Best of 2007!

Dear Blog,

Well, here it is, the very last day of 2007. I really can't believe it. This time last year I was out skiing in Colorado with the realization that I had A LOT of shit to do to get ready for the wedding. Boy am I glad I don't have to worry about that EVER AGAIN. Can I say that emphatically enough? EVER AGAIN.

I compiled a list of my favorite things of the past year and I'm going to share them with you. Most of them are fashion related but read them anyway for some witty commentary from yours truly.

1. Shift dresses were the rage of 2007 and what's not to like? They fit and look great on everyone! You can wear them on your skinny and fat days and feel absolutely fab-o! I own hmmm...well I don't want to admit how many I own because the husby reads this blog and we don't need to give him any ideas about the depths of my closet.









2. Chanel glossimers. These little lip smackers of joy are so fun to wear because they are Chanel. If you, precious reader, are not a sucker for a name brand then keep reading. This gloss will stay on for hours on end and even when the shininess starts to wear off you will still have an inkling of glitter left on your lips for a nice shimmer. I hightly recommend and at $24, everyone can buy one!




3. Tory Burch Reva flats. Even though these flats are a bit of an investment, it's worth the extra penny. I have worn mine with juuuuuuust about everything I own and have gotten my moneys worth out of them. I've worn them so much the color is starting to wear off the shoes. I bought a neutral color (gold) so I can wear them whatever. If you're skeptical of gold, give it a second thought. You'll be surprised at how much they will go with. On a funny note, I wore them when we were in Seattle and Kris said he had never seen a white woman wear gold shoes. I own 3 PAIRS of gold shoes!! Hmmm...




4. OPI nail polish. I love the dark colored fingernail craze and I think I'm going to keep rocking them when it goes out of style. I think it just gives your hands personality. I've decided dark nails are going to be my 'thing', my trademark if you will. Everyone needs a trademark. That's mine. Regardless of the color, OPI is the only nail polish I would bother spending your hard earned money on. It's a good quality and will stay on longer than most and covers quite nicely.




5. Amy Winehouse. Even though she's a freaking psycho addict, I love her cd Back to Black. It is my favorite of this year, and that's saying a lot since my girl Britney Spears released Blackout and almost beat out Amy. (I kid, I kid) Seriously, Amy Winehouse is so original and I respect that. She's got a style all her own and she rocks it out. I hope her resolution in 2008 is to say nope to dope. I need some more Winehouse in my life.




6. Christian Louboutins. Sigh. I just love these shoes. I think I look at them everyday on Neiman Marcus. I don't own them because they are out of my price range. I have one pair that I got on a crazy sale, it was like Last Call to the MAX at Neiman Marcus. As a whole, I think Mr. Louboutin is a geeeeeenius and I would wear every single pair of his shoes if I could afford them. If you are a shoe-a-holic like me, check them out and you can drool over them and then we can talk about how much we like them together! It'll be great!



That's all for now my friends! I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve and I look forward to blogging for you in 2008!

xoxo,
alison

Whew! That was a close one.

Dear Blog,

How do you like the new look? Everyone needs a makeover for the new year and I thought the blog needed one as well. Special thanks to the creative director, Mr. Aaron Shurts, for the redesign of the site. Also, in blog news, you can now just type in www.bellafrench.com and it will bring you to this site. How is that for O-FFICIAL? I'm thinking tee shirts will be just around the corner as well. Maybe a male version and a female version. I'll get the creative director on that pronto.

Annnnnnnnnnywhoodle, the holidays were fun. My now 11 year old car made it to Cincy and back, I was a little worried about that one but I was so proud of the way she handled it like a champ. Cincinatti was effin' cold y'all. I'm not used to that. I mean, it made my bones chatter. Lucky for me, I had Bella with me to keep me warm. Literally, we snuggled the whole time we were there. I don't have much to report from our trip to Ohio and not much to report from our trip to SC. It was just Christmas, lots of food, presents and family time...and that's my blog about the holidays. Oh, we stayed with Aaron's aunt and uncle and his three cousins and I gave them all rapper names; Mikey J, Drew Diesel and Baby G. I taught them how to do the chest bump and tell their teachers "Shut up Shawty! You ain't the boss of me. I'll do my homework when I damn well feel like it! And guess what, that day ain't today. Shiiiiiiiiiiiit." I miss those boys. P.S. I'm free to babysit anytime!

So, I got to thinking. (No smart aleck comments, please) As I'm evaluating the past year and rehashing the events in my brain, I'm thinking you know, it's been a pretty good year. I got married, I found a job I really like, Bella is the bomb, I started this blog, I got some sweet, sweet additions to the wardrobe and accessories collection, made some new friends, ditched some friends that got on my nerves, saw some of my friends get married, sweet little Miles was born and started doing yoga. Now, while I was thinking about all of the positives in my life, I started thinking about the negatives. Believe it or not, I can only come up with one negative. (I'm not going to say what that negative is because I like to keep some things private.) So, I can only come up with one negative thing of '07 and I think I spend about 95% of my time thinking about that neg, or talking about that damn neg to anyone who will listen. Can we say UH-NNOYING?? So, while I have so many blessings in my life, why do I spend so much time focusing on the ONE negative? Hmmmm....good question. So, I think my resolution for the new year is to focus on how great my life is. I know that '08 is going to be a great year! Have I told you my philosophy on even numbered years being super great years? I haven't, oh well. That can wait 'til another blog.

Til then,


Who loves you? BellaFrench, natch. (Bella on right, French on left)
xoxo,
Alison

Random

Dear Blog,

We just had the work Christmas party at my house and since we were having it at my house, I had like more than than the normal amount of glasses of wine to dseal with having the work party at my house and now my head is speinning a little bit. But who cares right? tis' christmas! everyone should have a few too many classes of wine at their house. what to the ev. the party was fine. i have the best husband in the world who dealt with 8 women, my whole office is women, how do we get awya with that you ask? because we're a privately held company who doesn't have to hire men if we dont want stinkin' men. we don't want men. but i thinmk it's easier towork with menm. i love men. sigh. so, back to the party. it was a potluck and everyone signed up to bring something. i volunteered for the meat dish. but then, aaron made the dish and he doesn't work with me. hmmm. does that make me a bad wife? hope not. cause i don't know how to be a good wife. they didn't teach that course at furman. i think some women are just naturally good wives. i'm not one.

merry christmas.

xoxo,
al

Passion for Flashin'

Dear Blog,

I have a friend, we'll call him Hunter, who always has ghetto song lyrics as his status on Facebook and when I recognize the ghetto song lyric it always makes me laugh. So being that copying is the ultimate form of flattery, I decided I would copy HIM. Currently, my status on facebook is 'Alison is I have a passion for flashin' (ed. note, that is not a typo, for some stupid reason the beginning of a current status always has to be 'Alison is...' UHNNOYING) I chose this lyric as my status because I love flashy things and looking flashy and uh...getting attention.

BUT! The meaning of my status is twofold. Today everyone in the normally peppy office was in a crappy mood and I was like this negative energy has GOT to get out of here. So, I did what I had to do. I did a quick ohmmmm for peace and then I started flashing people. And you know, it was really fun. At first, I flashed our office manager who sits in the front of the office and she spit out her tea because she was laughing so hard. Then, I flashed our editor and she loved it. Then I just stood in the middle of the office and twirled around and showed everyone my Hanky Pankies. And you know what? Everyone was in a good mood after that. So, the lesson here is if you want to lighten the mood a little bit, just flash someone.

In order for this to be funny and not icky, remember to wear underwear. Don't pull a Britney.

xoxo,
Alison

A train, a ticket and a smile

Dear Blog,

Saturday began as Saturdays often do, with coffee and little VH1. Whilst Aaron and I were pondering what to do with our day, I remembered we live pretty close to the brand spankin' new light rail and that it might be fun to take it for a whirl to Uptown. So, I suggested to Aaron we take the rail uptown for some lunch. I tend to stay away from Uptown because it is so hard to find parking and I hate paying $ to park my car in a garage. Annoying. Meanwhile, I'm getting ready and get a call from next door neighbor Leigh asking me if we have any taco seasoning...um...no, but do you want to ride the rail with us? After much, much, much pondering, and if you know Leigh this does not surprise, Leigh, Kyle, Miles, Aaron and myself are walking down the road en route to the rail. It was a very fun afternoon and YOU TOO can have as much fun as we did if you follow the tutorial below.



1. Start with a good attitude and remember to buy your ticket!! This is how you get on the train.






2. Aaron to me and Leigh, "Remember, always enter and exit the right side of the train. Also, let exiting passengers get off before you get on. That is the kind and polite thing to do. There is plenty of time for everyone to enter AND exit."





3. For safety reasons, hang onto the poles alongside the perimeter of the train or overhead as to maintain an upright position. We don't want your clumsy behind falling on other passengers.





4. Once exiting the train, stop, smile and pose. This look says, we just got off the Lynx Blue Line, naturally. What else would we be doing on a Saturday? If you have any questions, please feel free to ask us, as we are PRO-fessionals.




If you follow these 4 simple rules, you too can be a professional Lynx Blue Line rider! Where can the Light Rail take you?


xoxo,
Alison

And the envelope goes to.....

NO ONE!!!

Dear Blog,

Man, I'll have to admit. I'm a liiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit disappointed in my readers this past week. Can't figure out who the big CELEB is in the pic below? I even posted a hint and still nothin'. So, the big celeb-rit-y who graced the magazine office with his presence was the one and only LARRY SPRINKLE!!!! Who is Larry Sprinkle? Only the BEST weatherman in Charlotte, NC. Seriously, if you don't watch the Sprink, (as I lovingly refer to him) then you need to tune into channel 6 in the morning while you're watching Matt, Meredith, Al and Anne on the Today Show. I usually catch him at 7:26 and 7:56 a.m talking about the days weather.

Soooooo, the reason why he came to our office is because one of my coworkers is in looooooove with him and has pics posted up of him on her desk. It borders on the line of stalker/obsessiveness. Seriously, look at the man and just feel the sex appeal radiating off of him, DUH! Who wouldn't be obsessed? I mean, when he came into our office I couldn't keep my eyes off his nice, tight, little bum.

Anywhoodle, I'm thinking of making a BellaFrench teeshirt for my readers. I'm stealing this idea from my friend Paul of dport7 fame. Aaron and I still wear our tee shirts btw. Any suggestions of what would go on said tee shirt? Obvy, the web address, so get creative!!

xoxo,
Alison