September 27, 2012

Wait, what?

When we moved into our house in March, we kept hearing a sound that was reminiscent of Kevin from Pixar's "Up" calling from the depths of the beautiful oak trees overhead. Then a couple weeks later, I saw this video of a man interrupting Webb Simpson's interview from the US Open and I was like "How is Kevin at the US Open?!"

Our dog Baxter was driving us crazy running back and forth in the backyard barking at an invisible animal living up in the trees. Every time I went out to look, I saw nothing.

...until I saw it.

Standing in all it's colorful glory, was a peacock.

A PEACOCK.

It was perched on the roof/chimney of my neighbor's house that we share a backyard with. And there was Baxter, barking until he had no bark left in him, at this strange animal living in our neighborhood.

Our neighbor informed us recently that there used to be a farm near our house with peacocks that went 'out of business' (explain that one) and let all the animals lose.

So now, every once in a while, as I leave for work in the early AM, I get escorted out of my neighborhood by a beautiful bird whose calls lull me to sleep at night.


The end.

September 17, 2012

#notfrumpy

frump // frum-p//
1. A girl or a woman regarded as dull, plain, or unfashionable
2. A person regarded as colorless and primly sedate

frump'y adj

While I was in graduate school, my friend and I made the unfortunate realization that some people dressed frumpily. Even more unfortunate - the realization that I too, have been guilty of dressing in frump-fashion (ie all through high school when I thought baggy tshirts and gym shorts were a-ok for daily public appearances).

I didn't understand what it meant to be comfortable in my own skin until college, and I definitely didn't understand how to dress in a way that represented who I was until then either. It was as if one day things magically clicked, and I suddenly realized that I actually had a little princess in me that really liked fun colors and geometric shapes and dresses. The idea that I could wear a cute top with my favorite jeans - and that that could be cool/fashionable/in style - blew my mind.

I had a minor glitch in my sudden realization of fashion when I found out that keeping up with the Jones could be was expensive. That's when I discovered the wonderful world of TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Ross. I would go to the mall to see what was in style, then I would head to these stores and see if I could find anything (I found something every time #bestdayever). I really could spend an entire day there, going through every aisle and trying on the worlds largest collection of dresses just to find the one I really liked. Saving money and expressing myself through clothes - best. thing. ever.

My second minor glitch was when I entered the working world and realized I could no longer sport 'dressy' jeans and sandals everyday. Enter in: pencil skirts, work pants (why are they always made out of the worst material ever?), button-up shirts, blouses, cardigans and flats that make my feet sweaty. I struggled for a long time to find the right dress shirts, pants, and shoes. I found these really obnoxious probably-made-out-of-polyester bell-bottom-esque dress pants...they were hand-me-downs from J.Crew so I thought the brand name alone would save me.

Not so much. Zipper on the side of my pants -- what?

So I started a mission - to get inspired by other working individuals to see how they were dressing up for work and hopefully finding a happy medium for my own working style. Enter my saving grace Kendi Everyday. Her use of polka-dotted pencil skirts with stripped tshirts, or her lace skirt with a button-up struck a chord with me. I wanted to be just.like.her. I even did her 30 for 30 challenge a while back.

Years later, I think I've done my best Jocelyn version of Kendi's style. And to encourage myself to keep trying, I've started instagramming my outfits, a la #notfrumpy.

Top: shirt from Forever21, skinny braided belt from Marshalls
Middle Left: TOMs flats (bridal shower present), black pencil skirt from and top from TJ Maxx
Middle Right: sandals from Ross, black jeans from Marshalls, top from TJ Maxx
Bottom Left: cardigan from JCrew warehouse (!) out in VA, top from Marshalls, blue & green polka-dotted pencil skirt from Gap outlet
Bottom Right: cardigan from...(it's that old), flower silk-esque dress from Forever21

I've really enjoyed learning how to dress fun, while still staying professional. I just hope that I can keep this up!...or else I might go overboard and start looking like PSY #dressclassydancecheesy

September 8, 2012

Savannah, you hold my hand like its the first time

Have I told you how much I love this town?
Have I?

It is seriously so much fun to live here. Relient K hit the nail on the head when they wrote their song about this place. Little known fact: every time I drive back to Savannah after having been far away for awhile, I play this song as I'm driving over the bridge.

This weekend was just another reminder of how crazy blessed I am (we are) to be living here. My commute to work is a little over 10 minutes. Ten minutes! Back in Maryland it took me 10 minutes just to get out of my neighborhood (sarcasm, but sort of true). The beach is only 30 minutes away, and so is downtown.

First, I went out with two friends to a restaurant called Sage. One of us read a review of it in a magazine so we made reservations. Our respective husbands/fiance are off at said-fiance's bachelor party so it was ladies night -- and I had so much fun. The food was delicious, and so were the cupcakes we ate after!


Then today, two of us made an early morning trek to Forsyth Park to take part in a free Zumba session. Yeah, you read that right -- f-r-e-e free! Every other Saturday morning around 8:30AM a bunch of women in work-out clothes congregate and Zumba for an hour. Today I learned the wobble and how to dougie (aka I am now cooler than you...)

We were about to do wobble

After our awesome sweat-fest, we went to the Forsyth Farmers market...and we signed up as 'first-timers', and got $5 worth of tokens to shop for produce. We got a packet with information, like what vegetables are in season during which months, and recipes too! I picked up two green tomatoes and an eggplant for this week - yum!


The more I explore, the more I fall in love with this place. I'm glad I found a place to live that excites me so!

September 4, 2012

Labor (less) Day/Weekend

Labor Day weekend, oh how I loved you!

I literally spent the weekend doing nothing and everything at. the. same. time. Impossible, you ask? Not so! Just look at all the things I didn't not do this weekend:

Baxter was a little jealous
First of all, I ate a lot of really good breakfasts cooked by my awesome husband.

Then we went to the beach and the husband got sunburned.

Kale chips, buffalo chicken dip, guacamole
Then we watched college football, I made tasty snacks, and we had a surprise visit from a good friend.


Crabs, country captain, kabobs, and 3 different key lime pies (!)

Then we went home to Bluffton and had too much fun eating and hanging out. And jumping off docks.

...and my best friend farmer Cait came for the weekend...and we shopped non-stop at the outlet mall for 3 hours straight.

Cleaning our bounty of crab
...and I learned how to crab using a hand line.We were all muddy and I almost got stuck, so I have no photos of the crabbing experience. But it was sooooo awesome!

...and I woke up really early and went shrimping. We didn't catch anything, but I learned how to cast a net!

The most laborious thing I did this weekend were: dressing myself, eating crabs, trying on clothes, and resting so that my stomach could digest the feasts I consumed. Pretty sweet weekend, wouldn't you say?