Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Merry Post-Christmas

I hope everyone had a great holiday! I know I sure did. Christmas Eve was filled with lots of family, fun and food. I was up late playing Santa, divvying up candy and filling stockings. Christmas morning we had a great breakfast and everyone loved all the presents they got, including me. Josh and I opened our gifts to each other after my family left. I already knew he had spoiled me because he "forgot" our gift count limit of 5. Along with all sorts of movies and books I wanted he got me a new drive & battery for my laptop, and a brand new netbook! I can't wait to be able to take notes so much quicker in class next semester! He spent his personal money on it. I don't get to tell him how he should spend that, and though I keep telling him he shouldn't have I'm still super glad to have a cute white netbook to use for school. And on top of all that, yesterday a package came for him from Cypress. He was confused, but when he opened it he realized it was the necklace I'd wanted from Etsy. He hadn't even noticed that it hadn't arrived yet! On top of all that I got a few of the things from the wish list I shared here too- those cute boots, the flash for my Holga, the movies, etc. I am so blessed to have people who care about me, and showed me that through picking out thoughtful gifts and wrapping them up sweetly.

Josh loved his presents, especially his super soft robe and the graphic novel. And our mom was really happy to get her new coat and the little peanut pendant necklace I got her at the last minute. But, I'd say the home run gift this year was the vintage hypnosis book we got for his stepdad, Jack. He really seemed impressed that we'd found something so neat that fit his interests so well. Etsy scores another win!

Christmas night we spent at Josh's dad and stepmom Ann's house. Along with siblings, uncles, aunts, and some of Ann's family in from Rochester, we had a wonderful evening with lots of good snacky food, fun games, and a warm fire. Again, left feeling super blessed to have so much wonderful family in our lives.

Christmas breakfast 2010 Christmas cat 2010
Josh got me a netbook for Christmas!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time

First off, I don't care how many people speak ill of it- I like that Paul McCartney Christmas song. Now that that's out of the way, I can share that I got my final GPA for my first semester- 4.0! Woohoo! I'm not a dullard! But, on to more important things like Christmas. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, can you believe it? This year has whizzed by so quickly. All of our gifts are wrapped and under the tree. This year I got Josh a new cozy robe, some pajamas, a hilarious graphic novel from one of my new pals on Twitter, a video game he had on his wish list, and the second season of Kids In The Hall on DVD. I'm excited to see him open all his presents! And he wrapped up lots of goodies for me, so I'm excited to open some too.

Tonight we'll be having dinner with our awesome friend Diggy, in for the holidays from San Francisco. I can't wait to watch his latest short film that he's bringing to us, and pepper him with questions all about his next big idea. Tomorrow I've got to get some groceries for our holiday festivities. I'll do a little baking and then we'll be headed to Josh's mom's for Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas morning my mom, brother and his family will be coming over for breakfast and gift opening. Then Josh and I will have a little time to relax and marvel at how blessed we are before we head off to his dad's house for even more blessings! Some of his stepmother's relatives will be in from Rochester and we'll have a nice evening of snacks, champagne, visiting, and Bananagrams. My father-in-law has been talking big about how he's going to kick all our butts, so I've got my game-face ready to meet his challenge!

I hope that everyone has a great holiday, with friends and family close and lots of wonderful memories made!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

My 2010 Christmas Wish List (plus some other stuff)

The other stuff is that I am 99.9% done with school for the semester! I took my last math test and History final yesterday. Thanks to several extra credit opportunities, and actually studying, I got a 120 on my History test! My average for the semester came out to 107.4. Woohoo! And, despite it taking me forever, I got a 90 on my math test. I am more than pleased with that, since I sat struggling with 4 of the problems for quite awhile. I finally remembered what I was supposed to do to solve three of them, and guessed on the 4th. Funnily enough, the one I guessed I got right! I can't convey the bliss of coming home, making dinner, and having the freedom to do pretty much whatever I want. I watched 3 hours of television Monday night. It was awesome. Tomorrow I have to turn in my final Comp 1 paper, but I'm intending on heckling my teacher into grading it right then and there so I can know what I'm making. I also want to take a copy of the graded paper with me. These analytical papers on films might come in handy later, what with me hoping to major in Radio, Television, Film.

Now that school is out of the way, I really have to get on the ball for Christmas. I've got 30 gifts to wrap, and I need to do a couple of them ASAP to get them in the mail. I realized last night that I'm nowhere near having enough Christmas cards, so I need to pick some more of those up. And now, to share my Christmas Wish List for this holiday season.

























Play:

Read:
  • Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris- Dying to read Sedaris' latest book. Especially after hearing him talk about it on The Daily Show
  • The War for Late Night by Bill Carter- Carter's latest book, about Conan, that big chinned dude, and the whole Tonight Shot debacle. I think it's pretty obvious why I asked for this. :)
  • Woody Allen: A Biography by Eric Lax- I loved the previous Allen book by Eric Lax that I read, so I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy this one. Lax has a great grasp on who Woody, considering he's been interviewing him for over 30 years.
Wear:
  • Mossimo Western Boots- I'm working on growing my boot wardrobe. These are from Target.
  • Enamel necklace from etsy- Don't tell me if you click this link and it says sold- I'm being a good girl and not peeking!
  • The Looping Lanes and Soft Bow belts, both from Anthropologie- both also appear to be gone form their website, so really hoping somebody bought me at least one. Fingers crossed!
Watch:
Well, that wraps up my 2010 wish list. Technically there's a bunch more stuff on my list, but these are some of the highlights; the things I am most coveting.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Heralding the Holidays

Ah, I've finally reached the weekend. Things haven't gone just as I was hoping this week; still lots of work to be done on my final English paper and put my Math test off until Tuesday, so I've got a lot of school work to do this weekend before things get wrapped up next week. Yesterday was so rough that by the time I got home I was completely done in. I showered, put on my pajamas, and immediately got into bed. Josh got home to find me reading the new issue of Real Simple that had come in the mail. He did chores, gave me some snuggles, then fed me yummy Spinach & Feta pizza. That husband of mine really is the best. And of course last night's Conan episode really cheered me up too. Did you guys see She & Him? Totally amazing.

I managed to finish almost all of my Christmas shopping this week, and almost all of it on Monday as a matter of fact! Between a BIG Amazon order, which should be arriving today, and a shopathon with Mom I pretty much just have stocking stuffers left to buy. I do however still have all those gifts to wrap- yoinks! But that'll be waiting until I'm done with my school work next week.

Today has been quite a bit better. I got some work done and it's been quite in the office. But, even better than that, this evening Josh and I are going to participate in one of my favorite holiday traditions we've started. We'll be getting our Christmas tree after work, and we decorate it while watching The Muppet Christmas Carol and over a dinner of fish & chips, Old Speckled Hen, and some bread pudding for dessert. The Muppet Christmas Carol is one of my most favorite holiday movies (although I do have a lot of favorites, ha) and I haven't even let myself watch it yet, so I get to see it for the first time this season. I hope everyone else is having fun getting into the holiday spirit!

Friday, December 3, 2010

News and Shoes

Hey duders! Things are really getting hectic around here these days. We managed to survive our three Thanksgiving dinners last week, and we're headed into a busy weekend. I go in for my 6 month glaucoma exam this afternoon. Really not looking forward to that- especially since I'm well aware of what all it entails now. Lots of poking and poofing my eyeballs, and the darn dilation drops that make me soooo sleepy- they contain a decongestant. They conveniently don't tell you that part, so thought I was going crazy when I felt all drugged up after the first time. Following the eye exam we'll be heading to a surprise party for Josh's stepbrother Alec. That should be fun on the sleepy eye meds, ha.

We have our nephew, Alec's son, Griffin's birthday party early tomorrow morning and have to leave it a little early to make it to our haircut appointments. We adopted a Fort Worth Zoo animal in his name for his present. Josh tells me that he's going to put the Christmas lights up on the house this weekend, so I'll probably put the other outdoor decorations up too. We were invited to another party tomorrow evening, but it's not looking likely that we'll have time to attend. Oh, and I have to write a short paper with 2 outside sources analyzing portions of the film Wag the Dog. And History notes to catch up on. And about 5 loads of laundry. And grocery shopping. Haha, I can't wait until the semester is over, so I'll actually have some time for all the housework instead of homework.

This week I got an A+ on my Network paper for English, and a 100 on my Service Learning Project in History. Josh had me put my English paper on the refrigerator, haha. :) And I paid for my next semester's classes, so aside from books I'm all ready to go for the Spring.

So, that's the news portion of this post. For the shoes portion- well, it's technically the boots portion- I got these great gray boots in the mail this week. Ordered them from Piperlime and they came quickly and well-packed. And, best of all, only $69. I lurve them.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Weekend Roundup

Haven't done a real Weekend Roundup in ages, so how's about I do one now?

Friday:
-Work, blech
-Stop by store on way home for dinner supplies
-Read and watch TV, waiting for Josh to get home
-Change into our warm jammies
-Make big tray of bean & cheese nachos
-Nacho Pajama Party, commence!
-Watch Eddie Izzard dvd over nachos, chips, salsa, guac and beers
-Hit the hay

Saturday:
-Sleep in a little bit
-Shower and get ready
-Hit Target for Rylee's birthday present
-Hit traffic on the way to Rylee's party
-Birthday party it up, love on Hadley & Logan a bunch, visit with parents of party-goers
-Home for a short rest
-Stop by office to print design
-Elite Tattoo Gallery for my Beatles tattoo!
-Back by the house to grab some brews
-Hang at Matt & Ashley's, eat Mexican food, have funtimes
-Home, clean tattoo, go to bed

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Coffee in bed, thanks to Josh
-Clean tattoo
-Get ready
-Grocery shopping
-Lunch of Greek salad, cuban panini, and rugelach- super ethnic!
-Fall asleep watching TV in bedroom
-Shower and clean tattoo
-Watch a couple of docs on the Documentary Channel
-Make nachos
-Watch White Christmas
-Fall asleep watching some Simpsons

*Excuse the lack of make-up, pic taken with phone after I was all ready for bed*

Friday, November 19, 2010

EmilyStyle Schools Me

My blog-pal Emily, over at EmilyStyle, created one of her awesome What To Wear posts to teach me how to incorporate more tights into my wardrobe. I'm looking forward to using her examples to spice up my fall & winter style! Check out her great advice here.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

This Is a Raid

So very busy, all of the time, it seems. This past weekend I went out and had a fabulous time Friday night for my pal Holly's birthday. The Levon Helm show the night before that was fantastic too. Then, the rest of my weekend can be more or less summed up with Network. I have a paper due tomorrow, analyzing several scenes from that movie. I ended up watching it THREE full times, plus re-watching several scenes. I guess if I'm being honest, there were also quite a lot of potato chips involved in the weekend too. But snacking was the easiest meal when I'm stuck in full movie mode.

I'm registered for my classes for next semester now. I'm taking Comp II, History 1302, U.S. Government, and my next batch of developmental math- Intermediate Algebra. My current math teacher, whom we all really like, is only teaching one class next semester. I changed my whole schedule just so I could stick with him, so it better be worth it, ha. Instead of the Tuesdays and Thursdays I've been doing this semester, it'll be Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'll be at school an hour later too, but I start an hour later, so there's some pay-off there. I'm just going to need to be more rigorous on keeping my work hours up due to this change. My math class has a great vibe, and hopefully some of the other students are going to be continuing with Dr. Stewart as well, so maybe that'll carry over to next semester. Plus, he's the VP of Teaching & Learning Services on our campus, and got his Masters and Doctorate from the university I'm hoping to transfer to- hello, recommendation letter.

The semester is coming to a close; I finish up in just one month. Naturally, I can barely keep up with all the ideas I have for my free time over winter break. And naturally, there won't be nearly as much as I think there will be, ha. I've got a few frames arriving today from Pottery Barn so I can finally make some progress on putting family photos up in our hallway. And I'm hoping to clear out the freezer, and then restock it with a lot of casseroles and the like for next semester. Of course there's the obligatory Christmas shopping, decorating, and 3 family celebrations. Also, probably absurdly, hoping to push a reset button on my health. I haven't been exercising lately, and my eating habits have definitely gone downhill (see potato chips above). But I'm looking forward to veggie-filled soups and at least making an attempt to get into a bit better shape before our cruise in February. I know that is pretty unrealistic in the season of gingerbread and candy canes, but it can't hurt to try, right?

This song has very little to do with all the crap I rambled about above, but I am so in love with it, and am enjoying the whole album. I'm really connecting with this tune lately and decided I should share it for that reason alone. It's Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy performing "You Are Not Alone", from the album of the same name.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dirt Farmer

This week has been packed with work, school, and CONAN! We had a premiere party Monday with some friends which was tons of fun, but the best is that every night I get to watch Conan before I go to bed. It's like my life is finally back to normal!

Tonight Josh and I are going to see my all-time favorite drummer, Levon Helm. I'm super excited! Here's a video of Levon on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Like how I worked both bits of this post into one clip? :)

Friday, November 5, 2010

Whoa

Wow, I haven't updated at all this week. I've been busy with field trips, voting, keeping Josh and I fed, belated grocery shopping, and the past weekend was full of Halloween parties. I got an A on my second English paper, a 95 on my Math test, and I'm impatiently awaiting the grade for my second History Essay, so all is going smoothly with school. Tonight I'm going out for tacos with the girls, and most of this weekend will be spent cleaning house. Conan returns to TV Monday night, and we'll be hosting a dozen or so friends to watch the premier. So excited to be able to see my favorite funny fella on my television again!

In other news, in a short two weeks they are opening an Anthropologie store across the street from my office. Look for my declaration of bankruptcy about two weeks after that, ha. They are also bringing an H&M to the area, but it will be in Dallas so it's not as much of a threat to my financial stability. Such pretty things will soon be so closely within my reach. Well, of my hands. Not so much of my pocketbook. ;)


Friday, October 29, 2010

In A Halloween Spirit

I really love Halloween, but sadly I have had almost no time to decorate for it so far. So, I thought I'd decorate this post instead. :) Here are some Halloween/Fall decorating ideas I love from Martha Stewart.



Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Small Time Cooks Giveaway!

Hey gang, I'm hosting a giveaway over on my food blog, Small Time Cooks. Just drop by and leave a comment here before midnight 10/31/10 and you could wind up winning a copy of Everyday Food's "Great Food Fast" cookbook and a jar of my favorite pancake mix!

Photobucket

Monday, October 25, 2010

Still Dawesome

Saturday night Holly, Stephanie P, Amanda and I went to Sons of Hermann Hall to see Dawes. You might remember that name from when I gushed about seeing them the first time back in July. I seriously, seriously love this band. LURVE. Last time the girls got pics with some of the guys, and I was stuck taking most of them. This time around I made sure that I got pics with the cute boys. Amanda and I even got to chat with the singer/guitarist Taylor while we were standing out in front of the club before they played. I told him he was so cute that I wanted to pinch his cheek. So, basically, I came across as crazy. But whatever, it's true. I was right up front for the whole show, making some major eye contact with him, and singing along to every song (except for a couple of the new ones which I only half remembered from the last show). Snagged the pics after the show, and then we all made our ways home. Holly and I grabbed some late night grub from Whataburger, since we didn't eat before the show. And I fell asleep with pretty songs in my head. :)

Me and Taylor, guitarist/singer of Dawes Me and Alex, keys in Dawes
Me and Griffin, drummer of Dawes Me and Wylie, bassist of Dawes
Top to bottom: me & Taylor (guitar/vocals), me & Alex (keys), me & Griffin (drums) , and me & Wylie (bass)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

A Room With A View

The weather here in North Texas has been freakin' fantastic lately. Warm, but not the sweltering temps of summer. Fall in Texas is sort of like the spring we were dreaming of 6 months ago. Except even better because sometimes you spy a tree full of autumn shades, or get to crunchily walk through some fallen leaves. I've been enjoying the weather even while I'm sick by throwing open the bedroom windows. While writing this post even, I'm sitting in bed feeling a slight breeze and just moments ago heard the sounds of wind chimes. There's nothing like an open window on a pleasant day, right? One of my favorite things about our house is my view out the window while laying in bed. Our yard full of Live Oaks makes for some pretty scenery.

Bedroom view

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Slowly, But Surely

I feel like all I ever get to do on this blog is run in, rattle off a list of stuff I've done since I last updated, and then run back out only to repeat the process. Which, is basically what this post is. the title of this post is in reference both to my current state of health and school. I am currently about halfway through a cold, and am slowly crawling my way to recovery. And this week I took my history midterm, so I'm at the halfway point in my first semester. So far everything is going along swimmingly. It's stressful, but half of that is self-induced, because I haven't had any real reason to worry so far. The lowest grade I've made in my history class is a 100, and I've got an A for my first MathMod, and also got that A on my first English paper. I turned in my second one today, and I'm hoping for a B. My lowered expectations can be chocked up to the fact that I finished it in a nyquil haze. I'm pretty sure it was coherent. Well, at least to me!

I'm super excited though, despite my current poor health, because today I booked us for a cruise for my 30th birthday! We decided just a quick, 4 day shoot to Cozumel and back would be the best way to go. If I can get a Tuesday/Thursday schedule again next semester then I'll only miss one day for our trip. It's hard to imagine a nicer way to celebrate my 30th birthday than hanging out on this beach. Wouldn't you agree?

I heart Nachi Cocom

Thursday, October 14, 2010

And The Days Go By

Okay, haven't updated in a week. Let's recap. Wednesday of last week we did the anniversary thing. Thursday I had school and went to the Writing Center after class to get help and extra credit on my history paper. Friday I worked, and Josh was off in Florida for a Back In Black show. My plan was to do homework, but it turned into eating junky and watching stuff off the DVR. I did however pick up "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" when I stopped by Half Price Books after work. Saturday I did a little housework, and spent a good chunk of the day in bed with the windows open, reading and watching the Rangers game. Josh got back and had another show that night, so we spent the evening grabbing a bite to eat at Benito's and at the Chat Room for Fate Lions. Sunday was some more chores, baking, grocery shopping, etc.

This week has been similar. Monday I went to work and made a big bowl of pesto pasta for dinner. Did some homework and watched/live-tweeted Hoarders. Tuesday was a rough day at school. The teacher read half of my paper aloud, luckily as a good example. It was anonymous, but it was still awkward. History class was canceled, so I had some waiting around to do. Then math class was super hard. I just wasn't getting it that day. Luckily that night when I got home from work I took a walk, ordered some pizza, and tucked in to my math homework- and it was easy! I don't know what my problem was in class, but I managed to even work a whole section ahead rather easily. Yesterday though I stayed home most of the day, only coming in to work for a bit in the afternoon, due to a lack of sleep induced headache. Worked a bit more on my next English assignment last night, and then relaxed by getting caught up on Glee! (I can't WAIT for the Rocky Horror episode!) That brings us up to today, when I got even more work done on my paper in English class, found out I got a 110 on my history paper thanks to that extra credit visit to the Lab, and breezed through a quiz and got out of math early.

Now I just need to make it through today and tomorrow at work. I'm looking at this weekend and I'm seeing lovely things. Possibly:

-a bike ride
-a museum visit
-a trip to IKEA
-Fall/Halloween decorating
-hanging out with some friends
-playing some badminton
-a teeny, tiny, smidge of homework

Fall in Texas, I think, brings the best weather of the year and I love being able to enjoy it when we can!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Four

Yesterday Josh and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary! We slept in, grabbed some donuts and went to the duck pond to enjoy them. Then we went to the zoo, which we thoroughly explored. We had ice cream cones, and enjoyed the beautiful day. For dinner we went to Texas de Brazil, which we had a gift card for. It's expensive, so this special day seemed like the perfect occasion to use it up. Salad bar, 6 kinds of meat, beer, and chocolate cake put me into a coma, but a delicious one! I go to bed every night and wake up everyday so glad to be married to such an awesome dude!

Friday, October 1, 2010

TGIF

What a long week! Lots of studying for my math test, which was beyond frustrating. And then yesterday was just the pits. I overslept and missed my first class. I rushed to school just in time for my second class, only to discover it was canceled. And then there was the math test. I actually did great on it, which turned out to be the high point of my day. Then work, therapy (where I impressed my doctor with my neuroses, can't be good) and tons of traffic while trying to run errands. I was able to make a nice dinner, and do a little housework, so I suppose we can add that to the good list. But Josh didn't get home until almost 11, so that put a damper on that stuff a bit.

In other words, whine whine whine, ha. BUT! Tonight should be much better. One of my errands post-work yesterday was picking up some goodies for this evening. My pals Steph and Holly are coming over for some snacks and drinks, hopefully on the deck, before we head to the bar Steph's bro works at for more (and cheaper) drinks. Yay for girly fun times that I need so badly after this week!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Weekend Roundup

This weekend was more or less a bust. I barely saw Josh at all, and other than making some really delicious donuts I got very little done.

Feeling very bummed about how busy we are lately. Mostly because it's the kind of busy that leaves you feeling like you've actually gotten absolutely nothing done. I am getting into a heavier workload at school, dislike having to show up at work each day, feel like I've got a million projects around the house needing to be done, and a decent night's sleep is a foreign concept to me.

We've got that $500 to do something with, but haven't decided what. Our anniversary is next week, we've got what appears to be a free weekend in October and a couple more in November, and then my 30th birthday is in February. Times ripe with opportunity for an escape, but if we can only afford one, which one do we choose? Or should it be spent on those nagging projects? What about fall clothes? Or should we not spend our windfall at all? Jeez. Doesn't seem like getting extra money should be stressful, but trying to decide what to do with it sure makes it feel that way.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Help Needed, Inquire Within

At this moment I'm just a little overwhelmed with work. Every variety of it- school work, house work, work work. Tonight I need to fill out some calendars for school, so I can get a better picture of my deadlines and know when I'm under a time crunch (as well as 5 sections of reading and Cornell notes, woo). Time is always slipping through my fingers lately. How do you successfully manage your time?

Josh "inherited" $500 from the sale of his grandparents' house. We haven't been able to decide what to do with it yet. It's sitting in a savings account right now, but that certainly isn't it's permanent resting place. Some ideas are to put it towards a short & sweet trip, split it 50/50 to each spend on what we wish, use it to finish up household projects, decide a savings goal we'd like it to go towards. If you received an surprise $500 what would you use it for?

If there is one thing that I just don't get about fashion it is accessorizing. Shoes, bags, belts, jewelry- all generally confuse me. Tights, those seem to throw me for a loop too. Feels like I'm failing as a woman sometimes. Also, despite being almost 30, calling myself a woman feels super weird. I'm just a girl, right? Anyway, are there any hard and fast rules that could make this easier? (The less these rules cost me, the better.)

So, what say you dozen or so people who might read this blog? Any tips, tricks, advice for me in any of these areas?

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Cowl-necked Confession

It's barely out of the 90's here, but I am yearning for lots of comfy fall fashions. Loving this sweater from Old Navy, as well as about half of their other new sweaters. Alas, I can only window shop for now. My pocketbook will thank me. It better!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Weekend Roundup

I am actually feeling a little closer to death today. Headache, FM aches and pains, and the fact that I slept horribly are making this a very rough Monday indeed. Here's what this weekend looked like at Casa de Hoovers.

Friday:
-Say goodbye to Josh, off to Cleveland
-Work, yuck
-World Market and Central Market after work
-Elliptical workout
-Salad and half a sandwich for dinner
-History homework
-Get ready for bed
-4 episodes of The Bob Newhart Show
-Sleepytown

Saturday:
-Sleep way in
-Coffee in bed w/ 4 more Newhart episodes
-Spend hours revamping Small Time Cooks, go take a look please!
-Josh gets home from Cleveland
-Skype with Daniel to finish the last of the blog updating
-Grab some Sonic for dinner
-Eat and watch a Simpsons episode with Josh
-A little more TV
-Bedtime

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Coffee and juice
-House cleaning
-Shower
-Cheese toast
-Make grocery list and menu plan
-Bowl of cereal
-Some television while Josh mows the lawns
-Grocery shopping
-Pizza for dinner while watching a PBS Ed Sullivan special
-Hit the hay

Friday, September 10, 2010

Not Dead Yet

Not dead, just busy. Busy with school, busy with household stuff which is becoming the norm. Also busy trying to lose this stupid weigh gain. I'm worried I'm not going to be able to get these few pounds off no matter what I do. I haven't been eating all healthy, all the time, but I'm not really eating any worse than I was before I gained the weight. I am pretty sure it's just from the birth control pills I take to control my endometriosis symptoms. I'm counting calories and using the elliptical, but not much seems to be helping. It's especially annoying since fall is creeping up and I can't fit in my favorite corduroy pants. And let's not even discuss my khaki slacks. Sigh.

On the positive side, they announced they are accepting internship applications for Conan's new show. That's my big, numero uno goal so now the task is to make myself the best internship candidate I can possibly be. I won't be eligible for a slot for a couple of years, but just knowing that the opportunity I most wanted is an actual option was very exciting. Need to get to work joining clubs, volunteering, etc. to pad out my resume and transcript.

My sleep patterns have become absolute crap lately. I'm not really having any trouble getting up for school, but I am not sleeping well, and I certainly have trouble dragging my tush out of bed on workdays. I remarked to Josh last night that I just don't think I'll ever be a morning person. No matter how early I get up each day, I'm still tired all day through until evening when I perk up and am ready to do stuff. Always been a night owl, and guess things won't be changing.

So yeah, not dead and now you're all caught up on what's been up with me.

Friday, September 3, 2010

A Break In The Weather

I don't want to jump the gun, but I think we've possibly made it through another Texas summer. The ten day forecast here has highs in the upper 80's. That's damn near fall, right there. I might even be tempted to sleep with the windows open, if these 60 degree lows turn out to be fact. These temperatures have me looking forward to the weekend. I'll be doing homework tonight, but think I'll be doing some of it while lounging on the deck. While I'm at it, maybe breakfast will be enjoyed on the deck this weekend too. I've got chores and the like to get done this weekend, but no reason I can't fit plenty of outside time in there too. Actually I could probably get a few outdoors chores done as well. And I'm thinking a bike ride will be in order at some point. Josh's playing at the House of Blues tomorrow night and I'm excited because Stephanie & Rodney are going to come hang out with us. We'll get into some backstage shenanigans, no doubt. And I'm looking forward to the extra day off, even though Josh will be gone to play in Houston Sunday night. Yay outside times! Been cooped up all summer long!

Setting sun peeking through

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Schooling

Well, I survived my first day of school. My English Comp I class should be pretty good. We'll be focusing on writing about popular media, so it's nice that it has a connection, if ever so stretched, to what I'd like to major in- Radio, TV & Film. And the professor bears what I call a "bargain basement" resemblance to Colin Firth, so I should be able to stay focused. History, there's a lot of class participation which I'm not crazy about. Debates and the like, along with a service project and field trips. I get embarrassed having to speak in front of people, but I need to remind myself I'm there for me, not them- so who gives a crap what they think, right? Easier typed than done, ha. And then there's math. Algebra to be exact. The regular kind, cause I have to relearn it. Oy vey. I am not a fan of math, particularly Algebra. As soon as a big jumble of letters and numbers are written on the board, my mind just becomes foggy. I can never remember what to do first. Or next. Or last, for that matter. But I keep trying to re-frame it in my mind. Every time I say to myself "I hate math!", I adjust it to "I don't like math.", and then eventually I'll shift that to "I like math." And once we get there we'll consider it a miracle. Gotta hit from every angle. I'm hoping my decent writing skills will get me through the first two classes without too much of a struggle, so I can really put the effort into math that it's going to require.

But, the important part is I survived! Day one, at least, ha.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Never Lacking in Ideas

As I have previously mentioned, I have a knack for mentally starting a new project before I've even really gotten under way on my current one. So, naturally, as I start school next Tuesday I have spent a good part of today thinking about redecorating my bathroom. I tell you, a dreamer's job is never done.

(After) Bathroom Remodel

*Please note this bathroom is not my bathroom, and has barely anything in common with my bathroom. Other than, you know, a toilet and a bathtub. Photo here.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Weekend Roundup

Yesterday was all around sucky. My practice driving was stressful and started my day off poorly. Only one of my school books was available to rent, and one I had to buy new, so that cost more than I was hoping it would. I got a lot of paper cuts while reorganizing the file room at work. I got home and the cat felt like it was his duty to harass me, and then claw me. Then I sliced my finger while chopping onion. My Arrabiata sauce wouldn't stop splattering the stove top. Overall it was real Monday-Monday. So I didn't get around to doing the weekend roundup yesterday.

Friday:
-Wake up around 4 to say goodbye to Josh, have trouble falling back asleep
-Sleep in a little bit, get ready
-Work, yuck
-Home
-Elliptical time
-Burrito, chips & salsa for dinner
-Watch some Andy Barker P.I. while Skyping with Conan friends
-Hit the hay

Saturday:
-Sleep way in
-Bowl of cereal, accompanied by sudden nose bleed (wtf?)
-Lots and lots of house cleaning
-Shower
-A little TV time
-Get dinner snacks ready
-Josh gets home from Kalamazoo
-Watch Batman while having cheese, crackers, chips & jalapeno poppers
-A little more TV
-Hit the hay

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Cinnamon Oat pancakes and fruit smoothies
-Laundry
-Tidy my office
-Make meal plan and grocery list
-Grocery shopping
-Fancy sandwiches for dinner
-Finish laundry
-A little reading
-Bedtime

Friday, August 20, 2010

More Cowbell

Josh left for the airport very early this morning. He's in Kalamazoo, Michigan with Back In Black. They're opening for Blue Oyster Cult. Which I think pretty much obligates me to post this video today. :)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Five Small Things

Five small things that make my everyday life more pleasant:

-My wooden clothes hangers
-Quality pair of tweezers
-The alarm clock app Josh got me which let's me wake up to the music I want to hear
-My soft bed sheets
-My morning cup of coffee




















Photo by Ellen Silverman

Monday, August 16, 2010

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Rise and shine
-Check in and free breakfast
-Long morning at school orientation
-Lunch with new friend Danielle
-Campus tour
-Team building activities
-Done for the day
-Get the very, very sad news about beautiful little Margot passing
-Head home
-Lay around until Josh gets home
-Grab some Taco Cabana and chow down
-Crash on the couch and watch some Make 'Em Laugh
-Head to bed early after a long day

Saturday:
-Up early
-Shower and get ready
-Head to Steph's house
-Head to Carraba's in Plano for Foodbuzz Tastemakers event
-Lots and lots of yummy free food
-Back to Steph & Rodney's for a little bit
-Home, immediately change out of sweat drenched clothes, blech
-Crawl into cool bed to and spend most of the afternoon/evening reading magazines and watching HGTV
-Read over the brochuers, pamphlets, and handouts I got at school orientation
-Some Team Coco Skype chat late into the evening
-Josh gets home from Fate Lions
-Bedtime

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Work on menu plan and grocery list in bed
-See Josh off to help his dad w/ a fallen tree at their house
-Chips & salsa for lunch
-Watch entire Faces of America series on PBS
-Pop a cheater's peach tart in the oven
-Get ready
-Josh get's home w/ the elliptical I'm borrowing from my bro
-Return his dad's truck after removing the elliptical
-Grocery shopping
-Fancy sandwiches for dinner
-Pick up my prescription at Walgreens
-Shower
-Peach tart and ice cream for dessert
-Watch an old episode of Jools Holland
-Hit the hay

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Holgas

Horseshoe Falls, Niagara
Niagara, Horseshoe Falls

Jerko & Drew before a show
Jerko and Drew outside the Kessler

Burger Palace
It's a Palace, you can tell by the flags

More here.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Bad Blogger

Oof, I've been a bad blogger lately. I guess I've just been preoccupied with other things. I did end up going shopping this past weekend, but did not end up walking out with those shoes or the plaid top. I did get the chambray shirt though, along with a corduroy vest and a $19 pair of jeans. Not too bad, I guess.

Tonight I get to leave work a bit early so Josh and I can get to Dallas for the Telegraph Canyon/Built To Spill show. It's the Granada Theater's 6th anniversary and they invited a bunch of local bands/music scene people for free. And I mean FREE- free entry, open bar for the hour before the show, free food, and a couple of drink tickets for during the show. Very excited!

Friday I've got an all-day orientation at school. Feeling a little awkward about it. I still feel a bit like a character from 21 Jump Street, as if my youthful looks are merely a tool for my nearly 30 year old self to get the inside scoop. Except I don't want the inside scoop. I just don't want the cool kids to make fun of me, and I think I'll be fine from there. (Are there cool kids at a community college? Besides the ones in that TV show, I mean.)

And Saturday me and my bestie Steph get to go to an event at a Carraba's in Plano, thanks to Foodbuzz. We'll get the inside scoop on their kitchen, recipes, stuff like that I guess. And some yummy food, for free.

Actually, now that I think about it, I get a free lunch at orientation too. Free food seems to be the theme of this week! And insides scoops, since I've used that phrase twice in this post, ha.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Back To School Shopping

I technically don't need much more than my textbooks and a big notepad. Lord knows I've got plenty of pens, notecards, highlighters, and such around my house. But that doesn't stop the intense urge to do some back to school CLOTHES shopping. Realitiscally is doesn't stop the urge to buy a bunch of pretty highlighters either, but I can manage to deny those urges. I'm really liking these items at Old Navy. I might have to stop in and pick up the chambray shirt. I've been dying for a J. Crew one, which would probably be a bit nicer than the ON version, but at a quarter the cost I think I can live with a little less quality. :)

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Weekend Roundup

I had a busy and yet lazy weekend. Two great music shows made it a lot of fun. Yesterday was very busy at work and home however, so I didn't get a chance to post. Quick synopsis of my weekend:

Friday:
-Work
-Shower and get ready
-Load in at The Cellar
-Dinner at Fuzzy's Tacos with Niki & Veronica
-Calhoun show at The Moon with Holly
-Back to The Cellar for Fate Lions
-Home to bed

Saturday:
-Sleep in
-Coffee
-Lunch
-Watch Girl With a Pearl Earring
-Shower and get ready
-Head to The Kessler Theater
-Load in, a lot of waiting through soundchecks
-Some Holga shooting
-Opening act/The O's/Sunward/James Hall & Futura Bold show
-Hang with Holly and loads of other peeps who came out for the show
-Grab Jack In The Box on the way home, eat
-Crash into bed

Sunday:
-Sleep way in
-Menu planning and grocery listing
-Chinese food and some TV in bed
-Get ready
-Start laundry
-Grocery shopping
-Unload cargo
-Eat sandwich, olives, chips & salsa for dinner
-Shower
-Finish up laundry
-Hit the hay

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Long Days

I've had a long week so far. Not terrible, just long. Although I've been sleeping horribly, so that part hasn't been so great. Monday night I managed to push myself to make dinner, despite my general exhaustion. I'm glad, because it was a really good new recipe that I'll be sharing soon on Small Time Cooks. I'm reading a good book that I started on Monday and am already almost done with. For such a slow reader like me that is quite a feat. My house is still pretty darn tidy after all the cleaning I did this weekend. We all know how nice it is to come home to a clean house. Tuesday I was having a very rough day, I barely slept at all the night before, and ended up leaving work midday to go home for a nap. I worked a bit from home that afternoon, and used the rest of the evening to get my photos ready for the exhibition in August.

Yesterday was like a marathon. I slept in just a smidge, got up and got ready and had a big breakfast and coffee. Then it was off to the community college campus to take my placement test. Did great on the essay and reading portions, did poorly as expected on the math. They said I can keep working on my math though, and take another placement test right before school to see if I can move ahead in the developmental classes some more. Once I was done, they luckily had a few spots left in that afternoon's new student group advisement that is required before you can register for classes. So I wasted some time by walking to Jamba Juice and back, and then went through that orientation. I've enrolled in two classes online, and I have to go back by the school to enroll in the developmental math course I need. Once I've done that and paid my tuition (yuck) I'll be good to go, I guess. After 12 years, I'll be a student again. Yoinks! I feel like I'm there undercover or something. I was definitely older than everyone else in the advisement class, but I look so young I don't think anyone could really tell. It such a weird feeling, ha.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work, yuck
-Get home, and get ready to clean
-Quick dinner
-Lots and lots of house cleaning while Josh is in Denton for show
-Late night snacks while watching Manhattan Murder Mystery
-Josh gets home and gets cleaned up
-Hit the hay

Saturday:
-Totally oversleep
-Shower and get ready
-Have to skip school festival thanks to oversleeping
-Head out to IKEA
-Get two benches, clock, and frame for exhibition photo
-Back home, unload cargo
-Bowl of cereal and a couple of eggs for a late lunch
-Watch a little HGTV
-Head to Stephanie & Rodney's
-Visit with the babies for a little bit
-Everybody packs in to the mini-van to head out for some drinking and golfing
-Drinks, food, laughs, and some hits at the driving range
-Back to the DeMeglio casa for some cake and games
-Head home
-Crash in to bed

Sunday:
-Up early to finish household tidying
-Shower and get ready
-Dad & Karen come by to see the house
-Lunch at Pappadeaux's, such good alligator
-Goodbye's and back home
-Menu planning and grocery listing
-Grocery shopping
-Unload the goods, clean and prep veggies
-Start some laundry
-A bit of reading, finish Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, while Josh mows the yards
-A little Newsweek reading
-Start an episode of Make 'Em Laugh
-Grab some Rosa's for dinner
-Eat and finish Make 'Em Laugh episode
-Do muscle relaxation exercise homework
-Interwebing, Skyping and re-watching Manhattan Murder Mystery
-Finish laundry
-Bedtime

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Gimme Money, That's What I Want

As I mentioned before we recently picked up a new car. We still kept our little troublemaker, the VW Bug, and after some repairs it is back at the casa. It's sitting in the driveway however because we had a bunch of junk in the garage in it's place. Our garage is actually pretty tidy, but it is lacking in cohesive organization. I got my mom to take back her shop vac, we bought a wall bike rack (don't ask about it though, turning out to be a pain in the behind), and I've been chucking stuff on Craigslist to try and get some more space. A side benefit is that from the stuff I sell, I get to put that cash back into the house decor. This week we got rid of the biggest piece we had sitting around, our old entertainment center. It was a nice piece, but we had no space and no need for it, since our new living room came with a whole wall of built-in storage. I almost got enough from the sale of it to get the two benches I want from IKEA. I didn't mention in that earlier post that I want two benches, but I do. Still patiently waiting for someone to take me up on a cheap metal bed frame that I myself picked up off Craigslist, but which turned out to be too small, along with a lamp, some curtains and other miscellaneous items that don't work in the new house. Anyway, looks like I'll get to make that trip to IKEA this weekend, because I also need to pick up a frame for one of the prints I'm preparing for an exhibition in August. Two chores killed with one hop, skip, and jump to IKEA! And then my dining room will be much closer to done and maybe I'll even share a picture or two.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work, yuck
-Home to get ready
-Jason meets us at the house
-Head out to Dallas, make the boys listen to Dawes on the way
-Load in at The Cavern
-Hang out, meet Neff, good music and drinks
-Talk with some of Josh's Southpeak boys
-Hit he road, after a pit stop for gas and pringles
-Home, de-club myself
-Pretzels, chips & salsa while watching some Simpsons
-Hit the hay

Saturday:
-Sleep in, intermittently dozing while waiting for Craigslister to pick up a lamp
-Haircuts
-Errands for Mom's birthday present
-Fish and chips for lunch
-Catch up on some dvr'd Rick Bayless and peruse my new MS Living issue
-Help Josh in the garage, get some photos of the old tv stand
-Shower
-Get ready
-Head up to meet the guys at The Moon
-Grab some Fuzzy's Tacos with Niki
-Back to The Moon for Tony's solo show, awesome second band, and then Fate Lions
-Visit with Mel, Brian, Niki & Veronica for awhile
-Head home
-Get ready for bed
-Chips & salsa w/ some more Simpsons
-Bedtime

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Try to do some menu planning, but still so tired
-Doze for another hour or so
-Grab some food
-Do some real menu and grocery planning
-Put entertainment center on craigslist
-Get ready
-Grocery shopping
-Put everything up
-Start laundry
-Shower
-Spinach & Feta pizza for dinner
-TV while finishing up some computer stuff
-Finish laundry
-Snooze time

Friday, July 16, 2010

Three Things

I think these three things would have my dining room nearly finished. Of course, I don't have any money for these three things, so only time (and scrimping) will tell.

































Thursday, July 15, 2010

Dawesome

Feeling much better, thinking that I just had a bad allergy flare up. I rarely have allergies, but after a whole weekend of cleaning and organizing dusty, neglected spaces and Josh mowing the front and back yard, I think it got my sinuses going.

That isn't the point of this post though. The point is that you need to start listening to this band, NOW. I went to Casa Manana with Holly, Stephanie, and Amanda last night to see Telegraph Canyon, which I've shared about here before, and an up and coming band from LA, Dawes. If you listen to KXT, then you're surely already familiar with them. And perhaps you're already familiar with them through some other vein. But if you aren't, you need to be. Gorgeous songs, reminiscent of The Band, and to my mind just a tinge of The Grateful Dead. Luverly alt-country-folk-rock. That's a wide description, but just listen and enjoy. I couldn't embed any of their official videos, so you can go here to see them. Here is a decent video of "When You Call My Name", which is a favorite of the KXTers.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Sickies

I can't believe it, but I'm actually sick again. It's the super pits right now. I can't miss anymore work after my foot injury, the last time I was sick, and our trip to NY. My boss has a compromised immune system due to his cancer treatments, so gets to work from home while I get to come in and be miserable all day, ha. Hoping this crud will be over much more quickly than it was last time. I would love nothing more than to curl up in bed and watch some old movies while I wait this bug out, but looks like that just isn't an option this time.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work, yuck
-Josh at show, so on my own
-Toast w/ avocado and egg, chips & salsa for dinner
-Watch "Dial M for Murder"
-Small batch of popcorn, "Sense & Sensibility" and some Conan Skype chat
-Josh gets home
-Hit the hay

Saturday:
-Sleep waaaay in
-30 minute walk
-Weights
-Shower
-Whole wheat pumpkin pancakes for lunch
-Josh off for rehearsal
-Start beef stew in the slow cooker
-Clean out and organize guest bedroom
-Break for frozen burrito
-Back to cleaning
-Josh gets home
-Beef stew for dinner
-Grab a well deserved jr. sundae and small coke
-Conan Skype chatting
-A little "Simpsons"
-Bed

Sunday:
-Up at a decent hour!
-Menu planning and grocery listing
-Coffee, cereal, and fruit smoothie
-Get ready
-Michael's to look for frames, nada
-Container Store for a bike rack, score
-Masterworks and Ansel Adams exhibits at the Amon Carter, fantastic
-Grocery shopping at Target and Central Market
-Drop Conan/tattoo pic off at shop
-Unload the cargo
-Eat half a cuban sandwich and a few chips
-Start laundry
-Clean and prep veggies for the week
-Make Goodwill donations
-Tidy a few things in the garage
-Shower
-Some popcorn and Masterpiece Mystery's "Murder on the Orient Express"
-Finish up laundry
-A couple episodes of "Good Neighbors"
-Bedtime

Friday, July 9, 2010

New Toy

This week Josh came back from his Dad's house with a present for me. It was a lovely brown case, containing an even lovelier gift. Ann brought back her dad's old camera from NY for me. It's a Canon AE-1Program, a 35mm SLR from the early to mid 80's. There was also an extra lens and a flash in the case. And several film canisters, which I'm nervous to open. I don't know if they've been exposed yet, and I don't want to ruin them if they have. I'll have to take them by Barron's and have them checked out. There was another roll still in it's box, so I might pop it in the camera and just see what happens when I start pushing buttons. :)

Thursday, July 8, 2010

To See

There are two photography exhibits that I'd love to see at the Amon Carter Museum right now. Masterworks of American Photography: Popular Culture and Ansel Adams: Eloquent Light both look fantastic. We haven't been to the museum since December! Going to try and squeeze in a visit this weekend since the Masterworks exhibit is ending July 18th. And the exhibit American Modern: Abbott, Evans, Bourke-White that starts in October looks good too. I'll have to put a reminder on my calendar for that!




















Esther Bubley (1921–1998)
Humble Camp, Gene Tanner and his Dog, Sergeant, Tomball, Texas, 1945

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Sink or Swim

I'm feeling very overwhelmed lately. We had a nice weekend, in which I got a few things done. But it just seems that there's never going to be a way for me to get all the the things done that need doing. Money is really tight right now, and I need all the work hours I can get. I'm doing good on getting to work early so far. But at the same time I really need to go take the placement test for school. Time is dwindling and the longer I wait the harder it's going to be to put together a decent class schedule. Taking the test means missing work though.

On top of the school/work/money thing is the driving thing. We got the new car, in part so we'd have something I could more easily learn on, and drive on days I have school. But I haven't had a chance to drive it yet. And beyond that is the stress of actually getting my license. And then the increase in our insurance and gas costs come up, which swings us back around to the money side of things. Add to that the everyday stuff like I don't like my job, housework, cooking, and insomnia.

And let's not forget the icing on the cake- I've gained at least 6 pounds since my foot injury. Half of my pants don't fit. The expensive pairs, naturally. So I'm on a heavy rotation of stairs, jumping jacks, pilates, walking, and hand weights. Also counting calories and measuring food portions. I can't afford to buy a bunch of new clothes, not to mention that I don't want to. It's all my favorite pants that aren't fitting!

I know people have problems way worse than mine, but it doesn't stop these things from stressing me out. Guess it's a good thing I'm doing all this exercising for stress release, huh?

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Mean Reds

I've got a bad case of the mean reds today. Be back tomorrow.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Weekend Hopes

Here are a few of the things I'm planning, or at least hoping, to find time for this holiday weekend. Happy Fourth!
Whole Wheat Peach Muffins with Crumble Topping
.Make some Whole Wheat Peach Muffins
.Measure my NYC map for framing
.Do breathing exercises twice
.Do pilates thrice
.Get a Small Time Cooks blog post up
.Finish reading 2 books
.Grocery shopping
.Bit of house cleaning
.Hang out time with Josh
.Hang out time with friends. Possibly a party?

Friday Conezone #16

Hey guys! It's finally Friday! This week has been all out of whack for me, with us being gone Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday felt like Monday and things have been off-kilter ever since. But it's finally time for the weekend. As I've mentioned before I like to try and keep things a little topical when it comes to the Friday Conezone. Today I found out that two of the three photos I submitted were accepted for an August exhibition at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. Naturally I'm very excited! So, for today's Conezone clip I decided to share Conan's photoshoot experience at Teen Beat magazine. Enjoy!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Resolutions Update

I can hardly believe we are already at the halfway point for 2010. It seems like every year passes by faster and faster, doesn't it? Figured that today would be the ideal day to take a look at the progress, if any, I've made on some of my goals for the year. Let's see if I've gotten anything done, shall we?

.Read 20 books- Bahaha. I've read three. I'm reading a couple right now, so maybe I can catch up on this one. Doesn't seem very likely though.
.Exercise at least twice a week- I was doing great on this one until I injured my toe. I'm trying to get back in the ballgame now, especially since I have weight to lose from being off my feet for so long.
.Improve my eating habits- Again, not so awesome. Trying to get back on the ball, and then I could still use some more improvements.
.Be a better listener- probably failing at this one, though I keep trying so that's a partial success, right?
.Learn to drive- I've driven Josh and I twice this year, and now that we've got the automatic Honda Fit I can make much more progress. I look forward to doing some practice driving this weekend.
.Get a full physical/gyno/bloodwork- I may have discovered 4 new health problems to deal with, but this one is a big checkmark. None of these problems are life threatening, so what are some eye drops and daily pills compared to living a long, healthy life?
.Learn some tactics for handling stress
- I'm going in for another appointment with my therapist tomorrow to work on my biofeedback, and learn how to adjust my body's response to stressors.
.Start a vegetable garden in back yard and container herb garden in side yard- I planted some cilantro, basil, and a tomato, pepper, strawberry, and cantaloupe plant. The cilantro is dead, I've eaten one tomato I've grown, and have one pepper to show for my efforts so far. We'll see how the plants fare the rest of the summer before I decide to go further with the veggie garden idea.
.Learn how to develop my own black & white film- a whole lotta nada going on here
.Have clothes hemmed- again zip, not sure why this task is so difficult for me
.Finish family photos for the hallway- zero progress made
.Get my Beatles tattoo- I got my Conan tattoo first, but I'm hoping to get this one before the year is out.
.Be more like Diane Keaton, Jane Birkin, Linda McCartney, Katharine Hepburn, and Audrey Hepburn- I should probably think up some more specific ways in which I can be following the example of these fabulous ladies.
.Rent a cabin- I'm thinking the Holiday Inn Express we just stayed in doesn't cross this one off my list.
.Finish organizing my office- More or less done, although I make it messy every week, so it's constantly in need of re-organizing.
.Cross 2 things off my Life List- Hmm, I need to actually take a look at my list again and see what all I can consider done. I think I had visit Niagara Falls on there, in which case we consider this resolution half finished.

So, there we go. That's what I've managed to get done in the past 6 months. Of course I've also met one of my biggest inspirations in person, made a lot of new friends, decided on a path I'd like to follow, and applied to school. We'll see where the next 6 months take me as I move more down that path and actually start school in the fall!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Catching Up

Phew! We had a long, busy trip to NY. A lot of airport frustration and early mornings. When we got back yesterday I took a four hour nap, and then managed to still get about 8 hours of sleep last night. But we had a lot of fun and visited with a lot of Josh's step-family. Plenty of good food and rounds of Banangrams. Also, last Wednesday before we left for the trip, we went out and bought a car. I can't tell you how grown-up that made us feel. We must be adults now, right? We have a mortgage, a retirement account, and we just paid cash for a car. We bought a used 2007 Honda Fit. It only had 39K miles on it though, which is quite low for a 3 year old car and for a Honda, infamous for their long lifespans. It's cute, will allow us to fit a third person in even once it's packed with Josh's drums, and most importantly it's an automatic so I can learn to drive more easily. I haven't gotten to take it for a spin yet, since we took off for NY right after buying it and just got back in yesterday. But I look forward to doing that soon! We feel pretty good about the price we paid, just under 15.5K, after TT&L and a complete warranty through to 100K miles. Not bad, right?

Our new to us Honda Fit

As for the rest of my news, we went to Niagara Falls and the George Eastman House while we were in NY, but due to all that sleep I needed I haven't uploaded any of my pictures yet. Hopefully I'll get around to that this week and I'll have something to share soon!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Getting Ready

I was too busy to get to a Weekend Roundup yesterday, but what a busy and fun weekend we had. Hang out time with Josh Friday night, followed by a late night on the skype chat with my Conan friends. Saturday had a late sleep-in, lazy morning, and then getting ready and heading first to Fate Lions rehearsal and then to The Granada for their show. Veronica and I left the fellas at the theater and headed on foot to get some refreshment from the heat. We grabbed Jessaica as she was just checking out at Buffalo Exchange and hit up Blue Goose for margaritas, mojitos, and Mexican food. Mmmmm. It was funtimes chatting with the other FL ladies, although minus Delia. The show was great, Josh's sister and husband came out too, and I had a real blast while we all hung out on the front porch of the theater gabbing the night away. After the show we went back to Jason's for eggs, potatoes, and more talking. Sunday I spent a good chunk of the day being lazy, which included afternoon relaxation in my new inflatable lounging pool. I spent a little time in it Friday and Saturday, but took advantage of having free time during the sunniest part of the day on Sunday. I'm gonna love getting to soak in the sun this summer.

And now this week is also super busy with planning and preparation for our trip to upstate NY. Lots of laundry, cleaning, and packing to be done. And we have a long stop in Detroit between flights, so some reading materials will be essential. I'll be stopping by the book store this evening. Thinking about picking up these goodies. Don't judge!

























Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Green



























Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier






















Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Word of the Day...

...is Escape.

Corona moment no. 2

Monday, June 14, 2010

Weekend Roundup

Friday:
-Work
-Home to watch some Ghost Whisperer while waiting for Josh
-Grab some dinner from Chick-fil-a, spicy chicken sandwich two thumbs up!
-See Josh off to Back In Black show in Flower Mound
-A couple glasses of wine and internet chatting with Conan friends until late into the night
-Josh gets home from show
-Bedtime

Saturday:
-Sleep in late
-Coffee and granola bar
-Clean house
-Josh leaves to rehearse with Matt
-Shower
-Salad and nectarine for lunch
-Watch a bunch of HGTV while cruising home decor sites online
-Josh gets home with some grub
-Finish getting ready
-Head to Josh's mom's house to visit with his sister & family newly arrived from Washington
-Pizza, beer, Wii bowling and two rounds of Cranium late into the night
-Head home and crash into bed

Sunday:
-Sleep in late
-Work on menu plan and grocery list some
-Eggs and whole wheat banana pancakes from the freezer for a very late breakfast
-Finish menu plan and grocery list
-Shower
-Get ready while Josh finishes changing his drum heads
-Grocery shopping
-Finally get the inflatable pool and pina colada mix for the white trash weekend I've been dreaming of
-Unload groceries and eat
-Water plants, harvest tomato and pepper, and tidy kitchen while Josh cleans the car and mows
-Josh's sister, bro-in-law, and niece come by with grub to see the house and hang out
-Lots of catching up and Beatles Rock Band
-Get ready for bed
-Lots of insomnia, restless sleep, and cat interruptions make for a rough night, boourns

Friday, June 11, 2010

Back to the Conezone

Just because I've met my favorite dude in the flesh doesn't mean I've crossed him off my list and moved on. He's still my numero uno funny man (aside from Josh of course). And I still plan to share some great Conan clips here to keep the laughs going until he's back on the boob tube in November. I like to try and keep what I share topical when I can and Josh and I have been discussing looking for a second car. It will not be a Ford Taurus SHO, sorry Conan, but all the same this seemed like a good clip to share today. Enjoy!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Back in The Land of the Living

Oh boy. I have been so sick, y'all. Like, pretty much dead since last Tuesday. I had a mega-cold. A cold like I hadn't had for quite some time. It really knocked me for a loop, but I'm feeling much better now. Still have a cough and some congestion remains, but nothing like the past week. I blame my poor eating habits as of late. The foot injury brought on a lot of convenience foods. And I'd already been a bit lazy in the kitchen as of late. This week I've been trying to get my immune system back in order. Lots and lots of fresh fruit and veg. Salads for dinner this week. Yesterday I had a homemade salad/salsa comprised of black beans, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, and an onion for lunch with some tortilla chips, then a big salad for dinner chocked full of bell peppers, onion, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes and cucumber. I followed it with a few strawberries, a big wedge of watermelon, and half a banana. The other half went into a smoothie I had with my fruit, along with a handful of spinach, 3/4 cup of oj, and a cup of frozen pineapple. It comes out green, but it tastes like pineapple- fun! If I keep it up I should be back in virus fighting shape in no time. And who knows, I might just drop the couple pounds I gained during my gimpy weeks too!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Craving

I have such a big craving for a sandwich today. Unfortunately I can't think of anywhere good nearby to get one. I'd love a nice Cuban though. Mmmm.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Feelin' Funky

But not in a good way. In a bit of a funk lately. A mood, if you will. Might be my body trying to adjust to these new birth control pills. Might be the lack of exercise thanks to my stupid boot. Who knows? Not me. What do you do when you're feeling a bit down?

Monday, May 24, 2010

Weekend Roundup

I've sort of fallen off the face of the blogosphere lately. Can hardly think of anything worth writing about, and haven't even been reading that much either. I've got 144 entries in my Google Reader to catch up on. But it's a Monday morning at work, so that probably won't take long. ;) This weekend was jam-packed.

Friday:
-Podiatrist appointment, toe not fractured, soft tissue damage, more steroids and boot time
-Back home, try repeatedly to upload video to youtube, fail
-Shower and get ready
-Head to House of Blues in Dallas
-Lots of waiting around
-Boys are finally done with sound check
-Eat dinner
-Everybody else gets there
-Watch the Rock School kids for a little bit
-Hang out in green room
-Watch some of Appetite for Destruction, GnR tribute band
-More hanging out in green room
-Back in Black time, station myself on the side of the stage
-Get accosted by Slash impersonator
-Back In Black finishes up
-Load out and head home
-Grab some Jack In The Box on the way
-Eat, get ready for bed
-Hit the hay

Saturday:
-Sleep way in
-Get ready
-Head to Clif & Duane's for Jason's surprise birthday party
-Party down with everyone, eat, drink and be generally merry
-Head to Josh's mom's house for pizza and movies for his brother's birthday
-Watch Life of Brian and MST3K: Boggy Creek
-Head home
-Ready for bed
-Crash

Sunday:
-Sleep in
-Shower
-Get ready
-Grocery shopping
-Lunch
-Lots of TV and computer time
-Get ready for bed
-Fall asleep watching Kids In The Hall

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

One Foot in Front of the Other

I completed my school application last night, and got my transcript ready to mail to them today. It's just community college, but it's the first step. Unfortunately there are so many more steps to follow! I'm feeling really good about this though. I've decided my big, ultimate, dream goals are to either work for Conan/Jeff Ross/Conaco Productions or to work at the Paley Center. I'll be lucky to get a job in the television industry at all, probably, but it doesn't hurt to have something big to shoot for, right?

I'm feeling a little low and frustrated at the same time though. When you finally figure out what it is you think you should be doing with your life, you kind of want to be able to start doing it right away. Trying to exercise patience is not going to be easy, but it must be done. I'm also on the downside of the high that was last Thursday. I get sad after Christmas, post-vacation, etc., so the comedown from the greatest day in my life is a bit rough. I'll manage though. I'm already looking at internships with TBS/Turner/Time Warner/Warner Bros., as well as the Paley Center. And Conan's new show is set to start November 8th. So there are some things to look forward to. ;)

Monday, May 17, 2010

One Day All My Dreams Came True...

...and my heart exploded into a million tiny joy-filled pieces.

conan.josh.and.me

me.squeezing.life.out.of.conan

conan.and.my.tattoo