hello? Helllllllo???

Woo!  A new post - for those readers still out there...

Let's see...what's been going on since January 25th in the life of me?...

• I had my first emotional breakdown over work - yeah, that was fun.  Lucky for me, I was working from home that day - and truthfully, I think the all day crying fest was really due to the lack of sleep from the night before.  
• The night before I attended my very first legit country music concert - Jason Aldean and Eric Church.  Yes, I know - I'm country.  My new co-workers unfortunately think I'm a deep-down redneck, which if my old co-workers knew this, I think they may be appalled (or at least they better be).  I'm the farthest thing from a redneck, but it just so happens I live in the country, and my first PTO was taken for a country music concert where we tailgated and did it up hillbilly style.  What can I say - I'm learning to embrace situations, so I embraced the country-ness of Jason Aldean's return to his hometown.  The husband really embraced it.  He embraced it so much that he threw up the next morning.  What a champ.
• The guy I hit with my car (I hit his car, btw) last May decided to come back and sue for damages...he and his passenger.  Nothing is more embarrassing than being served papers on your front porch when you have nosy neighbors - nothing is scarier than a cop banging on your door when you're home alone and don't know it's a cop.  Does the movie Strangers ring a bell...because that's all I could think about.  
• The husband gets mad at me when I say "I'm being sued"...so just in case he's reading, my insurance company is being sued...(whatever)
• My insurance company appointed attorney called me today and scared the bejesus out of me..."when this goes to trial"...."during your deposition..."  I thought these things settled out of court.  Then she mentioned something about a "six month discovery period" and I just stopped listening.  If this is going to take six months, just wake me up in August.
  
• I'm traveling to DC this month for work.  I feel so happy and important.  I get to meet the people behind my emotional breakdown my counterparts in Greater Washington, and I'm really excited to finally put a face on my dartboard a face with the name. 
  
• The husband and I finally bit the bullet and got new furniture.  See photos...

Our iridescent dining room.  For the record, the walls do not look like that in person - it's just a nice shimmer.  We did this paint job with Ralph Lauren Candlelight.  Annnywaaay - this is the new table and chairs.  The husband picked it out.  I picked out a more contemporary set - he didn't seem sold, and truthfully, the tables available just didn't look right.  We purchased this loot from our local JC Penney Outlet. They were doing 10% off everything and 20% off upholstered furniture - um..can we say awesome?  Some may hate on JC Penney, but I'm sitting here at this table now, and it's a sturdy little piece.  We're very happy with it.  The pink in the chair is my laptop bag, by the way...So, the deal is this - they have the same stuff that's in the catalog or in the stores, but this is supposedly "irregular".  You know how much I love TJ Maxx and Marshall's - irregular merchandise doesn't scare this sister.  I stumbled upon this table and it was perfect.  After fishing through every chair they had, we plucked six perfect ones.  The husband pulled the trigger and said we should definitely get this set, so we did...and here it is!  Of course, we still need an area rug, a new chandelier, and an updated centerpiece (that's right, Sandyn), but at least the biggest part is taken care of.

Next up is the living room.  We wanted a darker colored couch - with a chaise.  Despite the tall ceilings in our living room, the room is sort of small.  It would look super cluttered if we had a love seat and a couch, so we've been happy with our couch/chair combo. Until Sunday afternoons.  On those days, the husband and I are fighting for our nap spot on the couch, and we end up in a tangled mess, covered with beagles.  With this new gem, one of us can curl up on the chaise and the other on the couch...it's perfect.  I felt like the couch was going to be too big for the room, but as it turns out, we'll easily be able to add an armless chair in one corner (for company and decor) and a recliner (that doesn't look like a recliner - I've scoped several out) for the husband.  We got the couch for a cool $430.  Can you believe it?  It sits way better than our other one, and I'm super impressed with the quality.  This way, we don't feel bad splurging for the custom recliner from Haverty's. 

 nevermind the random sock in the middle of the floor

So, this is what's been going on.  So far, I'm in love with 2011.  Everything is so great - except the all day crying fest, but we won't make those a habit.  I hope you dear readers continue to bear with me while things are slow.  I'll try to make more of an effort to keep this updated, but you're going to have to comment.  I mean, seriously, the last three posts were duds and do nothing for positive reinforcement. 

I am very active on Twitter, so if you're missing me, just come over to @ashgillespie and say hello.

That is all.