I want to go to there

I’ve mentioned before here and here how much I want to visit Scotland and stay in one of the gorgeous houses up for rent through Cottages & Castles.  Thanks to their email update today, I want to go bad. Real bad. Like “I’m going to hurl myself in the floor and kick and scream if I don’t get what I want” bad. Just look at these new properties!

The Tay View Apartment at Pitfour Castle in Perth

Not bad, eh? How about the Hoscote Estate House near Hawick?

Scotland, with your beautiful houses, stunning landscapes and handsome men (Gerard Butler, James McAvoy, Sean Connery, Craig Ferguson, Ewan MacGregor… and many more) I don’t know why I’m living anywhere else.  How soon can I move?

Something close to my heart

As I’ve mentioned before, we are a rescue dog family.  All of the pets we’ve had {since before I was born even} have been rescues in one respect or another. 

Bailey, a Walker Hound mix was Mama’s adopted pound puppy when she got out of college.

Chipper, a beautiful Springer Spaniel was found wandering the streets in Savannah.

Booger, a goofy looking Lab/Pit Bull mix was found abandoned as a puppy {she and her sister had been dumped out by the railroad tracks where they were found by a friend of ours}

Ginnie, a bird dog mix was rescued from the pound {her owner tearfully turned her over after she learned her landlord would no longer allow pets and was leaving out poisoned dog food}

Tater, part Pit Bull, part Boxer, all lap dog was adopted via Petfinder from a local shelter {she was picked up by animal control after being dumped out somewhere.  She had 7 puppies that evening who were all adopted out in no time}

Weezy, Susie’s new baby was also found via Petfinder.

Chipper

Ginnie

Tater

Weezy

Rescue dogs are so much fun.  They’re like custom creations with quirky looks and personalities.  All of our dogs have been affectionate, sweet, funny and so loving.  If you’re in the Atlanta Area and would love to add a new sweet member to your family, please consider adopting one of the dogs at Fulton County Animal Services. These sweet babies are looking for good homes and their need is a matter of life and death.  Take a look at their adorable pictures here.

Great Places to Find a Pet

Atlanta Pet Rescue

Fulton County Animal Services

Petfinder

The Animal Control Facilities in your area

I think I’ve got it

I’m fairly certain I’ve nailed down my life goal: to play Dolly in the movie of her life.  According to The Boot, she’s working on making a musical film (and later Broadway production) of her life. Sidebar: if Kellie Pickler plays her like the interviewer suggests, I will probably keel over and die from sheer horror.

While I don’t quite have the look or voice, I’ve got a little time to hammer out those details before I portray one of the most influential women in all of music history.  Anybody know a good plastic surgeon? How about a vocal coach? Agent?

Nashville

My friend Sarah and I got away for the holiday weekend.  We took a quick trip up to Nashville and back.  We’d planned to drive up Friday afternoon, go out, enjoy Saturday and Sunday then drive back Monday at a leisurely pace.  Instead, it took us TEN HOURS to get from Augusta to Nashville on Friday because of the snow and traffic in Atlanta.  Once we got there, we decided to cut our trip a day short and head back on Sunday because of the snow scheduled to hit Nashville. While a bit disappointing, we still enjoyed our time.

I could absolutely live in the record stores downtown.  I also became quickly infatuated with this place.

If you love design, typefaces and just all around cool printing stuff, you must visit this place.  I could have stayed in there all weekend and spent some serious $$.

We wandered through the Opryland hotel a bit and then caught some live music.

I had to stop by Dolly’s souvenir store.  How does this woman stand up and how do her organs function?!

On Sunday, we stopped in Franklin, TN and ate brunch at Puckett’s. Delish and adorable.  I’m ready to pack my bags and move to Franklin!

I left my SD card in my laptop so I didn’t have it with me when we were strolling through Franklin. The above and below are “borrowed” from the internet. Hopefully I’ll get the pictures from Sarah soon.  Adorable shops, incredibly nice people and gorgeous houses. I could honestly move there tomorrow.  I love their seasonal banners on the lamp posts.

After walking around a bit more, we headed back to Georgia where the snow had melted and turned everything to mush.  It was nice to get away for a bit and I have a new favorite go-to city when I need an escape. What did you do this weekend?

Towel Freak

I am very particular about towels.  I don’t like it when they’re too thin, the pile is too loose, they’re too small, or they’re dried with fabric softner {they don’t absorb water well.} So, as somebody who rarely shops outside of TJ Maxx and Target, I’ve had a hard time finding affordable towels I love in a pleasing color.  I’m sure there are tons of beautiful, fluffy, absorbant towels out there but I’m just not willing to pay $30 bucks each for them.

Enter Thomas O’Brien.

 His line of towels at Target is the answer to my prayers. {Okay, so I didn’t really pray about towels but you get my drift.} They’re the perfect size, fluffiness, thickness, pile tightness and every other ‘ness’ you can come up with. I bought my first set about two years ago in pale yellow.  I got two bath towels and two hand towels {I always buy white washcloths so I can just bleach the bejeezus out of them – they’re all Thomas O’Brien though and they look fabulous after a thousand washes} and I absolutely fell in love.  I was washing some clothes at Mama’s recently and she asked if I’d put fabric softener on my load of towels because she couldn’t believe how soft and fluffy they were. About a month ago, I was strolling aimlessly through Target – my favorite pasttime – when I spotted that glorious red sticker that means something is on clearance! My buttery yellow towels were dirt cheap so I bought four more bath towels and hand towels. I suppose I’ll need to decorate any future bathrooms around buttery yellow from now on. With around 20 colors to choose from, you can match any decor.  Seriously, do yourself, your guests and your family a favor and buy some of these fabulous towels asap.

I’m an Aunt!

I have two nieces.  One is named Emily, she belongs to my older sister, Joy.

And as of Monday, I have a new niece.  Her name is Louise and she belongs to my little sister, Susie.

See the family resemblance?

Louise is a four-year old American Bulldog mix who was living in a rescue facility in Statesboro.  Susie saw her on Petfinder and couldn’t resist.  A week later, Sassy (now known as Louise) was hers.  She’s a very hardworking girl.

Susie’s bringing her home this weekend to meet Tater and the rest of the family.  I think she and Tater will have a great deal to discuss.  They were both rescues, they were both single mothers trying to make it on their own, they both love to sleep on the sofa and they both have a crazy way of sitting.

Check out more pictures of Susie‘s new baby here.