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Showing posts with label Everyone Loves Melissa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Everyone Loves Melissa. Show all posts

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Self Tanning Experience : Round 2

One of the girls I BLAST with, Hilary, and I had chatted about self tanner when I was trying to get 'tan-ready' for my peach dress I was wearing to the shower a few weeks ago. I was going to get Versaspa done and well, it turned out a little worse than I wanted. Hilary recommended Tan Towels and vouched that they were good and that they'd leave you not orange or streaky. So, I took her up on trying these little gems.

photo via here
I have to admit. I was quite nervous about this. The thought of just wiping the towelette across my body and hoping that it would be even with no streaks and not be orange in color. So with some advice from Hilary on how to apply, I mustered up the courage and did it last night. After showering and exfoliating as much as I could, I toweled off and started to apply the Tan Towel

I also have to admit that I was quite impressed with how it turned out. While I have 2 lines where the color stops on my wrists, the rest of it looks great! The reason for the line stops is because I washed my hands 2 times and went kinda high up as I didn't want them to turn super orange! Well lesson learned, leave it as it is!

this morning after I woke up
I put a little more on my  hands/wrist this morning in hopes to fix the line. So far, I think it helps. To the naked eye, it definitely has. In photos, maybe not as much. I might even put a little more on tonight so that I can get a bit darker before the weekend!
after the "fix" of the wrists
I picked mine up online at Sephora and would honestly recommend these to others. For $24 you get 5 towels which will cover your whole body. They come in different shades and also offer a moisturizer option to keep your tan longer.


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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Nails Done, Hair Done, Everything Did

Intermixed with my work day, I'll be doing a lot of pampering...pampering myself that is. Our awesome friends, Devon, Courtney and Maria, are hosting a shower for us this weekend. My dress is peach. My skin color is that of Casper the ghost. See where I'm getting with this? So to alleviate the Casper-ness I'll be getting my tan on, nails done and hair did.

Nails Done - Check!
Went to the nail place close to my office. While they are not my favorite in town, its quick and easy to get done during lunch time. I decided to go for a different color than I've ever used. Typically, I stick to pinks and reds but  a few weeks ago I tried out a purple. Me likey. So I went along those same lines. I stick to OPI for my nail colors, no idea why to be honest. I went with OPI's Eiffel For This Color.
image via here
Hair Done - Check back after 4pm!
Heading to my great hair stylist, Mary Beth Wood, this afternoon so she can get me all sassy and blonde for the shower. I met MB through my ex and have been going to her since. She's got a great price and does wonders with my unruly hair. However, she's mean these days because she wont let me cut my hair. I've been growing it out for almost a year. FML.


Tan Done - Check back after hair appt!
Trying out a new spray tan thing today over at Palm Beach Tan . I've had some bad experiences with spray tanning in the past but I was assured by more than one friend that the VersaSpa system that is offered at Palm Beach Tan is the way to go. Hopefully I will look less like an Oompa Loompa and more like a Sun Goddess.
About VersaSpa: MagicTan™ introduces VersaSpa™ the world’s first ever automatic treatment spa that integrates an unbeatable combination of versatile features and top quality skin treatment solutions.  With an open design there is no lingering mist and as a customer you can feel relaxed during your experience. The built in blow dryer also leaves you feeling dry after every treatment. For more information, stop by your local salon or visit www.versaspasystem.com





Not a bad day to spend a Thursday, huh?!


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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

What Could Have Been ...

I often find myself thinking about what could have been. Usually it's when my mind is wandering, like in the shower (okay that may be TMI) or when I'm getting ready for bed, sometimes even when driving home from work. I think about where and what I'd be doing if I made different choices or if my life path had changed. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my life. I have a wonderful group of friends both new and old, my family is amazing, my soon to be husband is a dream come true, but I'd be lying if the thought "what if" never crossed my mind.

I've had my share of boyfriends...good and bad. I even work with my ex (who is the brother of my other ex...don't get me started!). It's hard to believe how life could have turned out so different if I was going to be marrying one of them in 66 days. I look at my ex and his new wife and think wow, that is what I'd be like if my life was on that path. Thank goodness it wasn't! If I had chose a different college, been a different major, made different friends....where would I be today? Who would I hang out with and what career would I be in?

I know that there is a reason for everything and that a path for me has been set, long before I was here. I just find it quite amusing as to how one little thing could change a whole big part. Kind of like the butterfly effect.

The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely, a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere. Although this may appear to be an esoteric and unusual behavior, it is exhibited by very simple systems: for example, a ball placed at the crest of a hill might roll into any of several valleys depending on slight differences in initial position. The butterfly effect is a common trope in fiction when presenting scenarios involving time travel and with "what if" cases where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes. 
(source : wikipedia)

I'd be willing to say, looking back...I'm not where I thought I'd be. I pictured myself married by 23 with 2 kids by now, working in a sports arena of life (physical therapy, athletic trainer, etc) and living in some really nice house. Real Life : I'm 18 days away from being 27, engaged to be married, no kids, working in marketing and living in a highrise. Not really the same. But like I said, I'm happy. Just funny to look back on what you wanted, correction, thought you wanted your life to be like. Is it just me, or does everyone go through this?

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Dear Left Arm....Please Start Working Again

It's hard to believe I started the journey of pain about 3 years ago with my left arm. What started as numbness, tingling and stabbing pain has turned into a complete nuisance. There was no mechanism of injury, no answer to be found. Only problem, my left arm was pretty dysfunctional. My right arm is much better, but not perfect. It didn't seem that we needed to be concerned up to this point with it.

The path started with a visit to Piedmont Hospital's Orthopaedic Surgeons group in 2007. Test after test was run and no point of injury could be found. The pain increased with the stress and use and the frustration set in early with this process. I had more cortisone shots, EEG Nerve tests and MRI's than I'd like to count during this first part of the journey.  With no real idea of what else to do, my Surgeon finally decided surgery was the answer. So May of 2008 (notice this started in 2007) I went under the knife. They performed an Ulnar Nerve Transposition  in outpatient surgery. I was sent home, pretty drugged up with a nice cast that I had to wear for about 2 months. Certain this would be the cure, I was confident going forward.

Flash forward 6 months...the pain and frustration was back. The surgery did not alleviate the problem, in fact now it was worse. The pain was still in my elbow, except now much more than before, was in my neck and shoulder. They said it was stress and that physical therapy and some more cortisone shots and EEG nerve scans, which would come up negative for nerve damage/entrapment. Finally about January of 2009, my surgeon believed that the problem was more than he and his team could handle. So I was sent to Emory to a Cardiothoracic Surgeon.

Again, MRI's, EEG's and Cat scans were performed. Again, they all came back negative. It wasn't until they performed the Doppler Flow Test that some results started showing up. Without a doubt, my new Surgeon had determined that a first rib resection would do the trick. It took some time to get into the bookings for surgery (because they were busy and because my work schedule was insane). Finally, in August 2009, I went under the knife again. This time, a much more invasive and serious procedure. They went in through my armpit and removed my first rib (which by the way, is in  your neck up by the clavicle).  I remained in the hospital in quite a lot of pain and on a lot of medicine (with an IV in my neck administering Morphine) for about 4 days. I was released on the 5th day to continue the recovery process at home. I wasn't able to drive for 3 weeks, couldn't work and had lots of pain, more than I could imagine having. Again, after the pain subsided and the healing process came closer to an end (much longer and worse than the first surgery), I was confident this did the trick.

Flash forward again to now. Today I'm having just as many issues as before. The pain in my elbow is ever present. My neck, shoulder and arm are constantly numb and the frustration is even more (if that's possible) than before. Today I head to the Neurosurgeon at Emory hospital. I'm not sure really what to think or what they'll find. With my track record, they wont find anything.

This has got to be one of the most frustrating thing I've ever dealt with. There is no mechanism of injury to relate the problem. There is no fix that has seemed to work. Maybe this new Surgeon will figure it out...or at least I hope! What I do know is that I've learned a lot about my body, pain tolerance and what I can/can't handle. My family, friends and Mike have been there for me since the beginning and know how much this wears on me and well, them too. I used to joke about just cutting off my left arm, though I know that wouldn't do the trick and would be a whole new set of issues. I just want to be back to normal.

So with that....I beg of you new Neurosurgeon, figure this mystery out.



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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

There has got to be some light at the end of this tunnel...

The days are getting colder, the time is passing quicker. The holidays are here and I'm finding myself wrapped up in other stuff and not enough time spent on myself, my relationship with my HTB or on our wedding plans. My stress level is increasing and the tasks are also increasing. How will I last the next 179 days. I'm not sure that I can to be quite honest.

The past few weeks I've been less than stellar and in less than stellar moods. I go to bed frustrated and stressed and {shocker} wake up that way as well. It's getting quite draining and annoying if you ask me, my family, co-workers, friends and Mike. They all see I'm wearing and tearing and can see how tense I am. Part of this cause, I'm blaming my baby blocker pills. About 3 months ago they started sending me generic versions of my BC meds. I've been on the same meds for almost 5 years and now a change, probably not the best idea. It wasn't until this month that I tested out the new drugs. Needless to say, this is the first and last month they will hopefully be in my system. I can tell a change like never before. But it's a generic, it shouldn't do that right...well for me and my body, that's a big WRONG! I get frustrated more easily than usual, I go postal on situations that could be taken care of with a easy conversation yet react like it's the worst thing in the world. My yelling, anger and attitude has taken a nose dive. So bare with me as I'm trying to adjust and get back on my regular medicine.

This is the design for our invites but clearly they will be
customized for us! 
I'm meeting my mom today to order our invitations and pick out the wedding programs. The original programs I picked are pretty pricey so I'm hoping I find a better option price wise that'll be just as nice. I'm still in love with our invites and can't wait to get them back here all printed up and out in the mail! As far as other wedding goodies go, I've been working hard on table number cards and gift tags for our thank yous. I've mentioned before, but my awesome print vendor for my corporate work is doing my print jobs on these items for free! I was pretty excited to hear that and you can imagine I jumped on the thank you for that immediately. Here's an idea of what we're doing for table numbers.

one of our table numbers

The theme is "Love across the nations ... Love here tonight". Each table number will be the word love in a different language. It was pretty hard to scrape up 15, but I think I'm happy with how it turned out. To go along with this theme and keeping in my "traditional with a twist" wedding, a seating chart board with a similar idea is being made. I'm dreading making the "actual" seating chart but the board should be pretty fun. MOH Kerri and our friend, Wendi, and I will be going this weekend to get a start on it. I can't wait to see how it'll turn out. I'm all about tradition, but just tradition in how I see it is a bit different!



Honeymoon plans are coming along nicely. Mike works on it a couple days at a time and finds things for us to do on each island we'll be visiting. The closer it gets, the more I'll know. Right now, I don't know much cause well, he hasn't told me! The scanning of the pictures for the slideshow, not so nicely on the other hand. It's an act of God to find time to get this done. We have about 100+ pictures we need to scan/organize and find music for and we're struggling BIG time on this. How I see it, I need to just buckle down, say no to an invitation to go out one night and start to knock it out. I've asked Mike to help, so we'll see if he does! Both Groomsmen gifts and Bridesmaid gifts have been ordered and received. I must admit, we did a good job! I sure hope that the recipients will like them as we put some thought (definitely put thought on the girls gifts!) into them. I look forward to our bridesmaid luncheon when I get to hand them out!

On tap this week: re-gaining my sanity and a friend's wedding! Mike will be heading to Panama City Beach, FL to volunteer for IM Florida in hopes that he'll make the cut for signing up for the 2011 Ironman Florida race. It's about a 99.9% chance he will so he's pretty excited to sign up and start working on a training plan....God help us! I'll be attending our friend(s) Erin and Andy's wedding on Saturday and can't wait for the celebration. They're good friends of ours and all of our other buddies will be there too. Hate to go alone, but at least I'll have lots of people to chat and dance with! Next week we're off to Mexico for a friend of Mike's wedding. We'll be there for 6 days and can't wait! Never been to Mexico so I'm excited to check it out and participate in another couples wedding!

Our November is packed full of stuff to do most nights and weekends...here's to hoping I survive through it and come out in a better mood, more cheery on the other side!



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Friday, October 29, 2010

30 Day Blog Challenge : Day 20 and 21

Here's a post for the weekend since I wont be around much with all the Halloween-ness going on to post!

Day 20 : Nicknames
I have more than I can remember I'm sure, but here are a few of the most common used in my life
  • Mel
  • Melouicious
  • Melly
  • Misser Pisser (don't ask)
  • JYD
  • Mad Dawg
  • Melly Mel
  • M-Dizzle (also my rapper name)
  • Melvans
  • Baby Bear

Day 21: A Picture of Yourself
Here's me a few Halloween's ago as an Oompa Loompa...ya know just to get you in a Halloween mood if you're not already! 
At St. Baldricks 2010
post Warrior Dash 2010

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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Brain Dump!

Today is one of those days. I woke up feeling blah and did all the things I knew to do to try to make myself feel better. Took a nice shower, dressed up nice for work, got Starbucks (thanks to my awesome future husband for the gift card!) and went to work. Got there, realized after 3 people told me I looked like a mess and not good...I turned right around and came home! What a waste of gas! Either way, I bring you this blog straight from me sitting in my PJ's on our couch!

So are you ready for the brain dump? I can only promise that this will be a mish-mash of stuff and try to stay with me. My head is in a fog but I've got a lot to blog!

Wedding Stuff:
-The great M&M debate thickens. Who knew M&M's were so freaking expensive! For us to get about 25lbs for our thank you's at the wedding in 2 custom colors (cream and grey) it'll cost about $250.00. SAY WHAT?! So my mom asked me about doing just regular colored M&M's instead and then saving close to $100. I thought long and hard, talked to Mike about it ... to which he responded "It'll look like a clown visited our wedding if we used the multi colored ones" ... to which I responded to my mother, "cream and grey it is!"
-Mike and I are meeting with Rev. Britt today of Peachtree Road United Methodist church. He'll be marrying us on our big day and we're excited to start the process of working with him on this. We've already attended a meeting with a marriage counselor who also works at the church and this is the next step in the process.
-Oh honey, honeymoon that is. I blogged about our honeymoon plans a while ago and now the plans are taking shape. The hotels are booked, main flights taken care of and now the daily planning begins. Mike has planned the first 2 days of our trip and he's got 10 more to go! My only requirement...we snorkel, beach, spa-it and eat good!
-Today I'll be sending off our table numbers and gift tags to be printed. Thanks to my awesome corporate print vendor for doing this for me for free.

Other stuff
-I blogged the other day on the 30 day challenge about hating tornado's. Bad news kids. As I sit here at home writing this blog, a tornado warning has just been issued for my area. AWESOME....NOT! I'm home alone and we'll have to see how this goes.
-I did a joint blog with my good friend, Lauren, about our ghost tour we did this past weekend. Go check it out and give us your thoughts on ghosts and supernatural beings!
-My dear friend Britney's husband just released the trailer to his movie The Ocean Black yesterday...go check that out!
-Had a super fun dinner with a girlfriend, Erin, last night at Verde. She's got a kick-A personality, is a vet and well, we just have a lot in common! Also, if you live in the Atlanta area and haven't checked out Verde in Brookhaven...you need to! Great food, great drinks always a good time!

That's all for now. I sure hope I feel better soon and hope that these tornado's stay clear of our little condo in Buckhead.

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Monday, October 25, 2010

Happy Halloween Week!

BOO! Did I scare you? I'm guessing not, either way, Happy Halloween week! 

I love this time of year! The fun costumes, parties, fun Halloween treats and drinks and of course, scary things! I've got a full week ahead, mostly NOT of Halloween fun, but I do have some on the horizon. 

I kicked off Halloween week by going on the Roswell Ghost Tour with my friend, Lauren, last night. We didn't see any ghosts per se, but we did catch some orbs on camera (stand by we'll blog about it on Lauren's blog!) and got chills in certain places and some strange things with breathing/tight chest when approaching scary locations. Overall, I suggest checking out this tour if you live i n the Atlanta area, though recommend not going Halloween week as it was pretty packed and choc full of kids. 

On tap this spooky week, I'll head to Jaemor Farms on Friday night with some of my girlfriends to do our yearly corn maze. This one is tons of fun, especially with a libation or two! Looking forward to catching up with these gals and getting lost for hours on end! 

Mike and I (along with about 40 others in full costume) will attend the 'Nightmare at Grant Park' Halloween party thrown by our friends Heidi and Matt at their house on Saturday night. Our costumes are cute and fun...I'm going as a Peacock and well, I can't tell you what Mike's going as just yet...check back next week for the reveal and photos from the party! 

Sunday night (actual Halloween) Mike and I will also head up to my BFF and MOH Kerri's house for a Halloween party and to hand out candy to kids in their neighborhood! Since we live in a high-rise condo, it's kinda hard to have trick-or-treaters! Can't wait to take our children one day and to live in a home where we can participate in handing out candy to little kiddies! 

Hope you have a spook-tacular week and get to enjoy some Halloween fun! 

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Friday, October 22, 2010

30 Day Blog Challenge : Day 12

Day 12: What You Believe
I Believe That....

I Believe ... I am on this earth for a reason.
I Believe ...That I'm pretty lucky in life both with family, career, love and friendships
I Believe ...That the Alabama Crimson Tide is the best football team around :)
I Believe ...That one day I'll run my own wedding planning business
I Believe ...That I have learned way more through mistakes than I have through anything else in my life
I Believe ...That there is plan for my life whether I want to believe it or trust it
I Believe ...That my grandparents, friends I've lost and other loved ones are looking down from heaven on me all the time
I Believe ...That one day I'm going to find a 4 leaf clover
I Believe ...I'm going to get that pony one day!
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Thursday, October 21, 2010

30 Day Blog Challenge : Day 11

Day 11 : Favorite TV Shows

I must admit I watch a range of TV shows! From trashy ones to educational ones...here are just a few of my favorites in no particular order!
                                                 anything on this station is okay with me!

                                                      pondering trying to get on this show!

Love me some animal planet

who doesn't love Grey's!?

this show is addicting

these people are so weird. I get sucked in every time I watch it!

of course you know I love this show!

clearly a favorite of mine! 

such trainwrecks...can't NOT watch it! 

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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

30 Day Blog Challenge : Day 10

Day 10 : Something You're Afraid Of

Funny, I blogged about this a few months back! My something that I'm afraid of is thunderstorms...well tornado's actually! I posted in  my blog a bit ago that I associate storms/tornado with a very rough patch in my life and my family.

(photo from google)
 Though I can handle them now and am at peace with what happened back then, they still scare me and I still dislike sitting through them alone. Luckily, now that I live with Mike, it's rare that I have to.


Isn't it funny how you can associate one thing with a memory and it never goes away. I get chills every time I hear thunder or hear about/think a storm is heading our way.


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Monday, October 18, 2010

Vacay Wrap Up!

Monday morning and the end of vacation comes too quick! Hate to say that I'm back in the office after such a fun-filled vacation to Las Vegas, NV. Here's a wrap-up of our trip and some pictures!

Thursday: Arrived in Las Vegas about 11am local time (2pm Atlanta time) and headed off to lunch at PF Changs located in Planet Hollywood casino with Mike and his mom. Had a great time and was able to catch up with her since she's been in Vegas for a week already! Mike and I were pretty jet-lagged this trip so we made sure to take a nice nap and get ready for dinner at KOI (also in Planet Hollywood) and then over to Paris Hotel for the dueling pianos at Napoleon's .

Creepy Wood Nymp at Bellagio Hotel Conservatory
Friday: Got up bright and early and got a 3 mile workout in with Mike at the hotel gym. Felt good to start the day out right! Headed to Bellagio for brunch...which I must admit is one of the best in town...with Irene, my FMIL, and Mike. After brunch, Mike and I headed out to walk around town and see what we could get into. We went to MGM and checked out the lions...they even had 17 day old lion babies! Headed on over to the M&M World...it's our namesake of course! Rode the rollercoaster at New York New York and then walked down to Aria to do some window shopping and make dinner reservations at Mastro's Ocean Club and then finally went back to Planet Hollywood to play my favorite $.01 slot...Super Jackpot Party! After another afternoon nap, Mike, Irene and I headed to dinner at Mastro's...an amazing restaurant located at Aria/City Center. They have the BEST food and the coolest smoking cosmopolitans! Post dinner we met up with my future SIL and kids and then headed on over to Minus 5 ice bar at Monte Carlo. This place was AWESOME! Everything was made of ice. The walls, the seats, ice sculptures, the bar and even the cups! We had a great time and would totally do it again!

Mike, Irene and I at the conservatory in Bellagio Hotel post brunch
at M&M World
at M&M World
Mike and I at Minus 5 Ice Bar at The Monte Carlo hotel

Lizzie and Brody at the pool
Saturday: Got up and worked out with my future SIL, Melissa, and then headed over to Planet Hollywood to watch some pigskin! Took my future niece and nephew to the pool and had a great time playing around in the water, although a little chilly, and watching them swim. It's amazing to see how good Lizzie is and she's only 4! Brody isn't swimming alone just yet, but certainly is eager to start! Melissa and I took Lizzie to the world of M&M's and caught the 3D movie there...pretty cool if you ask me! 4 floors of M&M's in all colors, shapes and sizes. Mike and I then took my dad to dinner and The Beatles LOVE Cirque show at The Mirage. Dinner at BB Kings was great and the show was out of this world! It was really nice to be able to hang out with my dad while on vacation.
with my dad and Mike at The Mirage post The Beatles Love show













Sunday: Sat behind a screaming child and her super chatty brother all the way back to Atlanta :) The only saving grace, I could watch TV on the plane!


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30 Day Blog Challenge : Day 9

Day 9 : A picture of my friends


Here are a FEW pictures of my friends! They are the BEST!

Kyle, Garrett, Me, Kerri and Todd at dinner when Garrett was in town. Great High School friends!

with some of the ladies at Courtney's going away party! 

My awesome friends at my birthday party at Fado

My bestie from college, Lauren

With Kerri! My BFF since 6th grade!

With my favorite Jager Ladies!

with Stephanie at her bachelorette party!

with Britney and her husband Marco at their wedding!

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30 Day Blog Challenge : Day 8

Day 8 : A Place I've Traveled To

The summer before I finished my senior year at The University of Alabama, I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain for 6 weeks. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had! I learned A LOT about what's really important and what its like to live without life necessities...well what I consider life necessities. There were about 60 of us from BAMA that went on this trip. We lived right outside of Madrid in the town of Alcala de Henares and traveled on the weekends. It was an AWESOME experience! 

I lived with my college friend, Lauren, in a home where the house mom was not only a cop, but also owned a bar...El Presidente Feliz. I spent quite a bit of time at that bar :) Here are some pictures of us throughout Spain and my trip there. 

At Senor Burro...or Mister Donkey for us Americans! A favorite local hangout for our group!

With my buddy, Parker, on top of one of the castles in Segovia

A group of us out for a night in Alcala

At La Granja!

Awesome bridge in Toledo. One of my favorite pictures from the trip

View from our room in Alicante at the beach! Sure was a good time and not such a good idea to drink a whole thing of vodka and gatorade :)



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