Monday Morning Review (And Post #100)

Happy Monday, y'all! I woke up this morning with a renewed sense of spirit and ready to go! You know, it's funny. The nights when I have the most anxiety and pray for the most help are usually followed by the mornings of the most peace and renewal. I guess "funny" is not the word - more like faith. :)

Saturday evening Mom and I headed to watch the Heels take on Long Beach State at the Dean Dome. I was supposed to go with my brother, but he ended up having another obligation (quite the little socialite at 9 years old) and so dad gave me the tickets. First we went to Weathervane and had the.yummiest. apps and a glass of wine. I always forget about that place since Bansh and I haven't been around to have our brunch dates, but it is so underrated. I had a cup of potato/chorizo soup and butternut squash ravioli. Mom had polenta and vegetables. All delish.

We had the lower level seats for this game - so amazing. LD could tell I was that much closer to him and put on his best performance of the year with 13 pts and 8 assists. Also, TJ came out at halftime and got a much deserved ovation - quite the far car from his boos in the Dean Dome last year. Between those two, I was in heaven. :) We ended up winning a way, way too close game, 96-91. Now we take a week break for exams before facing Texas in Gboro next week. :)

On another note, this is my 100th post on this blog. :) I haven't really publicized this blog much (maybe that's something I'll start soon), but it has been such a great outlet for me, especially when I was at my old job and didn't get to write as much. I've grown so much in the past year and I feel like "Game Day!" has come along for the ride. From "A Perfect Mess" to "Game Day!" this blog has gone through a bit of transformation, but I hope it has retained some core characteristics.

I hope it has remained honest.
I hope it has remained interesting.
I hope it has put an emphasis on expanding and growing without forgetting where it started.

Looks like my blog and I have a lot in common. :)

New blog name and design - oh my!

Ok guys, over the past few weeks, "A Perfect Mess" had been boring me.  It was starting to feel like a rip-off.  Not that I copied anyone on anything, but the inspiration for the title was the Red Hot Chili Peppers song (still an incredible song - if you haven't heard it, go.download.now) and the site "mascot" if you will was Audrey Hepburn.  While I still lovelovelove the sentiment of "a perfect mess" and believe that we, and this blog, are all perfect messes, I want this blog to be uniquely mine.  Hence - Game Day!

Game Day! is perfect on many levels.

1) Whenever I wake up on football Saturdays (usually around 6am no matter our game time because I'm so excited) I text all my family and friends the words "Game Day!" They get really annoyed because it's way too early and I'm way too excited, but I can't help it - I really really love game days.

2) After waking up and annoying all my friends, I walk around saying "Game Day!" for most the day.  The only time this changes is during bowl season (if we're good enough to get to one) and I yell "Bowl Game!" all day.

And, most importantly,

3) Game days are perfect days. I look forward to them all week and savor every moment of them. There is no place I'm happier than tailgating in Craige and watching football in Kenan on a beautiful Chapel Hill day.  With this blog, I hope to get a little more of "game day" into every day.  Family, friends, food, fashion and football. Perfection. Or...a perfect mess. :)

Enjoy!

Revamping of the Blog

Over the past few days I have been giving "A Perfect Mess" a much needed makeover. I have played with it graphically and edited much of its content. The blog had become too much of a personal journal for me and while getting my thoughts and feelings out is important, that is the purpose of the 2-3 notebooks I fill up each month, not of this blog. While you will still probably see the occasional musing regarding my love life (or lack thereof) or social life, especially when I feel it applies to a greater message or a common good, I am going to attempt to leave the daily drama out. No room for that here. This is a happy, thoughtful place. :)

The inspiration for the title came from a Red Hot Chili Peppers Song, "Tearjerker." (If you've never heard of it, go.listen.immediately. Breathtaking. Seriously.) The song says, "She was standing backstage in a dress, a perfect mess." The sentiment is so beautiful -- that something can be a huge mess, yet still perfect. I think there is a little bit of a perfect mess in all of us. I know the term describes me. And this blog. Sports and fashion are my two passions, a combination that is unlikely, and in turn a bit messy.

When deciding on a picture for the title, I first thought of Helena Bonham Carter (Marla, from Fight Club). Marla is a giant mess in so many ways, yet I've always found her so incredibly intriguing and beautiful. I then decided she was too obvious a choice. Marla is definitely a mess, but she is a mess in the most blatant, observable way. Her clothing is dishevled, she attempts suicide, she attends cancer support groups to feel better about herself... definitely a mess. I then decided on Audrey Hepburn because I wanted to show the perfect mess in all of us. Hepburn is stunning, but had a life full of ups and downs, critiques and compliments, just like the rest of us. (She's also one of my idols, but that didn't affect my decision at all obviously.) I also thought this was a fun picture of her, a bit messy, a far cry from her usually prisitine appearance.

So welcome to the new "A Perfect Mess." Here's to accepting and embracing the mess within each of us.

Explanation

I've never really wanted to write a blog or have my own website. Don't get me wrong, I love writing, but when I think of blogs I think of teenage boys that weigh less than me, wear tighter jeans than me, and listen to the White Stripes while they "blog" about the materialism of America or trees getting cut down or their vegan diets. None of those things describe me. Yet, I have succumbed to the world of "blog-dom" in an effort to advance my career. Recently one of my role models in the writing/public relations world pointed out to me that I have toyed with almost every aspect of writing (magazine, newspaper, sports website, etc)...almost every aspect except blogging, which is apparently pretty big in these technology savvy times. So here I am... a twenty something recent graduate working an administrative job until I get my "big break" in the writing world. I am admittedly more interested in Christian Louboutin shoes than the "problem" of materialism, I typically go through more than two notebook's worth of paper in journals a month, and I could eat a filet mignon topped with a nice pinot noir reduction every night. But here I am in the blog world in an attempt to live my dreams.... here goes....