PWC and Shade 4 Hair

Post-wedding chop.

For the past seventeen months, I have been growing out my hair. I've gotten probably 3 real haircuts during this time, all of which were just trims to try and keep some sort of semblance to the loooong hair. I like my long hair, really I do, but the washing and the drying and the straightening and the constant tangley mess that it turns into every single day was really wearing me out. So I did what I always do when I get to this point in any hair-growing-out journey. I frantically called any and every salon I can find until I can find someone who can get me in today for a haircut right now.

I decided I might as well find a salon in McKinney, so I can have a hair place near home. So I goggled around and narrowed my choices down to two salons, based purely on how nice their websites were. (side note: the one I didn't chose was Tangerine Salon in Allen, which is offering $75 worth of services for $35 in today's Groupon. I kinda sorta totally want to buy it for next time!). I ended up calling the one with the lower price list, and setup an appointment for the following afternoon. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go significantly shorter (maybe shoulder length?) or just cut off a couple inches and do some serious hair maintenance, so I figured I would just wing it when I sat in the chair.

Which is pretty much exactly what I did. My stylist was Brandon, the probably-gay-just-moved-down-to-Texas-from-Beverly-Hills-and-claims-to-know-all-the-trends guy with the slightly messy, almost faux hawk hair cut. He asked me what I wanted to do, and I sort of mumbled that I liked it long but wanted it shorter and wanted some shape to it without too many layers all over the place. What does that even mean? I don't know. But Brandon knew. We went to wash my hair and while I was in the chair, another girl who had just gotten her hair colored came over and asked him what he thought of her new highlights. He point blank told her he didn't like them! He was like "you did too much on top and I liked it better before." Ouch.

So we make our way back to the chair and he combs mine out and starts chopping. We decided he'd take about 2 inches off, but other than that I pretty much let him do whatever. He asked me if I wanted a "Brazilian Triangle" cut, which I guess is all the rage in California but only girls with long hair can do it. I told him to make me a subtle version of it, so my hair now makes a subtle triangle shape in the back. (??) He styled it by drying it in tiny sections with a round brush, and I wish I could explain how he did it. After drying each piece, he would unwind the hair off the brush by flinging it and twisting it in the air so it fell kind of backwards and landed with a slight curve. It was pretty fancy!

Oh and Brandon also told me that I have Shade 4 brown hair, which is apparently the very best shade to have and all the girls who want to grow brunette ask for shade 4. Shade 3 is to mousey and shade 5 is too dark. Conveniently, Brandon also has shade 4 hair, so we are now BFFs forever. He made me promise I wouldn't color my hair until I absolutely have to, which hello I wasn't doing anyway. Hair coloring is too pricey for this girls budget!

So anyways! Here's how the haircut came out. I wish I had better pictures to show. In fact, I'm slightly embarrassed to even put these up. The before pic was taken at work with my phone just before I left for the salon. The pic is blurry, I look angry and my hair looks gross. The after was also taken with the phone, but in the car at the gas station while Mark was pumping gas. And I look startled in it. I wish I had a back picture so you could all see the triangle (?) but that will have to be another day.


And that, my friends, is the post wedding chop. Not a chop so much, but boy does a little shape go a long way!

Rain = Sleepy

Oh Monday. You always come too quickly. I had a nice, lazy, rainy weekend and it was just what I needed. I babysat Friday night and since nothing was on TV, I browsed through their DVR list and ended up watching the pilot for Vampire Diaries on the CW. It was pretty fabulous. It was Gossip Girl meets Twilight meets True Blood. Lots of high school drama, some teen vampire crushes, and bloody attacks in the the forest. Pretty good mix! Vampires are so trendy right now, so I figured I'll stick with it a little longer. Oh and speaking of GG, how excited are we about the premiere tonight?!

Three hours later and $30 richer, I went to bed early Friday night. When I woke up Saturday morning I knew I needed to clean the apartment. We've been out of town for so many weekends that everything has gotten greatly neglected. I got on the ball and ended up filing away mail, dusting the ceiling fans, washing the bed skirt and scrubbing the bathtub -- all kinds of things I usually skip over. My mom called me three times that morning from the Muenster City Wide Garage Sale - she and my sister go tup at 7 AM to hit up the sales and called me hourly to report on all their good finds. We are stocking up on candles and class vases for the wedding and she apparently found a lot of loot. I need to get back up there soon to check it all out, and to meet with the florist.

Last week Mark and I met with Kristen, our fabulous WP/BFF, and the three of us worked out the dreaded budget. It's good to finally have some numbers though, so we can move forward with some sort of game plan. Next up on the list is hiring a DJ. Kristen pretty much already has us sold on a guy she knows, but we're going to meet with him next week to make sure he's what we're looking for and in our price range. My mom has really been on the ball lately - she's booked us with the cake guy in town and even got the piano player at church to put us on his calendar. Everyone keeps telling us to call them in the spring, but at least we know they've got us on their books!

Saturday night I went to a couples shower for a friend who's getting married in a few weeks. We watched football and sipped on champagne while the bride and groom opened heir gifts, then Mark and I snuck out early. Sunday morning I watched a lot of House Hunters and then met up with Christina for lunch at the Galleria. She talked me into her five must have items for fall, so we're hunting out the best deals on gray handbags and brown boots. I've been so good for the past few months and NOT SHOPPING, but I couldn't resist a good sale and a 30% off coupon from ATL. I went in for a shirt I knew they had marked down, but came out with an additional two sweaters and some little camis. I couldn't help myself! It had been too long. I'm back on my no shopping diet now though. And avoiding the malls...

I headed up to McKinney after lunch to go check out Mark's new u-verse and have pot roast for dinner (we love the crock pot!). I got there around 2:30 and by 3:00 the (brand new) cable was frozen and the internet was down. Six hours later it was still out, so I missed the MTV awards and Mark missed all the late day football. He called up AT&T and chewed them out pretty good, so they are apparently coming back over this evening to get it up and running again. You'd be surprised how dull a rainy evening can be with no cable or internet! We actually ended up watching Titanic on VHS.. Mark's idea! So it wasn't a total loss. And for someone who swears up and down he's only seen Titanic once in his entire life, he sure did know a lot of the lines by heart :)

The weekend came and went too fast, but we've once again got a pretty open schedule ahead of us this week. I love not traveling! We're home every weekend between now and mid-October. It's nice to know that things are going to slow down for a bit.

Keeping You on Your Toes

I decided to switch up my header, just to spice things up. This is a picture of my parents' "herd" of longhorns, up at our house in Muenster. Are you in the market for a longhorn? Feel free to give my folks a call and arrange to bring one of these guys home to your backyard. Check 'em out at Double N Cattle. (Or, looking for a website designer? My sister is your gal).

This past weekend we debated switching up our wedding venue and date. My mom found a ranch that hosts private events about 20 miles from the church we'll be getting married in, so she went to check it out with my dad and sisters. She calls me Friday morning and insists that this is THE place we've been looking for and that we must book it right now, but they aren't available on our date. But they do have a Saturday in June open. So I call the priest. The photographer. The WP. The future in-laws. (All while in the car driving out to the lake for the weekend.) And everyone is free on the June date. So we decide to go check the place out when we get back into town on Sunday. It was a very charming, very rustic ranch complete with some goats and a miniature horse. They had a ballroom that had the right look, but it was just too small. Even though the owner (who could not have been any nicer) swore they can set it up for 270, I just couldn't imagine us all crammed in that space. So we decided to forgo it and stick with what we've got. I'm relived because the idea of switching everything and notifying everyone already involved was nerve racking. But I am also bummed, because the ranch and the people who owned it were fabulous.

Well, Gus is demanding my attention. He's pretty cute, so I guess I'll go play with him for a while :)

Is it the Weekend Yet? Oh wait, it still IS the weekend.

I know its still relatively early on Sunday and I can for sure tell people are still partying it up at my apartment pool (I can hear their shouts and splashes from my couch!) but I'm ready for this week to wrap up and move on to NEXT weekend. I LOVE the Fourth of July. I LOVE going to the lake. I'm only working three days this week (woo!), Mark's brother is coming home from Beijing for a little vacation on Thursday (woo!), we get to celebrate our engagement with him since we haven't seen him in months (woo!) and by Friday we'll be lounging on the boat/admiring the lake all weekend! Woo!

Changing subjects COMPLETELY, I saw My Sister's Keeper this afternoon with a couple friends. It was a good movie. It totally puts you into a family with a child dying from cancer and completely breaks your heart. But. Call me the "That's Not What Happened in the Book Police," but Hello?? That's not what happened in the book!! Please. Someone read the book and then go see the movie so we can hash it out.

And because I can't not talk about the wedding, here's the colors I'm leaning towards. We just can't pick anything that even remotely resembles OU crimson. That's Mark's only color request. I'm thinking something in the raisin shade for the b-maid dresses. That's not too OU is it?!



Now I should really go for a run at the gym. I've got my workout clothes and shoes on and everything. But ahhhh I. don't. want. to. Bah. I will though. Bah.

TGIF

How glad am I that today is Friday!? Four day weeks always feel so much longer than usual ones, and this week has been no exception. Stephanie is in town from California, so we're meeing up at her favorite place for dinner tonight. Any guesses from the audience on where that is? Mi Cocina in Highland Park, of course! It wouldn't be a visit from Steph without hitting up the HPV MiCo.

Look at this cute little guy. Happy Friday!

On the road again..

This is a first. Blogging on the phone, from the road, where we have apparently missed the entire town that we were going to stop at for lunch.

We're nearing ft. Worth. Our tummies are rumbling.

More to come. But in case you've been worried, I am still alive!

Late Night Blogging

10:15. This is late night for me. I am usually half asleep, trying to stay awake for the weather report by this time. I don't know why I'm not tired today. I just watched the 18th hour of the Bachelor for the week. I'm over it. And also a little bummed that Jillian is the next Bachelorette. She didn't really impress me that much. Plus, I think they need to cut this thread of rejects and start fresh. It's gone from Brad to Deanna to Jason to Jillian. I might have to officially give up on this show. I say that, but I probably won't for real. It's a fun thing to watch with friends. We've started g-chatting during the episodes, since we don't all live in the same town and can't watch it all together like we did in college. Plus, if I didn't watch it, what would I talk about at lunch every Tuesday? Sigh.

Tomorrow is Mark and I's two year anniversary. This is also my first time to ever celebrate a two year anniversary. It seems like such a long time. But then again, it does feel like I've known Mark forever. We're getting lunch together to celebrate, which is exciting because it makes the work day a little exciting and gives me a reason to get a little more dressed up than usual. So that will be fun :) He doesn't read this blog (or even know it exists) so I can reveal the amazing gift I got him for the occasion. Ready? A lamp. His first lamp for his house (that he has lived in for four years). He says he doesn't believe in lamps. Thinks they are stupid. I am here to change his mind and show him the true gloriousness of the soft dim glow of a lamp. I LOVE lamps. 99% of the time, I use lamps instead of the overhead lights. I have (mentally counting...) six lamps in my one bedroom/700 square foot apartment. One in the kitchen, one on my desk, two in the living room and two in my bedroom. I would have one in the bathroom as well, but it only has one plug outlet and it would be too annoying to plug and unplug it every morning for the hair dryer/straightener routine. I even have two lamps at my desk at work. Is this a little crazy? Perhaps.

In the spirit of keeping this post completely random, today at work I helped with a pizza party for 45 PreK kiddos, three cars got broken into in our school's parking lot, our phones were down all afternoon and are expected to stay dead until end of the day tomorrow, and the three legged cat bit me (another story for another day). But the good news is that my boss handed me and my two coworkers her school credit card at 12:30 and told us to go get lunch on her. So we had a nice (long) break at corner bakery, My only regret? We didn't get dessert.

Jay Leno's on now. I should so be asleep.

25

Everyone and their dog is doing this on facebook. My coworkers and I had a big discussion today at work about how lame this whole 25 Random Facts thing is. But secretly? I really want to do it. I'm facebook friends with the girls at work, so I had to secretly stash it on my secret blog because yeah, we have also talked repeatedly about how lame blogs are. I just smile and agree...

1. My freshman year of college, I went to Mt. Bonnell three times in two weeks with three different boys. Mt. Bonnell is a scenic overlook that is up in the hills above Lake Travis. It's very make-out-point like, even though places like that really only exist in 80's movies. I somehow managed to have three different boys take a liking to me at the same time and they all had the idea to take me to Mt. Bonnell. I kept telling each one that I had never been there before, even though some of these outings were only days apart.

2. I love cereal and eat it every morning for breakfast. I don't have it with milk though. I love it dry. I do pour it into a bowl and eat it with a spoon, even if its just plain, dry cheerios.

3. I've had my cat Gus for almost a year and a half. I never paid the pet deposit at my apartment. I used to try to hide him and not let him go near the windows, but now i don't even bother. I open the blinds halfway every morning for him to look out while I am at work.

4. I have been pulled over for speeding four times, but only gotten a ticket once. It was in a construction zone and I was going 26 over, so it hurt pretty badly.

5. I have totaled two cars. The first was in high school on my way to school, the second about three years ago, on the way home from work. But I was having to work on a Saturday, which sucked, so I always felt that I wasn't supposed to be driving in that spot at that time. Both wrecks involved me rear ending the car in front of me. Hmm. That's always your fault, right?

6. Sometimes when I am running, I start to make up dance routines to the music I am listening to on my iPod. They are always elaborate drill team competition routines from my high school days, and I always insert a lot of spins and turns into them, probably because I could never do the spins and turns very well. If I am running on a street with no cars/people, I even act out the arm movements as I imagine a flawless team of girls doing my perfect routines.

7. I also pretend that the music i listen to in my iPod is a soundtrack to my life, as if i were in a movie. I play out all kinds of scenarios, some real, some not, that fit perfectly with the song. I obviously wish i was on an MTV reality show.

8. My entire elementary school years, I wanted to be a teacher. I still have days where I wish I had been an education major and was teaching 3rd grade somewhere today. I think someday I will still be a teacher.

9. My senior year of college, I went with four friends to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was just how you would imagine Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street to be - crowded, messy and incredibly fun.

10. The summer before I started fourth grade, I spent several weeks with my cousin in Oklahoma. She always wanted to ride bikes, but I didn't know how to ride a bike and was too embarrassed to tell her. So I always acted like I hated riding bikes. By the next summer, I had learned to ride my bike and my cousin came to stay with my family for a few weeks. We rode bikes every day and she always asked me while I suddenly liked to ride them. I never fessed up. I did however fall off my bike that summer, and break my arm in two places. It sucked.

11.My favorite movie is Love Actually. My favorite book is Atonement. My favorite band is The Fray.

12. I love, love, LOVE listening to Kidd Kraddick in the morning. It reminds me of my dad driving me to middle school at MIS and I still listen to it as I get ready and drive to work every morning. I feel like they are my friends.

13. I once won a cell phone on the radio by calling in with the list of the five top songs of the day. I called before they had even played all the songs, just to make sure I had the number right. The DJ himself answered and when I told him I was calling early to test the number, he told me he would let me win. So I stayed on the line with him while he finished playing all the songs and then started the contest. Caller number 10 or something was supposed to win, but he totally cheated and just pretended that I had called in at the correct time. He was very sleazy and was making jokes with me that I was too young to understand. I never used the cell phone because my parents wouldn't commit to the two year contact to activate it.

14. My boyfriend pretends that Carrie Underwood is his ex-girlfriend, so I pretend that Justin TImberlake is my future BF.

15. I hate voicemails and avoid checking them until I absolutely have to. This means I usually have to go through three or four two week old voicemails to hear one when I finally need to check it. This same rule applies to work. I despise coming in in the morning and seeing my voicemail light blinking. Please, just email me instead.

16. At the end of college, my friends and I had rituals that involved eating terribly. Every Sunday night, we went to Chili's and ordered chips and salsa and the fried chicken strips. Tuesdays was McDonalds happy meals, sometimes even the two cheeseburger meal. With fries. Thursdays we went to Taco Cabana and ate tortillas and burritos and tacos. Fridays was happy hours at the Merc. It should be no surprise that I gained the freshman 15 during my senior year.

17. When I graduated UT, I literally left Austin after the ceremony to go start my job in Dallas. I drove with my mom, while my Dad and siblings pulled the U-haul home. I cried until at least Temple, at which time my mom told me to get over it and shut up. No part of me wanted to leave my life in Austin as a student living with all my best friends and having zero responsibility other than going to class and passing the tests.

18. Once I got back to Dallas and started working, it amazed me how much easier working full time was, compared with being in school. My job was demanding and I often worked late hours, but once I left work I didn't have to think about it until the next day. I didn't know what to do with myself in the evenings, since I didn't have to read, write papers or study. It was a weird feeling.

19. Now, I would love to go back to school. I miss sitting in class, taking notes, learning new things. I hate to see shows on TV with college kids in it because I am immediately so envious of them. It's not so much the lifestyle I miss anymore, but the actual being in school and getting to read and learn about so many new things. Yes, I am a bit of a dork.

20. I am really good at being a bridesmaid.

21. I do not like cheese. I will eat foods with cheese in them, as long as it is not one of the main ingredients. For example, I do not like and you couldn't pay me to eat macaroni and cheese, cheeseburgers, string cheese, anything with alfredo sauce or cheese enchiladas. Queso is the absolute worse offender. Yuck.

22. I had an internship at the Make a Wish Foundation in college. Among other things, I was trained as a wish grantor and assigned a kid whose wish I got to help grant. He was a high school student who had overcome a brain tumor and wished for a vintage Les Paul guitar. I know nothing about guitars, but we did get him what I later found out was a pretty amazing guitar. Autographed no less.

23. It is incredibly hard to think of 25 interesting facts about myself. Have I mentioned that I have an incredible boyfriend?

24. I won third place in the 2nd grade spelling bee. The word that I got out on was avenue. I also won 1st place in the Geography Bee in 4th grade. I beat a 5th grade boy in the tie breaker round and had to skip recess to take a test one day to try and make the regional round. I was so mad about missing recess that I raced through the test without even really trying. I remember my teacher asking me if I was sure I didn't want to look back over my answers before I turned it in and I just wanted to get outside and play with my friends. I never made it to the regionals.

25. In grade school, I read almost every Baby Sitter's Club book, in order. I say almost because they were writing them faster than I could keep up and I ended up losing interest around book number 82. I still have all of them, in big plastic tubs in my parents' attic.

Whew. Your turn.

It's a New Year

So, I survived my first week back at work after the holiday break. Dare I say it wasn't that bad? It actually felt nice to have a purpose to each day, other than laying on the couch watching Ellen and My House is Worth What (but don't get me wrong, those days were great). I eased back into the other aspects of my regular routine - meaning I have yet to step foot into the gym during 2009, but I have taken two jog/walks and started a new goal of 10 push-ups a day. I encourage every one to try this.. it's really tough for the first 3 or 4 days, but you'd be surprised how quickly they get easier. I'm already pumping my ten out with ease and will probably start doing 12 soon. Plus, it literally takes about 30 seconds, so there's no excuses to not doing them. First thing in the AM, right after work, just before bed -- you can do them in PJs or heels.. give it a try.

Looking forward, I'm doing the ever so original resolution to lose weight, which means eating better and working out more. So creative, I know. But I'm going to give myself some rewards, in hopes of really motivating myself to succeed. I'm thinking that bribing myself with the JCrew spring catalog (hello summer, I am officially ready for you to be here) might actually make it happen. I'll keep you posted.

I'm babysitting tonight. Joy. It's really no that painful, but I'd much rather spend the evening at Mark's house, watching the new Gossip Girl episode. However, I am only $40 away from having enough cash to buy an iPhone next month, when my AT&T contract is up for renewal. I told myself I would not spend a dime of any "real" money on it, and cash feels so make-believe to me. So I'm stashing it away whenever possible to make sure I'm there in line on February 1.

Following Sadie's lead, here are some things to celebrate on this Monday morning, when I for one would love to be in my bed, under the covers

* Getting to see so many of my DG girls in Austin this weekend. It was a reunion weekend in true PC '01 style with a large Mexican dinner, tailgate hopping, walking 20 blocks to the stadium, a Longhorn victory, a night out downtown and brunch at Trudy's Sunday morning, sans showers
* Cats who sit on shoulders and hang upside down
* Pedi-cab rides when an actual taxi cab is no where to be found and the call center is experiencing an "unusual amount of call activity"
* Longhorn football games!
* My Texas Tech born and bred brother doing the Hook Em and singing the Eyes of Texas
* Super BF being a great sport about his 8th year in a row of watching his Cowboys be defeated by the Horns
* New puppies named Maggie Mae
* One week until my birthday!
* One month until Thanksgiving!
* Two months until Christmas!
* A trip to South Bend this weekend to attend my first ever Notre Dame football game
* Homecooked dinners in Muenster with Halloween goodie bags for all
* Halloween costumes! What do you wear when the highs are in the 40's??
* Wedding Weekends with old friends and fun

What reasons to you have to smile this Monday?

xoxo

Oh Amazon.com, how I love thee. My newest purchase? Season One of Gossip Girl, pre-ordered a month ago, just arrived in my mailbox today. I have never seen a single episode of this show, until just now. I am loving it already. Oh high school.

I find it humorous that the boys ride the city bus to school. Shouldn't they have drivers or something? Jags? and OMG Serena didn't get invited to the Kiss and Tell Party, or whatever its called. I can tell that this is going to be good. I vow to be all caught up by the time season 2 rolls around in September.

Listy

What I'm doing:

- Baking cupcakes for Maggie and Jordan's birthday.  They are Mark's two labs and they are turning seven.  Last year I made them sugar cookies shaped like dog bones.  This year, they get carrot cake cupcakes - totally safe for doggies to eat.

- Watching the Olympics.  I love the Olympics!  I'm watching swimming and hoping to stay awake for all of the girls gymnastics finals.  The time difference makes for some late start times!

- Laundry.  woo hoo.

What I've been doing:

- I cleaned out my closet this weekend and took some stuff to Plato's Closet, a resale shop that buys your old clothes and resells it.  I was hoping to make a bit of cash and then go shopping, as I want to get some new work clothes before school starts.  They gave me a whopping $7 for a mere 3 things that I brought in.  Well.  That bought me lunch at the mall food court.  Awesome.

- I hit up the Outlet Mall anyway and came away with some good buys.  I did best at Gap and Banana Republic (although I wish I had a discount and tax free like Sadie!)

- Being swanky celebrating birthdays at Sambuca

- Spending some quality time at the car dealership while Mark traded in his old Accord for the 2008 model.  It's nice. 

What I will be doing:

- Working on Friday, for the first time since May. Oh Boo.  But, they are feeding us breakfast and lunch that day, so I guess I'll survive.

- Babysitting this Saturday, to earn a little more cash, since Plato's Closet was such a disappointment.  

- Hitting up the first DG Dallas Alumni happy hour of they year.  Now that I'm not an officer in the group and forced to attend every event, I'm actually looking forward to it much more than last year.

Baaaaack

Hi Blogging Friends,

After a brief trip to Sarasota, FL with NO computer and NO way to check email, I am back. I was so disconnected from the world. I now understand why people who don't sit at a computer all day need Blackberries. I felt so lost.

I have lots to share about my trip, such as cab ride adventures, homeless people laughing in my face and $50 trips to the beach. A free public beach, no mind you. But alas, now is not the time. Today is my one day in the office this week, so I guess I need to play catch up.

Stay tuned though, there is more to come.

Oh and for the record, my apartment is STILL NOT REPAIRED from the flood. Oh how I hate you, leasing office girls and your hollow promises.

Summer Do

This one's for Meredith. I cut my hair last week and ever since then it has seemed to me to be VERY SHORT. But you know how you never really know how a haircut looks until you see a picture of yourself? Well this is the first one I've taken so far (by me in a mirror no less), and it just doesn't look that short! It feels like much less, trust me. I cut almost four inches off, according to my trusty stylist. It's great for the summer, since it takes about ten minutes less to blow dry.

And for those of you losing sleep over the state of my apartment, they finally got all the carpet replaced and cleaned last night. It looks very nice. The silver lining of the whole ordeal is that I got all the carpet cleaned, not just the part that got wet. So it looks like brand new carpet throughout! The next step is repairing and retexturing the ceiling where the water came through. This will take place next Tuesday and Wednesday. The good news is I'll be on a beach in Florida while that's happening! I hope to come home to a completely finished project. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

On My Mind

I am one episode behind on The Hills.  Since I don't have DVR, I have to watch all my TV live (gasp!) and run into a little predicament since TH comes on at the same time as The Bachelor.  So I watch the rerun of The Hills at 8:30 and then switch over to Bachelor at 9:00.  Hence I am always one behind.  So I just saw LC's reunion with Stephen, al la Laguna Beach.  omg.  LC needs to be with Stephen.

I just bought Leona Lewis's album Spirit on Itunes.  It's amazing.

Morgan Ash is on the Jewelry Channel, selling jewels on live TV.  This is amazing.  

Kenny Chesney was fun this weekend.  But the real surprise was when Uncle Kracker made a surprise appearance.  Yes, you remember him.  He sang "Follow Me" in 2001.  He also sang it this weekend.  Talk about a one hit wonder.  Jason Whitten also showed up and attempted to sing "Back Where I Come From" with Kenny.  Let's just say Jason should stick with football...

Lovely List

Things I love right now:

jelly beans

sub of the day

house hunters

Gus sitting on the windowsill all day

vacuuming

wireless internet

Nineteen Minutes

skirts

dinner with friends

Things I do not love right now:

the weather - hot one day, cold the next

mark working 14 hours a day

waking up for work

the dent in my car

breakfast - I'm over Cheerios and sick of toast

Lists

There are some important things to note today. Since I am at work with plenty to do, I am just going to list them out. Enjoy.

1. It snowed twice last week. This week, the predicted high is 89 degrees. Gotta love Texas weather!

2. I went to a wedding on Saturday night with Mark and some of his coworkers. His boss was there sans his wife, so he took the opportunity to drink a lot and ask everyone awkward questions. While a Brad Paisley song was playing, he asked me and Mark if this was going to be our song at our wedding. I just rolled with the punches and told him no, it wouldn't be. He then started referring to Mark as my fiance for the rest of the night and tried to get everyone at our table to place bets on who would get engaged first - Mark or another guy they work with. Meghan, another one of their co-workers who was sitting at our table then informed me they already had a pool going at their office for this very bet.

3. Morgan is coming to Dallas this weekend for St. Patrick's Day and some girlfriend catch up time. It promises to be an eventful weekend. Here's what happned last time she came in town:

Love at First Sight

I am in love.... with this vacuum. I bought it last night, cleaned my whole apartment and watched as the entire dust bin filled with dirt. It was a little gross, really. But I think I will be vacuuming everyday.

Relocate?

Once upon a time, my apartment was very clean and I took pictures of it so that I could remember how nice it can look.

It no longer looks this nice. The plan for this weekend: Spring Cleaning, in the winter. Also, my lease runs out at the end of next month. I am once again at the point where I ask myself:
a) Where on earth did the past year go? Have I really been living here that long?!
b) What to do... renew or move out?
c) Potential roommate.. are you out there?

I hate making these decisions.

Wrapping Up

Last night I finally took my Christmas tree down, so the holidays are officially over. My apartment now looks very empty and sad, to the point that I'm wondering how I lived with such a large empty hole in my dining area before. See, I don't have an actual table on which to eat food, so my "dining room" was the perfect spot for a Christmas tree. Now that said tree is gone, I've got a gaping stretch of carpet that serves no purpose other than to provide Gus with some extra running space. Maybe I should get a table, or at least a bookshelf....

I found the following on another blog and stole it. It's a good way to recap the year and I thought it would allow me to start fresh in 2008. Feel free to steal it from me now. In fact, I hope you do.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Went to Vegas. Adopted a cat. Started a blog. Told a boy I loved him and really, truly, genuinely, 100% meant it for sure.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I resolved to do three things last year: exercise more, save money and clean out my closet/throw out the clothes I don’t wear anymore. The latter I completed within the first four days of 2007, although I don’t think I did a very good job. My closet is still jam packed with clothes I don’t wear, probably won’t wear, but cannot throw out for fear that someday I will need them. Oh that Hawaiian print spaghetti strap dress that I bought when I was 18 and no longer fit in? I might get back to that size! There might be a luau to go to! I must keep it!

I did fairly well on the working out this year. I can now run for a decent amount of time (okay, 20 minutes) before getting totally winded. I’m pretty good at the kickboxing class at the gym and sometime I’ll do some lunges across my apartment before bed. And I did actually start putting some money into my savings account every month. It’s not much and my total saved would be at a much higher level if I hadn’t had to dive into it for a little trip to Vegas, but hey. How often does my best friend have her Bachelorette Party in Sin City?

I will make new resolutions this year. I just haven’t put a lot of thought into it yet. Maybe I’ll just do the same three again?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nooooo. I am finally used to my friends all tying the knot but when they start having babies. No. Not ready for that!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My uncle died this past June. It was one of the toughest weekends of my life. It still continues to leave a mark on my family that was especially felt through the holidays.

5. What countries did you visit?
None.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
A wardrobe that reflects the fact that I graduated from college over two years ago. So that means no more sorority tshirt and jeans every day. This year I’m trying to dress like a grown up and throw out the 2002 Date Dash T’s. I plan to stock up on more casual clothes that don’t necessarily come from a football game or formal dance. Which means more shopping at Target and the Gap.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 4 - after much pressing from LJ, Mark and I had the DTR and then celebrated with lunch at McDonalds.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I’m proud of myself for losing some weight this year. I really don’t know how much, but I know that my clothes fit better and I feel great about myself. I used to be that girl who had never once stepped foot in a gym. If I can get my bootie in there and run on a treadmill, anyone can.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I don’t know if I really failed at anything, but I did have some slipups. Two times at work come to mind. I learned that everyone makes mistakes and that you just have to keep your head up, apologize only once and then get over it. Everyone else will have forgotten about it by the next day and so should you. Fix it, then move on!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope. I got the occasional cold and had to go see the doctor a handful of times, but nothing too out of the ordinary.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
I didn’t do a whole lot of buying for myself this year, unless you count two very snazzy bridesmaid dresses. However, I did have the best thing bought ­for me when Super Boyfriend took me to Nordstrom and let me pick out any jeans I wanted. It wasn’t even my birthday. I picked up some hot Seven's and my back side has never looked better.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mary Beth! She took a bold step and was offered a job in the UK. In a few months she’s moving away to a place where she knows no one and where they drive on the wrong side of the road. I admire her strong desire to try anything and truly chase her dreams.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Is it lame to use Britney Spears here? She has gone so far down the drain that surely Morgan Ash doesn’t even look up to her anymore, right?

14. Where did most of your money go?
I was in two weddings this year. That’s two bridesmaid dresses, two engagement parties, way more than two bridal showers and two out of town bachelorette parties. Not jump in the car and drive to Austin, but “get on a plane and stay in a hotel for a long weekend” out of town. Don’t get me wrong though, those were some of the best times this year and I was honored to stand up for my friends on their big days.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My birthday. Christmas. New Year’s Eve. Going to Vegas with my best friends from college. Going to NYC with my best friends from high school. Watching two friends get married and celebrating with two others after they got engaged. Everyone coming up to Dallas for OU weekend. Having a real Valentine’s Day for the first time in a long time. Meredith’s wedding. Virginia’s wedding. The RRE 2K7. I had a lot to get excited about this year.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
“Cupid’s Chokehold” by Gym Class Heroes

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:? a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? Happier and thinner, but also poorer. Oh well. Two out of three ain’t bad huh? And I’ll get back up to the richer phase. Just as soon as everyone is done getting married.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Corresponding. Phone calls, emails, letters, cards, anything. I let too much time pass between communicating with some of the most important people in my life. I know its easy to get caught up in what’s going on here and then I forget about my best friends scattered around the country, my sister in Stillwater or my brother in Portland. Too many times I said oh I’ll call her this weekend.. and then never got around to it.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Freaking out. I let too many things stress me out to the max, which often results in any combination of the following: tears, headaches, sheer anger, annoyance, silent treatments sleepless nights and heartache. This year I aspire to go with the flow and not sweat the small stuff nearly as much.

Also, I could have done with a little less of eating the candy at work. My place of employment must have an entire item line in our budget for candy to replenish the little bowls on everyone’s desk. Every few weeks, someone goes to Sam’s and comes back with dozens of the jumbo size bags of every miniature sized candy there is. It’s my biggest weakness during the work week.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas this year was spent in three different places. First, I had a “Fake Christmas” on the 20th with Mark at his house. The plan was to each exchange one gift before we went home to our respective parents’ houses for actual Christmas. But when I got to Mark’s house and saw that he had sixteen presents for me under the tree, he let me open four. From there, I was in Muenster from the 21st through Christmas with my family and grandparents. Mark came up to Muenster for a few days and we had Christmas # 2 with my family before he and I headed to Bartlesville on the 29th to have a belated holiday with his parents. Whew! That’s three different times of opening presents. It worked out really well.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Yes :)

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Friday Night Lights all the way. Even if it is more about murders and meth labs than high school football this year, I still can’t resist the coach’s witty remarks and QB1’s goofy grins.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Hmm. Not that I can think of.

24. What was the best book you read?
I read a lot this year! I joined a book club at work and then a girlfriend started up our own book club with five other girls, so I’m usually reading at least two books a month. Some that I’ve really enjoyed this year are The Time Traveler’s Wife, My Sister’s Keepe,. Harry Potter 7, and The Pact. I want to start the year out by reading PS I Love You but the darn thing is sold out all over town! Seems I’m not the only one who wants to read the book before seeing the movie.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I didn’t exactly “discover” a lot of music this year. It’s more like I heard a song on the radio and started liking it, thus I illegally downloaded it on Limewire and then listened to it a hundred times. A group who I haven’t heard a lot of publicly but do like a lot is Secondhand Serenade. Check ‘em out.

26. What did you want and get?
A Nintendo Wii. Watch your inboxes for a Wii-vite. Just as soon as I get really good at all the games myself, I’ll invite everyone over for a friendly boxing match.

27. What did you want and not get?
An apartment where I don’t hear every step my neighbors take, every song they play on their stereo and every shower they ever take. And also Justin Timberlake tickets.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Superbad

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned the big 25 this year. On my birthday I was in Stillwater, OK watching the Longhorns make their usual comeback and beat OSU in the second half. This was a great birthday gift, even if I was with all of Mark’s college friends and the only UT fan of the weekend. I kept quiet about our victory and they more or less left me alone, since it was my birthday and all.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If I could afford it, a nicer apartment. I live in a decent place with reasonable rent. But I think if I was living in some trendy high rise with stainless steel appliances and hardwood floors, I would be much more satisfied at the end of every day. I just have to keep telling myself that I won't live here forever and I just have to suffer through these renting an apartment days before I reach the blissful life of what's to come.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Swooping bangs, sparkly sunglasses, cute jeans and flip flops.

32. What kept you sane?
Mark. My friends. My family.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
JT. I tried and tried to get tickets to his concert. I watched ebay like a hawk the day before. It could be my biggest regret of this year, not coughing up the 75 bucks to go see him live.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I’m sad to say that political issues do not typically “stir” me. But I'm working on watching all this election coverage!

35. Who did you miss?
My girls in Austin and Morgan in Houston. I just didn’t see enough of them and when I did, it was always for a too short weekend with too much already going on. My year was extremely busy and I had to spread myself thin to see everyone. I wish I could have spent more time with these great friends.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Early this year, Mark took me to Tulsa to meet his friends that I had heard so much about. I was more nervous about meeting them than I was about meeting his parents! Winning the friends over is vital and Mark has such a close-knit group of college friends that I was worried I would always be that new girlfriend who never really knew that they were talking about when they started laughing at all their old college stories. However, this group of people quickly became not just his friends, but my friends too. I love going up to visit them and spend weekends with the whole group who was so kindly welcomed and included me.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Take chances. Take every opportunity you’re given. If someone invites you to out to do something and you don't have other plans, do it. Keep in touch with those far away. Write emails when work gets slow. Put other's before you. Don't whine a whole lot... like I always do. If you are carving pumpkins, make a boy scrape out all the gross insides.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
When you figure out love is all that matters after all,
It sure makes everything else seem so small.