Post in PICS : Perdido Key 2011

Prayers

If you have a spare second, and a spare prayer (or two) ... please take a moment to peak in on a fellow blogger over at http://jamescamdensikes.blogspot.com/ and help offer their family up as they navigate through this tough time. 

Please + thank you.

XO

Liz

Beat the heat ...

... and stay FRESH! 

I just had to share one of my new fav purchases this week. It's hot as all get out here in Nashville with a heat index of 100+. This seems to be the running theme all over the good ole USofA these days. I guess it is the middle of July after all ;-) With this extreme heat, it seems impossible to stay CLEAN, or at least feel +smell clean. Its seems as though the minute you walk out the door, it's time for another shower... umm, yuck! I've been on a search for a good sturdy deodorant to help combat this weather and kept coming up empty handed. That is until I tried  ...

Degree motion sense = miracle worker! It truly works like none either, even YES, those Rx strength options. And, it's at a pretty darn reasonable price, coming it at right under $4.00. Not bad, eh? If you're having trouble staying so fresh and so clean clean this Summer, I say it's time to hit up your nearest drugstore and make this purchase. Everyone within in a smelling radius of you will thank you :-)

The truth hurts

July 1st marked the 4 months post op marker. Some days it seems like just yesterday, when other times it tows the line of an eternity. All in all, things have been going very well. I continue to heal and make progress each+every day. You can imagine my frustration then, when despite such progress, I began to hurt again ... things just seemed not quite right. So, back to the Doctor I go. After further review and examination, looks like this lil saga of mine continues to unfold, or unravel at that. Turns out, I have a herniated disc in my lower back, the L4 and L5 to be exact, for all you spine aficionados out there :-)

Their presumption is that this injury has been there since my accident, and that there would have been no way for me to feel it's associated pain due to the immense issue with my tailbone. Ya see, pain is sneaky like that. You can only feel so much pain, in so many areas...it follows a sort of protocol if you will. As my surgery site begins to heal, this lil bugger  finally has a chance to be heard, and FELT!

You can imagine my deflation upon hearing this news. Rather then flock to my "it'll be okay ... it's not the end of the world ... it could be worse", mentality (a mentality I have lived in and under for the past 2+ years), I flat out got sideways upset. For the first time in a LONG time, I just couldn't stomach the glass is half full notion. Not soon after this passed did I immediately feel guilty for getting upset. And then, wouldn't you know it ... anger again. Anger that I allowed myself to feel guilty. Can you say emotional roller coaster? The emotions have now calmed, and with that clarity came reflection and question. 

What's so wrong with (sometimes) just being real with how we feel? How did we get to this point in society where taking the time to lick our own wounds was deemed self indulgent or weak? Yes, things could be worse, things can always be worse. However, that doesn't make the situation at hand any LESS then it is. SO, let me just break it down for you, this lil situation I've got going on over here stinks!  Screw the glass being full or empty, all I know about a glass is how badly I wanna throw the durn thing against a wall :-)

So there, I said it. Judge if you feel necessary, but you won't find me losing sleep over it. Yes, there is a time and place for positivity, but there's also something to be said for honesty and taking a moment to be real with how you feel. 

Honestly, sometimes life is just not fair. Thats the truth, and sometimes...a lot of the times, the truth hurts.

Toes in the sand ...

So last week Blair and I took off to the panhandle for a little one on one vacay. It's fabulous that BOTH of our families take beach trips each year, but it also makes it hard to squeeze in any kind of 3rd trip ... sans family. It had been 2 years since our last "us only" trip , so we just put our foot down and scooted on out of town.

We visited our favorite little hang Rosemary Beach. For those who haven't been, GO! It truly is the best kept secret of the Florida Pan handle...hmm, maybe on 2nd thought, don't go ;-) The whole vibe of RB is just perfect. It reminds me of a small European town  ... on the beach. Sidewalks everywhere, brick and cobblestone streets, wine bars, bakeries, the list goes on. It's such a treat for both couples and families b/c there really is SO much to do and see for both. It was great for us b/c we could literally park the car and not get in it again until the weeks end. Everywhere you want to go and everything you want to see is within walking distance ... and it's a BEAUTIFUL walk at that. 

Blair and I first frequented RB about 3 months after we started dating, so it's such a sacred place to both he and I. We have so many great memories from our first trip, and always look forward to going back and making more! The week was absolutely perfect...we had great weather, great food, great drinks, and great laughs. As always, vacations seem to go by too durn quick, but I think that's just how the cookie crumbles. We are now back in town, and back to reality. BUT, are tanks are refueled (somewhat), and we're ready to hit the ground running. We have SO much going on, so we'll take all the help we can get :-)

CMT Awards 2011

We had a great time at this years CMT Awards! It's always a blast, and this years show and after party was one of the best. I forgot my camera at the pre-party, so the pics are few and far between...but here are some cute ones I bummed off others :-) 

I know it's been forever since I've posted, things have been just CRAZY busy, lots going on over here ... can't wait to get caught up soon though:-) We are off to the beach today (praise the lord), so stay tuned for a post beach trip post soon! XXOO

Just breath ...

These past few weeks have been PACKED full. Between traveling to and fro LA, and all the other stressful tid bits floating around right now ... auditioning was the LAST thing on my mind. Running my songwriter sweeties publishing company with him is keeping me both busy and extremely fulfilled, so it's been quite some time since I've even had the audition "itch". And technically, I am not even suppose to be performing yet. However, here I am, with one audition and one dance call-back under my belt ... 

2 months post-op, shh!

Auditioning in Nashville is very different then auditioning in NYC. The main difference being that you audition once for the entire season, per year, rather then per show. Nutshell, if I ended up missing all of the auditions here, I would have to wait a year before I would get the next opportunity :-/

So, I caught wind of an audition @ Studio Tenn Theatre Co. It's a fabulous equity house here in town, run by NYC bred theater peeps, that are making a huge splash in our theatre community. Funny, one of the in house board members and directors actually went to my school ... crazy, right? The audition went really well, and I end up getting a call-back. Great, right? Wait for it, the catch, I am called back for the DANCE roll, not a singing role - nuts! To go or not to go, that was the question. I went back and forth about it (back and forth back and forth), and ended up deciding to go. Let me just tell you, girlfriend is out ... of...shape! Sore does no even begin to cover what I felt that night! All that being said, I actually held my own and did pretty well. The choreographer was GREAT. She had her knee replaced when she was my age, and could definitely relate. When your body has failed you in such a drastic way, it's hard to trust it again. It's a process that takes time and baby steps. Talking with her and seeing her dance (knowing what she had been through) gave me great hope with my recovery too. If nothing else, I think this might have been the silver lining of why I was suppose to be there. Sometimes, that's what it's all about. Not the specifics nor the logistics...but a greater lesson to be learned. So today, I pass this learning curve on to all of you lovelies. I challenge you to pick something in your life that you want to tackle, that perhaps seems bigger then you and just DO IT! Just take a deep breath ... and leap. 

I did.  

I went, I danced, and just like you will ... I survived :-)