DUMPED: top 2 tues, best dresses EVER and texts from last night...

first, go enter my gorgeous earrings giveaway!  
now:
i seriously just dumped my lulu's shopping cart.  

emptied it out and closed the tab.  

why, you ask? because i'm having a mother freaking love affair.  

courtesy of my bff from HS, emma, comes...

where are all of these GORGEOUS gorgeous dresses from?

you will absolutely never guess.

abercrombie and fitch.

not lying.

what? you couldn't read that? that little acknowledgment of me still adoring the place i shopped in HIGH SCHOOL? six years ago?! what's wrong with me?! fine! i will admit it! 

ABERCROMBIE AND EFFING FITCH HAS STOLEN MY HEART AND WOULDN'T GIVE IT BACK FOR LESS THAN [A LOT LOT LOT] OF MONEY!  

ahem.  before i go and feel too badly for myself, look at this text from last night (www.textsfromlastnight.com) that my friend sent me:  (860): You are possibly the most enthusiastic, likable bad influence I've ever met.  i know, so cute that you die, i die, rachel zoe dies...what a fan-freaking-tastic post this has been!! haha only 45 days until i'm back being a bad influence in san diego all over again!

oh almost forgot, top two tuesday a la:

 

tv shows!

1) anything real housewives...yes, it's trashy, but they are SO GOOD! my fav is real housewives of atlanta :D

2) MILLIONAIRE MATCHMAKER

and can i have a cheat?

3) addicted to beauty [thank you undomestic chica for the save - i can't believe i put the name wrong! ...you know you've been away from reality TV too long when...] - LOVE gary!! love this catty, plastic surgery obsessed, la jolla based tv show! i think it's on oxygen, and if you haven't gotten a chance to watch it, PLEASE do...if you love trashy, non-sex based reality tv (still very vapid), this is the show for you!!

finally, check out this delish looking Uncle Bob's BBQ Sauce Giveaway @ Jimmy Choos and A Baby, Too!
a store i hadn't heard of (sadly!) until now - CSN Stores $50 gift card giveaway @ Fashion Nicotine!
AND via one of my very very very favorite bloggers, Mrs. Stoneking @ Meet the Stonekings:

!!whew!!

happy half birthday to meeee

happy half birthday to me!

happy half birthday to me-e-e-e

happy half birthday to me!!

...ahem, and check out/enter my beautiful earring giveaway if you haven't had a chance!

so in honor of my half birthday i went shopping on lulu's...i like to fill up my shopping cart with beautiful dresses, but i still haven't ordered anything because their return policy stipulates it must be returned within 30 days, and lord knows it takes 30 days to even GET anything out on this ship, much less return it!  without further ado, i give you my half birthday wishlist:

i can't wait to get back and wear beautiful teenie little dresses all the time!!! from first to last, these are:

buttercup baby dress

coast is clear dress (also love in purple)

lemon meringue

little sparkler

printed matters

most likely to succeed (front and back)

and although i love my giveaway the best (what can i say? i'm understandably biased), here are some other superfab prizes you can win:

KAG's Huephoria Wine Glass Giveaway

Kitchen Belleicious' Lisa Leonard Jewelry Giveaway

Shopaholic in Alabama's A. Tierney Cuff Giveaway
Everything is Better Pink's All Modern Tote Giveaway
Sarah Elizabeth's The Pretty Pearl Monogrammed Hangar Giveaway
Little Miss Southern's Rival Fondue Pot Set Giveaway

 and i can't weigh myself because we're rocking so much - good thing = i don't want to eat because i'm seasick, bad thing is i won't know what i weigh until we pull in to our next port!  i can't handle not knowing!!!

100+ followers = my first GIVEAWAY!!!

om freaking f g. 

i am so so so beyond psyched to see that i have more than 100 followers...

...so psyched that i am going to host my very first giveaway!!! yaaaay!

the winner will receive her choice, either: 

grace pearl earrings or starfish earrings - both beautiful and perfect for spring and summer!  one's classic, one's so preppy and cute, i wanted to let the winner make her own choice!

 

to get entries:

leave individual comments (because i'm lazy and am going to use the random number generator) for each of the following:

1) comment and tell me your favorite thing on www.stellanddot.com/alannastrei and why (1 entry)

2) link back to this giveaway in a blog post and link me to your post (1 entry)

3) become a follower! (or comment to let me know if you already are one) (1 entry)

yay!! this is really dorky, but as soon as i hit like 79 followers i was like 'sweet jesus, if you ever bless me with 100 people who are willing to read my mindless blathering about being stuck on a FREAKING SHIP [i went on in this prayer, a lot more about being stuck on the ship, then i complained about not being able to lose these last 10 pounds, then i prayed for luck getting a boyfriend...i kind of got a little off topic, but then i finished finally and prayed...] I WILL HOST AN AMAZING GIVEAWAY!'

and other sidenote: becky has convinced christina that we're going to go to vegas when i get back from deployment.  THANK YOU BABY JESUS, YOU WERE LISTENING!

eta: giveaway will end at 1159pm 28feb10...my time. and given that we're transiting back toward SD and shifting clocks constantly, i have no idea technically what time that will be...it's a myyyyystery!!

top 2 tuesday, giveaways, and if i am dead tomorrow, this is why...

so, when we have trouble making water onboard the ship (reminiscent of the whole "water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink" thing), they'll shut off hot water so people take faster showers.  i put off washing my hair as long as i could, but i finally had to and honestly, it was too freaking cold to get back in and rinse out my conditioner, so if y'all just check back in a couple of days i'll be able to tell you whether there really is a difference between leaving in Redken All Soft Heavy Cream for five minutes or two whole days.  i'm hoping i end up with incredible, super soft model hair.  more likely it'll just be kind of dull and dirty looking.  oh well, can't win 'em all. 

...annnnd i came back to finish this entry this afternoon, and there is no more water available on board.  four diet cokes later, i'm pretty sure i'm getting more dehydrated, not less.  unfortunately, i may or may not have eaten half a slice of cheesecake at dinner (what?! these are stressful times!) so i have to do jillian michaels again.  

so.

if i die tonight of dehydration, just know that i loved you all, my blog friends, and more importantly, that i was trying to burn that sinful cheesecake right off my not-so bikini ready hips.  death before dishonor, right?

top 2 tuesday a la jimmy choos and a baby, too:
top two dream vacations:
all expenses paid resort -
my fam always does celebrity cruises, which are amazing, but i'd like to switch it up a little
greek island cruise - 
i went to italy and greece for vacation when i was younger, spent a summer a few years back studying in southern france, and have now been out and about in the middle east...i may have a bit of the travel bug, but i am not really the 'real' bugs and camping type.  so maybe a resort in the greek islands? greek island cruise? basically anywhere surrounded by those beautiful blue domes:

perfect place to sport these Lilly Pulitzer McKims I found on sale (only $91!) at zappos:

here are some amaaaaazing giveaways that y'all should check out:

kristen @ kristen's palace's cookbook giveaway!
and thank you so much to Shopaholic in Alabama - I won her Mardi Gras giveaway!!
(the first giveaway I've ever won!)

 p. freaking. s.

i totally forgot - the most exciting that's happened all week - 

Kassim Osgood? gorgeous San Diego Chargers Player?

well...i see him tagged in this photo and he's wearing a pacific beach shore club drinking glove (and y'all know my love for pbsc) so i comment on it and say 'hot before, even hotter now with the pbsc glove!' or something like that, and,

he. 

writes.

me.

a message.

kassim osgood, professional NFL football player, takes the time out of his day to message me personally on facebook and say,

 "thank you prettylady"

so...y'all are all invited to the wedding. 

aaand a romanceless valentine's day...sweet.

i just realized the saddest. thing. ever. this will be my first valentine's day in as long as i can remember (literally since i had my first kiss) that i won't kiss anyone on valentine's day! what has my life become!?!?  you all make out with your boyfriends/lovers/husbands extra hard in honor of the poor people who can't!! (heh that is kind of gross, please do not actually think of us while you're doing it)

my depression is further compounded by the fact that i made a budget today - if i save 20% of what i earn pre-taxes, pay my bills and my taxes, i'll only have [$xxxx] a month to LIVE on! how will i eat?! how will i go out!?! (i'm not posting the number because i think it might be kind of rude and there are obviously people in the economy who are struggling much more than i am, but it is still going to take an ADJUSTMENT!)  i think i will either have to get a boyfriend (still part of my brilliant plan) or stop going out as much.  or pregame more.  or start smuggling alcohol into bars.  i did that once in a water bottle, horrible idea because when you're trying to subtly pour it under the table you tend to spike your own drink.  i was smashed.

annnyways, y'all have to check out becca's (lovely yellow ribbons) zazzle store.  she hand draws everything, and she's crazy talented (she doesn't know i'm posting this, it's just that i just looked @ her store again and i'm obsessing).  

so, speaking of my romantic history (we were, weren't we? especially in honor of the lack thereof that will occur tomorrow?), i was looking for this quote:

"When it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I'm already better than them." - marilyn monroe

to post on My Brunette Reality's comment section because she'd been having some trouble with rude people, and it reminded me of something that happened to me this summer.  i was going to a school for work, and i was gone for like three weeks.  i knew two girls who had met their now-husbands there, so i was like, great, i'm going to meet my future husband (i always think i'm going to meet my future husband, keep in mind...and we have to have a cute story of how we met so i always take mental notes during first meetings with guys), so i'm having a great time, going out and meeting people in class and at get togethers and so forth (this is in newport, RI for anyone familiar with the military).  i come back, after three weeks, future husband-free (although i did meet a gorgeous, super tall officer dentist who's messaged me a couple times over deployment - we only hung out once before i left because his residency hours were so restrictive), and i hear a rumor that i was hooking up with one of the instructors!  what the f!? i wish!  when i first became single (after aforementioned abusive horrible boyfriend), i also heard rumors that i was enlisted (enlisted and officers can't date) and guys would be nervous to talk to me because they didn't want to get in trouble.  so MBR, i feel you - who are the girls that plot these things and think them up and spread them!? so. weird.

lastly, tomorrow is your last day to have 20% of the net profits from your purchase on www.stellanddot.com/alannastrei go to benefit Save the Children's Haiti Relief Fund! 

annnnnd the real last best part?!!?  
i weighed in at 141!

liberty is RESTRICTED!

my parents encouraged me to apply for an ROTC scholarship when i was applying to colleges (primarily because University of San Diego was $40k++ a year), and when i got the scholarship, they said, why not take it?  you can always drop it after a year, with no obligation. 

nearly six years later, here i am. fully obligated. which means when we've been underway for 48 days straight (with 300 of our closest friends...and by friends i mean coworkers...and by coworkers i mean those people that you would really prefer to see a lot less than you actually do), we've finally pulled into a port, and, shockingly, people got drunk and hooked up.  unfortunately, these same people did this hooking up on the ship.  so, there goes our liberty.  

good things about not being able to get off the ship even though we're in port:
1) can't spend money on alcohol.
2) can't spend money on pretty much anything. excluding my online shopping habit, but that's a problem underway, too.
3) don't have to spend money on a hotel room.
4) i don't have to 'waste' a cute outfit...

...okay, that cute outfit one? now i'm really reaching.  i am sooo annoyed that we are stuck on the ship (and i'm running out of food!  i'm down to my last easy mac!)!  ugh! why would people hook up ON A SHIP when we're in a port, you ask?  because not everyone is allowed to stay out overnight.  oh, those poor, sex-starved people.  crappy that we're all getting punished for it.  

anyyyyways, more exciting news: Stella + Dot spotted on Real Housewives of Orange County last night!  looove it!  please remember, if you're ordering Stella + Dot jewelry, to order it through my Independent Stylist site, www.stellanddot.com/alannastrei , as opposed to going to the corporate site, so I can track it for my Save the Children Haiti Relief Fund donations!

in final amazing news, check out the lineup for stagecoach this year:

i hope that we make it back in time!! keep your fingers crossed for me!
oh btw, it looks like we won't get extended after all - so if you live in san diego, open up your calendar to come to a stella + dot trunk show, or to host one of your own - it's free, and you can earn free jewelry!

finally, thank you so much for these two awards i just received:
And thank you to the super sweet (and funny!) JM at The Tale of a Southern Belle who gave me the:

"The Sunshine Award is given to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world. I am now going to pass along the sunshine and present this award to some of my favorite bloggers who make my day "A Sunshine Day!"
1.  Meet the Stonekings 

2.  Confessions of a + Size Girl

3. Everything is Better Pink 

4. Hot Pink Leopard and Pearls 

5. Previously Plump

"This award means you're really going places, Baby. You'll still be blogging about your great adventures 10 years from now, and I'll still be reading them."

The Rules: * Link back to the blogger who sent you this award

* Post where you would like to be in 10 years

* Pass it on to 5 other special bloggers!

Thank you to Becky @ Meet The Stonekings - she is the cutest and totally someone i would be friends with in real life!

hmm...10 years from now...

wow, this time two years ago, i would have had an entirely different answer-i was living with an emotionally abusive, controlling boyfriend, about to graduate from college and join the navy.  i am in such a different place now, and so grateful for that (even though it was quite a messy breakup - police called twice, my parents flying out to move me out - every tacky, COPS/white trash style scenario possible.  still so embarrassed that i made such an amazingly poor judgment of character).  

but now! now, i am so, so blessed!  i have two incredible best friends, i have no debt and healthy savings, i am fully qualified in my job (yay!) with a promotion and big raise in may, and i am happily, joyfully single.  in 10 years, i'll be 33, and hopefully my life will be amazing.  i'll have linked up to a junior officer recruiter (unless i picked up lateral transfer to public affairs officer!) and will be working in the big, bad corporate world (with REAL CLOTHES, no more uniforms!! yay!!), i'll hopefully be in a serious relationship, i'll be fit and un-sundamaged, and i will look back fondly on my twenties...which means i need to get back to san diego and start living them!

Your turn!  this award goes to:

  1. Destined for Royalty 

2.  Nautical By Nature 

3. Preppy 50 and Loving Lilly

4. Pink Champagne

5.   Sarah Elizabeth

now tell me, does anyone want any souvenirs from thailand?  it's allegedly on our port visit list (a little place called phuket!), and i would love to send you a postcard! just comment with your email, and i'll get your address!

peanut butter, leopard new balances, top 2 tuesday...

i know exactly why i'm single...it's things like what i'm doing right now:
eating crunchy peanut butter out of the jar. 
with my finger.
and it's the bottom of the jar so my whole hand is peanut buttery.
...wait, it gets better:
it's my roommate's peanut butter.

ok, now that i've gotten that confession out of my system, are you ready to die rachel zoe style? [i definitely just got peanut butter on the keyboard.  sh!t.  now she'll be able to smell it [or sense it or something] when she gets back...i should have been more crafty about this]

 

LEOPARD PRINT SNEAKERS!!!! NINE WEST AND NEW BALANCE TEAMED UP FOR 2009 (yes, i'm behind the curve...forgive me, i LIVE ON A WARSHIP!) to develop amaaaaaazingly cute sneakers!! must. own. immediately!!

speaking of must own immediately, looking at everyone's wintery snow pictures reminded me that it is still winter, which had me looking at some winter weather jewelry, and i am really, really, really considering this gorgeous bib necklace - it's been in instyle, people, etc...

 

stella + dot natasha bib necklace  

and it's soo pretty and versatile and inevitably timeless...

and speaking of snow-envy, i decided to participate - here's my poor, northern virginian snow-bound home:

and that was before the 10-20" they were expecting today!!

before i forget, i want to add that the caveat to my peanut butter eating is that we're finally in a port, so i can replace my roommate's jar tomorrow and she'll never be the wiser! i am not of the 'steal food and don't replace it' variety, don't worry :D speaking of being in port, i hung out with these two hoodlums last night (and a third hoodlum, not pictured, in case you're keeping track):

 

i hear this morning someone making fun of one of them for getting in a fight...let's all laugh at the fact that i don't even remember said fight, and i was THERE!  it's like my drunk memories are stored in a different part of my brain...

ok, so my top two tuesday (jobs), a la Jimmy Choos and A Baby, Too:

realistically: i would love to laterally transfer and become a public affairs officer (possible now that i got my SWO pin!!)

not-feasibly: i would love to be a waitress!! i used to be a server at morgan run country club in rancho sante fe, and i loved it!  i love working in food service - you can fix every problem and there is always a way to make the customer happy!  the only problem is that with a paycheck like that, i was experiencing way too much "champagne tastes on a beer budget"

sidenote: got care packages today from my mom and cousin, very very thoughtful and if you know a girl on deployment, send her MAGAZINES! they are a hot commodity out here...the other most popular thing i received in my care package?  bacon salt! yes!!!!! thank you mom! slogan?  "everything should taste like bacon".  i wholeheartedly agree, bacon salt maker people. and i'm a vegetarian.

and finally, have y'all noticed everyone on facebook has a celeb pic up instead of themselves? i was like oh, lame trend, so dumb, blah blah...and then my best friends turned into britney spears and tara reid.  thus, i give you my drunken celebrity doppelganger (this is so sadly accurate that my mother sent me a facebook message that said, and this is a direct quote: "stop drinking. you look terrible." - very supportive, mom.  also you don't even recognize your own daughter?!!? or your own 'not' daughter?!)

   

and besides, i would never post such a hoochie bra showing picture if it was really me!! i tell ya! 

annnyways, i also wanted to thank sweet darling Kitchen Belleicious for my first award of February! 

thank you thank you thank you!  i am going to pass this award on to six lovely bloggettes:

lovely yellow ribbons

essential luxuries

lola's journey to and from

peach bellini bride 

the pink washingtoniette

sparkles of life 

(she and i are both named alanna, and we both have the sparkles in our blog titles...it's a sign!)

some of them have very small fan bases so far, so please check out all of their blogs - they're amazing and hilarious and i read them religiously, and they're totally over the top! (in the good way, obviously)

finally, check out these two giveaways:

short southern mama's lydia and pugs giveaway

miss kriss's thomas paul tote giveaway 

enjoy!!

so i know i'm supposed to be kind, and generous, and benevolent and magnificent and all those sweet words, right?  well right now i'm seasick, so i'm feeling kind of grouchy and fairly mean.  

thus:

isn't it the WORST when you find this girl that you totally hated in college (and you don't hate very many people because you're generally a nice person and can't really be bothered to put negative energy out into the universe, especially when there are so many cute boys to meet and great clothes to buy, but this girl is a royal b and you really haven't liked her ever since you met her, and you had always heard she wasn't very nice and then when you finally had to work with her you realized the rumors were true? and then you're just doing some normal feeling sorry for yourself facebook stalking while the ship pitches and ROLLS back and forth and you realize that she's MARRIED and she's lost like those last 10 pounds where you go from normal girl pretty to famous girl pretty and she just looks freaking ridiculously great? and you're throwing up!?!?  and her husband actually looks like a fairly nice guy and she's actually prettier then he is cute but not in that oh what was she thinking way?

ugh.


anyways, on a happier note:

Kate Spade is currently running a Don't Fret promotion (I can't remember whose blog first posted this, but thank you!) . . . use code DONTFRET for 20% off your total purchase, including sale.  thus, i give you "i'm not married and i haven't lost 15 pounds and i'm not little, teenie and blonde but in fact tall and redheaded and i'm seasick and you're probably snuggling with your husband" shopping list:

Kate Spade Key Fob

Kate Spade Centro Mikkel Tunic

said tunic will go very well with my favorite Stella + Dot Palm Beach Collection accessories:

Boca Necklace with Bee Broach - Gold

Palm Necklace with Starfish - Silver

Boca Chic Necklace - Coral

blah, time for more dramamine!  and no more stalking - i guess we all end up on different paths...or something. right?

diet coke, kappa kappa gamma and giveaways!

soo, the stress from my board last night (details to come, i know you're waiting on pins and needles) and my poor stress management skills means that i weighed in this morning at 143.4  ... oops.  i have to get back on the wagon - we're pulling in to port soon so it means i won't get to wear my super trendy romper (aka mechanic-style coveralls) anymore and i'm going to have to fit back into my Sevens! 

  annd about my board...well, neither of us passed.  we have to do a half dozen 'look ups' and then report back to the Commanding Officer, and then we get our pins.  good news? we should be pinned by tomorrow, and i only know 1 person that didn't have to do look ups before he got his pin.  so, kind of yay?  i can't decide if i deserve the reward dress quite yet...i'm thinking that i may have to hold off and see if i like something when we pull into port as opposed to rewarding myself just yet.

and finally, bummer of all bummers, i have had a horrible revelation.  i'm ADDICTED to caffeine.  addicted!!!  i had the WORST headache this morning and i tried everything - a nap, bottles of water, a zone bar, music, no music, laying in the dark, everything...it wasn't until i gave up and decided to face the day, drinking a diet coke, that my headache disappeared!! i guess there are worse things to be addicted to?

finally, thanks to Eileen, my first international stella + dot customer!  i'm so amazed at how much support i've gotten from the blogging community about my Save the Children Haiti Relief Fund fundraising efforts - y'all are so supportive!  feel free to send your bfs and hubbys over - we'll take good care of them and donate 20% of net profits to Save the Children.

happy valentine's day, y'all...i think i'm going to figure out a way to tuck the Uma flower into my uniform to celebrate the big day!

i am seriously counting down the days till we get home - LESS THAN SIXTY - because i can't wait to see everyone again.   i got another group facebook message from some college friends about celebrating a birthday, and i realized that none of us have started to do that group getting married thing...i hear that everyone starts getting married at once and i'll end up going to millions of weddings a year!  fortunately i was a
kappa kappa gamma 

so i know all of the weddings will be beautiful!

now, to work out, so i hopefully fit into my jeans (although i'd better fit into them given they were the pair i wore onboard back in my 158 days!)

lastly, check out these fab giveaways:

Semi Slacker Mom's Valentine's Day Giveaway

Decal Monogram's Easter Giveaway

eta:

okay, so remember my recent rachel pally jersey knit obsession?? (see the dresses in the last couple of posts) ...i was thinking to myself, why have i not become a devoted rachel pally fan? so i started googling, shopping, etc...and this is what shopbop had to offer in the way of rachel pally:

 

oh. my. g.

that's all i have to say.  rachel pally, you are hit or miss.

dress disaster :(

...okay, disaster may have been a little dramatic, but still...SO bummed!  my favorite dress? the Rachel Pally one with the little flowers?  THE LAST ONE SOLD RIGHT OUT OF MY SHOPPING CART!  that is the last time i am patient and wait to buy something instead of just buying it when i want it!  this could have disastrous effects on my bank account, but i can't handle this heart ache ever again!  

consequently i will be be buying this sucker immediately:

 

Lilly Pulitzer Petula Dress in Limeade Coral Me Crazy 

pink and green, coral, jersey knit...it's like it belongs in my closet :) 

Under the Palm Tree is running a great promotion where if you buy 3 full priced items, they're all 50% off - for some reason their site won't load for me, so their amazing customer service is answering all of my questions via email while I fill up a shopping cart!

in a totally different direction, i think i'm going to pick up this jewelry today -

Stella + Dot St. Tropez Statement Cuff

It's so tough yet delicate, and I love the color - it will be gorgeous with my Mystic Tan when I get back!!  Hahaha this sympathy shopping I'm doing for myself because I missed out on an adorable dress is almost as fun as having the 'dream' dress.  I think I'll still get the one shoulder one if I pass my board tomorrow, though.

also, i've found that i'm super productive in reference to everything else (I'm in charge of my ship's Public Affairs and Morale, Welfare and Recreation) - i've published 11 photos this morning alone and planned the tours and hotel bookings for our upcoming port visit, two things i was putting off until i realized that there was something scarier (my board!) to put off!