Scottsdale

Doug and I spent last weekend in Scottsdale, AZ with his family. They go every year for Spring Training, so our days were filled with baseball games and delicious food. We had a blast!

And tomorrow, I will be in Atlanta! I can't even describe how happy I am to be going home, and I'm so excited to spend my 25th birthday on Friday with my sweet family! Mom, get ready for lots of eating and shopping :)

PS- Did y'all watch the Pretty Little Liars finale last night? SO GOOD! So many questions! Who burnt the house down!? What's in the trunk!? I don't think I can wait until June 11th!

My Tell All on the Women Tell All

I couldn't help myself with that "most dramatic title in blogging history." :)

I really shouldn't have waited so long to write this, because the details are quickly escaping me! But I made some notes while I watched so here are some of my thoughts about the Women Tell All taping plus some comments that didn't air.

-One girl that really surprised me was Selma. I felt like every time she made a comment, everyone in the audience was nodding along with her. She was unexpectedly wise and was spot on with everything she said. My favorite quote was to Tierra- "you've got to hide your crazy!" Loved her.

-Lesley made a funny comment that I wish they had shown. While Tierra was saying that she really wasn't an outcast in the house, Lesley said to her "Tierra, you were more of an outcast than Andre 3000!" Love my fellow UGA girl!

-I think they cut out the segment where the girls talked about Tierra's fall (I can't remember if they showed it!) But Sarah said that she was the only one who saw it, and it did actually happen. Tierra fell down the stairs, but everyone agreed that she definitely milked it for all it was worth afterwards to get more time with Sean.

-I couldn't stop laughing at Katie (the yoga instructor with curly hair) because she could not have looked more miserable to be there. She didn't say a word, and at one point I was wondering if she had fallen asleep!

-We sat next to Chris Harrison's assistant's sister and her husband, and I really loved getting to talk with them! They said he is such a nice guy, and the husband was actually wearing one of Chris's old shirts. Apparently they wear the same size so he gets all of his super expensive hand-me-downs. I just thought that was funny!

-The best part of the show was definitely when Tierra was in the hot seat. I loved watching the girls' faces while Tierra talked, because they basically rolled their eyes and laughed at her the whole time.

Best picture ever.

-The funniest part of the show was when Tierra told Chris Harrison that she wasn't really a fan of the show. He quickly came back with "And you wonder why people don't like you! You say that to me, on my show..." 

-Tierra was super sketchy about her engagement. She wouldn't give any details and will not share his name! Makes me wonder...

-Several of the girls cried when Sarah was talking. You could tell how much everyone loved her, and each other in general. They all seemed like such good friends, which doesn't surprise me because I think it was the nicest group of girls I've seen on the show! Robyn described it perfectly- she said that Sean is a classy guy with strong values, so they casted a group of really classy girls (for the most part :)

-As y'all could probably guess, AshLee was the one who I didn't like after seeing her at the WTA. During this season, I liked her but found her a little too serious and emotional. But after everything she did and said at the WTA, I am not a fan! Her frat boy comment about Sean really rubbed me the wrong way, and then to see her go on and on with her accusation...I was just so surprised by her actions! So so glad she isn't the next Bachelorette.

Dang, she looks angry.

-And this comment surprised me the most. Chris Harrison told Sean and Desiree that in the history of the show, there had only been 2 times where he felt that the lead may have sent the wrong person home. And he felt that way when Sean sent Des home. Des was by far my favorite this season, so I definitely agreed with him. But, after seeing last night's finale, I'm loving Sean and Catherine together.

Okay, now a few thoughts on the finale!

-I think I speak for everyone, everywhere when I say how wonderful Sean's family is, especially his dad. Oh my goodness, that man made me cry. They seem to be such a loving and close knit family, and I only wish their segment had lasted longer! If case y'all don't know, Sean's sister Shay has a blog...I've been following her since Sean was on The Bachelorette, and she provides some fun insight into being the Bachelor's sister! Plus she has the cutest kids ever, so go check it out if you haven't yet!

-I felt SO bad for Lindsay but was so impressed with how well she handled it. She is such a classy girl, and I loved it when she took off her heels...as a shoe wimp myself, I would have done the exact same thing :)

-All season, I just wasn't seeing the connection between Sean and Catherine (I read the spoilers before the season started so I knew she was the one). But I must admit, they were pretty adorable together in the finale. Sean is by far my favorite bachelor yet, and I really hope it works out for them!

-Des is the new Bachelorette. YAY! I have a feeling this will be my favorite season yet :)

What did you think of the finale? Are you excited Des is the next Bachelorette?

I just think this is too cute not to share...Sean loves boxers, too :)

Lily

My mom called Saturday morning with some very sad news. My childhood cat, Lily, had passed away. Lily was a very special girl. I got her as a surprise for my 15th birthday, and we just loved her so much. She was so quirky and sassy, which earned her the nickname of Princess SassyPants, and she will definitely be missed. 

My favorite picture of her- she was a little cross-eyed :)

Lily as a kitten with Deuce and our old cat, Bailey...truly the best cat we've ever had.

Lily, Charlie, and my Pep under the Christmas tree

She was very talkative :)

She loved to snuggle with Deucie

And she also loved Sean, along with the rest of us :)

We will miss you so much, Silly Lily! 

Dog Beach

*I meant to write a "Behind the Scenes" post for the Women Tell All today, but I'm sick and just didn't feel up to it! Instead, you get to read all about our trip to the Dog Beach :) I'm hoping to have the WTA post up on Monday!*

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A couple weeks ago, Doug and I decided to finally take Maisy to the Dog Beach in Huntington Beach! I'm a paranoid dog momma when it comes to dog parks, because I always fear that there will be a psycho dog that'll attack my sweet Maisy. But I finally put aside my fears and decided to try it out, because I knew how much she would love it. Maisy loves dogs of all sizes...she wants to be best friends with everyone. She made sure to greet every new person and dog that walked by, and she really had the time of her life!

A mid-sprint, tongue-flapping-in-the-wind, smile

She was, however, a big baby when it came to the water. It was a little too cold for her on this day :)

My favorite picture of the day. These surfers loved my sweet girl!

Afterwards, we decided to try out the Lazy Dog Cafe, where dogs are welcome on the patio!

AH! Can't believe I'm putting a make-up free picture of myself on the internet. Scary.

Lazy Dog Cafe was absolutely delicious. I had a turkey burger, which I immediately regretted ordering once I tasted Doug's pizza. We will definitely be going back for more. And I think it was Maisy's favorite day yet!

Ellen

I'm finally sitting down to write about our time at Ellen! First, a lot of people have asked me how I got these tickets- it's so easy! You can request them on her website, but keep in mind that they go FAST. This was the 3rd date that I requested, so I recommend checking the site everyday to ensure you get tickets!

Once we got to Burbank, Michaela and I grabbed some lunch at an adorable Italian restaurant down the street then headed over to check in at Ellen. We got pulled aside by two adorable girls who worked for the show, and they asked us if we'd be interested in doing a 'focus group' AKA would we want to be on the show. Michaela said no but I nervously said yes! So they brought a group of 14 of us to this little trailer and prepped us in case they chose us for the games! Through the entire process, I was SO nervous because I just wasn't sure if I wanted to be called up. But I went along with it and made a friend named Helen in the meantime. She was adorable and I just knew they would call her!

They escorted our little group to the studio and had our friends waiting for us there. We got to go into the studio first, and somehow Michaela and I got front row seats! Felicity Huffman was the guest, and my friend Helen got called up to play a game with them! I was very relieved it wasn't me :) We did see ourselves on TV though! 

Michaela's friend works in the styling department for the show, so she took us on a backstage tour after the show! It was such a fun day! 

The next day was our time at the Women Tell All taping which airs TONIGHT! It was definitely my favorite taping to date, and I can't wait to see what all they air tonight. It was a 6 hour taping, and they have to edit it down to 2 hours. My opinion of one girl definitely changed after seeing her (not in a good way!) so I'm interested to her what y'all think after seeing it, too!