Dear Australia,

Love,

John Mayer

Cosigned by Me

Inspiration & Translation: Clifford's Living Room

As I go forth in the often daunting task of renovating and decorating Clifford from top to bottom, I have clung to a few sources to keep me from spinning off in a thousand different directions. My main inspiration for the living space on the first floor is this vintage circus poster Megalou gave me for Christmas this year.

The blue/gray background will be the wall color, and the greens, pinks, and yellows in the print will translate into furniture, window treatments, and accessories!

The yellow stripes will be curtains, the pink scheme is for the chairs, and the greens are the couch and accent pillows.

The green I am using on the couch didn't show up very well in the other picture, but here you can get a better idea of what a fun, vibrant color it is.

The solid pinky/red will be used on two armchairs, while the striped fabric will be the accent pillows, bringing in the green from the couch and yellow from the curtains.

It might be kind of hard to visualize how all of this will come together, I am having trouble myself right now...Toooo many decisions! However, my HOPE is that it will turn out somewhat like this.

Or this...

Then I will be lauded as a child genius in the design community. Fame, fortune, and best friendship with Britney Spears will ensue.

Can't see that natural chain of events? Come live inside my head for awhile. It's wild.

Stay tuned!

It's Fearless...

This time last year I was out on the open road with my bff Laura falling in love with Taylor Swift as we listened to her first album about 2-3 times a day from beginning to end.

Tonight I will be going to see Miss Swift in Chicago on her Fearless tour.

I am very excited.

I thought about wearing this.

taylorswift concert by BaileyQD featuring Rebecca Taylor dresses

Why, you might ask?

Because I am a freak.

And think maybe if Taylor saw the we have so much in common in the way of our taste in attire, she would ditch red-headed Abigail (sorry abigail, you're adorable, I hope you understand) and I could be her new best friend.

I am insane.

If you didn't know this before, please refer to my past posts on Britney Spears.

Whether or not any of this happens, I still think it should be a pretty good time!

And to my real life best friend, blonde-headed Laura...I wish we were still driving through the blue mountains belting out Love Story.xoxo

"She's still got it!"

Halfway through the show during one of BritBrits particularly hot numbers Pete turns to me and goes, "Well Bails, She's still got it!" I died. 

But let's start from the beginning. A driver came to pick Petey and I up at 4:00 so that we could make it to the venue in time for the VIP party and backstage tour. We were circling the venue a bit when we got there, unable to figure out where we were supposed to go, when all of a sudden we got caught in this crazy maelstrom of MIB (men in black) and a caravan of black shiney sedans and escalades, I look out my window, and see Ms. Spears herself being escorted into the venue. We were separated by merely two panes of glass...which come to think of it is probably more separate than we are during the concert...but nonetheless, it was  a great omen of things to come!

We finally located the VIP checkin and I give the woman at the door my name, look up, and nearly choke on my tongue. It was FE!!!!!!

All you true BritBrit fans out there will remember Felicia Culotta as Britney's beloved guardian/assistant from her early days. 

You may also know her from her role as the teacher during the Baby One More Time video...

{Click for link to YouTube video, embedding was prohibited}

When Britney started having some troubles a few years ago Felicia either left or was asked to leave, who knows, but she always remained completely loyal to our girl, and now she is back! I didn't really know what to do with myself, I chatted her up for a minute about our mutual southern-ness before heading off on the backstage tour, kicking myself the whole time for not cutting to the chase.

I thought I had missed my golden opportunity, but when we returned she was still there, working the room. I grabbed Pete, and being the Good Sport he is, he agreed to take a picture of me with her. 

"Um...are you Felicia...?"

"Why yes I am!!!!"

Surprisingly, I don't think anyone else had recognized her yet! She gave me a huge hug, and we took a picture:

And talked for about 10 minutes all about Britney! She talked to me about JJ and SPF who she said call her Auntie Fi, and that she took this gig because although she has been on the road with Britney since the beginning, she hasn't had as much interaction with the fans, and that she wanted to be able to go tell Britney before the shows about all the people she met and how excited they were! She also told me:

"You know Bailey, I prayed for so long that the world would get to know my girl. And for awhile I was afraid that I had prayed her an injustice. But she is doing o.k. I just want her to know how much people really love her."

I'm gonna geek out here for a minute, ok I know I have been geeking out this whole post, but still. 

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!

For a fan like me, that exchange was like the greatest gift EVER! Because if you are a REAL Britney fan you really do love her, and worry about her, and celebrate her success as your own. 

Basically, if you are a real Britney fan, you are a freak, but I am ok with that.

Now onto the show...

As always, it was AMAZING. There were a ton of great changes, which made it new and exciting for me even on my fourth time around. Plus, it was really great being able to share it with Pete, who was completely blown away. 

I'll let him tell you for himself...

"The Britney Spears I came to love, and hate, exemplified the crazy, bald umbrella wielding pill addict married to that hunk of a man, Kevin Federline. I wholly anticipated she would wiggle and sway back and forth much like the VMAs from 2 years ago. I was wrong. The show was actually awesome, and more so like cirque de soleil than a regular concert. Yeah, she lipsyncs the entire time, but she looked ridiculously hot and wore next to nothing all while dancers and clowns flipped through the air. Add some alcohol and it was a sweet concert. I'm not ashamed."-PMcC

I don't like anyone speaking about Britney like that, and I think he may have missed the emotional experience I had, but the fact remains, my girl won even the biggest skeptic over last night!

She sang a cover of Alanis Morisette "You Oughtta Know" which was 90s overload for me, too much joy. 

I am sad that my days at the Circus are over and that Britney and I still haven't met. But I am keeping the faith, it'll happen one day. Until then I am left with some great memories, and my motto:

WWBD?

what.would.Britney.do?

It's Britney Day!!

Normally Thursdays will be Entertaining Day, with recipes, party planning tips, and a wrap up of Worldly Wednesdays, but today...

It's Britney Day over here at Peppermint Bliss as I try to come down from my fourth, and final, Circus experience. I will have a post with a full rundown later in the day, but until then enjoy this official Circus Concert video (skip to 1:48- 4:00 if Perez Hilton bothers you as much as he does me...)

Fourth Times a Charm

I had wanted to do another post today on the beautiful wedding of my friends from Kent, high school sweathearts Ali & Lance, but I think I am going to have to wait until next week. 

{A preview of Ali & Lance's Wedding which I will feature in next weeks Wedding Wednesday Post}

I am LOVING all the feedback, and I hate to let you down, and I would never abandon you like this in that last dreadful hour of work, except I am late for a very important date with Ms. Britney Spears!

In mere moments a driver is coming to pick me and Pete (here-to-forth known as the best sport in the world) for my fourth, and final time at the Circus. Unlike my previous trips to the show I am not going with some deviant plan to work my way backstage and into BritBrits heart. I am just going to go and enjoy the show and share the experience with my beloved if not slightly reluctant date.

I mean, if one of her people sees me in my current crippledom and wants to take me back to meet her as a reward for my persistence and undying loyalty, obviously I will abide. 

But again, that is not why I am going. I will be back tomorrow with a full update as well as some other fun treats I have saved up for you, my beloved Blissies!

Hit me baby one more time...

So I think we are the point in our blogger/reader relationship where it is appropriate and necessary to divulge some information I have been keeping from y'all these past few months. Anyone who knows me well knows I have this other rarely seen side, and while I am certainly not ashamed of it, it is something I choose to keep to myself until I am really comfortable with someone. I think now we are on that level so I am just going to come out with it...

I am a huge Britney Spears fan.

I mean, really huge. As in I have seen her Circus tour three times so far, and have just signed up for my fourth show when she brings it back for the encore this Fall. And I don't just attend these shows, I take it upon myself to become a part of the Circus in both mind and body, and have even been featured 3 times on BritneySpears.com as a result- the visual proof will come later in this post. I take great pride in this fact.

Well meaning friends and family often try to understand my deep, abiding love of B.Spears, and although I am truly convicted in my fandom, I find it hard to explain. 

It all started in 1998. I was sitting in my bff Elizabeth's kitchen when I first heard those cords: "Der dun dun...Oh babay babay...Der dun dun..." It was like hearing the call from the mothership and I ran over to the tiny 5 inch TV on the counter and stuck my face right up to the screen. I sat there cross eyed taking in the spectacle, three minutes and 31 seconds later I was deeply, deeply in love. 

My bond became deeper a few years later when, fueled by the inspiration of her complete babe-ness in the "I'm A Slave For You" video, I started working out, adopted the motto WWBD? What Would Britney Do? (Well, she would probably not quit running after 47 seconds and go have a snack!) And lost about 30 very necessary pounds. 

A few years back, when things started to go a bit haywire for Britney, I could often be heard explaining to someone who made the mistake of bringing up the topic about how if I could only meet her, I would totally set her straight. I just feel like we would get along, and I could reason with her (Britney, you can either go braless, or barefoot...but not both!). We would call each other "B" or something adorable like that, and sit around in jorts and messy buns, eating grits and it would all just be magical. 

I say this all in a tongue-in-cheek, I am just sane enough to recognize how insane it is that I love her so, but despite any jokes I might make I am completely earnest in my devotion. So when it came time for her to go out on tour I harnessed all my energy into meeting my idol.

You know how when you were little your parents would say: "you can do anything if you set your mind to it"? I think I heard "you can do anything if you set your mind to it...and wear the right outfit". Inspired by the photos from her early shows, I had my own versions of her tour costumes made, and headed out to the Circus completely decked in my finest BritBrit attire. I actually convinced myself that the lady herself, or one of her people, would see my devotion and decide that Britney just HAD to meet me. 

Alas, it was not to be. Although, as I mentioned before, I was featured on BritneySpears.com, 

and met Lindsay Lohan at the LA show: 

I never got to meet my girl. Hopefully I will have better luck when she visits Chicago in September. Either way I will be front row center, just as excited to take in the spectacle as I have been each time before. This time Petey will be there sharing the experience with me, maybe he will catch the Britney fever too!