Day of Love

So, just because I don't have somebody special this Valentine's Day doesn't mean my life isn't full of love.  My family bowls me over with their love, and the older I grow, the more my friends become like family.  In addition, there are so many little things that bring joy to my life, and love really does abound. 
I set out to write 14 little things I love this Valentine's Day, but I just couldn't stop.  I thought of other numbers to shoot for, multiples of 14, perhaps, but that still just wasn't enough.  So, I kept on going until I reached 114, a seemingly appropriate number.  Even then, though, I ended up with a few honorable mentions...

114 Things I Love This Valentine's Day (+ a few honorable mentions):
1. Hot chocolate
2. Antiquing
3. Blowing bubblegum bubbles.
4. TV shows on DVD
5. Thought-provoking song lyrics
6. Sushi
7. Massages
8. Chips and cheese dip
9. Christmas (and everything it entails)
10. Pajamas
11. Avocado
12. Invitations
13. Double entendres
14. Montages
15. Unlined journals
16. Unique jewelry
17. Scarves
18. Twinkle lights
19. Cornbread in milk
20. Coffee table books
21. The Olympics
22. The Academy Awards
23. Books with ragged edges
24. Looking in apartment windows
          *****I know how this sounds, but I promise I don't mean it creepily.  I just like to see how people the different ways that people arrange their apartments... is that weird?
25. Movie previews
26. Cookie dough
27. Bookshelves
28. Julia Roberts' laugh
29. The Morning Mash-Up
30. Postcards
31. Old movies/musicals
32. Accents, especially British, Irish, or Australian
33. '80s music
34. Getting out of class early
35. Cereal
36. The phrase "gird your loins"
37. The bridal issue of Mississippi magazine
38. The symphony
39. Cocktail parties
40. Photography
41. The silent laugh (a.k.a. the old man wheeze)
42. Criminal Minds
43. Libraries/bookstores
44. My GPS, Bernice
45. Donut holes
46. Candles
47. Dancing to country music
48. New school supplies
49. Holding hands
50. Dr. Spencer Reid
51. Quotes
52. Photo albums
53. Piano bars
54. History
55. Daria
56. Going to sleep without setting an alarm clock
57. Brunch
58. Crispix
59. My TV/movie/book-character boyfriends
60. Songs that take you back to an exact place, time, and feeling
61. Rick & Bubba
62. Cemetaries
63. The perfect song
64. Headgear
65. Marathons (movies, TV shows)
66. The perfect planner
67. Billy Joel
68. Arranging flowers
69. Pizza with mushroom and union
70. Black-and-white photography
71. Sunkissed cheeks
72. Going to the movies
73. Countdowns
74. My life list
75. Sister's Punch
76. Outtakes/bloopers
77. Southern Living
78. Mail
79. Pedicures (even though they tickle like crazy (is tickle a weird word, or what?))
80. Broadway shows
81. My down comforter
82. The perfect playlist
83. Goat cheese
84. Netflix
85. InStyle
86. Big band
87. Glee
88. Traveling
89. The smell of clean laundry
90. Pulling my hair into a ponytail at the end of the day
91. Perfume
92. Falling asleep listening to the rain
93. The World War II era
94. Good wine
95. Getting my hair cut
96. Planning trips
97. A good workout
98. Movie quotes
99. Dr. Pepper on ice
100. Planning parties
101. City Bagel Cafe
102. City skylines
103. Binder clips
104. Semi-colons
105. A great story
106. Unexpected text messages
107. The beach in fall
108. Historical fiction
109. PostSecret
110. Commercials that make me laugh out loud
111. Concerts
112. Inside jokes
113. Memoirs
114. Museums
          *****Honorable mention: So You Think You Can Dance
                                                    Washing my face/brushing my teeth
                                                    Online shopping (it gets me everytime!)
                                                    Using up the last of things
                                                    Finding/coining new catchphrases
                                                    TBS Breakroom

Happy Valentine's Day!! Hope you've all had a day filled with love!

The Weekend's Too Short

Wow... what a great weekend.

From start to finish, this one really was fabulous.

It kicked off when Amanda arrived in town Thursday afternoon. We had a fun, relaxed night at out, meeting Alex for dinner at the Bin then heading downtown to Barrister's. Although there weren't too many people out, we somehow managed to have a good time. Yeah, right... with our solid crew there was no shortage of laughter.

Most of the day Friday was spend traipsing around Starkville in the rain in search of "the perfect top" for Amanda to wear out Saturday night in Oxford. If you know anything about Starkville, you know that if there's one thing we are sorely lacking, it's clothing stores. We refused to be discouraged, however, and we found her something really cute to wear. (For those of you who didn't know it, I fantasize that I am a little tiny bit of Stacy London from TLC's What Not to Wear, so this little adventure was secretly right up my alley.)

Friday night we had dinner/drinks at The Grill then headed back to Barrister's. Amanda and I had the greatest time together, cracking all these "hilarious" jokes and entertaining each other to no end. We took some absolutely ridiculous pictures, tried our hand at a game called darts, laughed for hours, and had so much fun.
Saturday Alex and Amanda headed to Oxford for a concert, and I headed to Columbus to spend the day with my mom. I had the best day with her. She kept cracking me up with the crazy stuff she was saying, and I had one of the most fun, relaxed visits I've had with her in a really long time. I'm not too proud to admit that Valentine's Day is often a sad day for me, and I sometimes get a little bitter, but this year was the complete opposite. I headed back to Starkville late last night, watched a movie, and headed to bed.

Today I had lunch with Alex and Amanda then headed to the movie theater to see Slumdog Millionaire. I have been wanting to see this movie for weeks, and I was shocked and ecstatic when I heard it would actually be playing in Starkville. It was absolutely amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone. If you want to see all that I had to say about it, check out my review on my movie blog.

After the movie, I came back here and did the tiny bit of schoolwork I had left for the week and have been lost in Capeside, Massachusetts, ever since. (Yes, I'm obviously still on my Dawson's Creek kick... I'm not ashamed.) It was such a fun, relaxed weekend, and I am so thankful to have been able to spend it with such special people.