When Ben (my husband) and I first started hanging out he tried to win my heart by giving me two cds.  He gave me his band’s (Young Agent Jones) recent cd and a mixed cd.  It worked.  Also this cd introduced me to The Shins, which is now one of my favorite bands.  I’m sure my best friend Nikki got so sick of hearing these cds during our 30 minute commute to and from the W (Mississippi University for Women).

My First Mixed Cd from Ben

1. Ash- “A Life Less Ordinary”
2. Alkaline Trio- “Cooking Wine”
3. Cruiserweight- “Cautionary Tale”
4. Neutral Milk Hotel- “Holland, 1945″
5. The Shins- “So Says I”
6. Hefner- “The Hymn for Cigarettes”
7. Bishop Allen- “Eve of Destruction”
8. Built to Spill- “Car”  (I love this song so much.)
9. The Flaming Lips- “Five Stop Mother Superior Rain”
10. Beulah- “If We Can Land a Man on the Moon then surely I can win your Heart”
11. Phantom Planet- “By the Bed”
12. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion- “Fuck Shit Up”
13. Sonic Youth- “Bull in the Heather”
14. The Breeders- “Little Fury”
15. The Postal Service- “Such Great Heights” (This song, actually their entire album defined that summer for me.)
16. Sleater Kinney- “One More Hour”
17. Ben Kweller- “I Need You Back”
18. The Replacements- “Beer for Breakfast”
19. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- “Generation”
20. The Walkmen- “The Rat”
21. Wilco- “Misunderstood”

My reason for telling this uplifting story is to say that I love being married and I love my husband.  He was so wonderful to me during this whole ordeal. Ben sat beside the bathroom, he got me a wet washcloth for my forehead, made me soup twice, he laid beside me without touching me (since I was in pain), he bought me Gatorade, and brought me the heating pad.  I love Ben a whole lot.

We hung our hammock over our little creek.  So if you fall out, you get wet.  I think it is more interesting this way.

Thank you so much Nina, Dave and Zoey Ammon.  We love our new hammock.

Side Note:  Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager is really good and it is the perfect summer beer.  I’m real into it.

My husband is wonderful and I have mentioned before that he makes mixed CDs (not actually mixed tapes) for me for holidays and random occasions. I love these CDs so much.  Isn’t a mixed CD such a thoughful gift?  I decided to share this mixed CD because I think that you can tell a lot about a person by the music they enjoy.

This is a list of songs from the CD he made for me for Christmas 2009.

Christmas 2009 Mix

Side Note:  Ben said, “I hope you don’t mind that I bookended this CD with the Beach Boys.”  I never mind that.

1. Beach Boys- “Surfer Girl”
2. The Hold Steady- “Multitude of Casualties”
3. Julian Casablancas- “Out of the Blue”
4. Gaslight Anthem- “High Lonesome”
5. Still Stanley- “Semi-Sublime” (This is a band from Jackson, MS)
6. Drive-By Truckers- “Self Destructive Zones”
7. Ben Kweller- “Wasted and Ready”
8. Pains of Being Pure at Heart- “Come Saturday”
9. The Ramones- “My Brain is Hangin Upside Down” (Live) (Ben is always trying to get me to love The Ramones, which I don’t hate.)
10. Son Volt- “Tear Stained Eye”
11. Belle and Sebastian- “Like Dylan in the Movies”
12. Yeasayer- “Tightrope”
13. Jay Reatard- “Nightmares” (RIP Jay, Ben was so sad that he died.)
14. Japandroids- “The Boys are Leaving Town”
15. Uncle Tupelo- “Sin City” (Flying Burrito Bros Cover) (I love this song a lot.)
16. Pine Hill Haints- “You Will Never See Morning”
17. Vampire Weekend- “Horchata” (This is from their new CD, Contra, which was not out at the time he made this CD.)
18. Benji Hughes- “I Went With Some Friends to See The Flaming Lips”
19. Beach Boys- “You’re So Good to Me”

I would rather be sleeping in an igloo made of bean plants with my husband.

Igloo made of bean plants from JourneySeeds via We Heart It

10 things about my (Atlanta) weekend:

1. I love all the beautiful houses with pretty front yard flowers and plants, fun windows and doors and front porches made for lounging.  I especially love the Virginia Highland neighborhood of Atlanta.  Not just because some of my friends live there but that helps.
   

   House in the Virginia Highlands

2. Around the corner from my friend’s house is Paper Source.  I have loved Paper Source for some time now but mostly from online window shopping.   I seriously did not want to leave the store.
   

   Paper Source in the Virginia Highlands

3. We had a bridal dress appointment at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday.  This appointment was a first for me.  I bought my wedding dress online and it fit and didn’t need any alterations, so I was done.  This right of passage romantic movie moment was something special.  Katie may have found “the dress.”  Trying on dresses is harder than it looks and it seems like the goal is to find the floor with your feet through the layers and fancy fabric that these sample sized dresses tend to demand.  It was fun.  But the moment that I became that cliche friend since high school, happened when she walked out of the dressing room away from me and I was able to see how amazing she looked in “the dress.”   I cried.  I cried more than a little and almost made her cry.  Then I had to walk away because I was so embarrassed that I cried in a freaking bridal boutique.  I wasn’t prepared I guess.

4. 

   Telephone Booth on Highland Avenue

5. I love that Georgia has the lottery.  Save your comments because I don’t care if you are bothered by my love of gambling.  If you were as lucky at scratch off cards as I am then you would love it as well.  That being said, I didn’t win the lottery this weekend, but Nikki did!  Nikki won $28 dollars which helped her justify oxfords from Urban Outfitters.
6. We went shopping!
   

   My necklace is pretty.

7. Chat Roulette is scary, but make it a drinking game and suddenly random naked people seem less scary.  (Drink every time you see someone naked, after hitting next of course!)
8. I love going on trips with my husband.  Ben and I slept on a twin air mattress on top of a full air mattress and it was better that way.  He is so wonderful.  I love being married.
   

   A card I bought for Ben from Paper Source

9. On Sunday we stopped by my friend Amber’s crawfish block party.  I do not eat crawfish but we could not resist a party on our way out of town.  I had to leave when I realized that they were about to boil live crawfish.  It did not occur to me that this is how they are cooked.  Holy shit that is horrible.  (No offense Amber)
10. Two notable non-Atlanta weekendish happenings:  My little brother turned 24 (i mean 25, thanks Brittany!) on Sunday.  Happy Birthday Drew!  Zoe’s birthday is today.  She is 7, which makes me feel old.  Zoe is my little impulse buy who warms my heart.
    

    Zoe is so 80's!

1.  Gift tags from scrap paper

These tags were super easy.

I made the blue ones from the inside of those envelopes that come with bills, I used a rubber stamp on the green one and both the green patterned one and the red pattered one I made from scraps of Martha Stewart craft paper from Wal-Mart.  The lace looking tag was made using a Martha Stewart lace punch.

2.  Ugly Christmas Ornaments

I really wanted these to be cute but ...

I made these at Dandy Doodles, which is one of those paint your own pottery places.  The heart ornament is our “first Christmas as a married couple” ornament.  June tried to eat hers.

3.  Fun Wrapping Paper

I enjoy wrapping presents.  I use too much tape sometimes.  I reuse ribbons and bows if they are pretty.

Engineering Plans (old plans from our recycle bin at work)

Maps I found at Dirt Cheap and leftover ribbon from my wedding

4.  Christmas Cookies

My niece Cadence loved these!

5. Ben’s Journal

I love having a journal so I thought Ben might like one too.

Sorry this looks yellow.

I added a 2010 calendar.

Don't judge me.

This Halloween my husband and I were the White Stripes

My Top Ten Favorite White Stripes tunes:

1. “Hotel Yorba” White Blood Cells
2. “Fell in Love with a Girl” White Blood Cells
3. “We’re Going to Be Friends” White Blood Cells
4. “Jolene” Under Blackpool Lights (Dolly Parton remake)
   
5. “My Doorbell” Get Behind Me Satan
6. “Seven Nation Army” Elephant
7. “Well it’s True that We Love One Another” Elephant
8. “You’re Pretty Good Looking [For a Girl]” De Stijl
9. “Blue Orchid” Get Behind Me Satan
10. “The Denial Twist” Get Behind Me Satan

The Blanket Coat with Sleeves

Does you tiny dog ruin your love life by getting under the covers with you and your husband?  Is your little dog always cold?  Does your small pet have weight issues?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the Snuggie for Pets is your answer!

The Snuggie for Pets comes in various sizes and colors.  Modeled Below is the Small Blue.

Ben loves that he doesn't have to worry about cold nights now!

How does it work:

It is simple!  You just velcro the back of the Snuggie and your pet is stuck inside.

It fits her perfect!

Pet and owner are now in perfect harmony!

Look at that profile!