?! You girls like?!

After shopping for solid four hours, my sister and I headed back home. But not before stopping off at a little place on the way back...

Some of you might be familiar, not sure...

Thats right bloggies, I am no longer a Whole Foods virgin. It was my first time *blush*

Now the little sisters and the moms and pops are down at the pool. My other sister and I are about shopped out so we opted to chill out in the room and watch some tube-age.

Hopefully dinner is soooon! I really wanna go get some yummy seafood!

Hope everyone is doing grrreat! Im trying to catch up on blogs as we speak. Love you guys to death!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

FULL Day!

I am EXHAUSTED girls and guys! Today has been quite the active day. Fun, but major tiring.

It started out at 7 this morning with another 4 mile run on the trail from the condo. I am really gonna miss this trial when we leave! When I got back to the condo everyone was up and eating breakfast.

My breakfast was a repeat of yesterday. All Bran Flakes, Banana, blueberries, and Skim milk.

Repeat Pic!

After Breakfast we all got ready and headed across the bridge into downtown Charleston:

We hit up all the shopping for a little while. I went to American Apparel and Urban Outfitters. I got the BEST dress EVER at UO. I'll get a pic a little later to show.

After doing a little shopping my sister and I decided to break from the fam and go have lunch on our own. Like I said, my family does not like anything "different", they like your typical chain restaurants. My sister and I just weren't feelin it, so we decided to go to Five Loaves Cafe, recommended by the wonderful Erica.

I got a Grilled Tofu sandwich with zuchinni, tomato, onion, and sprouts. And a salad with roasted red peppers, spinach, tomatos, and goat cheese.

YUM!

Here is a closer look at the sandwich:

My sister and I really enjoyed our lunch. We were both really glad that we decided to go off on our own and eat here.

Here we are, happy with our decision:

After lunch we met back up with the family and went to the market place in Charleston.

This is one of my favorite things to do when we come down here. It is an old market place that goes on for what seems like miles and it is just set up with vendors and hand made goods like jewelry, decorative things, etc.

Here is a pic of the entrance:

Here is my sister and I after going through. Hot and tired. I swear we probably walked about 10 miles in the 90 degree weather!

After that we walked into Charleston place were all the upscale shops are.

Made a stop at me usual shopping place:

YEAH RIGHT! I'm a recent college grad with no full time job yet...remember?!

We also saw a pretty fountain and I HAD to have a picture of all the sissies in front of it.

Notice how different we all look from each other. Or maybe just how different I look from all of them. I swear I must be the milk man's child!

After hours of shopping, miles of walking, and TONS of sweating we came back to the condo and chilled out by the pool. Now I am in the room waiting for everyone to get in from the beach so we can get some dinner!

I just don't think I EVER wanna come home. I think I may convince my parents to just leave me here ;)

Hope you guys had a good start to your week. Again, Im sorry if I am not on top of commenting. I am trying to read blogs and comment when I get the chance. DONT think I am forgetting about you guys at all!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

Greetings from Charleston!

Hello my dears. I am just sitting here in the condo chilling out after a VERY active day on the beach!

I woke up bright and early and walked out to the balcony to this lovely site:

I threw on my tennys and headed out for a nice run. We are staying in a gated community with a great running trial, so I couldn't wait to hit it up. The whole path is shaded with trees too, so it didn't get too hot. I ran from out condo to the end of the community and back. When I got back I hit up map my run and found out it was an even 4 miles.

When I got back to the condo I fixed up some breakfast. Here is the problem though, guys. It is REALLY hard to eat the foods that I like when I am with my family. Most of the food they like is not the healthiest, I had to get my own loaf of wheat bread for sandwiches, if that gives you any ideas. I want to just enjoy my vacation and not have to worry about it too much. I am trying to make the healthiest choices that I can, though. What would you guys do?

Anyway here is what I managed to rustle up for a healthy breakfast:

All-Bran Flakes, Skim Milk, 1/2 Banana, and Blueberries.

After breakfast we hit the beach for some wave riding, tanning, and swimming

AHHHH

We came back up around 1 to break for lunch. The best thing I could get was a turkey sandwich on wheat bread and an apple. It was sad, so I didn't take a picture.

Then back to the beach! It was sooo much fun. We stayed in the ocean and tried to ride the waves with the boogy boards. At one point I got dragged completely under and when I came back up my boob was TOTALLY out of my bathing suit. I'm not sure if anyone saw or not. OH WELL!

After that we came back up and spent wayyy too long getting ready. My sister and I got pretty and went down to Charleston for a while.

But not before watching the sunset:

Now its time for bed so it can start all over again tomorrow. Today was only day 1 peeps!

Prepare for WAY more pics! Sorry if I'm absent from commenting a lot this week. I have been living it up on the beach all day and haven't had too much time on the computer. I DO miss you guys though!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems

Hilarious Happenings

Before I get to anything I just HAVE to share with you all of the hilarious things that I have seen over the past few days.

Ok, so its like two things really, but trust me they are GOOD!

The other day I was driving along, on my way to tan it up at the tanning bed and I get behind a car at a red light. Now, this is nooo ordinary car. The owner must be one hell of a creative mind...

Settle for having no rear-view mirror?! NO WAY! This guy just uses his GENIUS to tape a CD to fill in the space. Hey, its reflective right?! Wow this guy is smart. I just HAD to snap a pic of this.

Second thing, I was rummaging through the art teacher's marker stash yesterday. Mainly because I freakin LOVE markers...especially the ones that are "special" colors. You know the ones. Anyways I stumbled upon these markers mixed in amongst the others...

Thats right...a whole pack of markers filled with different color skin tones and labeled "multicultural". And just look at how happy those kids are on the box. FINALLY they have a marker to represent them!

Yesterday was my last day filling in for the art teacher. That was truly a blessing to have gotten that opportunity. It started out just randomly subbing for her for ONE DAY and turned into a THREE WEEK job! I am so glad that I got to do it. All of the kids were amazing and the other teachers and administrators were so nice! I even made a little BFF while I was there. And received this from him yesterday:

In case you can't read "3rd grader" it says "I will miss you when summer break starts and when I'm at Cherokee." Before he made it he asked what my favorite color was and I said purple. How cute is that?!

My vacation officially started last night when I got off work at Rave at 930. I clocked in 41.5 hours in FOUR DAYS! Needless to say, I think I pretty much died when I came home last night. I crashed in my bed at 1030! I woke up this morning pretty early. Damn you body clock! But, since I did go to bed so early I figured I still got some good sleep. Here are my "I Spy" oats. Notice its still early, but a little more decent :)

What else can you "spy" in the picture?!

Tomorrow I am hittin the road to go to Charleston for a whole week. Let me tell you...I am PUMPED!! I can't wait for the beach!

We are leaving early tomorrow morning and then tomorrow night I have a 5K on the beach! I have not done too much running on the beach, so hopefully I will do OK! Wish me luck!

Since I have basically been a non-stop work machine all week I have TONS to get finished up today for the vacation. Here is my list so far:

• Clean out my car (It is a MESS)
• Go to the grocery store for snack foods for the drive.
• Do my nails and toes. (a MUST for the beach)
• Hair Appointment
• Tanning Bed
• Run
• PACK!

Im sure there is more. WOW I gotta get started!

Hope everyone is kickin their weekend off right!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

One Small Step

Ok, so you know that crazy feeling that I said that I have been getting about something exciting happening?! Well, it has gotten even more weird!

I don't know how many of you really believe in "signs" or anything like that. But I sure do. So I have been getting that feeling for a few days now and then two nights ago I had the craziest dream!

It was about my ex boyfriend. And not just any ex...THE ex. Im not sure if I have mentioned him on here before. We dated for about 3 years at the end of highschool and beginning of college. This is the guy that I though I was going to be with for forever. And when we broke up I was devastated. I went though a really hard time with, and we even discussed him a lot in therapy as a possible trigger for my eating disorder (feeling out of control about the breakup and needing to counteract it with the control of my body). Not saying that he was the SOLE reason, but def. a part of it.

Basically my dream was about just letting him go. For good. I have hung on to that relationship for years, and compared every other boy to him. When I woke up I knew it was time for to move on. If I was going to go any further with my life, I had to let him go.

I have kept this box of notes and pictures from when were together for forever...yesterday I pulled it out, and without thinking twice about it, I threw it in the dumpster at work last night. I am moving on now, I have let that part of my life go, and I'm not gonna compare any more. Its time for something NEW!

Ok, I hope you guys don't think that I am absolutely crazy or anything now. haha. It is just one of those things that I had to deal with.

Onto EATS!

Of course I had my blogs and oats in the morning before going to school to be the art teacher.

I made sure to get several bits of info into one picture...banana oats, blogs on the laptop, fave flannel pj pants, early as HELL!, cup of coffee, and animal print pillow (of course). Its almost like a page out of I Spy!

Then it was my packed lunch at my desk

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter (FAVE!), Blackberry Preserves, Banana, on Honey Wheat Bread, and some Honey Wheat Pretzels. With a little side of "Plans for the Sub".

After I subbed I had to work at the Rave last night. I will be doing this for the next three days!! That is a total of 40.5 hours of work in 4 days!!! But after that I leave for the beach, so I will have plenty of time to recuperate.

When I went into work I noticed that we had gotten in the cutest new top! I figured since I have been straight workin my ass off, I deserved a new top...the best part?! It has a unique back (of course!) :)

This is a picture of the back of the shirt. OH SO BEACHY!

Alright guys...gotta JET! I am a teacher by day and a raver by night! haha. WISH ME LUCK!

Hope everyone has a Happy Hump Day!

Lots of Love <3 Ems.

AHHH...

So the majority of my day was spent like this:

In front of this:

Hangin' by the pool in my STUNNA SHADES. Just can't beat it.

It was the perfect "Me Day". I started out with my favorite breakfast...eaten slowly and in my PJ's and in front of the computer with my beloved cup o' joe.

Oh yeah I may have had this little gem of a show playing in the background for an hour straight.

FUN FACT: My little sister is named Kelly because I begged my mom to name her that. I thought that if she was named Kelly she would grow up to be as pretty as Kelly Kapowski. ohhh the innocence of youth.

Also I would like to take this time to confess that I am breaking from the norm and saying that Slater is WAY hotter than Zach. But then again, I always go for the "tall, dark, and handsome" men. I mean cant argue too much with this hunky image:

YES, PLEASE!

After breakfast and a good solid hour of acid wash jeans and teased hair I headed out for a little shoppage with the momster.

I picked up a cute little sundress (to add to the collection) and a little pair of white shorts, that are OH-SO beachy. :)

Did I mention that I am going to the beach in T minus 216 hours?! (Thats 9 days for those of you who do not possess the impressive math skillzz that I do) Totally kidding, its called a calculator kids.

After tearin up the mall, my mom and realized that it was nearly 2:00! Which means we needed LUNCH! One of the only places that my mom and I can agree on for lunch is Jason's Deli. I had the "build-your-own" sandwich with turkey on whole grain and a side of fresh fruit. Sorry dears no pic!

Later in the day (after the stunnin and sunnin time) my sister and I hit the town again for more shoppin. Where did we go?! uhh TARGET...of course! She filled out an application and I browsed the bathing suits. I really think they have the best bathing suits EVER! Unfortunately I am too low on the cash flow at the moment, so they had to wait. I said a tearful goodbye and we headed on to the next stop.

I had to pick up some party favors for this little babe:

ITS THE BFF'S BIRTHDAY!! Isn't she just sooo sweet and innocent?!

What party favors did I pick up you ask? Ill give you a hint:

We are planning on a SUPER celebration that I have been resting up and preparing for all week. I picked up one of these:

Little Black Dress Merlot. The wine of choice. Love it.

I also picked up a REAL "little black dress" to rock out tonight.

SUPER PUMPED ABOUT ROCKIN OUT IN IT TONIGHT!!

After picking up these "party favors" I went back to the familia's casa to watch this little know show:

I haven't really watched the show at all, but my family loves it. I didn't really have any opinion on who I wanted to win but I just don't think that it matter anyways...if you are in the top two you will be famous, end of story.

After that it was time to head home, get in the pjs, and wrap up the "Me Day". It turned out to be quite the success and I fell so much better now!

Today will be more laying out by the pool, working hard the RAVE, and then really ravin it up for the BFF's birthday celebration.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

Livin' the Life...

Of an Elementary School Art Teacher, that is. In bed by 10, up by 530, packed lunches, rowdy kids, hands blue from markers...and funny thing is...I'm kinda liking it. Alot.

Not to say it hasn't been rough, but a good kind of rough...ya know? The kind of days where you come home feeling like you have been hit by a train, but somehow in a good way. A way that you know you put your time in today and you DID something worth doing. Because easy things aren't even worth it, its the hard things that make you stronger and make you who you are.

I have to admit, I was getting discouraged with the job search and losing touch with the part of me that really wanted to be a teacher in the first place. I was starting to question if it was even something that I wanted to do with my life. But now I see that I was only questioning it because it was hard, not because it wasn't what I wanted. Now I want it more than ever. I LOVE being a teacher, I LOVE the kids, I LOVE the school. It fits. Its me. I can't wait to have my own classroom.

So I know that I have missed a couple of days of blogging, but that is because I have been dead tired for the past three days. With being sick and still working every morning, I pretty much come home and crash! BUT I did take pictures of what its like to eat breakfast and lunch as a "teach".

Breakfast #1:

Banana Pancake Oats...eaten atop my flannel pj's while sitting on my bed reading blogs on the laptop.

Close-Up/Break-Down:

• 1/2 Cup Oats
• 1/2 Cup of Skim Milk
• LOADS of Cinnamon
• 1/2 Banana
• Tbsp. Maple Syrup
• Kashi Flax Cereal

Lunch Day #1

Turkey Sandwich on Wheat eaten atop my desk, with my caffeine fix (gotta have it), a note that says "your the best", and a grade book to the right.

Breakfast Day #2:

Apple Cinnamon Oats eaten atop my leopard print throw. Includes:

• Chopped Apple
• 1/2 Cup Oats
• 1/2 Cup Skim Milk
• LOADS of Cinnamon
• Kashi Flax Cereal

Lunch Day #2:

Hummus and Spinach Sandwich, Pretzels, and an Apple (oh the irony)...eaten atop my desk with all kinds of good teacher-y stuff up there!!

So there you have two breakfasts and lunches in the life of a teacher. Pretty exciting right?...ummm...

Also, like I said before, me being sick gave me an excuse to relax and rest a little. And also to catch up on my cinema. I watched Twilight...which was good, but nothing GREAT. Sorry guys, I know a lot of you are big fans. Then I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Let me just tell you, if you have not seen this movie...GO NOW! It was AMAZING. I seriously loved every minute of it. I laughed, I cried...it was great. There was one quote that I loved in the movie and when I was at school I looked up the exact wording because I could not get it out of my head.

I jotted it down, and when I was bored during my "planning" period I made it all pretty.

"You can be mad as hell at the way things went. You could swear, curse the fates...but when it comes to an end, you have to let it go."

This just hit so close to home for me, because I have a really hard time letting things go. Especially things that did not turn out the way that I had wanted them to. Sure I could be angry at how things turned out. But when its over its over, and keeping those angry feelings inside only make it worse and won't turn back time. When things end you just have to let them end and learn for next time. I think the practically reminds me of relationships that I have had in the past.

Now, I am off the enjoy the weekend!!!....uhhh...tomorrow, right now I'm ready for SLEEP!

Hope everyone has a fun and exciting weekend.

Lots of Love, <3 Ems