End Of The Year

So as 2013 comes to a close, although I haven't been blogging for a year yet (that celebration takes place on January 30th) I have passed through many holidays, many events, just many THINGS that take place during a calendar year, and I blogged about those things.

I blogged about my Christmas Gift Guide

I blogged about the Fourth of July

I blogged about my Birthday

I blogged about March Madness

I blogged about Valentine's Day

I blogged about Halloween

I blogged about... every major holiday that happens in the year.

So as I quickly approach the full year of blogging mark, I have to wonder, when these events roll around for the second time during the lifespan of your blog, what do you do?

Do you try and one up yourself from the year before, by blogging about the same thing? 

Do you post the same thing all over again in hopes that you have a fresh set of new readers? 

Do you quit? I'm not quitting, don't worry about that one.

But really, what do you do at the end of the calendar year, when round 2 rolls around? Or even more daunting, round 3, 4, 5 etc....

Thoughts?

 

Cocktails on Deck

Out with the old, in with the new. Here is a new desktop  and iPhone background for you to ring in the new year with! Happy 2014 kiddos. 

Desktop::: Download Here
Iphone5 ::: Download Here

**Note** Remember that with the iPhone5, your wallpaper will get distorted if you don't have "reduce motion" turned on.

To turn "reduce motion" on:
Settings ---> General ---> Accessibility ---> Scroll down and click "Reduce Motion"---> turn that ON

Snapshots From Christmas

My Christmas was pretty calm, pretty quiet. No big celebrations with tons of family. That is what sucks when Christmas falls right smack dab in the middle of the work week, you can't justify the flight prices to go home for essentially just one day. So I hung around D-Town, went to Klyde Warren Park to practice with my camera, opened up some of the sweetest presents ever from Becca and Magen, oh and of course dressed up the pups in outfits they didn't want to be wearing! 

Oh and for anyone asking, yes I got some sweet sweet sweet new straw glasses for Christmas. #DrinkMoreWater2014

How was your Christmas?! 

Oh and on another note, since so many people (*cough* except me *cough*) are off of work, I'm canceling Fan Friday for tomorrow, we will pick back up on Jan 3rd! 

Don't Focus on the Negative

Friday afternoon I was having my weekly sushi treat (which has actually turned into bi-weekly, and sometimes tri-weekly+) and while scrolling through my Instagram feed, I saw someone I follow from a certain Bravo show posted a picture of her on Millionaire Matchmaker. I have been very clear about how much I dig this fellow Dallas girl, she has fab style and an awesome sense of humor, her friend Tori is the bomb too. They are really great friends to each other! 

Anywho, so back to sushi and Instagramming. When I saw this picture on Insta, I tweeted...

Courtney Kerr was on millionaire matchmaker last night?! I'm pretty sure fashion blogging doesn't make you a millionaire..Did anyone see it?
— Sarah Webb (@iamsarahwebb) December 20, 2013

It turns out Patti dubbed her as a millionaire in training, not that it matters though because even though I didn't tag her in my tweet, she must search for her name on twitter and she took to responding to my question directly. 

@iamsarahwebb Would you like to see my tax return?
— Courtney Kerr (@thecourtneykerr) December 20, 2013

Holy toledo. I didn't mean any harm. I figured when you reached Bravo status, you would know that people would be tweeting about you. I certainly didn't mean to offend her, I like the girl. So me being the "all in my head all the time" kind of girl I am, I decided to go back through and read her twitter feed as well as any mentions of her on twitter. And I'm so glad I did, because I really had a little life lesson lightbulb (say that 5 times fast) go off.

As I scrolled through her name mentioned on Twitter, I saw so many kind things people were tweeting about her, from how much they loved her hair, to her wardrobe, to her personality, to her style, to her humor... everything about her, people were professing how much they adore this girl.

But she hadn't responded to all the kind things that were said about her. As for the 12 or so negative tweets in the slew of positive mentions, well she had directly responded to each of those, and either retweeted or publicly acknowledged them on her timeline.

This brings me to my lightbulb moment. As bloggers, we have fans too. Fans generally turn into friends, when you thank them for their support.

Have you ever had a big blogger not respond to a positive, kind comment you left them, but then see them go out of their way to publicly acknowledge negative comments left on certain forums? What if they had instead put in the effort to thank you and recognize you, rather than recognizing the people that don't like them. They would have created a fan for life, instead of simply giving further ammunition to someone who already doesn't like them and will never like them.

She could have created a fan for life with me, had she just ignored my comment about MM, which was never intended to be hateful. Or, think about if she had responded to this tweet I sent her instead. What if she had said Happy Birthday back to me? I would have lost my damn mind with excitement and created a fan for life.

It appears I share a birthday with @thecourtneykerr
— Sarah Webb (@iamsarahwebb) December 17, 2013

This is a really hard thing to do, to not focus on the negative. Once you reach a certain level, whether it is a reality television star on Bravo, or you have 1,000 followers on Bloglovin, or you are freaking Miley, someone is going to be talking crap about you, someone will not like what you're doing. But what about all those people who LOVE what you're doing? Don't forget them, they are your ticket to success!

Operation Get Fit: Linkup #3

If you fall off the wagon, just get back on. Don't stress. All is not lost. Don't wait until Monday to climb back on the wagon. Don't even wait until dinner to climb on the wagon. Climb back on right now and grab yourself a big glass of water. It's ok, we aren't perfect.

And guess what, if you end up skipping that wagon ride for dinner, then breakfast the next morning, then lunch and dinner the next day, well wagon rides depart all day every day, and you determine the wagon's schedule.

This may sound like a silly analogy, but it's true. If you screw up, just fix it. You know how to control your eating habits. 

Last week I fell off the wagon. I don't want to say I cheated or broke my diet, that sounds too harsh. I intentionally jumped off the wagon, actually, because it was my dang birthday weekend and I didn't want to eat a cauliflower birthday cake. I just kept telling myself, no worries, do what you want right now, but Wednesday morning, you get right back on track, don't let anything stop you! And I didn't. On Wednesday I had my iced coffee with non fat milk and my little breakfast bar and I was right back to being focused on healthy eating. 

I think that is something you need to remember during the holiday season. Treat yourself, but don't sabotage yourself. The longer you stay away, the farther away the wagon travels and the more difficult is to chase down that damn wagon. 

Those who wander are not always lost.

Progress: 

Weight Loss Progress To Date: Down 10.2 pounds

Weeks On Plan: 4

Weekends without falling off the wagon: 3

Weeks spent at the gym: 4

Off to Turbo Kick today before spending my Sunday working, what are you going to do to get out and get exercise today? I'm not sure what it is doing in your neck of the woods, but we have a beautiful sunshiny day here in Dallas, get out and enjoy it! 

Here are some inspirational / humorous words I've found around the Pinterest machine for you this week!

 

And Here's The Kicker...

Before I start Fan Friday today, I'm here to beg for your help. See it is really important to me because I bolded, italicized and underlined the word beg. Would you just click like on this image? The girls in the lead have 1100+ likes and have way more followers than I do. Please will you help the little man? I never ask for stuff like this, but no better time than the present to start annoying the crap out of everyone! Just click hover your mouse over the Instagram logo and click "view on instagram" and click like. 

Because keep in mind, this is what my hair would look like without the dry bar in my life. Ahh!!

Ok, thank you in advance...
--Management

Today for Fan Friday, I'm pulling a post from the way way way back in the archives. You know, those archives when I first started a blog in 2010 then promptly gave up. I think Whitney is the only one who (admittedly) went back and read these, but I think there is some good info to be shared! Plus, I tweaked it a little... because I clearly didn't know what grammar was back then. 

In football there are two different ways for an offense to score. The first option is the traditional touchdown, which we have already gone over here. A touchdown is the highest amount of points a team can earn on a single play and it is worth 6 points.

There is another way to score though...

The other way to score is through your kicker. It's so weird to me how this little shrimpy guy can win (or lose) your team the game, the division and even the super bowl with just one kick. He really has no need for serious athletic ability. He could be a raging alcoholic getting hammered on the sidelines, but as long as he can still stand long enough to run a straight line and kick the ball in the proper direction, pass the kid a double fireball!

To put this in girl terms. Think of all those crazy relationships in Hollywood where the nerdy, scraggly guy gets the bombshell. What parallel universe did we develop where these things become possible?

Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts... um WHAT?

Scuse me... how'd he land her?

Even Steve Urkel managed to land Laura in the end. AHHH Revenge of the nerds.

Well the same parallel universe where these guys get the girl of their dreams, is the universe football kickers play on. Let me just tell you about your hero, the kicker.

Let's take the highest paid kicker in the league, Sebastian Janikowski for the Oakland Raiders.

JK LOL LYLAS, this is the kid from Little Giants... below is Sebastian.

This kid makes $5.3 million a year, that's right, 5 MILLION. OMGGG. All he does is kick a stationary ball. The ball doesn't move, it's not like he has to like jump in the air and kick it or anything. IT. IS. STATIONARY.

And here is the kicker (hah!)...

It is a HUGE PENALTY if you so much as touch the kicker, if you even lay a finger on him, the offense gets the ball back and an entire new set of downs to try and score again. Whaaaaaaaa??!?

So i got off on a tangent. Sorry about that, I'm trying to stay focused. I just get upset with society sometimes, argh!

Like I was saying, the kicker can win the game or lose the game for you on one single kick. The kicker's goal is to hit it through the goal posts. Also known as the uprights. Drunk and disorderly fans also know it as a prime piece of property to vandalize after a game.

The kicker has two ways to score points. The first is after a touchdown. This is worth one point and is called the "extra point". This is should be a very easy kick, just 10 yards away and 9 times out of 10 the kicker is able to get that extra point for his team.

A field goal happens when the offense is either unable to score a touchdown, or they only need 3 points to win the game. Although a team can kick a field goal at any time, it is generally taken on the 4th and final down. They are usually kicked inside the defense's 45 yard line. In other words about 45 yards away from the end zone or less. Any farther away, it becomes too difficult for the kicker.

For the kick to be "good" it must be kicked anywhere through the uprights and over the crossbar at the bottom. If it hits the goal post and goes through, it counts, but if it bounces out, the kick is no good.

The closer in, the easier it is obviously, but the further out the more challenging it gets. Consider wind, cold temperatures and the defense trying to block the kick. Can you imagine kicking to win the game in this?

Ok, so I guess the kicker has it pretty tough. I mean, look at the guy who screwed over the Miami Dolphins, Ray Finkle. He never moved on...

Linking up with Whitney

<div align="center"> <a href="http://www.venustrappedinmars.com" title="Venus Trapped in Mars"><img src="http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae274/venustrappedinmars/fanfriday.jpg" alt="Venus Trapped in Mars" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

• Write a post about anything listed here
• Grab a button. (It's glittery, would you have expected anything less?)
• Link up EVERY FRIDAY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
• Follow me so we can be friends
• Meet new friends who also like sports and being a fan
• Hop, hop, hop.... hop around

The 6th Anniversary of my 21st Birthday

This past weekend I celebrated my 21st birthday. It was the 6th anniversary of celebrating my 21st birthday, so it was really a big birthday for me. Turning 21 for the 7th time is really no small feat, and really must be celebrated with cake booze and booze. 

On Friday afternoon my mom flew in from Richmond, Virginia. I unfortunately had my work Christmas party that night, so I fetched her from the airport and promptly dropped her off to fend for herself with the ferocious puppies that have invaded my living quarters. 

Our work party was no joke... there was an open bar, authentic Japanese sushi, an open bar, great steak, expensive saki bottles awarded as prizes and there was an open bar. I work for a Japanese company with a bunch of dudes, so you all are getting outfit selfies because my cute outfit and hair and makeup were totally wasted. 

I stood up at the end and drew for a few people to win some nice bottles of Japanese Saki. Naturally, I drew my own name out of the hat, talk about getting dirty looks!!  

Saturday morning, while not so gently nursing a hangover I had magically acquired, my mom and I went shopping and I picked out this gem of a sweater! I promised her I would act surprised to take it out of the bag. "Oh my gosh, this sweater is perfect! What a great present! How did you know!?"

Sweater c/o my MOMMA! (Hah just excited to do a c/o item) can be found here P.S. How do you fashion bloggers make money off these links, please tell me thanks so much. 

After a day of shopping and an afternoon of yet another work event, this time at the bowling alley, I was finally work-free until Tuesday morning. My Mom and I had a weekend full of athletic events to attend, starting with the Mavs game on Saturday night. Funny story, the team we were playing was so bad, that the coach and best player, Dirk called in sick. We still had fun though! I hear we look alike...

Sunday we went to the Cowboys vs. Packers game. I got very very mad and became a raging bitch (not pictured). Let's just say that if someone had told me that it was a Packers home game, I would have believed them. I won't get into any more details because I'll cry, just like Dez.

T-shirt can be found HERE

Monday was a day of pampering, shopping and of course there was a cocktail thrown in! 

Monday night we popped some champagne before we went out for fondue!

Dress from Asos, but it's old --- I'm soooooorrrrrryyyyyy

We went to a place right down the street from my apartment called Simply Fondue. I sat down and promptly asked for a dirty gin martini, per the usual... 

And then the waiter said, "We don't serve liquor." 

Say whaaaaat? 

So I ordered wine. 

And then the waiter said, "Sorry we ran out of wine glasses. Is this water glass ok?

Say whaaaat? 

That certainly didn't stop me from digging in though. As you may know I've been on a health kick, but there aren't any calories on your birthday, right?!?

How long is this post? Good lord, we haven't even gotten to my actual day of birth! I'm almost done, I promise! 

On the actual anniversary of my 21st birthday, I went to Medieval Times, and it was GLORIOUS. Except I wasn't chosen as princess, nor did I receive a single rose from any of the knight games... meanie pants red and yellow knight. See if I ever root for you again, sir.....

It was the best 6th anniversary of her 21st birthday a girl could ask for!!