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.

her face is a map of the world

Was thinking about discontinuing the ol' blog, since I have been lacking feedback comments lately, so I am assuming no one reads this. It may just be that people are only responsive to happy frivolous blog posts, so I will just post those from now on. Although those kind of days are fewer and further between.

Anywho frivolous item #1:

I think that rebates in general are a big joke. When I bought my computer, I took forever to collect all the required items needed & I sent away for a rebate, never received the check, then about a month later, got a note saying that my submission was incomplete. When I finally called HP I was informed that "oops!" someone keyed it in wrong, and I really did qualify for the rebate. Harumph. Maybe not all people a) send away for the refund or b) would bother checking on it afterward until they then forget about it. What a crock. After all of that, I was informed that I will receive my check in 4-5 weeks. Bleh.

Frivolous item #2:

I have lost 8 lbs in the past few weeks! Aneil is real proud of me, and bought me TWO pairs of DIAMOND earrings, which I of course adore, and wear constantly...whether it is to bed or to the gym or wherever! One is a pair of diamond studs, and the others are dangly and have little bitty diamonds along the bottom. I love them and I love him a lot.

Frivolous item #3:

The Pirates of the Caribbean sequel was real terrible. Which is a shame, considering how delightful I found the original. There were lots of goofy faux native island cannibalistic tribe antics, and voodoo looking lady who reminded me of Lisa Bonet, but with a completely incomprehensible accent, also an inexplicable and totally out of left field love triangle brewing amongst the 3 leads. BLEH. And I got bored of all the special effects by the end, and yearned for an ending that converted the strange fish/squid/octupi pirates into normal humans but that did not happen. Also there were lots and lots of tentacles of all shapes and sizes throughout the movie, which was sort of exhausting.

Frivolous item #4:

I hate hate hate hate my current MIS class at school. I am supposed to be studying for my exam right now but I am just BORED of the topic, the test material, and everything! 3 MORE WEEKS TO GO!

Frivolous item #5:

I can't believe Malan got kicked off of Project Runway. I mean, his dress was uggo, but I will miss his faux-worldliness. Plus, he reminds me of what I envisioned Professor Snape to be like after reading the Harry Potter books. Now that I associate Snape with Alan Rickman, I find him huggable instead of sinister. Anyways, and what was with that Angela lady? Yes, Vincent is infuriating, but man, was she a super-bitch or what?

Frivolous item #6:

My car is developing all sorts of issues now that it has almost 85,000 miles on it, so I am yearning for a fresh new car. I am currently yearning for an infiniti G35 coupe. I am also considering a Maxima and I secretly love the Beetle convertible (cream with a tan top). Any thoughts? I am hoping to wait until end of year, but my A/C is making weird noises, so perhaps sooner.

Frivolous item #7:

I got to go to a free! screening of "Little Miss Sunshine" with Kevin and Maria. They are real fun/funny friends. Movie was charming. Sort of made me feel the way "About a Boy" does, but not as giggly. Charming nonetheless, especially when considered post-Pirates viewing, it is even more wonderful in comparison.

Okay that's all for now! Hope to get to talk to some of you guys soon!

i remember skies reflected in your eyes

Phew! It’s been a long week. I feel roughly like the remainder of my delicious froggie cookie looks. I tried to refrain from eating his whole face, but in the end (i.e. 2 seconds after this photo was taken) I happily devoured the rest.

At any rate, this week has been pretty sucky for various reasons, I suppose. Monday was the anniversary of my dad’s death, and it made me real sad. (Many thanks to Amee, who called both me and my mom to chat. I really appreciate that a lot.) I miss him all the time, but this week made me remember the shock and the funeral and those couple of weeks of freaking out more vividly. However, lucky for me, dad visited me in my dreams, so that was fun. We listened to Colin Hay’s cd and ate cereal, since I’ve recently discovered the joys of lactose-free milk. Although, I remember him liking Grape Nuts, but he turned his nose up at them in my dream, so apparently in the after-life you don’t have to eat as much fiber, so that’s a relief as well. I really miss him, and although I have lots of people to love me and I even fell in love during this year, no one can ever ever replace my buddy, and it’s scary when you begin to realize how irreplaceable someone is in your life and that you will, even (maybe especially) during happy moments, feel a little sadness because they’re not there to share it with you. Every “life” moment will be like this for the rest of my life. Every success and failure and joy and sorrow will make me feel that loss. It’s really hard.

Also, I’m ultimately paranoid all the time and constantly worry about the people I love. I am also unnecessarily concerned with everyone’s heart health, and I no longer like old people. I used to love seeing old couples together, but now I sort of resent them. It is irrational, but I do. And I hate it when Aneil talks about us “growing old together” because it implies that we will actually live that long, which you just can’t assume.

But not to worry, I am mostly still pleasant and funny, or at least I try to be.
Anywho, in terms of dealing with this week, I’ve found it easier to avoid thinking about it by a) avoiding people I know and/or b) allowing myself zero free time. This has resulted in full-on immersion into 2 places where personal connections and/or thinking are lacking: the gym and school.

On Monday, I went to the strength training class that I used to attend, but have managed to avoid for about 7 months. I was pretty tired by the end, and it took until Thursday evening for my arms to finally feel okay enough to lift them above my head again. I am pathetic. I am however becoming a superstar on the elliptical trainer, although I sweat like it’s going out of style or something. Seriously, it’s ridiculous, I have to admit.

School in the summer can bite me as well. Constant reading of long case studies about websites and e-commerce. UGH. Makes me miss contract law. I’m also convinced that the professor hates me. Plus I have to work on homework/projects all weekend. Sucky, indeed.

Oh also there’s a war on in the MidEast. Freaks me out.

I am also reading The Kite Runner. It’s really pretty good, but parts of it are just excruciating to read. Poor Afghanistan.

I flew to Corpus Christi for a meeting yesterday. (Sorry Amanda, but all I saw was the airport and some grain fields and the Olefins plant.) Meeting was unsuccessful at best, but I really liked flying on Southwest. It was my first time, and although Hobby Airport is a little ghetto (the security chick for my departing flight yawned and barely scoped out my bag in the x-ray machine and they had red neon numbers marking the gates), I love Southwest. They have these great two-toned uggo (but comfy) leather seats, and it’s a free-for-all with no reserved seating. And had free doughnuts at the gate. Plus the flight attendants are spunky and make lots of jokes and wear brightly colored Bermuda shorts. (maybe the shorts make you more spunky?) And I mean, the company emblem is a circle with wings and a cartoon heart in the middle of it. What’s not to love?

My one tidbit of exciting news this week…Project Runway is back! Finally something watchable on tv again for the summer. I loved the strange man who made a hat out of a bread basket. Also the guy from Atlanta who made a cute dress from coffee filters. Plus I adore Tim Gunn, and wish he could be my personal life coach who would constantly tell me to “make it work” when I need encouragement. I looove him. I’m also of course afraid of, yet in love with, Heidi Klum.

Okay, that’s all for now, but take care of your hearts and tell your daddies you love them.

when we meet on a cloud i'll be laughing out loud

i can't do this all on my own...

Oh so many update items!

My brilliant, although at times exasperating brother, Fro, has apparently ACED his MCAT test. He informed me of this with a phone call at approximately 11:45 Tuesday night (yes, I was asleep). Our exchange was roughly like this:

“Hey Shell, guess what I got a (not to be revealed but rest assured well above average score) on the MCAT. I was worried I screwed it up, since I didn’t really study this time.”

(Yawning). “That’s cool, Fro. Yeah, we Ewings have a “standardized test” gene that pulls us through regardless of lack of preparation. That’s awesome.”

“Yeah, I am pretty excited, so yeah okay I’ll let you sleep”

“Umm okay. You rule!”

After waking up in the morning I checked with Amee (whose sister is in Med school) to see if Fro’s score was any good, seeing as I know nothing about med school admissions, and she said it is a great score, and he will get into a school for sure! So of course I cried a little, as I am emotional all the time, apparently. But see, my dad always wanted to be a doctor, but didn’t get into school the first try, then got married and had most adorable baby ever (me) so he gave up his dream. It’s sort of great that my brother is going to be able to fulfill that dream now, and my dad would be so dang proud. *Tears*

Hmmm. Just realized that having nicknames (a la “Fro”) for all my friends would make blogging more fun. If you regularly read this, or we regularly hang out, shoot me a comment with your preferred nickname, and I will attempt to incorporate it into subsequent entries.

In other news, I have one more online exam and I am done with my law and ethics class. My brief (hahahahaha) encounter with law made me really appreciate the trials (hahahahaha) and tribulations of my law school darlings. I am also convinced based on all my future-yuppie best friends’ school experiences that I could be a doctor a lot more easily than I could be a lawyer. I would suuuuck at law. But now I know what a tort is, and I know that the statute of frauds requires a contract to sell a good for greater than $500 to be in writing, so my life is basically complete.

Last night I went and saw Tilly and the Wall with Kevin, Jason (Kevin’s pal + A&M chemE), and Maria. We were 4 of the maybe 8 people at the bar who were of legal drinking age, so yeah, we were feeling a little old. Maria and I had lil crush on the opening band’s bass player (love those bass players) solely because he was wearing a button up shirt with an enormous cobra iron-on. (Which we have decided to attempt to craft for our own darling boyfriends.) Closer inspection revealed that he was probably roughly 19 years old, but whatever. Tilly and the Wall was charming charming charming as ever, and did not let me down and did indeed dance around and throw copious amounts of glitter. Maria developed a huge crush on their cute tap dancer, who sported a hot pink tutu, and managed to pull it off nicely. Kevin decided to propose marriage to the lead singer (unless of course Pam from “The Office” is suddenly available). It was grand and glorious fun, and you gotta love a band that can make a 25 year old cynical lil career girl to jump and dance and scream out the lyrics “I want to fuck it up! I want to fuck it up….yeah I feel so alive, yeah I feel so alive!” repeatedly. I felt 16 again.

I also just realized that I haven’t posted an Ayn Rand progress chart recently. It’s because I haven’t read any more since that posting. I officially blame school and the ridiculous amounts of reading involved, but I think more accurately, Atlas Shrugged is just to damned exhausting for me. Foiled again! Maybe I’ll try again next year.

Okay, I should study for my final exam. I looove you all and will return in 5 days!

i've got my mind set on you

Love is in the air! There's something about the summer that makes it an ideal time for love (or other various forms of hormonal attachment). Summer romances, holding hands with cute boys at camp (if I haven't forced you to watch my all-time favorite MTV Special: Fat Camp, let me know, because it's awesome!), weddings, engagements, and as was the case when I was 18, hooking up with the waiter at the coffeeshop where you loiter.

I'm not complaining or making fun or anything cynical like that...I love love. It makes me smile and giggle and feel happy to see couples in love. And I guess I can't complain either, because I happen to be ridiculously in love too! (Okay, please don't vomit all over this blog entry)

To stay consistent with the theme, Here is a picture of beautful Kat and cute Such from their wedding a few weeks ago. Kat looked so perfect, that I've decided that for my wedding someday, I would like to be a sparkly blue-eyed blonde. I will probably need a professional wedding planer to accomplish that, but I hear they can and do work wonders. Kat and Such are great because they are so obviously in love and sparkly eyed and crazy about each other.

The same day I saw Kat's wedding proofs, I was checking out cnn.com and they had released pictures of Nicole Kidman's wedding to that country singer guy, and I've gotta say, Kat looked waaaay more fabulous than Nicole. I'll let you judge for yourself, but I imagine you will agree. Nicole is real pointy-faced after all. Plus her skin tone srt of blends right into the white dress. (Although admittedly, I love the poofy sleeves a lot.)

In other exciting news, I am almost done with my first summer course. I haaaate summer school's pace, although my professor is fun. I just completed a 14 page paper about the ethical clusterfuck that was the corporate governance at Fannie Mae (that was almost the title...but I decided against it at the last minute). Summer II starts in a week. Joy.

I'm not looking forward to the next couple of weeks. July 4th was the last time I saw my daddy, and he died on the 10th. A whole year ago. It's so weird. I've become increasingly paranoid in the past year, and if left alone too long (or without school assignments to keep me busy) I think alot about death and the afterlife and how I don't know what's going to happen. I remind myself of Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice. But less freaky. That said, I miss my dad a lot, and can only hope hope hope that there IS an afterlife so I can see him again someday.

In less depressing news, well really AWESOME news, the new season of Project Runway commences in 2 weeks...oooooh joy! I've had to resort to watching America's Got Talent since I ran out of Scrubs episodes, so the new PR will be a relief. Although everytime a magician auditions on the talent show I wish that Europe's "The Final Countdown" will start to play...a la Gob.

In summary, this week I love: love, dumplings, hummus, the prospect of leisure reading, the concept of the afterlife. I do not love: the show "my super sweet 16", unethical accounting, oatmeal, and tortfeasors.

back on the chain gang

Feels like it's about time for a post!

This afternoon I was walking to class. My grown-out-of-its-sassy-haircut hair was pulled into 2 awkward pointy ponytails which of course did no good, as my flopping-straight-into-my-left-eye bangs whipped all over the place. I was trotting toward Melcher Hall, when this fellow passed me by, boping to his ipod and smiling...he yells at me, "You shouldn't let that hair hide such a pretty face!" I start to laugh, and after he passes he yells after me, "You know I'm right!"

I was also pleased because I made an A on my Ethics Case Analysis. Also, my claim that ultimately, by doing the "ethical" thing, the subject of the case study could keep the "Karma Police" at bay was met with a "YAY!!" from my ultra-hip-dad-type professor. I was very excited. I've also decided to apply a WWTYD (What Would Thom Yorke Do?) standard to all future ethical dilemmas.

I know I've been absent lately and I apologize. I had a great vacation (which I will comment on below) and immediately followed it with tons and tons of summer school work and constant busy-ness. I have also started this fitness kick, so anytime I'm not doing schoolwork, odds are good I am at the gym. Okay, and admittedly, I've been watching "Scrubs" episode upon episode, and of course now wish I was a doctor. (Side note: the epsiodes guest starring Brendan Fraser are amazing...and I don't think it's just because I secretly loooove most of his movies...)

Is it possible to be rapturously in love with a song? Because that's me and "Jesus, Etc." by Wilco. Oh man, it's wonderful.

Paradoxically, I also love Beyonce's "Check Up On It" but in a completely different way. More in the way that compels me to continuously inform Aneil "you can look at it as long as you don't grab it."

Here are some learnings from my vacation week:

1) Little brothers will remain about 10-12 years old in your mind, even as they are graduating from college. It doesn’t help that once we get to the restaurant, he enthusiastically orders the largest menu item and burns his tongue on “freaking awesome” blackened alligator tail (which, in his defense, WAS freaking awesome). He later burned the same tongue on bread pudding.

2) The Sam Houston statue in Hunstville is freaking enormous. For the first time ever, we got out of the car in order to take “Wilco Summer Photo Contest” photos with the big guy. I was slightly frightened. We continuously exclaimed obvious phrases such as “man, he is so freaking huge” or “why is he so huge” or “why does this thing exist”?

3) Ice Cream is wonderful. We ate it pretty much every day while on vacation. Here are the instances I actually recall: DQ Blizzards on Monday (Heath Bar, yes!). Dipped Ice Cream Bars at Six Flags on Tues. Braum’s shakes (and spur of the moment outlet shopping) in Hillsboro on Wed. Maggie Moos (best cinnamon-caramel-heath-chocolate flake cone ever!) on Thursday. At some point we also ate drumsticks and we also bought a half gallon of Blue Bell. It was ridiculous. Every time we ate it, we would feel pudgier, but would simply exclaim “Vacation!” and high five and everything was fine again. Note: I haven’t been able to stomach any more ice cream since vacation ended. Oh well.)

4) Knowing natives really helps keep you entertained. Gloriously self-employed Bo was able to hang out with us both nights we were in town (!) and totally charmed Aneil…heh. He took us to Campisi’s (yummie Italian I used to go eat with the Suggs) and Gloria’s (a Salvadorian restaurant that strangely became a club that played Bruce Hornsby and Hall & Oates remixes (?) about 30 minutes into our meal).

5) Anthony works entirely too much. My “you’re a lawyer shouldn’t you be working at 8:30 pm” joke was met with the not-a-joke response, “no, but I have to go back to work after I finish this drink.” Either that, or he was bored of me…I did, after all, force him to watch American Idol with me.

6) I miss friends such as Anthony, Erik, and Bo more than I realized.

7) I love Aneil more than I realized.

8) X-Men 3 blasphemously killed so many main characters and/or rendered them powerless (read: rendered them uninteresting) that it mostly made me sad...introduce and destroy The Phoenix within 45 minutes? Wha' happened? (Wow I'm nerdy)

9) I am too damn old to deal with the annoying kids who attend concerts at Emo's.

10) Being lazy and only getting up off your ass in order to go buy a huge burrito with your best boy basically amounts to my ideal Sunday.

Okay, I'm spent, and there's an America's Next Top Model marathon on VH1 so I'm out. I should probably also read some contract law, but that's probably not going to happen.

try a little...tenderness...

Hi gang!

Sorry my blogging slacked off post-finals. Since I am no longer confined to my apt to work on take home test, I apparently have less time for procrastination...i.e. blogging.

Therefore I have many topics to discuss and embarrassing obsessions to relay.

1) Why oh why are former boyband members allowed to record albums? Have any of you heard the latest from O-town's Ashley Parker Angel (why is that not a girl name?) or 98 deg's Nick Lachey? Oh good grief, they are awful awful awful.

2) I am pretty sure I’ve brought it up before, but what the hell happened to Billy Ocean? That guy was basically like the second coming of Lionel Richie, but he had some great tunes…he even had the equivalent of “Dancing on the Ceiling” with his “Get Out of My Dreams Get Into My Car.” Billy, if you are bored and googling your name and this blog pops up, you should know that you still have fans who love you and want you to record again! The new millennium needs its own “Caribbean Queen.”

3) Peach cobbler (a la mode) may be the best dessert ever.

4) Taylor on American Idol just sang the Otis Redding song that I have been obsessed with for 2 solid months…”Try a Little Tenderness.” I will be shattered if he doesn’t win this thing. Also I think his song choice is further evidence that he and I are meant to be (don’t tell Aneil).

5) Everyone makes fun of the fact that I never ever watch movies, and apparently am therefore useless. But I watched a shocking number of movies this weekend…although the proportion of movies starring Queen Latifah is really high.

“Last Holiday” – Queen Latifah is diagnosed with a brain tumor and 1 month to live, she cashes in her bonds, goes to a resort, and ironically learns how to live! I loved it.

“Pride and Prejudice” – I don’t know why but I loooove this story and I loooooved this version…could Keira Knightly be any cuter? Mom insists on using the subtitles for pretty much every movie we watch, but we tried this one sans titles at first. When for the first few scenes even I had trouble understanding what the heck they were saying, I look over at mom, ask her if she understands, and she says “no pretty much nothing, thank God I already know the story.” Then she says “the only one I kind of understand is Donald Sutherland”…whom I pointed out is the only American in the movie…needless to say we added the subtitles, and really picked up on all the nuances, i.e. dialog…did any of you kids see it? Did you have a huge crush on Darcy? Also, did the giggly sisters drive you insane like they did me? Did you strangely miss Colin Firth, just because he usually shows up in movies like these? Just checking.

“The Family Stone” – Sarah Jessica Parker is dating that weird looking guy from “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and has to meet his family…including Luke Wilson, Diane Keaton, and Coach. Also the girl from “The Notebook” who is just too cute for words. Unfortunately the rest of the cast of “Coach” couldn’t make it to the family Christmas.

“Beauty Shop” – Since we were so charmed by the Queen in “Last Holiday” we went back to the store and got this one…also adorable…and the hottt guy from Amistad was the dreamy African electrician/classical piano player who lives upstairs and just happens to fall for our heroine. Yes!

“Walk the Line” – Everyone else in my family hated it, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. But then again, I do looove rock n’ roll. And Johnny Cash is real damn cool. And the performances truly were Oscar worthy.

And I watched…for the first time…”Jesus Christ Superstar”…It was everything I hoped it would be…strange and cheesy and pretty and psychedelic and blasphemous and religious all at the same time. Jesus was teeny tiny but rocked out his angry solo. And Judas was fantastic. I loooooved it of course.

Okay, sadly, this sums me up. I am going to Fro’s graduation on Friday and then Dallas (!) for Six Flags fun on Monday. Plus I get to spend an entire week with my darling brown boy, so I’m really really excited. Mmmk that’s all…peace out.

you're a fool...that's what's wrong with you!

I have been coming to the realization over the past few days that I am, indeed, getting very very old. I will list a few examples (i.e. evidence) of this phenomenon:

1) Post-Aneil’s Brifday Party, Erik and the kids wanted to go do something after the bars closed, and I thought to myself “are you crazy? It’s 2am I should’ve been in bed hours ago, or curled up in a ball reading a book at least.”

2) This morning I was taking various (4 to be exact) vitamins/hormones (although admittedly none of them are required to keep me going, but are preventative). And I thought to myself “I should really get one of those day of the week pill holder thingys…that would really help me out!”

3) Every night this week I have watched either American Idol (and voted for the wacky guy with gray hair) or golden girls (and laughed at the wacky gals with gray hair).

4) We went to the mall on Saturday and I didn’t really want to go into the young trendy stores (except for Fossil, since Aneil loves it) but instead actually said “you know, I’ve been buying more and more of my clothes from department store collections…they’re much more classic.”

5) Aneil was panicking because he turned 26 this week, and I kept saying things along the lines of “don’t be silly! 26 is YOUNG.”

At any rate, I am feeling like an oldie, but am trying to embrace it. We are going to the symphony on Sat and I have plans to go to Foley’s with the girls at work to shop for something “smart” to wear on Sat. Le sigh.

Also, I went grocery shopping yesterday afternoon, and here’s the thing…I looooove grocery shopping. Yet I hardly ever do it. I will wait and wait until I have eaten every last bit of edible meals in my apt before I make the trip. Yes, all last week I ate the last 2 lean cuisines and 3 cans of Chef Boyardee. (item of note, “Boyardee” is recognized by Microsoft spell check AND is auto-capitalized!) Anywho, I love the whole grocery store experience, and I love coming home and having fresh fruits and milk and bread and bags of lite Caesar salad (my goodness, I am addicted to those!). I also looooove store-bought California rolls, and I eat them the second I get home from the store. Okay, so why do I wait and wait and wait until the last minute? It’s very strange, indeed.

Last night in lieu of watching “Flavor of Love” reruns on VH1, I popped in a video that Aneil loaned me called “Serendipity.” Has everyone already seen this? With John Cusack and the shockingly hot Kate Beckinsale? It was real silly and contrived but made me think (a little) about soulmates and fate/God whatever you believe. I used to not believe that you had a soulmate, and there were lots of people in the world that could match you. But recently Erik + Aneil (the most sensitive boys in the world, I think) have convinced me otherwise. Especially Erik’s point that God has a plan for your life, and if you never “meet your soulmate” it’s not by chance, but it is his plan to do other things with your life. At any rate, although the movie is silly and oh so obvious with the “matching gloves” symbolism, I thought it illustrated nicely what I think about the subject. Sure, there is a soulmate meant for you, but you have to follow your heart in order to find them. God can point you in the right direction, but you still have free will (that’s the gift that makes us human!). Both characters could have ignored the clues and married the other people they were with, but they followed their hearts and found happiness! It’s a nice thought.

Today the apartment maintenance people apparently came by to investigate the mysterious dripping/raining above the toilet in my bathroom. I received a note on the sink that informed me that it was the A/C not draining correctly and it was signed, "Jesus". It made me smile, although I'm sure "Hey-Zeus" was the guy who fixed it, for a split second I felt like I was getting a note from the big guy himself.

One final note, I stumbled across this news article today, and it made me giggle throughout the workday (I have italicized my favorite part):

Mr. T: Take my advice, or else

NEW YORK (AP) -- If Dr. Phil can dispense advice, why not Mr. T?

The TV Land network announced Tuesday that it will start "I Pity the Fool," a series where "The A-Team" star travels across the country dispensing inspiration and advice.

"The 't' stands for talking," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm going to talk it up. It's what I've been doing all my life."

The series starts in October. He'll offer help to people struggling with personal or professional problems.

"My show ain't no 'Dr. Phil,' with people sitting around crying," he said. "You're a fool -- that's what's wrong with you. You're a fool if you don't take my advice."

procrastinating is a terrible thing

Okay, I am supposed to be working on my finance final. But it's so hard to get started. I feel as though once I do get going on it, I will (maybe?) get really into it and work to completion. But seeing as it's not due for another week, I've hit a brick wall.

Instead, here are the things I am obsessing about today:

I'm intrigued by this news story:

Why would you plagarize chick lit?

I often tease Amee for reading what I refer to as "pink books", i.e. not romance novels, but the fiction novel equivalent of the chick flick. They put them in the general fiction section, but you can usually locate them pretty quickly due to their bright pink covers. Almost always about young professional smart women who have misadventures and romantic encounters with hunky men who are drawn to their quirkiness.

These books are not as ridiculous as some of the harlequin romances, but they are indeed very formulaic and silly (I have found that while reading them is tiresome, I enjoy listening to them as audiobooks, because they are easy to enjoy while driving.) So I am fascinated that this girl would actually have 40+ passages in her book that are shockingly similar to those of now, 3 or 4 other books. It's ridiculous. Like she cut/paste her book together! What makes me sad, is that since she is young, this could reflect badly on all young writers, some of whom are truly talented.

But you gotta feel sorry for this poor girl...makes me think of the kid in Elizabethtown (a terrible movie..don't watch it)...but in that, he is a young superstar shoe designer and his shoe flops and loses billions for the company. I can't imagine being part of a screwup that big at such a young age.

Okay, anywho, I feel like a lame-o but I just voted for my favorite American Idol this week. The gray-haired guy was just so charming this week and I am worried that he could get sent home. His rendition of "Something" was actually sort of sexy. Heh. I guess I love the older men. I'm sure my 3 votes will help save him from elimination.

Okay, I did it again...4 votes.

your love is lifting me higher!

Oh yeah! Yeah yeah yeah!

I'm back in Houston. I just watched an hour long MTV "True Life - I want a perfect body 2" in which the kids don't use drugs or surgery to acheive their ideal body. So they worked out and whatnot whilst I watched and ate a burrito. I am also baking "magic dream bars" for Maria to cheer her during studying hell. I am a fattie, it's fine. This week I am vowing to work out every day since I don't have any school. I think I can do it.

I got to see AMEE on Friday. I stopped by her parents' house Friday on the way to Austin since she was in town. She looked great and told me tales of Exxon corporate life. Ooooh. She is coming back Memorial day weekend, so I can commence the countdown.

This weekend was Aneil's birfday extravaganza. Technically his birthday is May 2, but that's a Tuesday, so we improvised. Here are some highlights from the party on Sat night:


My darling brown boy donning the supersweet "birthday boy" hat. The party was at Serrano's...yummie! I think he should consider adopting this as his new look in an attempt to keep Austin weird.


Kat and Such went above and beyond and got him the Ghostbusters I&II box set...the perfect gift! Except he already owns it and is an avid fan (thus the sad face in pic). I am secretly hoping he decides to give it to me, as I do not own II on deebeedee. And you gotta love that Statue of Liberty scene.


Sean and Carol steal camera and take multiple self-portraits. Sean looks crazed, but boy is that Carol adorable. I feel like this picture sums up their couple-ness.


Aneil and best fren Phil. They are so freaking cute when they hang out together. Aneil will quote an obscure movie, Phil will complete the quote and they will laugh and nod knowingly, indicating that they love each other and they are the coolest guys ever. Sometimes one of us will recognize a quote and they nod and grin to each other like, yeah they're pretty cool too I guess.

Here's where I figured out how to make Sepia-colored photos...


Me + the ever-precious Sarah Sugg. We had mucho laughs making fun of weird girls and giggling over cute boys. She also charmed everyone with her spunk + beauty. She made Aneil a really cute card covered in glitter and Lisa Frank stickers. And balloons! So fun!


Erik and his friend (Jenny, I think?) make the best sick faces EVER!


Aneil and his best friends John and Rachel. I try really hard to charm them constantly but am never sure if I succeeded. Aneil looooves them and they are real delightful and hotttt so I will keep trying to charm.


Next morning we had lunch with all our parents at Kerby Lane, since mom was in town visiting Priscilla. Here we are looking sassy with our cute haircuts.


Aneil and his unbelievably cute parents. His mom is so pretty and has this calming peaceful demeanor that I am really drawn to. His dad is precious and so so funny...can only hope Aneil turns out half that cute when he is grown up.


We were worried that lunch would be awkward, but the parents all loved each other and we all laughed a lot. I like this picture because everyone is giggling. I also think they might all hang out sometime and not invite me and Aneil. :(


After a weekend of partying, I looked super sexy by Sunday morning. And luckily darling brown boy was there to capture me eating my whole grain granny ceral (he prefers cocoa krispies). I'm glad to be back, and am grateful to have a boy who loves me even when I look like this in the morning. (Although don't get me wrong, he still makes fun of me a lot.)

Everyone have a great week!

why'd you choose such a backward time in such a strange land?

So I’ve been jamming to my recent purchase “Jesus Christ Superstar” a lot this week, and it’s got me thinking (likely blasphemous) things. First, I feel really bad for Judas (makes sense, as “Superstar” is mostly told from his point of view). I mean, Jesus was his pal. He was in his inner circle and was at the last supper and everything! They were BFF. Then he turned him into the priests and ultimately doomed him to death. Man, that was a bonehead move. I wouldn’t dream of betraying any of my friends, especially if their life was on the line, but I mean, surely Judas never thought he would do that either…Sucks for him that his best pal happened to be the Son of God. Oops. Poor, poor Judas.

I also was thinking about the time and place of the events and the relatively small (in the grand scheme of things) number of people who got to interact with Jesus. Made me think, wow it’s crazy that so many people have faith that this man was the Son of God, when he was from such a seemingly random place and time and whose years of teaching were so limited. At first I felt like it is such a random strange thing to believe in, that I wondered why I had faith in it to begin with (purely on an intellectual level…like, why would I believe in someone who was crucified because people thought he was a lunatic?). But then I thought, maybe the fact that it WAS so seemingly small and random and strange yet has somehow endured and been documented and carried on through generations that makes it even more believable. Like, there must have been something unbelievably amazing about Jesus that made some people believe in him, and made others so afraid of him and his power. And it was all so amazing and awesome that it has endured as truth for all these years. I dunno, something to think about I guess. I should probably read more about it, in lieu of jamming. But I have to admit, I like thinking of Jesus as a “superstar”.

In other less philosophical news, I am going to Austin this weekend for darling brown boy’s birthday party. I am really looking forward to it, and to giving him his super sweet present.

Only other topics of note:

This was my last week of lecture. I have one final in 2 weeks and 1 take home final, so shouldn’t be too bad.

Why are celebrities so into procreating lately? I mean, Britney Spears? Again? Good grief.

Innertube tummie is getting out of control and may indeed take over my entire body at any moment. Need to work out need to work out.

Goodnight and goodluck.

it's over and done with

Hi gang!

I am back in business. Fabulous computer has made using Excel + IMing + downloading pics to blog possible! Huzzah for technology! Also, I realized the other day that my new printer is also a scanner & copier! Sweeeet.

Last week was busy and went by in a flash. I also ate these fried foods:
1) Chick-fil-a #1 combo with a ironic diet coke
2) Chicken fried Chicken & squash casserole at Treebeards.

As promised, here is the graphical representation of the progress I have made in my strive toward an Objectivism epiphany. Not so bad so far, although I apparently am under the impression that it is a Danielle Steele novel, because I keep hoping the railroad lady is going to make out with the copper mine guy, but Ayn Rand will probably not make that happen for me. I need some romance! Ha.

In other news, I went to Austin this weekend and got a cuuuuuute haircut! (See pics attached below.) We had a lot of fun, too. Aneil drove me to the salon, then we went to Waterloo, where I got a copy of "Jesus Christ Superstar" double disc for $4 and a Pretenders cd for $5. We also went to an adorable (and supremely delicious) Brick Oven pizza. I have no idea which one it was, but I am assuming Aneil does. We also baked a deliciouuuus carrot cake for Amanda's birfday.

Sat night was the birfday festivus supreme. Korean BBQ until I almost popped (considering I ate half a pizza for lunch). There is also this ice cream called Mo Chi that was the best dessert EVER! We then went to Oak Hills to catch up with the whole gang! (Link over to Diane's blog for a bunch of pics) Here are the few that I took (and the group photo I stole from Diane's page):

Love you all! Good grief, my friends are pretty. And Amanda is the hottest best friend ever! Yay for hanging out time. I wish all my best friends could've been there. Have a fun week and good luck with finals, everyone!

to my heart he carries the key

Hi darlings!

I have a new computer! It doesn't take 5 minutes for my IMs to appear! I can actually use Microsoft Office! This rocks!

Last weekend I went home. It is stressful most of the time, because of all of the work on the house and lack of daddy. However, I want to give props to Fro, who really came through and went above and beyond to help Mom over his spring break! He is alot better at communicating with her than I am plus he supervised all of the house repairs despite his ridiculous allergies/wheezing/sneezing. He is also living at home this summer to look after mom, so that's great too. When did Fro become a grownup?

Fried Foods Consumed since the end of Lent:
1) 6 Filipino Eggrolls
2) Serving of Fried Okra
3) The Tortilla Strips on my Chili's Quesadilla Explosion salad

I strangely have not had Chick-Fil-A yet. I meant to today, but I HAD to have steamed dumplings. I don't even like dumpligs usually, but am convinced that the food court dumplings are laced with some sort of addictive substance. I yearn for them constantly. Also, I am so over french fries, and may quit eating them altogether.

American Idol was great tonight...what's with that? Obviously working under the watchful eye of Rod "Do You Think I'm Sexy?" Stewart really helped. Really, it's just that when they have theme shows that cross genres, they all do pretty well. That Katherine chick is unbelievably beautiful. However, I'm ridiculously charmed by the goofy gray-haired guy.

I see my darling Amanda this weekend, so be jealous, kids.

I am 10% done with Atlas Shrugged! I can't believe it! I'm going to start tracking my progress in Excel and copying it here for your reference (since I can use Excel on new computer!!). I understand now why the people who recommended the book to me did so. They were all brilliant, talented, amazing people. So a philosphy that tells you that everything you do should be for an objective reason and that achieving all that you can is ultimately benefitting the greater good makes sense to amazing people. I don't mind the book so far, but yes, it is tedious. I hope to make it through the whole thing this time.

Okay, I have to do something about my messy apartment. At some point, it gets so messy it starts making me sad. We've hit that point.

sugar sugar, oh honey honey

Disclaimer: This will have to be the longest post ever, since much has occurred since previous practically forgotten post. I will try to use list format to help keep things organized.

It’s almost Easter (which I love). I’ve included the above picture for the occasion. Also because it makes me laugh and laugh and laugh, and I don’t know why. Also think it adds that quirky je ne sais quois that my blog has been lacking recently.

1) My mom came to town to hang out and we ordered this enormous lobster. Of course we later realized that just ordering a lobster tail would’ve been a better idea.

2) I also had jury duty, which I was hoping to photo-chronicle and whatnot, but my juror number never got called, so I didn’t even get considered for a jury. I was dismissed at noon, after sitting in an assembly room and watching Fox news for 3 solid hours (lame). On the upside, they sold really delicious breakfast tacos at the snack bar, and I had a funny conversation with a guy about how “Atlas Shrugged” is impossible to read.

3) I’ve also decided to endorse the concept of the “lingerie shower”. I went to Kat’s, and it was charming and not scandalous at all. She is also the cutest person alive, so that helps.

4) I went to visit Kevin after the shower, and he took me to Mike’s Place, a neighborhood bar. They were having karaoke night, and it was the sort of absurd lewd drunken songfest that I’m convinced only exists to amuse/amaze/astound people like me. Very strange indeed. In pathetic news, the heels of my shoes got wedged in Kevin’s doormat and I have the scraped knee from hell. I really don’t think it will ever heal. It’s been more than a week and it’s still kind of gross looking.

5) I was sick and stayed home from work and literally all I did for 2 days was watch tv. It was gloooorious. I re-watched Arrested Development Season 1, then Maria loaned me Season 2 (so so funnie). She also loaned me a bootleg copy of the first few episodes of 3…eep! I also watched a lot of MTV reality tv (8th & Ocean!) and caught an episode of Blow Out. Oh joy. I did NOT study for my stat test, but it turned out to be not too terrible, so in retrospect, I’m glad I was a sloth for 2 days.

6) My internal clock, however, is completely confused due to sloth days + daylight savings + current addiction to Starbucks Café Vanilla Light Frappucinos. This is still better than the exorbitant fat intake associated with the Eggnog Latte addiction and the supply/demand issues with the Seattle’s Best Honey Vanilla Lattes…since the only Seattle’s Best anywhere near me is at the Borders on W. Alabama. At any rate, these Café Vanilla thingys are delicious and I crave them constantly.

7) Also crazy about this cafeteria-style restaurant downtown called Treebeards. They rent out a church dining hall at lunchtime and it’s quaint and they have the best squash casserole around…but only on Fridays!

8) What’s with the e-harmony old man in the commercials? He freaks me out a little, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because he’s sort of orange-y and claims that he can help me find the soulmate I’ve been searching for, someone who will accept me for who I am (i.e. my “everlasting love”). I’m also convinced that I would never ever have matched with Aneil via a computer dating service.

9) Also is it just me or is American Idol getting crappier every week? Could be that the first week I watched was the one where Barry Manilow coached them + rearranged their songs for them, so maybe that’s why it was better…they need you back, Barry! Seriously, I had no idea that guy was so talented before I watched that episode. Oh Barry, well you came and you gave without taking…

10) I miss this girl like crazy already:

11) I always miss this girl:

12) This past weekend was delightful. Spent time with darling brown boy…he took me to see the cu-te-est singer-songwriter duo since Simon & Garfunkel…The Weepies. They were actually cuter because they are in love…she listened to his solo stuff, he listened to hers, they found out they were each other’s fans and got together. She (Deb?) is amazing and obviously the star. The opener was Mike the Electrician, who was also charming as heck.

13) Saturday we played disc golf. I could tell it wasn’t a real sport when the group ahead of us was smoking whilst throwing their discs. Some people were really good at it. Aneil wasn’t half bad. I was mediocre, but had fun playing in the sun, so whatever.

14) Think I’m going to move to Austin someday.

15) I still loooooove the Cookie Monster from Cheddar’s.

16) Kat and Such are adorable and I bet their wedding will be super fun so I’m excited about that.

17) Last night, in lieu of doing my taxes, I watched Deal or No Deal (and 2 straight hours of The Apprentice). Deal or no Deal is strangely intriguing, although the game takes no skill whatsoever. Even “Press Your Luck”, in which you simply pressed a button to stop the board, included trivia questions to earn “spins”. And in “Price is Right” you have to know stuff like, how much Hoover vacuum replacement bags cost. But Deal or No Deal simply requires you choosing a number 1-26 and watching the hot models open the cases. Sure there might be some statistics involved, but it’s still all luck. But there are hot models + Howie Mandel so I guess that makes for good tv. I also liked on “The Apprentice” when the British guy started jumping up & down declaring his project manager was a “wanker”! Ha I’ve wanted to do that on many occasions.

Okay, that’s about it. School is really busy for the next few weeks, so I will be more absent. HOWEVER, I have ordered a new computer…a glorious lil laptop…so I will probably be more inclined to update blog since it will take a fraction of the time it takes now. Eep!

big bend it like beckham

I’m back! Big Bend was fun, but first, here is my Lake Charles Painting Pictorial from 2 weeks ago.

Bo + Spackle = Fun Times:

Teamwork is important whilst spackling:

Aneil & Lauren try to do actual work whiles Amee tries to spackle Aneil’s head:

Aunt Jenny provides donuts + provides occasional commentary:

Okay, so last week was spring break. Which meant I got to go to work + work on my Finance project, so it wasn’t much of a break. On the plus side, since I had no classes, I got to watch American Idol for the first time. The dad-looking guy makes me laugh, and there are a couple of girls who are awesome. Also although I hate modern rock, that bald-headed "rocker" guy is really good.

Thursday I left work and headed to Austin. Along the way I was so excited because I stopped at a random gas station that stocked Trolli Strawberry Puffs, which, for whatever reason, you can’t find anywhere anymore! (Maybe because they’re sort of gross, but I love them.) This falls into my list of items that have been discontinued and I mourn the loss regularly:

5. Revlon Lipstick Color "Granite"
4. Freaks and Geeks
3. Tato Skins Chips (which in all fairness have been reinvented as TGIFridays Chips)
2. Trolli Strawberry Puffs
1. LEMON COOLERS! (damn you Keebler for purchasing the glorious Sunshine cookie company and discontinuing the best cookie of all time)

Okay yeah, so then, Aneil and I feasted (!) on Olive Garden Unlimited Soup + Salad + Spaghetti + Breadsticks. We just kept eating and eating lettuce and the nice waiter kept heaping grated cheese on all of our foods. It was strangely satisfying and delicious.

Then we had to get up super early to depart for Big Bend, which, it turns out is >500 miles away from Austin. We rode in my car and brought along Aneil’s friend Ashley, and his girlfriend/friend/something-or-other, Kristen. Both were real nice and Ashley found me to be a little odd, I think:

The other car consisted of Aneil’s friends Brent and Kenneth, also both very cool/nice/etc:

We finally got to Big Bend about 8 hours later…the scenery was great:

And our accommodations cozy (although every time the wind blew the rain cover I thought it was a bear/mountain lion):

Friday night was the chili cook out and it was delic-i-o-so. I filled my tummie with chili and s’mores and beer before heading to bed at like, 10:30.
Next morning we woke up and drove out to Boquillas Canyon to hike and look at Mexico from across the Rio Grande. While there we climbed one of the rocks:

So we could run down it:

But I was worried about my lil granny knees so I slid down it on butt:

Then we practiced the ancient art of rock skipping, and got somewhat addicted to it:

The perfect rock! (note crazed look in eye):

We also drove out to the hot springs and dipped our feet in. (It was hot) And then dipped them in the Rio Grande (It was cold). Post hiking, we were worn out, but had to rush to take showers at the lodge and get ready for the wedding. The weather turned out to be really pretty and everything fell into place. Here are Bob & Steph looking pretty:

The reception was fun. I didn’t take any pictures (doh!) but they decorated the ramada with white tarps and tulle and it was adorable and festive and super fun. The bikers/caterers, Pam and Sid, were really nice and made yummie fajitas (love that guac!) and in lieu of cake they had cookies in the shape of Texas that said Bob (heart) Steph. Adorable. We danced the night away, but of course were in bed by 9:30.

Next morning we were up and out of there. Goodbye Big Bend!

Seriously, it was the longest drive ever, especially because everyone got dropped off in Austin (around 5pm) and I had to keep driving by myself to Houston until 10pm or so. Phew! Getting up early Monday to drive to one of the plants at 7am was exhausting to say the least.

Anywho, I should start studying for my Stat test or something. Woo.