The Roaring Twenties (mine that is...)

Fabulous Valentines Challenge: Worst Date Ever

2012-01-31T14:00:00.000-06:00

Linking up for today's challenge... :)

Today's Topic: Worst Date Ever
I've had some interesting dates and have had several friends on standby at one time or another to call me "right on the dot at 8pm to save me just in case I need an out" but this one always stands out in my mind as seriously crazytown...
I was clerking in law school and one of my (very nice and highly respected) bosses wanted to set me up with her tenant. I didn't really want to go b/c if you ask my friends, they'll tell you I LOATHED first dates. My longest relationships (Eric included) have started out as friendly hanging out that turns into dating. I used to avoid actual first dates at all costs. I just have this mental image of someone asking me about my hobbies while I think of ways to drown myself in my water glass.
Okay.. moving forward... I kinda HAD to say yes. I mean, my boss was cool and sweet and it was nice of her to think of me. So I agreed to lunch. And only lunch. Dinner seemed awfully serious and I just wasn't in the mood.
He was older than me. I think he was like 31..which I thought was SUPER old at the time b/c I was like 23. Now that I'm 30, I feel like an a-hole about that.. Oh well...
So we go to lunch at a local Tex-Mex place (keeping details light...haha). He was attractive, so at least that was good. But, that's about where the fun ended.
Server came up to take our order. He ordered first. Which totally annoyed me off the bat.
AND
I'd wanted something super fatty like enchiladas or something. He ordered...wait for it.... a side salad. Oooohkay. So, I got a salad to not feel like a jerk.
They brought the chips and salsa. He took approximately 20 chips and set them all up in the salsa... like so:

And told me he likes them to "soak" for flavor. They soaked for a LONG TIME, people. At one point, I tried to take a chip and just dip it and he looked at me funny. So I ceased my dipping and stuck to reading the drink special signs on the table and acting interested.

He then told me he had no idea how to do laundry or really anything for himself...but he didn't need to b/c he took all his clothes to his mom's three times a week. At that time, he'd also pick up food she made him for the week. Every week. Yes, he was 31 and a professional.

Our salads came. Conversation struggled. He put more chips in the salsa to "soak." He lifted his water glass.. and raised his pinky when he drank. I'm sure the look on my face was like "Seriously?" b/c I think I remember him commenting on that.

Anyway, salsa man asked for my number and I stammered an awkward "Um.. I don't talk on the phone. Here's my email address." Yes, I did. And then I told him I saw some friends at the restaurant and he could see himself out b/c I didn't need to be walked to my car. I hid in the bathroom until he left for fear he'd try harder to get my number if he walked me to my car.

Not HORRIBLE as far as horrible dates go, but I just remember feeling like I wanted to crawl in a corner and hide from this guy's chip soaking randomness. But I was trying to be EXTRA nice since my boss fixed us up so that might have made it worse.

Weekend Recap!

2012-01-30T15:15:00.000-06:00

My weekend was good! Not like thisweekendwassoawesomeamazing, but not thisweekendblewchunks either..haha... I mean, it had really fun bursts of goodness, but I think I was kinda in a blah mood maybe? I dunno.. random.

Friday, I went to Crossfit where I was a hot mess. You ever have those days when you work out and your mind is in it, but your body would rather be asleep? That's kinda how I was. So I got all frustrated at myself... Eh well.. glad I went and did it though. Friday night, I did a big, fat nothing. It was glorious.

Saturday, I ran some errands and decided go to the mall to find a cheap, cute top to wear for a girls' night that night. I was trying to solve a blah mood with festive attire.. I'm sure I'm the only one who ever does that.. (riiiight) haha.. ;) I found no top...but...while at Dillard's, I glanced over and saw this fantastic coat!

Ignore my hot mess hair. There's a reason the phone camera is covering my face.

Remember when I was ranting about wanting a white/cream coat with something fun (like gold buttons?!)? Well... I lucked into the last one in my size on MAJOR sale at Dillard's. This beauty came home with me for $65! I have wanted a new coat for two winters now and refused to pay full price, but just didn't see anything I loved during the sales last year. I'd all but forgotten (with the nice weather we've been blessed with here lately), but so glad to have stumbled on this lucky find!

Saturday night, some girl friends and I got together for sushi and drinks (definite fun burst of goodness as referenced above :)). Eric was skiing this weekend with some friends so the girlfriends all decided to have our own fun night out! We called it "ski widows dinner" (haha) and had a really great time!

Love these ladies!

Sunday, Jessica (2nd from left above) and I took our pups to the park to enjoy the fantastic weather. We had a great time and I think we totally wore our small pups out.. haha.. Their little legs must have been so tired with two chatty girls wandering the park for upwards of an hour b/c Gracie was passed out the moment we got home! :)

On the trail of something very important, no doubt.

I got a little bit more packing done and took my first (very small) load of stuff to Eric's! Crazytown! I feel like I'm being so organized and proactive with this move, but I just know I'll look around and be like "How do I still have so much stuff to pack?!" at some point... ;)

I hope you had a great weekend! The weather has been unseasonably warm here this year and I'm loving it! Last year this time, we were about to get smacked with 20 inches of snow. Today, it's 65 degrees. What the?!

Happy Monday, friends!

Weekend Recap + Random Stuff :)

2012-01-24T13:35:00.000-06:00

Hiya friends! Well, I don't have much of a weekend recap b/c I didn't do a whole lot, buuuuut.. let's see..

Friday night, went to Crossfit! I'm seriously pretty proud of myself for sticking with it. I hate even saying that for fear I fall off the wagon. I know lots of you gals work out three+ times every week and I give you SO many props. I have issues with the whole self motivation thing, so that's why I like having classes. Anyhoo, did that on Friday night and then rewarded myself with sushi with a friend I dragged with me to Crossfit. :)

Saturday was spent packing. I know... kinda soon to be packing up since I'm not moving til later next month, but I want to try to do as much as I can on the weekends so I'm not stuck at the last minute having to do EVERYTHING. I'm sure I'll have enough last minute stuff to keep me occupied...haha... Plus, my roomie's boyfriend is moving into OUR house! :) So, I move out and he moves in... so if I don't get organized, something tells me our boxes are going to get confused and stuff will be everywhere. Imagining that makes my blood pressure rise from anxiety.. haha..

Saturday night, Eric and I ate Mexican food and rented Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I spent the first 45 minutes being annoyed that the monkeys were being mistreated and googling whether there was any abuse in the movie I'd have to witness. I seriously HATE movies where animals are abused, die, get sick, etc. I kinda refuse to watch them actually. I know it's just a movie, but it makes me so sad! I was rooting for the monkeys.

So yeah.. that was the weekend! :)

As an aside, I think it's that time of year where your mind wanders to summer and relaxation and sundresses and yada yada... Thought I'd quickly share some of the randomness filling my daydreams lately...

*** A beach vacation.

Lanikai Beach, Hawaii

Am I taking a beach vacation? No. And saving money does not = beach vacationing. But, it's on the brain. *sigh* I start thinking beach every year around this time...

*** A massage.

Doesn't this random stranger look so happy? :)

Maybe this one's just b/c my muscles are consistently tight thanks to my new found activity of getting my arse off the sofa and in the gym.

***Eyelash extensions.

I've read a few of your posts about them and I really want some! How long do they last? Awhile, right? Like 60 days? My lashes have never been long and flirtacular. Eric has longer lashes than I do and I give him hell for it! ha! (How are men often blessed with such gorgeous lashes? Seriously). Anyway, any Tulsa girls been to Wink? I've seen their storefront a few places and wonder about them.

So yeah, I'm basically in the mood to put a pina colada in my hand, get some eyelashes, a massage, and head to the beach... haha..not necessarily in that order. Probably not good considering winter is nowhere near over...

Oh and last but not least.. Thank you all for your kind words about Eric and me moving in together! :) I smiled with every sweet comment! You guys are kiiiiiinda awesome. And by kinda, I mean really!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

2012-01-18T09:15:00.000-06:00

So, I blogged last night.. and then for some reason, my image wasn't showing up. So I took it down and tried to fix it....and somehow didn't save and lost some stuff and got all frustrated. I was tired and cranky so I just decided to deal with it this morning.. Anyway, sorry if it showed up in your reader and then disappeared. I think I have it fixed now. :)

Soooooooo since I had to edit it and all that, might as well change this into a What I'm Loving Wednesday Post!

* First thing I'm loving is..... moving in with Eric soon! YAY!

This drawing was more fun last night before blogger freaked out on me. But whatever. I'll keep it up anyway..:)

We've been doing the dating thing for 3.5 years, sooooo we kinda thought why not take another step? And we already live pretty close anyway. I've never lived with a guy, so feel free to pass on any words of wisdom.. haha... Anyway, I think it's safe to say we're both nervous-excited. If I drop off the radar next month and complain about packing a lot on the twitters, just go with it. ;)

* Also loving that I got to guest blog on Neely's blog today for 5 Do's and a Don't! :) I just love me some Neely! If you're not reading her yet, you should. She kicks blog butt and I'm really flattered and excited that she asked me to do a guest post! :)

* Loving this fabulous video of Chuck Bass.. er... I mean Ed Westwick. If you watch GG, you'll dig it. :)

* Loving that it's a short week for me thanks to the holiday on Monday!

* Loving that I officially bought a membership to the Crossfit gym. Last week was my free week, so I went a couple times to make sure I like it and purchased a punch card last night. I don't think I'm ready for the month unlimited yet b/c I'm pretty sore after each class, but the punch card will let me go a couple times a week. I really like Crossfit so far! I mean.. I know it's only been a week, but I just feel so good after each class-like I really pushed myself. And everyone there is so motivating!

* Loving the downtown tunnels that let me avoid the chilly weather AND still get out of the building for lunch. Does your city have a cool pedestrian tunnel system? Tulsa does. Just saying. Wanna know more about them? Check out Tasha's post. :)

And that's what I'm loving today. What about you? What are you loving?

Weekend Recap!

2012-01-15T19:51:00.000-06:00

Watching ~~Ricky Gervais insult people~~ the Golden Globes and uploading photos from this weekend! This weekend was especially fun b/c I got to help host a good friend's baby shower. :) Kristy is the first one in our little girl group to have a baby and everyone was super excited to celebrate and eager to make it really special. :) We went with a winter wonderland theme which turned out so pretty!

Let's get right to the photos!

I love how my other best girl friends from college all paint letters, so I decided to give it a go!
Pretty pleased with how they turned out! :) I rarely toot my horn with creative projects b/c sometimes they end up looking like a 5 year old did them, sooooo yeah... haha...

Do you remember how Eric's mom always makes such fabulous candy bar wrappers for the tailgates? Well, I stole her idea AND her assistance in making these party favors for the shower with Kristy's maternity photos taken by one of the fabulous (and very talented) hostesses, Beth!

How cute is this?! Beth named the drinks after baby Roman! ha! :)

Kristy is having baby Roman next month and is still the picture of fashion and fabulous! I just love this girl!

The hostesses with the mommy to be!:)

I had such a good time with these girls helping plan Kristy's shower and feel so lucky to have such creative, fun, talented friends. :)

And I also feel pretty darn lucky to have tomorrow off! Yeeeeehaw! Hope you had a good weekend, friends!

Motivation in quotation :)

2012-01-12T11:15:00.000-06:00

I took some quotes from the website of the place I've done Crossfit this week. Quotes motivate me, sooo I thought I'd share some of my favs with you in the event you're in need of a swift kick of fitness motivation like I am. :)

Via

"Dead last finish is greater than did not finish, which trumps did not start."

"Think training is hard? Try losing."

"Someone busier than you is working out right now."

"Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction."

"The voice in your head that says you can't do it is a lying b!t@h."

"People say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing, that's why we recommend it daily". -Zig Zigler

"Just because you're a nice girl doesn't mean you can't have evil legs!" (This one makes me smile)

"Transformation isn't a future event, it's a present day activity."

"Never throw in the towel. Use it to wipe off the sweat. Then keep going."

(via Pinterest) Carrie's legs motivate me, too. Or maybe they just make me hate her. Jury's out on that one. ;)

I dig it.

2012-01-11T13:00:00.000-06:00

Random stuff I'm digging a lot right now:

** I am currently in LURVE with my Hot Tools 1 inch, 24K Gold Curling Iron. My friend mentioned hers and, upon reading reviews (I'm a BIG reader of reviews for beauty stuff), I decided to give it a shot! You're probably asking "what's the big deal? It's a curling iron." Well, for a girl that has tried EVERYTHING to get her hair to curl, it's a big deal. I have super fine, super straight hair. I have a lot of it, but it's just really straight. And doesn't hold curl... UNTIL NOW. I freaking love this curling iron! My hair stays curly all day! And since I haven't even attempted to curl my hair for years, I found a really good tutorial from Tiffany D (the makeup blogger I already read). So if you (1) need a good curling iron or (2) need a tutorial, check these out. :)

** My iPad. A very generous Christmas gift, this thing has been freaking amazing! I read on it, play on it, research on it, take notes on it in meetings. Yeah, it's the coolness. :) I just ordered the Incipio Smart Feather hard case for the back of it. It clasps over the front case's magnets so it holds the front case on, too. (If you have the front case that folds you know what I'm talking about). I'm all about protecting this thing from my clumsiness.

**My Lululemon stuff Eric got me for Christmas! :) I've been wearing the pants he got me to Crossfit and freaking LOVE them. They stay comfortable and don't bunch up or come down (seriously.. I have some running tights that like to try to fall down when I'm running..haha..). Anyway, I love them and I'm sure the people at Crossfit are going to wonder if I own any other workout pants.

** Bath and Body Shea Cashmere Hand Creme in Warm Vanilla Sugar. I have some at home, at my desk, and I really want another one for my handbag. This stuff ROCKS, especially in the winter.

**Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. I've never used a primer, nor did I think I wanted to. But, I ordered some holiday stuff from Sephora and got a sample of this with my order. Um.. it's awesome. I've been debating buying the full size (I probably will) when my sample runs out. On the days I use it, I notice my makeup stays on quite a bit longer. I've also been using the All Nighter Setting Spray, so I had a hard time determining whether it was the spray or the primer. But, after wearing one and not the other, I kinda think it's a little of both products. I definitely notice the primer makes a difference. Do you use a primer? I always thought they were ~~a total ripoff~~ not really worth it until I tried this one.

**Hulu. I am kinda digging the heck out of Hulu! My roomie and I recently downsized our cable package because we really weren't watching but a couple shows on the excess channels anyway so why spend the extra $$. And two of those shows, I can still get on hulu! I knew about hulu and I liked the concept. But, I never really used it til now. And I dig it. Team Hulu! haha! ;)

What about you? Anything you're digging a lot (or a lot more than you used to) right now? :)

Weekend Recap!

2012-01-08T20:20:00.000-06:00

Hi friends! I'm excited to report that I'm blogging from a much faster version of my computer! Yeehaw! I haven't been able to upgrade software yet, but Eric helped me add a ton of memory earlier today and my computer is running practically like new! :) Seriously, it had gotten to the point where I'd click a blog; it would load...and load...and load.. and then I read the blog and want to comment...and it'd load...and load... *sigh* Anyway, I'm rambling, but wahoo!

Friday night, I co-hosted a little celebration for my good friend, Sara's, 30th birthday at Edward Delk's downtown!

Seriously, I never know what to do with my arm and it always ends up on my hip....
thus making me have awkward-arm. Oooohwell.

...And some of us wore mustaches. (I just couldn't resist these at the party store. I mean.. hello.. MUSTACHES!)

Her mom got her a Winnie the Pooh Cake b/c it was her fav growing up! How cute is that?! (We also got her a flashing tiara. Pooh+ mustaches + tiara = good times).

It was a really fun night for a fantastic friend! Her actual bday is on New Years Eve, so it can be hard to get people together. I actually can't remember the last time we've had something organized JUST for her birthday before this year. She traveled for the actual day, but I'm so thrilled we were able to get something together here in town to celebrate! Everyone needs something special for their 30th. I had such a great time on mine and it meant so much to me. :)

Saturday morning, Ashley and I met up, just as planned, to try Crossfit together at 918 Crossfit! I'm so proud of us!

We did what they call the 'baseline' workout in their green ramp program (the thing for beginners) and it was HARD! I thought "Holy crap.. this is the thing they do as a BASELINE?!" But, it was hard in a "I want to come back and get in better shape" kind of way. My muscles felt a little like jello yesterday and ~~it kinda hurts to move my arms~~ I'm definitely sore today. ;) But, I'm eager to go back this week! I've heard such great things about Crossfit from friends who've recently started at 918 and also have been intrigued ever since a great bloggy friend, Kelsey, started talking about it on her blog a long time ago! Worth a shot!

Saturday night, my middle name was lazy. Eric, Gracie dog and I threw on our pjs.. well.. Gracie doesn't have pjs but you get it... and rented Contagion. I hadn't really cared about it in the theater, but the reviews were really good, so we opted to give it a shot.

Thoughts: It was pretty good in that it kept us interested the whole movie and moved really quickly. Glad we rented it. Would have been totally cool spending cash to see it in the theater, too. I'm always interested in conspiracy theory-esque shows/movies. This wasn't really a conspiracy, but along similar lines.

Oh...and on the same thought.. We finally finished Jericho. I'm glad they wrapped it up in a conclusionish way (I make up words), but I wanna know what the heck happened to it! I mean.. there were apparently talks of movies, sequels, etc.. and then the talks just stopped. Grr... Eric and I've tried to find another show, but have been hard pressed to find one we've been as obsessed with as Jericho.

So that was the weekend! I hope you had a good one!

Friday Randoms

2012-01-06T12:30:00.000-06:00

Hi people!

T.

G.

I.

F.

I resolved to blog more and then I dropped off the planet after my recap. Blerg. I can't go and drop the resolution yet! Soooooo here's some randomness for your day...

Random #1:

Wanna know what happened this week? Poor G funk and my roomie's dog got a hold of some chocolate she had for a baby shower this weekend. A lot of chocolate. Like over 200 pieces of chocolate. So, Tuesday evening was spent at the vet, followed by the puppy ER, where they dogs had to stay all night for IVs and observation for their heart rates. :(

Thankfully, all is better and our ~~children~~ dogs are back home now! I held my breath the entire drive to the vet's office, during the consultation, etc. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally told us they were going to be okay, but needed to stay for observation. I started ~~bawling like a baby~~ crying a little from relief. I don't know what I'd do without this adorable furry friend of mine. I know my roomie is the same way about her fur kid, too.

Thanks so much to all of you for the thoughtful tweets and puppy prayers in response to my tweet about Gracie dog when all this was going on!

Look at her little shaved leg from her IV! Poor baby!

Random #2:
Ashley and I are going to Crossfit tomorrow morning! We've both wanted to try it and thought this was the best time to give it a shot! We're headed to their green ramp program (for new peeps). Wish us luck! I'm so nervous b/c I know it's HARD! I'm determined to find my workout niche this year. And yes, I think there's a niche out there for me. B/c I hate running; it's just a means to an end for me. I want something I enjoy.

Random #3
I'm finally upgrading my computer (with Eric's help) this weekend! You don't care about this at all, but if you only knew how victorious this feels. I think I'm like 2 operating systems behind. And I'm adding more memory! More memory=more blogging b/c seriously.. blogging on this computer (my macbook) and getting in to my reader takes so.freaking.long b/c I'm almost out of memory. That spinny rainbow thing and I are at war right now.

Random #4
I'm kinda obsessed with my new iPad. It comes everywhere with me. Any apps you'd recommend to the newbie?

Random #5
Please go check out my friend Jenny's little boy in his Christmas program on her blog. The photo she captured is kinda the cutest thing ever. For real.

I plan on spending lots of quality time with my recovered pup this weekend. :) I hope you all have a good one!

Recapping!

2012-01-02T19:38:00.000-06:00

Hiya friends! Happy 2012! (Whoa, right) I hope you had a great New Year! :)

Thought I'd share some pics from the past weekish...

Last week, went to sushi with Alove while she was in town from LA!

And then we made Eric dive through our pose. It's what we do. We'll be 65 years old making people dive through..haha... :)

We also made Sarah's baby belly dive through... She was enthused... ;)

On Thursday, we headed down to Dallas to the Armed Forces Bowl to watch TU! We made it to the big D in time to get a group together and enjoy some margs and company at Chuys! I'd never been and I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in enchiladas. Holy yummy. And did you know Tulsa is getting one?! I didn't either! Bring on the Chuys!

Eric, his Uncle Jim, me, Carrie, Chris

Since it was the Armed Forces Bowl, they had helicopters. So we had to get in them. And take photos. Duh.

We didn't win, but we had a blast anyway. :) And the weather was freaking fantastic...ended up changing into short sleeves before the first quarter was over!

For NYE, Eric and I grabbed dinner with some great friends, Jillian and Will, at one of our local Italian favs, Dalessandro's! From there, we headed to the new restaurant-bar downtown, Edward Delk's, to cheers the start of a New Year! It was low key and perfect. :) If you haven't had the chance to check out Delk's yet, I highly recommend!

I made him wear the crown for this photo... haha...

Happy New Year, friends!

I'm watching The Bachelor tonight with undetermined intentions to watch the rest of the season... I still can't decide if I like him..haha...

In 2012, I resolve to...

2011-12-31T16:07:00.001-06:00

Every year, I do a big, well-thought-out post about whether I met my resolutions from the previous year and my resolutions for the coming year. Welp, this year, I just plain don't feel like boring either you or myself with any of that. That said, I think resolutions are fantastic. They're goals. And this A-type-lawyer-blogger sitting here loves goals. But, I just kinda thought about the past year's ups and downs and what I want for myself in 2012. I compiled a sort of list instead of my typical resolutions...and decided these should just be my resolutions. :) So... without further adieu, my resolutions for 2012...

Blog more

Sleep more

Work out more

Relax more

Smell the roses more

Take more vacation time

Save more

Listen more

Love more

Volunteer more

Experience more

Accessorize more

Question more

Travel more

DIY more

Dream more

Pray more

Take more risks

Take more photos

Hug more

Cook more

Cheers more

Laugh more

Dance more

Reflect more

Learn more

Happy New Year!

Via weheartit.com

In 2011...

2011-12-31T15:18:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I meant for this to have like 6 photos. But then I kept seeing ones from the year and thinking "well, I HAVE to include that one!" I can't be trusted with pictures..

2011 was one of those "Who am I? Wait, who are you? Wait, who are WE? Wait... what am I talking about?" kind of years.. haha.. It was a very good year, but I think I was kinda wrapped up in the "ohemgee I'm turning 30" thing for some of the year so that impacted some thinkingness (I make up words. I can; it's my blog). 2011 was a great year and a year to be thankful for in many, many regards. I'll shutup and get to the photos now... ;)

In 2011...

Oklahoma got some INTENSE weather!

Record snowfall in February. And yes, this is a self timed photo. It is what it is.

Crazy hail storm in spring

Even almost took cover in the super-creepy basement from tornados this year!

Also had the hottest summer ever recorded in Oklahoma.

It makes me sweat a little just thinking about it.

Okay, what else? 2011 was a big hair year.. okay not "big hair" but hair changes..haha..

I got bangs (above). I know.. you're thinking "she's seriously blogging about bangs?" But, getting the bangs led to me to realize they were a stupid move b/c I really wanted to just go dark. So the next week, I did! (And then I had some stupid bangs I hated for AWHILE). (And I also wore glowstick sunglasses, but that's for another blog story sometime). 2011 lesson: When in doubt, don't get bangs.

And then I went blonde again, got bored again, and cut off my hair early fall...haha..

2011 was a year of CELEBRATIONS!

In March, Gracie dog celebrated her 4th birthday! (She looks so thrilled)

I really just wanted a reason to post this photo again.

And in July, I celebrated my 30th birthday!

And had the best birthday I've ever had thanks to this guy. :)

(awww) :)

Eric turned 29 this year, so he can still check the "in my 20s" box for another year. Whatever. ;)

And my mom turned the big six-oh this year!

Celebrated lots of showers, bachelorette parties, weddings and babies in 2011, too! (Didn't blog them all b/c the photos would have been more overwhelming than they already are in this post..haha).

Mary tied the knot in April!

Cohosted a shower in Tulsa for Alove!

Laura's bachelorette in Dallas!

(Which is where I learned about planking)

Traveled to LA to see Alove tie the knot in August!

And got to see many friends' adorable kiddos celebrate birthdays!

Cooper's first birthday! Don't you wish you were half this cute trying to shovel cake in your mouth shirtless? :)

AND a last- but definitely not least-note of celebration: In 2011, Eric got sworn in to be a CPA! A little over 12 months of studying almost every night and taking series of tests paid off early this year! :)

Did a little volunteering in 2011...

Rebuilding Together Tulsa

Alums + students got together to give back

And did a little traveling in 2011, too. :)

Girls trip 2011!

LA, San Francisco, Sonoma, and Sausalito in August :)

So there you have it...A little recount of just some of the happenings over the past year in photos. :) I hope 2011 was good to you and I hope 2012 is even better! Cheers, friends!

Merry Tuesday! :)

2011-12-27T11:00:00.000-06:00

I hope you had a great weekend with family, friends, and many blessings. :) I'm the idiot that has a week of vacation left, but decided to work on Tuesday to get some stuff done so this is pre-scheduled... Whether you're at home or at work, I hope you're still feeling the holiday spirit and enjoying the last few days of 2011!

On Saturday, headed out to Eric's aunt's for some annual Christmas Eve festivities with the whole fam. :) It's my 3rd year to be able to spend Christmas Eve with his family and it's so fun to have a big family Christmas feel (20ish people)...and also to finally feel like I know everyone... haha.. ;) Stayed with my mom on Christmas Eve and spent much of Christmas there enjoying some time together. I'm so bummed b/c I didn't get a single photo of us! Usually, I'll use the self timer, but we spent the bulk of the day in our pjs and therefore I kept the camera in its case. Being able to do what we want, wear what we want, etc, is definitely an advantage of it being just the two of us. :) We also had a great Christmas lunch together. Sunday night, I headed out to dinner with Eric's family-fantastic homemade Mexican food! (We'd had Christmas dinner at his aunt's the night before). Sunday night, Eric and I had our Christmas together ~~and stayed up til 3am watching Jericho~~.

The weekend was pretty fantastic as far as Christmas weekends go! :) I received some extremely thoughtful gifts and had an outstanding weekend with the ones I love... So, now that I've rambled a little, I thought I'd share some pics from Christmas weekend!

Lunch at Stonehorse with Sara and Timbo on Friday! (No, we were not going back to work..hence the wine).

At Eric's aunt's on Christmas Eve

From Christmas night- Eric's dad got an XBox Kinect for Christmas..
The dance game was a hilariously big hit! (and I totally kicked Eric's butt at it).

Self timer, anyone?

Lauren's in town from Chicago! Had a great dinner with her on Monday night at the new Mi Cocina! :)

ANNNNND Alove is in town from LA! (center)! Stopped by to say hi to her after dinner. :)

Gratuitous photo of Gracie dog and me from some Christmas celebrations with friends last week. This pup got bones, treats, toys, a new collar, and more. Santa kinda spoiled her.

I am so blessed to have so many great people in my life and to be able to spend Christmas surrounded by so much love. Cheesy, but true.

I look forward to reading all your holiday recaps, friends!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

2011-12-23T10:17:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to take a moment and wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Have a fantastic holiday weekend, friends!

It's OK Thursday!

2011-12-22T11:20:00.000-06:00

I've been a blog slacker this week.. mostly b/c I've come over here and been like "Hmm.. I don't know what to talk about today...." Maybe I'm holiday brain dead? Possibly. I'm also possibly on sugar overload...and totally okay with that.
But, I'm SURE I've got some "It's OK's" I can talk about today, so let's see what kinds of things fall out of my sugar-high brain and onto the page, eh? :)
It's OK...
To think you're done with Christmas shopping only to realize you forgot this or that or had a sudden burst of a GREAT idea for "that one thing" last minute.
To want to wear everything sparkly, shimmery, festive, etc. in your closet this week.
To LOVE Christmas, but also sometimes entertain the daydream of spending the holidays (with family..duh) on a tropical island while sipping a cocktail. Palm trees can have Christmas ornaments on them, right?
To be really bad at wrapping presents and attempt to dress them up with pretty bows, ornaments, etc, so no one notices the haphazard tape in awkward places.
To NOT buy a dress for New Years Eve this year! I have dresses. Saving money = winning. :)
To be overwhelmed by thoughtful friends and well-wishes around the holidays... from sweet cards to holiday treats to little thoughtful surprises... So blessed. Next year, I WILL send Christmas cards. Maybe. Hopefully.
To get a little excited about all the "best images of 2011" and "most memorable moments of 2011" segments on tv. I dig that stuff!
To have plans to take a half day off with two girl friends tomorrow and drink mimosas, eat, and be merry...all afternoon.
To never get tired of "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey. Never. Ever. And possibly beat your steering wheel like a drum every.single.time. to the "buh-bum-bah-bum-bah-bum" that kicks off the "I don't want a lot for Christmas..." part. I'm such a good singer in my car. *sarcasm*
Hope everyone is having a great pre-Christmas week!

Merry Newsinator

2011-12-21T13:30:00.000-06:00

I saw this on Katie's blog and thought it was too funny and fabulous! I had to do one... She also had to tell me how to save the darn thing so I could blog it, so yeah.. Katie, you rock all around. :) (even though I cut off the left edge. Oops. Oh well). :)

Wanna make one? Go to merry newsinator, plug in the info it asks for, and there you have it!

Hope everyone is having a great pre-Christmas work week!

Weekend Recap!

2011-12-18T20:42:00.002-06:00

This weekend was fun-filled but unfortunately not photo-filled. (I know.. who am I to not force people into taking pictures like I usually do? *le sigh*)

Thursday, Ashley, Sarah, Jenny, Brooke and I got together for some festive celebrations. :) We did a secret Santa exchange and lookie what Ashley got me! It's the Give Me Some Lip set from Sephora! Makeup makes me happy. On that note, I've officially decided to try to find a fun table I can re-do to make into a vanity for myself. TBD on this random project.

Friday, I'd taken the day off to finish some shopping. The mall was ridiculous... even at noon on Friday. I guess I wasn't the only one with the bright idea to take the day off. Anyhoo, look at these I found at Dillards...

I didn't buy them but I miiiiiight have showed the Dillards worker a photo of Gracie, exclaiming "They really do look like her!" He was like "Uh huh.. sure do..." and likely thinking 'get this crazy dog lady away from me.'

Friday night, Eric and I had some Mexican food ~~and margaritas~~ and took it easy. :)

Saturday night, we headed to two Christmas parties- one for a local org he's in and another for some mutual friends. :) Good stuff, people. Good stuff. Alas, no photos b/c apparently I've started slacking off. Blerg.

It really was a great weekend, though! I think I've finished almost all my shopping. I need to get one more hostess gift and then dunzo! What about you guys?

You taking any time off this week? I'm thinking I'll probably take a half day Friday or something, but plan to take some time the week between Christmas and New Years. Have fun stuff Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday night night this week! Can't believe it's the week of Christmas already! Bananas!

Okay this post was kinda boring. Sorry about that. I blame sleepiness and lack of photos to go along with my ramblings. Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

Weekend Recap (better late than never!)

2011-12-14T20:31:00.003-06:00

You ever have those weeks where you're kinda just not feeling social media? That's been my week. I think I've been focused on dedicating any personal online time to getting Christmas gifts here in time! Anyhoo, I had a great weekend so I thought I'd talk...er....blog about it. ;)

First, I got to go to my first Tulsa blog girls get-together on Friday night! This group of girls has gotten together before, but I've never been able to make it.. until now! I was able to stop by for a little bit, see some familiar friends, AND meet some of these fabulous ladies in person that I've never met before! Many thanks to Jane, our fabulous hostess, for the fun event! Sorry I was a slacker in posting the photo.

Not bad for a self timed photo.. whatwhat! (yup, just said whatwhat).

(back row)-Katie, Lynn, Lindsey, Jessica, Chesley, (front row)-Ashley, Katie, Jane, me.

Then, I headed to one of my best friend's birthday dinner at In the Raw. :)

One side of the table!

The other side of the table with the birthday girl, Timberly, (far right).

Saturday was my mom's 60th birthday! She's been excited about it, but also kinda weird about it, so I wanted to try to give her a good bday. While she's happy and appreciative of so many blessings, I'm sure it's hard to not have my dad around (he passed away when I was younger) and to be getting older, etc. Anyhoo, we had a fun-filled day of lunch, shopping, movie (My Week With Marilyn), dinner, and Christmas light looking! We had SUCH a fun day together!

I just noticed all these photos have wine in them? Whatever.

Then, Eric and I might have stayed up til 2am again watching Jericho. We're both hooked. It's kinda hilarious actually...especially because it got canceled before it probably revealed anything. Eh well.. whatever. I want to finish it out anyway b/c it's so good!

Sunday was errand running and cleaning the casa. Exciting, right? ;) I'm taking off this Friday to knock out Christmas shopping. My plan is to be completely done by Friday with absolutely everything. TBD...haha.... Are you done? If so, I'm so jealous!

Has anyone seen that Charlize Theron movie? Thoughts? I think it looks like it might be really dry comedy/funny and want to see it! I'm also wanting to see We Bought a Zoo, but I want to see anything with Matt Damon so there's that.. haha.. ;)

Operation WANA from MODG

2011-12-09T11:37:00.001-06:00

Do you read MODG's blog? If not, you should for many reasons- she's witty, candid, honest, entertaining, intelligent and kinda kicks blog butt if you ask me. But, she's also doing something on her blog right now that's improving Christmas for lots of readers in need... just by connecting them to one another. I just went over there to read what it was all about and and am truly inspired by what's going on in her comment section right now. Brought tears to my eyes.

I'd explain it here, but she does a much better job than I could, so go check it out. Whether you're in need or can offer help to a fellow blogger who is, it's an excellent thing taking place in MODG's little corner of blog land.

Happy Friday, friends!

Holiday Blog Challenge: Wish List!

2011-12-07T21:39:00.001-06:00

It'sDay 8 of the Fabulous Holiday Blog Challenge.. and I'm pretty sure I haven'tparticipated since day 2 or 3. Oops. *cringe* But, I'm having a chillax nightso wanted to hop on the bloggidy and give it some love. :)

Today'stopic: Christmas Wish List!

Idon't really neeeeed anything, but some things that I'd be okay with filling mystocking are...

** TOMS in Teal Pop! I also love the gildedherringbone ones. :)

** VS PJS! Or really any cute PJ set with long sleevesthat's somewhat fitted, not baggy flannel. :) Last winter was COLD, people. Andyou should have seen some of the combos I lounged around in b/c I never buycoordinating pjs for some reason.

via VS

**Preeeeettty much any jewelry from Banana Republic, especially these earrings Ijust found when looking for an example of banana republic jewelry for myblog... haha... ;)

** Workout wear! I really want some more workout tanks(with built in bra...duh) and workout pants. :) I LOVE lulu lemon, but it's sopricey! yikes! I don't work out enough to get the value out of their stuff..haha.. Just being honest... :)

Who stands like this in workout wear? (Via VS)

**Slippers! I freaking LOVEthese from Loft! Wood floors + drafty house = cold tootsies!

** MAC Snowglobe eyeshadows inwarm. Or really any makeup. Or maybe just Sephora's whole store. Ya know...whatever. #guiltypleasure

** A long sleeve TU shirt inTU blue (of course) :)

What about you? What are some things on yourlist this year?! :)

Ohand Gracie would like to add the following to her list:

*rawhide bone

*new stuffed toy

*new harness

(Ithink Santa will be visiting Miss Gracie with these items, but shhhh, don't tell her).;)

Weekend Recap!

2011-12-04T21:03:00.001-06:00

Yowza how is it SUNDAY already? Sheez!

Desperate Housewives is officially paused, so let's dig right on in... (I love my dvr).

Friday night, my friend, Beth, had her very first exhibit featuring her photography! It was at a local downtown spa. So proud of her!

With the featured photographer extraordinaire and our friend, Beth (center)! :)

Saturday, I had a hair appointment to have my roots dyed back to the color I'm pretty sure God intended me to be. ;) Then, I surprised Eric with making dinner! He just got a promotion of sorts (what-what!) and our normal celebratory thing is to go to dinner.. so I thought I'd switch it up a little and throw some personalized effort into the mix. :) I probably should have picked at least ONE thing I'd made before, buuuuut whatever. It all turned out edible so that's all that matters, right?

I made caesar salad, lasagna, and brownies for dessert. I turned on all the Christmas lights, lit some fabulous Bath n Body candles in my fav holiday scent (Winter) and played holiday tunes on the good old macbook. Er... well.. that's what I did while we ate. After we were done, we turned up the lights and hit the sofa to watch the bedlam game.

Gracie found her perfect football-watching spot and was so happy, she let me put the hat on her...haha..

Now that's doggie bliss...

Sunday, I lost my sanity and decided to go to the mall for some Christmas shopping. In all my years of Christmas shopping, you'd think I'd learn to ONLY go to the mall at Christmas if I have a pretty good idea what I'm going for. But, no. I left empty-handed and came home to order some stuff online in the peace and quiet of my casa.

Then, Eric and I headed to look at Christmas lights at Rhema Bible College. :) Every year, they have a FABULOUS display of lights that you can drive through or get out and walk around. Driving in a warm car is for slackers, so we always bundle up and walk around until we can't feel our face/fingers/etc. ;)

The lights are all timed to Christmas music... kiiiiinda cool. :)

The next couple weekends are Christmas party palooza for us both annnnnnd you never know what Oklahoma weather will do, so I'm glad we got to check out the lights! :)

All in all, a fabulous winter weekend. (I still can't believe it's WINTER)!

Oooh one thing. Okay, soooo the other night, Eric and I ordered Jericho on Netflix... ya know.. the show that aired back in like 2006 or something? Right. We randomly ordered the first ep and ended up watching like 3 more. Saturday night, we ended up watching FIVE more.. until 2:30 am. haha.. The crappy thing is that I think it was canceled before anything was REALLY revealed. I don't want to do too much digging and ruin it for me, but I have a suspicion. Did you ever watch it? My conversations with Eric now include things like "So, if there WAS a massive nuclear attack, where would we go?" And then we proceed to plot out a plan. Yes, this is our dinner conversation. (And now I'm kinda nervous that someone googling massive nuclear attack is going to find my blog. Super cool..haha... sheez).

Does Netflix suck you in like that, too? Sheez.

So yup! That was my weekend! How was yours, friends?

Being "too" nice?

2011-12-02T10:15:00.000-06:00

I smile a lot.

I like to make others happy b/c it makes ME happy.

I don't really enjoy confrontation unless it's really worth it.

I genuinely have a positive outlook on most things.

I feel pretty blessed 99% of the time.

So, why have I been told that I'm "too nice" sometimes?

There's a difference between being nice and being a pushover...and I am not the latter, so I think that's why I get frustrated if people assume I'm a pushover just b/c I'm nice. What's that famous quote... "Don't mistake my kindness for weakness..." Yup...that's a great saying and so accurate.

Anyway, it can be frustrating to be told or treated as though I'm "too nice." I mean.. sure... I can probably come across as nicer than some people would be in a situation but maybe it's because I only get riled up at things that really get under my skin or things that I believe in. And I do often attempt to be a peacekeeper in stressful situations. And also.. I THRIVE in stress oftentimes, unlike some people. So I function pretty well in crazytown situations. I know it's not always meant to be an insult that I'm "nice" but it doesn't make it less frustrating sometimes.

Honestly, I don't like the person I become when I let myself get really bitchy and I wouldn't like looking myself in the mirror if I was viewed as a bitch. I stand up for myself when merited, but it also takes me a lot longer to get to the point that I'm frustrated enough to vocalize it. And I know when I get there, I don't come down easily from it. Maybe that's it. *shrugs*

I bet if you asked Eric if he thinks I'm "too nice" when I'm a crappy mood, he'd fall over laughing. So, I think it just comes from people that don't know me as well.

I was telling my friend, Sara (a fellow attorney) about this random rant and she replied with the funniest thing ever: "Maybe just remind people more that you have an (expletive here) law degree. They don't give JDs to nice people." hahahaha... I love her... :)

End rant. Thanks for listening...er...reading. What about you? Have people commented that you're "too nice" or "too aggressive" or "too ____(fill in the blank)?" I'm curious. Personally, I just think we're all just "too fabulous." ;) Happy Friday, loves.

Thanksgiving Weekend (Finally!)

2011-12-01T19:51:00.001-06:00

This is me... finally getting around to doing a Thanksgiving weekend post a week late.. haha.. Sheez.

Anyhoodle...

Thanksgiving itself was great! I am so bummed that I didn't take a single photo, though. This was a big year b/c my mom and Eric's familia finally met! (I know I know...you're saying what all of our friends said to us face to face.."They haven't met yet and you've been dating HOW long?!" haha). Anyway, my mom and I went out to Eric's parent's house for some fabulous food and festivities. Although I probably took a year off my life worrying about how it was going to go, everything went totally fine. I'm such a worry wart about dumb things sometimes. I also had wine. That helps. I talk a lot about wine on here, don't I? haha... Whatever. Anyway, many blessings and things to be thankful for, especially the company. :)

Friday, TU had an early (11am) game, so we opted to have a breakfast tailgate. Eggs, sausage, pancakes, bacon, biscuits, gravy, you name it... Good stuff, people. :) It was a little windy and cold, but we had a good time nonetheless. :)

And Blaze was in town from Dallas! I miss this chick! :)

Maddox was very excited about his first TU game.. future alumni in the making. ;)

Sadly, TU was not victorious. :(

Friday night, Lauren and I had a girls night of wine and sushi! She was in town from the Chi. :)

We didn't mean to color coordinate.

Saturday night, Eric and I headed out to have dinner for our three year dating anniversary! :) It's actually kinda weird b/c we went on our first DATE on July 26. Soooo we've technically been dating 3.5 years. But, he was kinda loosely dating some other ~~unimportant hussy~~ girl and I went on a couple dates with someone else, so we called it "official" the weekend of Thanksgiving. Silly, right? We're both very stubborn people who were afraid to fall for each other...or at least admit we were falling...haha... I remember it being something like "I don't want you to date anyone else." And then "Well, I dont want YOU to date anyone else." And then "Okay, well... let's just agree that we're dating only each other.".... "Okay, I'm okay with that." haha...

Soooo, we had a good time at a new, local restaurant, Juniper, and then we talked about it and decided we kinda both want to celebrate our anniversary in July... haha. Yeah, I'm serious. So, we celebrated, had a great time, and then made an executive relationship decision to celebrate 4 years this July and officially make the switch over to Julyiversary. We're dumb. I know.

My roomie and I put our tree up on Monday! :) It's small (just about 6 feet) but it's the first time I've had a tree up in my OWN house that's bigger than just a little mini tree. :) The star has some issues staying upright. We just think it's quirky-cute and leave it. Our whole living room has gone festive-garland, candles, etc. I love it!

We may have listened to Ludachristmas while decorating. Yeah. We did. I highly recommend if you're looking for hilarious randomness.

So, that was Thanksgiving plus some! :) Happy almost weekend, friends!

It's OK Thursday!

2011-12-01T09:30:00.000-06:00

One of these days, I'll sit down and do a post about Thanksgiving weekend, but this week has been busy and I'm digging blogging about pre-assigned topics of sorts. So, with that said, It's OK Thursday, friends!
It's OK...
...to have still not filled in the "about me" section of my blog. I'll get to it and it will be fabulous!
...to feel like it's mid-December, even though today's only the 1st. But then also be shocked that it's already the end of the year!
...to not want to get all dressed up for NYE this year, even though it's usually one of my FAVORITE things to do. (I'm craving something like a lodge/cabin with a fire and board games. And wine. Duh. Must have wine).
...to be so busy with stuff that you become unmotivated to do any of it. (Does that ever happen to you?)
...to bake it...using the box/pre-mix.
...to want to take a day off work just to watch Christmas movies all day in my pajamas...and possibly do it.
...to eat while watching the VS Fashion Show.
...to mentally have an issue buying a fashion magazine when the person on the cover is still in her teens.
...to really want an elf on a shelf even though you don't have kids. (C'mon.. It'd be really funny for my roomie and I to scare each other with the little elf man in strange places..haha).
...to get teared up at any of the cute, cheesy Hallmark or Folgers holiday commercials. (I mean.. her brother comes home from WAR in one of them... )

Fabulous Holiday Blog Challenge: Day 2

2011-11-29T10:34:00.000-06:00

Hi y'all! So, I thought I'd join in Neely and Amber's blog challenge fun as much as possible b/c blogging about what makes me happy, etc, over the holidays could never be a bad thing for the ho ho ho mojo, right?! :) Anyway, yesterday's topic was favorite Christmas gift EVER and well.. I couldn't think of one specific gift. I'm lame. I've been very blessed, but couldn't decide on one thing or one moment that surpassed all the rest. I got all psychology(my degree) and lawyer (my other degree) like "I mean, that all depends on the year, right?" haha.. Sheez, Jackie. Anyway...
Okay, so today is Favorite Holiday Tradition- New or Old.
I have a lot of these and it's hard to choose some favs, but let's see...
Some old ones: * As a kid, my parents let me open one present on Christmas Eve. I would examine each gift put under the tree as Christmas Eve approached, trying to decide which one I wanted to open that night before I headed to bed to await Christmas morning. My mom would usually lead me towards one she knew I would like, but also wouldn't ruin any big gifts.. haha..
* We never really did "theme" Christmas tree stuff. I liked lots of colors and my parents were all about going with it. But, we did have a few regular Christmas tree toppers that we alternated every year. I used to get the honor of choosing the topper and putting it on the tree (with help, duh). I used to LOVE that! I almost always picked a light up angel my grandma had given me.
* My dad had a thing with tinsel.. the kind that you like randomly place to look like icicles. My mom hated it and called it messy.. It ended up everywhere! ha! But, it was a tradition to get it every year and I got to help ~~throw~~ strategically place the tinsel to look like ~~balls of sparkly crazyness~~ icicles. So yeah, I'm sure our tree looked a hot mess some years, but it was always so fun. And I only have memories of it looking gorgeous. :)
Some new ones: * Going to look at Christmas lights with Eric. I'd never really been to look at Christmas lights with a boyfriend-or even friends-before Eric (as weird as that is). The past three years, we've gone out to Rhema Bible College here (they do it up big), walk around, take some silly pics, and go for coffee afterwards. Even when it's freezing, I just love it. :)
* Watching It's a Wonderful Life with my mom. I don't really know when we started doing this.. or even if it's a tradition in either one of our minds, but we've done it on Christmas the past few years and I dig it. :) Say it with me.. "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings..." Doesn't that just make you feel warm inside? (If not, your new name is Scrooge. Kidding Kidding) ;)
Wanna play? Go link up!

Oh.my.Gosling. (and other holiday weekend movies)

2011-11-27T22:30:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend! I'll blog more about my weekend later ~~when I quit being lazy and upload my photos~~, but wanted to post about the movies I saw over the weekend for now instead. :)

So, last Wed, I stayed home and vegged out with my doggie in my pjs. NOTHING was on tv, so I opted to rent Crazy, Stupid, Love.

I thought it was really good...and it wasn't just b/c I was drinking wine while I watched it. It was genuinely good. :) Have y'all seen it? Did you dig it? Tells the story of a marriage that's failing (Steve Carell and Julianne Moore) for many reasons, but mostly b/c he got lazy and kinda quit trying in some regards. He meets Ryan Gosling, a total playboy who helps him kinda revamp his image and get back in his groove.

If you haven't seen it, I'll give you four reasons you should think about it....

While I'm talking about movies... I have a couple others I saw this weekend.. Aren't holidays the best for movie-watching?! Just me? *shrugs*

Saw Hugo with Eric's familia. It was good stuff. A leetle slow at first, but good. I liked it more when I found out it was based on a true story (at least some parts). Have you seen it? What'd ya think?

Also saw Arthur Christmas, a story about Santa's son who takes action into his own hands when a little girl is accidentally overlooked by Santa's elves. Cute stuff, people. That said, it had a lot of technology references (like a transportation craft instead of reindeer and a sleigh). This girl prefers the reindeer and the sleigh, so there's that. Call me old school...or just old...but whatevs. :)

Did you see any good movies this weekend?

Thankful.

2011-11-23T13:00:00.000-06:00

Warning: mushy post ahead. haha.. ;)

I have many blessings and am thankful for more things than I could even list in a single blog post.. I am truly and deeply blessed with family, friends, love, health, life... I would love to list everything, but I wanted to dedicate this post to how thankful I am for YOU and for this blog!

A few years ago, I started this blog as a place to ~~rant, whine, ramble~~ record my feelings, photos, thoughts, etc. I also wanted to continue connections with friends that have moved away and started their own blogs. This little place of mine on the internet has become that and SO much more to me.

This blog has given me some GREAT friends across the country...and across the ocean in some cases! You all have given me such a great gift through our paths crossing in this fabulous blogoverse. When I have a bad day, I can rant about it and am repeatedly humbled by comments with uplifting words or even comments saying "Girl, I SO get it!" When something exciting happens or something goes really well, you're there, too. I'm perpetually eager to read about what's going on in your lives. I get so mad when life gets too busy for me to connect with you over the interwebs b/c it feels like that phone call you REALLY want to make to someone but can't seem to reach them. There are nights when my eyelids are heavy and I still boot up my laptop b/c I want to read what ended up happening with this or that. :)

I've even noticed that subconsciously I refer to you as "friends" in everyday conversation. Things like "One of my friends just had a baby!" or "One of my friends went through something really similar..." I guess somewhere in the past few years, the phrase "blog friend" changed to "friend" and it is such a true depiction of how I feel. :)

I might not always respond to comments via e-mail at the rate I WANT to or feel like I should (stupid gmail blocked at work.. blah), but I read every single one and am humbled by every single person who cares enough to stop by my little corner on the interwebs.

I'll quit rambling and just say I am so very thankful for YOU, friends. Happy Thanksgiving and happy holiday weekend! :) I'm thinking I might actually venture out for Black Friday for an item I really want to get someone. It depends how much wine I have on Thanksgiving, I suppose.. ha.. ;)

I just saw this on Pinterest and had to add it. Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Weekend Recap!

2011-11-20T21:09:00.001-06:00

Hi friends! This blog is brought to you courtesy of my new/Eric's old wireless router. Apparently ours has seen better days so he came to my rescue tonight.

My fav convo today:

Eric: "What did you need to do online tonight? We can do this tomorrow maybe...?"

Me: "I WANT TO BLOG! I ALWAYS READ BLOGS ON SUNDAY NIGHTS!"

Him: "Okay, okay *laughing* calm down. We'll get it fixed."

haha... #blogpanic ;)

So, how was the weekend? Mine? Purdy good. :) Got some things done, some things didn't get done... but have a long weekend coming up, so whatevs!

Friday included Breaking Dawn with some girl friends, including fellow Twilight fanatic, Ashley! :) We may have gotten there ~~two hours before the movie~~ a little early to make sure we got good seats. I think the high schoolers must have gone to another theater b/c we were the second people in line....and yeah, I'm admitting that out loud.. er.. in writing.

No, that is not personal-sized box wine. How could you even ask such a thing?!

(As an aside, I'm totally watching Twilight on tv as I type this).

Remember when I took a few pics (the masquerade themed ones) with the local org, OkStrobist back in April? Well, they had another fun shoot themed "collegiate life" and I got to participate in the fun! We had band members, football players, fans, cheerleaders, etc! (I was a fan). :) Anyway, here's a cute one that Sherman took! He and I met at the last shoot and I dig his chili. He's super talented! :) If anyone needs a photog in the Tulsa area, please let me know b/c I've met some great, very talented up-and-comers through this fantastic org! And if anyone is a photog looking for some great training and techniques, follow Okstrobist for sure!

Saturday afternoon, I already had on some TU fan wear so it seemed pretty appropriate to head directly to the TU v. UTEP watch party. :) Eric and I cheered on TU from a local restaurant/bar with other alums and students annnnd TU WON! WOOHOO!

Saturday night, Eric and I did some random errands and ended up at his casa hanging out. And guess what.. a certain pup got to come play! Just as he was saying "Don't get up on the.... (couch)," she jumped up, crawled over to him and laid on him. I mean.. how can you resist this face?

Ya think she's happy? haha! :)

The Route 66 Marathon went right by Eric's neighborhood, so we opted to head out with cowbells and cheer on some runners. :) We were actually waiting on a couple of friends, but ended up having a great time cheering on lots of people til we saw them. :) We were perched in the bed of his truck, wrapped in blankets, in the last 6 miles or so of the race. In other words, some people were really struggling when they ran past us. It was also much colder than it was supposed to be.

It felt good to cheer and wave and see some people smile at us as they ran by. :) One guy yelled "thank you so much for being here." It was really cute.

Oh and finally (as if I haven't rambled enough, I saw someone spray paint a mason jar and use it for makeup brushes on pinterest. Soooo I did it! Great idea, me thinks! I sprayed it a color called 'cinnamon' and put some bead things in the bottom to stick the brushes in. I saw someone use coffee beans, but I didn't have those soooo yeah.

Turned out pretty good, right?

Bring on the short week, friends!

It's OK Thursday!

2011-11-17T09:45:00.000-06:00

Linking up with Amber and Neely for for Hey It's OK Thursday!

Soooo...

It's OK...

...to have been looking forward to seeing Breaking Dawn on opening night (Friday, not the midnight show) ALL WEEK!

(Even my alarm says "Wake up! Breaking Dawn and the weekend await!" I'm lame).

...to never be able to wear tan, white or winter white without getting something on it. (Staring at a pen mark on my pant leg).

...to have an actual Christmas list this year. You've been more nice than naughty, so why not?! :)

...to HATE checking voicemail. All voicemail. (But then probably be offended if you never had ANY).

...to have at least three pairs of shoes at work and/or in your car at all times. Whatever.

...to be SUPER excited about BOGO at Starbucks today-this weekend! (2-5pm, holiday beverages only...but really.. why would you order anything else?)

...to finally have an iPhone and be a little late to the angry birds party, but totally addicted regardless.

...to put your dog on your Christmas cards...possibly in a Santa hat.

...to let bygones by bygones.

...to have weather in Maui, St. Lucia, or any other tropical destination saved on your cell phone's weather application when you need to daydream for a minute.

...to apply bronzer your face til you realize you just made it a slightly different color than your neck...and then apply it to your neck. #notfoolinganyone. (In denial that I'm about to turn into a nice winter shade commonly called 'Casper').

...to always put your winter hats/gloves in a 'safe storage place' in the spring...and then be unable to find them when it gets cold. (I live in a small, cottage-style house where I have to find 'creative' places for storage).

...to carry approximately 12 lip glosses in your handbag at all times.

...to think of ideas for great holiday hostess gifts all year... until you actually need a holiday hostess gift. Then, you go brain dead.

...to already be listening to Christmas music! :)

Holy Hunger Games Excitement!

2011-11-14T22:19:00.001-06:00

Three words:

I.

CAN'T.

WAIT. :)

AGH! If you haven't read the books, put them on your Christmas list.. like rightfreakingnow. I was SO sad when I finished this series ~~in like one week but who's counting~~ b/c I wanted MORE of them. Excellent story.

Holiday Gift Sets Galore!

2011-11-13T20:25:00.001-06:00

So, I love the holidays for a lot of reasons.

...Family and friends. :)

...Twinkly lights.

...Hot cocoa on cold nights (or eggnog latte from Starbucks...whatever).

...Christmas music (namely the Glee Christmas soundtrack and Straight, No Chaser).

...Holiday beauty palettes/gift sets.... Yeah, thats what I said. holiday.beauty.palettes. :) Gawd I love them! They're like the best little guilty pleasure EVER for this chick. I know I've said it before but when I have a bad day, I want to buy beauty things. Even a new little nailpolish can bring a smile to my face after a crappy day. (A glass of wine works too. But that's not what we're talking about here).

And this year, beauty companies are not disappointing! Check out just a few of the gems available this season:

Just $18 dollars for all of these eye shadows via. I saw the larger one at Sephora for $39 and the smaller one (pictured) at Ulta for $18. Even the smaller one is the size of a man's palm or a little larger. It's pretty substantial for the price.

$30 for two full sizes and four travel sizes! And the travel sizes aren't tiny.
I mean, they're travel sizes, but they're not like one-use-wonders at all.

AWESOME deal - $29 for all three- eyeliner, plumping lash primer and mascara. They're full sized, people! And the mascara itself sells for $25. I don't use the Hypnose, but I use the Definicils and can say Lancome makes an excellent mascara.

To view other awesome gift sets at Sephora, click here.

AND Sephora is having a sale for their beauty insiders for 20% off your purchase through Monday the 14th aka TOMORROW! If you want to get 20% off, enter VIBDREAM at checkout online. :)

I was going to schedule this post for tomorrow, but I didn't want anyone to miss out on the 20% off!

What about you? Go crazy for coco-puffs on any holiday special offers like beauty palettes? (Say yes so I feel more normal). :)

Weekend Recap+

2011-11-13T19:53:00.001-06:00

Hi friends! How was the weekend? Mine was good. Remember how I said I was taking Thursday and Friday off? Well, I already had Friday off (holiday), but ended up working all day Thursday after all. Blerg. But, even though the weekend wasn't as long as I'd hoped, it was still pretty good. :)

I have 70 hours of vacation time to use before the end of the year and am going to be sad when I lose some of it b/c there is no way I can take that much before year-end. Busy busy! Eh, it's my fault for not taking more time off earlier in the year.. *le sigh*

Okay, moving on to the weekend!

Thursday, Eric and I got to attend an event sponsored by TU featuring the Pioneer Woman! :) What a fabulous lady! And she was totally cool with posing for a photo...which gets her even more points in my book. :)

Friday, I took my favorite pooch to Woodward Park for some frolicking in the fall foliage. :)

Okay, so this next photo was inspired by Pinterest. See what that website is doing to me?! Anyone seen this photo with the dog and the wreath? A few of my friends have pinned it recently. Okay, well.. Gracie was looking adorable and I saw my fall wreath and thought "Worth a shot!" She hates me. Or really loves me. Or somewhere in between. ;)

Skipping ahead to Saturday night, a few awesome girl friends and I got together for a long overdue sushi date! :) We used to go all the time and well.. life kinda gets in the way of sushi sometimes. :) It's been a busy fall, right?! Anyway, we had a really good time. :)

Since I kinda forgot to blog pics from last weekend, I didn't get to blog Mary's birthday. Here she is (center) with Dennis and me! Love these people! Our friendship is the best thing that came out of my time at the law firm for sure. :)

Oh and I finally got this! Annnnnnd I did it! (a victory in itself.. haha). And um.. holy moly it's tough! I like it a lot! I've done it twice now. :) I'll have to keep you updated. I intend to do it three times a week for at least a couple months. We'll see if the reviews are true before I go buying the whole set. :) I have to say.. I DONT LIKE workout dvds. At all. But, this one is really easy to follow and is broken up into 5 10-minute segments. I dig that. Much more attainable than one, solid hour long workout if you ask me. It's all mental, right?

Here's to Monday! Let's make it a good week!

Open Letters

2011-11-07T20:33:00.001-06:00

Saw this idea on Neely's blog ... :)

Dear Microsoft Outlook's "scheduled delivery" function for email- I tested you FIVE times last week. FIVE. And you worked. So, when I pre-scheduled a very important email to be sent to a large group of employees this morning at 6am, I expected you to work. You disappointed me and left me flying up to the office sans makeup at 6:10 a.m.on a Monday to manually send said email. Thanks for not delivering... both literally and figuratively. :)

Dear grocery store- Why are you out of bananas? I like eating bananas for breakfast every day. Please figure out your shortage before next weekend. Thanks.

Dear Thursday and Friday- I am so glad I've taken you as vacation days. Now please hurry up and get here.

Dear Gossip Girl- Thanks for returning tonight. I missed you last week. The GG gang's drama makes me feel more normal.... It also makes me feel like I want to live in a Manhattan penthouse. But whatever...

Dear big meeting tomorrow- Please please please go as well as last week's meeting went. (I'll be back to blogging normalcy after tomorrow's meeting. Wish me luck!)

Dear Pres of the US- Thanks to you, my student loans will likely be more manageable next year. High five from the interwebs. I don't care what side of politics you're on... Helping with student loans gets ya points from -->this girl<--

Dear Target Christmas section- Thanks for adding some cheer to my life the other day. :) Just walking through your aisles and listening to Christmas music made me jolly. (I like saying the word "jolly.") When a little boy ran up and turned the Christmas music to cartoon Christmas music, I wasn't as jolly, but whatever.. thanks for giving me my moment. ;)

Dear Core Fusion- I'm very excited for my dvd to arrive so I can try you!

Dear Oklahoma earthquakes- Stopit. For reals. You're freakingmeout. We've already got tornados...and even had some today WITH more earthquakes. Just give this heartland state a rest! :)

**
And another random Monday thing, check out Chelsea's Make it My Own Monday post today. She and another blogger, Holly, find an outfit on pinterest and let it inspire them each week. They take a pic and post it on Mondays. :) And she's making it a link-up! Totally gonna do it! You should too! Check it out, friends!

This week...

2011-11-04T13:35:00.001-05:00

....I started off the week a little sick (from my last blog post)
....Gracie got really sick and we spent an evening at the vet. :( (She's getting better)
....I played a larger part in planning a large meeting for my company. It was well attended and everything went great! (Phew). :)
....Our team had a presentation to another group within the company.
....Our team found out we have a new boss!
....Our toilet stopped working at home. It was special. (It's fine now).

It's been a tinge of a whirlwind week. Despite a little stress this week, I'm so glad everything is winding down on a very positive note! I miss blogland! (I really wish there was a place called Blogland where we could all hang out. That place would also have about 10 wine bars and a few chocolate factories. It is what it is).

Have a great weekend, friends. :)

Do you ever...

2011-11-02T00:33:00.000-05:00

....wanna go all Grey's Anatomy and "dance it out?" Sometimes I wanna. (And sometimes I may or may not do it.) Just saying. :)

Homecoming Weekend Recap!

2011-10-30T21:41:00.001-05:00

This weekend was homecoming for TU, Eric and my alma mater, and almost all the below pics are from events tied to the weekend. :)

Friday kicked off with an annual event sponsored by the Young Alumni called TU on Tap. We opted to add a spirit costume contest this year. Not a ton of people dressed up, but it was the first year for the contest, so that makes sense. However, we got lots of comments from people saying they wish they would've dressed up once they saw the prizes!

The costume contest winner left the others in the dust...

So impressed with my boyfriend's skills. No idea how Eric managed to wire a jumpsuit with remote controlled LED lights.. but it was pretty awesome!

With a 2:30 game time, our tailgate kicked off around 11:30 with friends and bbq! :)

Some adorable future TU fans were able to join us for the tailgate :)

Oh I just realized I didn't tell you what Eric won in the costume contest... I finally get an iPhone and he gets an iPad.. sheez. ;) (So happy for him)!

After TU's victory over SMU (WOOHOO!!!!), we headed to Jenny's new casa to celebrate her new house, get together, and see all their little guys dressed up for Halloween. Adorable! Getting them to stand still was another story... haha!

Annnnnd also exciting this weekend, I got some new glasses! Jennifer (above with her super cute little boy, both dressed in yellow), is an optometrist and was able to do some fantastic specs for me! I can see! I can see! I typically wear contacts, but my glasses were approximately three prescriptions behind (oops), so these were long overdue. I kinda love them and haven't worn contacts most of the weekend!

Headed to Eric's and watched Captain America. :) Good flick, friends. They set it up perfectly for The Avengers in 2012 (which also looks AWESOME if you haven't seen the previews yet)

So yeah.. no Halloween parties this year and I have to admit.. it felt good even if it does make us sound like party poopers... Things have just been so insanely busy lately so it was nice to not even mess with it this year. It was probably a good thing, too, b/c I spent my Sunday afternoon at urgent care with a sore throat. Blerg. I have a really busy week at work and I can't really afford to get super sick, so I went ahead and saw a doctor to avoid a yearly bout of tonsilitis I tend to get. Apparently, I have viral pharyngitis. Glad it's not strep or tonsilitis so I caught it early. Hoping it goes away quickly since drugs won't help anything viral... :(

Overall, a great weekend! Headed into a busy couple of weeks at work so I'm hoping they go quickly! :) At urgent care, I downloaded an app to organize all my Christmas shopping. Can you believe it's less than 2 months away? AGH. Have you shopped for anyone yet? I haven't. Sheez. I need to get on the ball.

San Francisco- Day 3 :)

2011-10-27T00:06:00.003-05:00

So, I got bored last night and opted to take my blog layout into my own hands. :) I think I did pretty well! I have a few other things to do and still want to have a friend help me with some things (Lesley, if you're reading, I SO need to email you back)! And I still have to type the 'about me' section I added. Right now it's just about blankness. Whatever. :)

Okay, so I haven't finished blogging about our trip to San Francisco and Sausalito. I know. Ridiculous. I'll go out on a limb and say it matters more to me than you.... But, I really do want to round it out and finish the posting so I can look back on it. :) I'm nostalgic like that. Okay, moving on..

So, we left off after Sonoma/Healdsburg. Eric and I checked in to our fabulous hotel in Sausalito, the Casa Madrona. He found this fantastic place and was able to get us a great room overlooking the bay. :) Beautiful! Interweb high fives to that guy I date for always finding the coolest hotels on every trip!

Look to the stairs in the back...now up to the right... Okay, that's where our little cottage was! :)

We got up on Wednesday morning and both went to spa appointments. Yup. You read that right.. spa appointments. *wistful sigh* :) After being in LA for Ashley's wedding, then walking all over San Francisco/Alcatraz/wine country, we thought a little relaxation was in order. :) (And they were special freebies for booking our room when we did through a link on Trip Advisor! Dear Casa Madrona- excellent promotion).

After we were nice and relaxed, we set out for the day to explore.

First stop= Golden Gate photo! I had wanted one of these SO badly the whole trip ~~and whined about it a few times.~~ I was so so so happy that the weather behaved for us to get a great shot without fog. :) Marian gave me the best directions ever for optimal photo taking, so we stopped at multiple places to snap some good ones.

Next stop: Golden Gate Park. Headed to the Japanese Tea Gardens first. :)

Coolest.bridge.ever.

We are fat kids. I know this isn't a ton of food, but others around us were just kinda snacking, whereas our order was more: "Yeah, we'd like the little sandwiches..and the sushi roll...and um.. also cookies...and oh yeah...that other rice thing...and we each would like a tea. Thanks." haha...

From there, we headed to the Botanical Gardens!

Fantastic shot by Eric shooting up a redwood

Once we were done playing Dora the Explorer, we headed back to Sausalito to walk around. (You're likely beginning to understand just how much walking we did on this trip if you've read all my posts). What a fantastically picturesque little town. I am SO glad we spent a couple days there b/c it was just so much more slow paced and chill. :)

My boat. I let some people borrow it for the weekend. I'm nice like that. (Riiiiight).

Yes, this is cheesy and yes we took it anyway. My hair kinda makes me look like I have a Darth Vader thing on my head.

That night, we headed to Le Garage for dinner to celebrate Eric's birthday a few days early! Fabulous wine, fantastic food, and the best dinner date ever... (awwww... I know I know).

We're almost to the end. That was our last dinner in California. :( I have a few more things to post, but I'll get to that some other time.. preferably before the new year.

I'm slowly getting back on the blog bandwagon. Isn't it weird how having a crazy-busy week can really throw you off your routines?

Monday Musings

2011-10-24T18:50:00.000-05:00

Okay, I am NOT going to drop off the face of the earth this week when it comes to blogging. <-- See there? It's in writing. I'm gonna stick to it. :) Soooo why not start off the week with a fun, albeit random, post!

First things first, I'm wanting to re-do my blog. I'm hoping to make the magic happen soon. :) Do you ever get in a funk with your layout? I mean, I want to change my banner, links, etc. I just want it to be spruced up! This is my way of saying if you come over here and something WACKED OUT is happening to my blog, just know I am cursing at the computer b/c I did something horribly wrong. (I'll likely get help on this project, but sometimes I get in moods where I think I'm a creative designer. And quickly realize I'm not).

Okay, so... your one way ticket to randomtown starts... now.

I love this coat. LOVE. Saw it on Anthro yesterday and sigh heavily when I see it. I want to check it out in person, though. That neck could be awesomesauce....or awkwardsauce. Just saying.

Did ya'll watch the PLL Halloween ep last week? They're not coming back til January (so if you don't watch, you have time to catch up!), but had some random Halloween ep. *shrugs* Anyway, I was once again reminded how much I dig Aria's eye makeup. Yeah, she's a teenager in the show. And I'm 30. Whatever. Anyway, if you dig it too, here's a fun tutorial from one of my fav beauty bloggers, Tiffany. :)

I know that we're officially a week from Halloween, buuuuuuut I'm kinda already thinking about what kind of holiday wreath I want to make. I like the ornament wreaths a lot (especially the below one), but TBD. I'm sure pinterest will inspire me.

via pinterest

I've gotten a couple emails asking me if I still like the Hourglass Tinted Moisturizer I blogged about awhile ago when I first got it. The answer is YES! I'm currently scraping the bottle to get the last little bit out b/c I need to buy more. This stuff is awesome and long-wearing. It's lightweight, but covers. It's not super thin like some tinted moisturizers. And I don't need a powder over it. I can just apply blush and everything else then and there! I use a makeup brush to apply it b/c it goes longer that way. :) It's a bit spendy, but I think it's worth it. I DO think they need a few more shades, though.

I always complain about Tulsa not getting cool fitness stuff when it first hits the scene. (I convince myself I'd totally be in better shape if we got cooler stuff.. haha.. Whatever). I think we're ranked as one of the most overweight cities.. or at least we used to be. Something tells me that makes trendy fitness less of a hit here. And we're super conservative as a general rule. Sooo when cardio pole dancing hit the market, you can imagine that its premiere debut wasn't in Tulsa. Anyway, I was kinda ho hum about pure barre b/c I REALLY wanted to do it, but assumed we didn't offer it. NOT THE CASE! I stumbled on a class at a local pilates studio and I have a call in to find out more. TBD! Tulsa friends, when I find out more, I can let you know if you're interested, too! :) Another one I want to try= Piloxing! I know we don't have that. But I can even see myself saying it: "Me? Oh, yeah.. I pilox." ha!

So that's where my head's at on this Monday eve. :) A couple friends are headed over for some Chuck, Serena, and Blair (and vino). PS.. Do you watch GG? What are YOUR thoughts about this whole Blair baby thing?!

Busy Week

2011-10-21T14:36:00.002-05:00

If Chuck doesn't make you grin a little on a Friday afternoon, you need a cocktail more than I do.

Sorry I've been m.i.a. It's been a super busy work week + dealing with car insurance (from my last post) so my days have been full and then I get home and want to just tune out and watch my favorite intellectual shows... ya know.. like Kendra and Up All Night. I'm going to reconnect with my bloggidy this weekend. :)

TGIF, friends! Have a great fall weekend!

Weekend Recap- in mostly iPhone 4s photos!

2011-10-16T23:05:00.001-05:00

So, I've pretty much been like a kid with a new toy with this phone. My palm did its job, but this phone is just SO COOL! (Yeah, I know... I'm way behind in the iphone discovery. Whatever.)

Okay, soooo Friday night was a girly dinner at the yummy Ciao followed by a rooftop bar for M's birthday! :) I may have gotten her a flashing birthday tiara with her gift.. :)

I didn't turn the flash on for this pic. Bad call, Jackie.

Saturday, had lunch and shopped a little with Maria and M for her birthday! Discovered these freaking hilarious hats at a local boutique, Must Stash! It's like a little mini Urban Outfitters in a lot of ways. Super cute and pretty affordable.. and well.. it has these hats. Can't go wrong with these hats. ;)

Headed to a friend's birthday party, but those pics are on Eric's camera, sooooo we're skipping ahead.

Saturday, we had a home football game, so of course we went in true tailgate fashion! Duh! And speaking of fashion, I got this fabulous TU bracelet at the Rah Wear tent in tailgate alley. :) I've been wanting one and keep going back every game, but she's been out. It was just $10! She has tons of cute stuff, does online orders, and is at every game. If you need some cute TU gear, check her out. And her supply is constantly growing b/c this is her first year in business. :) She was telling me she's going to likely add some baby stuff, among other things! :) If you'd like to see something, let her know by just contacting her via the site or fbook b/c I'm sure she'd love to know what kinds of demand is out there for different things.

Today, I went on the hunt for an iphone case.

And got hit in the process. :(

I was driving straight out of a local shopping center and another car came through her stop sign and hit me. :( My poor Edge. When you see it, you think "oh, that's fine"...right? Yeah, me too. (it does look worse up close). But, it won't drive and won't respond to anything....not even my keyfab to lock/unlock the doors. Major boo. No idea what's wrong, but she hit me hard enough to spin me around. #scary

I'm really just so glad everyone was okay! Could have been a lot worse than just a royal pain in the arse, ya know. Now I just have to get some wheels tomorrow til my car's working again. *sigh*

Anyway, it really was a pretty good weekend aside from today. And honestly, I'm one of those people that thinks things happen the way they should. What if I'd been just a minute later? Does that mean I wouldn't have been hit? Or does that mean I would have had a WORSE accident? I mean, you just never know. I think my guardian angel had my back (and the other lady's, too). :) Besides, I had Siri to keep me company (my fav iphone feature for sure!)

Fall Blog Swap Reveal and Other Friday Schtuff!

2011-10-14T13:20:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, friends!

A few weeks ago, I signed up to participate in Mateya, Caroline and Molly's Fall Blog Swap! and Caroline are the fun blog friends who I vlogged with. (Vlog still sounds funny to me).

I was paired with the fantastic Neely and can't say enough positive things about our pairing! This swap allowed me to make a great new blog friend who I have TONS in common with...annnnnnd I got some fantastic treats! We live just a state away from each other and the next time I get my booty to Dallas, I will totally email her to see if she's free to meet up! (There's your warning, Neely! ha!)

My package arrived Tuesday and I eagerly tore it open, trying to remember to take a few photos... :)

I saw earrings and candles first thing and was immediately thrilled! And I saw a card and realized I'd completely forgotten to enclose the one I got for her! Blerg. It's on my dresser. Sorry, Neely. :(

As I took out my swap items, each one made me smile! Check out my treats! Essie nailpolish (gorgeous color! Called wrapped in rubies), two yankee candles, three pairs of earrings, a burts bees lip gloss, a very Jackie-esque sign and a $5 Starbucks card!

I'm glad glad I snapped the photos right away b/c um.. one of the yummy smelling yankee candles has already been already in my room, the earrings are in my jewelry box (and have been worn!), and the lip gloss is in my purse... I didn't waste any time...hah!

Many thanks to the swap hostesses and especially Neely b/c this package totally made my week last week! :)

*************
And another fun note on Friday...I have had a palm pixi for awhile now b/c I've been with Sprint. I didn't want to leave. I mean, that requires contract breaking, more expense, blahidy blah. And I've never disliked Sprint's network, just my phone. So, when I heard they were getting the iPhone, I was all.over.it. I've been waiting, people.

So, I got up this morning and headed to the Sprint store just to see if there was a crowd. There were only 15 people in line, so I opted to give it a shot. Glad I did! I am now the proud owner of a brand spankin new white iPhone 4s! So far, we're still getting to know each other, but I can tell I'm already falling in love. :)

Happy weekend, friends!

Weekend Recap!

2011-10-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

Guess where Eric and I went this weekend! I'll give you a hiiiint....

That's right! The pumpkin patch!

And not just ANY pumpkin patch! But a patch where we got to cut our own pumpkins! I've never gotten to do that before!

Grider Farm doesn't have a webpage, but here's some info. :)

For you Tulsa area peeps, I both love and hate to tell you about this place b/c a lot of the charm is that it's not swarming with people, buuuut we already have our punkins for the year, so I guess I'll let you in on it. ;) And after all, April is a great friend for passing on the info to us! :) It's located very close to Stillwater in Perkins, OK.

We got there and they told us to go ahead to the patch, get some pumpkins, and head back up the road to pay for them. :) (I love small southern/midwest towns b/c they're not all jaded and untrusting). :)

Saw this adorable little green guy still on the vine...

BUT... since it was a tough pumpkin year with the hundred degree summer weather, there weren't a TON of pumpkins... on the dry side that is. ;) We saw some mud...and the pumpkin promise land on the other side!

Okay okay... I'm being overdramatic, but there were definitely big ol bulbs of orange smiling at us from across the mud where others hadn't ventured. Eric was like "I can cross it" as he took off his shoes. So in my "Oh yeah?! I can cross it TOO" voice, I said something along those lines and took off...with my shoes on.

...and promptly got stuck. ha!

So, yeah, taking off the shoes was the better plan.

hahahaha.. Awesome.

But, a little mud never hurt anyone!

We found some gorgeous pumpkins!

...and had a good time goofing around a little....

I really wanted a photo with both pumpkins.. But uh... They were a little hard to manage...

...finally got em... haha!

Important to note that Eric found his gigantic pumpkin he was hoping for! :)

A truly great day at the pumpkin patch....

So gorgeous!

Our lot in the back of Eric's truck :)

For folks who like the big piles o pumpkins to select from (instead of cutting your own), they have that, too. :)

Other weekend activities included seeing Ides of March (good flick), celebrating a friend's birthday, and oh yeah... having Mexican food (and that well-deserved margarita I blogged about on Friday) ;) A fantastic long weekend thanks to Christopher Columbus. If there were some weekend rating system, I think I'd go so far as to give it five stars. :)

Tasty Tuesday: In-Your-Sleep Chili

2011-10-11T10:30:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Eyecansee often posts Tasty Tuesday blogs annnnnd I thought I'd do one myself this week! Don't get used it though. This whole cooking thing is becoming more frequent, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it "regular" quite yet.. ;)

I was actually looking for a good beef stew recipe Sunday as a break in some serious deep cleaning of the casa (I went cleaning cray-cray on Sunday). I wanted the kind with the big chunks of carrots and potatoes and green beans and corn and... well.. I didn't trust myself enough to throw it in the crock pot without some guidance. (Feel free to offer tips on stew if you have any!)

And that's when I stumbled on the in-your-sleep chili on Better Homes and Gardens website! I thought "Hm.. I could go for some chili instead..." Eric's mom sent me a chili recipe this week, but it's on my work email and I couldn't get to it! Pppft! But, I've seriously been wanting to make some, so my stew idea was abandoned.

Okay, so all this rambling aside, this stuff is called in-your-sleep for a reason. It's SO easy, people. And it doesn't require a ton of ingredients...only FIVE! I love that b/c well.. as I've said before, I'm an inexperienced cook, SO I don't just have a pinch of this or that laying around. I likely have to go buy a bunch of this or that just to get the pinch it asks for. Slowly but surely acquiring a better spice supply. Anyway...

Mine turned out pretty yummy looking (and tasting) if I do say so myself! :)

Here are the instructions straight from bhg.com (with my added commentary)

1pound ground beef
1
large onion, chopped
2
15-ounce cans chili beans in chili gravy (aka chili "sauce" or anything else. I spend 10 minutes looking for "gravy" only to realize it's all the same darn thing).
1
14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (I got two 10-ounce cans and estimated 14.5)
1
11 1/2-ounce can hot-style vegetable juice (V8 juice-hot style)
Sliced green onions, dairy sour cream, and/or shredded cheddar cheese (optional) (Cheese should never be optional).

directions

1.In a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown; drain off fat.

2.In a 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker (/crock pot). combine ground beef mixture, beans, undrained tomatoes and green chiles, and vegetable juice.

3.Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 6 hours on on high-heat setting for 2 to 3 hours. If desired, top each serving with green onions, sour cream, and/or cheddar cheese.

I went ahead and used one mild can of chili beans and one can of medium chili beans. Probably didn't need to do that b/c the hot-style veggie juice definitely gives it a little kick. :) I opted to cook it on high for 2 hours (instead of low for 4-6) and it was done perfectly. :)

If you're looking for an easy and yummy chili, this is a good one, friends!

San Francisco Trip- Wine Country! :)

2011-10-09T23:23:00.000-05:00

We arrived in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon, toured Alcatraz Monday night, and headed to wine country on Tuesday. :)

We knew we wanted to take a little day trip up to wine country, but uh.. that's about all we knew. For two planner-type people, we really hadn't made any sort of plan at all for wine country.. It ended up working out pretty darn well b/c we had a great, non-scheduled, non-pressured time... :)

Made our first stop at Rodney Strong in Sonoma. The weather was beautiful and we were ready for some vino and vineyarding.

At our fabulous tasting (my first tasting ever!) at Rodney Strong, an employee in the tasting room asked us what our plans were for the rest of the day. Having no "plans" per se, he pulled out a map and highlighted some of his favorites. He even recommended restaurants along the way. I'd go back to Rodney Strong again and again thanks to that guy! (And I like their wine, so that helps). ;)

We decided to head north to Healdsburg and Geyserville.

First stop= Catelli's Italian Restaurant in Geyserville! We'd both been drooling thinking about their lasagna ever since our friend at Rodney Strong mentioned it.

We weren't disappointed. :) Adorable place with fantastic food! The restaurant originally opened its doors in 1936 and has generations of family recipes on the menu. Highly recommend if you're headed to that area.

On the way to lunch, I'd called another winery our friend had highly recommended in Healdsburg, Michel-Schlumberger. They typically offer a tour at 2pm, so we opted to head there right after lunch for the tour!

The architecture is very Mediterranean. I loved it!

Headed off for the tour with our guide (in pink) and her furry friend, Lollipop. :) Lollipop happily walked along with us on our entire tour... adorable. :) She was a rescue pup who had a hard start to life, but now lives her days surveying the vineyard and stealing apples from the orchard. :)

Our guide told us all about which grapes were used for which wines and encouraged us to pick some and try them. Don't have to tell us twice...

Couldn't ask for a better backdrop...

The tour headed inside for a look at where the wine is processed and stored..

....and ended with a tasting in their gorgeous courtyard...

Michel-Schlumberger was my favorite by far. I am so glad we went and made it in time for the tour. We both left with bottles of wine, unsure how the hell we were going to get them home.. but we didn't care. :) (Wineries can't ship to Oklahoma b/c we have super cool laws. *eye roll* Did you know we also can't get wine at the grocery stores here? Or on Sundays? Blerg. Anyway....)

Just down the road was a winery another friend recommended, Truett Hurst. Experts at wine tasting by now (haha), we grabbed some snacks and a tasting and headed out to the back porch to enjoy wine, weather and snacks. :) Everywhere is so fantastically casual; they just let you go wherever you want with your tastings. When guests are done with one, they just go back to the tasting room for another... :)

This is his wine tasting face.. or something... I dunno.

The gardens behind me were gorgeous buuuut, like all of wine country, were infested with bees! Yikes! This girl is uber allergic to those pollinating creatures, so no gardens for me...

Really wanted a photo with one of these signs. Many thanks to Eric for darting across traffic to oblige...

So glad we made the trip up to wine country. Definitely want to go back and stay up there for a few days next time. :)

Crazy to see the fog rolling in the closer we got to San Fran!

That morning, we'd checked out of our hotel in Union Square because we finished up our trip in Sausalito! We checked in to the beautiful Casa Madrona in Sausalito and were greeted with an amazing view of the bay from our room (below). Eric gets all the credit for finding this fabulous place. Perfect way to finish a very hustle and bustle trip. :)

More from our last couple days next time.... :)

TGIF

2011-10-07T15:30:00.001-05:00

It's Friday and I'm ready....

Happy weekend, friends! :)

Weekend Recap and More!

2011-10-05T22:26:00.000-05:00

(Yes, I realize it's almost the next weekend... haha.. Whatever).

Last Thursday, I went to my first gender reveal party for my good friend, Kristy! It was kiiinda adorable... pink and blue decor everywhere, people all abuzz with their guesses... :) They cut the cake annnnnd it's a BOY! So excited for her and her hubby!

Saturday, it was tailgate time! And the weather was good enough to take Gracie dog! She loved being a part of the action!

Some of tailgate alley! Our tailgate is the white tent on the far right side of the photo. :)

We finished up the night with Luchapalooza! What is that, you ask? Well, it's luchador wrestling in the middle of the street! Luchador wrestling=Mexican wrestling. The back story: A fabulous little downtown restaurant, Elote, started doing luchador wrestling once a month and it's gained so much popularity, they do a whole street festival of sorts a couple times a year!

It's all in good fun. They wear masks and it's kinda like the WWF from the early 80s...haha.. By that, I just mean it's wildly entertaining, fun, and no one walks away seriously injured (to my knowledge). If a wrestler reveals his/her face, they're not allowed to wrestle again-Crazy! So, their identities are kept total secret...

If you live in Tulsa and haven't ever gone to see the luchador wrestling, you're missing out.

These are GIRLS! Bananas!

Proceeds from this Luchapalooza went to benefit the United Way. I've blogged about our United Way before, but it's definitely an organization near and dear to my heart. They do so much good in our community...

And from luchapalooza to craft night... haha.. Seems like an awkward transition.. Friends and I got together last night for girls night and we made pumpkins!

My pretty pumpkin!

For mine, I got a fake pumpkin at Michael's. I spray painted it white. It took like three-ish light coats. I had to learn that the hard way. I sprayed too much on the first coat and thankfully Ashley stopped me b/c if you spray too much, it'll drip a little. Blerg. So, almost like three coats of spritzing/misting the pumpkin, not fully saturating it.. haha... Oh, but don't forget to put foil or something around the stem to keep it from getting painted. Then, I added some glittered adhesive stickers to spell "BOO."I found those on the aisle with some other letters, not anything Halloweeny. (Yup... just said Halloweeny). :) Those required some hot glue to stick. I got the fun black accents on the scrapbook aisle. The set had four little two inch adhesive segments of black beady goodness, so I just cut them how I wanted and adhered them to the pumpkin! Basically, I stayed clear of the Halloween aisle and found better prices and better selection for the letters and black accents.

A spider sticker and a fun orange and black ribbon that was on major sale annnnnd done! No stenciling, no mess! I was pleased with how it turned out!

Ashley made the cutest mummy pumpkin, so I had to snap a quick photo! I'll let her tell you how she did it, but isn't it adorable?!

Sarah got us all creepy glasses...so it was a total craft night photo op.

One of the other awesome things on girls night was getting to skype with Kat and her new BABY! She just had Nora Kate in the wee hours of the morning and it was so awesome to see mamma and baby that same day! The interwebs and technology can be frustrating...but they can also provide such wonderful opportunities to connect from states away!

So yeah, that was really last Thurs, the weekend, and Tuesday girls night. I need to get better at blogging these things on time... haha...

I'm too lazy to upload my weekend photos

2011-10-03T23:16:00.001-05:00

... so you get a boatload of randomness instead for now.

Random topic 1: Product review

Let me tell you about a product I'm totally digging. This can also be called "reasons Sephora is better than Ulta" haha... So, I got sample of the Urban Decay All Nighter from one of my Sephora perks awhile ago. I rarely used it b/c I was like "Whatever. Makeup setting spray my @ss... total rip off." But, then I noticed my makeup stayed on longer with it... a LOT longer... and it didn't run in the heat or anything. Hmm... maybe this product isn't a big rip off after all. So, I started using my sample size...and then it was gone! Agh! (It actually lasted quite awhile for a sample size). I had to have more. I got in my car and drove to the nearest beauty store that carries it, Ulta. And guess what.. they were out. And the girl looked really confused when I asked her to check if they had more. So, I went back on Sunday. Still out. Fine, fine... Long story short, I ended up at Sephora on a special trip to purchase. The only Sephora we have is kinda farther from my house...and in the mall.. so you KNOW I was wanting this. And they were NOT out! YAY!

via

Now that I'm using it more regularly, I'll have to let you know! I don't think I've figured out the perfect amount to use each application. So, I'll work on that. But, I definitely dig it. And obviously others do too since Ulta is likely STILL out. (Sheez).

Random topic 2: crafty mccrafterson

Tomorrow, some girl friends and I are getting together for a girls night and I suggested fall CRAFTS! I have no idea what my deal is lately, but I have been a fall decor loving fool. I want it. Lots of it. I want to make stuff! We opted to prettify some pumpkins! I know you've all seen the ones on pinterest lately- So many options! I'll have to show you mine when I'm done! Wouldn't you be interested to see what kind of spike crafting has seen since pinterest gained popularity? I would.

Not making these tomorrow, but might give em a shot with some other pumpkins this weekend! How adorable, right?!

via pinterest

Oh and while I'm talking about stuff on pinterest, I also dig these candy creepy crawlers. Wrap the lollipops in cut up trash bags (over the wrapper.. duh) and then use some pipe cleaners! Easy as pie!

Random topic 3: I have a scarf obsession:

Another pinterest find (and totally unrelated to Halloween) = this FANTASTIC Anthropologie scarf! I have been wanting a light pink/dusty rose colored scarf FOR.EVER. I seem to want one every season and can't find one I like. :( And this one even has ruffles, too! I.want.it.

Random topic 4: Game of Thrones.

I've been reading the book for a little while now, but hadn't ever seen the show. I saw the show for the first time this weekend. And I'll probably watch the whole first season at some point, but....well.. I think I like the book better. *shrugs* Isn't that always the case. *le sigh*

So, yeah.. that was a totally and completely random post. Thanks for sticking with my Monday spazzy brain.

Hey by the way.. did you follow the Amanda Kn0x stuff at all? I was refreshing my screen over and over for about 10 min waiting for her verdict this afternoon. I am SO happy the conviction was overturned! I've spent ~~entirely too much~~ some time reviewing all the evidence available to us ~~stalkers~~ readers, and man... I just really believe she is innocent. If you disagree, that's okay, but I was pleased with today's result. If she writes a tell-all book about how she did it, I'll eat my words, but whatever. And on that note, I've seen a lot of people saying things like "Great. Now she'll get to make billions in her book and interviews." Um.. if she really is innocent, GOOD FOR HER. I mean, helllllo.. If I'd been in some prison in another country for FOUR YEARS for something I didn't do, you'd better believe I'd be writing a book. I mean... hell...I write about fall crafts and pinterest, so you KNOW I'd TOTALLY write a book if I were her.. haha.. I'm just saying.

Dear 16 year old self-

2011-09-30T10:30:00.000-05:00

I first saw this post on Meredith's blog and thought it was super cute! Then, I started seeing it more and more... and continued with my thoughts of how cute it was. In short, I'm a follower and jumping on the bandwagon.

So, the year is 1997. (Yeah, I know, hand me my cane and walker. Whatever, people). If I could have a talk with my 16 year old self, I'd say...

* Good for you! You passed your driving test on the first try! Now, how about you realize you can't see and get some glasses. You'll avoid ~~twelve~~ a few fender benders and save some cash.

* Learn from your experiences, but if a relationship/friendship/etc fails, don't let it guide your future actions. If you do, you're giving someone who wasn't right in your life an awfully lot of influence.

* Listen to your boss at the pool when she says "Lifeguarding is one of the best jobs you will ever have."

* Don't dye your own hair. Trust me.

* Skip the tanning beds. Your 30 year old self with thank you.

* Be nicer to your mom...a lot nicer. You're a teenager and you don't know everything. *gasp*And besides, she's pretty cool.

* Make a decent contact at each one of those random jobs you've had in high school/college. When you're 24, you're going to have to remember them all to list on your bar application, along with references that can prove you worked there. If you're thinking that's a pain in the @ss, you're growing up before my eyes. ;)

* There will come a day when having your own land phone line won't be nearly as cool as it is now. (We won't even start on the answering machines).

* Life is very much about timing. Keep your eyes open for opportunities that are timed oh-so-right. (And take note of ones that are oh-so-wrong).

* You already like planning. A lot. Don't be afraid to take some risks!

* Try harder at math.

* Start taking calcium and vitamin D now. Or at least TRY to like milk. When you fall down the stairs when you're 27, your body will thank you.

* You're a pretty cool chick. Hold your head high.

* Always speak up, even if you're afraid you might be wrong. Just have an open mind if you are.

* You're going to become a lawyer! And then, you'll decide not to practice. *shrugs*

* Things you learn while traveling will exceed anything you've ever read in a book. Go. Experience. See. Explore. :)

* And while I'm on that... Ask questions and take in everything you can from those family trips to historical/landmark places instead of pretending to be too cool. You'll be thankful your family took those trips when you're older.

* Your mom knows when you're pulling a fast one, even if you think you're a mastermind genius and she had no idea.

* Black doesn't look bad on you. The girl who told you that is a mean hussy.

* When invited to snowball fights, red rover, etc, in the middle of the night in college, GO! Always go!

* College will give you some of the best memories and best friends of your life. Don't waste your time with boys that have the potential to ruin or spoil any of those memories.

* You'll make some great friends in law school, too. But, you'll also learn a lot about the person you are and the person you're not. Embrace those lessons instead of fighting them.

* Just like you didn't get the convertible when you turned 16 (like you totally imagined in your head as a child), you might not be where you currently anticipate you'll be when you're 25, 26, 27.... That's okay! You'll have a lot going for you, so don't be so hard on yourself over such silliness!

* Not all fish tastes bad. Quit being stubborn and order some salmon.

What about you? What would you say to your 16 year old self?

Happy Friday, friends! Cheers to the weekend! :)
(I am so proud of myself for working on posts a couple nights this week and being able to set them up in advance! Makes it so easy! Woohoo!)

Overly Social Networked?

2011-09-29T16:47:00.002-05:00

Was just talking to a friend about how many social networks we're on... Got me wondering.. What about you guys? How many are you on and how many is "too many?"

I'm on:

* Facebook

* Twitter

* LinkedIn

* Google+ (haven't quite figured it out yet)

* Pinterest

* Polyvore (even though I never use it)

* Blogger (duh). ;)

Whoa. I mean I work in communications/PR, so it'd be weird if I hated social media. But when I list them all out, I think "yowza!" haha... *shrugs*

I find that if I'm blogging a lot, I'm not tweeting as much and vice versa. So I guess I kinda binge and purge on different networks, depending on my mood and how busy I am. I'm the most active on fbook, twitter, and blogger. Pinterest is close behind, though.

On a social network note, I got myself in the beta group for the new fbook timeline that's launching soon. I'm still TBD on my feelings. This is what my profile now looks like. You can scroll through my whole timeline on the right side of the big photo. Weird. Jackie=not great with change. haha.. ;)

What I learned on my summer vacation ;)

2011-09-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

1. Eric explores a lot (and I like to capture it on film...er.. digital memory card).

Seriously... our group turned around and saw Eric's back headed into this steep mountainside... haha..

....and he made it down there!

Further supporting evidence:

You already saw this one...

I really did find it extremely entertaining to turn my head just in time to see his interest perked and heading off to explore something... :) I've noticed him doing this before on vacations, but found it really hilarious this time for some reason... :) I probably do it, too, but I held the camera most of the time so I got to take the sneaky snapshots. ;)

2. Cross body bags are awesome.

This was just a cheap one I got at Forever 21 last year, but I figured that made it even better for travel b/c it could get damaged and I wouldn't care that much.

Exhibit A: They give you something to do with your hands in photos alone....

Exhibit B: And they free up your hands to do other things... like pick fresh grapes in Healdsburg! (post coming up soon). :)

I've been back a month and I can't stop carrying this cheap little bag. It's just so nice to have my hands free! I want a nicer, more structured one, but I can't find any I like that aren't WAY expensive...

San Francisco- Alcatraz!

2011-09-27T08:30:00.000-05:00

Where did we leave off? Oh right... Eric and I were on the ferry to Alcatraz for our night tour of the infamous prison!

I heart wind. My hair does too. haha....

Sean Connery, I'm coming for you.

The sun was starting to hang lower in the sky as we arrived at Alcatraz island..... *building suspense.. er.. or attempting to..*

The first stop for prisoners (and our tour)= the showers. Yikes!

I thought it was amazing that the audio tour was in so many different languages! Eric and I were in the extreme minority in our group being from the states. So cool! The guide asked "So where is everyone from?" As Eric and I both opened our mouths, lots of people started in with "Switzerland! Canada! New Zealand!" We just looked at each other and silently mouthed "Oklahoma.." haha..

Akon's song, Locked Up, is going through my head right now. Totally serious.

The audio tour started when you pressed play on your little tour box. But, you could stop it any time. Somehow, Eric and I got off on our tours by about 15 seconds. I'd be staring at something intently and listening to the history and he'd be in the next room looking at me like the slow kid.

Oh and check out my new jacket (above)! It's the one I got earlier in the day at REI! Eric actually REALLY wanted one (the guy's version-obviously), but it wasn't in his size. He showed me mine (otherwise I would have missed it) and I fell in love with it... er... as much as one can love a jacket. I got mine partly as a gift from my fantastic boyfriend who doesn't like to see me cold...or maybe just doesn't like to give up his jacket.. but whatever. It was really sweet. :) His mom ended up finding his jacket online for his bday! So Eric has his jacket now, too! Yeah, that's right folks, we kiiinda match. Totally not intended, but whatever. Prepare for the matching jacket photo that will happen at some point on this blog. There's your warning..haha.. ;)

About 20 min into the tour, we stopped our audio to head outside for some sunset photos. :) Eric got some fantastic ones of the skyline, bridge, etc...

The wind and I had a love hate relationship the whole trip, but especially on Alcatraz. (Friends, please note my jacket was zipped up and my scarf was wrapped tightly around my neck. It was chilly! If you're headed there, be prepared! I was plenty warm in what I wore, but I saw others who were totally NOT prepared and felt badly for them).

In the operating room... nervous!

Much creepier after the sun goes down...

Hey, wanna go take a walk on this-super-inviting-and-not-creepy-at-all path?

When you take the night tour, you have the option of taking the first ferry back (8:40 pm) or the last ferry (9:30). As we saw people scurrying to the 8:40 ferry, we threw caution to the wind and opted to stay til the last ferry. You have free reign of the whole area so you can wander on your own after the tour, which we did. I had about 20 minutes where I seriously thought we'd missed the memo and the 8:40 ferry was indeed the last ferry and we'd therefore be stuck on Alcatraz all night long. There was not a SOUL in sight. Ignoring this fact, Eric wanted to go exploring. I, on the other hand, was channeling my inner Sean Connery badass and trying not to wet my pants.

"Let's go down here and explore!" -Eric. "Seriously?! Tell my mother and my dog that I loved them." -Jackie

After exploring the super creepy corridor with not another soul in sight, we took a photo...ya know.. just in case we didn't make it out alive... and hiked back up to the main prison area.

This is my "I'm about to become an Unsolved Mystery" face

Once we got back up, we realized there actually were a ton of people around. Phew. There was another ferry coming and the company wasn't going to leave us there all night after all!

Alcatraz=my favorite part of our trip! :) Seriously, friends, take the night tour! I was being overdramatic in this post, but it was seriously really outstanding. And take the earlier of the two night tours if you can so you get the chance to wander around and take the last ferry back like we did! :) The night tour was recommended by a good friend and she didn't lead us astray! It's a little cooler, but I was comfortable in my zipped (and very well lined) jacket and scarf. I probably could have done well with some light gloves when wandering outside, but that's just me being a wuss and not a necessity.

Got done and ended up hiking quite a bit to find a cab b/c there was a baseball game the same night and no cabs were anywhere near the pier that late. Eh well, whatever. :) We found the subway and drug our cold, tired selves to our hotel feeling really satisfied with the fun-filled evening. :)

Next up, Sonoma/Healdsburg! :) Thanks so much for sticking with me, friends!

Fabulous Fall Blog Challenge: Day 6!

2011-09-26T10:30:00.000-05:00

I'm obviously starting Neely and Amber's challenge a leetle late (day 6), but who says you have to go in order or hit each day's topics? :) Workdays sometimes get away from me, so I'm going to try to preschedule a post or two... :)

Today's Topic: Fall TV shows!! What is new, returning, you wish would get canceled :)

What's new:

1. Person of Interest. Okay, so if you've been reading awhile, you know I was a Lost fanatic. Soooo when there's a show with one of my favorite Lost actors, Michael Emerson, I'm going to give it a shot. Person of Interest started last week and I was NOT disappointed. First things first, ~~Ben~~ Michael Emerson plays a great character that's just the right amount of shady for us Lost fans to latch on and believe in. I dig that. Second, when did Jim Caviezel become so nice to look at? Dig that, too. And the plot? Has lots of promise. I really loved the first episode and am looking forward to this week's show. If you like conspiracy theory/action type stuff, you will dig this show.

2. Up All Night. I actually watched this only after I'd read lots of positive hype on twitter, entertainment blogs, etc. I can't say I disagree with the critics! This show is funny stuff, friends! Great cast, too!

3. Once Upon a Time. This show is actually from a couple of the writers of Lost. (I was really obsessed. It is what it is). It starts in October and I'm excited. Admittedly, I'm not so sure on the plot. Parallel worlds-one with fantasy prince charmings and jazz and the other with normal folks-sounds odd. But, I also thought the plot to Lost sounded kinda dumb and it turned out to be my fav show ever. Sooooo there's that.

4. New Girl. Watched it last week. Gonna give it another shot. It was so-so. Cute enough, but could easily see it moving to the bottom of my "must watch" shows on the dvr...

5. Charlie's Angels. Cared enough to record it. But haven't cared enough to watch it yet. I adore Minka, so I'll watch the pilot at some point soon. Have you watched it. Thoughts?

Returning!

1. GOSSIP GIRL! TONIGHT! Two words: Hell.yes. I cannot wait to see what mischief Blair and Serena get into this year. Inevitably, I'll become annoyed with Serena mid season per usual when she picks some boy over school/work/anything else. And I'll also sit on the edge of my seat when Chuck and Blair have many moments where they ALMOST reconnect.. I can't wait! And we have fun little watch parties so that's another bonus! :) GG must be watched with snacks, wine, and girlfriends!

2. Nikita. Back in the day, I was obsessed with Alias. I like spy shows with female protagonists. :) Eric was late to pick me up some Friday night last year and I ended up watching a little bit of Nikita's pilot while I waited. The dvr has been set ever since. I hope this second season is as good as the first one was!

3. Community. I love me some Joel. I've had lots of people say Joel= my boyfriend, Eric, especially on The Soup. ha! I could see that. Community is awesome. Watch it and love it, friends. :)

4. Private Practice. This show has easily surpassed Grey's in my book. The characters are better, the plot is better. Just better better better. Please ignore that I found an old photo of the cast. Just realized it. Oops.

5. Desperate Housewives. If this wasn't its last season, I'd put it in the cancel category. I've loved the show, but it's run its course. Definitely excited to see how they wrap it all up though! :)

As for what would get canceled, I dunno... I wax and wane about some shows. Some shows just have a bad season. That said, I am not impressed with Grey's at all anymore. They need to change something to reel people back in... or just wrap it up. *shrugs*

So yeah, that's what's happening on my DVR this season! :) What about you, friends?

Weekend Recap!

2011-09-25T21:54:00.002-05:00

Hi friends! How was your last weekend in September? (Whoa, right?!)

Friday, I went from this...

...to THIS! :)

And I love it! I have been dying to do a longish bob like Jen's (below). (Don't you like how I act like we're friends by the way-"Oh, ya know.. my buddy, Jen..." haha).

Mine's prolly a little shorter than hers, but that's cool. I like it a lot!

Friday night, had a brief going away happy hour for my boss. It was fun, but also bittersweet to say goodbye to his days as coworker. :( Since I had a couple happy hour beverages in me, it seemed to make no sense to head home! A girl friend, Ashley, and I headed to have dinner and girl talk at a local restaurant on the patio. The weather here has been too fabulous to waste. All patios, all the time. ;)

Saturday night, headed out to Eric's fam's for some fabulous bbq and to watch the TU game. Alas, TU was once again not victorious. *le sigh* We're coming back this weekend, friends. You just wait.

And today, I made some yumminess I'd discovered on Chelsea's blog- cheesecake stuffed strawberries!

My actual photo! (I'm so proud.. haha)

They were SO yummy and really easy! And they were a hit at a bbq tonight! I made some extra for Gossip Girl premiere night tomorrow night (we always have GG watch parties at our casa. So glad it's back!) I have a ton of supplies left, so I'll probably make some for the tailgate next weekend, too!

To make:

Ingredients:
-1 lb strawberries (I actually used two containers or 2lbs b/c strawberries are going out of season, so I wanted to pick out the best ones from each container. I had PLENTY of cheesecake filling for all the berries in both containers).
-8 oz. (one brick) cream cheese, softened
-3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-graham cracker crumbs

Directions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife, if necessary (some may already be hollow inside). Prep all strawberries and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.

Like Chelsea, I thought it would take awhile to cut the center from the berries, but it really didn't at all. Thanks again for posting, Chelsea! :)

Took the berry goodness to a bbq hosted by one of my friends and coworkers, April! Our little team got together to bid farewell to our boss and hang out off the clock.

Friends, check.out.that.cookie.cake April made. Holy yummy. (here's where she got the recipe if you're interested! It was SO good!)

With Jesse (far right). Our little team won't be the same without him... :(

Andrea, me, April

Soooo that was the weekend! :) (I need to get back on board with the San Fran blogging. I know I know.) Happy Monday, everyone!

Weekend Recap!

2011-09-21T22:05:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was our first home football game! Some of you maaaay have heard about the weather at this game. It was CRAZY! Thanks to some storms, game kicked off at.... 12:17 a.m!

But before that happened, the sun was shining there wasn't a cloud in the sky. In other words, perfect tailgating weather!

I serve as the current chair for the young alumni and helped work a tailgate for the alum assn for part of the afternoon/evening and then headed over to Eric's fam's regular tailgate! :)

We gave out some really cute t-shirts to alumni and advertised some upcoming events. I think it was really successful, but I might be biased. :)

I was so excited to wear this dress so thank GOODNESS weather behaved...at least most of the day, that is. ;) I've kinda wanted a little dress forevah and Eric's mom actually made this one for me! Isn't that sweet?! She'd never even made one before! I'll tell you right now that anything I attempt with a needle and thread would NOT come out looking like this, especially sans pattern on the first try. Is it weird if I wear it to the next home game in a few weeks again? (Say no). :)

Another thing his mom does that's super cute is wrap candy bars with TU wrappers...

...and the ingredients are the players names! ha! Love it!

Okay, we were kicking back and enjoying some tailgate fun when we got word that a MAJOR storm and possible tornado was on its way. Awesome.

But...

Have no fear! Eric will put up the tent walls, everyone! (this photo amuses me).

We cleaned up what we could from the tailgate quickly and headed to wait out the storm nearby.

As the time ticked by, yawns started. I mean, the game was already scheduled for 9 pm, soooo at 10:30, we were kinda needing some caffeine. (I'm old). But, rain stopped so we opted to give it another go.

The temp dropped so layers got added...haha... :)

Once the lightening had officially moved out of the area, they decided to play! Kickoff was at 12:15 am and we were happily in our seats!

Crowd not so bad for a midnight kickoff, me thinks...

And then it started raining again... (You're feeling like this is never-ending, right? Yeah, so were we. haha!)

Long post short, we headed home at halftime (2am) and watched the rest on TV. The whole experience was hilarious and made for great memories! :)

Sunday, I convinced Eric to see Lion King in 3d (and also to take this photo. He looks thrilled.. haha). We were surrounded by kiddos clasping Simba toys...haha!

A really great weekend all the way around, even with the crazy storm delayed game! :)

Baby, it's (about to be) cold outside!

2011-09-20T13:05:00.001-05:00

I love fall! Crisp mornings, cool afternoons, leaves changing, pumpkin spiced lattes ;)... But, here in Oklahoma, we usually get a leeeeetle bit of fall and then just as you think "Ah.. I could get used to this..," WHAM it's winter. Admittedly, I do not like winter cold very much at all. But I DO like winter clothes, especially coats.

Last year, I vowed to get a new one in the spring sales. And I didn't.

LOVE! (but WAY out of my price range. Burberry. Blerg.)

I want one that's brighter or more fun... or has something "different" about it. (But was still likely wool). Something that will look good with a fun scarf! (B/c my scarf obsession is a little ridiculous. I want to wear them at all times Sept-March...haha).

But I also want it to be decently structured so I don't look like an oompa loompa... And longer. I don't like wool coats to be too short b/c I'm 5'7. :)

Cute neckline, not loving the massive buttons though

Oh and most importantly, I want it to be WARM and not break the bank.

(Not like I'm super picky or anything).

What about you? Have a favorite coat? Or looking for one this year, too? :)

Kate is a total coat inspiration. (Coatspiration? Eh? Maybe not). Hers are always so fantastic, right? I mean.. hello.. structured, cute buckles/buttons, and a fun girly ruffle at the bottom!

(All coat images via pinterest)

San Fran-Days 1 and 2!

2011-09-18T21:10:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all your sweet comments on my first vlog post! You guys are awesome and I appreciate ya'll so much. It was really fun and next time, I'll feel like an old pro... (or I'll still do the awkward hand fidgety thing, but whatever). :)

Okay, friends, it's San Fran time! I have to start this by saying I am really proud of myself for not uploading the ridiculous amount of pics I wanted to... Sooo.. here goes!

We landed mid afternoon, took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit...or the metro.. whatever. I'm so in with the San Fran lingo, okay) to our hotel and decided to explore! We stayed in an adorable boutique hotel Eric found, Hotel Abri. Since we were staying in Union Square for a couple days, we opted to take advantage and go on foot to shop, explore, etc...

I think we were both a little taken aback by the cold. I know I know.. It is colder. We knew that. BUT, we were coming from Tulsa that was a good 110 degrees, so when someone says "65-70 degrees," all you think is "yes, please." :) I kinda thought it'd be jacket weather at night. But, it was more like jacket weather in the day and heavier jacket at night... ha! Totally fine though! It was a great break in our temps here.

The pic below was taken moments before my maxi skirt got stuck in the escalator at the Mens Saks store. Good grief. Only me...haha.. Thank GAWD the thing stopped when my skirt got stuck b/c otherwise the story would have been a lot more embarassing. And thank GAWD Eric is awesome and was able to detach my skirt (without ripping it) before anyone knew what happened. We bolted from that store and never looked back. ha! :)

Back to the hotel to get ready for dinner! A few options we'd originally considered were closed on Sundays so, we researched and found a great place called L'Osteria in Little Italy! Eric's kiiiiinda addicted to Chow Hound's online discussion boards and they've definitely never let us down, so after some trusty iphone research, we were off to this little place! Adorable mom and pop place that only takes cash and has about 7-9 tables in entirety. We waited outside with some others who kept saying the food was worth the wait....and it was. Fantastic!

With full stomachs and sore feet from a long day of exploring, we headed back to the hotel. :)

Awoke day two to do a little more exploring around Union Square before we headed to our evening Alcatraz Tour!

I love the self timer

One of our errands included a trip to REI to find a warmer jacket for yours truly. I wanted one anyway, so I wasn't just getting it for this trip, but it was certainly an added benefit to wear it in San Fran. It's super cute and featured in photos later!

Okay, so we read that Fisherman's Wharf is a "fifteen minute walk" from Union Square. The tour took off near Fisherman's Wharf, so we thought we'd head there to check it out and eat before the tour. Um... good thing we left early b/c I'm pretty sure the person who said it was 15 minutes was intoxicated. I'm glad we did it b/c it was fun to see everything, but these hills (below) are no joke!

I think it probably took us more like 45 minutes and quite a bit of hill climbing.. haha.. On the walk, Eric turned and said "Would it bother you if we take a cab back home later?" I sighed with a "I am so glad you just said that." haha..

Very bustling Union Square as we walked up Nob Hill :)

Arrived at the Wharf! Thanks to the random strangers who offered to take our picture! :)

We took the sign's advice and snapped a couple pics... ;)

Grabbed a bite at Bubba Gump's on the water and then walked down to where our tour left from pier 33. :)

Next post, Alcatraz!

My first vlog!

2011-09-15T08:10:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! First off, nope, I couldn't come up with a better subject line. Sorry. But, yeah, I joined the bandwagon and did a vlog! I've had this blog since 2007 (whoa) and have never done one! I actually joined up with a couple other bloggers, Mateya and Caroline, to do our first vlog together (Strength in numbers, people). I've linked them below!

So, this means you get to see my rambling self in video. Get excited...haha... I watched it and I can't believe how much I subconsciously figeted with my arm.. It's a tinge creepy, so just ignore my spasms and go with it. I was playing with a pen... good grief. I watched it and I feel like I look like a big nerd, but I'm posting anyway b/c I guarantee you I won't look any less nerdy with 25 takes... :) And my roomie is in bed and will think I'm crazy if she keeps hearing me talking to myself.

I also watched myself talking quite a bit b/c it was like 7 seconds behind so it kept throwing me off b/c I'd catch a glimpse of my mouth moving with the wrong words.. haha... goodness... awkward. Sheez.

I officially admire those peeps with video channels! This was fun, though! Now that I have some of the jitters out, maybe I can do more!

And here's the picture I talked about in my video from Eric's profile pic on fbook when we started dating... :) I totally typed what he must have been thinking... (riiiiiight).

Here's a link to the recipe I mentioned-the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti. Good stuff, people. :)

And to view my other partners in blogging today, please check out Mateya at The Best is Yet to Come and Caroline at Simply Smithwick! Have you ever vlogged? If not, join us! :) Or even if you have before! Kinda fun way to get to know each other. :) Happy Thursday, friends! Almost the weekend!

Weekend Recap!

2011-09-11T20:44:00.000-05:00

Hi friends! How was your weekend?!

Mine was good... I am LOVING this fallish weather! I have yet to make it to Starbucks for the infamous first sign of fall...the Pumpkin Spice Latte... but I will. SOON. :) I'm hoping they brought their cider back, too.. *mouth watering*

So, this weekend was Eric's 10 year reunion from high school! (Even though my mother had a blonde moment today and asked "From college?" and I had to remind her we're not THAT old yet. Sheez.) :) But, before I get to that, Eric and I somehow managed to attend something every evening last week. No idea how that happened, but not complaining b/c it was a fun week! One of the things we did was luck into some tickets to see Michael Franti and Spearhead opening for Santana! :) Remember when we went to go see Franti at Red Rocks last year? We both really dig his chili and had no idea he was opening for Santana until the week of the concert. Anyway, someone had some extra tix and we got lucky! :)

Wearing my Franti shirt I got last year with the lyrics to "Say Hey" on it

At the end, Franti invited all the kiddos and people over the age of 60 to come up and jam with him while he sang "Say Hey!" Cutest thing ever. His music just puts me in a good mood. :)

Friday kicked off Eric's reunion weekend and a few of us headed to dinner at Yokozuna for sushi before the cocktail reception at a nearby bar. If you're from Tulsa and have been to Yokozuna, you know they often give away stuff in their fortunes... shots of saki...appetizers...etc.. Eric got one last week that said "Rock, paper, scissors game for a free meal." Soooo of course he had to do it. Eric vs our server for the best two out of three... ha!

Saturday night was the main event, held at a downtown hotel. :) Admittedly, I was pretty excited b/c I got to rock the dress I found in San Fran at H&M! (We don't have an H&M so I'm looking forward to online ordering opening soon)!

We had a really good time and I got to meet quite a few of Eric's old friends. He has a great guy group that all still hangs out regularly today so it was nice to already know quite a few people and their wives. :)

As a random aside, you might have noticed I got tanner from the first concert pic to the final reunion pic. You might not have noticed at all.. If not, just go with it... haha... Point is, a friend came over and sprayed me b/c she has her own airbrush tanning system as a little side business. And people, I am slightly obsessed with getting one. I.want.one. They're surprsingly not that pricey (depending on type)...and when you like to have a healthy glow sometimes AND want to do it safely, it's quite cost effective. So yeah, totally want a completely unecessary tanning system. Whatever. It is what it is. (It even comes with a pop up tent, people!) No, I'm not actually getting one. But, I told Eric he'd be the one to spray me. Imagine his excitement. (Sarcasm noted). ha!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend, friends! Monday is once again upon us way too fast!

We will never forget.

2011-09-11T19:30:00.000-05:00

Anything I could say will pale in comparison to what I feel...

I was in college. En route to class. Knew the first tower had been struck, but information was unclear at that point. By the time I'd walked to class across campus, the second tower had just been hit. A girl ran out crying b/c she knew someone who worked in the towers. The magnitude of the situation flooded the room as our professor dismissed us from class. We all shared a dazed expression and headed back to our respective dorms, apartments, sorority houses...I spent the rest of the day huddled in the Chi O house with friends watching the television, unable to grasp why someone could ever do something so horrible.

God Bless the families and friends of those who lost their lives 10 years ago and those who fight to protect our country each and every day.

We will never forget.

I will never forget.