Red Cup Days Are Over

Boo-hoo.  I stopped by Starbucks today and I felt so deflated when I was handed a white cup.  Durn, the holidays are really over..goodbye exciting Red Cup; Hello Bleak, Boring, and Expected White Cup. For some reason, I freak out every year when the cups change over both at the start and the end of what Starbucks proclaims to the "holidays". I'm guessing by the title of this blog that you thought I was giving up drinking 420's out of red solo cups and to be fair, I did this years ago.  Styrofoam is so much better than cheap plastic and chick-fil-a cups are so less obvious to you know who.  ANYWAY, let's focus on the fun I've been  having.  Later on this week, I'll go back to blogging about work!

It's clear, we had a  blast over the last 4 weeks.  So much fun, in fact, that I couldn't muster up the energy to blog (in fairness, I can't really figure out how to put pictures on and it gets me so mad that I just give up and never post.)  But, New Year; New Attitude, and I'm giving it another shot.  I actually think I might have figured out how to use this  Mac.

To begin with, we saw Santa.  Bad news was that a) I scheduled him the same day as the SEC Championship, so Todd was acting so weird and hurried and b)Sydney had pink eye and a fever.   We go to Cherokee to see Santa and I think he is the lamest Elf of all time.  This year, he didn't ask the boys (who really cared) what they wanted, but instead spent our 3 minutes with him asking what Sydney wanted (to which the boys replied, "A Oink Oink.")  Really?!

We also baked cookies with our newest neighbor and BFF, Camden.  He is the sweetest kid and it's sorta like I gained another son.

One Big thing that happened was that Todd and I had either our 7th or 8th Anniversary. I can never remember.  He gave me the strangest flowers of all time that were delivered from some sketch part of Atlanta.  I was amazed by how "unique" they were that I took a picture.  Please note that they had  like 5 roses and then lots of babies breath and carnations AND some plastic ornaments.  I'm not kidding, see below:

To finish up 2012 we went to the mountains with Shana and Jaime's family.  Talk about fun times.  15 people in a 3 bedroom house.  9 kids 6 and under.  Weirdly enough, we had the best time. Our family is strange (and blessed) because we all get along so well.  I think it's because everyone pulls their on weight and no one feels like they are getting the short end of the stick.  Jaime is a little strange and vaccumed about 3 times a day, but I'll ignore his issues, after all, my mom would do the same thing had she been there.  Also, we drank massive amounts of beers and a gallon or something really big of Grey Goose which helped take the edge off.  Here are some pictures from the trip.

We drove like 3 total hours to find snow in the mountains and the kids played in it for 3 total minutes.

Jamie and Lissy's boys are like super humans.  Clemson Linebackers for sure.

Dads and kids..Davies is to the left holding a big stick and we were scared to get her any closer.

Zach became obsessed with the fire.

All 9.  Good Gosh.

I'll wrap up my Holiday Review with some pictures from Panic.  I'm not sure how many NYE's I've spent seeing them, but I'm sure that I didn't have to get up and drive home to Atlanta after 3 hours of sleep in the rain before.  It's so dang hard being a grown-up.

My Favorite Things Part 1

To be fair, I actually started this blog like two weeks ago, but I'm so horrible at figuring out how to get pictures off the internet, I just gave up.  However, I would hate disappoint all two of my followers that might miss this important entry.  Most importantly, my brother doesn't get on Facebook and I'm sure he needs some shopping help for my sweet SIL.

 While running one morning, my brilliant running buddy, Robin Fink, mentioned I should write an email about my favorite things and send it out to my Shop Shelley clients.  I'm guessing she forgot I'm a blossoming blogger and emails are so last holiday season, but either way, I do think it would be fun to do this around the Holidays to give people some good ideas for gift giving.  Clearly, my favorite things should be owned by all.

#1 Lululemon Power Y and Groove Pants.  These rock for one simple reason: they make you look skinny.  Also, they seriously don't fade AND the elastic fabric holds all your flab in all the places you need AND they are comfortable.  Win. Win. Win.
  












#2  YSL Red Lipstick.  Gosh, I really love this stuff.  It makes you look glamorous in just one coat and the color 


and the color stays on all day.  I feel like I need to mention that it also has sunscreen in it, so you can wear it 


at the beach and look awesome and protect those kissers.













#3  Sheila Fajl hoop earrings.  Jessica Knight, I know you agree with me here! These lovely earrings go with 



everything.  They are incrediably light weight and just the perfect shade of brushed gold or silver to make them



both casual and dressy at the same time.  I wear them with workout clothes, jeans and tees, and to weddings. 












#4 Sinless Margartia Mix.  This is a must have in my refrigerator at all times.  You can whip yourself up a 


refreshing, 5 calorie cocktail in no time.  I actually add one Miller Light Ultra to my batch and it gives the drink


a fizzy pop that is just what you need around 5 at if you live in the Sloan house hold. Also, this stuff has fresh


juices and vitamins to make you feel good about your unhealthy obsession with this mix. 

#5  Vineyard Vines UGA tote bag.  A super sweet real estate client of mine gave this to me as a closing present




Take note of this:  they gave me a gift instead of the other way around...dang, I must give amazing service!! :)



Anyway, the bag is just dandy. It holds everything from my computer to all the papers and notecards, and 


leases, and lip glosses I need to survive throughout the day.  Oh, and it currently has 2 packs of Boogie wipes


in it that I use to combat 3 nasty noses.  Preppy and functional.

Teeth.

Wow.  It's been two big weeks for teeth around the Sloan house.  Easley continues to lose a tooth like every week, thus, the tooth fairy has been super busy. Todd and I get such a kick out of Easley not understanding the meanings of words and he keeps saying he "wasted" the money the tooth fairy gave him, but he really means "spent."  For instance, he says he wasted his first $10 on books and the book fair and he wasted his next $5 on some new legos. Apparently he has major buyer's remorse (he doesn't get this quality from me!!)

 Shep is working on getting a cavity in each tooth by consuming a wild amount of Halloween candy.  I have taught him to brush his teeth after he eats candy, and  I keep seeing him with a toothbrush in his mouth. Since his mom is working hard to lose baby weight and I need the candy to be consumed as quickly as possible, I let him eat has much as he wants.  Also, if you know Shep, he is so active that I think he needs as many calories as he can get!

As for Syd..I found out today that my sweet baby has grown her first tooth! I'm blaming the tooth for the fact that she's a horrible sleeper..not that fact that I am the worst at keeping babies on a schedule. 

 While we are talking about Sydney and her growing up quickly, I must note she's started to eat solid food in the last week.  I took some pictures for my blog if anyone wants some quick pointers on how to make baby food...yes, I'm making my own. Like my friend Molly Knox said "Of course you would make your own food, since you have plenty of time with 3 kids and a job"(or maybe she said this when I started my blog..either way, she was stating the obvious that I love to add "projects" to my already slammed days.) I never even considered making it for the boys, but Shana's been doing it this time around and has promised me it's super easy and cheap.  So far, she's been right.  All you need is some fruits, veggies, a blender and ice cube trays and some big freezer Ziplock baggies to put the ice cubes in. I actually think it tastes pretty good.  Maybe I should go on a baby food diet to lose this baby weight. I'm pretty sure girls used to do it in college (not the late night Pokey-Stick-eating gals I hung out with! :)

 

Making the baby food was so easy I was able to do it while I had 4 little boys playing in the backyard, Syd in a swing, and I was working on an inspection amendment for a new listing we have under contract.  Speaking of which,  right now is a great time to get your house ready to put on the market. The best advice I can give you is to have the house ready to show beautifully in pictures for Internet marketing AND have it it good shape so that an inspection doesn't kill a deal.  Obviously, no one wants to buy a house they think is going to fall apart on them and be a money pit. It's not a bad idea to have your house pre-insepcted by someone you trust and go ahead and address the issues they find. This way, you will be good to go when you get an offer on your house (which is happening in record time these days!!) In short, grit your teeth, fix the issues and move on!


As I said earlier...it was a big week for teeth around here.  I had root canal number 3 that lasted two days because it was so yucky.  If I had addressed the pain I knew was building into a big problem a couple of weeks ago, I bet I could have saved me thousands of dollars! Oh well, you live and learn!!

I'll leave you with a couple of cute Halloween pictures!

Big Smiles

I'm back to blogging after a fun weekend in Sandestin with Shana and Zach and the babies.  We had an awesome time and I have lots and lots of photos to share.  Coming back to work on a Monday is never fun and I've spent the last two days reconnecting with clients and trying to get some deals to the closing table. :-).  I'm always amazed that every time I leave town, things that had been dead for weeks start to pick up..That brings me to the good luck of my first blog..the house I put a picture of went under contract the next day AND I had people from 4 different countries pull up my blog AND I had 5 old friends reconnect with me on  Facebook.  Now that makes this mama smile (and Syd too!!!)

*SMILE*

Syd Still Smiling.  I'm sure the beer helps Todd get his smile on...he stopped smiling soon after the UGA/UK game started.

The best part of the beach in October was the great weather (and Beerfeast).   Shana and Zach went with us and I was a little obsessed with taking pictures of Joe and Sydney together.  It's so cute they are 2 months apart. Joe's nickname is Smiley Joe, and you'll see why is just a moment.  Also, it's kinda funny to note that Sydney doesn't seem to have a neck, it looks like her head is glued on to her body.  Don't worry, I asked Dr. Koenig where it was at the 4 month visit and she assured me that she did in fact have one.

Joe always tries to grab Sydney's hair and ears, it makes her so mad.  

On the way home, we had to stop by the boy's favorite place and I took pictures for them...It's called the Gator Stop.  It's a gas station in Eufaula, Al.  The gas station backs up to the swamp and gators are just hanging out for us to see!

all the other lookers..

Thumbs and Smiles

Gator time.  Shana told me not to get eaten so she and Zach don't get stuck with our 3 kids. 

Alright, time to stop reminiscing about my relaxing vacation and get back to answering emails and back to WORK!

I'll leave you with a couple more pictures, because I know you love them!  Also, mom, I'm going to work on getting some pictures of us without alcohol in our hands...but for now, this is all I've got, it helps keep the smiles on our faces!

daddy duty.

Introducing the kids to TV early.  Shana thinks Joe already likes cartoons which makes me laugh!!

Happy Dinner! Miss you Twin!!

To Begin with, I'll overload you with pictures

Today, October 16th 2012 (3 days before my hubby turns 35) I met with my friend, blogger-extrodinar, Stephanie Gallman and asked for some pointers on how to be a blogger.  I've been throwing around the idea for the last couple of months since a) I love to write and b)I think it will be a fun avenue to share my personal and work life in one big swoop and c) it seems like a project I can do with a glass of wine..and seriously, that's really the only way to work.  

 Thus, over an amazing pretzel roll bbq chicken sandwich and some slaw with loads of feta and sun-dried tomatoes, she gave me these words of wisdom to get my blogging career kicked off with a bang: add pictures, lots and lots of pictures.   Done! Easy enough.  So let me start this blog endeavor the right way: with some photo love.  

Todd, my lucky husband,  with his iPad that I'm sure is on Rivals.com giving him never-ending-oh-so-important-UGA football-updates.

Easley (my oldest baby) watching over his little sister Sydney.

Shep,  wild child, with never-ending energy (he likes to show his muscles when he sees me with a camera.)

I gotta end with a picture of my mom, aka Nana (Isn't she beautiful??)  I'm hoping she follows me and that she forgives me for writing about wine in my first paragraph.

OK, ONE more picture, because, after all, this blog is about my job as a Realtor  too.  Take a look at the Sloan Team's listing in Smyrna, GA.  The house is perfect for families in a swim and tennis neighborhood with 5 bedrooms and a finished basement.  

Looking forward to much more blogging!!!!!

xoxo

Shelley