Thank You. Yeah You!

from fashioncollective.com

Between watching Monday's The Big C episode last night and then reading SillyGrrl's blog from today, I felt the need to be thankful as well. Because, really, when is thankfulness not in style?

• Thank you to my parents. Thank you Dad for teaching me the finesse of being a smartass, having the patience to know I do things in my own time and do hear you, for teaching me to keep my head down-mouth shut-do your job-everyone else will dig their own hole, for exposing me to such a world of culture that I am blessed to have seen. Thank you Mom for teaching me art, taking me anywhere and everywhere and teaching that nothing is too far away, for the Abraham Lincoln bust that is inspirationally creepy, for the skill of arranging flowers that has come in handy so many times that you'd never know, for thinking that one day I will eventually develop my green thumb despite often killing my plants, for sharing your recipes and helping me with my ever-growing cooking skills ~ one day I will cook a Thanksgiving dinner, thank you for being such a strong example of a woman that I can think of nobody else I would rather want to strive to be like.

• Thank you Boo for coming into my life. We both needed love.

• Thank you to my 9 to 5 as well, you've stuck with me and had the patience to wait for me to come into my own and flourish, you offer me a wealth of knowledge in an alternative way, bring a smile to my face at least once a day and you make me finally hungry for something more to achieve.

• Thank you to my ladies. I am always amazed by your beauty, knowledge and inspiration. You support like no other and I'm so thankful to still have you in my life. To more years to come!

• Thank you to my awesome family. Though we don't see other often, I treasure each moment and conversation together.

• Thank you to my favorite bloggers for being examples of what great people in the world look like.

Future Thank Yous . . .

• Thank you to My List for growing and becoming even more awesome!
• Thank you to My Fit, I know you will be an amazing man with a great outlook, sense of humor and a lot of patience. Thank you for your love. Always.
• Thank you to my client who eventually will pay me and I will greatly appreciate it.
• Thank you for every book I will read, for shining your light.
• Thank you November and December for being a great end to a great year. I look forward to your goodness.
• Thank you to whatever further recipes I try for working out and being yummy.
• And thank you to all of my lovely ladies and jellyspoons!

Love. Period.



I've been debating on this post for a week or so now. I suppose the best way to begin would be simply to illustrate my life and how I choose to live it. I'm white, I'm female, I'm plus size, I'm an abuse survivor and I'm sure there are lots of things that people could, and do, choose to judge me on. I've been bullied and discriminated against. I live by a policy of honesty. While I care about the words I use, I do not sugar coat what I am to say to someone for fear that it may not be what they would want to hear as I think they deserve the respect of my honesty. I've often found people who find this disconcerting because most aren't that way. My goal each day is to be a better person than I was the day before. And while there are things in this life that I want to do and accomplish, I know what my one purpose in life is . . . to love. That will be a life worth living.

But for every light there is a shadow. A dark place in which love is corrupted by ignorance and hatred. In the last couple weeks this has become extremely evident to me, and yet I find solace in the goodness that I see in people and what has stemmed through recent events as well as years of fighting for a cause . . .

Recently, through various blogs I read, I came across an article written by someone for Marie Claire. The basic jist was a summation of her lack of understanding and intolerance for someone who was outside of her definition of what was the norm for body image. This, coupled with the fact that more recent acceptance of plus size, full figured, husky, whatever-you-want-to-call it has been a call to arms for some of America, sickened her. My issues is not with her acceptance or unacceptance of those who are of the larger variety, God knows I am, but more with her gross neglegence for her spewing of hatred and her sheer ignorance for this issue. Unlike many of my fellow women, I choose not to tear her down and call her this name or that name, but I am saddened that in such a public forum she chose to not think before she acted and to be such a poor example of what a woman should be. It weighs heavy on my heart that rather than support and encourage each other in all our forms, we instead seek to rip each other apart and tear each other down for our differences. I extend this sadness also towards the women who were cruel in their retaliation towards her afterwards for I think such comments and hatred are just as terrible. Do I think she has a right to an opinion? She sure as heck does. Do I think she should be representing women everywhere on a national platform? Sure as heck not. I was particularly perturbed when she threw  in the "I have friends who are plus size women" card. This is not an international save face to make your point more righteous. That's like saying you have a token african american friend so your racist bigotry is acceptable. As her plus-one plus size friend, I would certainly not remain silent on such prejudice. She, of course, later issues an apology citing that that wasn't what she meant to say or how she meant to come off, despite her shock-jock position.

In further national news, today I came across the story of an Arkansas educator who used his facebook account to display a message of hatred towards an alternative community. A light has recently been shown on the fact that there is an alarming rate of bullying and hatred spreading like wildfire as well as, and worse, a suicide rate because of this. This extends further to the undercurrent of repugnance towards the gay, bisexual and trans-gender community. And because of this, the media has shown an increasing light on the number of suicides that have been the result of such bullying. In response to a call for rememberance, this educator chose to be an example of disgust and cruelty, responding with inapropriate name calling and a flood of dogma that, without thought, could spread like wildfire. An educator. A man to support and encourage and nurture and foster goodness. And instead, he fostered hate. There was such a national outcry that a facebook page was created calling for his resignation with support of 1,000 people an hour. He did in fact resign yesterday and spoke with Anderson Cooper saying this was not him and the entire situation was blown out of proportion. And while it's a vallient effort and step in the right direction I suppose, I found myself not caring. Not because of my disgust in humanity or my disbelief in the good of mankind, quite the opposite. Just as in the columnist, I don't care for your apology out of pressure. At the end of the day you are left with simply who you are. Your choice is to decide what you want that to look like.

Hatred is taught. You hear it long enough, you believe it. It surrounds you and consumes you. You know of no other way, see no other course of action, feel that your view is the only view because how could it possibly be wrong. I don't care for your apology, it makes no difference to me. What I care for is that you care enough to take note of your ignorance by choice and open your mind and heart to the vast population outside of your small world. To live one's life as though only you matter is a waste of spirit and soul.

I'd like to bring light to this amazing tolerance campaign spearheaded by Cyndi Lauper that brings encouragement to people facing political issues that are on the hotbed of controversy currently and illustrates that change needs to happen. Please Give A Damn and share the potential with others.

"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."

Fright Night: A Halloweenie Tale

Like every other awesome blogger, I feel that it only right to share about the awesomeness that was this year's Halloween . . . Every year I struggle a little with Halloween because I long for it to be awesome while not partaking in what is considered the typical Halloween fun-ness to be had. (Really though, is any Halloween typical?) I don't really like huge crowds and don't feel that looking ridiculously trashy is a goal to obtain (other than for my man), so there goes the party route. And honestly, I don't even find dressing up to all that fun. I'm not a creative costume come-upper, so it's never spectacular. I don't mind fun pins or beads or makeup, but beyond that, eh. I also don't feel terribly motivated to go all out with the decorationness. This goes the same for Christmas. Oh sure, lights are great and pumpkins are awesome (see mine above), but anything more than this is the effort that's just out of reach. Don't get me wrong, I love those who do all out. In fact, I'm thoroughly impressed and often marvel at where said effort was mustered from. Probably the kidlets. Anywho, so coming up with my awesomeness is sort of the task each year.

This year I started out with a lovely breakfast at Elmer's. Mmmm hot cocoa and breakfast foods, yummers! And I love dining out with those people who carry great conversations so you never feel that the quietness is empty and aren't terribly compelled to leave once finished. Just sitting in the moment and smile inside and out. And it's not just pictures! A hug is worth a thousand words too!

At the Farmer's Market

Afterwards I found myself with a perfect parking spot, wandering past Dark Horse comics (love their window display!) and into the last farmer's market of the season. There's so many sights and sounds and smells at the market to partake in. The hustle and bustle of it all is tremendous, yet you never feel rushed. Passing some of the fresh vegitable stalls I often find myself wishing I knew how to cook more just so I could bring some of it home. As it was I came home with a lovely bouquet of purple and pink dahilias, ooo la la!, and some face painting magic. I couldn't help myself. I love face painting, but don't like my whole face covered. And it's fun and whimsical. Earlier that week I was at an OMSI event (more later) and missed out on an opportunity for a great face paint so this was sort of redeeming. It may not have been all that I was hoping for, but really, can you complain? Heck no! And of course, dying to be different, I didn't go with the predictable pumpkin on the cheek. I dared to be different in the name of love . . . even on Halloween.

I wear my hearts on my face too . . .

Next I went home, did some cleaning and dvr watching. I admit, my simpleness is boring and lovely. And then the puppy dog and I went on a great big walk. A) She needed it. B) I was hoping the walk would tucker her out a little so she wouldn't spazz out at the trick or treaters. And take note of Boo's festive Halloween-themed scarf in honor of the day. It had little ghosts on it! Upon our return I realized it was getting dark and my lack of cooking motivation kicked in, so under the BS disguise of "needing to move the other car so the trick-or-treaters had room to walk up the driveway", I obsconded with the vehicle for a quick getaway for cheap food. I'm horrible. I admit it. And of course, got back just in time!

This year I was feeling semi-unoriginal in my pumpkin theme for carving. Three pumpkins will do that to you. That is, until I came across SillyGirl's pumpkin carving post and though hmmm, I could do that too. I admit it, I jacked the idea. But in my original spin, and love of Nightmare Before Christmas, I went a step further and attempted to create a Sally for Jack. Not thoroughly impressed with Sally, but I love Jack! And I tried my best at the scraped pumpking, but it's not as easy as one might think. I've never done the scraped pumpkin designs because I never felt the need. So I thought, what the heck. Never again! This is not fun. Whoever says it is, is lying. If it's the only pumpkin you're carving and have lots of tools and are super ambitious, maybe. Me = no bueno. But I did it anyway :)

Trick or treaters. I love trick or treaters. Particularly the teensy ones. They are so sweet and excited. Secretly, I give more candy to the younger ones because they are cute and I know they'll cover less square footage than the older more ambitious ones. And I always buy an extra bag that I hide in case I start running out and always buy candy I like. This is a plus and a minus, depending on how good it looks to me that night, hehe. But all in all, I'd say that answering the door and watching scary movies went off quite well.

Halloween? Satisfaction achieved.



Things I Love Thursday

Happy November everyone! I definitely have some catch up to do on my blog. But, after being inspired by Miss Darling, I thought I'd start out with my TiLT. Though crazy, things have been really good lately and I've been digging on some awesome things lately . . .

♥ My creative attempt at pumpkin carving this week. More on that coming! ♥ Slowly getting through my Halloween movie staples. Even if they are a little late. I was too lazy to dig them out until this week. ♥ Taking on new and exciting adventures at work. ♥ Finally getting my package from Land's End filled with all sorts of cold weather goodies in yummy splendid colors! ♥ Long walks with the puppy dog in the rain. My one exception to this is late at night. ♥ Chilly mornings coupled with beautiful sunrises and warm english breakfast tea.
♥ The leaves all turning shades of reds, oranges and yellows.
♥ The birthmark in my hair. ♥ Making my first ever apple pie and my mom ooooing that I had made my own crust. ♥ My new flannel sheets. ♥ My new candy apple green vest. ♥ Long sleeve shirts and new fun boyshort prints. ♥ Wearing big warm impractical socks around the house when my tootsies get cold. ♥ A day at the movie theater. ♥ Reading in bed while listening to the rain. ♥ Getting four loads of laundry finished. ♥ Finally tidying up my dresser and bathroom. ♥ The smell of the puppy dog after she's dried from bath day. ♥ Getting excited for the holiday season to come.
♥ Finally letting go . . . ♥








Wishing all of my ladies and jellyspoons a wonderful thursday!

Happy Face Of The Day!

My puppy dog last night. I love her smile. It's one of the greatest things ever witnessed by man. At least in my book anyway. I love that she has different faces and depending on which kind of face she's making or the angle, she looks like other kinds of dogs. I love that she has impeccable timing (said sarcastically) . . . I take her out at 7 when the weather is calm and she doesn't want to do much. Two and a half hours later when it's pouring down rain, going outside has now become a must-do thing. Such timing only a mother could love. I also realized today one of the main reasons dogs love having their tummies scratched . . . they can't reach there. I mean, sure, yes, it feels great. But notice they love it more than having the rest of their body petted or scratched. Think about it . . . Being a new-to-the-game dog owner definitely has it's tricks. She makes it definitely easier by being so well-behaved and by letting us know when she means business, but still, there are other things . . . tricks to sneaking them medications, how to get her to eat all of her food at once (by eating my breakfast sitting next to her) and when fleas arrive (let alone how to get rid of them!) . . . these things are all new to me. Definitely a learning curve.

But one thing I will say . . . this face makes it all worth it ♥

Pumpkin Patch: One Woman's Mission To Find THE PERFECT Pumpkin

It's October . . . that means pumpkin season. Every year my October is filled with the search to find my perfect pumpkins and a plot of what to do. Each year I find a orange pumpkin and a white pumpkin. I have a soft spot for albino pumpkins. They make me smile. And when I see a whole bushel of  them, I want to bring them all home. Like orphan children being overlooked that I must save. Christian pumpkins fund.

So, as part of a my great pumpkin plot I also have to factor in where I will go. For years I've been going to one place on the island and it's been wonderful. They had a patch and a maze, farm animals and pumpkins-a-plenty. That is until they closed down last year. Extreme sad face. And while I found my pumpkins last year, there are two dislikes that factor into my pumpkin plot: A) a dislike for highly commercialized places and B) a dislike for huge crowds of sticky fingered munchkins. So this year I thought I'd try some place new . . .

So I drive my tush down to Newberg and find plenty of white pumpkins. I also find that the place does not open until 1pm. No bueno. So what does a girl do for an hour? Why get halloween toes and an ice cream cone of course! Last week I painted my toes white with black dots for fun. But alas, I didn't do the best job. So in the effort of time wasting in a fun way, I went in and had them redone. Woooo! And afterwards, I stopped by one of my favorite cutes ice cream shops and got a scoop of chocolate peanut butter. Yum!

Polka dot toes for Halloween!

Once enough time was wasted I headed back out and found that after all of that waiting, no love . . . He had big white pumpkins but not smaller ones really and this just would not do. I tried the place down the street even, but immediately needed a bag to hyperventilate into! Screaming children, pony rides and bathroom lines. Ugh! I preface all of this by saying that if I had kids and a family, I would find the piggy train rides and hay bail slides much more deliriously fun, but I don't and I'm on a mission so get outta my way! Look out kiddies, momma's got a pumpkin and she knows how to use it. On top of all this, I couldn't even locate their pumpkin patch and I wasn't about to ask so this was a bust . . . other than using their bathroom that is. So on my way I went . . .

And of course, I should have known it, my initial idea was the best. I opted to go to a different pumpkin patch in a completely different direction and it was the best thing ever. There were people there, but no overly crowded. Fun things to do without being overly hoaky. And lots of fun pumpkins to choose from! Of course, I couldn't pick just one white one. But I think I did ok!

I couldn't help but love him :)

And finally, I introduce to you . . .

My three pumpkins

Happy carving this weekend!

Flannel, Fog and Fabulousness

Happy fall everyone! I've been a bit of a bad blogger lately, but I am hoping to rectify this. Things have been interesting lately. I meant to write this post monday, but then I got all nice and sick this week so that blew that bright idea. Poo. Anywho . . . I've been trying to do some things for fall that make me happy.

Whenever the weather turns nippy I start dreaming of flannel. I have a thing for new sheets. They make me feel giddy and I bask in their loveliness. I stretch and snuggle. You can't beat new sheets. So, of course, I bought new flannel sheets for fall. They make me happy. I ponder a little bit though about the flannel choice I made though . . . plaid. It's a subdued plaid of course, nothing freaky, but sometimes it makes me wonder if I'm becoming more and more like my mother . . . I thought about the hearts and polka dots, but despite my like of them, for some reason I felt like a bit like a little girl if I picked those and then I would be contributing to the non-ushering in of adulthood. Yes. This is how my brain works. Over sheets.

And as an honorable mention: My puppy dog graduated on thursday for her first set of training classes. While the hat was not my idea (I would never!), I will say she was the only one without a problem with it. Win!

The beautiful lake

In other weekend wonderfulness, the puppydog and I went out and went hiking at a new park. We spent a little time on the lake and then in a daring move, I let her run free off leash to test her learning skills. Despite some pee-my-pants moments I think she did pretty well! And we even got back in time for the dog wash.

♥ My Ballet Night Look ♥

Later that evening I endulged in one of my favorite pastimes: going to a show. Lately I've been on this show kick. I realized that I've been missing out on shows because I felt like I had to go with someone. And I feel bad asking my dad to every single show I think about because it is money. Though I would never tell him that. He has always been wonderful about going to concerts and shows. It's something I dearly heart about him. I have finally overcome this thought though and have lately been taking myself to shows. First I saw Carmina Burana/Pagliachi. It was an amazing double header show and I am so thankful I went and grateful that I was able to. This got me thinking though . . . there are others! So last weekend I went to the Ballet and saw Sleeping Beauty. And while some may roll in their grave about the thought that I was contrasting in my head to the disney movie, I confess, I did it. But in my defense, it was simply in observation of the idea that there was all of this other music to it that I never knew of. And was beautiful. And because my eye-spy brain is in the show mood, I was even bright enough to come up with a show surprise for my friend's birthday that my gal pals and I can go to! I'm so excited about it too. To girl up and do a fun event together. Mucho bueno!

The Theater

One of my fav things: The Live Orchestra!

Some other fall things I love: ♥Flannel Sheets 
♥Waking up to foggy mornings  ♥Sleeping in on weekends 
♥Listening to the rain outside while reading in bed 
♥Sweater Weather  ♥Fuzzy Socks  ♥Tea Time  ♥Opera Nights  ♥Broadway & Ballet Shows  ♥Feeling Girly 
♥Checking things off The List  ♥Finding The Perfect pumpkins  ♥Halloween Movies  ♥Puppydog Hugs

There's more pumpkin patch goodness to come in the next installment. Love to all my ladies and jellyspoons!

Signs The I'm Getting Old

At 25, I understand that a significant number of you will roll your eyes and say "quit your bitchin'". I get that. But after recent events and revelations, I thought that it's interesting feeling "older" at this time of my life. And I'm not talking about the achey breaky BS that I've contributed to in my body, but more the perspective changes . . .

I Drink Tea Almost Every Night During The Winter Everytime we get together for a family dinner at my Grandparent's house, the meal will end and my grandmother will do a last call for after-dinner coffee or tea. And they will almost always have one or the other. When I get home and I'm relaxing during the winter or painting, I drink warm tea with milk and a scoach of sugar. I am my grandmother . . .

I Judgy-Wudgy-Bear Teenage Girls  It's been long known that grandma's say things like "that skirt's too short!" or "what is she wearing? she should cover up" or "what the blast is going on with her hair?" I've caught myself saying these things along with such things as "I don't remember us being that roudy" and "Did we dress like that?" For the most part I always dressed different in high school, away from the norm. Older. And I don't mean slutty ho-bag older, but covered up professional older. I had no style, what can I say.

I Find Myself Trying To Defy Gravity  So there comes a point where you realize you now have to work in order to defy gravity's evil plot against your body. Before it was girdles and standing there with a martini in your hand while a rotating rubber band vibrated the fat out of your mid section. Now it's anything I can do! I refuse to drag the girls behind me before I'm at least 50 (hopefully older). And therefore, effort must be put forth. Damn.

When You Do Something Childish, You Feel Stupid  I pre-qualify the word "childish" with not something child-like (i.e. board games, blowing bubbles, etc). Before, you did something childish and your parent would lecture you and teach you a lesson or they'd tell you to grow up. Now someone else does something childish and they are tacky and petty. When you do it (i.e. childish retaliation, etc), you scold yourself. You feel good for two seconds, and then you feel stupid.

I Want To Nap. Often. I find this one particularly interesting. Yes, I know, part of it's my lifestyle. Get over it. But frankly I also feel as though nap time has come around in full swing again. Nap time used to be great fun. Now it's a necessity to make it till bed at 9pm lol.

 Back-To-School Time I'm in that cusp between fact of life thinking and still wanting to buy notebook paper and have a bouquet of sharpened pencils. It also weirds me out seeing school busses all over the place again and having to pay attention to school zones. I also see all of these great designer-esque things in the stores and I'm secretly jealous. "We didn't have that stuff growing up"!

Where Did The Year Go? I used to never understand when adults would wonder where the month or, worse, the year had gone. Never understood it. Now I do. I have no clue where August went and frankly, the idea that 2010 is only another 3.5 months long really is disconcerting. I see Halloween crap in the stores and though excited for the holiday, I also find myself wondering where the time went.

Out Of The Funk, Into The Frying Pan

Did you hear? Apparently the twilight books made a top ten list for challenged books in 2009. This made me giggle to myself. Apparently it is also frequently requested to be banned from US libraries due to sexual content, vampireness, violence, etc. Heart hug. Please note: I never condone the burning or banning of books, I think discretion should be handled by parents and the rest should fend for themselves with a brain. But just the sheer fact that any of this occured . . . giggle giggle.

Moving on . . . I consider yesterday an emotional recovery day. Tuesday I went into a really horrid emotion and hormone-induced funk. I despise when this happens. So yesterday was recovery day. It usually takes a day to really make an effort and get passed the funk. So I got off of work and headed out to the airport where I proceeded to sit in the warm sunshine, work on my vitamin D and took a brief nap. It was a beautiful day and I love watching the planes land and take off. Afterwards, I made myself go to the gym. This was a challenge, but I did it. And I'm so glad I did. When I worked out on monday I felt really good, but I was also really sore and I realized how much work I needed to commit to in order to at least get back to where I was (and certainly beyond that). I took the step though and challenged myself to push it and do extra laps. I did ten extra laps and made myself finish strong on the last two. It was a great feeling. I also had a lovely conversation with a gal learning how to swim and was privy to an experience that just made me smile. After I swim I go sit in the hot tub to stretch. Out of the steam room comes a gal and a guy. It couldn't hear them very well and it took me awhile to realize they were speaking in russian. And though I have no clue what they were saying, it was beautiful to just listen to them speaking. And he was so excited and enthusiastic and happy. I loved it. I almost wanted to say thank you. May sound odd, but I loved being a fly on the wall.

Note: This post was from a pit ago, but I liked this part of it so much that I just HAD to still post it, hehe.

Look! I Cook!

For those who know me, they know I don't generally cook. It's kind of like my green thumb. It's something I want to pursue and develope, but it's definitely a work in progress. Part of this comes from being lazy, part of it comes from thinking everything takes way longer to do than it actually does and the biggest part is simply that I'm a bit of a perfectionist. The first couple times I cooked, things came out no bueno. Then I slowly started trying my hand at easy and/or family recipes that I knew what they took or how they were supposed to be. That started coming out pretty well.

THINGS I FOR SURE CAN MAKE:

a) Chilli
b) Pasta
c) Mango Salsa

d) Strawberry & Angel Food Cake Dessert
e) Roasted Potatoes w/ Herbs ("You say 'erbs', we say 'herbs' . . . because there's a fuckin H in it.")

f) Pot Roast w/ Veggies

Well due to my recent (in the last year or two) endeavors to attempt cooking more, I was blessed with a cooking magazine subscription as well as a stand mixer (love!). As things progressed, I started getting more confident. I've made banana bread, chocolate chocolate chunk cookies, and so on and so forth. One thing I am really trying to learn is to relax. Cooking should be fun! I use to stress out so much that I never wanted to do it. Now that I'm more comfortable (and occasionally ingredient forgetful. Eeeek!) I've even taking to a bit of improvising here and there. I figured out my oven at home runs hotter than the others I worked at so my bread has to cook at a lower temp, I forget butter one time and determined that I want further chunk cookies sans butter (it's better!), etc. These things make me happy because that means I am free to make my own cooking style.

I've been lazily toying with the idea of cooking lately and I finally decided to randomly do so last night. So I opened the windows to relax and listen to the rainstorm outside and got to cookin'. On the menu: Baked mac & cheese and berry cobbler.  And here's how it came out:

Can we say "yum"! It was delish. I like it better with out egg. Still determining my perfect amount of cheese. But all in all it was a good success. It's definitely my comfort food. And this time I was smarter and made it in a smaller dish so I didn't feel like I was wasting so much (for the most part just me is eating lol).

And for dessert . . .

Bonjour! It's berry cobbler. And oh my geez, for my first ever cobbler I was quite impressed. Everything is home made. And surprisingly the dough didn't take long to make at all. And for the berries, I went sans lemon juice and instead opted for a couple spoonfulls of a light sweet strawberry wine. And the lattice pattern up top was a complete improvise. My only change next time would be to add more sugar. Since I was unsure of how it would taste in the end, I went light. But all in all, I'm quite content!

Besides wanting to perfect these recipes, I'd also like try my hand this year at banana bread again, some oatmeal raisen cookies, onion soup and whatever else sounds great. I might even try SillyGrrl's recipe for eclairs. I can't wait for more! I may not have mucho peeps at home, but I work with all men so there's plenty of hungry tummies around :)

I wish you all great cooking adventures. Love!

Epic Technology

The world is quite the place these days . . . I have an iphone. And while it limits some of the ability with web browsing (i.e. posting a photo on this post until tomorrow when I'm at a computer), I am in love with it. I'm also in love with toys that I can associate with it.

First it was the car charger/tuner that allows me to play ipod/iphone tunes on my car. This was awesome. I find this a wonderful thing. And moving along the amazing train . . . Here comes the Sony ipod speaker dock. I heart this thing. It's a stereo with really great sound, works for my ipod and iphone and best yet . . . it has a remote. Oh yeah baby. I'm lazy, therefore the remote is tres fabu! And now we come to the final destination on our journey . . . the ipad keyboard dock that just happens to work with my phone. Epic.

I've been having a hankering to blog more, but my comp at home is slow as molasses and my internet just went bust, so alas . . . the phone is the only connection. So, with the help of the trusty keyboard I can now use my phone like my computer. Woohoo! It's so terribly exciting for me. I'm giddy with excitement, hehe.

On that note, I'm heading to bed. Soak up my giddyness kiddies, it's a great world!

Falling In Love: Meet Boo

In life there are all sorts of things to fall in love with . . . a beautiful day, yourself, a song, an emotion, trying something new, a place and if you're really lucky, a person. I suppose that I should admit that with the departure of my ex, I was feeling a bit of a void of love. I was falling in love with life again, with feeling, with my emotions and with doing stuff I actually wanted to. But, the void was still somewhere back there. I've always been a firm believer that God gives you just what you could handle. Sometimes I wish he would stop trusting me with so many things though lol. He also knows just what you need. And thus, he said 'let there be dog'! Bam!

The Story of Boo: On 4th of July weekend I went up to my parents in Washington. We chillaxed with BBQ, did sparklers, watched the idiots across the street try to blow themselves up. I even bought glow necklaces on a whim for fun. It's all fun in games 'til your mom unexpectedly whacks you with one of those while she's twirling. Worse when it happens repeatedly. Thank heavens she invested in new spectacles! Anywho, the next day we wake up from our evening of shenanigans and opt for a drive. And God said, 'let her have a bright idea'! Pulling out of the town, we were suppose to turn right. For shits and giggles, I suddenly was curious about the town the other direction. So we went, we saw, we came back. And on our way balk, casually trotting along the side of the road was this sweet looking dog. Now a preface this entire thing by saying these are in leash law towns so you would notice if your pooch is missing. We pull over and then second I step out, she comes a' running! She charges head first into my legs and instantly is a ball of love. I walk over to the car to speak with my mom and the pooch hops right in! And instantly she is at home. Go figure. We drove around, looked for tags, looked for owners . . . nothing. And suddenly, I became the proud owner of a puppy dog.

Puppy-dog Beauty: For years I've wanted another dog. I himmed and hawwed, said no with the excuse that it was money and we were never home, blah blah blah. I also never wanted to train a dog. All of these families want puppies for their kids and there's puppy mills everywhere. I don't want a puppy. Cutes, but no bueno. I do not have the tolerance or patience. So I think I ended up being THE luckiest girl in the world. She's house trained, she sits and stays for a treat, walks ok on a leash and doesn't bark. She still needs formal training, but her cuddlebug-ness outweighs this small dark spot. She rides uber well in the car and will go anywhere with you. She survived the puppy wash pretty good, though she hates the blow dryer as much as she hates the vacuum. Thank heavens she's short haired. I've even gotten her to like her crate, though to be honest, I haven't had the heart to close it on her. We had some initial destruction when she was still super insecure, but that's gotten much better. I will say though that she's a counter surfer and looks at plastic as something to chow down on. This has been most recently the bane of my existance as she's eating undelightful things. Oh well I suppose. Honestly though, I could not have asked for a better dog. And she makes my dad melt into a big love bug which wasn't easy to do, hehe. My favorite things about her: The smile on her face when she plays, how when she walks her booty wiggles and how one of her all black ears has a white tip and strip on the underside. It's cutes.

And just in case you were wondering about the cuteness, here are some photos :)

The Day We Met When She Curled Up In The Backseat

Conked out puppy dog

First Day Out On The Trails

The Cuddle Bug

So this beautiful bundle of loveness is awesome and has been taking up mucho time. I recommend to all of you though, if you have room in your heart and home to consider adopting a rescue dog. They have a lot of love to give and there's sure to be a special one out there just for you!

Vid Picks

Happy Monday everyone! So I fail at the bloggage lately, but in my avid postage of vids on my facebook, I just now realized they are entirely applicable here too! Sooo . . . I thought I'd share. Below are vids on awesome things, noteworthy headlines, good movies to be and politics that just make you shake your head. Enjoy!

Headline: Mis-marked Graves at Arlington

    Headline: The Grossly Obstinate Partisans Shove Foot In Mouth And Refuse To Help Because Of Their Dirty Politics. If you really cared and were going to pass it otherwise, then you should pass it now dunskys.



    
Movie: The Adjustment Bureau
    Movie: Get Low. (Because I like Robert Duvall and the big BM)


   
 Movie: The Town
(Because it looks that good and I miss the good movie-worthy Ben Affleck a little)




 Movie: The Lottery (an interesting docummentary on today's educational system and the fight to get ahead)          And other note-worthy things to be aware of . . .    

Headline: This Post by Dad Gone Mad made me cry in a I-love-my-dad sorta way.
Headline: Six Monhs After Haiti Quake, Mother & Daughter Reunited. Shine your light.
Headline: Man Steals Library's Tarantula

Headline: Do You Know Where Your Smartphone Parts Come From? MMT.

Headline: BP is full of shit. Shocker.

Headline: British Daddy Warbucks Purchases Europe's Cocoa Supply. That's enough candy bars to make qilly wonka salivate.

Headline: Flags Of The World And What They Potentially Really Represent

Headline: Rhino. Sad Face.

Chick Bands, The End Of The Spice Girl Reign

Everybody remembers the 90's retort to boy bands : chick groups. I.e. Spice Girls. It was all about Girl Power. A statement, by the way, that I abhor. It doesn't make me feel empowered, it makes me feel like a massive hippie. Well, thankfully, this reign is over. Everybody remembers them, sort of with a nostalgic feeling such as with slap bracelets and sticky hands (huzzah!), stirrup pants (dislike) and mohawks (still the shit!). That being said, there's kind of been this interesting underground awesomeness that still hasn't fully come to light in the world o' rock: Girl fronted bands. This does not mean the whole group if female, this means their lead person (bring me to your leader!) is female. And this is awesomeness. These aren't your grandma's proper ladies either . . .

Case In Point: Evanescence  I choose this as my first example as they are the most well known chick fronted rocker band. I provide two video evidence here because I think the hard side and the soft side are equally amazing.

Case In Point: Lacuna Coil  I had heard this band awhile ago and then they sort of fell off my priority radar. However, while vid searching . . . Bingo.

Case In Point: Halestorm   This is a kick ass rocker chick! The song is secretly sexy and I saw them live last fall and her voice is still amazing and all the band members did a great drumming break that just wowed me.

Case In Point: Within Temptation  I conclude with this band because they are my most recent new music discovery. I love her voice, but then the music has this gorgeous infusion of rock and classical a la Apocolyptica feel.  Forgive the live version, but while you're at it notice the awesome feminine dress she is wearing. Gorgeous!

 
  And speaking of Apocolyptica . . . I know they aren't chick fronted, but here's their new song and even though I have reservations at times regarding Gavin Rossdale (new stuff . . . ), I like how his voice sounds in this. You should partake.

Nirvana Makes You Think

The other week I ended up watching Behind The Music: Courtney Love on VH1. This is one of those secret guilty pleasure shows to me because I find other people in general fascinating. However, I find the premise of this episode to be somewhat misleading as it wasn't completely Courtney Love focused due to her entanglement with Kurt Cobain. And less face it, can't get a live interview with that guy. That being said, it got me thinking . . .

On one hand, Nirvana is a pretty rockin' band that I gently partake in when in the mood and alternatively, whether I like it or not, know essentially all the words to the songs. While they weren't around for a ton of time, their impact is pretty obvious. I know their songs and still to this day, people rock out. So this may get one thinking about what they could of done had he still been alive and they stayed together . . .

On the other hand, I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason and without this turn of events we would never have had Foo. The Foo Fighters that is. Dave Grohl was the drummer of Nirvanna and people may not have ever know the amazingness of Foo had Kurt lived. Never known the songs, never laughed at the mentos-inspired music video, never heard the raw sound of his voice or seen him go from grungy long-haired dude to sexy lead singer guy. And that, would be sad . . .

This then, of course, got me thinking of other bands cut short and their impact: Led Zepplin - Stairway to Heaven. Though a little nutty, that guy's voice was amazing. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama. Who doesn't know (and dance) to this song? The Beattles. Though often hard to understand and being the first official "boy band" (in my mind), you can't deny that John Lennon had a voice and at the idea was sort of revolutionary for the time. Can you Imagine? And my personal favorite . . . Queen. Freddy Mercury. The. End.

MMT

The Sexcapades: Episode 1

For my first installment of The Sexcapades, I think this video says it all. And I'm not afraid of how awesome it is (or true!). Take notes.

Dude, That's My Skull

Happy friday everyone! Or at least trying to have it be so. I have a pounding migraine lurking around in my skull right now that can't decide whether it's coming or going. On top of this, any sort of general body movement, not high on my priority list. Despite all of this, I can find nothing to utterly complain about. This week (counting through last Saturday) seems to have bounced back with a vengence in retort to last week and just splattered me with goodness. Thus, I am forced to dub this under the heading of "best week ever". Honestly, I can't remember my last best week ever. Maybe I just haven't been as aware up until this point. Me and my silly oblivion. I can remember some great self-aware moments, but weeks, I am hard pressed. So, the rundown . . . last week was sort of icky. Wasn't terrible, but certainly not where I wanted on the good-o-meter. So instead of expecting anything this week, I just asked for good things. And boy howdy, did the good things pour!!!

First off, it's been amazingly sunny and warm and gorgeous here this week. It's been heavenly. The last couple of mornings I've awoken to my bedroom completely immersed in sunshine. This always makes me feel beautiful and energized. Ready to take on the world! I love how sunshine warms the skin and instantly lifts the spirit. I can't be a sour puss in sunshine. It's an assault on the world and completely wrong. Drives with the window down, walking barefoot in the grass, picnics in the park - these are all things to be done while accompanied by sunshine. Today it's kind of meh out - warm, but overcast. I'm hoping for sunny sunshine this weekend though. Fingers crossed!

Second, despite being overly hormonal and potentially on-the-verge-of-bitchy, I've been in a pretty good mood all week. I happied myself out of a migraine on Tuesday. For those unaware, happied = proactively smiling and thinking positive thoughts. And the rest of the week I had an immense feeling that everything would work out.

On Monday I went girly shopping. Do not confuse girly shopping with girls going shopping. No no no, bit of a crowbar please, thank you. Girly shopping is something entirely different from say buying a blender (which I did on Sunday, YAY!!! Finally! I can't wait to blend something.) or a tshirt (not done lately). Girly shopping lends to the concept of buying girly essentials. I haven't done this in a really long time and I felt it was time I start liking my unmentionables again. It's shexshy time!

On Tuesday I got compliments from three different clients about how they love to work with me. This made me smile all day long. Of course, my Dad tried to rain on my parade with some snarky comment about them "just being happy they are getting help" (Read: Sometimes I think if I were to prick his finger, he'd bleed an effin rain cloud), but that did not deter me from my happy wagon! And Wednesday only got better! Around mid day I get a call to go up to the front desk because I had a delivery. Turns out a super sweet family of clients I work with sent me the most beautiful pot of geraniums. This thing is massive and gorgeous! I've left it at my desk all week just so I could smile each time I see it. And then, also unknown to me at the time, they also sent a glowing email to my boss(s) about me! Could I love my job anymore?! I think not.

I also got my online banking reinstated and made my very first dr appointment on Tuesday. I am plainly delighted about this. Let's just be honest, it's fabulous. For over a year, due to the bank's fowl up, I have been unable to view my bank account online. I find this to be an inconvenient pain in the arse. I am now thrilled to be the proud member of online banking with both checking and credit. This is so exciting for me! And to top it off, my medical benefits kick in next week (woohoo!) and I made my first dr appointment. The best thing of all? I get the same doctor I had a bazillion years ago that I was going to request. Makes life so much easier sometimes when they beat you to the punch, hehe.

There's a competion between the flower pot day and yesterday for "best day of the week". Flower pot was pretty cool. But then again, yesterday could be cooler. Yesterday I was able to finally check another thing off my list. Go Kayaking. Check. AMAZING!!! I'm in love with kayaking now. There were some definite concerns at times . . . I'm not a skinny mini so finding a boat was oh so fun, I have giant tatas so finding a lifejacket was even funner (yes, I said funner) and the final clincher . . . getting in and out of the boat without tipping, getting stuck or killing yourself. All not recommended. But I did it! And it was worth it. We took a paddle up a beautiful two hour paddle at sunset up a calm river. No bugs, saw a graceful blue heron, saw hawks soaring the air currents, saw playful river otter and it was warm and beautiful. Could not have asked for better conditions. And to beat all that, it was a small group of older ladies who all were very helpful and non-judgemental and oh so sweet. I didn't feel like a dunsky at all! And I've been slowly building my water friendly wardrobe so I looked fashionable to boot, hehe. I can't wait to go again! And hopefully take pictures soon too!

And finally there's today. Friday. TGIF. I was thinking that today was going to be icky. I thought, eh, I've had my goodness for the week, it's ok. Not so, it's not ok!!! And God said, let there be goodness! And then there was Tom Selleck. Why yes Amazon.com, I would love for you to deliver my two favorite Tom Selleck movies on dvd (Quigley Down Under & The Sacketts) today. And so it was. Huzzah! I think for tonight, a Tom Selleck movieness and room clean up is in order. Yeehah!

Today I also held a gun. This would be my second time holding one and my first time learning how to hold one correctly. Now please note, this is not for gang banger shits and giggles. It is one of the things on my list: To learn how to shoot a gun. I confessed to a friend who, unbeknownst to me, is an avid gun guy and goes shooting at the ranges quite often. He offered to take me sometime soon. This is exciting. To check another thing off my list would be awesome!!!

So speaking of my list and since I am in a confessional mood, I will share one more list item with you: To experience Dia de los Muertos. Day of the Dead. I love the culture behind it and I absolutely LOVE the artwork that goes with it. For those who don't know the concept, GO HERE. Did I meantion my wikipedia affliction? For those who do . . . enjoy some lovely artwork below.

So, now you might be wondering what holds in store for my weekend . . . I have no idea. But I know it can only be goodness! Love to all of my ladies and jellyspoons <3