Holy Hotness, Batman! I Am Officially Excited...

...that one of my favorite shows premieres tonight!!!!!

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I've written about this show...ummm, quite a few times...and I always get SOOOO excited when it comes on, and for those of you who watch it - I don't know about you but I'm curious to see how the shake-up in the format is going to play out!

I love the fact that SYTYCD comes on right after Dancing With the Stars and American Idol finish up their seasons, and it leaves me without a gap of reality television greatness!

For all you SYTYCDancers out there, I'll follow up with my thoughts on the premiere soon!

Until next time,
Miss Chicken Wing

In Need of Encouragement

Peeps: today I am in need of encouragement, so imagine the smile that came upon my face when I opened my inbox and saw my Real Simple Daily Thought for today:

"Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Arthur Baldwin

I had a life change yesterday, and today I start my journey into the unknown. In my mind, I've been a mother for 5 years - since the first day I got my beautiful furbaby CiCi.



As any parent will tell you, the last thing you want to see is your child in pain. When they're little, you feel for them when they fall down and scrape their knee. You pull yourself together, patch it up for them, and send them on their way.

When they're in school, you feel for them when they didn't quite pass the big test they studied so hard for. You pull yourself together, give them the "we'll get 'em next time" speech, and then you help them study harder or do an extra credit project.

When they're teenagers, you feel for them when they seem to get their hearts broken every five minutes because someone treated them rotten, or the one person they thought they would love for the rest of their lives just won't love them back. You pull yourself together, talk them through it, and give them the encouragement they need to go on.

Throughout their lives, you do your very best to take care of them, pulling yourself together beforehand each time.

Long story short, I had to pull myself together yesterday. My little CiCi had been having some sort of trouble for the past week, and neither I nor the first vet I took her to could figure out what exactly was going on. She was having episodes of extreme pain and discomfort, and it seemed like nothing I did made it better - not the medicine she was prescribed, nor petting her, nor trying to distract her.

After a few days of no episodes, I thought we were getting back to good. I was wrong. After a pain episode on Sunday, and another yesterday morning, I took her to another vet. It was there that I was given the news that she has a bulging disc in her back, and that was what was causing her the pain episodes and loss of feeling in her back legs. I started to cry for her.

After a few minutes of using up the veterinarian's tissues, I pulled myself together and we formulated a plan of action. CiCi is on a new medicine schedule for a few weeks, and I have to keep her sequestered from MuChi and Wilkie for seven weeks. Yes, you read that correctly - SEVEN weeks. There is to be no playtime, no running, no jumping, and she must be physically carried both up and downstairs at all times.

I set up a "CiCi area" in the kitchen using one of the taller metal perimeter gates that you would use to contain a pet outside. I pulled out her puppy couch and put that in there, added a puppy pad (just in case), gave her one toy (since that's all she's supposed to have), and put her food and water dishes in with her.

Every night from here through the seven week mark, I will carry CiCi up the stairs, and then block said stairs with a baby gate, so she can't go back down by herself. I will let her lay beside me while I get ready for bed, and then I will pick her up and put her in the bed. I will then remove the puppy stairs so she can't go up or down by herself.

Every morning, I will say good morning to her and the boys, and I will pick her up out of the bed, and place her on the floor. Then when it's time to go downstairs and go outside, I will carry her down the stairs, and put her in her "CiCi area" in the kitchen. The boys get leashed and go outside first, then I put them back in the house, and it's CiCi's turn. I'll carry her out and put her down in the yard, and then carry her back inside to her "CiCi area" for the morning while her mom goes to work. After I give her the morning dosage of her medicine, she gets to hang out in her space while the boys roam around, and they'll wait for me to get home for lunch. Lunch will happen, and then basically the same process of going outside, and back to their areas.

It's definitely added time to my daily routine, so I am adjusting to this new schedule. It's also going to force me to attack each day with eagle eyes and extreme focus to make sure I don't make a mistake where CiCi is concerned. If I were to slip even just once, the results could be disastrous.

But, I think that's what being a mom is all about - you feel what you feel, then pull yourself together, and do what you have to do to insure your child (be it human or pet) is the best they can be. And, that's what I'll do. It won't be easy, so I'll be in need of encouragement, but I know I can do it.

I have to do it...for her.

Until next time,
Miss Chicken Wing

Chick's Pick: New Music on My Playlist

As you know by now, I love to share things with you, my Peeps, that I love in the hopes that some or all of you might love them too. Whether it's fashion finds, movies, TV shows, or music, I love to let you all in on what's rocking my world at the moment.

This edition of Chick's Pick will be of the musical variety (one of my favorites!).

Here are some tunes that you may never have heard but should hear, or songs that you can't get enough of. Heck, you may even hate these song selections, but that would just be silly, and I can't buy it. Here we go...

First up, "Animal" by Neon Trees. I love the lead vocalist's voice, and the song is pretty darn catchy. Check it out:


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Next up is Sarah McLachlan, whose angelic voice has enchanted me since the very first time I heard her sing a note. She has a cute and cheeky new tune out called "Loving You Is Easy." I'm digging it, so I would love to share it with you. Check it out:


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Next up is Aaron Fresh, who is a breath of fresh air in regards to pop/hip hop. (Pun only half-way intended). This song, again, is a catchy little diddy, and it's quite adorable. I do apologize in advance if "Spending All My Time Loving You" gets stuck in your heads - honestly, it most likely will happen! Check it out:


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Next up is one of my favorite bands of all time - Paramore! I've written about them in previous posts, and they continue to blow my mind, so I'm going to add two songs from them: their newest single, "The Only Exception," and one of my favorites from their latest album Brand New Eyes, "All I Wanted." The second video is simply because lead singer Hayley Williams' voice is absolutely sick in that song! You gotta listen to that one until the end - she hits a note that will make your skin crawl - and I mean that in the BEST possible way!


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So, I hope you enjoyed this musical journey today, and that you've found something to groove to during your busy day! I'm always happy to bring the tunes to you! If you guys and gals have found any good tunes that I might not be hip to, please comment and let me know! I'll give anything a listen once! :)

Until next time,
Miss Chicken Wing

Good Food, Good Friends, Good Times

Sometimes in life, it's easy to forget the simple joys that can be found in friendships. Friendships are funny creatures. They take work, you see. This has been made exceptionally evident to me this year, it seems, as new friendships have been cultivated, old friendships have been nurtured, and some friendships have even been lost.

We'll start with the bad and end with the good because I am a sunny-side-up and glass-half-full kind of gal!

{Bad} When friendships are lost.

I recently experienced loss in two forms regarding friendships. One most permanent and painful loss of friendship was when my friend left this earth to be with his Maker. This type of loss is incredibly painful becuase of all that was never said and the knowledge that all that was not said can never be said. It's a terrible feeling, and has the power to bring a grown man to his knees, so you can imagine what it does to a little Chicken Wing.

The other kind of loss is less permanent (as in it has the potential to change), but hurts in the same way. This type of lost friendship happens when you are left by choice - which actually in some ways hurts more than when a friend is taken away. At least you don't feel as though they didn't want you anymore. I have experienced this type of loss recently. I liken this dissolution to that of a romantic relationship - you put a lot of time and effort, and most of all - love, into caring for another person, and it hurts when they decide not to return those endeavors to you.

I found that the most prominent feeling this type of loss bestowed upon me was disappointment. I wish things could be different. I'm not sure what happened to make them this way. There were no answers to my questions...no regard for my feelings at all, really. While I could choose to dwell on it and over-analyze every detail, I cannot see what good would come of that. I believe it would most likely only wear me out, and again - it would be putting effort into something that's not wanted by the other party sharing the friendship. So, I guess you can't win them all.

{Good} When friendships are made and nurtured.

For every bad time, you experience a good time to balance it out. My good times came with reconnecting with friends that I either (a.) haven't gotten to see very often or (b.) spend time with in spotty amounts. This past weekend, I got to hang out with them for hours, and it really helped to recharge my batteries even thought the weekend itself was non-stop activity.

I got to see a l m o s t every friend I wanted to see that came back to town for our college's 2010 Graduation. It was so nice to be able to see the faces of the ones that the college introduced me to years ago. When I saw their smiling faces, I was taken back to a happy place and time - a time when we thought we were stressed, and some of the best times of our lives.

Then, after that, I got to have an ULTIMATE game night with some friends from work and the area, and it was another epic adventure for us! You tell me if we had fun: food, volleyball, ping pong, pool, basketball, pictures, laughter, music, and dancing around! I would say BIG WIN!

Here are some shots of the game night, courtesy of my girlfriends J and L. Huge thanks to them for documenting all the fun! We DEFINITELY have to have more of these great times!

Photo by L: This is me and L! She now lives 4 hours away and came to town!

Photo by J: The work/area crew with Little Men!

Photo by J: Littlest Man Attacks Miss Chicken Wing's hair!

Photo by L: Me getting ready to work my laser rocket serve!

Photo by L: Almost everyone at the gathering!

Photo by J: Me and the Littlest Man after he woke up from his nap! Got to love your friends' adorable kids! They are the future generations of friends, and I absolutely adore them!

The thing I love most about get-togethers like this is that it's a great way to see a ton of friends at once! We're all there because we want to be, and our arms are always open to "newbies" who want to join the group! I know it sounds completely ridiculous to say, but I love friends. I love those who I call my friends, and I love the act of having friends. They are essential to life, in my opinion.

And the real kicker about friends? The reason why you should want to continually work on your friendships?

{Because friends are the family you chose.}

Until next time,
Miss Chicken Wing

Quote(s) of the Day!

Real Simple magazine has been on a roll this week with their motivational quotes (that I handily get delivered to my inbox daily). If you would also like to enjoy this service, go here.

So, without further ado, here is some quote goodness for your week. I hope that you have found a reason to smile today!

"To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there." - Barbara Bush

"A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world." - Lois Wyse

"Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people's bad manners." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"Stress is the trash of modern life - we all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life." - Danzae Pace

"There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage." - Martin Luther

"Marriage is not a noun; it's a verb. It isn't something that you get. It's something that you do. It's the way you love your partner every day." - Barbara De Angelis

Until next time,
Miss Chicken Wing

A Belated Happy Mother's Day!!!!

To all you moms out there on the interwebs, I would like to officially wish you a belated, but sincere

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

I hope that you had a wonderful day and that you got to see the ones you love! I don't care if you're expecting, are a brand new mom, are the mommy of some furbabies, or if you've had children for years! You deserve a day that celebrates all that you are and all that you do!

I had a blast celebrating Mother's Day with my mom and with my maternal grandma! And, I was thinking about my paternal grandma and my aunts and cousins! I hope you all had an amazing day!

Love to all the moms out there!

Until next time,

Miss Chicken Wing

Decorawesome - Thank You, TJ Maxx!

I consider myself to be a Maxxinista, and I absolutely love perusing that store! With their fairly quick turnover of inventory, it's always a new adventure when you walk into TJ Maxx, and it easily enables the thrill of the hunt for me!

When you can find items that are normally too rich for your blood at a killer deal, there's nothing quite like it!

This segment of how yours truly, Miss Chicken Wing, is slowly making her little home decorawesome is brought to you by TJ Maxx!

Have you seen the photos that have been circulating fairly recently? They are letters that are actually not letters at all - they're architectural details that happen to look like letters!

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See what I mean? I fell head over heels for this form of art because I found it so interesting. In fact, since I happened upon this type of decor, I've even been looking out for any examples in real day-to-day life! I haven't found many, but the hunt is still fun!

The problem I found with this particular type of art is that it was pretty....pretty overpriced, that is. Enter my secret boyfriend, TJ Maxx.

I found two prints that were framed canvas and I absolutely love them! The first I bought was "Love." The quote that's featured underneath the architectural lettered-word is the George Sands saying, "There is only one happiness in life - to love and be loved."

The second that I bought is "Family." This print features the Anthony Brandt quote, "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."

Really, when you think about your home, what are the two most important components?

It's not the designer couch you stalked for months, comparison shopping at every furniture store in your geographical area. It's not the granite counter tops that scream, "Look at me! I've officially made it! I am somebody!" It's not the sassy and smooth hardwood floors that promise to make your life so much easier in regards to cleaning house.

It's not having a perfectly manicured lawn, a pool, a hot tub, both?, or a paved driveway.

The two most important components of your home are love and family. Otherwise, what's the point? If you have love and family in your home, it doesn't matter where that home is. Heck, you could live in a cardboard box (albeit a large cardboard box), but you would have what's most important in the world where you reside.

That's why I wanted these two pieces - not because of what they are as much as for what they represent to me. Every time I look at them, I get a gentle reminder of what's important, and that is an incredible bonus.

So, I left TJ Maxx, once again, a happy girl. Consider me a Maxxinista for life!

Until next time,

Miss Chicken Wing

Remember to Breathe...

Sometimes, I get so overwhelmed that I just don't know what to do. You know the feeling I'm talking about. I relate it to my cell phone. When the cell phone has been used consistently and has given absolutely everything it's got, it gets to a point where the only option is to just shut down.

Lately, I've felt like I was at that point - I was going to shut down. I needed to shut down.

I recently created a post entitled Holy Hiatus, Batman! In it, I was apologizing to my faithful Peeps for the lack of blog contribution lately, and I was talking about just how busy the month of April is in the Chicken Wing household. I thought that was insanity. I thought wrong.

Insanity came when I thought that I had enough to "deal with" in the month of April. I don't mean that in a bad way - honest to goodness, I don't. It's just tough to find that point of mental balance. Work has been more than crazy for the past month. I've been busy pretty much every single weekend. I'd fallen way behind on my housework, to the point that I was overwhelmed just thinking of all that still needed to get done. I had the incandescent joy of celebrating my anniversary with Mr. Chicken Wing, and birthdays of people we love most in the world. I received my annual reminder that I haven't seen my daddy in 15 years on the anniversary of his death. Then, while at Sam's Club and barely dragging by while getting much-needed toilet paper and half-and-half in bulk, I got the phone call - the call I first got when I was 10 years old, and life had changed as I knew it.

It was Wednesday, April 28th around 6:30pm. It was someone I hadn't talked to in ages - so long, in fact, that I didn't have her number. From the tone of her voice, I immediately knew this was one of those calls...I knew something was wrong.

Something was wrong. My college friend, one of Mr. Chicken Wing's fraternity brothers, had passed away. I felt the rug get pulled out from under me, and to be perfectly honest with you, I can't remember the rest of my Sam's Club trip. I can't remember the drive home. All I know is that I made it home, and I did manage to purchase everything that I needed at the store. Beyond that, all I knew was that I was numb and confused. He was 30 years old and one of the most healthy guys I'd ever known. He was famous for making everyone laugh. He had a really good job that he was proud of. He was a good man. He had just gotten married in October 2009. He was too young for this.

The next few days were full of phone calls and dead cell phone batteries. There was crying. There was listening. There was consoling. There were hugs, and well wishes. There was planning, and rearranging schedules. I had a very important meeting the morning after I received this news. My brain was pulled down two separate paths simultaneously: The first path led to focus - I had to keep it together. This was my meeting. The second path led to sadness and disbelief. How could I act as though nothing was wrong? He was my friend. To put it mildly, it was chaos. I had a bad day at work on Friday, and it was just way too much for one day...complete sensory overload.

I worked six days last week, and then drove north for the funeral with two of my best friends. We reminisced about Del, and the good times we had. We talked about our regret for having not seen him in such a long time. We pondered these things in silence at some points, too. I also had to formulate my plan of attack in regards to supporting Mr. Chicken Wing. This was very hard for him, because he knew Del longer than me, of course. It was also so hard because this was his first time losing a peer. Unfortunately, I've had quite a bit more experience in this area, so I knew how I would handle it. I didn't know what Mr. Chicken Wing would feel, or how he would react. I just knew I wanted to be there for him. I also knew I wanted to give him a huge hug.

The services were nice, and it was so good to see so many friends that I had been missing so much. Most of them, I had missed even more than I realized. The only thing missing was Del. Usually, when we all hung out, he was there, too. I think we all had to come to terms with the fact that it could never be that way again - it could never be like it was in the good ole days. I saw a friend of ours named Kyle, and that was especially difficult for me. You see, I have never known Kyle without Del. I met them together, and when they came back to visit the rest of us at college, they always came together. While they were equally fabulous individuals, they had always been a package deal in my eyes, and seeing Kyle without Del just felt so wrong. It broke my heart. It caused me to break down.

It also sent a wave of revitalization through the masses of our college friends. The days following were filled with messages of hope and of determination to live life to the fullest. We had to do that. We needed to do that in Del's honor. That's how he lived his life, and that's how we wanted to live, too. We were all determined not to let life get in the way of communicating with one another. Del brought us together in life. He brought us together in his death, too.

So, while I know none of us will ever be over this, sometimes it takes something like this to make you take a step back and appreciate all you have in your life. It makes you notice the smell of freshly cut grass or the sight of a perfect sunset. It makes you hold on to those closest to you just a little bit tighter. It reminds you that you have something else to look forward to once we all get to heaven if we do. That's when we'll have the biggest family reunion of all.

The friend I received "the call" from, Del, and Miss Chicken Wing

The fraternity brothers at two of my best friends' wedding...the bride, groom, and I rode up to the funeral services together. Can you spot Mr. Chicken Wing?

So, I once again want to apologize for the super light posting recently. I try not to let myself get so overwhelmed that the cell phone (aka Miss Chicken Wing) has to shut down. I plan to start picking myself back up here in the coming days. I know that when I finally catch up on my sleep that things will be better.

For now, my only constant thought is just, "remember to breathe."

Until next time,
Miss Chicken Wing