and the dish ran away with the spoon

Very good week so far. Friday my dearest brown boy managed to hitch a ride with his friend to Houston, so that meant special date for Shelley! We went to one of our favorites, Maggiano’s, to giggle over the song selections of the resident piano crooner (who else would follow up Frank Sinatra’s “New York New York” with Cameo’s “Word Up”?), and eat mountains of Caesar salad and spaghetti (meat sauce AND meatballs…i.e. Amanda style). An aside: Amanda, someday you should try meat sauce + meatballs PLUS marinara for an extra treat…I will take you to Maggiano’s on a special date next time you are in town.

Anywho, we also went to House of Pies and Aneil won me this supersweet toy out of the claw machine:

It is a flying cow and I’ve named it Julio.

On Saturday we trekked to College Station for Maria’s marathon birthday celebration. I’ve already teased her for having a birthday lunch instead of dinner, since we ended up hanging out at her parent’s house and eating their food allll day. This had it’s perks, however, because there was a large game of Cranium, hanging out with Maria’s nephew Thomas, and a real competitive Jenga tourney. That night I drank 2 chuggers + a pint I think + 1 shot so I was pretty much a goner. That is A LOT of beer. I also ate glorious glorious cheese fries from Fitzwilly’s and attempted to drunkedly play shuffleboard. It was fun but the following changes to College Station were extremely disturbing:

1) Thai Taste closed down!!!!!!
2) Nipa “Hot” closed down!!!!!!!
3) There are about a million new restaurants (TGI Fridays and the like) along the previously barren portion of University Drive
4) Duddley’s has been renovated such that
a. The bar has a backlit fancy liquor display. Yes, liquor. At Duddley’s.
b. The Ms. Pac Man table is GONE
c. The booths have been upgraded.
d. They have added a damn Golden Tee machine…I realized this when Aneil and Casey simply never returned to our table after they went to get drinks from the bar.

I did not get to go to Los Nortenos, so that was disappointing, but I DID get to see my darling Chad and he was pretty and wonderful as usual.

Sunday I was feeling pretty ooky from all the beer and/or sleeping on the floor and/or waking up toooo early, but once I ate my leftover mountain of spaghetti I felt better. Maria and I even had an Emmy viewing party, although I realized that I really don’t watch any of the shows up for awards. It was pretty pathetic. Conan, however, was very funny (as expected). Oh also the one show I actually watch (Project Runway) lost to The Amazing Race, of all things! Pretty disappointing. Also did any of you watch the red carpet pre-show?? The hosts were so freaking awkward and asked the celebs the most inane/insulting questions ever. The weird little dude would ask people about Tom Cruise’s mystery kid and/or say things like, yeah too bad your show was cancelled, hope you win anyway. So so soo awkward.

In other news, I am already way behind in school, but I’ve managed to memorize the four P’s of marketing so hopefully I’ll make Erik proud. This weekend I head to Colorado for my girls’ weekend with my old coworkers from the plant. Apparently the highs are in the lower 70’s and the lows in the mid 40’s so I can’t wait. (No excessive sweating for 3 whole days!)

Lub you all!

you've got soul you've got class...

Hello beauties.

I am back to life back to reality after our fancy "no, really, believe us, we're upper class" spa weekend. I've decided that a) it is always better to stay in a fancy hotel, b) spas are sort of funny because everyone is naked underneath their plush bathrobes, c) you can never drink too much fancy lemon water, and d) room service is the best thing ever.

Mom and I made it to San Antonio and immediately received fancy 1.5 hour pedicures. As it turns out, I loooove pedicures. They do this thing where they put your foot in a bootie filled with warm wax and it is glorious. This is what $100 feet look like:

Shelley

Mom

I figure at $10 per toe, it is worth it. If you factor in the work done on your calves/heels, it is actually only like, $6 per toe, thus basically CHEAP.

Also at fancy hotels there is pointless "turndown" service and while you are getting a pedicure, someone comes and leaves you snacks in your room. Mom enjoys the fancy sugary pecans:

Later at the hotel restaurant, Mom goes on and on to the manager about how she looooved those pecans, so when we got back to our room, there was a gigantic bowl filled with pecans awaiting us:

The next day were our fancy massages and facials. I mean, I guess the massage was okay, but sort of awkward. I liked the facial a lot though. And it was funny, because on your way out of the treatment room you always received a glass of lemony water and grapes. So luxurious. We also would hang out in the "relaxation room" and eat fruits whilst lounging on chaise lounges. Ridiculous but great.

After a long day of exploring and shopping, we met up with my Amanda for dinner. She was pretty and stylish as usual:

So it turned out to be a fun weekend, and we are planning on making it an annual event.

Since then I started school...Marketing and Management. If anyone has any brilliant ideas for an innovative new (fictional) product that I can market for my project, that would be great. I am not creative...helloooo I'm an engineer.

Project Runway was so-so this week. The designers had to make outfits for "real women", namely their mothers and sisters. The twist, I guess, was that they couldn't design for their own mom, but someone else's. More enlightening than the show itself was Tim Gunn's blog, in which he agreed with me that Uli's design was the best, although I was amazed at the normal-ness of Vincent. Except of course when he declared that he was inspired because Uli's mom has "this European air about her". Yes Vincent, it's because she is FROM Europe. Oy. Currently thinking Michael, Uli, and Vincent are headed for the top 3. Yes, I said Vincent...there is always a wild card thrown in...remember Wendy Pepper (season 1) and Santino (season 2)?

This weekend is Maria's birfday festivus in College Station. CHUGGERS! CHAD! CHEESE ENCHILADAS!

Okay, that's it for now. I found a bunch of photos on my camera I never posted, so expect some photo-journal-ing soon.

Lub-dub.

there is no growing in knowing where you're going

Hello! I have a lot of exciting and thought-provoking topics to discuss today, but first and foremost, I have to talk about the supersweet care package I received in the mail today from my darling tall brown girl! I was finally able to make it to the apartment office before closing time, and retreived my PURSE and my strange lil Barbie notebook. The notebook strangely says:

"Sweat is the sweet des moistening the soul:hands are the wing with which ideals soa into great heights."

I don't understand it at all, but I love it and its sentiment about sweat, since I'm officially the sweatiest woman on earth.

Here is the fancy purse: I looove it because it is dainty and charming, yet surpisingly sturdy (excellent yarn choice!). I imagine Amanda probably was able to crochet it with her eyes closed and/or whilst watching tv, thus making it even more impressive. Now I know that if we ever really did live in a best friends commune, we can rest assured we would be clothed and/or accessorized as long as Amanda is around.

In other news, I feel it's time for my weekly Project Runway update (since the new episode airs tomorrow). Last week, in an attempt to substantiate the claim that "models, this is a competition for you too", the models got to display some personality and choose their designers and, in a surprising twist, choose the "fashion icon" their designer would be designing for.

They even interviewed a couple of the models, actually giving them names and whatnot! Also one model was revealed to be real chatty and annoying...I mean, she annoyed her designer, and he's used to being around pageant queens, so that can't be a good sign! In the end, Michael won, since apparently hot pants are "in", as evidenced by a) Michael's win and b) our observation of lots of hot pants at Cafe Adobe a couple of weeks ago. Here's the winning Foxy Brown-inspired creation:

In other random news, I noticed something odd/interesting a couple of weeks ago. I travelled to one of our manufacturing plants for a meeting, but none of the participants were to be found, so me and the 2 other downtown people wandered up to the engineering floor to see if anyone was around (in their defense, it was 4pm on a Friday). I noticed that this guy who I worked with for a couple of months during a turnaround had an office there...we only worked together for 2 months, and that was over 2 years ago, so needless to say we are friendly but not best friends or anything. Anyway, I stopped by to say hello and noticed that sitting on his desk right next to his computer was the turnaround mega-mix cd I made him 2 years ago! I didn't mention it or anything, and barely even noticed, but as I was driving home, I got to thinking, wow, this person whom I barely even know is still listening to a mix cd I made over 2 years ago! It wasn't weird, just sort of flattering and further proof that I make freaking awesome mix cds. It's strange to know you have some sort of (albeit minor and trivial) impact on random peoples' lives all the time.

As we all know from watching/memorizing High Fidelity, the making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.

On the subject of pop music (one of my favorite things) cheers this week to Christina Aguilera, whose new single is sort of great. I still sometimes find her vocal chromatic scale jibber jabber sort of grating, but her new song is pretty damn interesting. Kudos! Also, although I don't really understand his hot-guy appeal, Justin Timberlake deserves some praise for his latest single too. I can't even tell if I like it or not, but it is different and interesting to the ears, so thank goodness for that. Listen to that right after Nick Lachey's cornball ballad, and you will understand what I mean. So, well done former Mouseketeers. Jeers to Jessica Simpson who managed to rip off "Holiday" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" in one song. Good grief, when will the public finally get bored of her again?

Last weekend I visited Aneil's brand new Round Rock Premium Outlet Mall. It was gorgeous and I was gushing with pride because he worked so hard for the city to get it built. We walked through the whole thing, and I bought various and sundry designer items (including a Michael Kors skirt that I intend to wear whilst watching PR tomorrow). So if you are in Austin, make a trip out there and spend some dollars in Round Rock so my Aneil gets a bigger bonus this year.

I parted my hair on the other side last week, and everyone now thinks I got a haircut and/or look great. It's weird. My hair, however, is revolting and continuously tried to revert to the old part, so I keep mashing my hair against my head. I hope to win the battle.

I saw Adrienne today, so that was a treat. She is real pretty and great and was a good roomie for me, since she is the Bert to my Ernie. Also she talks to me about engineering projects, which not many other people do, since no one understands my job. Ah well.

I am really loving the latest book I am reading "The History of Love". Aneil claims that he has turned me into a "romantic" but I'm not sure that this is true. However, it is a relief to enjoy a book so thoroughly after reading a series of duds. "The Kite Runner" was okay but the writing was real sparse and of course, there were the nightmares I had about war. I like this current book, because every so often there's just a really great passage, and it makes me smile or yearn or FEEL something at any rate. Aneil critiques books based on the number of really great sentences that he reads in them, and I have decided to adopt this rating system as well. Lots of good sentences so far. I will chart it all up for you in Excel when I have a chance.

Spa retreat this weekend...that means Mom + Pedicure + Best Friend hanging out! I am so excited. 2 more days!

In summary, this week I love: former mouseketeers and their pop music innovation, blueberry instant oatmeal, red delicious apples, Dawson's Creek marathon on Noggin, and well crafted sentences. I do not love: the crappy stretch of highway between Austin and Giddings, the fact that Lifetime has replaced my 5-6pm Golden Girls with episodes of Reba, and the instability of the ethylene market.

make it work!

About time for a posty-post. Thanks for all your babe-I-love-you-so-please-don’t-go comments from previous entry. My blog self esteem is renewed, and I feel rejuvenated and prepared to “carry on”.

This has actually been a pretty good week. Last weekend my darling brown boy made a special guest appearance. We went out 2 nights in a row! This is quite a feat for us, and I think qualifies us for at least 2-3 hermit-like weekends. At any rate, we ate dinner with my lovely former coworkers from the plant. Not my grownup-in-their-30’s coworkers, but the ones that are actually my age. (My collection of friends is so varied and eclectic, sometimes it boggles the mind.) I was real excited that my pal from A&M, Ben, was there too, as I miss him and his charming cynicism. Oh the joys of the chemical plant! We also feasted a-plenty on fajitas…my first fajita experience at Pappasito’s. I had never really cared for the place but now Aneil and I are in love with the fajitas (that come with an inexplicable yet surprisingly delicio-so side of drawn butter! On chicken/beef! Ooooh how my tummy smiled!). We also played pool, and I feel as though my I-can’t-play-this-game mental block has disappeared, because I was suddenly not-sucky at it. Oh also, the pool hall (in beautiful Clear Lake) was really ghetto, sort of in a high school JD/Lake Charles non-threatening way. A window was broken…a fight broke out in the parking lot…the bartender had a Vanilla Ice haircut…but it was all sort of charming in a strange way. We also found ourselves in Midtown/River Oaks later that night to meet up with other engineering pal, Rob (reference my T/A super post dated sometime in October). Hard to believe we lasted till 2am! Ooooh and then Sat night was Thai feaaaast with Maria & Casey. Yummie. Also tons of drinky drinks at The Kelvin Arms (pub that Erik likes). We discovered a Ms. Pac-Man table!!! And then our boys abandoned us for Golden Tee Golf for the rest of the night. Oh well.

Only 1 more week of this MIS class (praise be!). I can’t wait until it’s over!!! Although I have enjoyed my study team in this class, as they are all older than me and therefore cynical and funny. At any rate, no more classes, just 1 presentation and the final exam. Thank Goodness!

I got a promotion at work! I will now be an Engineer II (oooooh!). Apparently I am worth far more money than one would think. It’s pretty damn ridiculous. On Wednesday I booked me and my mom for $100 pedicures…extravagant!...to celebrate. Oh my God, am I a yuppie?

This week was the big Project Runway “someone will be disqualified” episode. I gotta say, I was expecting a lot more catty drama, but it was overall pretty anti-climactic. Keith, the arrogant judges’ favorite, apparently was in possession of fashion how-to books, which apparently are illegal. Kayne, the pageant dress designer ratted him out to producers. Overall pretty lame. Although, Tim Gunn did mention that he snuck out of the apartment one time, and another time was caught using the internet…probably some much juicier stories there, but no details were mentioned. So goodbye Keith, I will miss your delightful bitchiness and the amazing hatred you inspired from Mom-bot. At any rate, one of the sort of boring designers got the boot for making a sort of boring outfit in a sort of boring fashion show. (And where oh where is Michael Kors???) The producers definitely should have dragged out the Keith drama more. Luckily Angela is still around to be all kooky and weird with her craftsy couture and Vincent is still around, and constantly on the verge of a meltdown…all delicious tv. Plus, I giggle pretty much every time Tim makes a speech…and his blog is probably a little better than the show.

Okay, and I am hesitant to be so forward-thinking and live only for my future plans (as opposed to living in the moment, I guess) but I just can’t help it! Here’s why:

1) Ameeeeee is in Houston and I will be seeing her tonight! Oh there will be joyfully large helpings of tex-mex and girl chat.

2) Next weekend I get to see brown boy + get a much needed haircut + get to see the fabulous new preeemium outlet mall in Round Rock that Aneil has been working on for several months…I’m so excited, and I fully intend to purchase something at the Michael Kors store and the Coach store! (Oh my God, I AM a yuppie!)

3) The following weekend, mom and I are taking a luxurious spa retreat weekend in San Antonio! That means posh hotel, riverwalk, facials and pedicures and massages, even more tex-mex, and AMANDA!

4) The following weekend is Maria’s Northgate birthday fest. Oh the chuggers! Oh the Ms. Pac-Man! Oh the Aggie excitement!

5) The following weekend is my first-ever trip to Colorado, with my grown-up former plant coworkers. It will be a girls’ retreat and I am hoping to hike, drink a lot of gin/light beer, and read a novel if I can fit it in.

6) Then 2 weeks later is ACL festivus! Friday’s lineup is just too too much for me to handle and I will have to miss out on some top notch acts due to double booking. Doh. Plus lots n’ lots of best friends will be in attendance. I cannot wait!

Okay, so all in all things are moving along pretty well. I really just think I am “so over” my computer class and am flush with the end-is-near excitement. I finished “The Kite Runner”. It was pretty good for the first 1/3, but basically faded into sentimental say whaaat? by the end. (Felt like my 10th grade “Grapes of Wrath” what-the-hell-is-that-ending-about? experience.) Just started “The History of Love” by Nicole Krauss. Anyone read it?

Anywhooo, I miss everyone a lot, and don’t talk to you nearly enough. Let’s chat/hang out soon.