The desk was delivered by a HUGE semi but was on time and with very nice service. It was so heavy but once it was in the house, I stared at it for a while wondering if I was capable of putting it together by myself. The Cowboy was working all day that day and I just couldn’t wait around for him. I had the drill charging for two days and was eager to get it up.

I have to say, this desk and hutch were, be far, the easiest things I have EVER put together. Everything was labeled perfectly and the instruction booklet RAWKED! Each page was one step and very clear pictures of the process. In fact, the hardest part of the whole thing was trying to keep little man from tearing apart all the Styrofoam to little bits and pieces. And had his brothers been able to occupy him, the time it took to put together would have been a lot less. It took me around one and half hours to put the hutch together and about 2hrs for desk. Keep in mind, I did this all by myself. One of the nice things is that the desk’s drawers already had those little rails on them which made it so much easier and faster. Most desks I’ve put together don’t, and having to make sure you put them on the right way can be a pain.

I got it all done and was so impressed with the quality and beauty of it. The top of the desk has leather on it and was just a bonus to an already beautiful desk. There is ample storage so no problems hiding all my crap. I still have to transfer over some of my desk belongings but everything has its’ own place.

5 stars and two thumbs up from me! I love it and it would have been worth every penny even if I hadn’t saved any money!

BEFORE — EEEEK!

AFTER — PURTY!

These HOT Cowgirl Flip Flops came from Saltwater Cowgirl.  They were extremely comfortable and of course, made me look cool:) I even let my girl Ari wear them when her feet were hurting so bad.  You can find some really chic stuff at Saltwater Cowgirl, not just flops.

I also wanted to point out that I’m wearing a belt.  I think it made me look a bit thinner and less frumpy because I’m still wearing the same size and all (which is a 16/18).  Big girls can look cute too:)  Hopefully this isn’t all in my mind!  THAT would be embarrassing!

If you feel the urge to buy me any jewelry or flops from Saltwater Cowgirl, I wear size 10. Thanks!  heheehehe

It was fun indeed and Brooke is so thin. For reals, her waist was smaller than my upper thigh. She was very down to earth and told me that she grew up in Tuscon, Arizona so she knew what cowboys ate–Steak and Taters!  I also asked her if she had any insecurities at all and she said she could only think of one.  Her singing.  She said she doesn’t even sing Happy Birthday but I highly doubt she has that terrible of a voice.  Probably just being modest.

Mel was very beautiful and that British accent is sexy.  She seemed very nice and looked quite hot in that dress she wore.  She was pimping her new workout DVD, Totally Fit and if I’m gonna look like that, I just might have to buy the video!

It was really cool seeing the celebs.  Ted Danson ending my celebrity adventure at the airport.  I got a picture of him but it’s dark.

So much more to come here and on my food blog with the Frito Lay tour!

Here’s the group picture of the fabulous ladies that I had the lovely pleasure of meeting and attending the event with.

Me with the lovely Brooke Burke:) I told her, had I known she was gonna wear a boots, I would have wore my cowboy boots.

Mel B with A Cowboy’s Wife, the new Spice Girl! heehee

Thanks so much to Mommysnacks and Los Angelista for my hair and dress.

OH, and here’s the clip of it all on the Insider!  You can see me and the other girls at 1:18 for a very brief nano second!

via The Insider

Before I get to the goods, I’ll show you the whole kit-n-kaboodle first so that you can see how it looks in a camera backpack. I’ve got all kinds of things in mine, however, my camera and lenses are rarely in there.  I usually try to keep one lens on my desk just in case I need to switch out.

Mine is a Nikon D70s body.

Next up, the lenses.  I own 3 lenses.  I cannot stress enough that the quality of your lens is the most important thing.

I own the Nikon Nikkor 18-70mm aka wide angle lens.  Great for open space…just capturing the broad picture.

Nikon 50mm Lens.  Excellent portrait lens.  This is probably one of the only ones you’re gonna find that is affordable but with outstanding quality! You can’t go wrong with this lens.

Nikon 55-200mm. Mine is a cheap lens and I only bought it because my other BIG lens broke.  I needed something to replace my telephoto lens and this was within budget.  I highly recommend that you save and spend the extra money to get a higher quality telephoto lens!  This hardly ever leaves my camera.  I miss my 300 lens more though:(

Nikon Battery Grip.  Makes for a more powerful battery life as it uses two En-ENL9 batteries instead of the standard one. I LOVE this.  Please note that it makes your camera heavier but for me, it gives for a better grip and I love not worrying about my battery life. It lasts forever by using both batteries!

Of course I also have memory cards.  I recommend that you don’t skimp here either.  You don’t want to chance losing your pictures due to a bad card!  Not only that, a better memory card makes for a faster transfer when putting them on your computer.  I recommend the SanDisk Compact Flash Extreme 111 Memory cards.

I also some cleaner, some polarized lenses and a few other little things.

NOW FOR MY NIKON WISH LIST

Now I would love a whole brand new set!  New camera (since I bought mine used) and new lens! BUT since that probably won’t happen for a while, I’d be super happy with a Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom lens.

Nikon SB-800 Speedlight Flash.  This is something that I truly need!  I love natural light but for indoors, fast motion, this is a must!

Professional Tripod.  I would like to have this for many reasons…..it’s obvious.

WHAT I RECOMMEND FOR YOU

If you are dying to have a DSLR, I recommend you go with a starter kit.  My pick would be the Nikon D40 Bundle or to be technical Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX and 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens with 2 Nikon School DVD.  You get the camera, 2 lenses and DVD’s to show you how to use it and techniques to improve your shots. You can get this whole bundle for $499 which is a great bargain and a great starter set!

OVER TO YOU

What do you have?  What is your favorite lens?   If you don’t own a dslr yet, what are you looking at or what will determine your decision?