Currently reading...

Excellent book about behavioral economics(an emerging field in economics), which basically combines economics and psychology.(I swear it's way more interesting than it sounds;) It talks about how we think and make decisions and why we make the decisions we do, even when they are irrational ones. The irrational decisions aren't just random though, they are predictable and people continue to make them again and again as consumers, business people, and policy-makers. Then at the end of each chapter the author gives you ways to become more aware of the irrational choices you're making and ways to change them. Anyway... great book! If you're interested, check it out!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Yesterday was my dad's birthday! Sorry I'm a day late Dad:) Since his actual birthday was on Memorial Day this year (this has happened a few times...so unlucky!) we went to Cheesecake Factory on sunday to celebrate. Even though we ended up celebrating on Monday anyway! Grandma and Grandpa stopped by on monday and it was so good to see them! Always a good suprise! After they left we went to decorate my Grandma Payne's grave then came home to have a birthday party. I made Pad Thai for dinner and then bread pudding for dessert (I tried to recreate the bread pudding from Citris Grill, which is my dad's favorite) I thinked it turned out pretty well, I will just have to tweak one or two things for next time. I'll make it for you next time, Grandpa:) Happy Birthday Dad! Hope you had a great day! Love you!

This was the only picture I took:( I think Ashley has the rest of them. She has become the picture taker with her new camera!

Spring Planting

I spent the day today helping my mom shop for and plant flowers for her new pots. We went up to the Smiths on 3300 S. (the BEST place to go around here. they seriously have TONS of flowers to choose from and they always hold up really well) While we were looking around I decided to pick up a few herbs (I got basil, oregano, Italian parsley, and rosemary) to start my herb garden I have been wanting to do forever. It is always so frustrating because when I cook I like to use fresh herbs but they are always so expensive to buy fresh from the grocery store and sometimes hard to find. I still want to go back and get some cilantro to put in the last pot and then also make some little labels for them. I'm excited but hopefully I can keep them alive long enough to actually use some of the herbs!

My mom's pots turned out SO pretty! She found the pots at Sam's Club and decided to plant Hydrangeas in them and put one each of the patios. She always does such a good job putting them together every year!

New Music

Mat Kearney is one of my favorite artists. I started listening to him when his first album came out in 2006. It is one of those cds that you can listen to over and over, all the way through and never get sick of it. So, I was SO excited when I heard he had a new cd coming out. It came out today and it is SO good! Everybody check it out!

Last night...

Last night was a pretty eventful night at the Payne house. Spencer had just left for prom and my parents had just left to go to a dinner at my grandpa Payne's house. I was sitting upstairs and all the sudden Colton (who was on the phone with my mom) came running in the room and said he went downstairs to look for Ashley and he saw water pouring into our room through the window! I jumped up and went running downstairs and sure enough there is water rushing into our room! Let me just say this is not the first time our bedroom has flooded. No, this is like the 4th or 5th time and the only room in our house that has ever flooded! So, Ashley opened the blinds to see where it was coming from and there was 6-8 inches of water in our window well! It looked like a fish tank. I told the boys to start grabbing anything they could and get it out of there! I got on the phone with my mom so she could tell my how to turn off the main water outside and told Colton to go get the neighbor. We got it shut off and then I ran inside and started just grabbing stuff and throughing it into the family room downstairs. Oh and of course I had clothes all over the floor because I was in the middle of organizing my closet and dresser, needless to say half of them are now covered in smelly, dirty water. My parents finally made it home and brought two of my uncles with them. They moved really fast and were able to get everything out and all of the furniture disassembled (including my new dresser:( We couldn't have done it all that quickly without their help! Apparently what had happened was a sprinkler pipe had broken that was right outside our window. So... Ashley and I have set up camp in the downstairs family room with all of our stuff EVERYWHERE! I have no idea where anything is...and school starts tomorrow. Oh and we know from past experience that no, the insurance does not cover flood damage when the water comes in from the outside. Great. This is what our room currently looks like:

Not exactly the picture I thought I would be posting of our room!

Latest project...

During my break from school my mom and I decided to redocorate my room. I love changing up my room! I have been wanting to do something really simple and pretty. I decided on doing all white bedding with our dark wood furniture, shiny silver hardware, and just a touch of light pink. My mom and I decided to go get this dresser from IKEA and do a few other projects to get my room completely finished off. Sounded like a good idea at the time:) We brought it home and started unloading the boxes... about 300 little pieces, 42 steps, and 4 hours later my mom and I had built the dresser! It was totally worth it though! I was a little worried with it being IKEA that it wouldn't fit together perfectly or that it might look cheap but I must say I really like it. We also switched out the IKEA handles for some dressier ones which made a big difference. We got a mirror to go above it that we still need to hang and another one just like it that we turned the other way for a full length mirror. I also still need to find a vase for the pink peonies (if anyone finds a pretty one let me know;)I'll post more pictures of the whole room after everything is done!

A Little Break...

I decided to reward myself after making it through finals and buy myself this book. I went to the bookstore in search of a new book and after deciding that my brain hurts too much right now to get an actual book that requires thinking, I settled on this one. This book came out a while ago and I was always curious if it was any good. It did not disappoint! It is full of gorgeous pictures (nothing like the creepy ones you usually see of MK and A) and some interesting interviews(the ones with DVF and the head designer for Calvin Klein are my favorite so far). Between this book, cleaning out and organizing my closet into my new IKEA dresser(I'll post more about this later:), and doing a little shopping and relaxing with my mom and Ashley, I think I'll be ready to head back to school in less than a week...k maybe not but at least I got a little break from the stress!

Birthday Dinner

To celebrate my mom's birtday we went to dinner Sunday night at Citris Grill (big surprise I know!) One of my mom's favorite restaurants:) Then we came back to our house and opened presents and had cake! Hope you had a great birthday, Mom!

*Oh and my dad was there I promise! He was just taking the picture:)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Thanks for being such a great mom and friend to me! Hope you have a great day! Love you!!