FAB-ulous?

These new Spitfire sunglasses purchased through Fab.com arrived yesterday.

As you can tell, I'm kind of in love.

And it doesn't hurt that with a $10 Fab credit, they arrived at my door for just under $11!

Did I mention I'm a sunglasses addict?! It's true...

Bangin' ...as in, I got bangs

So, Shannon, you said you would at least blog part of the time about something other than sports, right? Like fashion or food or something?


Yes, lovely readers, yes I did. So, I present to you the first post of that sort.

Thursday, I did something I haven't done since middle school. I got bangs. Actual bangs. Want proof?

These are in fact poorly lit, bathroom pictures, but you get the gist.

In October, I went in for a trim and fully anticipated getting bangs at that point, but one comment from the stylist and I was talked out of it. Over the next three months, I frequently wished I hadn't been talked out of it and, like I said, on Thursday, I decided to take the leap.

It might not exactly be obvious, but my bang inspiration came from two places. This post from The Beauty Department, and any and everything featuring Zooey Deschanel.

I love my long hair, but some times I just want something different. This was one way to achieve that without losing any length. Because I haven't had bangs in so many years, I'm still learning how to style them. So, I promise I'll do my best to post some other pictures of better quality soon.

What say you? Do you have bangs? Are you thinking of making the jump? I say do it. It's hair. If you don't like it, it'll grow back.

Weekend blogger?

So, I've decided that another appropriate name for this blog (which is probably already taken) is The Weekend Blogger because after one week in the blogosphere, I simply haven't had the time or energy to sit down and type out a post after work.

It's been a really rough week, and if you want to know why you can click here and read the story I've been covering at my day job since Wednesday. It's sad, I'll warn you.

However, this weekend, I've been able to step away from the job (isn't that what weekends are for?) and attempt to relax with family. And by relax, I mean watch sports.

Yesterday, my beloved No. 2 (soon to be No. 1?) Kentucky Wildcats took on the Alabama Crimson Tide at Rupp Arena. The Tide kept the game close, but once the Cats took the lead, they kept it. During the final few minutes, the Cats' lead dwindled to two points, but they ended up pulling out a six-point win. (For more on the game, feel free to visit here to read the game story from the Kentucky Kernel, UK's student newspaper aka where I cut my teeth as a baby journalist.)

And today, though I plan to squeeze in some much needed girl time with a friend, you can bet I'll be watching the AFC and NFC championship games.

I woke up this morning with the thought that by the end of the day, we'll know who's playing in the Super Bowl. While extremely exciting, that also makes me the slightest bit sad because it means football season is almost over. (Remember when there were football games on Saturday, too? I miss that...)

But for now, we'll focus on the exciting. I've already made my picks (see previous post), and we only have to wait a few more hours for kickoff.

One out of four ain't bad...it's terrible

Hello all! My apologies for not posting after yesterday's games, but I spent most of the day on the couch on a heating pad — yick.

Anyway, my post won't be too long tonight because I've already written five stories for work and I have to be awake to get ready for work in about six hours.

As the post title might suggest, my teams didn't exactly pull through this weekend. I had hoped to see the 49ers, Broncos, Texans and Packers pull out wins over the weekend, but the 49ers are the only ones moving on to play for the conference championship.

Oh well, so the Patriots didn't get Tebow-ed. There's always next year.

Come Sunday, I'll be rooting for the 49ers and, sticking with my practice of cheering for whoever is playing against the Patriots, I'll apparently be cheering for the Ravens. However, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a Pats-Giants Super Bowl.

What are your thoughts? Do you cheer for NotThePatriots, too?

Happy late Monday! May your work week be short and sweet :)

Congrats 49ers

Just a quick note to say — wow! What a game between the Saints and 49ers this afternoon.

I was happy to see the 49ers move on, and extremely touched by the emotion Vernon Davis showed after scoring the winning touchdown. It's heartbreaking (in a good way?) when you see players succeed against the odds.

That was an excellent game and exactly what the playoffs are supposed to be about.

Now, let's see if the Patriots get Tebow-ed.

How I became a sports fan

As a youngster, I was enrolled in TumbleBugs, a gymnastics-for-beginners class. One day, while not in class, I fell and broke my arm, thus ending my career as a gymnast.

In elementary school, I made the basketball team. I started one time (in the sixth-grade equivalent of "senior night"), and I amassed one stat (an assist). You can safely assume I never dreamed of making it to the WNBA.

Through middle school and high school, I was a cheerleader. I cheered three years on the varsity squad, and though our squad won the district and region titles my senior year, I was never the star tumbler or on top of the pyramid. The best thing I did was shake my booty to an eight-count.

I do believe cheerleading is a sport, but I won't harp on that, considering it's not my point. My point is that I cheered for football and basketball for six-ish years, and never once knew what I really meant when I belted out, "First and ten, let's go (clap, clap, clap)," and other game-related cheers.

So, when did I learn the meaning of those words? About three months into my marriage.

Aside from the question with an answer that resulted in a ring on my finger, perhaps the most important question my husband ever asked me was this: will you join a fantasy football league with me?

It took some convincing, but I eventually said yes.

One of the best (worst?) things about my personality is that I don't want to do anything unless I can excel at it. Never mind that this is the reason I never learned to whistle or ride a bike — I couldn't do it the first or second time, so I stopped trying. My point is, if I was going to be part of a fantasy football league, I was going to give it my all.

I started watching ESPN, listening to Mike and Mike during my morning commute and absorbing any piece of sports data I could fit inside my brain.

While many of those shows (whether on TV or radio) focus heavily on the NFL, they also squeeze in plenty of NBA news, MLB stories, etc. So, sooner or later, some information other than that pertaining to football started to stick.

I'll go ahead and put my allegiances out there, just so you know.

•University of Kentucky Wildcats — I'm a 2007 grad, and will always bleed blue.

•Miami Dolphins — My husband has been a lifelong fan. I cheer for the Dolphins with him, though I will root for other teams as well.

•Miami Heat — Again, my husband is a LeBron James fan. We watch him play and cheer on the Heat.

•Cincinnati Reds — Geographically, we live close to the Reds, so it's easy to go watch them. However, MLB is my least favorite of what I consider the three major professional sports, and I don't cheer that loudly for any team, even the Reds.