Au Revoir 2009

It's really hard for me to believe that in twelve hours this year will be over. 2010! This time last year I was figuring that 2009 couldn't possibly be as great as 2008 was, but it definitely proved me wrong. 2008 will remain #1, maybe because it was the first truly awesome year I've had, but 2009 absolutely didn't disappoint. Here are some highlights of this tip top twenty-oh-nine.

We bought, painted, and moved into our first house!















We found a new local restaurant we like, Chadra's.
I took several photo classes at a local camera store.
We switched to buying organic, mostly local, meats.
We vacationed in Washington DC and attended Steve & Meri's wedding.















We threw a house warming party and were so happy to have so many friends come to see the place and party with us!
We hosted a baby shower for our best friends Stephanie & Rodney and their twins, who will be here so very soon!
We spent time in California with our good pal Diggy.















In just the last 6 months I've seen Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney, The Smothers Brothers, The Swell Season and WOODY ALLEN in concert.
An online travel agency picked up one of my travel photos.
We made new friends, and spent a lot of time surrounded by old and new friends this year.
I took an online photography class.
I roasted my first chicken!
My baby sister graduated from high school- salutatorian!
We celebrated our 11th year together and our 3rd wedding anniversary.
I had a Fort Worth Camera and a photopl.us Photo of the Day
We had our first Christmas in the new house.

Who knows what 2010 has in store for us? We're hoping for a camping & trout fishing trip in the near future with Josh's dad. I'm hoping we'll be able to get down to see my sister's new house. I can't wait to love on Steph's coming twins, and Rob & LeAnn's little Violet (also due very soon). And I definitely can't wait for all the fun and new experiences Josh and I will get to share together. 2010, be on alert- you've got big shoes to fill! I'll be back tomorrow with my 2009 resolution accomplishments and what I hope to work on for 2010. Happy New Year everyone!!!

My Woody Allen Experience

First off, I just have to say that I have the best husband in the world. He was willing to take off work and drum lessons for me, despite having missed a lot of both lately with the holidays. He drove the three hours to Austin and back, despite having had to be and perform in Houston on Saturday and Dallas Sunday. All just to make one of my biggest dreams come true. That is the definition of love right there, and I know it.

So, one sentimental ball of mush out of the way and on to another. I spent almost two hours less than 30 feet from Woody Allen. It was one of the greatest things that I have ever experienced. When we sat down in our seats I had a moment to be elated at how good they were before I started to nearly hyperventilate with excitement at what I was about to witness. We were really as close as one could hope to get when they bought last minute tickets, and I had a completely unobstructed direct view to Woody. Clearly, he was what I was there to see, but that whole band is amazing. It was so fascinating to watch a smaller band play together, since my only other experience watching jazz performers has been the much bigger UNT band. Aside from the phenomenal music, I took so much pleasure in being able to watch Woody be Woody. I've watched so many interviews of him over the years that a lot of his little mannerisms are known to me. So when he took his sweater off about two songs in and brushed his hair back with his hand, when he slid his finger between his glasses and face to rub his left eye, when he stretched his arms down his legs and rubbed his knees- it was just him being himself right in front of my eyes. And more than that, I got to see him doing something he truly loves to do, is passionate about doing. Like I said, it was a dream come true.

They played for a little over an hour, and then did two encores which Woody claimed was a record for them, but I find that hard to believe. And they were long encores as well, adding almost 45 minutes on to the show. It's hard for me to know all the songs they played, I am not as familiar with my New Orleans jazz catalog enough to always easily recognize them- especially with a music as variable as jazz can be. I'm still trying to figure more out, but I know they played:

Ice Cream
Tie Me to Your Apron Strings Again
St. Louis Blues
Listen to the Mockingbird
Down by the Riverside
All the Whores Like the Way I Ride
My Old Kentucky Home
Home Sweet Home
Easter Parade
Sweet Georgia Brown

Again, just amazing to me that I've actually done this. It has been a dream for so long that I hardly know what to do with myself now that it's actually come true. Where does one go from here? To be honest, one still wants to go to NYC and see him at the Carlyle, to do it all over again. :)



































Crappy iPhone pics from the evening.

Post Christmas Catch-up

Oh my! I'm finally starting to feel back in the swing of things. Of course, it follows that there's still New Year's to get through too so who knows how long this feeling will last. Christmas eve turned out to be quite eventful, in that we practically had a blizzard in these parts. It started snowing before 10 that morning and it just kept coming. It took forever for it to start sticking, but once it did it accumulated rather quickly. The roads eventually started to ice over too. Mom and my brother Justin and his family were supposed to be coming over for dinner and presents. Mom still made it, but Justin had to make a quick stop by himself to deliver gifts since my niece came down with a bug that day. What bad luck! But we had a nice evening anyway. The snow finally eased shortly after Mom arrived. I roasted a chicken, which we had with stuffing and roasted veggies. We lit some candles and opened a bottle of wine and had a nice leisurely dinner. Afterward we played a little Beatles Rock Band to show Mom what it was like, and then we had apple cider, egg nog, and opened our presents. My bro called so my niece could say Merry Christmas to us all. We visited for a little longer and then we helped Mom out to her car. Her door was frozen shut, which took some yanking, and I had to scrape her windshield off for her. Luckily she just lives around the corner, so she didn't have far to go on the slick and slippery roads. Then Josh and I put on the new pajamas Mom gave us, had some cocoa and more nog, and watched Muppet Christmas Carol before settling in for our Christmas sleep.

Christmas morning we had a nice sleep in and woke up to glistening snow all over our yard. I previously had hopes of taking a little family portrait in front of the house, but all the cold and snow called for a quick readjustment. I set up the tripod and snapped a pic of us in our Christmas pajamas on the sidewalk instead. Then we had some bacon, hash browns, eggs and coffee for breakfast and opened our presents. We spoiled each other as usual! Josh loved all his presents, and I of course loved mine. He got me most of the stuff I posted from my wishlist. Then I got changed and went outside to make a little snowman. I just couldn't let the white stuff melt without a few minutes of fun in it. We spent the rest of the day enjoying our presents and then got ready and headed to his Mom's house that evening. I helped Deana in the kitchen while the guys watched a movie. We then had dinner and opened gifts, finished the movie over dessert, and headed back home.

Day after Christmas consisted of Josh leaving very early in the morning and me sleeping in. I spent most of the day in my pajamas with the after Christmas blues, watching movies and stuff off the DVR. Went out that night with Holly to see Holy Moly at the Aardvark, followed by some post drinking Fuzzy's Tacos and back home to bed. Josh got home on Sunday, we grabbed some lunch, and then headed back out to House of Blues for the Rock School showcase and the Back In Black concert. Monday we slept in, then got ready and hit the road to Austin to see Woody Allen. I'll write about that in another post though, cause that was a big life moment for me!

Here are a few pics from our holiday weekend. You can see a couple more here.

Christmas Vacation

I will be leaving work shortly and off on my 5 day break. Hopefully be able to find some time to share Christmas photos in the next few days, but they'll be busy ones. Tonight I'll be trying to finish wrapping all the gifts and ordering a pizza so I can focus on them. Tomorrow I've got a lot of work ahead of me- cleaning house, setting the table, and preparing a Christmas Eve feast for ourselves and my mom, brother, sister-in-law, and niece. Josh and I will be spending the morning of our first Christmas in our new house just the two of us. Looking forward to sleeping in, breakfast, and leisurely opening our gifts to one another. Christmas night we'll be with Josh's mom, step dad, and brother- no doubt stuffing ourselves like we usually do and maybe playing some games. Josh has to jet off to Houston on Saturday, which makes me sad, but he'll be back already on Sunday. Sunday night he's got a show at the House of Blues in Dallas. Which brings us to my new most favorite part of our holiday break, Monday we'll be driving down to Austin to see Woody Allen and Eddy Davis's New Orleans Jazz Band!!! I am beyond excited for this. I discovered they were going to be in Texas today and was able to find good tickets. Not cheap, but I conveniently got a Christmas bonus yesterday that I didn't know what to do with. And Josh is taking off work and getting back on the road after one jaunt to go on another one as a special Christmas gift to me. Guys. I'm gonna be in the same room with Woody Allen. Listening to him play delicious New Orleans style jazz. So basically, I've got a date with heaven on Monday. I didn't know I could get any luckier, but then I did. Happy holidays everybody!!! I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and that your wishes come true! I know mine have.

Josh's Christmas Gifts 2009

Once again, Josh has promised to not peek so that I might share with you what he'll be finding from me under the Christmas tree this year. Josh actually asked for some stuff this year, and pretty early in the season too, so I had an easy task ahead of me. Didn't take me too long to decide what to get for him. Here's a peek at his presents. His gifts look a lot more colorful compared to last year's.























The Complete Monty Python's 16-Ton Megaset: Flying Circus, Justice, Volume 1 graphic novel, Mirror's Edge for PS3, Striped sweater from Old Navy (sold out), Moongel dampening gels (stocking stuffer), Flight of the Conchords Season 2 DVD, The Acid House by Irvine Welsh, digital tuner and metranome, Drumsticks and brushes (stocking stuffers)

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work, yuck, but leave early
-Shower
-Get ready
-Head to SouthPeak Games Christmas party at Ferrari's in Grapevine
-Meet Josh's co-worker's, hang out with Lauren and Randy
-Couple glasses of champagne, some cocktails, and a shot with the ladies
-Stop for supplies and head to Omar's for after-party/30th birthday party
-Party it up with Josh's work peeps, some beers, and another shot- skittles vodka, wth
-Head home very late
-Crash in the guest room, out of fear of hangover illness the next day

Saturday:
-Rise and shine, in surprisingly good shape- no hangover!
-Be a bit lazy, some TV in bed
-Get ready
-Lunch at Chipotle
-Christmas shopping errands
-Wrap presents while Josh and Matt rehearse
-Late snack of cheese, sausage and crackers while we watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
-Into jammies
-Fall asleep watching The Miracle on 34th Street

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Put Christmas Eve chicken in fridge
-Make menu plan and grocery list
-Have coffee and leftover Chipotle
-Grocery/stocking stuffer shopping
-Put up groceries
-Install new rain barrel, all by myself thankyouverymuch
-Composting
-Start laundry
-Clean and prep veggies for the week
-Make dinner
-Eat and watch Simpsons episode with Josh
-Shower and hide out in the bedroom so Josh can wrap my gifts
-Oh, mi estomago
-Finish laundry
-Crash into bed with a tummy ache

Star Struck

How nerdy is it to be star struck after a visit to your local NPR station? Pretty nerdy I guess, but I couldn't help it! We are lucky enough here to have a new, second public radio station hit the airwaves- a sister station to our NPR affiliate KERA, called KXT. They play indie, Texas, and most importantly, local music. It is so refreshing to have a station supporting and playing good local music. They are fans of my husband's band, Fate Lions, and typically play them once or twice a day. And they are fond enough that this Wednesday they invited them into the KXT studio for an interview and to perform 3 songs live on the air. The boys let me tag along, ostensibly to take photos, but basically I was dying to see the KERA/KXT studios. I think I was possibly more impressed than all the guys!

When we got there Josh and I were escorted in by Jeff Whittington, who produces one of my favorite local KERA shows and hosts a second one. I tried to convey to Josh how exciting that was, but he doesn't really listen to as much public radio as I do. Then, when we were walking towards a conference room to wait out some of the technical set-up, we passed Krys Boyd's office while she was sitting at her desk. Niki laughed at me when I turned back and looked at him with my mouth agape, pointing back at her office door. Once they were ready for the guys I got to wait in the main studio booth, while the guys were set up next door. And as they started their In Studio performance, who should come in but the Vice President of KERA Radio, Jeff Ramirez, followed by the Vice President of all of KERA, Sylvia Komatsu. Talk about awesome, watching them listen and talk about how great they sounded! And afterward as the guys were packing up their stuff Sylvia Komatsu was telling everyone how great they were, and even introduced herself to me and shook my hand. Overall, a highly eventful afternoon that I will not soon forget.

My 2009 Christmas Wish list

This year I decided to do just one post on some of the things I put on my Christmas wish list, a la Olivia at Gnome Sweet Gnome. So, here are some of the things I am hoping to find under the tree this holiday season.


















1. A set of filters and some film for my Holga camera
2. A water color set, sketch pad, and brushes (inspired by Emily)
3. I always ask for books- shown: The Groucho Letters, My Life In France, Woody Allen: A Biography, The Photographer's Eye, Blink, and Bill Wood's Business
4. Some glass replacements for my old, plastic food containers and a new compost pail from Crate & Barrel
5. New slippers with a hard sole
6. The Grab Bag of Swell Season 2008 tour posters
7. A Darcy proposal mug and Pride & Prejudice ornament from Etsy seller Brookish (currently sold out)
8. The Muppet Show Season 3 on DVD
9. Bakelite necklace from Etsy seller PetitOiseau

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work, blech
-Home, watch Glee finale off DVR while waiting for Josh
-Dinner at Ocean Rock with Josh
-Pick up Christmas lights at Target
-Matt & Ashley stop by for a little bit
-Into PJs and bed

Saturday:
-Sleep in
-Shower
-Peanut butter toast and banana breakfast
-Finish getting ready
-Amon Carter Museum for photography exhibits
-Visit with Eddie & Noakes after running into them in parking lot
-Target/Starbucks for sandwiches and coffee/hot cocoa
-Picnic and stroll at the duck pond
-Visit 2nd Target, Lowes and finally Home Depot to hunt down light hangers
-Home for some Beatles Rock Band, drum first and then sing 'til I can't anymore
-Fancy Irish cheese, summer sausage and crackers w/ beer while watching Scrooged
-Hit the hay

Sunday:
-Rise and shine
-Have coffee and make menu plan and grocery list
-Bowl of cereal while watching the woodpeckers and squirrels in the back yard
-Start laundry
-Grocery shopping
-Tidy up while Josh caulks the bath tub and window
-Lunch and 1 back episode of 30 Rock
-Put pork shoulder in the slow cooker
-Composting
-Help Josh a little with house lights
-Clean house
-Admire Josh's house light work
-Water plants
-Clean and prep veg for the week
-Pulled Pork Tacos, black beans, chips & salsa, and salad for dinner while watching Christmas episode of 30 Rock
-Shower
-Finish laundry
-Get ready for bed
-Fall asleep watching Muppet Christmas Carol

Clean Laundry

I'm having kind of a rough day so far. I left the cat outside longer than I probably should have in this cold weather, overslept this morning, and then- well, let's just say having your faults pointed out to you, while a wonderful opportunity for growth and personal improvement, isn't exactly my idea of a fun time. So, let's wash all that no-good stuff away by concentrating on my newly organized laundry area. I finally finished the little bit I had left to do on it last weekend. I knew I wanted to improve my hang drying capabilities, have a place to store my soap and other laundry accoutrement, and something on the floor so dropped clothes don't hit the concrete. Most of my problems where solved by a trip to IKEA. Well, let's face it, when does IKEA not solve most of my problems? I picked up three ANTONIUS drying racks along with the 70 7/8" wall supports to hang them. I was hoping to find the HALSTED runner, but they were out at our IKEA. Instead I picked up two of these HALSTED door mats. And then lastly I ordered a slim storage cart from Target, after not finding what I was looking for in-store or at Container Store. I've been really pleased with the efficiency of the area since the improvements. I can hang/flat dry much more than I could before, I don't have stuff piled on my washer and dryer, and I can more easily reach my cleaners since they're no longer on the shelf above. Here are some before and after pics.

Before:


Afters:

Drying racks down


Drying racks up


Cart next to washer and dryer

War Is Over

Yoko Ono and IMAGINEPEACE.com have made the famous "WAR IS OVER" poster available on Flickr in 65 different languages. Downloadable in a full 3000 x 4000 poster size, or smaller. I find them incredibly beautiful, especially looking at the collection as a whole. Here is a sampling. View them all here. Happy Christmas.















English














German














Arabic














American Sign Language

House Project Progress

I've finished my laundry area, but forgot to upload the pics so I'll have to wait to share that completed project. But another, bigger project is underway at the Casa de Hoover. We had our gutters installed yesterday! I didn't know it was possible to be so excited about such a thing, but I actually like to look at them. I made Josh go outside with me to see them when he got home from work last night. The color matches our siding so well, and they are so shiny and new! I was worried that I wouldn't like how they looked, that they might make our eaves look bad, but that's not the case at all. Of course now that they're up there is no rain in the forecast. But that's okay because it's still a project in progress. Last night I ordered our rain barrel for the front yard. We splurged here to have something that wouldn't be an eye sore since it will be right by our front porch. We plan to put a series of connecting rain barrels in the back yard, and we'll save by using the not as pretty, but budget and eco-friendly recycled food-grade barrels. Our front yard barrel is a real beauty though, and I can hardly wait for it to get here. Which probably means it will take forever! Once it arrives I'm hoping the weather won't be too cold to put in the french drain for the garage-side flower bed. Then the front will be done, and I'll just have to work on the rain barrel set-up in the back. Here's our lovely Cascata 65 gallon rain barrel!

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work, yuck
-Quick trip to Target with Mom
-Home to meet Josh
-Game Stop for his video game fix
-Central Market for bread pudding and Old Speckled Hen
-Christmas tree!
-Back home and get the tree in
-Fish & chips and pints while watching Muppet Christmas Carol
-Lights on the trees, bread pudding, apple cider and egg nog
-Bedtime

Saturday:
-Up early
-Shower and get ready
-Nephew Griffin's 2nd birthday party!
-Run by in-laws for fish and veggies
-Target to get ornament hangers, a few Christmas gifts, and lunch
-Home for coffee and lunch
-Take down fall porch decorations and sweep down cobwebs
-Hang Christmas wreaths in windows, fight with porch garland, it wins
-Put together new laundry cart and finish cleaning laundry area
-Decorate for Christmas indoors
-Tidy up the mess I made
-Chips and salsa while watching Love Actually
-Into pajamas
-Fall asleep watching White Christmas

Sunday:
-Sleep in late with a headache
-Photo class and coffee
-Oatmeal while menu planning and grocery listing
-Get ready
-Tidy up bedroom, sort laundry
-Grocery shopping
-Start laundry
-Frozen pizza for dinner
-Clean and prep veggies while watching Santa Claus is Coming to Town
-Shower
-Finish laundry
-Finally decorate the tree while watching Christmas Vacationand drinking mulled cider
-Hit the hay

Our Living Room

Remember that time I bought a house, showed you some before pics and idea boards, and then never really followed up on that? Well, I'll probably be posting some more house glimpses here in the days to come, especially since there will be Christmas decorations to share and I'm near finishing my laundry area project (which has only been derailed by all the Christmas business). I finally got around to taking some photos of our mostly done living room a few weeks ago. And then last night I finally got around to uploading them, so thought I would share them with you on this fine Friday. Since it's been so darn long, here again is what our living room looked like when we bought the house, and my idea board can be seen here.

Befores:































Afters:


View from the hall doorway


View from the dining room doorway


Our built-in. Such an incredible pain to sand, prime and paint.


Used a picture ledge opposite the window to add a bit more architecture to that side of the room.



You can see the pics bigger (and with notes!) here.

Christmas Plans

The past week or so I've been trying to decide what decorations I would like to buy for Christmas this year. I cleaned out a lot of our old, discolored hand-me-down ornaments after last Christmas. It made sense to me to have a bit of a fresh start for our first Christmas in our new house. I didn't realize just how stressful I would find narrowing down my choices for our new decorations would be. Don't get me wrong, it's the fun kind of stressful! But so many ornament options! But here's the general idea I've put together. I've already gotten 4 wreaths and a roll of red velvet ribbon. I plan on hanging them in the front windows by a loop of ribbon with a bow on the bottom. I will hang our same old wreath on the front door, with the addition of an small wooden "H" that I plan to paint with gold glitter paint. I have a couple lengths of garland that I will trim the front porch in and a few faux white and red poinsettias added to it for some color. I hope to be able to put some classic white house lights up, but was waiting until we get our gutters installed and I'm waiting on the color samples to get that under way. That pretty much covers the outside decor for this year. And for the tree I think I've settled on a similarly classic selection of ornaments in red, green, silver and gold along with pine cones, snowflakes and the several boxes of icicles that we kept last year. Then our smattering of personal ornaments that always hang on our tree. I know we'll put white lights on our tree, and in the past we've also put colored lights on- not sure if I'll do that again or not. And there's definitely some bargain hunting involved here because I'm doing it all with the gift cards and money that my dad and sister's were super kind enough to give us for our housewarming. I got the wreaths and garland for 50% off and ribbon 30% off, so I'm off to a good start I think. :)





















House photo found via Between Naps On The Porch

Holgas

Finally got the film I shot in San Francisco developed, along with a roll started in SF and finished off here at home during a walk around the museums. You can see the rest here.

Weekend Roundup- Thanksgiving Edition

Thursday:
-Sleep in
-Clean and prep veggies for family dinner
-Composting- my compost pile GREW three scallions!
-Bake cheesecake cookies
-Shower
-Finish baking cookies
-Get ready
-Head to Uncle Richard & Aunt Noreen's
-Visit with family, eat, play Trivial Pursuit late into the night
-Home and into bed

Friday:
-Sleep in
-Photo class
-A little online Christmas shopping
-Leftover pizza for lunch
-A little TV
-Shower and get ready
-Bake rolls
-Play some Beatles Rock Band
-Head to Mom-in-law's
-Thanksgiving dinner, numero tres
-Watch Clue
-Pack up some leftovers and head home
-Hit the hay

Saturday:
-Rise and shine
-Get ready
-Self-portrait shooting for photo class
-See Josh off to San Antonio for gig
-Cereal and coffee
-Christmas and personal shopping with Holly
-Back home and into PJs
-Watch Christmas Vacation and half of White Christmas while working on gift-giving list and household budget
-Bedtime
-Woken up by horrible cramps, blech

Sunday:
-Sleep in super late after terrible night of sleep
-Start laundry
-Start house cleaning
-Josh home from SA
-Order Chinese delivery
-Eat and watch Simpsons
-Make grocery list for Josh
-Finish house cleaning while Josh gets groceries
-Play some Jeopardy on PS3 while folding laundry
-Shower
-Finish laundry and ironing while watching Christmas Vacation (yes, again)
-Some sodoku on iPhone
-Sleepsville, thanks to benadryl

Turkey Day

Tomorrow is our national day of thanks. I have too much to be thankful for to share it all here- last year was the best year of my life and surprisingly this year has not paled in comparison so far. We've been blessed to buy our first house, visit new and fun parts of our country to see and celebrate events in our friends lives, made lots of new friends, found new interests, learned new things, and broadened our horizons. We've been very lucky indeed. What better way to celebrate good times than with laughter, right? So, I share the gift of laughter with you, in the form of the most hilarious Thanksgiving sitcom episode ever- "Turkeys Away" from WKRP In Cincinnati.

Got Soul?

It's holiday time, which for most of us means a lot of time in the kitchen. Might I suggest what might be the best classic soul play list of all time? No joke, my personal mix cd was a big hit at work back in the day. It was discovered by a manager in the office, and she asked if she could copy it. She then made more copies and gave them to some of our co-workers who would randomly come up to inform me that they'd gotten a copy and that I was chocked full of soul. It's just that awesome. Guaranteed to have you dancing while you dice, and singing while you stir. To be played in this order (for reals, it's an important part):

"Superstitious"- Stevie Wonder
"Papa Was a Rolling Stone"- The Temptations
"Here I Am (Come and Take Me)"- Al Green
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"- Gladys Knight and The Pips
"Respect Yourself"- The Staple Singers
"Mother, Mother"- Marvin Gaye
"Let's Stay Together"- Al Green
"Superfly"- Curtis Mayfield
"Try a Little Tenderness"- Otis Redding
"Mercy, Mercy Me"- Marvin Gaye
"Midnight Train to Georgia"- Gladys Knight and The Pips
"I'll Take You There"- The Staple Singers
"Sittin' On The Dock of The Bay"- Otis Redding

Feel free to omit the last song if you feel it's a bit predictable. I feel that way sometimes, but it is a good song so it doesn't hurt the groove of the playlist at all.

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work, blech
-Grab Chipotle on the way home
-Eat and watch 30 Rock
-Watch Glee
-Get ready
-Fate Lions show at The Grotto
-Hang out and have fun times with friends
-Home
-Hit the hay

Saturday:
-Sleep in way late
-Leftover Chipotle while watching Gilmore Girls
-Make grocery list
-Shower and get ready
-Grocery shopping
-Make salad
-Head to Hoover-in-laws for early Thanksgiving
-Grub and gab with the fam
-Head to Flower Mound for Back In Black show
-Back home to bed

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Start laundry
-Clean house
-Bowl of cereal
-Shower
-Clean and prep veggies
-Finish laundry
-Make biscuits
-Rob & Angie arrive for movie party
-Soups on
-Visiting while soup cooks
-Dinner
-Start the movie
-Break for milk & cookies
-Finish movie and see the guests off
-Tidy up
-Bedtime

Pants Party

As noted in my weekend roundup, Holly and I went on a turbo shopping trip on an already tightly scheduled Saturday. It was required however to take advantage of our 30% off reusable coupons for Old Navy and Gap. And even better after our first purchases at Old Navy we received a coupon for 35% off at Gap, improving the total savings. And better than all of that, I got to use said coupon to get pants. Glorious pants! I know have 10 pairs of pants that actually fit me well. Apparently I just have to spend more money on clothes to find some that will work for me. I picked up three pairs of straight leg, nearly skinny, corduroy pants in dark blue, gray and yellow. Also got a new denim skirt, as the one I owned was woefully outdated and a bit too big too. At Old Navy I picked up two more striped tops, a black & white tee that seems a bit of a cross between frenchie and mod, and a yellow and gray sweater with shoulder button detail. And for layering I picked up two tanks with ruffle-front detail in white and a soft pink (not shown). Yay pants!

Getaway

I am feeling frazzled and overwhelmed today. Desperately wishing I could run away to a nice, peaceful cabin for some quiet time. The best I can hope for is finding some time to use our fire pit soon.














Photo of Casita La Joya, where we spent part of our honeymoon.

Weekend Roundup

Ooofff, had an off day yesterday so here's my weekend roundup.

Friday:
-Sleep in
-Breakfast and coffee
-Clean house
-Shower
-Get ready
-Read the first two chapters in my Friday class lesson
-Head to Mom-in-law's for family fun
-Two games of Clue and one of Cranium with some fried chicken and movie watching
-Back home and to bed

Saturday:
-Up early
-Quick cup of coffee
-Haircuts for us
-Home Depot for potting soil and caulk gun
-Back home and change clothes
-Shopping with Holly- lots of new pants!
-Rylee's 4th birthday party at Jump For Fun!
-Quick Chipotle dinner
-Swell Season at Palladium!!!!
-After concert traffic, blech
-Hit the hay

Sunday:
-Oversleep
-Coffee, menu planning and grocery listing
-Shower
-Wrap gifts
-Get ready
-Rob & LeAnn's baby shower
-Grocery shopping
-Start laundry
-Finish reading lesson chapters
-Reorganize closet shelf and dresser drawer for new pants
-Frozen pizza and 30 Rock from the DVR
-Finish laundry
-Watch some The Philadelphia Story
-Try to sleep, darn cat woke me up once an hour, grrrrr

Favorite Night

Thursday night is fast becoming one of my favorite parts of my week. I don't usually work Fridays, which is great, but that day is typically reserved for getting my house cleaning done. I like house cleaning, but like it or not it is still a chore, which takes Friday down a notch. Thursday night however is a golden opportunity to do what I want, even if it's nothing at all. The whole weekend lays ahead of me, waiting to be filled with fun, and the yucky work week is done away with. I can stay up late without worrying about how early I have to rise tomorrow, and Josh has band rehearsal so I don't have to make sure there is dinner ready for him. Tonight I'm thinking pajamas and robe, playing a little DVR catch-up, watching one of the Netflix flicks that should be in the mail, and perhaps a little bit of reading. Yay Thursday!

Photo via Martha Stewart

Holy Crap!

One of my pics from our trip to San Francisco was picked for today's photo on Photopol.us. I'm amazed! Thanks!

The People in My Neighborhood

I mentioned at least once before how much of an impact Sesame Street had on me, and continues to have on me. So I couldn't possibly let today pass by without saying Happy Anniversary to one of the most influential and positive things to come out of our public broadcast system. Seriously, if you didn't grow up on Sesame Street I feel sad for you. I just can't imagine my childhood without it. I wish I could embed a video or two to share with you, but they're not crazy about sharing like that. You can however view hundreds of clips here, including my favorite, Ernie's Shopping List. They also have a youtube channel with a large sampling of videos from their website. What's your favorite Sesame Street moment? Happy 40th Sesame Street!



























P.S. Side note: I totally ordered Sesame Street checks when I opened my first checking account!

Swell(er) Season

The clip I previously posted of Swell Season on Conan was taken down for, blahblahblah, you know the spiel. But, it matters not because the totally awesome video for "Low Rising", directed by Sam Bean of Iron & Wine, is now up. So, I've updated the post with it instead. Scroll down or click here for the goodness.

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work, yuck
-Leave early to meet Mom-in-law, bro and niece at the house
-Head to House of Blues
-Birthday dinner for niece
-Drop Mom-in-law home, in for a cup of coffee
-Back home and into bed

Saturday:
-Sleep in, terrible night of sleep
-Make menu plan and grocery list
-Coffee and oatmeal breakfast
-Get ready
-Head out to IKEA, hurrying through and gathering supplies
-Back home to put together new office "chair"
-Josh off to practice
-Eat and a little TV time
-Shower and get ready
-Holly's Birthday celebration at The Moon
-The Orbans, The O's and Dove Hunter- all awesome
-Grab some Whataburger and head home
-Eat and watch Simpsons
-Hit the hay

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Fast grocery run
-Fate Lions come over for practice
-Eat yummy Central Market sandwich
-Dead head roses and clean out front flower beds, transfer leaves to back yard for composting
-Band practice over
-Clean and decorate front porch for fall
-Composting
-Start work on laundry area improvements with Josh's help
-Pizza dinner
-Start laundry
-Clean and prep week's veggies
-Shower
-Finish laundry
-Bedtime

Tattoo

I don't know if I mentioned it here yet, but I recently decided that I want another tattoo. And as soon as I had that realization it was quickly followed by the decision that it must be a Beatles tattoo. So, I've been pondering it for a while, where should I get it and what exactly should it be, been looking around the interwebs for ideas. Right now I'm leaning towards these silhouettes, perhaps down my upper left arm, sans text and in different colors though. Hmm, more pondering required.





























image via here

Swell Season

Not on the list below, but also high on my excitement meter is the upcoming Swell Season concert. Got the new album the other day and I am smitten with it and them. The last time I saw them was one of my best concert experiences and I can only assume this time will be even better. Especially since last time it was standing room, and this time we will have seats. Good seats. Great seats, you might even say- 5th row center. Get their new album and be smitten along with me.

Buzzing

My head is buzzing with so many ideas recently! I am so excited for the holidays, especially since it will be our first Christmas in our new home. And I'm looking forward to the new year too. It always feels like an opportunity to start fresh, make needed and wanted changes and think about molding your future into what you want it to be. Here are a few of the things that are buzzing around in my brain.

-Yesterday I signed up for an online photography course from TCU. It starts November 11th and goes for 6 weeks. If it turns out fun and educational they have several other 6 week courses I might sign up for.
-My brother has tentatively agreed to go to a Swing/Lindy Hop/Charleston class with me at a local hall. He's supposed to come by tonight so I can see if he has any general aptitude for the basic Charleston. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
-I'm looking through my old MS Living's, other magazines, and tear sheets for Christmas decorating ideas. I got rid of a lot of our old decorations last year, most of which were hand-me-down items we had collected when family members cleaned out their closets. I get to start fresh and I am overwhelmed with the possibilities!
-I've started a new little project over at Small Time Cooks for the month of November, which has already provided me with one success in the kitchen.
-I'm excited to put together my Christmas list, lots of helpful things I need and a few fun things I wouldn't mind finding under the Christmas tree this year.
-So busy with two birthday celebrations this weekend, one birthday, a concert, and a shower next weekend, then our typical three family Thanksgivings, and we haven't even gotten to any Christmas events yet!
-I want to finish fixing up my office- need a chair, rug, plant pot, and some more decor/organizational fixes.
-Hoping to put together some vignettes of framed family photos down the hallway, which requires narrowing down the photos, getting them framed, arranged and hung. Oh how the simple things turn out to be so difficult, ha.
-Want to finally get some pics of the rest of the house that I like enough to share with you here.
-We are looking for a solution to our lot's drainage issues- looking to get some gutter installation estimates and looking into ways to use rain barrels to make the best of this situation in the future.
-Ideas for making the laundry area better organized and more productive.
-Stephanie should be having the twins by Christmas!!!
-Josh's office Christmas party, which I get to go to this year.
-Looking forward to making s'mores around our fire pit.
-Trying to cross off a few more of my 2009 Resolutions, before compiling my 2010 list!

I love being charged with so much inspiration and anticipation!!

Halloween 2009

Here we are ready for some spooktacular fun! Our friend Jen snapped this pic.

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Sleeeeeep innnnnn
-Clean house
-Wait for Josh to get home
-Put on pjs and order pizza
-Pizza in bed while watching Arsenic & Old Lace and Sleepy Hollow
-Bed time

Saturday
-Up early
-Coffee and breakfast while watching The Botany of Desire on dvr
-Holly stops by to loan me her make-up tools and give me a quick how-to lesson for my costume
-Run to Kohl's to exchange Josh's suspenders and Ulta for more make-up supplies
-Back home for lunch
-Shower and get ready
-Make-up and wig
-Costume on and out the door
-Party it up at Clif & Duane's
-Back home to hit the hay

Sunday:
-Sleep in (God bless daylight savings)
-Coffee
-Menu planning and grocery listing
-Shower
-Grocery shopping
-Chipotle for late lunch/early dinner
-Start laundry
-Clean and prep veggies for the week
-Flip mattress and topper
-Put Spring/Summer duvet up, pull out Fall/Winter quilt
-Watch some dvr'd Ghost Hunters while making bed and doing laundry
-Cheese and crackers for snack
-Finish laundry/ironing
-Read a little P&P&Z
-Lights out

It's The Cat's Meow

Well my Halloween costume arrived today. Just in time, right? I didn't order it until Monday because we had barely even had time to think about Halloween between our Cali trip and planning the baby shower. And to be honest, I didn't even figure out what I was going to be until I was looking at costumes online. Normally I like to plan in advance and put something interesting together. You can see some of our past Halloween costumes here. In the end I couldn't come up with a brilliant idea, and Josh wasn't really offering an immense amount of input, so I impulsively told him I was being a flapper and that was that. We have decided that he will be a bootlegger. That basically consists of his "Clyde" costume from two years ago with the addition of suspenders (which he has been wanting anyways) and a bottle of booze. So, despite having a generic fringe flapper dress, I have been determined the past few days to polish up and improve my Charleston dance moves. I've been watching videos on youtube and last night I watched several dance numbers from Chicago and tried to pick up a few steps. When Josh got home I tried to teach him the basic moves and he didn't do too bad, but dancing rhythm doesn't seem to translate that well for drummers. Anyway, tonight I'm going to practice some more, mostly for my own enjoyment because it's not like I'll be able to make good use of this stuff to dance the night away at the part we're going to. I just wanted to lend a little authenticity to my costume. Tonight I'll be viewing some of The Cat's Meow and Singin' In The Rain for more inspiration. Above is my costume, although I've got a red boa and black gloves to go with it. And for fun here's a video of Ginger Rogers & Lucille Ball doing the Charleston together. I picked up a couple of moves from this. Did you know that Ginger Rogers was a Championship Charleston-er? As a matter of fact she won right here in Fort Worth, TX. :)

Stephanie's Baby Shower

So, bff Stephanie is currently growing two babies in her belly. That's right, twins- a boy and a girl! This weekend I hosted a shower for her family and friends. This was the second shower I've thrown for Steph, and this time around she wanted things to be really simple. I chose a bird theme that I knew she would love and almost everything else just fell into place. I looked through the archives of a couple of blogs I frequent, namely Oh Happy Day! and Brooklyn Limestone, for some ideas and everything came together really well, I think. I used some kit invitations that I actually found in the wedding aisles at Michael's, and embellished them with a little birdie stamp to work with the theme. I went with a light lunch-ish menu of tuna and chicken salad sandwiches, kettle potato chips, veggies with dip, fruit salad, and blueberry crumb bars. I had lemonade, iced tea and coffee to drink. Michael's also provided the grapevine wreaths that I "nested" the sandwiches in, the little birdies that matched my yellow and blue color scheme, the twig & nest combo, and the card stock to make the sandwich flags. I bought two small bunches of delicious smelling freesia for the tabletop and voila! I think everyone had a good time, and Stephanie and her husband Rodney got a lot of stuff that's going to come in handy once little Logan & Hadley get here. Here are a few pics. Oh, and the cake? It was made by Steph. Because she wanted to make her cake, and because she makes awesome cakes. If she hadn't been dying to make this particular cake design then I probably would have done some of those bird's nest cupcakes that have been around the blogosphere and back again. Or talked her into doing it. Because she's awesome. Here are a few pics. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate the soon to be here babes! Edit: I neglected to thank Josh and Holly for being super helpful with the party prep and even more so with the clean up. They rock!

Weekend Roundup

Oh boy- I have been sooo busy! The Smothers Brothers concert was great- Tommy Smothers pointed at me! Here's what I was so busy with:

Friday:
-Sleep in, so needed it
-Clean house
-Rotate living room rug and water plants
-Plan baby shower table layout
-Put all extra chairs in living room for shower
-Josh gets home, put frozen pizza in the oven
-Shower while pizza cooks
-Out and into pjs to eat and watch dvr'd 30 Rock
-Make blueberry crumb bars and ranch dip for baby shower
-Hit the hay

Saturday:
-Oversleep
-Get up and ready
-Central Market for the last of the baby shower food
-Back home to start prepping everything
-Holly arrives for some last minute help
-Mommy to be and family show up while I'm making sandwiches
-Baby Shower time, lots of talking, eating, cake and gift opening (a couple pics to come)
-Post shower clean up with mega-help from Josh and Holly
-Beatles Rock Band with Holly while Josh is off to jam at Matt's
-Chick-fil-a run for dinner
-Watch Manhattan and Rear Window
-See Holly off, Josh comes home
-Read some Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
-Bedtime

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Menu plan and grocery list
-Baby shower leftovers for lunch while watching Glee
-Grocery shopping
-Start laundry
-Clean and chop veggies for the week
-Composting (I'm the inadvertent gardener, things are growing in my compost!)
-Recruit Josh to help me make a big spider web in the front yard, hang my spider
-Work on a little more Halloween decor
-Shower
-More leftovers for dinner while watching White Christmas (I must be the only person who can watch a Christmas movie after putting up her Halloween decorations.)
-Finish laundry
-A little more P&P&Z
-Night-night

Smothers Brothers

Mom and I are going to see the Smothers Brothers tonight!

San Francisco Leftovers

Just wanted to share a few of the random photos that didn't really fit into a specific category of our visit. San Francisco/California was such a fun place to take pictures, and I can't wait to go back to explore more. If you click on the first pic here you can see the car lights winding down Lombard St. More here. I've got one more set of photos to share from our trip later. Thanks for looking at my excessive vacation photographs!